Jane Austen

The renowned author Jane Austen (1775-1817) was born and lived in the area of Basingstoke. This year the 250th anniversary of her birth is being celebrated and we went to visit her home in the village of Chawton where she lived for 8 years whilst she wrote some of her novels. Her famous novels are: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion - all of which have been made into films or TV series. It was a very interesting visit together with a visit to Jane Austen's brother's estate and their old little church. 

Yesterday we went on a wonderful 2-hour boat ride on sea and river thanks to an invitation from Pearl Skivington who is Liz's cousin. The boat called the Alison Macgregor left the Hythe Marina at 10.30 am and took us to see all 5 cruise ships in Southampton Docks at the time, plus container ships and ferries. We also saw the Southampton Football Stadium going up the River Ichen. Along the way we saw a number of Cormorants/Shags, enormous quantities of Common Terns and other gulls I don't know how to identify, and we even saw a Black Swan. After our trip we went to Hazel and Dave Flowers' house together for a lovely lunch.

QPR beat Charlton at home 3 x 1 and are now 18th in the Championship out of 24! Well done Rangers! 😀

Today we ministered at the Lighthouse Community Church in the town of Hardley near Southampton. It was the church of Pastor Frank Dyer and his wife Ivy and is today pastored by Roy Dyer. It was a lovely service followed by a fellowship lunch together. 

2 Kings 9 (résumé): Jehu anointed King and Jezebel killed

The prophet Elisha sent one of the company of the prophets to find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat and anoint him privately with oil declaring him as King of Israel with the mission of destroying the house of Ahab. Upon discovering what had occurred Jehu's companions readily accepted the move spreading their cloaks before him, sounding the trumpets and loudly announcing that Jehu was king!

Then King Jehu of Israel conspired against Joram because before he could take up his office of king he needed to dispose of the reigning king Joram. Jehu chased Joram, drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders piercing his heart and having his dead body thrown on to Naboth's field. Jehu then chased Ahaziah king of Judah and his men killed him and he was buried in Jerusalem. 

Then Jehu had Jezebel killed having her thrown out of the window where horses trampled her, and dogs ate her body as had been prophesied by Elijah in 1 Kings 21:23. All the dogs left were her head, her hands and her feet!

Trainers

 I bought a pair of trainers on Wednesday size 11. They are very nice. Then my sister Jean called in for a coffee/tea. 😊

Our 9-year-old grandson Luis is a lovely very intelligent boy who is autistic. It is beautiful to observe how well his parents Philip and Gylmara care for him as he grows up. Luis has ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder) which means in practice that he exclusively eats a bacon roll from McDonalds in the morning and a pizza at night costing £16 a day. He will eat absolutely nothing else which is very trying for his Mum and Dad. Please pray for Luis, his brother Lucas and his Mum and Dad.

Yesterday we had a lovely day with our friend Marian Rashleigh who came from Southampton to visit us in Basingstoke. We enjoyed long chats, discussions on the work of EAB, a good walk in Hackwood Park (see photo) and a delicious meal prepared by master chef Gylmara. 😋

White Hart

On Monday we had a lovely meal with my 2 sisters Jean and Joy, my niece Lisa and her daughter Isla. We ate excellent Rump steaks at the White Hart pub in the village of Sherfield on Lodon about 20 minutes drive from Basingstoke. The village has a population of about 1,600. After the meal we went to Philip and Gyl's watching Luis and Isla playing in the pool and on the trampoline. It was a very pleasant day with a temperature of 26 degrees which is quite warm for England.

Me in the middle of my sisters Jean (white blouse) and Joy (pink blouse). Jean is a music teacher and an evangelical Anglican. Joy is a nurse and an evangelical Baptist. 

I have seen many Herring Gulls and photographed them.

Yesterday we went to London. First of all we went to Gunnersbury Cemetery to visit the grave of our little baby Johnny whom we sadly lost to meningitis when he was 13 days old. Johnny would have been 50 this March. Especially moving was our 9-year-old grandson Luis who placed his toy pig George on the grave giving it to baby Johnny. From here we went to the 955 hectares Richmond Park which is the second largest of London's many green and wooded parks, and is a national nature reserve as well as a European Special Area of Conservation. What a beautiful park it is full of woods, ferns and fields where 600 red and fallow deer roam since 1637, squirrels climb the trees, and birds such as the Jackdaw and Crow are plentiful, not forgetting the squawking invasive non-native Ring-necked Parakeets. We climbed King Henry's Mound from where you can see St. Paul's Cathedral more than 16 km to the east using a telescope there for use by all. To the west you can see the control tower at Heathrow Airport, Windsor Castle and the Thames Valley.

2 Kings 8 (résumé): The Shunammite's land restored

The first part of this chapter tells of the Shunammite woman, seen earlier in chapter 4, whose son had been resurrected by Elisha. At the time Elisha advised her that she should move away so as to avoid an impending famine that would last 7 years. The woman thus went away to the land of the Philistines, but when she returned her house and land had been taken so she went to the king seeking help. Just at that time the king was talking to Elisha's servant and he was relating how Elisha had raised the boy from the dead. Lo and behold the Shunammite woman appeared just as her story was being told and clearly the king was moved decreeing that everything be restored to her. 

Then Elisha went to Damascus where King Hadad of Aram was ill. Hadad sent Hazael to consult the prophet regarding his prognosis. Elisha said that Hadad would recover from his illness, but that however he would die from another cause and Hazael would become king of Aram. Then Hazael went and assassinated Hadad and replaced him as king. 

The chapter then moves to Judah when Jehoram began his reign as king at the age of 32 and reigned for 8 years. He was a wicked king but God did not destroy Judah because of his covenant with David. During his reign Edom and Libnah conducted revolts.

Following Jehoram's death Ahaziah began to reign in Judah at the age of 22 and he reigned for 1 year. Ahaziah too was evil in the sight of the Lord. He joined King Joram of Israel in a failed war against Syria during which Joram was wounded.

Photos

Car swaps in England

We are being driven everywhere in the UK by Philip. We have British driving licenses but prefer not to drive here as here cars drive on the left, have steering wheels on the right side of the cars and drivers here are very aggressive if you make a mistake. When we all want to go somewhere (Liz, me, Philip, Gylmara, Lucas & Luis) Philip swaps cars with Pastor Ben's 7-seater car. 

On Saturday we went to Alresford which is a half-hour drive from Basingstoke. Alresford is a small picturesque town with a population of 5,300 which is a district of the city of Winchester. We went for a lovely walk alongside the river where we saw Mallards and Swans galore as well as Wood Pigeons, Magpies and Crows plus a Great Tit, a Pied-Wagtail and a Grey-Wagtail. Grandson Lucas photographed a Long-tailed Tit. Along the river path I was stung by stinging nettles which I had forgotten existed! I also walked in socks and sandals in true British style! We ate a cheese and onion pie at the Alresford train station where we saw 2 old trains, one diesel and the other steam, on what they call the Watercress Line. On the walk by the river we saw a lovely old fashioned thatched house underneath which the river flows! (see photo)

QPR were beaten 7 x 1 on Saturday away to Coventry! This puts us firmly in the relegation zone where we will probably stay. 😭

Yesterday we had a lovely day at Portsmouth Naval Museum seeing the recovered Mary Rose ship which had sunk in 1545 and was recovered in the 1970/80s together with a hoard of artefacts, human skeletons and even a dog's skeleton! We then boarded the HMS Victory which was victorious in the 1805 battle of Trafalgar when Lord Nelson was killed. Finally we boarded the HMS Warrior which is an 1861 steam-powered armoured frigate from the days of Queen Victoria. We ended up the day eating fish and chips at Oliver's in Old Basing in a celebration of popular British culinary culture!

Slippers in England

I am back to wearing slippers! For my Brazilian readers let me explain that slippers are a warm soft furry type of shoe used in England to wear in the home to keep your feet warm. Whereas in Brazil I always wear sandals and shorts here in England I wear jeans and slippers. I already had my slippers from 2022 when we were here last and I left them at Philip & Gylmara's house.

We got up late yesterday at 11 am after our long journey. It is lovely to just relax with the family. We had brunch rather than breakfast and lunch. The brunch was bacon, eggs and hot bread rolls with HP sauce which we hadn't tasted for 3 years. For Brazilians I should say that in England the main meal of the day is at night. 

The climate here at present is very pleasant with a high of 22 degrees today and a low in the night of 7 degrees.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Thatcham Nature Reserve and enjoyed a lovely walk round the lake. We saw Wood Pigeons, Magpies, Collared Doves, Moorhens, Swans, Canadian Geese, Egyptian Geese, Little Egret, Coots, Mallards, Common Tern, Black-headed Gull, Northern Shoveler, Cormorant and Great Crested Grebe. The trees on the way to the Reserve were beautiful and the flowers there were lovely too.

We have arrived in England

We arrived in Basingstoke, a little southwest of London, tonight after travelling for 29 hours from Patos to Recife, then on to Lisbon, on to London Heathrow airport and finally to Basingstoke. At London's Heathrow airport we were met by Liz's sisters Eunice and Esther, Jonathan Eunice's husband and our son Philip, so we drank tea and ate croissants together before heading home. Tonight we have had a lovely welcome meal thanks to Gylmara, and exchanged gifts. 

News from Brazil is good with Pastor Rafael and Robert Tiburtino reporting one decision for Christ yesterday in the Patos Men's prison.

2 Kings 7 (résumé): The siege of Samaria lifted

Elisha declared that in a day's time food would be cheap again but an officer of the king ridiculed this. So Elisha replied that the officer would see it with his own eyes but would not eat any of it.

At dusk 4 men with leprosy walked to the camp of the Arameans to surrender to them rather than die of hunger, but when they got there the place was deserted. This had happened because God had caused them to hear the rumblings of a mighty army and they thought it was the Egyptians and the Hittites. When the lepers returned to the Israelites and told them what they had found skepticism faced them at first, but a search party soon confirmed their story so that the people could plunder the Aramean camp and food prices collapsed as Elisha had foretold. However the sceptic officer died in the stampede to invade the Aramean camp.

2 Kings 6 (résumé): An axe-head floats

The prophets needed to expand their living quarters so they went near the Jordan to cut down trees, but one of the men was alarmed because his iron axe head he had borrowed fell into the water. Not to worry, Elisha made the iron axe-head float so that it could be recovered!

The King of Aram was at war with Israel and he was furious with Elisha because he kept tipping-off the King of Israel as to the Arameans' whereabouts and the likes. So the King of Aram sent a strong force of soldiers to arrest Elisha. When the soldiers surrounded the city Elisha's servant was terrified, but Elisha told him not to be scared because those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Elisha prayed for his servant's eyes to be opened and he saw the spiritual forces at Elisha's disposal. When the soldiers came to get Elisha God blinded them and they were tricked into Samaria where they were fed and watered before being sent home. 

Some time later the Arameans sieged Samaria causing a massive famine where a donkey's head was sold for a kilo of silver! One woman told the king of Israel that her and her friend had just eaten her son but now her friend wasn't willing to kill and eat her son as had been agreed! And the king apparently blamed Elisha for the terrible situation and wanted to kill him.

2 Kings 5 (summary): Naaman healed of Leprosy

Naaman was a highly respected commander of the Syrian army but he had leprosy. (a form of skin disease not necessarily leprosy as we know it today) A servant girl from Israel who worked for Naaman's wife suggested Naaman should seek healing from Elisha so the King of Syria backed the initiative sending him with supporting gifts and clothes. It would seem therefore that Naaman expected a cure with fanfares, but when Elisha told him to go and wash 7 times in the River Jordan he seems to have felt the method of healing was puny and below his dignity. But even though he protested that in Syria there were rivers just as good he eventually obeyed and was healed. Naaman then tried to give Elisha a gift but he refused to accept it. However Naaman's servant Gehazi went after the gifts behind Elisha's back and received them, so God castigated Gehazi with Naaman's leprosy.   

2 Kings 4 (résumé): Miracles by Elisha

A prophet's widow asked for Elisha's help as her late husband's creditors were about to take her 2 sons as slaves to cover the debt he left. Elisha asked her what she had and she said she just had a little oil. So Elisha told the widow to collect as many jars as possible from her neighbours and then pour her oil to fill up all the jars. The oil miraculously just kept flowing and filled all the jars so that she was able to sell the oil, clear the debt, and still have enough left to live off.

A Shunammite woman and her elderly husband were kind to Elisha showing him hospitality so he blessed them and prophesied they would have a son the following spring. He was born and grew, but one day he became ill and died. The woman sought Elisha's help and he prayed and then laid on the dead boy mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hand to hand. Eventually the boy came back to life and he showed it by sneezing 7 times and opening his eyes. 

Elisha returned to Gilgal where there was a famine. There his servant cooked a stew for the prophets and inadvertently included a poisonous herb. The men detected it soon and cried out to Elisha that there was death in the pot! Elisha solved the problem with the help of some flour and everyone ate safely.

Finally Elisha miraculously multiplied 20 barley loaves to feed a 100 men leaving leftovers like Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

2 Kings 3 (résumé): Moab revolts

 When Joram was king of Israel the Moabites baulked at their high taxes (100,000 lambs + the wool of 100,000 rams) so Joram formed an alliance with Judah and Edom to bring Moab into line. However on their 7-day march to confront Moab they ran out of water, so they went to Elisha for help. Elisha asked for a harpist to play and when he played the hand of the Lord came upon him and he prophesied that God would fill the land with water, not by rain but by a miracle. When the Moabites saw the water they thought it was blood from an internal fight of the enemy so they nonchalantly came to the camp of Israel where they were routed. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was lost he rallied 700 swordsmen to try and break through to Edom, but it was not enough. Such was the fury of the Moabites that their king sacrificed his son, who was heir to the throne, on the city wall and at that sight Israel withdrew.

Trip to the UK

We leave for Europe tomorrow and value your prayers. How good it is to be going in good health as opposed to our last trip 3 years ago when I was far from well. We will leave Patos in the morning, have lunch in Campina Grande, and then drive to Recife airport where our 7-and-a-half-hour flight to Lisbon leaves at 10:15 pm. We will then change planes for a 2-and-three-quarter-hour flight to London Heathrow arriving there at terminal 2 at 3:35 pm on Thursday to be met by our son Philip, his wife Gylmara, their sons Lucas and Luis, and Liz's sister Eunice and her husband Jonathan. After having tea and coffee together we will drive 40 minutes to the town of Basingstoke where Philip and family live and where we will be staying. Basingstoke is a nice town in the County of Hampshire with a population of 178,000.

Our address in the UK will be 34 Britten Road, Basingstoke, RG22 4HP. Our UK telephone number will be 07762 846695. To contact us by WhatsApp my number remains the same as 0055 83 98852 2745 and Liz's number is identical apart from the last number which is 6.

I led the service on Sunday night in Patos and co-pastor Rafael preached on Isaiah 1:18-20. This will be the last service I'll lead in Patos for about 3 months. It was a good service with a lovely spirit of praise and worship.

Brazilian football club Santos (current team of Neymar and ex-team of Pelé) lost 6 x 0 at the weekend at home to Vasco da Gama. Neymar wept at the end and the manager was sacked!

Yesterday I finished the summary of another book of the Bible. This was the 11th book (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st & 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings) covering just over a quarter of the Bible (26.4%) and just over a third of the old testament (33.6%). I have summarized 313 chapters of the Bible's 1,189 chapters. If I can keep this pace up I should be able to complete a summary of the whole Bible by 2028 when I intend to publish the summary of the Bible in both English and Portuguese. I value your prayers for this project which is my way of introducing people to the Bible.

2 Kings 2 (résumé): Elijah ascends to Heaven

The ascension to heaven of Elijah was now imminent and this was common knowledge amongst the prophets. Elisha was close by his side and would not leave him, going to Bethel, Jericho and the Jordan with him. At the Jordan Elijah divided the waters and they crossed on dry ground. Then Elisha requested a double portion of Elijah's spirit when he departed and Elijah said he would have it as long as he saw him leave. Then as they were walking along together a chariot of fire appeared and whisked off Elijah to heaven, and Elisha picked up Elijah's cloak. Elisha then struck the Jordan with the cloak and it opened for him to cross back over. Some prophets insisted on searching for Elijah but Elisha told them that they were wasting their time.

Elisha's double portion of the spirit was soon evident in the healing of water at a certain city. Then there was a group of youths who ridiculed Elisha's bald head. Elisha cursed them and 2 bears emerged from the woods and mauled 42 youths. Then Elisha went on to Mount Carmel before returning to Samaria. 

2 Kings 1 (résumé): God's judgement on Ahaziah

King Ahaziah of Israel had a bad fall and seriously injured himself, and he sent messengers to the Philistine god Baal-Zebub to get a prognosis. The angel of the Lord however told Elijah to intercept the messengers, objecting to the pagan consultation and saying that as a result of this Ahaziah would die. When the king realized the messengers had been intercepted by Elijah he sent a captain with 50 men to capture him, but God wiped them out by fire! Then Ahaziah sent more soldiers but they were incinerated too. When the third contingent of soldiers came God told Elijah to go with them and not to be afraid and Ahaziah died and he was succeeded by Joram.  

1 Kings 22 (résumé): Ahab's Death

King Ahaz (Israel) made an alliance with King Jehoshaphat (Judah) so as to unite in retaking from the Arameans Ramoth Gilead, so they decided to consult the Lord about the matter. 400 prophets were consulted and they were unanimous in giving the green light for the venture, but it was a case of "prophesying" what the kings wanted to hear rather than hearing what God had to say. However they yet decided to consult the prophet Micaiah who had a more independent stance. Initially he sarcastically he repeated the position of the 400 prophets, but when pressed he countered their stance and even forecasts Ahab's death ending a 22-year reign. So Jehoshaphat and Ahab went to battle but Ahab disguised himself, as he surely feared the fulfillment of the prophecy, but he was shot and killed by a random arrow showing that God is not fooled by our disguises and that God's justice will catch up with us sooner or later, as Ahab had been the worst possible king. 

As to Jehoshaphat's reign in Judah he did what was right before God, he got rid of the male shrine prostitutes, but he didn't remove the high places so came short there. He built a fleet of trading ships but these ended up as wrecks. After his death his son Jehoram succeeded him and Ahaziah succeeded Ahaz. 

1 Kings 21 (résumé): Naboth's Vineyard

Naboth had a vineyard close to King Ahab's palace and Ahab offered to buy it or to swap it for a better vineyard. Naboth rejected this as it was part of his family inheritance. The rejection put Ahab into a bad mood, but Jezebel said she would fix the problem for him. So Jezebel had Naboth falsely accused of blasphemy and executed as a consequence, leaving the road clear for her husband to take possession of the land. God was angry at this and sent the prophet Elisha to reprimand him saying that in the place where the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they would do the same with his blood. Dogs, he said, would also devour Jezebel. However in the light of Ahab's repentance the punishment was postponed to be meted on their descendants. 

1 Kings 20 (résumé): Battles between Ben-Hadad & Ahab

Ben-Hadad of Syria, together with a confederation of 32 kings, besieged Samaria capital of Israel and demanded their silver, gold, best women and children. Ahab initially agrees but then changes his mind and a battle ensues which Israel wins miraculously despite being completely outmanned. However Ben-Hadad escaped together with some horsemen and a prophet warned Ahab to get prepared because in the spring the Arameans would be back. When this happened God again gave Israel the victory killing 100,000 Syrians followed by the death of a further 27,000 when the city of Aphek wall fell on them! Then Ahab made a treaty with Ben-Hadad and let him go. Following this a prophet tried to get a man to hit him, but when he refused a lion killed him as a result. Then another man did strike him and so he could approach Ahab disguised by bandages. The prophet proceeded to condemn Ahab for having set free Ben-Hadad against God's command.

1 Kings 19 (résumé): Elijah flees to Horeb

When Ahab's wife Jezebel was told about Elijah's great victory at Mount Carmel and his subsequent slaughter of the Baal prophets she threatened to kill him so Elijah was afraid and ran to Horeb. On the long journey God miraculously sustained him and encouraged and strengthened him as he was very down and depressed. On Mount Horeb there was a theophany accompanied by extraordinarily strong wind, then followed an earthquake which was followed by fire, but God spoke to Elijah after the wind, earthquake and fire with a gentle whisper. God told Elijah to anoint Hazael king of Aram, anoint Jehu king of Israel and anoint Elisha to succeed him as prophet. So Elijah saw Elisha ploughing the fields and he threw his clock upon him, and Elisha started to follow him.

Decision for Christ

Friday night's weekly service held at the ex-landless community of NS Aparecida II in the municipality of São Mamede was really blessed of the Lord and saw one lady making her decision to follow Christ. PTL! The service was led by Deaconess Dodora. 

At the pastors & leaders family conference last week

Sadly QPR lost their second league game of the season losing 2 x 1 away to Watford. 😒

Last night I led the service at the Green Pastures Church and preached the Gospel from John 4:1-26. I had the joy of dedicating baby Sofia at 3 and a half months old - daughter of Toinho and Jozilene. It was good to see Sofia's uncle Jerfesson there for the ceremony. I also conducted communion. It was a full evening with a good crowd present. It was lovely also to have a new children's singing group sing. Josué, their leader, came up to me before the service to tell me of the new group which he said was named 'Worship to God'. They did very well.

Parallel to this the youth had a night playing volleyball and the married couples fellowship had a get-together with 12 couples taking part. It was especially good to see newly weds Murilo and Karol there, and heavily pregnant Ivete with her husband Wellington.

1 Kings 18 (résumé): Elijah on Mount Carmel

 After a 3-and-a-half-year drought God told the prophet Elijah to go and have a show-down with King Ahab over his pagan Baal worship. Elijah met up with the chief of Ahab's palace Obadiah, but he was reluctant to announce Elijah's presence. However Obadiah plucked up courage, told Ahab that Elijah wanted to see him, and so they met with Ahab insulting Elijah as a trouble maker. The prophet replied that the trouble maker was him abandoning God's commands and following the Baals. So Elijah threw down the gauntlet to Ahab to bring Baal's 450 prophets and Asherah's 400 prophets to decide once and for all if the Lord is God or if Baal is God - and they gathered for the challenge of fire on Mount Carmel. Each was to sacrifice a bull and call down fire to consume it, and the god who answers by fire is God. So the prophets of Baal cried out all day long for fire to fall, but to no avail and Elijah ridiculed them. Then it was Elijah's turn to call upon the name of the Lord and first of all he had water poured over everything. When Elijah prayed the fire fell consuming the sacrifice, wood, stones, soil and water - so the people cried out the Lord, he is God - and they slaughtered the prophets of Baal! Elijah then prophesied that the rains would return and it was only for the 7th time of looking at the sky that his servant saw the first sign of rain coming. Then down came heavy rain and Ahab took off in his chariot in the rain to Jezreel, but ecstatic Elijah beat him running anointed by the power of God!

1 Kings 17 (résumé): Elijah miraculously sustained

The prophet Elijah told king Ahab that Israel was to be punished for its idolatry by a severe prolonged drought. However God told Elijah to go to the Kerith Brook where he could drink from the brook and be fed with bread and meat morning and evening by ravens. When the brook eventually dried up God told Elijah to go to Zaraphath where he had commanded a widow to feed him. When Elijah met the widow it was clear that the widow was not aware of God's command, but she trusted Elijah's instructions and believed in his promise that if she made him food her flour and oil would not run out until the rains returned and that therefore the widow, her family and Elijah would be sustained. However after some time the widow's son died which naturally left the widow terribly distraught and she pointed the finger at Elijah. So Elijah took the boy and stretched himself out on him 3 times and cried to the Lord beseeching his resurrection. He then returned him to his mother live and well which obviously confirmed to her that Elijah was a man of God.

Beatriz

Our granddaughter Beatriz (Bia) is back in hospital with a severe allergic reaction to something, though allergy to what is the question, but it is probably an antibiotic she had started taking. She is swollen, is full of red blotches and has breathing difficulties. Please pray for Bia. 

Our deacon Dedé on his motorbike has been involved in a head-on collision with a car driven by a youngster. He is in hospital under observation because he has fractured 7 ribs and has pleural effusion. Please pray for Dedé who is the leader of our little Ipueira church.

The 'Life Squad' consisting of Pastor Rafael and Brother Roberto Tiburtino have been evangelizing in the men's prison again. Please pray for this arduous work.

The Southern Wren sings joyfully outside my office window and House Sparrows constantly invade our kitchen to pick up any crumbs on the floor.

I am going to the doctor's this afternoon to have my ears syringed prior to the ups and downs of flying next week which can be painful on one's ears. I will be having my hair cut really short on Monday so that it will last me while I'm in the UK.

1 Kings 16 (résumé): More kings of Israel

This chapter lists a series of wicked Israelite kings culminating with Ahab, the worst of all. It was clearly a period of severe moral decadence. First of all comes the continuation of Baasha with him receiving a message of judgement from God through the prophet Jehu. Again God will judge with dogs and vultures as he did with Jeroboam. Baasha died and was succeeded by his son Elah. 

Elah reigned in Israel for 2 years. However he was assassinated by his official Zimri who then replaced him as king. He then proceeded to eliminate the entire family of Baasha in his extremely short reign of 7 days. However when the people realized what at happened they made army commander Omri king with Zimri dying under siege in an arson attack at the royal palace. There was initially a power struggle between Omri and Tibni, but Omri prevailed and reigned for 12 years. However Omri sinned more than all those before him. Upon Omri's death his son Ahab succeeded him.

Ahab reigned over Israel for 22 years and he did more evil than ever! He married Jezebel, who was the daughter of the king of the Sidonians, and introduced and practiced pagan Baal worship in Israel. Ahab built a temple for Baal in Samaria where he erected an altar to the pagan god. He further erected a pagan Asherah pole. Ahab was a very perverse king of Israel. 

1 Kings 15 (résumé): The Kings of Judah & Israel

In the 18th year of Jeroboam Abijah became king of Judah where he reigned for 3 years, but he sadly repeated the sins of his father and made war with Jeroboam.

In the 20th year of Jeroboam Asa became king of Judah where he reigned for 41 years doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He expelled the male shrine prostitutes and abolished all the idols, and he even deposed his grandmother from the pagan post of queen mother cutting down and burning her Asherah pole. Asa made an alliance with the king of Aram ruling in Damascus and thus strengthened his position against Israel. In his old age Asa had diseased feet prior to dying and being succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat.

Nadab, son of Jeroboam, became king of Israel in the 2nd year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned for 2 years. He did evil before God being a case of like father like son. Baasha killed Nadab and replaced him as king, when he reigned for 24 years but doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. He then proceeded to kill Jeroboam's entire family.

1 Kings 14 (résumé): Ahijah's prophecy against Jeroboam

 Jeroboam's son was ill so he sent his wife to consult the prophet Ahijah disguised, taking him bread, cakes and honey. With God's help the prophet saw beyond her disguise and he prophesied her son's imminent death. He also spoke out categorically against Jeroboam's idolatry prophesying disaster for his house with dogs eating men's bodies in the cities and vultures eating men's bodies in the country. Ahijah yet prophesied eventual exile for Israel as a result of Jeroboam's sin. So Jeroboam died after a reign of 22 years and Nadab his son succeeded him as king of Israel.

Rehoboam came to the throne at 41 years of age and he reigned for 17 years, and after his death he was succeeded as king of Judah by his son Abijah. Rehoboam's reign had been as negative as Jeroboam's in Israel with widespread paganism and even the use of male shrine-prostitutes and other detestable pagan practices. As a result of such perversity in the 5th year of his reign Shishak king of Egypt ransacked Jerusalem robbing all its gold articles including all the gold shields, so that Rehoboam had to replace them with bronze ones. There was also continual civil war between Israel and Judah.

1 Kings 13 (summary): A Prophet from Judah

A prophet came from Judah to rebuke Jeroboam for his rampant paganism and he confirmed his message by the altar being split apart. Jeroboam reacted against the prophet and suffered a withered arm for which he depended on God's healing. He then invited the prophet to have a meal at his house, but the prophet declined as God had prohibited this. Then an old prophet met with the prophet from Judah and tricked him by lying to eat with him saying that an angel had suggested this. Hence the prophet from Judah ended up disobeying God's command by default and ended up being killed by a lion as a result and the old prophet buried him. After all this Jeroboam did not change his evil ways but continued unabated in his sinful paganism. 

1 Kings 12 (résumé): Rehoboam versus Jeroboam

 Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned king, but the people asked for lower taxes and a lighter work load. Rehoboam asked for 3 days to think this over and consult about it. The elders told him to accept what the people requested, but younger men said the opposite saying that in his reign things would be even tougher! When the people received this tough reply they rejected Rehoboam dividing the nation with the 10 northern tribes breaking from Judah and Benjamin in the south with Rehoboam becoming king just of the south.

Meanwhile Jeroboam returned from exile in Egypt and became king of the northern tribes of Israel. However fearing that he would be prejudiced by the people going to worship in Jerusalem he set up alternative worshipping places at Bethel and Dan of 2 golden calves! Jeroboam also built pagan shrines on high places and appointed non-Levite priests. Israel and Judah were in a big mess.

1 Kings 11 (résumé): Solomon's wives, downfall & death

 Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines! He married Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites - all nations for which God had forbidden intermarriage because of the implicit dangers of pagan involvement. And this is exactly what happened. For as Solomon got older he started getting involved with his wives' pagan religions as he followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Molech the god of the Ammonites. He built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites and for all his foreign wives. This greatly angered the Lord as he saw Solomon consistently turning away from him and following other gods. 

So it was that God raised up adversaries against Solomon - Haddad the Edomite and Rezon. Then Jeroboam, rebelled against Solomon. though he had been in charge of his whole work force. One day Jeroboam met Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh who tore his robe into 12 pieces, gave Jeroboam 10 saying these represented the 10 tribes he would now lead in the place of Solomon, leaving Solomon only with the rest. This God did in the light of his apostacy. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam but he fled to Egypt where he stayed until Solomon's death. Then after 40 years reign Solomon died and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.

1 Kings 10 (résumé): The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon

The Queen Of Sheba came to visit King Solomon because she had heard so much about him. She came as a doubter, but she left a believer! She came with a barrage of trick questions to test Solomon's wisdom, but he answered them all. When the Queen of Sheba saw Solomon's extensive wisdom, luxurious palace, exemplary staff and amazing food she was overwhelmed. She came expecting to find that all the stories she had been told were exaggerated, but the truth was the opposite and "the half had never been told"! The Queen gave Solomon gifts of 4 tons of gold, large quantities of spices and precious stones and he gave her whatever she wanted in exchange. Then she left and returned to her own country.

The chapter goes on to tell us more of Solomon's colossal wealth with an annual income in gold of 23 tons! He made 200 large shields of hammered gold plus 300 small shields. He made an ivory and gold throne ornamented with lions. All his household goblets and articles were gold and his fleet of trading ships worked on a 3-year cycle bringing in gold, silver, ivory, apes and baboons. Solomon also accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. 

1 Kings 9 (résumé): God appears to Solomon again

After Solomon had finished building the temple and palace God appeared to him a second time. The first time had been in 1 Kings 3 when he made him wise. God expressed his pleasure with the temple but made it clear that his priority was man's heart being of integrity and uprightness. God warned Solomon of the dire consequences of the going after pagan gods which would result in the destruction of the temple and exile from the promised land.

Then the second part of the chapter gives details of Solomon's use as slave labour of the Canaanite survivors of Israelite extermination. It also tells of Solomon's giving of 20 towns to King Hiram of Tyre in thanks for his plentiful supplies of cedar, pine and gold during the construction period, but Hiram was not pleased with the gift. The text also gives details of Solomon's administrative organization. Solomon also built ships on the shore of the Red Sea and their travels brought 14.5 tons of gold to Solomon!

1 Kings 8 (résumé): The Ark is brought to the Temple

With the temple's construction completed King Solomon summoned the nation's leaders to bring up the ark of the covenant to the temple. The commemoration was massive involving an uncountable number of sheep and cattle being sacrificed. The priests then placed the ark beneath the wings of the cherubim in the most holy place and the glory of the Lord filled the place. Solomon praised God for having fulfilled his promise that the son of David would build a temple for the name of the Lord. 

Then Solomon prayed the prayer of dedication of the temple praising God for his covenant of love, whilst recognizing that the great and eternal God cannot be contained in the temple. He asked God to hear his people from the temple and judge them in right or in wrong forgiving their sin. 

When Solomon finished his prayers of dedication and supplication he rose from before the altar and blessed all the assembly in a loud voice praying that God should be with them, may he turn their hearts to him and be fully committed to him.

Then the King and all Israel offered 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats in sacrifice to the Lord as they observed a 14 day festival of dedication to God!

São Mamede

 Last night the Patos Men's Fellowship travelled to the town of São Mamede to hold another street service. I always go with them, but I didn't go this time as I am busy preparing for our journey to England via Portugal a week today. I have also just completed a lot of administrative work too for EAB. The service was led by school teacher Claudivan and Pastor Rafael preached the word.

QPR were knocked out of the Football League Cup yesterday in the first round when they were beaten by Plymouth 3 x 2 despite having been leading by 2 goals at half time. QPR played with a youth team and none of those who played in the league on Saturday played. 

Father's Day

 Yesterday was Father's Day in Brazil and we held a special commemorative service in the Patos church with Murilo preaching on 'the Privilege of Paternity' which was excellent. The children sang a song, Drama leader Dilma presented a monologue and the adolescents presented a video of them phoning their dads to tell them they loved them. Then all the dads received an ACEV keyring. I led the service.

Our Green Pastures kitchen staff with Merrylegs II the donkey

Pastors & Leaders Conference at Green Pastures

Gastritis

Our 15-year-old granddaughter Beatriz (Bia) has been in hospital with gastritis and has been on a drip. Please pray for Bia. Now Alice has gone down with the same symptoms. Please pray for Alice too.

I have just made a wonderful evening meal! Bread and cheese with a bag of crisps, followed by a yoghurt! My culinary skills are amazing! Liz is out with Linda, Elza, Jozinete and Zenaide so I had to engage my survival skills! 💪

We have just got back from the pastors and leaders conference (EDL) at Green Pastures. It was an excellent conference full of the blessing of God and crowned with a real spirit of unity. The only problem that we had was 2 toilets blocked by the roots of trees searching for water in the drought. We gave probationary missionary status to 2 leaders: Ivonete from the state of Bahia where she leads the work, and Guilherme Santos from Campina Grande Catolé who will move to Diamante to work in the 4 churches of that region in January. If anyone would like to give him a motorbike to get around the 4 churches he will work in then we would be very happy and grateful.

The ministry of the word on the 2 nights of the conference from Pastor Moises was really good. On the first night he preached on 'How to lead and how not to lead' and on the second night he preached on 'How to preach and how not to preach'. At the end of the conference Pastor Wostenes led our pastors and leaders in prayer for Liz and I as we embark on a ministry trip to Europe on the 20th.

Yesterday the Championship started its 2025/2026 season with QPR achieving a glorious draw 1 x 1 at home to Preston thanks to an own goal by Preston!

1 Kings 7 (résumé): Solomon builds his palace & furnishes the temple

It took Solomon 13 years to build his luxurious palace which was 46 metres long, 23 metres wide and 13.5 metres high. It had an abundance of solid cedar beams and columns built on high-grade stone blocks. He built a hall of pillars and a hall of judgement where Solomon pronounced his judgements. He built other houses as part of the palace complex including one for his first wife, the first of hundreds! 

Solomon also embarked on furnishing the temple with sumptuous bronze and golden objects. 2 bronze pillars 8.1 metres high by 5.4 metres around were made by Huram who was a craftsman in bronze. One pillar was placed south of the portico of the temple and was called Jakin, and the other massive pillar was put north of the portico and was called Boaz. 

Then Huram made a huge metal bowl for water which held 44,000 litres of water which meant it was called a sea. The sea stood on 12 metal bulls. This water was for the priests to wash themselves. He also made 10 moveable basins each with a capacity of 880 litres. The sea was placed in the south-east corner of the temple, and 5 of the moveable basins were put on the north side and 5 on the south side.

Then finally Solomon made a golden altar and table, 10 golden lampstands, gold floral work, gold dishes, bowls, ladles and censers, and gold sockets for the doors. 

Pastors

We're having a long series of online meetings and phone calls with our pastors as we prepare for the Pastors and Leaders Family Conference (EDL) at Green Pastures which starts this Friday. We value your prayers.

Liz is going like the clappers buying food for the conference and taking it to Green Pastures.

Humming birds hover and dart between the flowers around our garden, and Great Kiskadees and Southern Wrens sing in praise of their creator!

On Tuesday night we held a meeting of the Patos church council, together with the leaders of church ministries, so as to align things prior to our UK trip on the 20th. It was a very good meeting discussing the work of the Lord.

I have been to Green Pastures again preparing for the conference.

1 Kings 6 (résumé): Solomon build the Temple

Solomon's temple in Jerusalem took 7 and a half years to construct and this chapter gives all the details of this wonderful undertaking built to honour God and to be the centre of Israel's religion. Solomon started the work 480 years after Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of his reign, and it was 27 metres long, 9 metres wide and 13.5 metres high. The text gives great detail of the temple's design with all its relevant measurements describing its portico, windows, rooms, walls, panels, flooring, doors, inner courtyard, inner sanctuary etc. The principal wood used was cedar and much solid rock was used, though this was entirely prepared at the quarry so that there was no crashing and bashing at the temple. All the interior of the temple was overlaid with gold. In the inner sanctuary a pair of cherubins overlaid with gold were a significant feature being 4.5 metres high. On the walls were carved cherubins, palm trees and flowers. 

1 Kings 5 (summary): Preparations for building the Temple

Solomon realized that now in peaceful days he could concentrate on building the temple in Jerusalem so he made an agreement with King Hiram of Tyre, who was a friendly neighbour, for him to provide cedar and pine logs from Lebanon for the construction, with Solomon providing labour to work with that of Hiram, and all the salaries being paid by Solomon. Solomon paid Hiram with vast quantities of wheat and oil. The workforce was very large with a core group of 30,000 men working in shifts of 10,000 with the timber cutting, one month on two months off. Then there were 70,000 carriers, 80,000 stonecutters as well as 3,300 foremen. It was a massive workforce.

1 Kings 4 (résumé): Solomon's organization

 Solomon's kingdom was well organized. Zadok, Azariah son of Zadok and Abiathar were priests; Elihoreph and Ahijar were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; Benaiah was army commander in chief; Azariah son of Nathan was coordinator of the district officers; Zabud was the King's personal adviser; Ahishar was in charge of the palace and Adoniram was in charge of the slaves. Solomon also had 12 regional governors who were responsible for providing supplies for the King and his household a month at a time. The governors were Ben-Hur, Ben-Deker, Ben-Hesed, Ben-Habinadab, Baana son of Ahilud, Ben-Geber, Ahinadab, Ahimaaz, Baana son of Hushai, Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, Shimei and Geber.

Solomon's reign was one of peace and prosperity in which the people were happy, and even neighbouring countries paid him tributes. Solomons daily provisions were 6.6 kilolitres of fine flour, 13.2 kilolitres of meal, 10 stall-fed cattle, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep and goats plus deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl. All this was per day! Solomon had 4,000 stalls for chariot horses and 12,000 charioteers.

Solomon's wisdom and insight was outstanding, surpassing all far and wide, making him famous even amongst the surrounding nations. He composed 3,000 proverbs and over a thousand songs. He also taught biology including plant life, animals, birds, reptiles and fish. International visitors were many coming to hear his wisdom and knowledge.

Communion service

On Sunday I led the monthly communion service in Patos, Sacha, Marina and Fábio led the worship and Sacha preached. It was a lovely service.

Yesterday we went to the wake of a 59-year-old motor-taxi driver who was the father of Michele and grandfather of Letícia who are members of our church.

BP have made their biggest oil and gas find in 25 years off the coast of Santos in southern Brazil. As a result BP's shares rose by 1.4% in London. It's a small world!🌎

I have just booked our Christmas choir, which every year comes to us from our Catolé church in Campina Grande, to present a Christmas Cantata in Patos on Sunday, December 14th. On Saturday, 13th, they will present the cantata at our Conceição church. I am having to book things well ahead as we will only be back from Europe on November 8th.

The BBC has published a very interesting update on the Zika virus which occurred in 2015/2016 which caused 2,000 infected mothers to give birth to children with various deformities including reduced sized skulls. The virus transmitted by the mosquito was 75% in the north-east of Brazil and nobody knows why the virus disappeared. Please pray for the hundreds of mothers who still battle on with their children. 

Ex-Brazilian president Bolsonaro has been put under house arrest, as well as being electronically tagged, because he disobeyed restrictions placed on him by the court. Bolsonaro is under investigation for planning a coup d'état and planning the murder of the current president and the current supreme justice of the high court.  

1 Kings 3 (résumé): Solomon asks for Wisdom

Solomon begins his reign as King sealing a political alliance with Egypt by his marriage with the Pharoah's daughter. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at Gibeon, and God asked him what he most wanted. Solomon didn't ask for longevity, power or wealth. He asked for wisdom. He said that he needed "a discerning heart" to govern the people as he recognized his youth and lack of experience. God was pleased with his request and said he would give him a wise and discerning heart as well as riches and honour which he had not requested. God said he would also give him longevity as long as he walked in his ways and obeyed his commands. 

Then comes a famous example of Solomon's wisdom in action as 2 prostitutes disputed a child. For both had babies, but one died. The dispute was that one woman accused the other of having swapped the living baby for the dead one and the dispute was brought before Solomon to sort out, but that wasn't easy as there were no video replays in those days! Then came Solomon's wise test of love as he ordered the living child to be chopped in half with each mother having half. The deceitful woman was happy to agree to this but the true mother resisted and asked for the living baby to be given to the liar. Thus Solomon discovered who the true mother of the living baby was and gave it to her, and the people held Solomon's wisdom in awe.

1 Kings 2 (résumé): David dies & Solomon takes up the Throne

 On the eve of his death David summons Solomon to be a strong man walking in the ways of the Lord by upholding the covenant with God. David also tells him to execute justice on those who betrayed him: Adonijah, Joab and Shimei. Then David died and was buried in Jerusalem. He had reigned as King for 40 years.

Solomon, having assumed the throne and consolidated his position, eliminated the 3 men suggested by David and thus removed from his pathway potential rivals and those who had created serious problems for David. First of all Solomon had Adonijah executed after he had become further infuriated by him for asking for the beautiful Abishag as his wife. As Abishag had spent David's final years with him Solomon clearly saw the request as a symptom of his old usurping ambitions.

Next to be executed was Joab whose reaction to Solomon's removal of Abiathar from the priesthood brought about his downfall doubtless owing to a guilty conscience. Finally Solomon had Shimei killed for having disobeyed the command of house arrest that he had given him. So the kingdom was now firmly in King Solomon's hands. 

1 Kings 1 (résumé): Adonijah usurps throne but David makes Solomon King

David was now very old so his son Adonijah took his chance to usurp the throne and make himself king without David's knowledge or backing. David was busy being cared for by a beautiful girl called Abishag who used to lay with him to keep him warm though no sex was involved. Adonijah received the backing of many people which they celebrated in a great feast. However Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, went to David to let him know what was going on. David reacted re-confirming his oath to make his son Solomon has successor. So David had Solomon ride his mule, which was an important gesture, and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon as David's successor blowing the trumpets and with the people shouting 'Long live King Solomon'! And Solomon was seated on the throne. When word reached Adonijah his party dispersed and he quickly sought clemency from King Solomon. However Solomon made it clear that clemency would depend on how he behaved. So Adonijah bowed before Solomon and then went home.

2 Samuel 24 (résumé): David counts the fighting Men

This chapter starts with a tremendous conundrum as God incites David to count the fighting men of Israel and Judah and then ends up punishing them for exactly this which resulted in the death of 70,000 people!

Anyway, the count took 9 months and 20 days to complete the census of fighting men which showed that there were 800,000 able-bodied men in Israel that could handle a sword, and there were 500,000 in Judah. David recognized his sin in having conducted the census and asked forgiveness. Then God gave 3 options of punishment to David for having carried out the census and David opted for the 3 days of plague which killed 70,000 people. 

So David purchased a threshing floor and there he built an altar for the Lord where he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. Hence God answered prayer and the plague on Israel was stopped.

Waxbill

Yesterday I saw a large flock of Common Waxbills at Green Pastures. There were hundreds of them. I also saw Cactus Parakeets, many Chalk-browed Mockingbirds and one Great Kiskadee. 

Yesterday afternoon I conducted the wedding of Murilo and Karol and everything went off beautifully. I included in the ceremony, as a surprise, a poem about the couple written by a poetess friend, and it went down very well. I also used the game of chess as a metaphor in my talk to the couple as Murilo and his father are keen chess players. I encouraged Murilo to always value and protect "his queen", and encouraged Karol to care for the "pawns" (kids!) equally even if they have 8 as in chess! Sacha and Marina did the vocals for the ceremony and Rogério, Netinho, Rogaciano and Ricardinho provided the backing.

2 Samuel 23 (résumé): The last words of David

This chapter contains the final oracle of David which is a poem of praise to God thinking back over his reign and over his mighty warriors. David remembers God's covenant with his house and the positive results of righteous rule. The oracle defines the ideal king as one who rules in righteousness and the fear of God, bringing light to the people as sun after the rain. And David compares the righteous ruler with a wicked one whom he describes as a thorny bush which is hard to handle. 

Then David goes on to recall some of his most valiant warriors like Josheb-Basshebeth who killed 800 men in one go! Next he cited the case of Eleazar son of Dodai who stood his ground against the Philistines even when his fellow Israelites retreated, and he fought so hard that his hand froze to his sword! Next was Shammah who took his stand in the middle of a field. Then comes Abishai who killed 300 with his spear and next comes Benaiah who killed 2 of Moab's best men and also killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day, and killed a huge Egyptian. He ends up listing more warriors who were less famous. It is interesting to notice that the last warrior listed is Uriah the Hittite who was the husband of Bathsheba.

Wren

I love hearing the Southern Wren singing outside my office window as I work. It is loud and unmistakable. 

Tomorrow I will be conducting the wedding ceremony of Murilo and Karol at 4:30 in the afternoon. Murilo is a young lawyer in his 20s who is part of our Patos church ministry team, and Karol is a secretary with the State Roads Department. 

Last night we went out to a restaurant as a family to celebrate our granddaughter Alice's 18th birthday. We had a lovely evening together.

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