LESSONS FROM THE AUTOBAHN

I am world famous for having a lead foot. It has always been hard for me to drive slow. Driving in a single lane behind someone who only wants to do 40 miles an hour has always felt something like having a tooth pulled. Worse yet is when someone drives slow in the passing lane. A sense of injustice overwhelms me as if an innocent person has been executed or land has been taken away by the government. Get out of the passing lane; It aint right!

I remember when the democrats moved the speed limit down to 55 on all national highways . Those were dark and terrible times for me. Then came the glorious day the republicans moved it back to 70. I had a party in the same way I think alcoholics did back when the prohibition ended.

A Need For Speed
Speed is dangerous, exhilarating, intoxicating and illegal beyond clearly set limits on every highway in the world. Every highway except one that is--The Autobahn.

Imagine a super highway designed for speed with thousands of miles of roadway where drivers can stand on their Porsches as fast as they want to. You might think this is Germany’s way of population control, but believe it or not it’s safe, even safer than the more conservative approach we have with our highway system. It seems to turn the premise that speed kills on it’s head. According to the World Wide Waste of time, The Autobahn has scored consistently lower in death rates than the US highway system for almost 20 years in a row now.

Sometimes, cars drive literally 200 miles an hour where traffic allows. In most places, typical cruising speeds for average drivers are between 80-90 miles an hour. That’s burning up the road on this side of the world but just heading to the store for some milk and eggs in Deutschland.

Drive Right
A big factor in its safety is a hardcore law that prohibits anyone driving in the passing lane unless they are actually passing somebody. The highways are patrolled and monitored not for speed but for improper use of the lanes.

While Germans are free to drive whatever speed they can, they are not free to drive in whichever lane they want to drive in. That is interesting to me. See you can drive fifty or one hundred and fifty on the Autobahn, but you can’t let your freedom cause someone else to have a wreck. You can’t drive fast in the slow lane causing people who want to drive slow to crash. You also can’t drive slow in the fast lane causing people who want to drive fast to crash. This is a responsible use of freedom, and I see Kingdom principles in this.

When it comes to the Autobahn or when it comes to life, you've got freedom. Jesus Christ offers us freedom, but you don’t use your freedom in a way that causes other people to get messed up. Yes, grace is real and so is the responsibility that goes with it.

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 8: 9 “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

Rock on Paul, and thanks for giving us the word.

Another issue in Germany, that every driver deals with, is the responsibility of knowing the difference between life and death. You see, when it comes to the speed limit, it is all legal. So in Germany, instead of asking if it is legal, which is never the question, you should be asking, “Is this going to kill me?” which is always the question.

So it is in the Kingdom. Cigarettes for example will not send you to Hell, it will just make you smell like it. Eating too much and eating whatever you want is perfectly legal in Christianity, but that freedom is supposed to bless us, not kill us. So the issue for us as Christians is not is it legal, because we are not under the law. The issue for us is, is this smart?, is this kingdom advancing?, or is this reckless and stupid?

Are we using our freedom in a way that trips up other people? Are we using our freedom as an excuse to go back into some kind of bondage? Is it freedom, or is it bondage? Is it living life, or is it choosing death? Those are real issues even though the legality of the matter is not an issue.

No person or nation can remain free very long without such practices becoming widely accepted by its citizens. The same warning applies to the abuse of our spiritual freedom in Christ. As the Apostle Paul said and repeated:
“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient” I Corinthians 6:12.

It’s all legal, but it is not all in our best interest. If our heart is after the King’s heart, we will make a choice that not only keeps us living but doesn't kill everybody else around us.

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

People worth remembering

The childhood years of Seth Ricketts was filled with G.I. Joes and Army men. He wanted to be a soldier as a little bitty guy and purposely never grew out of it. When he was only nine, Seth looked through the Yellow Pages to find a recruiter and made a phone call all by his big self.

“He wanted to be in the military since he was nine years old and had been talking to a recruiter,” said his father, Bill Ricketts.

Seth grew up and then in 2001, all of America scrambled to find a TV set. We watched in horror as thousands of our country men were forced to jump to their deaths and even more climbed the narrow stair way to theirs. Muslim terrorists attacked the United States on 9-11 and Seth joined the Army on september 12th. Destiny called and true to form, Seth stepped up and stepped in. It was no surprise to Bill.

“He said he was going to protect his country and to keep that kind of stuff from happening to his family. He would rather take the fight to their soil.” Bill proudly stated about his son.

But then there was Rosie. The love of his life was also proud of her soldier man and for the next nine years she would faithfully stand by him and for him as he completed three tours of duty in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. They had two kids together, 3-year-old Aiden and 10-month-old Cullen. Rosie is pregnant now with their third child, due this summer and his fifth tour of duty almost complete. So Seth agreed it was finally time to come home. He had been there for the births of his first two children, but deployed soon afterward. This time, he was looking forward to being home during the first part of his child’s life.

So last week, there was the usual presentation of medals and accolades you would expect for such a warrior. They include the Army Commendation Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Iraqi Campaign Medal.

His platoon leader gave testimony to his values, dedication, and love like no other for his family and country. The home town newspaper ran a front page story on Seth and even his old school teachers chimed in on how proud they all are of him. But the newspaper headlines didn't say Seth had come home, -it said he would not. He was killed Saturday in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan while fighting with the 82nd airborne.

“He was an exemplary soldier and the men that were under him praised his work and his leadership,” the soldier’s father said. “He put his men before his own life. That’s just who he was.”

For as long as there has been anything worth keeping, protecting and achieving there have been wars. And as long as there have been wars there have been wives and parents and children who have received medals instead of the person they were hoping would come home.

Memorial Day

This weeks sip from the Master’s cup comes brewed with a grateful tear. I am so appreciative of the selflessness and commitment of our Armed forces. I am also heart broken for the parents and the families of those who are truly grieving over the death of a warrior who fell in battle.

I think we Christians, should make a prayerful proclamation on behalf of every family hurting over this issue. I also think we should be ready to extend a hand or a give a hug to those who need it. If you are hurting over the death of a soldier, please know that I said a prayer for you today. On behalf of all readers and on behalf of the Troy Brewer family and my friends at Open Door, Thank you, we love you. May you know the peace that passes understanding and the greatest Peace maker of all, Jesus.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Troy pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and can be reached at www.opendoorministries.org

WOODEN WONDER

When I was a kid, my mom married my step dad and I soon found myself spending a lot of time on his incredible farm, southwest of Alvarado. Back then, that whole area was what we indigenous folk call the boonies. I was scared Big foot or Grandma Moses or what my great grandfather called “Raw head and bloody bones” was going to snatch me out of the shadows and haul me off to the creek bed. Yes, the Brewer was a world class chicken.

At night, hundreds of coyotes would begin to sing a midnight song which I did not not enjoy it all. The dadgum Peacock sounded like a woman yelling for help and the whole place just got spooky to me.

Now Dad’s farm was a lot like the other farms around his place and often those farmers would spend a whole weekend trying to exterminate the local coyote population. In 1972, about a dozen families went to war with the vermin and shot what looked to me upwards to a hundred of these dogs in one grand hunt.

Now as a display of trophy and according to the myth that it would scare off other coyotes, all of those dead animals were nailed to the fence posts on the road. I will never forget trying to count them all as we drove into the farm and the number grew above eighty. -These rotting corpses of fur and teeth attracting a sky full of buzzards in the Texas summer heat. It was a terrible sight and it left quite an impression on me.

I am not six years old anymore and 37 years later, iv shot my own fair share of coyotes but I believe God let that one event make a verdict in me that I couldn't ignore for years to come. There was something disgusting and fascinating at the same time in such a spectacle. A symbol of hatred and triumph over them, nailed to a piece of wood and hung up for everybody to see.

Now I didn't have much between my ears in those days but The Spirit of the Lord touched a little boy’s growing mind and I remember thinking somehow, the sight of that curse being hung up there, reminded me of Jesus hanging on the cross.

I would latter read what Paul said to the Galation church as recorded in chapter three of that book. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

In other words, at the cross Jesus became the curse and it was nailed down and hung up, so that we could be blessed. There is a huge mystery as to how all that works but the picture of this is so striking to me. That what was perfect became sinful and what was blessed became cursed so that a knucklehead named Troy Brewer could stand in a place called perfect and blessed.

There is something horrible and fascinating at the same time about the cross. It truly is a wooden wonder and I say Thank you Jesus for it.

Max Lucado says it this way.

“It rests on the time line of history like a compelling diamond. It’s tragedy summons all that suffer. It’s Absurdity attracts all critics. It’s hope lures all searchers. My what a piece of wood! History has idolized it. And despised it, gold plated it and burned it, worn it and trashed it.
History has done everything to it but ignore it. That’s the one option that the cross does not offer.
No one can ignore it! You can’t ignore a piece of lumber that suspends the greatest claim in history. A crucified carpenter claiming that he is God on earth! The cross. It’ bottom line is sobering: if the account is true, it Is histories hinge. Period. If not it’s histories hoax.”

Troy Pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and can be found at www.troybrewer.com or www.opendoorministries.org

The Rip Off

When I was a kid I was a comic book freak. I loved Spiderman because of his good attitude and Conan the Barbarian because of his terrible attitude. I wanted to live life like Spiderman and conquer the world like Conan. It seemed reasonable to me.

I loved Marvel comics mostly because of the artists. I also loved Marvel because even if the character plot went stupid, a boy could count on the magic of the full-page ads. Those ads were as fantastic as the comics themselves and the items in them could be mailed directly to your mailbox.

There were Sea Monkeys — yes Sea Monkeys — hovercrafts and little machines you could buy that would help you counterfeit dollar bills. I loved it! Charles Atlas was willing to help me no longer be skinny and beat up mean people on the beach. I never bought his 15-minute trainer because I was never skinny and didn't live on the beach. However, I did take his advise and punched a bully in the face for making a remark about me. That bully promptly mopped the floor with my head in front of the entire seventh grade.

Cattle killers

There was also a really cool ant farm for sale. This was before fire ants invaded us and our Amdro killed all of the harvester ants, horny toads, tarantulas and jack rabbits. A big shout out to our state and federal government for handing out billions of pounds of Amdro to farmers in the early 80s. Feel the love.

I thought very seriously about buying the Venus flytrap plants and I always liked the zombie mask. But, there was one mail order item from the comic books that really stands out in my memory — the X-ray glasses. These glasses were advertised to help a young man full of testosterone actually see past the heavily clad ladies of our youth. I wondered why every kid didn't already have a pair and quickly came to the conclusion that it was because I was a visionary genius.

Snail mail

So in 1979, I saved up a $1.99 for my X-ray goggles, saved up another $5 for “shipping and handling” and carefully filled out the envelope so my messy writing would send my money to the right New Jersey address. I also dedicated my life to checking the mail every day for the next six weeks because if my mom found out I was trying to look through walls or cheerleader outfits, I would be dead.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I got a very small package in the mail and a very lame pair of cardboard glasses. It was a scam. Who knew? I felt so cheated and stupid.

“You gotta be kidding me,” I exclaimed while looking through the ridiculous rip off. The Brewer had his first taste of a world full of dishonest schemes. I mean you would think you could trust people helping little boys peer into Bank vault combinations.

Money back guarantee

Thirty-one years later, I am painfully aware of rip offs and con artists and just plain lies. They compete for our attention and devotion at an unprecedented level these days. The one place I run to where I know I will not be ripped off or disappointed is hope in Jesus Christ. So I run to Jesus.

The proof of authenticity is not just in the book, but in the lives of all of us who love the Lord. We see miracles, live beyond what is reasonable and shoot for limitless possibilities. We love beyond our capacity and live beyond our means. We choose to be battleships instead of cruise ships and warrior poets full of life, love and joy.

It is just plain impossible for us to be the people we are without the reality of Jesus Christ in our lives. Besides all of that, I have been to Israel and stuck my head in the tomb — it really is empty. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and the life he gives to us is no rip off.

“They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.” — Psalm 22:5

The Brewer pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and Crowley and can be found at 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

"LET’S GET ‘ER DONE.”

I love Mel Gipson Movies. Braveheart, The Patriot and We were soldiers are three on my top 20 list of all time favorites. I know I’m a boy and run from chick flicks like OJ with a white Bronco but a properly spun tale of a victorious warrior makes my baby leap.

There is this scene is the Amazing movie “We were soldiers” where Sam Elliot steps out of Tombstone and into the Vietnamese jungle long enough to yell “Gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves!” Everybody starts fixing their bayonets because out there in the fog they can hear the approaching enemy in full advance, ready to slaughter.

The few seconds before the enemy comes into view seems like an eternity as the young americans prepare to take action against an unseen and hostile enemy force. Its my favorite scene, and sometimes I need to hear the gravely voice of Sam Elliot scream at me to take the moment I am in very seriously and prepare to take extreme action.

A Call To Arms

As Christians we are not just the Bride of Christ but in fact we are a warrior bride. We are worshipping warriors and warrior poets like that guy in the bible who removed that nasty ten gallon head from the neck of a very unclean philistine Giant with serious hygiene issues.

we are Ambassadors instructed to engage the arenas of this world without taking citizenship with the foreign land we are visiting. Yes we are disciples but But Discipleship is not a free expedition. You and I are going to have to accomplish something. We need to really make a difference while we are still able to do something.

As A guy that serves as senior leader in several ministries here at home and on a few other continents, I have noticed something about most of the arm chair quarterbacks who constantly criticize how people like me are moving forward -They don’t. Arm Chair Quarterbacks live couch potato lifestyles and sit on their blessed assurance.

But that is not you. This is a year for you to accomplish great vision but you get when so many others simply forget. Accomplishing vision is all about fulfilling Gods heart

Prepare Your Mind For Action

American Christians are full of great revelation and insight of the scriptures and sadly tend to be content with a head full of thoughts. Revelation by its self has little value but in fact should lead to an amazing experience. With revelation comes responsibility to live out what you got a glimpse of

About 1500 years before Jesus, God would trust a guy named Moses with a critical part of an amazing plan. The thing. to me, that made Moses special is not just that he was willing to go back to Egypt and come home with a million x-slaves but something much, much more amazing. Moses went to the mountain and had an amazing encounter with God but unlike most actually took action and carried out the plan to build the tabernacle, even after he was surrounded by knuckleheads.

Leaders accomplish Vision. Jesus was always about carrying out Vision. In fact, the last words He spoke while on the cross were “IT IS FINISHED!”

So lets be Christ like this years and actually accomplish what is in our hearts to do. God is just asking you to take charge of things, He is asking you to take action and responsibility.

Luke 12:50
But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

Troy pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and can be found at troybrewer.com, Freshfromthebrewer.com and Opendoorministries.org

Lessons on honor from the septic tank

Most folks in Texas live in an area like me where you have to have a septic tank. Ever so often, depending on how many teenage boys you have in the house, you have to call a reputable “environmental service” to come out with a giant pump and clean it out.

It’s really not a pretty process but it’s something which absolutely must be done and must be done right. The kind of people who own these businesses tend to be working class, family operations with lots of drive and generally a good sense of humor. They take the service they provide very seriously without taking themselves very seriously and I like that. This is what’s behind the funny slogans you see on their trucks.

“A royal flush beats a full house” or “We’re #1 in the #2 business”. I saw a septic pumping truck in town that said something like “Caution: This truck is filled with political promises” Yes that’s crude but it’s really funny. Then again so is their business.

So once a year when my toilets back up, I make it a point to go outside and talk to the guy who makes my world a better place. About a month back, I called my favorite Yuck Truck and right on time he pulled up sounding like an M1 Abrams tank. We both stood over the concrete hole in my backyard and talked about life in general like only men can do.

Friends in Low Places

Low and behold, this man was a guy I knew as a kid. We had seen each other at various parties back in what I refer to as my B.C. days. The last time I saw him I was wearing a Toga and cowboy boots singing with the Saint Pauli girl. Here we were twenty five years later standing over the same septic tank. “I worked in the oil field for a long time”, he told me “ I got out of there because the only way you can be promoted in the oil field is to shake hands and to kiss butt and I’m not going to kiss anybody’s butt.” He made this speech of defiance as he looked me in the eye and pumped out my septic tank. I was thinking, what’s wrong with this picture?

A few days later I couldn’t quit thinking about what my friend had said and I prayerfully considered the importance of honoring the right people. Donald Trump knows the importance of strategic relationships and the kind of people he needs to be connected with. Rich people understand this principle and those of us that are typical Texans tend to reject it like a Boy George song.

For those of us in the Kingdom, we must learn the diplomacy of what it means to be an ambassador for Christ. This is not just behavior; it’s a condition of the heart we must be willing to yield to. Honor produces upgrade. Honor brings opportunity. Honor brings favor. Let’s be honorable people and partner with how God wants to upgrade our lives this year.

A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.

Proverbs 18:16

The Brewer Pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and can be reached at freshfromthebrewer.com, troybrewer.com or opendoorministries.org

Burning Bridges

When Sam Houston took 910 frontiersmen onto the San Jacinto battlefield, they faced a professional army and superior numbers that had recently pillaged and murdered anyone who opposed them. While Houston’s men were rugged outdoors men, they were no match for the educated generals and trained solders of the Mexican army. It was April 21^st, 1836 and for more than a month, Houston had been chased by this army of 3000-5000 men across several hundred miles of unforgiving Texas badlands.

Remember the Alamo

The army at their heels had a nasty reputation for proficient and ruthless killing. This was the very same army which had besieged the Alamo and killed the 180 men who defended it. They mutilated their bodies for sport and burned such great men as David Crocket and William Travis beyond recognition. Just over the rise from Houston’s view and only about 1000 yards away was the same terrible tyrant who had ordered the execution of all those men plus the men at Goliad.

Remember Goliad

Fannin and his men at Goliad were prisoners of war and were helpless when Santa Anna ordered them to be massacred. Fannin had personally petitioned Santa Anna that if he was to be executed that he would not be shot in the face, his personal items be sent to his children and that he should have a Christian burial. Santa Anna obliged Fannin by having the firing squad shoot him directly into the face, stealing his property and then had his body burned with the other 500 prisoners of war.

As Houston prepared to take his men into battle he knew all too well that this was the only army left to represent 40,000 people and the new government called Texas.
If this one battle was lost, so would the war be lost. He knew what would happen to the families of all these men if they failed. He knew what would happen to any survivors of the battle if they lost. They could not loose.

So just before He pointed his sword towards the enemy and rode his literal white horse into the fray, he took note of the place where this battle was about to be fought. The San Jacinto and Buffalo River surrounded the battleground and the only way off the Island was by two small bridges behind them. Houston turned to a man hard of hearing named Deaf Smith and ordered. “Burn the bridges!”. There was no going back and there would be no more delay. It was going to happen today and everyone had to be totally committed to victory.

Forget the Past

That’s where you and I stand today. It’s a brand new year and a new season in your life. The lord works a different and exciting new purpose in every new season of life and sometimes we have to ram our destiny down the devil’s throat like Houston went after Santa Anna. Sometimes you have to burn bridges and say there is no going backward, only forward. We have to be totally committed to victory and put aside all delay.

With every new beginning comes a new goal and a new requirement for commitment to victory. I want to encourage you to decide that there is no way you are going to be outclassed by your opposition this year. Burns bridges and decide you are the winner God has called you to be. The prevailing attitude of heaven is that your destiny is much greater than your history. So go it my friends!

“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?” Isaiah 43:18-19

Troy Brewer pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and can be reached through opendoorministries.org, freshfromthebrewer.com or troybrewer.com

Troy Brewer

The next KINGDOM MECHANICS conference starts January 25th and will be better than ever. sign up now www.freshfromthebrewer.com or www.opendoorministries.org

A Knight to Remember

My father in law, Ray Knight, had been going down hill for sometime but he told all of us he would do his best to live to see Christmas. Hospice wasn’t so sure, but Ray insisted he would be there for the annual celebration and family get together. He was bound and determined he knew exactly when he would be leaving Texas and entering Heaven.

“Sometime after Christmas and before the New year”, Ray said smiling, like he always did.

There’s a neat thing that happens in my wife’s family where people tend to know when their days are done. Ray’s Grandfather was one of those guys and probably the most pronounced with this gift.

Grandpa Knight was well in his nineties when he decided to build his church a new building. “It will take me about two years”, he said, “and the first service we are going to have in it will be my funeral.”

Just like he promised, he finished his building two years later. Now what happened next is legendary in his church and among our family. Grandpa Knight went home that day, called his son, put on a suit, and climbed into bed and died! The very first service was indeed his funeral service just like he prophesied.

His Grandson, my wife’s dad, had some of that in him. When I walked into his room on Christmas day he was excited about having a very real white Christmas. He was feeling good and in a great mood.

“Well, you did it Ray, you made it to Christmas like you said you would.” I said, as I helped him set up to eat. “You think you will make it to New Years?”

“No I’m not gonna be here for New Years.” He said smiling.

“Come on Ray, you look great today, you look better than I do.” and Ray never missed a beat, “I always look better than you do.”

Later that night after we had all gone home, Ray went unconscious and past away on the morning of the 27^th. Like Babe Ruth calling his shot, Ray Knight hit it out the ballpark by knowing the right time.

All of us will cherish that white Christmas as Ray’s last day with us. I especially appreciate the opportunity we had to say our goodbyes and to pray together. It is only fitting that I tell you what scripture he told my wife was his favorite on Christmas day. There is some wisdom in it for all of us.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).

Visit the Brewer on line at www.troybrewer.com www.freshfromthenrewer.com or www.opendoorministries.org

The last word

In this week’s confession of a highly caffeinated Christian, I bring you the last sip from Fresh from the Brewer and I hope it’s good til the last drop. It’s the last column for the 9^th year of our latest century and I think it’s important to always finish well.

The Fat Lady Sings

Being the self professed weirdo that I am, I tend to pay attention to otherwise strange things. About ten years ago I started collecting the last words of famous fictional characters and paying attention to the last things said in my Favorite movies and books.

A river runs through it, ends like this, "I am haunted by waters." Tombstone: “Tom Mix wept.” John Wayne in True Grit: “Come and visit a fat old man sometime." Captain Ahab in Moby Dick: "Thus, I give up the spear!" Another Captain named James Tiberius Kirk of Star Trek Generations: "Well it was fun, …oh my." I bet some of you have some favorites too and you’re welcomed to send them to me.

That’s all folks

Then there are famous last words of real people; a very odd but delightful field of study in it’s very nature consists of nothing but conclusions. Despite the basic graveness, pardon the pun, of the situation people face at the moment of their death, there have been some who have decided to spring a joke in that final moment. Some of them really good ones.

King Louis the 14^th told his wife he regretted leaving her but at her age he expected to see her shortly again. Then he died before she could slap him.

William Palmer, a man convicted in 1920 of poisoning his friend was silent when they put the noose around his neck. The hangman instructed him to step up onto the trap door and Palmer asked, "Are you sure it’s safe?"

James Rodgers, a convicted murderer executed in 1960 in Nevada, was asked by the rifle squad commander if he had any last request. "Why yes...a bullet proof vest, please!”

Oscar Wilde, the famous writer, died November 30, 1900 saying, “Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.” W.C. Fields, after falling to the floor and in terrible pain, calmed down, looked at the person trying to help him and said, "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."

Douglas Fairbanks died in 1939. When he fell down someone asked him if he was Ok. "I never felt better," he said with his last breath.

Georges Jacques Danton was a French radical who, following the storming of the Bastille in 1789, became the acknowledged leader of the revolution. Eventually out-radicaled, by someone else, he was sentenced to death. When Danton was asked to place his neck in the guillotine, he gave his final instructions to the executioner. "Show my head to the people. It really is worth looking at.” Typically French I think.

The Curtains fall

One of my all time favorites are the last words of Wilson Mizner who died in 1933. Wilson Mizner was a U.S. writer, gambler and someone who put his trust in Jesus Christ at the very end of his life. On his deathbed, he briefly regained consciousness before dying and found a priest standing over him. Mizner waved the priest away saying, "Why should I talk to you? I've just been talking to your boss."

Many times the words that a Christian speaks as he faces eternity are a wonderful testimony.

Solomon foot, the senator and master of parliamentary law, died in his bed in 1866 with these last words. “What? Can this be death, has it come already? I see it, I see it! The gates are wide open it’s beautiful! It’s beautiful!"

William Tyndale, the famous reformer and martyr has an awesome testimony. The king of England hated him so much for daring to defy the church and print the bible in a common language for common people that he sent a scribe to write down Tyndale’s last words. It is said that the idea was to frame and hang up his enemy’s dying plea for mercy for all to read. Mere seconds before he died, Tyndale cried out with his last breath, "Lord, open the king of England’s eyes!" Hang that in your palace, king.

Robert Bruce, King of Scotland who lived from 1274 to 1329 said, "Now, God be with you, my dear children. I have breakfasted with you and shall sup with my Lord Jesus Christ."

Last call

There are a lot of different ways we could end the last word for this year. But let me do so the same way the bible ends. There are 31,175 verses in the old King James and the very last verse is a great word and my personal prayer for you and yours. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Revelation 22:21

Jesus, Wal-Mart and Hannah Montana

A modern Christmas miracle story

A little girl named Angel stepped up to the microphone in kid’s church last year just before Christmas. She was the cutest kid ever. I remember thinking of “Betty Lou Who” from The Grinch that stole Christmas as she stood biting the sleeve on her dress. She mustered up all the courage she had to stand in front of the much bigger kids. Angel wanted to pray.

Now little Angel was especially poor, and unknown to her, we had already determined to sponsor her whole family for Christmas that year. So when she made her Christmas prayer request, Leanna and I were really listening.

“Thank you Jesus.”, She said through her little mouth. “I like Christmas and I also like Hanna Montana.”

At that, some of the wild bunch as I call them, which we bus in from the projects in Ft Worth, busted out into rude laughter. “Hannah Montana is gay!” One of the mean boys shouted. Another said something about hand grenades.

Angel, undaunted because she has several big brothers her self, just stood there with her eyes closed and her hands out like she expected a Hannah Montana shirt to fall from the ceiling.

“Boys! You will be respectful of miss angle’s prayer time and we never make fun of other people’s prayers. There is nothing wrong with Hanna Montana and besides”, I said as I picked Angel up, “Jesus thinks Angel is awesome and I happen to know she is one of His very favorites.” She agreed and we went on to the mayhem that tends to be modern children’s church these days.

Now the plan was of course to make sure that when we got all of her family their Christmas toys, Angel was loaded up with Hanna Montana stuff. It turns out, God being God, had a much greater plan as He so often does.

Besides leading at Open Door Ministries I also have the privledge of running a food bank and sometimes we get calls from big distribution centers. Unsolicited, the good people at Wal-Mart donated a truck load of goodies but we wouldn’t know what we were receiving until it got to the warehouse. When Andy Daly opened up the back doors of that big truck, we all began to laugh our heads off. Angel had prayed in an eighteen wheeler of Hannah Montana clothes! Everything Hannah Montana you can imagine and all brand new. It was amazing.

Now I know that Christmas isn’t about getting toys so save your religious letters for a pharasee that has time to read it. But know for certain, that God uses giving to demonstrate his goodness towards us. In the Kingdom, giving is a ministry. For God so loved the world He gave, and I hope you know how to finish the rest of that sentence.

Last week we were able to host 100 local families in Christmas giving and emergency help. This week we are in Brownsville Texas and Matomoros Mexico giving away more than 3000 backpacks stuffed full of the best toys we’ve ever been able to give away. We do that to demonstrate God as the greatest giver of all.

2 Corinthians 9:15
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Reach the Brewer and find out more at www.frewshfromthebrewer.com, www.troybrewer.com & www.opendoorministries.org

The Hotel Upgrade

Being a bonafied world traveler, I have stayed in some amazing places. I have traveled much doing ministry, business, conferences, and vacations, so my motto of “Blessed are the Flexible” gets a lot of mileage when on the road.

I traveled throughout the USA in the late eighties with a band called Destiny and we stayed in every kind of motel you can imagine. We even slept in the back of our trucks at a state park near Nashville. Since then, I have slept in hammocks in southern Mexico. I battled spiders by candlelight in a hotel in Rwanda. Stayed in a room at a motel in East Africa where they guy behind the desk promised a room with a view. When I got there, I found it had no door-hence, the view. I have also stayed in grass huts in India and one time, my friends literally ran a cobra out of the room just before I got there.

Where Fashion sits…
Now before you go to thinking I am Indiana Jones, let me tell you I have also stayed in some truly swanky joints. I love nice hotels. Ten years ago Leanna and I spent four days at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco. We were even on the club level and had to have a James Bond key to get to the tenth floor.

Do you know they have a bath menu there? Sure -would you like rose pedals and oil in your water, M’am? As my Grandfather used to say, “well woop-te-doo”. He also said “la-te-da” but I don’t really know what that means.

I embarrassed poor Leanna on that same trip when a surgeon asked me what kind of business I was in. I told him I was a mule for the Columbian drug cartel and he left me alone after that.

I have also stayed at the Luxor in Vegas, the Sheridan in Jerusalem, and the Crown Plaza in New Deli. The Hilton in San Antonio was awesome with a view of the Alamo from my bed. The Horse Shoe or Herra Dura Hotel in San Jose ,Costa Rica, used to be a frequent stop for me because a friend of mine worked there and all we had to pay was taxes. It had a nice Jacuzzi in the room and I wore it out every chance I got.

A company I used to work for sent me to the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street and the PGA resort in Florida. I didn’t drink or golf so I toured New Orleans and went to the Jai-alai games. A super nice room and one which was probably bugged by the communists, was the Hotel Miramar in Havana Cuba. It overlooks the Gulf of Mexico and the Russian Embassy. Of course the commies at the Russian Embassy help overlook the good people of Cuba too.

The Austonian Hotel is going up in the states capital and I’v got plans to spend the night there some day. So suffice it to say, I love a good hotel.

Local Flavor
Today I stopped to eat at the Caddo Grill in downtown Cleburne. We had a nice lunch and when I stepped out, I saw the newly refurbished Liberty Hotel sharing the same parking lot. I know that Hotel because 12 years ago I hosted a food outreach right there when it was the parking lot of Piggly Wiggly. At that time, the historic Liberty had fallen to a decimated shooting gallery occupied with drug dealers, transients and prostitutes.

We went into that building taking groceries from door to door and inviting people outside to the things we were doing. I could not believe anything that bad was in Johnson County. It looked like something from Queens, New York.

The message I preached out there in that parking lot was that God makes all things brand new. There were more than a thousand people who came for help that day and about 80 of them were from the Liberty Hotel.

Twelve years later that message proved to be prophetic. That whole area has been reborn and the Liberty Hotel is one of the finest in the county. I took a tour of the rooms today and was blown away at what they have done with the place. The quality and attention to detail was just wonderful. It is really something to see and is not even recognizable from the mess it once was.

I close this week’s Fresh from the Brewer by saying, I hope the same can be said of all of us. May each of us upgrade and be transformed from ruined wrecks into shining examples. May Jesus Christ change us and present us the way whoever paid the price for the Liberty Hotel did. He has a way of making that happen like nobody else.

Even the name Liberty speaks of Jesus I think. The bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty.

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” Revelation 21:5

You can read more about the Brewer at www.troybrewer.com. He pastors Open Door Ministries church near Joshua. www.opendoorministries.org

The Legend of Scaredy Squirrel

I have been at war with the hated tree rat population for some time, you might call them squirrels. Often portrayed as cute and smart by Nazi propagandists, they are actually satanic hedonists who get in my attic and party like its 1999. They destroy my bird-feeders and run off my ---well every kind of bird you can imagine. They nearly caused me to burn my own house down about 15 years ago when I decided to fire off some firecrackers in the attic to run them out. Did you catch the word fire in fire cracker? Yes, I did too.

Anyway my passionate desire to eliminate the region of squirrels is just as fervent as my love for a book about a squirrel. Its an illustrated children’s book I like to read to the munchkins around here called Scaredy Squirrel.

Scaredy Squirrel is a squirrel who refuses to leave his own tree because he is phobic about spiders, germs, poison Ivy, sharks and killer bees. He spends his life atop a tree called familiar, on a place called safe. then one day a bee gets too close to comfort and Scaredy falls out. But before he hits the ground, Scaredy Squirrel discovers he is no ordinary tree rat, he is a flying squirrel!

Ain’t Skeered

Last week I was hunting deer on the famous Burk Ranch near Eagle Pass and I thought about Scaredy Squirrel. This trip was a dream for me and it could have been ruined by my ever present fear of heights. The cold front came through and not only was the blind some thirty feet straight up, the little ladder I had to ascend was covered in Ice. While I am sure there was nothing graceful about how I got up there and into the blind, it was powerful for me. I prayed harder than I have in a long time and about an hour later I blasted a trophy ten point and enough does to feed folks at my next outreach.

God wants you and me to conquer fear. If we are full of fear we are not full of passion. If we are not full of passion then we are not full of life. I think it breaks God’s heart when we stay in familiar, safe places bound by invisible chains of fear.

A long long time ago a prophet named Zephaniah promised Israel of a day of restoration would God would not only remove their fear, but put strength in their hands. We don’t use the term slack hand today, but we do use the term limp wrist. It’s associated with the idea of being a weakling or a pansy. When we let God take away our fear he also takes away the thing that keeps us from having zeal and passion for life.

Get out of your tree or into your stand which ever the case may be. None of us are going to be here for very much longer, and we just don’t have time to be bored.

Zephaniah 3:16 in that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.

The Brewer Pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and can be found at www.freshfromthebrewer.com andwww.troybrewer.com

Bad Press

Back in the day, I used to be a huge fan of Stephen King. The first book I read of his, The Stand, was then and still is to me his best book ever. I wasn't a huge fan of horror, I just loved how great his stories were. The way he wrote intrigued me and it was training for a young man that would soon be a Bible thumper and somewhat of a writer myself.

After 1986 I encountered The Lord and 86st Stephen King for the King of Kings. I suddenly began to notice Kings hateful agenda against Christians in general. The mom in Carrie is a Pentecostal nut who locks her daughter in the closet to pray. The murderous warden in Shawshank Redemption quotes scriptures and even the werewolf in Silver Bullet is a preacher. John Coffee in the green mile is an excellent character type of Jesus and even has the initials of JC, but of course he’s not very smart and unable to articulate really anything. The crazy lady in Misery hobbles the feet of a poor guy while wearing a giant crucifix.

So it makes me ask, what's your deal, pickle?

I don’t think for one second you go to hell for reading Stephen King or watching his movies, but because I’m a Christian, going to hell is never an issue for me anyway. I just can’t imagine how it is helpful or profitable to partner my head with a guy who doesn't partner with me in and what my life is all about. I know he is a great writer and an important part of our culture but I ask myself a question I already know the answer to. If you or I wrote 20 or 30 brilliant books, and year after year the hideous villain in all our novels was a homosexual or a Muslim, would we be praised as great writers and contributors to the culture? Stephen King lives in a world where He consistently gets away with what he accuses Christians of doing in all of his novels. He’s a zealot who portrays good people as bad guys because of his own self centered ideology. The Texan in me says “Rain on him.”

Foggy Identities

It’s not uncommon to have the tube glowing in the Brewer house and a few months back I stopped in the living room to see what my son was all balled up on the couch about.

“What ya watching?” I asked as he handed me the chips

“It’s a scary movie called The Mist, dad. These awesome giant bugs are eating people.”

I sat down on the couch and before I got to the bottom of my ruffles with ridges, I knew who had made it.

“This is a Stephen King Movie, isn't it?’’

“Yes sir, how’d you know?”

“Because the only monster worse than the bugs is the Christian who hates abortion.”

The Crazy Christian converts the locals into murderers and the good guys shoot themselves in the head just seconds before help from the army arrives. Now that’s entertainment. I haven't had so much fun since my visit to the doctor right after my 40th birthday.

I am a big movie fan like any red blooded American, but I get sick of how Hollywood’s hatred of people like me is constantly spilled out under the guise of art.

If you are a Christian, I want to encourage you to not limit yourself to any subculture. You and I are the counter culture and America needs us more than ever. These knuckleheads publicly mock us but privately call us when all hell brakes loose. These bullies collectively accuse us but individually need us to be the people that stand out these days.

Don’t worry about the bad press you get. It puts you in really good company. Don’t you back off for one second. Let your light shine! Make a difference in people’s lives. Hate injustice and what isn't right. Call it like it is and stand for Jesus while standing with the rest of us. Lets stand up together in spite of all the bad press. While there might be multidimensional bugs in their mist, Jesus Himself promises to be in our midst if we all stick together.

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of you. Matthew 18:20

Read more about and from the Brewer atwww.TroyBrewer.com andwww.freshfromthebrewer.com