Writers Block

A lot of people think that having faith means never having fear. I politely say bo-lo-ney. Yes, I know I didn’t spell it right. I’ve heard the Oscar Meyer song, but I still call it bo-lo-ney not bologna. Maybe you would say hogwash or use a term that would get me in trouble if I wrote it, but you know what I mean.

I am full of faith, and boloney some would say, but having faith has never given me a get-out-of-jail-free card for not wanting certain things to happen. A great American leader once said we have nothing to fear but fear itself and though I like the sound of that speech, I have decided to just not be sacred of fear period.

Sometimes I get scared and I have to move forward anyway. The feeling of fear is in most cases just that, -a feeling. I don’t think courage or faith is advancement without fear near as much as I believe it’s probably more like moving forward in spite of fear.

Bump in the night

I’m not scared of spooks or the ghosts of Confederate solders but there is a recurring nightmare I have had at least a dozen times. In my dream I step up to the podium to a giant stadium full of thundering applause. When it all finally dies down, everyone waits for me to say something brilliant when suddenly I realize I can’t think of anything at all to say. It goes on for several agonizing minutes while a fumble through notes I can’t read and try and say things funny while no one is laughing. It’s terrible.

It might sound stupid to you but for a guy who is always in front of a crowd of listeners, I guess it makes sense there would be some part of me that would fear a loss of words. –Yeah, like that has ever happened in my loud mouth history.

So tonight I sit down to write this weeks confession from a highly caffeinated Christian and have come across a very rare but a little bit intimidating case of I’m-not-sure-what-to-say-itus. Right now I have that same feeling I had when I was kid and felt like something was under the bed. It’s yucky.

Scary Places

I completely understand it. I was in Mexico last week from Sunday night til late Friday night working on a new live worship album with my band. I did a huge concert, three hours of live TV on a Mexican station and spent the rest of the week in a studio. After 11 hours drive time I got back just in time for the big food outreach we do on Saturdays. We gave away over 15000 pounds of food to over 500 people here locally and even cooked hamburgers for the lot of them. It was so much fun. On Saturday night I had a meeting on leadership for a small group of church builders and went to bed after midnight. This morning we had our usual back to back services and I just got home from a baptism service where we baptized thirty seven brand new believers. This week my son graduates High School and my twins turn sixteen. It’s a marathon time for the Brewer.

So in the midst of all of my busy-ness I stop for just a moment and wonder if I am really keeping my priorities straight. Do I love God, my wife and my kids the way I’m supposed to? I think so. Yes I know I am. Am I grateful for the life I get to live even though I am often a little overwhelmed? Yes, more than ever, I believe.

In the quietness of my room the only thing I can hear is the typing of my fingers and the sound of the TV on the other side of the wall. The glow of my computer is the only light in my room and the ambiance causes me to think deep about all the faces and encounters I have had this last week. My life could be so different.

So if I didn’t have writers block I would sit down and write something worth reading. In spite of the fear of not having anything interesting or meaningful to say I would really like to type something that helps somebody love God or love their own life a little bit more.

Well who knows? Maybe I just did.

Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:19-20 (NLT)

Contact the Brewer @ www.FreshFromTheBrewer.com

Success Story

When Taylor was a kid, he dreamed of being an Astronaut. The thrill of blasting off into dark places and coming home to thundering crowds of applause was a common theme for his young life. As he got a little older he modified his dream but it was still about having guts and confidence. It remained to be about significance and doing something honorable. That’s why he thought he would end up a cop or a fireman. I remember when he was considering a career in the military.

His musical skills went through the roof so he traded those dreams for blasting off into the world and seeing different places. The applause might not have been thundering but at least it was gratifying. However, the road took its toll and with terrible choices came terrible relationships. The Siamese twins of indulgence and addiction took over and before long Taylor went into survival mode.

Dreams are murdered when survival exhausts us. As years went by he saw himself more in the mirror of failures and disappointments. The more he looked at it, the less he became until finally he and I sat across from each other at a local restaurant.

I used to know this person (who I’m calling Taylor) well and I remember when he thought his life was full of promise. I am calling him Taylor because he plays a Taylor guitar. He doesn’t actually have a guitar now. He has pawned or traded in every instrument and every good thing he has ever had. He’s lost it all including his family-several families in fact.

He’s a beautiful soul but a mere shadow of whom he is supposed to be. Our time together was sweet and sad. Inevitably our conversation turned to the Lord and he said, “You might not believe it Troy, but I really am a Christian.”

Without batting an eyelash I said, “If you say you are, then I do believe you.”

I guess it surprised him but he went on. “I keep messing everything up and God keeps on forgiving me. I know he loves me and I know his forgiveness is there for me.”

With that, I leaned across the table and said “Yeah, that’s cool that you’re forgiven but Taylor, forgiveness is not the same as promotion. Your going to stay in that septic if you don’t make a change, forgiven or not.”

Valuable Living

Lots of Christians are forgiven and worthless at the same time. Yeah, you read that right and if you don’t know it, you haven’t been around many Christians. If I were an atheist, I would look at most who profess Christianity and jump on a different bus.

I can’t imagine living a forgiven but tragic life. Biblical Samson was a lot like that. While he was full of supernatural strength, he lacked the guts to be who God had called him to be. Consequently he only began to deliver Israel and David had to finish it hundreds of years later. He didn’t have the character to finish anything. The Bible says he did more damage to the enemy in his death than in his life. So basically it was better for everybody if Samson was dead. I don’t want that said about me.

Israel suffered for an extra 175 years because of Samson’s failed but forgiven life. There is great collateral damage when we refuse to steward our lives. Failure in my stewardship from God will cost me effectiveness for God and you can take that Shreveport.

I don’t think for a minute that forgiveness should be the primary objective for Christians. I think living a life that glorifies Him from a position of forgiveness is. That’s living life on the right side of the cross.

Christianity should be full of success stories. God doesn’t just change us for the heaven of it but a key part of God getting glory for changing us is we should become world changers. Not dependent, struggling, limp-wristed failures that constantly pull out our forgiveness cards. Who cares?

We ought to be full of vision, hope and accomplishment. Accomplishing vision is all about fulfilling Gods heart. We ought to be on a mission. Jesus Christ was born the Son of God and he wanted to be the fullest potential of whom God called him to be. You know why? So that he could reach the fullest potential of doing what God had called him to do.

I think its time for us to see ourselves as Gods family and actually live like royalty.

Taylor is seeking help for his addiction and I’m pulling for him. I am hoping both of us can be set free enough to actually be effective in the freedom business.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Contact the Brewer @ www.FreshFromTheBrewer.com