God be thanked, first of all, for these three good things:
- a productive day;
- a seminar getting worked out in record time (for the 30th);
- electricity and indoor running water.
In the middle of a conversation, I wrote to a friend ─ translating from Portuguese:
A church name means nothing; this is a thing of men. What matters is that the brethren1 are faithful, active, and loving.
- Faithful to the truth of the gospel, even under duress.
- Active in the work of the Lord, to complete the mission.
- Loving God, one another, and one’s neighbor.
Those three adjectives seem to cover the territory. What did I miss?
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There is no good modern substitute for the word “brethren” (which has fallen out of favor), so I've kept using it. Brothers doesn't give a generic impression. Brothers and sisters is wordy and bulky. Maybe I should just go with saints, which I sometimes do. You have a proposal? BTW, Portuguese does not have this problem with “brethren” (irmãos). ↩