Follow me

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:57-62 NIV)

As we read Luke chapter 9, we can see that it is a very busy chapter. Jesus multiplies the bread for the crowd, heals the sick, is transfigured at the mountain before three of his disciples, goes to Jerusalem; He is not accepted in a samaritan village and He has to go to another village, and at the end, while He is going there, he talks to these three people that the scripture tells us about.

There are several possible ways that we can relate to Jesus, and in all of them we know He does good for us: He blesses us, He feeds us, He comforts us, He heals us. From all these manifestations of Jesus's authority, among all the miracles, there is one manifestation that is more subtle, maybe less impressive, less virtuous, but that is the one that have my attention due to the impact it has in our lives.

It is Jesus calling: "follow me". How simple is to comprehend a miracle, a manifestation of power, glory, and divine healing. These are, in fact, glorious moments that leave a mark in the history of those who are present, of those who received a favor from God. The calling "follow me", however, is something of much greater deepness, much greater transcendence, and whose responsive action is not something tight, immediate, unique. But to respond this calling make us to question the very essence of who we are, which values we have, what is important to us and what is the priority of our hearts.

"Follow me". Such a simple expression that leads us to the most profound reflection. A simple calling with the power to hit our spirit and soul in a way we could never think possible. So much at stake! So many questions! It is Jesus calling us to something higher, something precious, something inscrutable. Moreover, it touches the subjects that most afflicts us: it is something we do not know, something that we are afraid of, something that challenges us to see beyound the limits of our own individuality.

The social and moral degradation we have seen around us, if you and I just stop to think about, comes from the fact that more and more the individualism is being aimed and preached, and each time there are less limits for what someone could desire and achieve. However these things stick us to a meaningless life, that could follow its way towards the grave without knowing a thing but itself, its wishes, its selfishness.

"Follow me", said Jesus. Jesus invites us to abandon our own way and follow His way; or better, the way which is Himself. He invites us to stop deciding where we would go, where we would eat, where we would sleep, what are our dreams and ambitions, in order to live and walk whatever He lives and walks. Such a simple expression, but like a two-edged sword, it crosses the human soul, taking us to the most profound questions.

How would I respond? How would you respond? Are we able of leaving aside the emptyness of our own priorities in life? Are we able to see how much meaningless our own search becomes when we live circling around ourselves? Are we able to respond to this call?

"Follow me", Jesus says to us today.

Not called?

Salvation army bell

'Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world. (William Booth)


Stay in the peace of Jesus Christ.
Saulo Oliveira Santos.

There is only one Gospel

"There is only one Gospel, not two, not three or half dozen, but only one. Not one for this organization and another for that other, not one for the primitive Church and another for today, not one for the preacher and another for the church member, but one Gospel that doesn't change, from a God that doesn't change.

Paul the apostle said: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse!" (Galatians 1:8).

The text says: "He makes (…) his servants flames of fire“ (Hebrews 1:7 NIV), nnot an imitation, not merely a promoter of religious theories, but a flame of fire, which returns to men the things that God had to be the most precious things for which he paid such a great price. The cold intellectual discourses that demand the respect of the world will never serve to address the needs of this critical hour.

(...)

The non-inspired theology with his pale orthodoxy says, "Yes, I know the Bible says so, but look at the failures around us."

The inspired men cry, "Let God be true, and every human being a liar" (Romans 3:4).

The Word is true, all that is needed for it to be fulfilled is someone who believes in it. Men may be saved, they can be filled with the Spirit, they can be healed as the days in the past.

He is the same today, yesterday and for ever."

From the book "Este poder puede ser suyo", Tommy Hicks, www.peniel.com, pages 20 and 21.

Stay in the peace of Jesus Christ!

Saulo Oliveira Santos

Who is the good samaritan?

In the scripture that is in Luke 10:25-37, Jesus tell us about the Good Samaritan parable; a character that is well-known by his act of kindness for free in favour of that one next to him. Many teaches about this text with a focus on social justice, in how we can and must help the ones in need and the ones next to us. A lot we may have preached and listened about the ones that passed by, and then stepped away, and did nothing. And much we are taught about this attitude, on how we, as church, must not withdraw, or abstain, or yet omit ourselves from that sort of situation, and that we must be the active agent on that circumstances.

However, differently from that interpretation that reads this text in the context of social justice, in this day I want to propose another reading.

We are not the good samaritan. Jesus is this good samaritan that the text speaks about. In this extraordinary parable, we have a mini-bible, containing everything since the history of the fall of the man, until the second coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one that identified himself with the next in difficulties. This man, the man who "(...) was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho (...)" (Luke 10:30), then, represents us, represents all the mankind. The hebrew word for man, for example, is Adam. Adam represents the falling mankind.

Jerusalem was the place where God met with the man. The presence of the Lord was manifested by a shining Glory in the Holy of Holies in the Great Temple. There God had fellowship with the man. Jerusalem means "city of peace", or "place of peace". Before the devil put his cruel hand over the human race, man used to walk and talk with God daily.

When sin got in, man stepped away from God and hid himself from the Lord. Since that day until now, man is moving apart from the Lord, and keeps "going down" from Jerusalem (the place of peace, the place of the presence of God) unto Jericho; and Jericho was a city of great evilness; it was a place that received the following prophecy: " (...) Cursed before the LORD is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates."" (Joshua 6:26). A place with no foundation, no wall, no doors. A place without protection, where the authority has been destroyed, and where the enemy had plenty of access. The city of Jericho was also the first city conquered after Joshua had passed Jordan river with all the people of Israel. The city should be totally destroyed, in a manner that not even the spoils were allowed.

And this man "was going down" from Jerusalem unto Jericho. When man has sinned, he certainly "went down", he fell from his original status. He fell from the position of glory together with the Lord, he fell from a position of intimate relationship with God, unto a place of curse.

There was no doubt that the man, originally, has dressed garments of light, the light of the Glory of the Lord. It was an inside-shining that emanated from him. A glimpse of this brilliance that the fallen humanity has lost was seen in Moses, because when he went down from the mountain his face shone. While Stephen was stoned to death, his face shone like the face of an angel.

With the exception of the humanity, all the rest of creation is dressed. Birds have feathers, the wild animals are covered with leather, the beasts of the forest have fur, the fish has its scales, and the trees are covered with leaves. Solomon, in all his glory, hasn't not dressed like a lily. So only the man is naked.

On his journey to Jericho, this unfortunate man fell among robbers who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and went away, leaving him half dead. Satan is the ultimate thief; he stripped the man of his garments, and left him naked, with nothing covering their sin, without all divine glory, devoid of authority which was appropriate to him.

That man was wounded; the sin brought him curse, thorns, sadness, death and pain; the the unregenerate man is physically alive but spiritually dead.

This seems to be what is suggested by the parable, since the man who fell among thieves was stripped of his garments, was wounded and was left, in fact, half dead.

Now, notice that the priest and the Levite who came this way by chance, both went wide. In fact, they represent the law and the ceremonial system that can never erase the sin. The "Samaritan" was Christ. He did not come by chance. His coming was ordained before the foundation of the world. Nor does he passed by. He came up precisely where the man was. What a precious truth! He came to rescue and redeem the mankind! He came to heal the broken hearts and put oil on the open wounds. Is not that wonderful?!

Christ comes to where we are. In the capital or any other town, in the city or countryside, in the dens of sin, in the alley, wherever we are, Christ is always the one who seeks us. When we meet us, He tenderly raises us on his chest, and goes his way rejoicing, as one pastor who found the sheep which was lost.

There is a greater truth if you look at it. It is true that, because of sin, we are under condemnation. Christ, who knew no sin, stood in the place of condemnation for us. At Calvary, He died for our sins;, so when we trust Him, and in his shed blood, our sins are washed and erased forever. He came to where we were so we could go to where he is.

Christ, the true samaritan, bound our wounds and poured oil, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, by whom every believer is sealed for "the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).

The innkeeper should take care of this rescued man until the Samaritan returned. ""Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done." (Revelation 22:12).

What is Jesus saying? The next in the story, Jesus Christ himself, had mercy of the lost humanity. He instructs us to have the same mercy. That is, we are not part of a religious system, we have no part in rites, we are not those who can do nothing. The law showed the sin of man but the law can not deliver. Only Jesus Christ can do that. We, the church, are the representative of Christ. We are the ones that bring people to the Good Samaritan.

Stay in the peace of Christ Jesus!

Saulo Oliveira Santos.

Try to be weak, while He is strong

Hello friends and brothers!

Today I inaugurate this blog with the objective of helping the christians to fulfill the calling of the Church of Jesus Christ, which is to preach the gospel, and make disciples.

This is an actual and urgent calling. While you read this blog, it is certain that there are people from  our relationship living in sadness, distress, without hope and salvation. It is time for us to preach the message of salvation.

In these days God is awakening the Church with a revival like no one has seen before. The glory of the Lord is being poured over the Earth like the waters cover the sea. I want to be part of it! I want to  be part of the movement of the Holy Spirit in these days, and I know that this is a longing that permeates the whole Church.

One of the major impediments somebody that one can have for the preaching of the gospel is to consider his/her own person as the limiter. We all know our strengths and weaknesses. We all know our limits and weaknesses. We could say, for example, that we could never speak in public. Or we could say that we don't have the profile of an evangelist. We could say that we could never learn an instrument, or a foreign language. You could maybe say that you may never forgive someone. And we get too conformed by being "this way".

Paul, the apostle, however, writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9 saying: "(...) Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses". The things we often say that makes us sad and stops us, Paul claimed to be the reason for his joy.

You can ask: How is that? How can I be joyful when I'm weak in something? However, this is the will of God. That you and I recognize that we are weak; that we finally admit it. Because if I move in the things that I know, who moves: me or God? Certainly I do. This way, all the fruits that I gather is of my own glory. And if I cease to move because I don't know something, who cease to move: me or God? Certainly I do too.

(NIV) John 3

6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

This way, if I move or cease to move based on what I know or what I don't know, I do it based on my own strengths and weaknesses. Look that the human strength is illusion. All strength of the man is weakness before God. So... to move or not to move based on me, will always be based in the weakness of man.

Reading again 2 Corinthians 12.

(NIV) 2 Corinthians 12

9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

How can I do? What must I do? I must recognize, every day, before God that I am weak and give up to be strong, so that He might be strong in me. Our joy is based on the fact the only way we may the power of God fully manifested is if we let Him live in us, if we let Him be the strength in us.

This is delivering, because we don't need pre-requisites to preach the gospel. None, but being in the presence of God. What we do need is to hold a relationship with the Holy Spirit. The only way we may have extraordinary results is to do extraordinary things, and this things are impossible for us to do! So, the only way we could live extraordinarily is living by the Spirit of God.

So my brothers, while considering witnessing about Jesus, make sure that your central concern is to depend on the Holy Spirit of God. Of course we must know God, and the Word of God, but the Holy Spirit of God is the center of evangelism. What His presence does, no man can do.

Stay in the peace of Christ Jesus!

Saulo Oliveira Santos.