Christ Students… the Teacher and the Graduation

Where does Christ fits in this? Let’s be honest, taking the Bible verses from the texts, this funny metaphor could be found in an academic magazine somewhere. Where does Grace and Salvation fits in this course? And when do we finish it?

Let’s start with the first question. Christ is, without any doubt, our teacher, our course manager and our dean. He was the One who called us to live, and planned our course, and gives us the notes we need to pass our disciplines. To enroll on this course without Christ is like trying to do Math without knowing what a number is. We can only hope to get the multiple choices correct… with some luck.

He’s our lovely teacher, who observes us in every class and who knows when we have difficulty, even before we start studying certain subjects. However, when we accept Jesus and we follow Him, it’s like we are having Him as a tutor. It’s like having Jesus as our personal teacher, always available to answer our questions.

And so… when we do we graduate? You are not going to like the answer: when we die. The truth is that Jesus talked about going ahead and prepare a place for us. So, when we graduate this huge course that lasts for years, we are apt to go meet Him for a new life, without any disciplines, tests or grades. Just a successful life that we cannot even begin to imagine.

This course is worth it. The decision to follow Jesus Christ is worth a lot of course credits. Every grade after this one decision are positive every time we get closer to the objective of being with Him and living like He wants.

“There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you.” (John 14:2 CEV)

Do you have the courage?

I’m sure you have participated in these embarrassing talks with your family: “Oh you have the same ears as you grandpa Anthony”, “You are just like you aunt Ermelinda”. The truth is that it is inevitable to be associated with someone with our family, and having people recognize that. But are you associated with God in the place where you study and work?

Talking about God to those around us in our every day life is difficult task! It’s really hard, actually. Fear stops us from living fully. We stop talking about God because we are afraid people laugh at us or do not believe what we’re saying, or even that they think we’re idiots.

Life with God makes us feel whole, happy (although we still have problems). It’s a life with a deep relationship with the One who created us. And, one of the main advantages, we have access to eternal life since we accept Jesus, the one who died for us, to enter our life and change it completely. If you think for one minute (maybe even less) you’ll find a reason why your best friend would need God. Having experienced all these things, and not having a deep urge to share this with the ones we love is not fair.

Most of the times we do not do it because fear controls us and tells us we are not able to do it. Believe me, you are not alone. The same happened with Moses! He had to talk with the Pharaoh and tell him that his slaves, Moses’ people, would leave Egypt. Now imagine this: Moses was ordering the Pharaoh, those with big noses and important looks, to let his people go somewhere else. Moses had to face someone who was so powerful he could order the guards to cut him to little pieces! However, Moses seeked God when he was having doubts about all this…

«Moses replied, “I have ever been a good speaker. I wasn’t one before you spoke to me, and I’m not one now. I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say.” But the LORD answered, “Who makes people able to speak or makes them deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don’t you know that I am the one who does these things? Now go! When you speak, I will be with you and give you the words to say.”» (Exodus 4:10-12 CEV)

When you make a decision of talking of God to others, no matter what you think you are capable of, He will help you, and give you what you need and He will take good care of you!

Christ Students… Exams & Grades

It’s about time we talk about the most stressing part of any course: the exams. After studying the manual and going several classes, we hae to check if we really have learned anything at all. In our life, important decisions, temptations and problems are just like exams for our lives.

Here’s something that I only understood after I started creating my own exams for students of mine in my job: we are completely wrong about exams. We still see them as opportunities to make mistakes, or to improve grades, or to cheat with some colleagues, or we see them as tools because our teacher loves to screw us or simply does not like us (some may think that their teacher even hates them!). As I said, we are completely wrong.

An exam is a way the teacher has to express his concern about us being on the correct path, or if we need to review some disciplines. An exam, as I see it, is an act of love.

So, we can’t see a bad grade as a failure or as a proof we are dumb. Rather, it is just another step towards our goal, an opportunity for us to have additional classes, to study harder and to improve our grade. Face these exams, and also the ones in college, as an act of love and concern from the teacher. Work harder to improve yourselves.

“My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into different kinds of temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith works patience.” – James 1:2-3 (MKJV)

If we do all we can, we’ll start having good grades. Our school and university grades work as information to check how we are, but also as rewards for our effort. So, in our life, joy, sadness, the consequences of our actions… all this works as our grades. This affects us in the same way as when we look at the grades we had through the year.

I propose we self-evaluate ourselves.

“But let a man examine himself…” – 1 Corinthians 11:28 (MKJV)

We should review the grades we had until today and think about what we have to improve. We have to consider this day as an opportunity to improve our grades. If we had bad grades, and we hurt someone, we should ask for forgiveness. If we have good grades, it’s time we rejoice and thank God – our teacher -, in order to advance strongly towards our objective

Christ Students… Enrollment & Studying

Since the moment we are born, we are invited do enroll this Life University. Yes, we were called to enroll this course and this amazing adventure. We also have all the disciplines set up for us, carefully chosen for us and for our own success.

At the age of five, we have our first lessons about dealing with others; at 14, we begin some classes about “saying no to certain things” (but we skip quite a lot…); at 16 or 17, we learn about dating and behaving in society; at 18, we redo some disciplines and we relearn things in order to overcome despair, frustration and in order to make big decisions by ourselves… this sort of plan continues throughout our lives.

This course is really hard, but we have a certain advantage: we have, by our side, people that have their notes on some disciplines and problems we are faced with. They are the one who are more experienced, who went through problems close to our own, and that have plenty to tell us and teach us. With them, some lessons are easier to deal with, and we get better grades with time.

However, we can never forget that, as it is in college, we have to study even if we are called to enroll a course. It seems weird t think we need to study for life, but, in fact, we have a manual that can help us daily: The Bible. We hear, time after time, people talking about how this book changed their lives. This happens because not only they studied what the Bible had, but they also put it to action in their lives. When we apply the knowledge we find there, our life changes.

So, I leave you a challenge: start studying the manual and hearing people who went through problems similar to yours. They’ll help you pass these hard disciplines. I leave you a sentence from our manual:

Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge. – Proverbs 23:12 (MKJV)

Christ Students

It’s a matter of time, but in our lives, we all go through an academic stage. The stress, the exams, all the running around, and the anxiety to get the better grade… who doesn’t miss it?

The truth is that university is an amazing experience for everyone. Many quit in the middle of the course, others leave it without knowing what’s the next step. University is a world… but sometimes it seems that it isn’t a world meant for everyone.

However, in this month dedicated to the future and to the academic world, I propose you a new perspective towards our life:  we are somewhat already in an university course. Since we are born, we enroll in a degree, from bachelor’s to PhD in Christ. During this month, I’ll try to explain this better.

One thing you can be sure: from grades to exams, from enrolling to graduating, from the stress to success… we are truly Christ Students in an amazing university degree…

Know Acoustic: Érica Veiga

SUBTITLES ARE NOT AVAILABLE YET!

Petra

Certainly, when we talk about Christian history and the foundations of Christianity as we know it, we also have to go back and look at a band who made history in the Christian community. Petra was our choice!

This band was created in 1972! It was created in Indiana, USA, by Bob Hartman and Greg Hough. They were a part of group that was counteracting the hippie movement back in the day. Since the beginning, the band won a great amount of fans. Back in the 80’s, with a hard rock style, Petra kept growing and growing.

In 2005, they announced the band was going to end. This was due to several rumors and problems with people leaving the band among other things. In fact, the turn of the millennium did not favor the band at all. For some years, they had been trying to reignite the band’s flame, but the audience was not that interested in the band anymore. However, in 2010, the band reunited and and restarted making songs with a CD called Back to the Rock.

As for discography and awards, this band has plenty of them to fill a wall. Let’s start by the albums: they produced 23 studio albums, 17 compilations and 3 live albums. As for awards, just to mention some: they have won 4 Grammy, 10 Dove Awards and they entered the Christian Hall of Fame.

They are clearly an amazing band. What are you waiting for? Check out some of Petra’s songs!

Welcome to the Masquerade – Thousand Foot Krutch

Máscaras e mais máscaras. Imaginem o que seria se nós juntássemos todas as máscaras que já usámos na nossa vida e fizemos um baile de máscaras. Bem, a música de hoje reflete um pouco nesta realidade.

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We’ve got the fire, who’s got the matches
Take a look around at the sea o masks

That’s it! Masks and even more masks on top are a deadly and incomplete combination. We use them because we want to hide something, a weakness or a life event, and this is due to the emptiness and loneliness we fell every single day. If we were to count all the masks we have used in our life, it would be an equivalent of a sea of them.

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and come one come all, welcome to the grand ball
Where the strong run for cover and the weak stand tall

Another mistake is assuming that these masks make us stronger. However, if we’re that strong, why do we keep running away from situations and problems. The truly courageous are the ones who don’t use masks and overcome the problems showing their faces. These are the ones who stand out in the crowd.

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I’m not one to scatter ashes
But there’s some things that melt the plastic
Try and dig down deeper if you can

These masks have a low durability. Some things break them, like important people, other problems… and God, who gently takes them off of our face and can see our real face.

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I’m not afraid / I’m not ashamed / I’m not to blame …
I’m not ashamed / I’m not afraid / I’m not okay
Welcome to the Masquerade

These small sentences are all masks we use to pretend to be strong. But they are simply masks. In all these sentences, there is one that is an actual true statement: “I’m not okay”. Because, in fact, anyone who uses a mask repeats this same sentence over and over mentally. Like they were silently calling for help. And while this happens, the eternal masquerade continues, dancing away.

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Out of the fire, rise from the ashes
Reject your doubt and release the passion

We wanted to end this ball with these two sentences. The authors state here a request and a description. Let’s start by the request: rejecting doubt to release our passion. This is really important, if we want to strengthen ourselves as people, and before God. God wants genuinely passionate people, who love being themselves with no fear of showing their weaknesses. Now the description: people who reject their masks, and unleash their passion, shall rise from fire and be reborn… stronger! Because God will go with them step by step, and make them stronger and stronger!

The masquerade is over! You can drop your masks a live freely in God, to be who He wants us to be! Did you like the song? Don’t miss next week for another musical analysis under the microscope!

 

Loose Thought: The Mask of Pain

Today we’ll get real: we all use this mask. Actually, we, the ones who write these beautiful texts, use it countless times. The truth is that pain is considered a weakness, and no one likes to be weak. People hurt us, or maybe we hurt ourselves (sometimes!)… and instead of admitting it, being able to quickly recover, we put on this mask.

This mask is prettier than all others. It has a big smile, glowy eyes and clean smooth face. This mask also has cushions on the inside for us to not hurt our face while wearing it. We are always comfortable with it. Pure happiness… purely false one, that is. Pain and suffering are important parts of our lives, because the allow us to evaluate if a situation is good or bad, or if a person is a good or bad influence for us.

As with any other mask, this one is bad news for us. However, I have a troubling news for you: I don’t quite know how to fix this mask problem. Sure, I could give you big theoretical advices about not using the mask and such… but that does not solve the issue. The pain is still there, and we’ll still want to hide behind the mask at the end of the day. So, how can we get out?

This mask’s function is to hide our pain from other people, or just specific people. The only way I can see to fight this mask is to talk with someone about this pain of yours. Share it with someone you can really trust, or make a leap of faith and trust that same person that hurt you. Or, if you really have faith, do what I do: share your pain with God. I believe He hears me, and my mask falls off when I talk with Him. Do not let that this mask becomes your face.

Loose Thought: The Mask of Love

I know we just got out of a LUVWEEK, and I know Valentine’s Day was very cute and cuddly (for some of us…), but have to talk about the pink elephant in the room: is it Love?

It’s not our job to judge couples or if Valentine’s Day is a great year for love. But the fact is that someone is deceived, or deceives himself (or herself) with the expression “I Love You”. Many girls give themselves, body and soul, to a boy who’s already locking onto the next target; several couples separate because suddenly the “rose stage” is gone, problems arise, and the mask wears off; men and women that think that beating up their beloved ones is an act of love; and finally, my favorite, people that think that sex is the most romantic and important act that a couple can have in their relationship. All of these examples are masks of love.

None of them is truly a complete concept of Love. Let’s see one by one:

1. Girls do not need to give anything, and boys shouldn’t make them give it. Rushing such an important step does not add value to a relationship… it kills it;

2. Loving is also rational, and not merely emotional. We love with our hearts, but also with our brains. Therefore, when problems arise, we prevent the end of a relationship. Because with our brains, that person will always be special for us;

3. Jealousy is something that should be controlled… like a blood hound. It might be necessary, because there are girls that like to feel the boys’ jealousy (it makes them feel important), but it shouldn’t be something that happens frequently or we’ll end up in an obsession;

4. Finally, sex is a very sweet and intimate moment for a couple, no doubt. But whoever says that it is essential is limitting Love. Love goes way beyond physical experiences… Love is, for instance, talking endlessly by message or in a phone call, or even and exchange of looks.

I end this text telling you to look for examples of Love around you or in the Bible. If you want, check our last week videos to see our examples. Because, if Love is like the Sun in our life, then this mask is stopping us from feeling its warmth, or from seeing its light… and it prevents us from being truly happy with someone special.

Why should I do my best?

I'm known as a nerd. Everyone says that I study too much, and that I cling to books too much. It's not that bad, but it's almost true. I have the habit of putting all of me in everything I do and this applies to studying too. Being the best of the class has always been my ambition and no, not because I want to be better than others, but because this is what God asks of us. In Ecclesiastes 9:10 we read: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might(...)" and in Colossians 3:23 says: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;" These verses complement each other perfectly. God not only asks us to study but He asks us to do it with all our efforts as if we were doing it to Him. In this way we will achieve good results and creates the opportunity to show our friends that God blesses us when we give our best!

 

Proverbs 3:13

ENJUV 2014 Photos

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