CHANGING NAMES

Several years ago, Leanna and I were working in children’s church. One of my favorite places to be in ministry is messing with kids and when we do kids church we want it to be fun, full of life and generally a place where everybody knows Jesus is the coolest person in the universe...a lot like how I do the main service come to think of it.

It was worship time and while the tapes were playing we would hand the microphone over to one little boy and then to another little girl. It was a hoot. When the tape ended, a little girl said, “I know a song” and she started singing into the microphone, “I want to be your hands, I want to be your feet, I’ll go where you send me....” everybody clapped, It was beautiful.

Then a little boy shouted “I know a song too.” He put his mouth on the microphone and busted out into his dramatic masterpiece. “Take this job and shove it! I aint ‘a working here no more.”

THE NAME GAME

You may or may not remember that song or Johnny Paycheck who made it a 1977 #1 hit, but it wasn't a hymn. Johnny Paycheck was the stage name of Donald Eugene Lytle and Donald Lytle had been the steel guitar player for George Jones for years before changing his name to Paycheck. The real Johnny Paycheck was actually a boxer who fought Joe Louis. You got all that?

Its hard to keep up with folks who change their names. Garth Brooks, the famous country singer of the 90’s wigged everybody out when he produced a rock album under the name Chris Gaines. I think he was just trying to bust out into alternative rock but instead of people appreciating his contribution, they were mostly disturbed by the name and change of persona. Garth isn't Garth’s first name anyway, its actually Troyal.

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

This week’s cup of Jehovah Java comes cram packed with lots of names. The different names of Jesus, revealed throughout the bible, are different descriptions of who Jesus is to each one of us. So instead of just reading a description of Jesus as a scripture I try to look for who He actually is to me and you both. If you will allow me to be a bible thumper this week, I have included the scripture with some of the names I was able to dig up. getting to know Him in each of these ways is an incredible invitation. Its a gift so great it will take an eternity to unwrap.

Jesus Christ is your Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End. (Rev. 1:8; 22:13)
Jesus Christ is your Atoning Sacrifice for your Sins (1 John 2:2)
Jesus Christ is... Bread of God (John 6:33)
Jesus Christ is... Bread of Life (John 6:35; 6:48)
Jesus Christ is... Bridegroom (Mt. 9:15)
Jesus Christ is... Christ (1 John 2:22)
Jesus Christ is... Creator (John 1:3)
Jesus Christ is... Deliverer (Rom. 11:26)
Jesus Christ is... Eternal Life (1 John 1:2; 5:20)
Jesus Christ is... Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11)
Jesus Christ is... Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5)
Jesus Christ is... God (John 1:1; 20:28; Heb. 1:8; Rom. 9:5)
Jesus Christ is... Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)
Jesus Christ is... Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23)
Jesus Christ is... Holy and True (Rev. 3:7)
Jesus Christ is... Image of God (2 Cor. 4:4)
Jesus Christ is... King Eternal (1 Tim. 1:17)
Jesus Christ is... Life (John 14:6; Col. 3:4)
Jesus Christ is... Light of the World (John 8:12)
Jesus Christ is... Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5)
Jesus Christ is... Living One (Rev. 1:18)
Jesus Christ is... Lord of All (Acts 10:36)
Jesus Christ is... Man from Heaven (1 Cor. 15:48)
Jesus Christ is... Our Holiness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Jesus Christ is... Our Husband (2 Cor. 11:2)
Jesus Christ is... Our Protection (2 Thess. 3:3)
Jesus Christ is... Our Redemption (1 Cor. 1:30)
Jesus Christ is... Our Righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Jesus Christ is... Rock (1 Cor. 10:4)
Jesus Christ is... Savior (Eph. 5:23; Titus 1:4; 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:20)
Jesus Christ is... Son of God (John 1:49; Heb. 4:14)
Jesus Christ is... Source of Eternal Salvation for believers (Heb. 5:9)
Jesus Christ is... Truth (John 1:14; 14:6)

www.opendoorexperience.com and www.freshfromthebrewer.com

The King’s Heart Towards a Wookiee

When the phone rings at my house it can be anything. We have friends all over the world, orphanages we support on three different continents, a thriving congregation in Johnson County and four kids of which three are still teenagers. So when I say every phone call is a grab bag of feast, famine and the extraordinary, I know it’s going to be anything other than boring.

A few years ago, I got a call from the wife of Chewbacca The Wookiee. No really, I did. The performer that brought the famous Star Wars character to life is named Peter Mayhew. He’s the seven foot, three inch actor behind the mask, and he happens to be married to my cousin, Angelique. Both of them are wonderful people.

Now the phone call was for a specific prayer. I mean, doesn’t every pastor get phone calls from the planet Kashyyyk? Actually, Peter and Angelique live in Granbury when he’s not on the road, and even gentle hearted Wookiees need Jesus.

The situation was that George Lucas was filming the prequels to the original Star Wars trilogy. The problem being that up until then, Lucas had not written any parts for Chewbacca to reappear. It was important to Peter’s career, and to the devoted fans of Chewy, that he would have some part in the new generation trilogy.

Now, filming of Attack of the Clones had just been scheduled and huge disappointment set in. Peter had been left out once again. We only had one more chance, and nobody had any idea what Episode Three would bring. So we started praying.

Another cousin of mine and sister in law to Peter Mayhew, Melanie Guinn, suggested we unify in prayer proclaiming Proverbs 21:1. It’s one of those amazing vertical versus in the very horizontal book of Proverbs.

The King’s heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water He turns it withersoever He will. Some translations say, The Lord controls the mind of a king as easily as He controls the course of a stream.

The idea being that just as the farmer might direct an irrigation ditch to bring water where he wants it, so God directs kings and other rulers to do what He wants done. The Brewer likes that.

So that’s what we did. We prayed that God would change the heart of George Lucas and direct him towards a favorable script on Peter’s behalf. It wasn’t long after, the phone rang with an invitation and a ticket to New Zealand. The Lord is faithful!

Not only was the script rewritten with Chewbacca in it, but Peter also shared the same frames with none other than Yoda himself! In a climactic memorable scene, Chewbacca was shown as second in command in a terrible war in defense of his home planet. Chewy was back on the silver screen and a bigger hero than ever!

Since that time, Peter has been extra busy touring the world and making a living. I tell you, God cares about stuff like that and is willing to get involved for people that are willing to ask Him. God loves Peter Mayhew and his well-being was important to Him. Same as you.

If somebody is holding you back from going into better things, I encourage you to not be intimidated by the decision of a king. Go above their head and seek the Lord. What you just might find, in a very tangible way, is that Jesus is the Savior of peasants and the King of kings.

The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. Proverbs 21:1 NIV

Triumphant Navigation

On July 17, 1938, pilot Douglas Corrigan took off from Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field as family and friends watched. He only carried with him two chocolate bars, two boxes of fig bars, a quart of water, and a U.S. map with the route from New York to California marked out. His goal was to fly non-stop.

Corrigan took off in his modified Curtiss Robin equipped with a big V8 engine. It was a foggy morning. He flew into the haze and disappeared.

Twenty-eight hours latter he successfully landed but not in California, in Dublin, Ireland three thousand miles the opposite direction. He instantly became a national hero because it was a feat thought impossible at the time, but from that day forward he was known as Wrong Way Corrigan.

Bead Crumbs and the North Star
Some people have a knack for direction and some people are just naturally lost as a burp in a hurricane. The Brewer is one of those people that you could blind fold, turn me a round and I probably would be able to point out north once I quit being dizzy. I’ve heard its an inner ear thing but there are those of us that just have a really good sense of bearing. I’ve always been like that. It reminds me of what Brian Keith said to Charlton Heston in the 1980 movie, The Mountain Men. “No, I never get lost. Fearsome confused for weeks at a time, but I never get lost.”

It’s very embarrassing for a guy like me to get lost. I don’t know why but I’m always convinced I’ll get to the right place and I tend to get mad at the road if it doesn’t cooperate with me. If I do get lost, it’s usually because I am talking on the cell phone. I miss exits and outright drive to wrong cities if I stay on the phone long enough. I have been known to hang up the phone look at where I’m driving and say, “How did I end up here?” That’s scary.

GPS and On Star
The same type thing happened to Commander George P. Ryanway before I ever drove to Dallas. On November 23, 1877 the last of the great steam naval ships, the USS Huron left port and headed south towards Cuba. The Captain represented the brightest of his day and he had actually taught navigation at West Point. Because of his education he ignored warning after warning of approaching storms confident that his compass and his knowledge could weather any storm. But what he didn’t know was that there was a tiny 1-degree error in the ships compass and the further they headed south, the closer his ship would edge towards the reefs of the east coast. In fact, with within 24 hours the Huron would be sank just 200 yards off the coast of Virginia and 98 men would loose their lives to the waves and the current.

When the warning bells rang, the Captain saw the rocks of the reef directly ahead and there was no way they could stop in time. He commanded his men to brace themselves and his last recorded words were, “MY GOD, HOW DID WE GET HERE?”

The Bright and Morning Star
Ryanway was lost because what he trusted wasn’t true. I was lost because I was distracted and not paying attention. “Wrong way Corrigan” was lost because he was blind in the fog. Whatever the reason, this is not a good year for you to be lost. As a Christian, my prayer for you is that God would lead you, guide you and direct you into better places. I hope that through the Holy Spirit you could find clear definition, forward progression and head into a hopeful place with confidence.

I believe that if you’ve never really got what “the Jesus thing” is to those of us that call ourselves saved, you can personally seek Him and find Him for yourself. I also believe if you once had a walk with God and somehow fell out, Jesus wants you back. Out of all the things I have to struggle with, being lost is not one of them. It’s the most precious gift anyone has ever given me because it was my greatest need. Man, am I ever a guy in desperate need of a Savior and how grateful I am to have Him!

Matthew 18:14
In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

2008 - A Year of New Beginnings

On the 8^th day of the 8^th month in year of 88 I was listening to the radio while on my way to work. The announcer reported the high temperature of New York City at an uncanny 88 degrees. I don’t live in New York and the only reason it was reported in Texas was because of all the eights involved.

Now I’ve been a scriptural number thumper for sometime and I knew that God likes to preach sermons on new beginnings through the number eight. I wondered what new beginning was about to take place in the Big Apple.

At that same time a young go-getter and the third ranked man on the Department of Justice by the name of Rudolph Giuliani was getting ready to run for Mayor. He would later change Times Square from a sewer of porn and crime back to a tourist attraction

Things were about to change and that’s what new beginnings are all about.

A New Sheriff in Town.

When Jesus hit the scene 2000 years ago, He fulfilled and completed one covenant and opened a new one. To get an idea of how radical this new beginning is for us, you must first be able to wrap your head around the concept of how messed up we were under the old covenant. There was nothing wrong with the covenant; but under it we were a major malfunction.

You put people into any picture and it gets messed up quick. The book of Genesis sinks like a lead balloon from the first four words of the book into the last four words of the book. We go from “In the Beginning God”…to…”a coffin in Egypt.”

The book of Genesis takes a nose-dive from things “as good they can get” to things as bad as they can get. Now fill in the blank and guess who entered into that picture. You and I did! Mankind. Things were bad in Dodge City and we needed a new sheriff in town. Enter Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.

When Jesus appeared as promised, He didn’t come with just with a new beginning but as the new beginning that all of us needed. With Jesus, everybody gets another chance.

Pieces of Eight

Because the number eight represents new beginnings, the Holy Spirit has had the writers of the Bible pen down eight new things the Lord gives us through His new covenant.

A new song (Ps 96:1 Rev 5:5:9) A new name (Isaiah 65:2 Rev 2:17) A new Heart (Ezekiel 18:31) A new Spirit (Ezekiel 11:19) A new tongue (Mark 16:17 Acts 2:4) A new commandment (John 13:34) A new heaven and a new Earth (Rev 21:1 and Isaiah 66:22)

Since the number 8 is all about new beginnings, it’s no wonder that there were 8 people in the Ark when it rested on Ararat. King David was the 8th son of Jesse. Aaron and sons began their ministry on the 8th day. The word “born” appears 8 times in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Elijah performed 8 miracles. Elisha performed 16 miracles (2x8). Jesus rose up on the eighth day or the first day of the week.

I think it’s also cool to note the title of Jesus as “Redeemer” shows up eight times in scripture.

There are 8 women prophets in the bible. (Miriam; Deborah; Huldah; Anna; and the 4 virgin daughters of Philip in Acts 21:8)

There are also 8 things worthy to think on in Philippians 4:8. If you want a new beginning in your mind, these are things you have to think on. (Things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of a good report, virtue and praise.)

Even the word eight appears exactly 80 times in scripture.

Eight is Enough

So the Biblical point of the number eight is that in it, is the promise of brand new beginnings. A time when things that should of happened finally do happen. A fresh start and a second chance. A hopeful time of promise or “renaissance” if you will. That’s what I believe 2008 to be for all of us. I double-dog-dare you to be hopeful with me.

The Will To Live

Maxine’s Madness
Have you seen the cartoon character Maxine? She’s the Hallmark cartoon caricature of a cranky old lady that holds a coffee cup proclaiming, “I love my bad attitude.” She suffers hot flashes and lives on Crabby Lane in a little trailer with pink flamingos. She always wears bunny slippers, a bathrobe and a pair of sunglasses.

My grandmother collects Maxine paraphernalia. Like many of her peers, Nana believes Maxine to be her personal prophet and irritable voice of one crying out in the wilderness.

Maxine answers the phone by saying things like, “I’m busy right now. Can I ignore you later?” She lays on her worn out couch as she says, "If each day is a gift, I'd like to know where to return Mondays." She has a website for you to send complaints. Its www.Like-I-Care.com

There’s no end to Maxine’s musings and complaints. She prides herself in telling it like it is and as she sees it. Just recently I got a funny e-mail that stated Maxine’s living will. A living will is the instructions you leave in the event you are totally incapacitated. Here’s what she said….

“I, MAXINE , being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive
indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put
in the hands of pinhead politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if
their lives depended on it, or lawyers/ doctors interested in simply running up
the bills. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least
one of the following:

A Glass of wine. Chocolate. Chicken fried
steak and cream gravy. Chocolate. Mexican food. French fries. Chocolate. Pizza.
Chocolate. Ice cream. A cup of tea or coffee. Chocolate. Sex, and finally
Chocolate.

It should be presumed that I won't ever get better.
When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and
attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, let the "fat lady
sing” . . .and call it a day!”

Life and the Pursuit Of
Lots of people have pulled the plug on their dreams and settled down into a life of apathy.
The will to live is not just about wanting to survive. There are people all around us in a healthy body who don’t have the will to live past where they are.

The Brewer herby encourages you to be a dreamer, so sip on this.

Some Christians know the story about Lots wife and how her look back got her killed. But what most people don’t realize is it is just as deadly to stay where you are as it is to look back. Life has something better to offer you. Get up and get after it.

God does not make the distinction between sacred and secular. He is the God of “better” and “all” things. In Mark 9:23 Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

So it is absolutely ok with God for you to dream big dreams that don’t have anything to do with traditional church. It makes God just as happy when you accomplish a goal for your family, like an awesome vacation for instance, as it does when a guy like me builds a food bank warehouse to feed the poor.

Dream a big dream and do something cool. Move off of Crabby Lane and refuse to pull the plug on hoping for better things.

Psalms 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Loosing Control

When you write a commentary column, it is only fair that you get commentary from some of the people that read it. A lot of it is good, some of it is really bad and all of it is interesting.

Last week I spouted off on some of my Texas heritage. Since then I’ve gotten cards, letters and e-mails from other people saying the same thing. One letter says they had an ancestor that fought along side my ancestor, Henry Brewer at the battle of San Jacinto. Another wanted me to know they had an ancestor Micajah Autry who traveled to the Alamo with none other than Crockett himself.

Letter Rip
I also got a letter from a professional doctrinalist stating that he didn’t understand why I wasted valuable print space writing about anything other than the bible or “spiritual issues.” Let me say to you sir, phooey on you. Those of us that choose to be sane, wonder why you waste your valuable life trying to cram God into such a narrow box of churchdom.

Instead of trying to get the world to fit into church we should be taking Jesus Christ to the world. Furthermore, we shouldn’t just be preaching a message. We should be the message in all of those environments.

I am learning more and more to not separate the sacred and the secular but to just point out Jesus. I am more Kingdom of God motivated than I am traditional and more about transformation and hope than I am about education and church conformity.

If you have a God-given eye to see, you know the things going on around you ARE spiritual issues or have you not read Romans 1:20?

The Real Deal
Make no mistake about it; the Brewer is a Jesus Freak. I am the Christian the devil warned you about. I am highly caffeinated and dangerously obsessively in my belief that Christ is the way, the truth, and the Life. I have an open agenda to influence as many people as I can towards the hope that only comes through the person of Jesus.

It is just sad to me that most times it is easier to find the love of God outside the church than actually in it. I believe that these are the last days and the Lord stated to the last day’s church of Laodicea, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)

How pathetic is it that Christ himself, by his own account, is standing outside of the church in these last days trying to get back in. Trying to sit down and eat with us like a family actually does. Trying to bring us all to the same table He sits at.

So that’s where I tend to see him and point him out. Outside, in the non-sacred world. Doing what He does, just like He did in his earthly ministry 2000 years ago.

A Piece of His Mind
A Kingdom mindset is one that says it is just as spiritually legitimate to be a Christian in the market place as it is to be on staff at a church. It is just as important to be a housewife or a bus driver, or work on an oil rig as it is to be a Pastor or an evangelist. Kingdom of God minded people know it is just as important to clean the toilet at the church, as it is to lead praise and worship. A Kingdom of God based lifestyle says its ok to be really good at something even if it has nothing to do with church whatsoever.

I am not against the pulpit or the church. I stand behind a pulpit in at least four church services every week to preach a message to good folks that want to advance and go forward in faith. But someone who is really seeking after God knows that some of the most powerful sermons preached to us may come from our situations in life and not from behind a pulpit. That’s why I “waste” valuable print space referring to secular mainstream and historical events. So people can learn to see God for themselves in their everyday lives.

Now that takes away control from those of us who are Pastors. But for those of us Pastors that don’t actually want to control anybody, its ok.

Miracles at Wedgwood

“See You at the Pole” is a worldwide event that started in Burleson Texas. It’s a student led prayer that happens around the flagpole at high schools all over the world. A day for the Christian kids to show their solidarity for each other and their witness to the rest of the school.

A lot of churches have special youth rallies the night of SYATP to celebrate Jesus and reach out to other kids. That is what was going on September 15th, 1999 at the Wedgwood Baptist church.

Larry Gene Ashbrook, a forty-seven year old jobless man known for violent rages and conspiracy writings, busted into that service yelling and cursing anything to do with Jesus. He pointed his pistol at bewildered teenagers and began pulling the trigger. A ten-minute rampage followed that would leave seven dead and seven more shot before he sent a bullet through his own brain.

Getting the World’s Attention

The unthinkable had happened. For the next several weeks, this single event would dominate anything that had to do with the media, particularly local media.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey issued a statement saying he “reacted with shock and horror”. Calling it a tragic event in a "house of hope and love," Gov. George W. Bush, along with other officials, expressed shock and dismay. President Clinton called Pastor Al Meredith and spoke to him personally, while Vice-President Gore spoke to him on “Larry King Live. This event dominated the media.

But for all the media, there was a lot that was not reported by the talking heads. Other things happened in the midst of those shootings that were not tragic at all, but in fact, miraculous.

Miracles in the Madness
Just before Ashbrook walked into the room, he shot out some windows right beside the children’s playground. Every children’s and preschool class was running late that night so nobody had made it to the playground yet.

In the midst of the shooting, Ashbrook lit a pipe bomb and threw it into the crowd of kids. Miraculously the bottom fell off and it didn’t blow up the way it was supposed to, sparing the lives of many.

As the killer walked back and forth through the room shouting blasphemous obscenities and shooting at teenagers, a mother was desperately trying to force her mentally disabled daughter onto the floor. There was no way to calm her down and she made an easy target for the coward with the gun. Mary Beth Talley, a 17 year old who had ran into the room to warn everyone of the shooter, saw the struggle and lay on top of the handicapped girl as Ashbrook went to kill her. Mary Beth heard the shot and then she felt a sharp sting as a bullet entered into her back.

Unlike other kids in the room, Mary Beth had scoliosis. This condition, a curse to so many, was in fact a blessing to this brave young lady. The curve in her spine directed the bullet away from her major organs and thus saved her life.

While most kids were wisely trying to protect themselves anyway they could, one young man with a troubled past and a biblical name sat up straight and bowed in prayer. “Lord, please let this end!” he prayed as bullets flew around him.

Jeremiah Neitz heard the shots; saw the slaughter, prayed the prayer, and then for some inexplicable reason, jumped to his feet and confronted Ashbrook. Not with his strong and muscular build, but with the love of God.

“Sir, what you need is Jesus Christ!” Jeremiah shouted as the gun was pointed at him.
“You can shoot me if you want,” but I know where I am going. I am going to Heaven. How about you, sir?”

As mad as it made Ashbrook, the love of God in Jeremiah’s voice shut the gunman down. He answered his question by sitting down in a pew, putting the pistol to his head and sending himself to eternity.

The people of that powerful church will tell you, “Yes, some of us have died because of our faith in Jesus.” They will also tell you that they see the hand of God in the midst of the attack that came against them. They will say things like this: Though he fired 100 bullets into a crowd of over 400, only 14 were hit. An off-duty paramedic happened to be in the room and stabilized victims. None of the adults that died had any children. All seven victims were passionate and bold Christians.

The memorial service was aired live all over the world on CNN, including countries like Saudi Arabia, that do not allow the preaching of the Gospel within its borders. Because of the powerful word of God given in that service, people heard the Gospel and received Jesus that would have never otherwise had Jesus presented to them.

For every bullet fired against Christianity, millions of steps have been taken that move the cause of Christ forward. For every life lost through the shootings, thousands have been saved through the courage and testimony shown from the lives of those shot at. A lot more could be said, but I’ll finish by quoting Paul as recorded in Romans 1:8....

"I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,
because your faith is being reported all over the world.”

FREEDOM FIGHTER

That’s 70’s show

7^th grade at Joshua middle school was a great year for me. Back in 79 it was principled by the very man its named after now. Mr Loflin ran the school, Coach Nichols ruled the roost but a man named Dub Crocker tought the Texas history class.

It was a very political class for seventh graders because Mr Crocker, was all fired up about the mess America was in at the time. Before I finished 7^th grade I understood what an interest rate was and I knew that it was at 24% for house mortgages and that I should be outraged over that. That same year, I learned where Panama was and I knew that president Carter had given it away and that I should have been upset. “Teddy rosevelt was rolling in his grave,” I learned. Though I had never heard of Iran before the 7^th grade I knew that we had hostages there and our American embassy was taken over because everybody knew we were a bunch of “Pushovers” that wouldn’t do anything.

What did that have to with Texas History? Well, Mr Crocker saw the world in terms of how it effected Texas. He was a Texan and that’s the way most of us see things.

Gone to Texas

Out of all the things I learned in that incredible year, there is one thing that he introduced me to that started a life long fascination and passion that continues today. I had heard about the Alamo before 7^th grade but not like he taught it. We actually studied the 13 day siege and the three warriors that some would revere as the trinity itself. Travis, Bowie and the coon- skined cap wearing “Lion of the West” Davey Crocket.

You don’t have to be black to revere Martin Luther King Jr as an amazingly great man and you don’t have to be Catholic to love Mother Theresa as an awesome woman. Just like that, you don’t have to be Texan to love Travis and the guys at the Alamo.

Freedom Fighter

I have read more than a dozen books on the subject and actually visited the shrine of Texas at least thirty times. In my mind Crocket is still on those adobe walls firing against all odds and Houston is still on his white horse in full gallop towards Santa Anna’s tent. Call me a sap but I love the romantic notion of freedom fighting.

On March 3, 1836 William Barret Travis frantically scribbled a few lines wile under cannon siege.

“Take care of my little boy. If the country should be saved, I may make for him a splendid fortune; but if the country be lost and I should perish, he will have nothing but the proud recollection that he is the son of a man who died for his country.”

Travis loved freedom and the letter to David Ayers is the last known letter written by Travis before the fall of the Alamo on the morning of March 6. Travis died at his post in hand to hand combat on the cannon platform at the northeast corner of the fortress. He was 26 years old.

Houston, Travis, Austin, Crocket, Sequin, Bowie and Bonham set a standard for all of Texas that followed them. A tradition and heritage of Freedom, guts and rugged individualism.

God and Texas

It is the nature of people to conform to the image of what makes them tick. It is a biblical principle and a matter of fact that God made us to take on the characteristics of the things we love. Whether its Heavy metal, the military or Nascar, if you look at something long enough-you start to look like it.

Because of this principle, I have noticed that while not all revolutionaries are Godly people, all Godly people are revolutionaries in one way or another. A true characteristic of the love of God is to hate bondage and oppression.

Nearly 2000 years before Travis fell at the Alamo, Jesus Christ was lifted on the cross.

He hated the oppression and bondage of sin so much that he was willing to die to overcome it. He loved humanity and wanted us to be set free so bad that he was willing to give his own life on our behalf. He didn’t die for nothing, he died and rose again so that you and I could have a real shot at true freedom.

God Almighty is not your warden, He is your deliverer and as the bible says, he whom the Son sets free is free in deed. In Galatians 5:1 Paul declares “It is for Freedom Christ has set us free. God loves to scrap for your freedom friend, so take advantage of it. It is the Brewer’s humble opinion that only though Christ will you find the freedom to forgive, to have joy, to have peace, to love God and to pursue a life of passion that really makes a difference. Freedom isn’t for wimps but it’s offered to everybody.