CLEAR DEFINITION

Topics of interest are like coins on the ground to me. I just can’t pass one over without having to pick it up. You would too if you had a newspaper column to write every week, two sermons and guidance teachings mixed with funerals and weddings, corporate leadership training and conferences. Not that I am complaining, it’s just something I have to be intentional about. In fact, what would be a drag to a lot of people turns out to be life to me. Jesus said that His food was to do the will of the father and so it is when people tap into their destiny -which is what God designed us for. When you are doing what you are designed to do, what burns out everybody else keeps your pistons turning in fifth gear. It’s a Kingdom principle of destiny.

Consequently I love being a sponge for both useless and life changing information. I get a big kick out of funny things tied to profound wisdom and even explanation for things that we tend to take for granted.

Saved by the Bell

For instance, you heard the term saved by the bell and probably think it belongs entirely to boxing. However, in 18th century England it is said they started running out of places to bury people. Consequently, people would dig up coffins and take the bones to a “bone-house” and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, they found a certain percentage of those coffins would have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. Nobody ever said these guys were the smartest in the world. The plague from a hundred years earlier had caused quick burials and sometimes way too quick. So the clergy decreed that they should tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.

Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night long, still known today as the graveyard shift, to listen for the bell. Thus, someone could be 'saved by the bell' Also they could be a 'dead ringer.'

But as fun as it is to bring explanation to even silly things, I also think it is just as fun to not be able to explain some things. I find revelation that defies explanation absolutely irresistible. I love a life that can’t be defined in every way.

An Unexplainable life

While I am no celebrity I am in the public eye so it makes since that I would get letters and emails challenging me on theological issues. I get what I call “grate mail” sometimes, demanding an explanation for what they think are biblical inconsistencies or historical errors. Lots of them are Da Vinci code fans who don’t understand Dan Brown’s novel is a work of fiction. Others are really smart people who want to get into a Biblical spitting contest with me, mostly because in all of their wisdom they are not smart enough to do their own ministry so they spend their days criticizing others.

The bottom line is that the Brewer does not feel like I need to explain everything. I’ll be happy to explain why I have so much hope. The Bible says I’m supposed to this so I am loaded for bear when it comes to issues of hope. I’ll be thrilled to explain why I love life so much. I would love to tell you testimonies of healings and lives radically changed but when it comes to a logical explanation for everything, I just don’t have it. Nor do I feel like I need to waste my time with it.

There are things going on in my life right now I can’t articulate. There are things that have happened which defy explanation. There are things I am doing right now, I can’t really tell you why except that it is a God thing. Living a progressive walk in Christ and loving life passionately will constantly have you in unexplainable areas. So while I am determined its ok to have some of those areas, I also feel like its ok not to apologize for it. You should too.

Just get out there and get into it. You can figure it all out after the experience is over.

True revelation does not precede encounter. The God kind of knowing comes from personal encounter not black ink on a white page. I think if the only walk you have with God is a cerebral walk, I can guarantee it’s a shallow one.

The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?

Proverbs 20:24 NLT