The Peace That Was Meant to Be..

Here were are in the season of Advent.. singing carols, baking cookies, going to church and office parties. We are waiting for the "big day" to get here. I am no fan of consumerism, but I believe that giving heart felt gifts and getting together with neighbors is a very good thing. We need things to look forward. to I also have an affection for cheese balls, and Christmas is a great cheese ball holiday! Christmas is also supposed to be a great holiday for peace, where we proclaim "Let there be peace on earth!"

I have to make a confession.. and I mean a terrible dirty confession. I have not watched the news in months. I just cannot. It is not that I do not care or try to hide form the world's problems. Especially with all of the things happening in the USA right now. I just don't have the ability to take in people hurting people, it makes me sick (this is for real and not just a phrase). I have survived numerous abuses in my life that have left their mark on my soul. When I see people hurting each other, it makes me want to be sick to my stomach. I catch most of my news from Facebook headlines and from friends comments.

Lately I have been thinking about that phrase "Let there be peace on earth!".. I think part of the problem that we have is that we miss the other part.. "the peace that was meant to be".. I do not feel that the world was ever created to be a Utopian society where everyone has the same things and equal amounts of everything for all. There would be no motivation to work or better the world. I do feel though that there should be enough, for all.  It was written that  Jesus mentioned in the scriptures that there would always be poor among us. I believe that it is a "poor" of  many kinds he was referring to.  There is physical poverty,social poverty, poverty of understanding. The list goes on. If there were no challenges in life ministry would sort of be an empty thing, because no real growth would occur.

 The more I have struggled this season and looked to the scriptures for help.. the more the lyrics of the song "the peace that was meant to be!" continue to come forth. The peace of having enough. The peace of protest that does not alienate people. The peace of sharing food with those who have too little or none at all. The peace of giving people the proper tools to take care of themselves, and allow them the dignity that the wealthy of the world has. This is the peace that was meant to be. This peace allows people to be open in worship of their faith to live without fear. This peace allows people to express their love for each other without the confines of gay, straight, sexuality, or gender dividing people. This peace allows equal access to all who deserve work and want to work without the stigma of race, color, or gender stopping them.

The news has become so inflammatory in the USA that for my part of the peace that was meant to be, it means not giving news stations my business. It means that I will try to use multiple news venues to get my information before I act.  It means that I will not knee-jerk react when someone does or says something I do not like. The peace that was meant to be also means that I will take time to listen to people that I disagree with so that I can better understand them, rather that shut them out or try to shove them in a corner. The peace that was meant to be... I hope that my readers will take time to reflect on what that peace means to them and what it was meant to be in their lives. Maybe you will let go of a grudge. Maybe you will take time to speak to a neighbor. Maybe you will not cringe and scream inwardly the next time said neighbor uses the snow thrower at 2:00 am to "beat the clean up rush" in two inches of snow.  Maybe you will take time to meditate in traffic rather than cuss out the guy in front of you who cut around you to get to the intersection just in time for the red. Whatever it is let it be "the peace that was meant to be!"

Merry Christmas... JDC

In the Nick Name of Love.... "Uncle Jerson, Uncle Josie"

Tradução Português na parte fim do artigo.

Pastor Carlos Carvalho and I Just after my "adoption" in  July 2012

Being a missionary is very hard. I spend a lot of time away from my home and family in the USA, and even more time away from my family in Brasil. It makes me wonder with the heartaches that are felt away why God chose me to do this work. Every time I spend time with my brothers and sisters in the church (locally and globally) I am reminded why. We are a people who need a connection. We are a people who need love and attention. Life in the church provides that, as well as a relationship with God. We experience God's love through each other. Sometimes His prophetic words are given to us through those who serve him. I would like you to meet my "Uncle Jerson" who in turn calls me "Uncle Josie".. it was a funny mistake that stuck as a nick name. It is funny how a nickname can sometimes bring about a friendship with someone and friendships can bring nicknames.. 

To My Uncle Jerson with Love

I wondered a moment what kind of nickname God would have.. then I realized we have given Him many.. the "Almighty God" "Alpha and Omega" "Savior" "Shepard" and "Father..."

I love it that in Brazil when we pray because we use the word " Daddy" I know that for some people this might seem strange and to others almost too intimate of a word to use when talking to God..... but I have discovered that God is a very personal God. Sometimes because we struggle to sense Him in the moment with us, we imagine that God is in the future waiting for us to find him in a time and place far away because the scriptures keep talking about the second coming. (The largeness of the Universe also doesn't help, because we often point to heaven as being "up there and out there")  Sometimes we think God is just in the past.. because we find the testimonies that others have shared in the Bible, and often we cannot always identify with God's personal nature through them because many of them were written for a different audience. Some churches even teach that God was done with his people, wanting them no more... For some people it is difficult to imagine that God had relationships with more than just the prophets because the stories of everyday people were not recorded. I have discovered though that God is a God of the moment.. or better said "a God of the present time for all people". This moment. The now. God is with us in ways that we can never imagine. 

Some of the most powerful connections that I have had with God were prophetic moments. These were times where God had a message for someone that needed to hear that God still loves and cares for them. Often times these are people that I don't know very much about. One of the most profound experiences I have had was with my dear friend Jerson. Over several weeks I saw angels with him and had visions of people from his past, over the internet streaming live while I was in the USA. I told him about what I saw when I went back to Brazil.. . I felt like a crazy person when I had to explain what was happening in these visions (in my second language, which I did not speak very well at the time)....... Jerson though, did not think I was crazy and he knew what I was talking about, for the most part. God was trying to get Jerson's attention. I was the only way to get it. When someone who you don't know very well, tells you things that no one else knows... it gets your attention fast. Jerson needed to know that God loves him, and that He was with Jerson through everything he struggled with in life and would be with him in the future.  Most important was the message God was a close as his own breath all the time.

I started calling Jerson "Uncle Jerson" on my second trip to Brazil. His brother Carlos and I work together in Sao Paulo. Carlos is the Pastor of Poa and I am his adviser and counselor. I call Carlos "Dad" and have been adopted by the whole Carvalho family.  Calling Jerson "Uncle" is a great privilege for me and for him I believe something of an honor. That nickname tells him he is loved. I send him letters almost every week through Facebook and try to call him on the phone every Tuesday. I enjoy talking to him about the weather and the things that are happening in his life. I think about the first few times that I spoke to Jerson about God and how scared I was of making mistakes and using bad Portuguese.

Jers understands me very well now. We speak a mixture of mostly Portuguese and little English and Spanish sprinkled in.... but my message is often the same. "God loves you, you are special, you are a blessing to others".. I know that sometimes life is busy and that we have too many things to do, but we need to make time to share God's message with people in special ways.. even if it is through those silly one or two word phrases called nicknames... Even people who know God very well need this. Jerson is no stranger to God. He is a very active member of our church. He participates in worship twice weekly, but Jerson like myself, is a human. We need to be reminded constantly of the relationship that we have with God and that others in the world love us, just as we are. My portuguese will never be perfect and Jerson's english the same, but we both understand Gods presence in us through the "nick name" of love. God bless you always Uncle Jerson..... from Uncle Josie

PORTUGUESE - (google)

Ser missionário é muito difícil. Eu passo muito tempo longe da minha casa e da família nos EUA, e ainda mais tempo longe da minha família no Brasil. Isso me faz pensar com as dores da alma que se fazem sentir afastado por que Deus me escolheu para fazer este trabalho. Toda vez que eu passar o tempo com meus irmãos e irmãs na igreja (local e global) Lembro-me porquê. Somos um povo que precisam de uma conexão. Somos um povo que precisam de amor e atenção. A vida na igreja prevê que, assim como um relacionamento com Deus. Nós experimentamos o amor de Deus através de um ao outro. Às vezes, suas palavras proféticas são dadas a nós por aqueles que o servem. Gostaria que você conhecesse o meu "Uncle Jerson" que por sua vez me chama de "Uncle Josie" .. foi um erro engraçado que preso como um apelido. É engraçado como um apelido pode às vezes levar a uma amizade com alguém e amizades podem trazer apelidos ..

Para Meu Uncle Jerson Com Amor

Perguntei-me um momento que tipo de apelido Deus teria .. então eu percebi que demos-Lhe muitos .. o "Deus Todo-Poderoso" "Alpha e Omega" "Salvador" "Shepard" e "Pai ..."
Eu amo-o que, no Brasil, quando oramos porque nós usamos a palavra "Pai" Eu sei que para algumas pessoas isso pode parecer estranho .... mas eu descobri que Deus é um Deus muito pessoal. Às vezes porque lutamos para senti-Lo no momento com a gente, nós imaginamos que Deus é, no futuro, esperando por nós para encontrá-lo em um tempo e lugar distante. (A grandeza do Universo também não ajuda, porque muitas vezes apontam para o céu como sendo "lá em cima e lá fora") Às vezes pensamos que Deus é justo no passado .. porque encontramos os testemunhos que os outros têm compartilhado na Bíblia, e muitas vezes nem sempre podemos identificar com a natureza pessoal de Deus através deles, porque muitos deles foram escritos para um público diferente. Algumas igrejas ensinam que Deus mesmo foi feito com o seu povo, querendo que eles não mais ... Para algumas pessoas, é difícil imaginar que Deus teve relacionamentos com mais do que apenas os profetas, porque as histórias de pessoas comuns não foram registrados. Eu descobri que esse Deus é um Deus do momento .. ou melhor, "um Deus do tempo presente para todas as pessoas". Esse momento. O agora. Deus está conosco de uma maneira que nunca podemos imaginar.


Algumas das conexões mais poderosas que eu tive com Deus foram momentos proféticos. Eram tempos em que Deus tinha uma mensagem para alguém que precisava ouvir que Deus ainda o ama e se importa com eles. Muitas vezes estas são as pessoas que eu não sei muito sobre. Uma das experiências mais profundas que tive foi com o meu querido amigo Jerson. Ao longo de várias semanas, vi anjos com ele e tinha visões de pessoas de seu passado, sobre o streaming de internet ao vivo, enquanto eu estava nos EUA. Eu disse a ele sobre o que eu vi quando eu voltei para o Brasil ... Senti-me como uma pessoa louca quando eu tive que explicar o que estava acontecendo nessas visões (na minha segunda língua, que eu não falava muito bem na época) ....... Jerson porém, não achava que eu era louco e ele sabia o que eu estava falando, em sua maior parte. Deus estava tentando chamar a atenção de Jerson. Eu era a única maneira de obtê-lo. Quando alguém que você não conhece muito bem, diz-lhe coisas que ninguém mais sabe ... ele recebe sua atenção rápida. Jerson precisava saber que Deus o ama, e que Ele estava com Jerson através de tudo o que ele lutou com a vida e estaria com ele no futuro. O mais importante era a mensagem de Deus foi um fim como sua própria respiração o tempo todo.

Comecei a chamar Jerson "Uncle Jerson" por que fui adotados por toda a família Carvalho. Chamando Jerson "tio" é um grande privilégio para mim e para ele eu acredito que algo de uma honra. Esse apelido lhe diz que ele é amado. Eu enviar-lhe cartas quase todas as semanas através do Facebook e tentar chamá-lo ao telefone toda terça-feira. Gosto de conversar com ele sobre o tempo e as coisas que estão acontecendo em sua vida. Eu penso sobre as primeiras vezes que eu falei para Jerson sobre Deus e como eu estava com medo de cometer erros e usando mau Português.

Jers me entende muito bem agora. Falamos de uma mistura de Inglês principalmente Português e pouco e espanhol polvilhado em .... mas minha mensagem é muitas vezes o mesmo. "Deus ama você, você é especial, você é uma bênção para os outros" .. Eu sei que às vezes a vida está ocupado e que temos muitas coisas para fazer, mas precisamos dar tempo para compartilhar a mensagem de Deus com as pessoas de maneiras especiais .. mesmo que seja através desses bobos uma ou duas palavras frases chamados nicknames ... mesmo as pessoas que conhecem a Deus muito bem precisa disso. Jerson não é estranho a Deus. Ele é um membro muito ativo da nossa igreja. Ele participa de culto duas vezes por semana, mas Jerson como eu, é um ser humano. Nós precisamos ser lembrados constantemente da relação que temos com Deus e que outros no mundo nos amam, assim como nós somos. Meu português nunca será perfeito e Jerson de Inglês o mesmo, mas nós dois entendemos a presença de Deus em nós através do "apelido" do amor. Deus o abençoe sempre Uncle Jerson ..... do Uncle Josie