Questions for Discussion - Letter XII

1.Are the simple choices we make on a daily basis really trivial and revocable? Can you give some examples of an apparently simple choice that ended up causing major life changing consequences?
2.How can church going habits be good or bad?
3.What is this “dim uneasiness” that Screwtape talks about?
4.How can we work diligently to keep a health prayer life?
5.How should we choose our friends and amusements? Describe the steps from “choice of friends” (a apparently small unimportant decision) to the “cold dark and utmost place”
6.Have you ever felt that “increased reluctance to think about “ things of God? And what sort of distractions affect your devotional life?
7.How cumulative are small sins? And how to prevent them to slowly and gently taking one into the safest road to Hell?

Questions for Discussion - Letter XI

1.How is joy characterized among friends and lovers reunited on the eve of a holiday? 2.How can we experience real Joy? Is the “Joy of the Lord” your strength? If not, what is missing?
3.What is the real danger of Fun according to Screwtape?
4.Describe the type 1 (to whom no passion is as serious as lust and for whom an indecent story ceases to produce lasciviousness as it becomes funny), and type 2 (to whom laughter and lust are excited at the same moment and by the same things) as depicted by Lewis. Try to compare what they would look in your own circle of friends. How can we help ourselves not to become as one of these characters?
5.If “joy is the serious business of heaven, what is missing in my life and our church life so we can more fully enjoy the God given joy? How can we develop joy in our lives? What is God’s warning in (Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity), Deuteronomy 28:46-48 and how do I compare it to Hebrews 10:34?
6.Does God have a sense of humor?
7.How can we avoid the temptation of flippancy? Is it really as dangerous as Lewis mentions?
8.Can there be joy outside God’s will?

Recent Pictures - January 2007

Questions for Discussion and Reflection - Letter X

1 What kinds of people are considered “desirable acquaintances” by Screwtape?
2 What are the contemporary characteristics of such friends?
3 Are “old warnings” of “worldly vanities, the choice of friends, and the value of time” still important for post-modern lives?
4 How to fight inconsistencies such as enjoying blasphemy over coffee because we are aware of a “deeper” spiritual world?
5 When the difference between being “in” the world and being “of” the world hard to distinguish?
6 How can we avoid being “polluted” by the world?
7 How things like drinking, smoking, partying, etc. become fatal habits?

For Further Reading and Reflection
Reading: The Four Loves, The Inner Ring, Letters of CSL

New Schedule - Spring 2007

Letter 8 January 13 - @ Ribeiro' s
Letter 9 January 20 - @ Ribeiro's
Letter 10 January 27 - @ Ribeiro'o
Letter 11 February 10 - @ Ribeiro's
Letter 12 February 17 - @ Bev's
Letter 13 March 3
Letter 14 March 10
Letter 15 March 17
Letter 16 March 24
Letter 17 March 31
Letter 18 April 7
Letter 19 April 14
Letter 20 April 21
Letter 21 April 28
Letter 22 May 5
Letter 23 May 12
Letter 24 May 19
Letter 25 May 26
Letter 26 June 2
Letter 27 June 9
Letter 28 June 16
Letter 29 June 23
Letter 30 June 30
Letter 31 July 7

Questions for Discussion and Reflection - Letter IX

•What is the contrast made between trough and peak sexuality?
•Why is Hell so often given credit for which belongs to God (the creator of pleasures) and vice-versa?
•Has this any bearing on the current vogue of such terms as “sex” and “having sex”?
•Read and discuss Romans 14:14-23. Why does Screwtape consider a “moderate religion” better than no religion at all?
•How do we get out of troughs?
•What are the phases in vogue now?
•How is Ephesians 6:10-18 (Armor of God) so important at the trough of our lives?
•In what ways Lewis suggests that our faith is attacked?
•How can we help each other as to deal with our troughs?

Letter VIII - Opening Questions

1How much backsliding is caused by the feeling that troughs are permanent?
2 What do you think of the law of Undulation?
4 What is most damaging, peaks or troughs?
5 Do you agree with the idea of God’s periodic withdrawal from us?
6 Why should it be against God’ nature to over-ride human will? How conciliate this idea with God’s sovereignty?
7 How do you think God expects us to obey when we feel forsaken?

Blessed Christmas and Happy 2007

Dear Family and Friends,
It seems yesterday we were composing our last newsletter, but much has happened in 2006. After an exciting December of 2005 with Narnia on the big screen and a blessed Interim in the month of January, where we taught together a college course for the first time on Developing a Christian Mind with the Help of CS Lewis, we moved to beautiful Tallahassee, Florida, for Paulo’s extended sabbatical at the Center for Advanced Power Systems, at Florida State University. Paulo is involved in several research projects and taught a graduate class on signal processing.
We traveled to Florida with our Dawn Treader and planned to live in it for several months, but decided to rent an apartment after 6 weeks. We still use the Dawn Treader a lot on weekends (at our favorite spot at St. Joseph State Park, right on the beach), but are happy for our small apartment.
We continued to work together on a study guide for the Screwtape Letters and started helping with Intervarsity undergraduate and graduate groups, which has been one of the highlights of our time in Florida. If you do not know we met for the first time in 1974 at an Intervarsity meeting in Brazil. We also traveled to Brazil two times for conferences and technical presentations and had a great time also with friends and family.
In September Adriana decided to have the pleasure of being a student again and started to take classes in Public Health at Florida A&M University. She is also busy with a Lady’s Bible Study at Cornerstone Presbyterian (PCA).
We have decided to be more physically active to fight the increasing stiffness and have been biking and kayaking as much as time and energy allows.
Ana continues to live and work in Haiti. Priscila has completed her MD degree from the University of Michigan and is waiting to know where she will do her residence in OBGyn. Meanwhile she goes to Geneva for a couple of months to work with the World Health Organization. Ruth was accepted for the BFA program at Calvin and completed successfully the fall semester as a junior and worked on the organization of a couple of fashion design shows at Calvin College. The family has seen an addition, as Adriana and Matt had their second child, a beautiful baby boy called Benjamin. Bella is delighted with her baby brother and we are all very happy to see them grow into a nice family. We also had a great time together on the beach during the summer.
We continue to see God’s grace and love towards us and are very thankful for all the blessings and even the difficulties we had to go through this year.
We thank God for you all, friends and family, who continue to enrich our lives with your friendship and fellowship.
May you and your family have a blessed Christmas and joyful 2007.
Please keep in touch!
Paulo and Adriana
We can also click on
http://narnia5255.blogspot.com/
for a pictorial update of our adventures in Narnia.

Letter VII - Opening Questions

Why are we always fighting in the church?
Why so many parties, factions, divisions and denominations?
How can we differentiate between essential and peripheral matters when disagreeing?
What can we do to minimize this problem?
Has things changed much from the time of the Corinthian's church?