I love it when the first cold front blows thru in September and the temperature drops 30 degrees. It means the Summer season is over and the fall time is here.
I also love it when I look up at night and no longer see Scorpio’s tail in the heavens but Orion’s belt and sword in the east. It means the season has changed and winter is here. Just about the time my Wisteria begins to bloom, I tend to catch a giant V of Geese headed back north to Canada. And it is so much fun to sit down in my chair in the back yard, watch the sun go down and hear the locusts and crickets fire up for the first time. There is hope in seasonal changes.
God is the designer of times and seasons. He made sure that people can separate in their mind the difference between childhood and young adult life. He wants things to be different for us in our strong thirties than it is in our mellow seventies.
For the person who hates the hard work of summer, there is always the harvest of Fall. I love how God has such a value for Hope.
Today you find me at the end of a season. For the past seven years I have faithfully and joyfully hammered out my thoughts and theology in this column. I am hanging up my newspaper column hat today.
THE REASON FOR THE SEASON
Nothing negative what soever provokes me to make this change. Seeing my writings in newspapers everywhere has been a dream come true for me.
It’s just that at 44, I do not find things slowing down but much much busier. My recent move to Down Town Joshua and our incredible church growth has me stepping and fetching in a way like I never anticipated. My life has changed and so has my ability to meet another deadline.
I am about to start a school to train up people in ministry and once things settle down at Open Door, I will spend several days a month in foreign countries training Pastors and working on my orphanages. My Calendar of conference speaking is filling up and as grateful as I am to the Lord for that opportunity, I know it means saying good by to my love of writing this column.
I will still write it from time to time but I just can’t promise to keep a deadline anymore and my editors deserve better than that. So I don’t want to be like Bret Farve, I want to be like Michael Jordan and leave the game while people are still very happy with what I do.
Saying Good Bye
Just a moment ago My brother-in-law, Lonnie Applegate called me and said that my good friend John Smith is living his last day in a hospital in Ft Worth. John and I played in the same band, The Midnight Riders, as kids. we actually provided all the music for the Joshua Centennial, back in the day. Apparently John has suffered some kind of diabetic stroke and today his family has painfully and prayerfully decided to pull the plug on John’s machine.
I expect the next time I see him, he will be happy and young and funny like he was when he was a kid. I look forward to that and as I type this out I pray that John’s last moment in Texas will be peaceful and full of God’s presence. Its the end of a season for my friend John and the beginning of a new one.
I have to go guys. My daughter finished high school early and today, not unlike my friend John, is the day she graduates. Her older sister also graduated early from Burleson High and Rhema is walking the stage at TEAM school in Cleburne today. It is a time of celebrating what we have done and moving on to the next big thing.
Blessings and peace and a really fun life be yours in Jesus Christ.
Troy A Brewer
www.opendoorexperience.com
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
A WIMP FREE CHRISTMAS
Fear and Loathing in Las-Christmas
As a Church leader I am happy about the opportunity to use the Christmas season and the culture to reach people with the Good news that Christ was born. But truth be told, as an average guy I feel the same kind of feeling right before Christmas that I do right after a chili cook-off. Not that I hate Christmas, I love Christmas, I just hate my inability to do so much of the Christmas thing right.
For instance, I am fearful of phrases like, “Some assembly required.” As far as I am concerned, in most cases, you might as well have placed that sticker on a Jarvis mechanical heart. I know I’m not alone in this. The outside sound of slamming car doors sends terror into many hearts and signals the annual migration of the dysfunctional family members. People you can’t believe are in your same gene pool and proof that in some cases, cousins still kiss.
If there is anything I know about Christmas , it is that Christmas is not for wimps. Its always been like that.
Holi-daze
Two thousand years ago, a young girl had to tell her fiancée that she was pregnant, it wasn’t his child but not to worry because it was a “God thing”. From there things went rapidly down hill for Mary setting the first precedent that Christmas season would be marked with emotional trauma.
Nine months later she found her self seventy miles south in the middle eastern version of the Mardi Gras. Bethlehem was over ran with lots of stressed out people that didn’t want to be there. The houses were packed, the hotels overbooked and the traffic was horrendous. Sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it? From the very beginning Christmas has not been for the faint of heart.
Manger Danger
When you consider all the mess and stress that goes with Christmas time you might be tempted to wonder if the hassle is even worth it. That is until you catch a glimpse of the child whose birth splits time from BC to AD.
I know that Christ-o-phobes would love to haul baby Jesus off like the Lindbergh kidnapper but you cant take Christ out of Christmas When you do all you have is a big mas. For those of us who are silly enough to believe in the biblical version, Christmas time is the point on our calendars where we remind ourselves God has done what none of the rest of us could have. More than that, He did it for us.
Mission Impossible
When none other than Gabriel himself was sent on the special mission to announce the birth of Jesus. He said a whole lot of things to little Mary but one phrase stands out that makes Christmas worth shouting about “With God nothing shall be impossible.”
What couldn’t be pulled off had been pulled off. What couldn’t be made right had been made right. That which was impossible became tangible reality and it has been that way ever since.
Because Christ is born in my life, I can say what used to be impossible is no longer impossible. What couldnt be made right can be made right in an instant. Every Christian on the planet has the capacity to live life with constant awareness that nothing is impossible. All that started in an overlooked stable a few miles south of Jerusalem nearly two thousands years ago.
Tough enough for Christmas
So when you start to stress out I encourage you to know that it has always taken true grit to celebrate the impossible birth that hits home with us today. May you be blessed in spite of what is against you and because Christ is born, really believe that these are the days where anything is possible.
On behalf of the Brewer family and the congregation of Open Door Church, we wish you a very merry and wimp free Christmas Season.
www.opendoorexpereince.com
As a Church leader I am happy about the opportunity to use the Christmas season and the culture to reach people with the Good news that Christ was born. But truth be told, as an average guy I feel the same kind of feeling right before Christmas that I do right after a chili cook-off. Not that I hate Christmas, I love Christmas, I just hate my inability to do so much of the Christmas thing right.
For instance, I am fearful of phrases like, “Some assembly required.” As far as I am concerned, in most cases, you might as well have placed that sticker on a Jarvis mechanical heart. I know I’m not alone in this. The outside sound of slamming car doors sends terror into many hearts and signals the annual migration of the dysfunctional family members. People you can’t believe are in your same gene pool and proof that in some cases, cousins still kiss.
If there is anything I know about Christmas , it is that Christmas is not for wimps. Its always been like that.
Holi-daze
Two thousand years ago, a young girl had to tell her fiancée that she was pregnant, it wasn’t his child but not to worry because it was a “God thing”. From there things went rapidly down hill for Mary setting the first precedent that Christmas season would be marked with emotional trauma.
Nine months later she found her self seventy miles south in the middle eastern version of the Mardi Gras. Bethlehem was over ran with lots of stressed out people that didn’t want to be there. The houses were packed, the hotels overbooked and the traffic was horrendous. Sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it? From the very beginning Christmas has not been for the faint of heart.
Manger Danger
When you consider all the mess and stress that goes with Christmas time you might be tempted to wonder if the hassle is even worth it. That is until you catch a glimpse of the child whose birth splits time from BC to AD.
I know that Christ-o-phobes would love to haul baby Jesus off like the Lindbergh kidnapper but you cant take Christ out of Christmas When you do all you have is a big mas. For those of us who are silly enough to believe in the biblical version, Christmas time is the point on our calendars where we remind ourselves God has done what none of the rest of us could have. More than that, He did it for us.
Mission Impossible
When none other than Gabriel himself was sent on the special mission to announce the birth of Jesus. He said a whole lot of things to little Mary but one phrase stands out that makes Christmas worth shouting about “With God nothing shall be impossible.”
What couldn’t be pulled off had been pulled off. What couldn’t be made right had been made right. That which was impossible became tangible reality and it has been that way ever since.
Because Christ is born in my life, I can say what used to be impossible is no longer impossible. What couldnt be made right can be made right in an instant. Every Christian on the planet has the capacity to live life with constant awareness that nothing is impossible. All that started in an overlooked stable a few miles south of Jerusalem nearly two thousands years ago.
Tough enough for Christmas
So when you start to stress out I encourage you to know that it has always taken true grit to celebrate the impossible birth that hits home with us today. May you be blessed in spite of what is against you and because Christ is born, really believe that these are the days where anything is possible.
On behalf of the Brewer family and the congregation of Open Door Church, we wish you a very merry and wimp free Christmas Season.
www.opendoorexpereince.com
Friday, November 26, 2010
GET CONNECTED
This last week was Thanksgiving and for all my family, its not just a time to eat but a time to laugh. My sisters and brother sat at the table and played a game called Left-Center-Right with all of the in laws. It’s a dice game where literally anybody can end up with the prize at the end. As we laughed and made outrageous noises at each roll of the dice, I caught a glimpse of my mother and grandmother. They were sitting there quietly smiling and watching those of us at the table enjoy each other like only we can.
My mom is in her sixties, my grandmother in her eighties and all of us kids are in our forties now. I’m not sure how Mom and Nana thought our family would turn out but I think that one scene in mama’s house on Thanksgiving day was as much of a success story as any mama or grand mama can ever hope for. -They have kids that love each other.
This, in fact, is actually a picture of heaven. Everything in the Kingdom of Heaven is first about family and everything is relational. I think a lot of us bible thumpers have caused a lot of good people to miss the point of how it all works. Everything in the Kingdom is in relationship with the King or else it aint in the kingdom at all.
God is absolutely over the top about being a Father first and restoring his family so we can all sit at the same table.
I am not saying there will be a dice game, but the picture of success that He has as a Father is that same picture of success I described of my Mother and Grand mother.
When you really believe that everything in the Kingdom is first relational, you begin to come to some off the wall conclusions about how things work. Things like: God Values restoration over punishment. ( Turns out, he’s not Zeus, He’s Jesus. Who knew?)
God would rather call you family than call you a servant. ( yeah, it turns out he made angels to be servants and you and I to be Kings and priests and live in His house as family. Help me get the word out about that.)
God doesn’t move through a good church service He moves through good relationships in a church service. ( Believe it or not He wasn't faking when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that we would become one even as the father and Him are one. That’s a big shocker since most of us in the body of Christ think we are supposed to be the bloods and the crips. )
The great commandment is not the great commission which is to reach the world, the great commandment is found in Matthew 22:37 which says, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
All of this kind of stuff gets you into big trouble because it means we actually have to love each other. I think most of us would rather have our knees drained than actually be held responsible for loving the people around us. We love John 3:16 which is all about how God loves us but very few of us want to quote 1st John 3:16.
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1st John 3:16
www.freshfromthebrewer.com
www.opendoorexperience.com
My mom is in her sixties, my grandmother in her eighties and all of us kids are in our forties now. I’m not sure how Mom and Nana thought our family would turn out but I think that one scene in mama’s house on Thanksgiving day was as much of a success story as any mama or grand mama can ever hope for. -They have kids that love each other.
This, in fact, is actually a picture of heaven. Everything in the Kingdom of Heaven is first about family and everything is relational. I think a lot of us bible thumpers have caused a lot of good people to miss the point of how it all works. Everything in the Kingdom is in relationship with the King or else it aint in the kingdom at all.
God is absolutely over the top about being a Father first and restoring his family so we can all sit at the same table.
I am not saying there will be a dice game, but the picture of success that He has as a Father is that same picture of success I described of my Mother and Grand mother.
When you really believe that everything in the Kingdom is first relational, you begin to come to some off the wall conclusions about how things work. Things like: God Values restoration over punishment. ( Turns out, he’s not Zeus, He’s Jesus. Who knew?)
God would rather call you family than call you a servant. ( yeah, it turns out he made angels to be servants and you and I to be Kings and priests and live in His house as family. Help me get the word out about that.)
God doesn’t move through a good church service He moves through good relationships in a church service. ( Believe it or not He wasn't faking when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that we would become one even as the father and Him are one. That’s a big shocker since most of us in the body of Christ think we are supposed to be the bloods and the crips. )
The great commandment is not the great commission which is to reach the world, the great commandment is found in Matthew 22:37 which says, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
All of this kind of stuff gets you into big trouble because it means we actually have to love each other. I think most of us would rather have our knees drained than actually be held responsible for loving the people around us. We love John 3:16 which is all about how God loves us but very few of us want to quote 1st John 3:16.
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1st John 3:16
www.freshfromthebrewer.com
www.opendoorexperience.com
Thursday, November 18, 2010
ALLERGY ATTACK!
The weather has changed. All of us fat people rejoice at cooler temperatures as my angelic weather vein points north from the roof of my house. While the digits on the thermometer fall I also become aware of my nasal cavity like no other time of year. The wind is blowing and so is my nose.
I don’t know what has happened. I used to not be allergic to anything. I turned 40 years old about 4 years ago, and now I have to reach for my glasses as I fumble down the hall to the bathroom several times in the night while having a sneezing fit. What the heck?!
When I was a kid I used to make fun of my good friend Robert Copeland because he would have these horrific allergy attacks. He would sneeze for ten minutes without stopping. I would laugh my head off. Today, I cry as I sneeze my head off and repent for ever laughing at my life long friend.
The Mayo clinic, which has nothing to do with mayonnaise, says an allergy is an exaggerated immune response or reaction to substances that are generally not harmful. Its the whole “generally not harmful” thing that gets me. This week’s cup of Jehovah Java comes Brewing with an allergic reaction warning.
A Head full of Yuck
We are being conditioned in our culture these days to generally take in things that we never would of tolerated before. The point and click nature of Porn for example is teaching an entire generation to have no respect for intimacy and to see anything sexual as selfish, controlling, and even hateful. Rape scenes are becoming common in mainstream entertainment and the masses have no allergic reaction because its nothing compared to what they are privately watching.
When I went to the Department of Public Safety website and found the map for registered sex offenders there were no less than 35 within a three mile radius of my house. One labeled as “High Risk” three houses down from my own. These are not people molesting their kids and preying on teenagers, these are people who have been caught and convicted of sexual deviancy. The actual number is much higher.
I don’t think for one second that any of these people grew up wanting to be child molesters or pedophiles. I just think they slowly conditioned themselves to consider those things generally not harmful that make the rest of us have a terrible reaction. You can not tell me pornography didn't have a huge part of that desensitizing process. There are people right now, who after long term exposure to that kind of filth, will cease to have a terrible reaction at the thought of abusing a woman or exploiting a child. Porno is getting into our heads and being shoved down our throats like the alien did John Hurt back in 1980, meanwhile America yawns.
If you are someone struggling with this kind of issue, I want to encourage you to seek help now. At what ever level pornography has you, there is a level of grace from God to overcome that mess. Make a stand for your family, your self and even your walk with God and turn away while you still can.
...But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. Romans 5:20 (The Message)
WWW.OPENDOOREXPERIENCE.COM
WWW.FRESHFROMTHEBREWER.COM
I don’t know what has happened. I used to not be allergic to anything. I turned 40 years old about 4 years ago, and now I have to reach for my glasses as I fumble down the hall to the bathroom several times in the night while having a sneezing fit. What the heck?!
When I was a kid I used to make fun of my good friend Robert Copeland because he would have these horrific allergy attacks. He would sneeze for ten minutes without stopping. I would laugh my head off. Today, I cry as I sneeze my head off and repent for ever laughing at my life long friend.
The Mayo clinic, which has nothing to do with mayonnaise, says an allergy is an exaggerated immune response or reaction to substances that are generally not harmful. Its the whole “generally not harmful” thing that gets me. This week’s cup of Jehovah Java comes Brewing with an allergic reaction warning.
A Head full of Yuck
We are being conditioned in our culture these days to generally take in things that we never would of tolerated before. The point and click nature of Porn for example is teaching an entire generation to have no respect for intimacy and to see anything sexual as selfish, controlling, and even hateful. Rape scenes are becoming common in mainstream entertainment and the masses have no allergic reaction because its nothing compared to what they are privately watching.
When I went to the Department of Public Safety website and found the map for registered sex offenders there were no less than 35 within a three mile radius of my house. One labeled as “High Risk” three houses down from my own. These are not people molesting their kids and preying on teenagers, these are people who have been caught and convicted of sexual deviancy. The actual number is much higher.
I don’t think for one second that any of these people grew up wanting to be child molesters or pedophiles. I just think they slowly conditioned themselves to consider those things generally not harmful that make the rest of us have a terrible reaction. You can not tell me pornography didn't have a huge part of that desensitizing process. There are people right now, who after long term exposure to that kind of filth, will cease to have a terrible reaction at the thought of abusing a woman or exploiting a child. Porno is getting into our heads and being shoved down our throats like the alien did John Hurt back in 1980, meanwhile America yawns.
If you are someone struggling with this kind of issue, I want to encourage you to seek help now. At what ever level pornography has you, there is a level of grace from God to overcome that mess. Make a stand for your family, your self and even your walk with God and turn away while you still can.
...But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. Romans 5:20 (The Message)
WWW.OPENDOOREXPERIENCE.COM
WWW.FRESHFROMTHEBREWER.COM
Thursday, November 11, 2010
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
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
Friday, November 5, 2010
THE BIG SEARCH
I am not really a huge techno guy but I am just as addicted as anybody to email, the web, texting and basically anything Mac related. Don’t hate me if you are a PC guy and haven't left the dark side for Mac yet. Someday, you too will see the light.
No, I am not a techno guy in the since that I understand how it all works, but my life requires that get a lot of mileage out of today’s gizmos and gadgets. What’s great is that you don’t have to know how it all works to use it.
However, there are people like you and me that still hang on to a lot of the old way of doing things while trying to keep up with the new. I know you are that way not because I am extraordinarily prophetic, and by the way sometimes I am, but because you are reading a newspaper. Sherlock Holmes calls that deductive reasoning.
SEARCH ENGINES
So when I was a kid, an engine was something that made a car or an airplane move around. Today and engine is a search tool that people all over the world use to find things on the internet.
The largest search engine in the world is Google. Untold numbers of people go there everyday to find websites on anything from movies, earthquakes or currency conversions to local weather reports and high definition maps of the entire globe.
This weeks top 20 Google searches include Black Friday ads, Guy Fawkes day and the shuttle launch. People are searching and searching more than ever before.
A SEARCHING LEGACY
As a Christian, Dad, Pastor and a guy just trying to make it through life like everybody else, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I am searching for. To me, a big part of living a victorious life in Christ is knowing I must be dedicated to a life of contemplation.
There are certain things I have to have a discipline to think about. Intentional thinking is a must if I don’t want to wander around like the mental nomads of our day. Unless I want to end up like the buffalo who used to be seen in this area by the millions, I cant be a wanderer or a marauder in how I live life. So I crank up the squirrel cage between my ears and serve God in my thinking.
I think that while we are not wanderers we are certainly searchers. All of us. I also think one of the greatest things we as Christians can hand down to the generation behind us is a legacy of searching after the deep things of God.
We have to be people who constantly seek out the heart of the King.
See, Google and search engines change the definition of searching to mean that instead of searching, you go to a place that searches for you. I think people are being trained today and we need to let our non Christians friends and family know that no one can search out God for us. It is the search that qualifies you for the find.
So where ever you are at, I am here to tell you, God himself is searching and He is searching for people who are searching for Him. You don’t need an engine, just a heart that is willing to seek after His Heart.
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart...
Acts 13:22
No, I am not a techno guy in the since that I understand how it all works, but my life requires that get a lot of mileage out of today’s gizmos and gadgets. What’s great is that you don’t have to know how it all works to use it.
However, there are people like you and me that still hang on to a lot of the old way of doing things while trying to keep up with the new. I know you are that way not because I am extraordinarily prophetic, and by the way sometimes I am, but because you are reading a newspaper. Sherlock Holmes calls that deductive reasoning.
SEARCH ENGINES
So when I was a kid, an engine was something that made a car or an airplane move around. Today and engine is a search tool that people all over the world use to find things on the internet.
The largest search engine in the world is Google. Untold numbers of people go there everyday to find websites on anything from movies, earthquakes or currency conversions to local weather reports and high definition maps of the entire globe.
This weeks top 20 Google searches include Black Friday ads, Guy Fawkes day and the shuttle launch. People are searching and searching more than ever before.
A SEARCHING LEGACY
As a Christian, Dad, Pastor and a guy just trying to make it through life like everybody else, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I am searching for. To me, a big part of living a victorious life in Christ is knowing I must be dedicated to a life of contemplation.
There are certain things I have to have a discipline to think about. Intentional thinking is a must if I don’t want to wander around like the mental nomads of our day. Unless I want to end up like the buffalo who used to be seen in this area by the millions, I cant be a wanderer or a marauder in how I live life. So I crank up the squirrel cage between my ears and serve God in my thinking.
I think that while we are not wanderers we are certainly searchers. All of us. I also think one of the greatest things we as Christians can hand down to the generation behind us is a legacy of searching after the deep things of God.
We have to be people who constantly seek out the heart of the King.
See, Google and search engines change the definition of searching to mean that instead of searching, you go to a place that searches for you. I think people are being trained today and we need to let our non Christians friends and family know that no one can search out God for us. It is the search that qualifies you for the find.
So where ever you are at, I am here to tell you, God himself is searching and He is searching for people who are searching for Him. You don’t need an engine, just a heart that is willing to seek after His Heart.
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart...
Acts 13:22
Friday, October 29, 2010
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
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
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