Moving Day

When I was a very little kid I lived in Alvarado. I spent a few of my single digits in Burleson and then moved a few miles east of Joshua. That was about 35 years ago and I was not quite 9 years old. I have been here ever since.

Being a speaker and a Teacher, I have had the privilege of visiting 31 nations throughout the world and nearly all of them multiple times but for me, Johnson County feels the most like home.

Joshua was a 1 A school district when I was a 3rd grader, and H D Staples was not the name of the school building, it was the name of my principle. The reason the little street outside of that elementary school is called College street is because there used to actually be a college there. The remains of that three story building was still standing until I was a fifth grader.

Just two blocks north of HD Staples elementary school and in between College and Min street was the campus of First Baptist church. It was a church with great influence in our little town. In the 70’s and 80’s they were one of the only churches that hauled kids like me and my buddy Robert Copeland to Sunday School and the only church that was willing to put up with us.

In the sixth grade, they held some kind of kid’s crusade in the summertime, I think it was a vacation bible school. At the end of the week they asked me if I wanted to be baptized and since it was a hot day I was more than willing to get wet. I was so excited because I got to go swimming and go to heaven all on the same day.

All these years later I find my self typing this out from my new office on that same property. We just recently bought this building and this Sunday we are having our first service here. I have come back. Not as a little kid wanting to get wet or a teenager hiding my snuff can but as the guy who will be leading and doing the teaching.

This Sunday, when the praise band hits the first A chord and our 9 foot by 16 foot stage screen lights up like the 4th of July, look for a good looking fat man behind a Fender Strat with a custom, Texas flag paint job on it. I’ll be the guy with the bewildered look on his face wondering how in the world could I be on this stage and living the life I am living.

I will be the guy with no way to properly articulate how good God really is. I will be the one with no explanation as to why I get to be the one telling the stories instead of hearing about them. All I can say is that God is good and somehow that just doesn't do it.

My prayer and thought for you today is that you are so blessed you are unable to really define how it has all happened. I call that living an unexplainable life. I hope your blessing and your walk with God goes beyond what you are able to figure out.

The Miracle Mile

It has been a long haul for us but a glorious one. This coming sunday we will actually have one service instead of three and it will start at 10:00 am. We are holding off our grand opening until November 21st where we will have two identical services, 9:30 am and 11:00 am.

One of these days, I hope to see every one of you face to face. When I do, I hope we both look like dummies because we just cant find the words to describe how Good God has been to both of us.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us...

www.opendoorexperience.com

Texans and Christians Have It All

Texans, to the bane of the rest of the insignificant planet, love Texas. Texas is not just a place; it’s an attitude, a culture and an independent spirit that seeps through to the actual real estate.

The philosophical vision of maverick-minded people from all over the world has left its mark on our cities and towns. If you are able to look past the influx of non-indigenous humanity, you can still see hints and outright declarations of mythical Texas.

Way before political correctness. Back before the idea that stating a fact is an attacking posture or vocalizing your belief is somehow disrespectful to others. When what you did mattered more than how you felt, and when your character was more important than the right to do something, Texans were building where the rest of the world was scared too.

Gone to Texas

The collective idea among the founding fathers of our towns seems to have been, “Whatever you need, you can find it in Texas.”

For example, if you’re lonely, you can drive to Friendship, Texas. Feeling down? There’s always Comfort, Texas.

If your wagon is draggin,’ you don’t need an energy drink. Just drive a little northwest of Lubbock to Pep, Texas. If you’re still exhausted, you could land in Energy, Texas.

If you are hungry, you can have a run through Bacon, Oatmeal, Turkey and Sugarland, Texas. You’ll need to top it off with a refreshing sip of Sweetwater, and you still haven’t left our state.

If you’re cold, there’s Blanket, Texas, and if you’re hot, there is Winters, Texas.

You wanna see the world? Don’t leave the state, just drive over to Earth, and have it all. If Paris is your dream, you’ll find it not far from the Red River. You might as well go see London, Rome, Italy, Egypt, China Grove and Athens, Texas, while you’re at it.

Wanna get way…way out there? Take a visit to Venus, Texas, but you’ll want to stay out of the prison over there.

Strange Sightings

If you drive about 20 miles southwest of San Antonio, you can say you have actually seen Bigfoot because there is a town with that name. We also have Tarzan for savages and Kermit and Elmo, Texas, for the kids.

I love the name Gun Barrel City, but hate the name Santa Anna. To me, that’s’ like naming your city Hitler or Stalin. I think the name Muleshoe is cool, but I got a ticket there once. I stopped in the fair city named after me, Troy, and found no wooden horses or monuments to the Brewer. Dimebox is an interesting name for a Texas town, and no doubt there’s a neat story behind it. You see, the attitude of the settlers still speaks to us today.

The mind-set of our pioneers was that you need’nt go anywhere else to get what you need. This goes along with true Christian thinking.

TEXIANITY

Recently, I was asked, really rather accused, of being big-headed when it comes to my theology. I understand that it pegs the cringe meter of some people to hear a Christian say Jesus is the only way. I also know that some Christians have done really ugly things while pointing to Christ. I am sorry for that.

For me, to say that Jesus is the only way is to say, “There is no one else that makes you safe, and there is no one else that is coming back for you.” You and I need not go anywhere else because he is available to both of us right here and right now. Jesus, like Texas, has it all.

You need mercy, compassion, and grace to overcome things? Redemption, salvation? Jesus has it all and freely dishes it out to anybody willing. Need a new beginning and a fresh start? You need not look anywhere else. You want hope and the promise of a future? For Christians, we find that in no better place then in the person of Jesus himself. I love being a Christian even more than I love being a Texan.

Because of Jesus, I am actually a resident of Heaven, temporarily living in Texas.

The town I live in now is called Joshua. It is named by our founding fathers for the Biblical taker of the Promised Land. To me, Joshua is still a place of Promise and in Christ, the promise remains: the best is yet to come.

Contact me at www.FreshFromTheBrewer.com