Living a rescued Life

The winter of 2009-2010 will long be remembered as the coldest and wettest ever. Not just here, but all over the world. I heard it was so cold in California, hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs this year. OK, that’s not very good, let’s try this one: It was so cold two weeks ago, my grandmother’s teeth were chattering — in the glass. Yes, that’s better. Thank you I am here all night.While I am not sure of how to tell a good, “It was so cold...” joke, I am sure of two things — it has been cold this winter, and Al Gore will blame it on global warming.

Winter in Warsaw

Three week’s ago, the temperature fell to -31 F in Poland and every river they have was frozen. The day the ice broke and the river began to flow again, also happened to be the day a full-blood German Shepherd, Lucky we will call him, was crossing the ice through the city.

In a matter of moments, Lucky found himself floating on a small patch of ice and headed down river. People in town spotted the dog, and the fire department spent more than an hour trying to rescue Lucky. They gave up when the river moved faster and more ice broke free.

Two days later, the captain of a fishing boat spotted something strange in the middle of the Baltic Sea. “My crew saw a shape moving on the water and we immediately decided to get closer to check if it was a dog or maybe a seal relaxing on the ice,” said Jan Joachim, senior officer aboard the Baltica. “As we got closer to the ice flow, we saw that it was a dog struggling not to fall into the water.”

Ship engineer Adam Buczynski managed to scoop the dog off the ice and into an inflatable dinghy and wrapped him in a blanket.“He didn't even squeal,” he said.Lucky had traveled more than 70 miles down river and 18 miles out to sea. That makes him the Indiana Jones of German shepherds I think. The Brewer calls Lucky one blessed dog.

Rescued and Saved

I think it is important for you and I, as Christians, to live lives that demonstrate how we have been rescued.You show me a person who has been rescued from certain death and I will show you somebody who loves life and wants to live it. Nobody comes out from under the rubble of a collapsed building with a bad attitude about what a privilege it is to be alive.

Just like that, nobody with a real revelation of what it means to be saved or rescued by Christ pines for the good ol’ days and hates living today. I hope it is evident in our relationships and in the way we face the day, that you and I live the lives of rescued people. Jesus Christ has saved us in every way a person can be saved.

“For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” — Romans 10:13

Troy Brewer pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and Crowley and can be reached at www.freshfromthebrewer.com or www.troybrewer.com

Naturally Supernatural

In Texas, we have a history of getting to the point in a way that is about as subtle as a meat cleaver. Not known for being wildly diplomatic, our fast fading and wonderful culture has been more on the side of bold and less on the side of timid.

We say things like, “put up or shut up.” A big part of the idea of earned respect has to do with the ability to actually deliver on a person’s solid word. In another words, if you say you can do it, then you do it.

Where’s the beef?

For 2000 years the followers of Jesus Christ have been more famous for preaching the Gospel than for demonstrating the gospel, and it just plain rubs some people wrong. I don’t blame ‘em.

We are the only people in the world who carry a message of love no matter what, power over everything and limitless possibilities, yet we are world wide known for judgment, weakness and going after people’s money.

A lot of it is just plain bogus bad press because the world hates us, but some of it is sadly undeniable. Sometimes I look over my coffee cup and think, “no wonder we get such bad press.”

Mixed signals

What would you think if you lived 1,200 years ago, stepped into a church and saw that most church leaders were unbelievers? If you looked around and saw the bible — that they claimed was so important — was written in a language people couldn’t understand and was chained to the pulpit where it couldn’t be read. If you had any since at all you would think, at the very least, Christianity was ran by a bunch of bipolar manic depressives.

What would you think if today you stepped into a church that preached liberty in the Holy Spirit while demonstrating stuffiness and restriction on anything non churchy? We have a long way to go when it comes to being Jesus with skin on. We need to put up or shut up and not be willing to substitute anything for the love of God and the power only He can offer.

Power outage

Legend has it that when Francis of Assisi was given an audience with Pope Innocent III, the pope brought Francis into his throne room and proudly displayed his gold and jewels.

“Do you see, Francis,” he boasted. “The church can no longer say as Peter once did, ‘silver and gold have I none.’”

“Yes, your Holiness, but neither can the church say ‘In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk,’” Francis replied.

Now, the Brewer has not taken on a vow of poverty, but I refuse to live a powerless life. In fact, I want to be a mean motor scooter when it comes to dominion, and I invite you to jump in because the water is warm.

What the heaven?

Believe it or not, there are still Christians out here who believe a church service should be all about an encounter with God and equipping and edifying the saints. We also do not believe that our whole lives should be about church services. There is just as much power from God in learning how to throw a curve ball as there is in learning to have good church.

We also believe that to preach life without loving life is hypocrisy. To preach the Power of God without demonstrating the power of God is ludicrous. To say that God is giving and loving without we, as a church, being giving and loving is unthinkable and to teach and study about God without personally knowing God in intimacy is tragedy and a life wasted.

So dad-gum-it, let’s be people who are naturally supernatural in how we love and live life more abundantly. The world really needs us to put up or shut and for a motor mouth like me, the later is never an option.

“And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 1 Corinthians 2:4

Troy Brewer Pastors Open Door Ministries in Johnson County, Texas and can be found at www.freshfromthebrewer.com or www.opendoorministries.org

Dreaming on the Rock

Just south of LLano and a little northwest of Fredricksburg is an amazing place known as “Enchanted Rock." It's a chunk of pink granite taking up more than 650 acres and rises about 450 feet in the air. It’s inspiring, magnificent and beautiful. I love to go there.

Chasing The Dream
For thousands of years, the local Indians would make pilgrimages to there because they believed the rock had supernatural power and was a place of dreaming. The first European to visit the area was probably Cabeza de Vaca. This half-naked spanish explorer and renown faith healer stopped by in 1536, after being shipwrecked in Galveston.

It's the kind of place that calls to explorers and dreamers. The kind of place where God shows up in a really neat way — if you want to see Him.

Last Thursday, I woke up after three days of a powerful conference and I wanted to get out of town. So Leanna and I left for Enchanted Rock in hope of finding a “love shack” to "hole up" in for a few days. What we found was far above our expectations in an amazing bed and breakfast called, Trois Estate.

Building The Dream
Rebecca and Charles Trois left the hustle and bustle of Austin’s high society to build something amazing and then share it with the rest of us. This elegant, European-style getaway at Enchanted Rock is a hand-built village by the two of them. The houses have wine bottles in the walls, so light shines through, imported doors that are hundreds of years old, a saloon modeled after the birdcage in Tombstone, details, finishes and collectibles from places only imagined by most of us, a spa, an underground grotto, artisan market and an amazing Italian restaurant where Rebecca is the chef. Charles is an artist and this village is their passion — their dream.

Living The Dream
Enchanted Rock had done it again and when this explorer and dreamer showed up there last Thursday — I was blown away.

It is so important for you and I to be dreamers. We are not here just to survive but to thrive and live life more abundantly. I think God has gotten a bad wrap as a dream killer because so many fuddy-duddy religious people have misrepresented him. My Friend Dave Crone says, “The Pharisees were the dream killers of Jesus’ day,” and indeed they were.

I don’t know if Rebecca and Charles are Christians but they sure have a thing or two to teach most of us Christians about the Kingdom. They were hospitable, giving, happy and world changing kind of people that dared to dream big and make it happen.
I think Jesus is like that. Knowing this truth makes me want to live life all the more and that's the kind people all Christians should be.

"When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like those who dream." — Psalms 126:1

The Brewer pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and Crowley and can be reached at www.opendoorministries.org or www.freshfromthebrewer.com