I think it may have been Eugene Petterson who coined the delicious phrase, The Subversive Gospel and how wonderfully that expression captures the spirit that is the roguishly anti-establishment Freedom in Christ movement here in Brazil.  Unlike like some other places in the world such as China and Egypt whose underground churches flourish despite the constant cloud of persecution hanging over them, Brazil s brand of pseudo-Christianity ensures that believers can meet freely un-interfered with by the government.  In Brazil the persecution is church rather than state sponsored.  Those who have spoken out against the Neo-Pentecostals and fundamentalists have in some cases brought trouble upon themselves.  It was for that reason a great privilege to be party to a wonderfully conspiratorial lunch hosted by my publisher with Carlos Bregantin leader of The Way of Grace, Ciao Fabio s work in Sāo Paulo & the towering intellect that is Ricardo Gou a, author of inter-alia The e Perverted Mercy and The Passion for Paradox - an introduction to Kierkegaad.   Four hours simply vanished like the evidence of any rainfall on a Sāo Paulo pavement minutes after the sun returned.  We had much to discuss however, time only allowed us to scratch the surface of our present struggles, the circuitous paths that had brought us together and to wonder How the Lord intended for us to walk together down the Ancient Path.  It was an invigorating discussion and one that will be continued. 

I wonder if you have ever felt like the prophet Elijah and have cried out to God I, even I only, am left.   Many times over the last few years since Hayley & I had received the call to share the absurdity of grace in Brazil I have felt like Elijah.  It wasn t that we are daunted by the task not at all for we can indeed do all things through Christ who strengthens us but it was more that we felt a sense of bewilderment that we seemed to be starting from ground zero.  The success of the four Grace Project ecclesias in Sāo Paulo was proof positive that there is an appetite for Freedom In Christ here in Brazil but we knew of no ministry - nobody not a single insider, or to borrow from Malcolm Gladwell s The Tipping Point, we knew of no Mavens or Connectors to this message.  Little did we know when we settled on Johnathas Baptisa the owner of the publishing company Grapho that we had found both a maven and a connector! 

When Hayley and I were here in April to meet Johnathas and talk about him publishing the book he arranged a lunch for us to meet with Ciao Fabio who as it transpires is the Morpheus of Brazil.  Once the darling of the Evangelicals the feted leader of the churches in Brazil he has been for the last several years the flag bearer of grace in this country and consequently become the scourge of the institutional church.  Over a 1,000,000 hits a month on his website tells its own story.  Ciao Fabio is the voice of the underground and that voice is getting louder and louder as the stench of corruption and abuse among the churches grows worse and worse.

The truth is that far from being Elijah, the Lord has called us from among the seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal and has sent us here to labour alongside the true Elijahs, men like Ciao Fabio & Ricardo Gou a who Jezebel [the anti-Christ church] has sought to destroy.  We have come to their homeland for such a time as this to bring encouragement and give our support carrying with us the message that the Lord spoke to the Apostle Paul during his stay in Corinth: Do not be afraid but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I have many in this city who are my people. Acts 18:9b-10 

This most beautiful and captivating country is laid low by the airborne virus of legalism: the Pentecostal strain and the Universal Church strains being especially malignant [ I fear I may have overdosed on Ted Dekker I am just getting into Red the second in the spellbinding trilogy which is like for Christians] anyway the point is that we have the vaccine aka JESUS the antidote, Christ, must be administered without Christianity, those who have taken it in sufficient doses show remarkable sings of recovery. All the symptoms are in retreat. Gone are the feelings of guilt.  Gone too is the irrational paranoia that God is angry with them.  Gone too is the obsessive need to attend church services everyday and give all their money to the ministry.  Wives receive their loved ones back from the dead so to speak.  Joy is returning. Love has cast out fear and their monochrome world is now gloriously colourful.  Grace in all its absurdity and love in all its outrage having been applied unblocks the arteries to enable God s vivifying life to flow through their veins. As the colour returns, so does the hope, the peace, and the desire to forgive to those who have caused them pain. And so as the patients respond the love increases day by day.  Grace is the vaccine, like the flour that was added to Elisha s servants stew.  The conspirators and this foreigner dare to dream that some day we will have vaccinated them all finally ending the terrible cry that goes up from the churches O man of God, there is death in the pot    all we need now is a minstrel and so to dinner.

My dinner guest for the evening was none other than Jorge Camargo, who for twenty-five years has been the Graham Kendrick of Brazil.  Jorge plays the guitar with divine grace. I have been listening to some of his CD s this morning. He has written over 300 songs many of which have been recorded have become standards in the churches in Brazil.  I had been introduced to Jorge at the soiree for the book launch on Saturday night.   He had brought a copy of the book and we had exchanged details and to my delight he had contacted me through the web blog. 

I was thrilled. Jorge arrived at my hotel around 8pm his impeccable English meant that we were able to share freely without the need of translation.   How mysteriously the Lord works His wonders to perform. For sure Jorge is one of the Elijah . The Lord seems to be marshalling His troops each of us with our own unique Jacobean limp [the entry price to this particular club] and Pauline testimony that Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But this was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. [2 Cor 1:9]. The teachers were gathering and now I discovered that the underground had in its midst a true Levite a minstrel to write and sing the songs of freedom Home from the Rivers of Babylon where he sat down and hung his harp.  Now, once again to sing the Lord s song.

And so to bed to dream Unlike Dekker s Thomas Hunter I shall not dream of another world but like Thomas I am becoming ever increasingly more and more acutely aware of the unseen realm.

Sola Agape

Paul

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If you re ever in Brazil make sure you don t leave before you ve sampled the delights of Bob s burgers.  It is one of Hayley and my first ports of call whenever we are here. The burgers are great but the Ovaltine milkshakes are pure nectar - ohmygosh! They re worth the trip on their own.  So naturally it was to Bob s for a late lunch with our dear friends David & Vivianne who have returned from David s native Sweden to resettle in Vivianne s native Brazil.   It was wonderful to spend time with them before heading for the HTV studios to record a programme about the Bonsai Conspiracy that will be broadcast on Friday night.  

Having arrived at the station it was an unexpected pleasure to meet a young four-piece vocal group called Communion we met in the green room they were singing on the programme that I was appearing on and then staying on to record a show of their own which they invited us to stay and watch. I am so glad I did it was magnificent.  After their show we had some time together.  What a delightful connection. On stage they sing like angels off stage they carry themselves like real gentlemen.  I am writing this morning listening to their CD on my laptop and looking forward to Sunday when we hope to be ministering together.  The group were deeply impacted by the message of God s unconditional love and acceptance that I shared on the show.  

I must admit I was a little surprised that I was given the complete freedom to present the message behind the Bonsai Conspiracy. Without feeling the need to temper or redirect my thoughts Eber, who is class act a very good TV chat show host encouraged me to speak about the book. I am intrigued he said, we all know what a bonsai is and we can see from this excellent cover what is at the heart of your message but tell me in your own words what is the Bonsai Conspiracy? I contrasted the plight of the bonsai restricted by its shallow pot and manipulated to remain small by a deliberate process of selective pruning and that of the Palm trees of Psalm 92 who, without interference burrow their roots down deep into the life giving soil of grace. Explaining by allegory how the roots of the palm fathom the depths of Christ versus the shallow pots of religion and the shoulding shears of legalism.   I talked about how for the formative years of its life the palm tree produced no visible fruit an anathema of course to the religious mind.  However, as their growth continued invisible to the religious eye of instant gratification their leaves like hands raised in worship stood aloft in adoration of their Creator.  Meanwhile, beneath the surface its roots burrowed further and further down to the very water table of divinity from where it would draw its life and in the words of the Psalmist where we are to draw ours The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteous in him.   Ps 92:12-14

The show s host, Eber was graciousness itself and truly he possesses a deep understanding of grace.  The last time I was on the show he summed our message up as succinctly as anyone I have ever heard What we are saying here is that the only thing that matters is knowing who you really are the Christian identity is the key to it all. Wonderful! This time with even more economy he nailed it This message of free grace this is the true Gospel.   Eber kept on loading the gun and so I kept firing the bullets.  The gunshots went on well into the night.  Eber asked me how we have sought to engage with and train church leaders in this message with leaders and what problems I have encountered. I took aim! .. Actually I was very measured in my reply. We talked about the three seasons of life in 1 John 2:12-14. I explained John s definition of the little children and we spoke about total forgiveness. Then I simply asked how many Christians he thought believed that their sins, past, present and future had been forgiven. A tiny percentage he conceded.   Without pausing for breadth I talked to him about the ministry of condemnation that is the staple diet of the church because they have not appropriated total forgiveness.   It was time to cue communion - we were already there!

Liberdade Liberdade! - Obrigardo Senhor

Sola Agape

Paul

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Even the combination being flat-packed into a KLM economy seat for more than 11 hours and the familiarity that comes with arriving in a country for the 10th time failed to numb the perennial anticipation or dampen the enthusiasm that surges through my veins every time I arrive in my adopted and much beloved Brazil.  It seemed odd to be escaping the sweltering heat of a balmy London summer for the relative cool of a Sao Paulo winter [which at 85 is my kind if winter] but there it was and here I am.

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