“Love is to be completely vulnerable. Love any thing and your heart will certainly be pressed and will possibly be broken (…) the only place beyond the sky where you are completely immune to all the dangers and concerns of the love is in the hell.” C.S.Lewis
“The love which exalts is worship, the one which goes outside is affection; the one which inclinates is mercy.” Donald Barnhouse
I grew up in a place full of supernatural manifestation. Cures, liberation of malign spirits were so frequent phenomena in my dad´s ministry, that they didn´t surprise me anymore. I could mention easily a great number of miraculous cases I could watch during my childhood and adolescence. I learned since I was young, that God answers the prayer of His children.
When I was 17 years old I had to temporarily assume the pastorate of a church in Engenho Novo, Rio de Janeiro. There I could test everything I had learned from my father. Even without much experience, I felt I was used by God to release the pain of many sufferers.
The growing of that first church let me receive the invitation to pastorate The headquarters of the churches led by my father. At that time, I was 19 years old. There, God continued to act efficiently through my ministry.
I received invitations to preach in The United States, where God also carried through feats. I preached in Cruzades and Campaigns in many different cities of Brazil, such as, Curitiba, São Luís, Juiz de Fora, Campinas, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá and many others.
I presented radio and TV programs. I published my first book in 1992. My ministry was growing.
When I was 22, I founded next to my father the ministry which I preside since the death of my father in 2001.
In 1995, When I was 25 years old, my ministry suffered a shake-up.
God presented me and my wife Tania with a special daughter. She was 5, but she had never walked or talked. After going to many experts, we heard from a bolivian doctor that our daughter would never walk.
It shuffled my head.
How could I continue preaching that Christ cures, if my own daughter wasn´t able to walk?
One day, when I talked to a young lady in my office, she felt possessed by a malign spirit, that through her mouth said: “ I am the responsible for your daughter´s disease. My purpose is to shame your ministry.”
That was the end! I hold my daughter, went to the back of the church and prayed to God. It was March 21,1993. From that moment on, every day I thanked for have cured my daughter on that date.
Time had passed, but my daughter hasn´t showed any better signs.
It was a Saturday of October, 1995. I woke up with a strong desire to pray.
I told my wife I didn´t want to be interrupted. I locked myself in the room listening to a worship song and I started to open my heart to God.
My words were like this:
- Lord, it´s not fair my daughter continues sick. Remember all I have done for your workmanship. Remember all the youth I spent in your church. Remember my sacrifices. Remember that my father gave 30 years of his life to your workmanship. Since when, Lord, will my daughter be the shame of my ministry?
It was as if I forced God to cure my daughter, just because of my merit. Suddenly, I felt something was happening. I shut up and waited. A sweet and soft voice addressed to my heart:
- Why do your deeds give you the right to charge me anything? I owe you nothing. What I do in man´s life isn´t by his merit, but by my grace. And more: I have cured her in the cross.
In the first moment, I wanted to argue. But that voice, although it was sweet, it sounded like unmatchable authority.
I opened my Bible and started to read Paul´s letter to the Romans. The sensation was that a blindfold has been removed from my eyes. Everything was clear. I have been a minister for 8 years but I haven´t noticed yet. It was a revelation. I can´t find a word that best defines that experience.
Tania and I decided to appoint a thanksgiving cult for the life of Rayane. For the first time, I exposed our daughter´s problem.
Up to that moment, I have always oriented my wife to keep our daughter out of the curious looks of the churchbrothers. They used to sit in the last bench of the church, and before it ended, she had taken her to my office.
While everyone was listening to my explamation, I finished up: “Don´t be sad. Lord had cured our daughter in the cross. There, He made all the provision.”
Some days later, on an evening Sunday cult; during the offertory, my wife took the money from her purse. Suddenly, Rayane took the money from her hand, stood up and walked toward the pulpit, and let it there. Everyone was astonished, even me. Some, impressed, started to cry. I was seized with surprise. I didn´t know how to react to waht God had done ahead of my eyes. My daughter had finally walked for the first time.
Since then, the emphasis of my ministry has been the marvellous and admirable God’s grace.
When we talk about “grace”, we talk about the unworthy favor allowed by God to the men. Grace is the way through God work with His creatures.
We must understand that grace has a source, and it’s love.
Grace is related to God’s act procedure. Love is related to God´s being. He acts gracefully for those who love Him.
Love is the source through grace arises.
I like very much the definition given by Philip Yancey:
“Grace means there’s nothing we can do for God loves us more – no quantity of renunciation; no knowledge acquired in Seminars and Theology Universities, no Cruzades in favor of the right motives. And grace means there’s nothing we can do for God loves us less – no quantity of racism or proud, pornography or adultery, or even murder. Grace means God has already loved us as much as it’s possible for an eternal God loves us.”
I praise God for each ministry which has emphasized grace nowadays,despite some excess, and of what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” In fact , Charles Swindoll is totally right when he says that preaching grace is a great risk. Despite of it, I prefer to preach the truth and run the risk of being badlly interpreted than to preach the lie that man can be saved by his merits. Unfortunatelly I perceive many who preach grace, tranforms it into a war horse, bringing separations among the brothers. Maybe they need to recognize the source of all grace is love. Where there’s lack of love, there’s lack of grace.
Many arguments could be avoided if the christians learned to love. The contemporary church would make well listening to Peter’s admonition: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
Each minintry wants to fly its own falg. For some, it’s the cure. For others, prosperity. Others still emphasize the sactification, the discipleship, while others emphasize the grace. Which one must be our flag? According to the wise Solomon, our flag should be love.
Let’s omit these unfruitful discussions.
Doctrines, discipleship, evangelistic strategies, eclesiastic models, everything has its place. But only love is indispensable.
Love builds bridges, fills it up with the precipice, reduces the distance. There’s only communion where there’s love. There’s only peace, where love reigns.
Without love, everything is nonsense. Without love, our floor is like quicksand, our beliefs become questionable, our dreams become nightmare, which we can’t wake up.
Love is about converting yourself to God and to your neighbor. It’s about existing to the other. It’s about renouncing to be under the spotlight, and to be the center of the attentions.
Love is about giving the other the oportunity to be different, without being less important. It’s to celebrate the differences, at the same time you believe in the equality. At last, we are equal in dignity, but different in every else.
Hurray the difference!
