Old Salamander
During the War of 1812, a ship called the Essex sailed to South America, where the precocious David Glasgow Farragut took a captured British ship into Santiago, Chile. His ship was defeated and sank after a cannon blast. He didn’t much care for his ship going down but he sure loved the Navy. 49 years later at the start of the Civil War, Farragut was now a 60-year-old naval Captain living in Virginia. A Southerner by birth, Farragut nonetheless pledged his allegiance to the Union and was given command of a heavy fleet. His orders were to open the Mississippi by taking New Orleans, which he did, and was made the first Rear Admiral in U.S. Naval history. He ran his ships into terrible cannon fire, survived and became known as "Old Salamander." A naval term of endearment for the crusty Admiral.
Sixteen months later, he took the last Confederate stronghold on the Gulf of Mexico in the battle of Mobile Bay. Ready to end the battle, he charged the heavily guarded bay entrance even though it was loaded with mines, then known as torpedoes. When they spotted the deadly explosives, Farragut pointed his saber towards the enemy and cried, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” The stuff of legends.
Heart Breakers
114 years later a Florida boy living in Los Angeles was trying to think of a good title for his latest recording project. It was not a good year for Tom Petty but things were about to get better. The pressure of the music business was getting to him. His Label ABC Records tried to sell his contract to MCA records without Tom and the Heartbreakers even knowing about it. He was angry at the whole system. He was defiant. He decided to go forward anyway, refusing to be victimized. The band pushed forward through every thing that threatened them and recorded a classic which he titled “Damn the Torpedoes!”
It was in that kind of mood; a mood that said, “things might blow up, but I’m going forward,” that Tom and fellow Heartbreaker Mike Campbell wrote a smash hit titled “Refugee.” It’s a song about refusing to lay in defeat and going full steam ahead.
“Somewhere, somehow somebody must have kicked you around someTell me why you wanna lay there and revel in your abandon.Listen, it don't make no difference to me. Everybody's got to fight to be freeYou see, you don't have to live like a refugee.”
Safe Havens
A refugee is somebody that doesn’t have a refuge, a sanctuary or a shelter. Refugees struggle to survive because they don’t have a place of protection.
Miraculous survivor stories tend to have something in common, a place of refuge.
A Japanese businessman survived the Hiroshima blast because he was working in a bank vault. An Indonesian woman survived 5 days at sea after the tsunami carried here away from her family. She did so by clutching a palm tree in the Indian Ocean and eating the fruit and bark of the tree she held on to. Don’t you just love a good survival story?
So does God.
God knows the importance of refuge. He doesn’t offer to build you one; He offers to be your refuge. In Psalms 57:1 David writes, “Be merciful to me oh God. For my soul trusts in you: And in the shadow of your wings I will make my refuge.”
Max Lucado, in his Thomas Nelson book, “Facing Your Giants” says it a lot better than I could. “Make God your refuge. Not your job, your spouse, your reputation, or your retirement account. Make God your refuge. Let Him, not Saul, encircle you. Let Him be the ceiling that breaks the beating sun, the walls that stop the wind, the foundation on which you stand”
Tom Petty says you don’t have to live like a refugee. Jesus says, “Come to me…”
Proverbs 18:10
“The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”
For encouragement or info, please email me at FFTB@OpenDoorMinistries.org.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
The Big Head
Don’t you love being a fan of somebody? I’m a big fan of a lot of people, in lots of different fields, some of them living but most of them gone. Davey Crocket, Sam Houston, Tom Petty, Spurgeon, William Tyndale.
I recently had the chance to listen to a guy who I instantly became a fan of. He was somebody that told stories about himself, and one really stood out.
HUMBLE PIE
When Rick Green was elected for the Texas State Senate he was only 26 years old. Yes he was a Christian and he knew better, but pride soon became a problem. By his own account he admits that he got the Big Head so bad that very quickly he looked more like the Jack in the box clown than the man his wife had married.
He didn’t want people to know how young and naive he was so he asked his doctor friends to give him all of their scientific American magazines and medical books. He perfectly situated text books and law documents so that when you stepped into his office you had to notice those titles. He hoped that folks would think he was a really smart guy.
On one of his first days in his new district office, a man walked in and up to his desk. Rick immediately picked up the phone and started acting like he was having a conversation. “No, I’m sorry I’m all booked up!” he said as he winked at the guy standing in front of him. “I would love to meet with you but I’ve got appointments every day of the week. How about a week from next Thursday...yeah that’s fine….ok Ill see you then, thank you.”
Rick green hung up the phone, took a deep breath, like he was exhausted, and addressed his visitor. “Can I help you, sir?”
The man looked disgusted and said. “No, I’m just here to hook up that there telephone.”
Eating Korn
Rick told this story about himself and added, “God sure knows how to humble a guy.”
God deals with Rick Green the way he deals with me. I can’t get away with nothing.
This last week my wife and I read a book called “Save Me From Myself”. It was written by Brian “Head” Welch, who is the former guitarist for the screaming band Korn. I am not a big fan of Korn at all but this book rocked my world. It’s the story of total transformation that comes when somebody gives their life to Jesus Christ. It’s a story about what happens when somebody really humbles himself.
Brian’s whole life went from “what was in it for him’ to “what was in him for everybody else”. He left the destructive world of self indulgence for service and the love of God. His orphanage in India and his personal testimony are making a difference that is worth drinking a cup of coffee to.
Brother Head doesn’t have the big head any more. Brian would agree with Rick. God sure knows how to humble a guy.
Humility heals. Humility helps. Humility is compatible with an awesome God that wants to heal and help. So when you are in need of healing, help or a touch from God himself, the Brewer recommends a healthy dose of humble pie. Preferably before it gets crammed down our throats.
Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.”
Let me know your thoughts on this weeks “Brew” at FFTB@OpenDoorMinistries.org.
I recently had the chance to listen to a guy who I instantly became a fan of. He was somebody that told stories about himself, and one really stood out.
HUMBLE PIE
When Rick Green was elected for the Texas State Senate he was only 26 years old. Yes he was a Christian and he knew better, but pride soon became a problem. By his own account he admits that he got the Big Head so bad that very quickly he looked more like the Jack in the box clown than the man his wife had married.
He didn’t want people to know how young and naive he was so he asked his doctor friends to give him all of their scientific American magazines and medical books. He perfectly situated text books and law documents so that when you stepped into his office you had to notice those titles. He hoped that folks would think he was a really smart guy.
On one of his first days in his new district office, a man walked in and up to his desk. Rick immediately picked up the phone and started acting like he was having a conversation. “No, I’m sorry I’m all booked up!” he said as he winked at the guy standing in front of him. “I would love to meet with you but I’ve got appointments every day of the week. How about a week from next Thursday...yeah that’s fine….ok Ill see you then, thank you.”
Rick green hung up the phone, took a deep breath, like he was exhausted, and addressed his visitor. “Can I help you, sir?”
The man looked disgusted and said. “No, I’m just here to hook up that there telephone.”
Eating Korn
Rick told this story about himself and added, “God sure knows how to humble a guy.”
God deals with Rick Green the way he deals with me. I can’t get away with nothing.
This last week my wife and I read a book called “Save Me From Myself”. It was written by Brian “Head” Welch, who is the former guitarist for the screaming band Korn. I am not a big fan of Korn at all but this book rocked my world. It’s the story of total transformation that comes when somebody gives their life to Jesus Christ. It’s a story about what happens when somebody really humbles himself.
Brian’s whole life went from “what was in it for him’ to “what was in him for everybody else”. He left the destructive world of self indulgence for service and the love of God. His orphanage in India and his personal testimony are making a difference that is worth drinking a cup of coffee to.
Brother Head doesn’t have the big head any more. Brian would agree with Rick. God sure knows how to humble a guy.
Humility heals. Humility helps. Humility is compatible with an awesome God that wants to heal and help. So when you are in need of healing, help or a touch from God himself, the Brewer recommends a healthy dose of humble pie. Preferably before it gets crammed down our throats.
Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.”
Let me know your thoughts on this weeks “Brew” at FFTB@OpenDoorMinistries.org.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Baseball and Bullet Proof Bibles
Americana. It’s a word related to our history and culture. When I think of Americana I tend to think of baseball, hotdogs and cowboy hats. So there I was, next to one of my teenagers, Luke, eating a hotdog and watching the Texas Rangers beat up on Kansas City.
We were sitting in the lower balcony on what is called “the homerun porch” and for a brief while I actually believed I could catch a ball that was sent my way. I said a small prayer thinking how cool it would be if we actually got our hands on a real major league ball.
At the lead of the fourth inning, Michael Young hit a homerun exactly to my seat. If you saw it on TV, I was the fat guy pushing people over trying to protect myself. There, on national Television and with my son watching, I screamed like a little girl and jumped a full two seats to left to try and get away from it.
The really awesome dad on the row in front of me held his glove up above my face and after catching it, handed the ball over to his slack jawed 9 year old. Luke looked at me, I looked at Luke and we both busted out laughing. Lesson one on baseball night; be careful what you pray for, you might just get it. Lesson two; sometimes you just look stupid when you get what you pray for.
Incoming!
We were sitting in the lower balcony on what is called “the homerun porch” and for a brief while I actually believed I could catch a ball that was sent my way. I said a small prayer thinking how cool it would be if we actually got our hands on a real major league ball.
At the lead of the fourth inning, Michael Young hit a homerun exactly to my seat. If you saw it on TV, I was the fat guy pushing people over trying to protect myself. There, on national Television and with my son watching, I screamed like a little girl and jumped a full two seats to left to try and get away from it.
The really awesome dad on the row in front of me held his glove up above my face and after catching it, handed the ball over to his slack jawed 9 year old. Luke looked at me, I looked at Luke and we both busted out laughing. Lesson one on baseball night; be careful what you pray for, you might just get it. Lesson two; sometimes you just look stupid when you get what you pray for.
Incoming!
One of the guys that I crawled all over was a sitting next to my son. He was a 19 year old solider on leave from Iraq. We had already thanked him for his service and told him we would be praying for his safety. He said he was headed back to “the sandbox” on Monday.
I told him to keep his Bible with him and asked him he had heard about Private First Class Brendan Schweigart. He said no, so I told him the story I’m telling you now.
Brendan is a 22 year old from Andover, New York. He had his bible tucked in a pocket beneath his bulletproof shield when he was shot with a high-powered rifle while on a mission in Iraq. It saved his life by shielding the bullet from his heart.
According to reports, Schweigart told his mother, Kim Scott, that he always carried a Bible into battle. The Bible he was carrying was one he got at boot camp and there inside the actual book is the bullet that was meant to kill him. He still carries it with him today.
The sniper put bullets through his arm and another through his body but the one that was ment for his heart stopped somewhere past the book of psalms. Schweigart, who received a Purple Heart, has since been released from the hospital and is back on light duty. I think it’s a great idea to keep your heart protected with God’s word.
There is a bible with a bullet in it on display in the Alamo. It has a similar story with a different time and setting. I’ve looked at it through the glass in the long barracks on more than one occasion. This week’s sip from the master’s cup comes with a little advice about protecting your heart. I have been really trying to wrap my head around what that might mean, lately. When that solider hid his bible under his vest he didn’t know that it would cause him to dodge a bullet.
I think keeping Gods word hidden in our heart causes us to dodge something much more lethal.
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Psalms 119:11
PVT 1st class Brendan Schweigart
Thursday, August 16, 2007
It's Good to Get a Little Hacked Off!
There’s a stigma among cultural Christianity that the Brewer thinks is false. I call it the doctrine of “Niceism.” It’s the belief that being righteous means being nice all the time. This morning’s sip from the Master’s cup comes a little more caffeinated than usual.
I was reading this week about the Christian hostages that the Taliban has been torturing and murdering over the past few weeks. These 23 Christians from South Korea were on a mission’s trip to encourage the church and help in any way possible, when they were kidnapped on July 19th.
Reports from the area show 18 of the 23 are women, and several of them are sick to the point of death. The kidnapping of these Christians, simply because they are Christians, is the largest abduction of foreigners in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
The World Yawns
Nearly a dozen Taliban deadlines demanding the release of terrorist prisoners have passed since the Christians were abducted. Two male hostages have been killed so far with the latest death occurring last Monday. The first murder was of Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, the 42-year-old leader of the kidnapped Koreans. He was found dead from gunshot wounds on July 25. His family said they will not hold a funeral before the remaining hostages return safely home. Can you imagine the grief these sweet people are going through?
The second murder was of 29-year-old Shim Sung-min. His bloodied corpse was found in the southern province of Ghazni, south of Kabul. The body was dumped in a field just off a main road, with his hands tied and bullet wounds to his head. From website reports he was an outstanding young man that wanted to make a difference in this messed up world. Nobody knows the terror that brother went through for being of a different race and a different religion; alone, in a foreign country surrounded by Muslim terrorists with no one there to help him or have mercy on him.
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said Wednesday the remaining 21 hostages are still alive, but that they will kill more if their demands are not met. The reports are the hostages are not being fed and there is not much telling what they have to endure.
What about Paris Hilton?
An official with the Institute on Religion and Democracy wonders where the outrage is over these murders and abductions of Christians. A lady named Faith McDonnell, the IRD's director, says the persecution of Christians does not to seem matter to national media. McDonnell is disturbed by the lack of information being broadcast, while Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan receive wall-to-wall coverage.
Additionally, she says, this situation shows the true face of radical Islam and the news is mostly reported as “foreigners” or “Koreans” are being murdered by “Terrorists” and not as “Christians” being murdered by “Islamic extremists” or “radical Muslims”.
Because of the doctrine of niceism, Christians tend to fall in step with this crazy politically correct bunch of bologna. I know a lot of nice people that wouldn’t lift a finger to help anybody. The world is very worried about not hurting the imagined feelings of one person while not giving a rip about real people that are really being tortured and really being shot in the head by very real bullets.
I wish that Christians and decent people of other religions and even non religions would get their priorities straight in what they get upset about. Anyone with any form of humanity in them, much less the love of God, should be outraged, sickened and grieved over what these Christians are going through. At the very least they should be interested.
Christians… I want to tell you something that you might not hear in traditional church services. God hasn’t commanded you to be nice; he has commanded you to be full of life and full of the love of God. We are called salt and light to the world. Sometimes salt stings and sometimes light gives us a headache, but we are still supposed to preserve and overcome darkness for those around us. That might trouble some but it’s ok.
Matthew 10:34
“Don't think that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came to bring trouble, not peace.”
(Contemporary English Version)
Don’t forget, the best way to reach The Brewer is at FFTB@OpenDoorMinistries.org.
I was reading this week about the Christian hostages that the Taliban has been torturing and murdering over the past few weeks. These 23 Christians from South Korea were on a mission’s trip to encourage the church and help in any way possible, when they were kidnapped on July 19th.
Reports from the area show 18 of the 23 are women, and several of them are sick to the point of death. The kidnapping of these Christians, simply because they are Christians, is the largest abduction of foreigners in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
The World Yawns
Nearly a dozen Taliban deadlines demanding the release of terrorist prisoners have passed since the Christians were abducted. Two male hostages have been killed so far with the latest death occurring last Monday. The first murder was of Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, the 42-year-old leader of the kidnapped Koreans. He was found dead from gunshot wounds on July 25. His family said they will not hold a funeral before the remaining hostages return safely home. Can you imagine the grief these sweet people are going through?
The second murder was of 29-year-old Shim Sung-min. His bloodied corpse was found in the southern province of Ghazni, south of Kabul. The body was dumped in a field just off a main road, with his hands tied and bullet wounds to his head. From website reports he was an outstanding young man that wanted to make a difference in this messed up world. Nobody knows the terror that brother went through for being of a different race and a different religion; alone, in a foreign country surrounded by Muslim terrorists with no one there to help him or have mercy on him.
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said Wednesday the remaining 21 hostages are still alive, but that they will kill more if their demands are not met. The reports are the hostages are not being fed and there is not much telling what they have to endure.
What about Paris Hilton?
An official with the Institute on Religion and Democracy wonders where the outrage is over these murders and abductions of Christians. A lady named Faith McDonnell, the IRD's director, says the persecution of Christians does not to seem matter to national media. McDonnell is disturbed by the lack of information being broadcast, while Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan receive wall-to-wall coverage.
Additionally, she says, this situation shows the true face of radical Islam and the news is mostly reported as “foreigners” or “Koreans” are being murdered by “Terrorists” and not as “Christians” being murdered by “Islamic extremists” or “radical Muslims”.
Because of the doctrine of niceism, Christians tend to fall in step with this crazy politically correct bunch of bologna. I know a lot of nice people that wouldn’t lift a finger to help anybody. The world is very worried about not hurting the imagined feelings of one person while not giving a rip about real people that are really being tortured and really being shot in the head by very real bullets.
I wish that Christians and decent people of other religions and even non religions would get their priorities straight in what they get upset about. Anyone with any form of humanity in them, much less the love of God, should be outraged, sickened and grieved over what these Christians are going through. At the very least they should be interested.
Christians… I want to tell you something that you might not hear in traditional church services. God hasn’t commanded you to be nice; he has commanded you to be full of life and full of the love of God. We are called salt and light to the world. Sometimes salt stings and sometimes light gives us a headache, but we are still supposed to preserve and overcome darkness for those around us. That might trouble some but it’s ok.
Matthew 10:34
“Don't think that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came to bring trouble, not peace.”
(Contemporary English Version)
Don’t forget, the best way to reach The Brewer is at FFTB@OpenDoorMinistries.org.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Texans and Tall Taxi Tales
It was a little after 5 in the afternoon when our plane touched down at DFW. The squelch of the tires on the tarmac was one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve heard in a very long time. It had been a month and over 22,000 miles since I last saw Texas and as we taxied to the gate I could hardly wait to kiss my bride and eat an enchilada…in that order.
After a month in India, I have never enjoyed a traffic jam like I did from the airport. Not a single rickshaw or holy cow blocking the highway. It was awesome. All of the Brewer clan went directly, on the right side of the road, to my favorite Tex-Mex joint. It was a lot like what I imagine heaven to be. Family, fellowship and guacamole.
This trip to India was my most successful mission to that part of the word yet. We actually stayed at the orphanage we support and spent a lot of time with my 300 kids. We visited our leper colony and hosted more than 50 pastors at an encouragement conference. I was able to hire an Indian band to back me and one Monday night we did a praise and worship concert for as many people as could stand a song in English. What a hoot!
It was powerful and life changing but it was not without incident. When you travel throughout the world, really anything can happen. Third world countries can be dangerous places and you have to really believe God for protection on so many levels.
Taxis in one form or another have been around for as long as there have been people that needed them. By the end of the 19th century, cars began to appear on NYC streets and it wasn’t long before a number of these cars were hiring themselves out in competition with horse-drawn carriages. Although these electric-powered cabs were slightly impractical with batteries weighing upwards of eight hundred pounds, by 1899 there were nearly one hundred of them on the streets.
Progress has always had its price, and on September 13th of that year, a sixty-eight year-old man named Henry H. Bliss was helping a friend from a streetcar when a taxi swerved and hit him. This gave Bliss the dubious distinction of being the first American to die in a car wreck, and giving cabbies a first glimpse at a reputation they would soon solidify.
I have been in taxicabs all over the world. I think that London has the Best taxicabs and San Francisco has the craziest cab drivers, or at least the funnest. I don’t mind hoping in a cab from time to time so it didn’t bother me to take one from the domestic airport to the international airport in Bombay.
I thought a cab ride through the rugged streets of Bombay might be fun. You never know when you might come across a rope trick or maybe even a cobra charmer. It just so happens though that the cab that my son and I climbed into Bombay was not actually a cab but part a small crew of thieves that looks for gullible fat white guys to rob.
The bottom line is that we were not taken to the airport but the bad part of town where our driver picked up a cohort and commenced to rob us. There is a whole lot to this story but let me tell you this. By the time it was over, we were safely at the airport, with our passports and luggage intact. It really was a miracle.
These confessions of a highly caffeinated Christian only go so far but let me give God glory for giving me and my 16 year old son the ability to overcome those robbers. They got away with a few dollars from Bens front pocket but with a lot less pride and a few less teeth after it was all over with.
My suggestion to the robbers is to not tangle with two men of God from Texas. Especially ones nearly crazy from a lack of enchiladas. If you know my grandmother Francis Millican, please don’t tell her this part of the story. I’m in enough trouble for going there anyway.
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield."
Psalms 91:1-4
After a month in India, I have never enjoyed a traffic jam like I did from the airport. Not a single rickshaw or holy cow blocking the highway. It was awesome. All of the Brewer clan went directly, on the right side of the road, to my favorite Tex-Mex joint. It was a lot like what I imagine heaven to be. Family, fellowship and guacamole.
This trip to India was my most successful mission to that part of the word yet. We actually stayed at the orphanage we support and spent a lot of time with my 300 kids. We visited our leper colony and hosted more than 50 pastors at an encouragement conference. I was able to hire an Indian band to back me and one Monday night we did a praise and worship concert for as many people as could stand a song in English. What a hoot!
It was powerful and life changing but it was not without incident. When you travel throughout the world, really anything can happen. Third world countries can be dangerous places and you have to really believe God for protection on so many levels.
Taxis in one form or another have been around for as long as there have been people that needed them. By the end of the 19th century, cars began to appear on NYC streets and it wasn’t long before a number of these cars were hiring themselves out in competition with horse-drawn carriages. Although these electric-powered cabs were slightly impractical with batteries weighing upwards of eight hundred pounds, by 1899 there were nearly one hundred of them on the streets.
Progress has always had its price, and on September 13th of that year, a sixty-eight year-old man named Henry H. Bliss was helping a friend from a streetcar when a taxi swerved and hit him. This gave Bliss the dubious distinction of being the first American to die in a car wreck, and giving cabbies a first glimpse at a reputation they would soon solidify.
I have been in taxicabs all over the world. I think that London has the Best taxicabs and San Francisco has the craziest cab drivers, or at least the funnest. I don’t mind hoping in a cab from time to time so it didn’t bother me to take one from the domestic airport to the international airport in Bombay.
I thought a cab ride through the rugged streets of Bombay might be fun. You never know when you might come across a rope trick or maybe even a cobra charmer. It just so happens though that the cab that my son and I climbed into Bombay was not actually a cab but part a small crew of thieves that looks for gullible fat white guys to rob.
The bottom line is that we were not taken to the airport but the bad part of town where our driver picked up a cohort and commenced to rob us. There is a whole lot to this story but let me tell you this. By the time it was over, we were safely at the airport, with our passports and luggage intact. It really was a miracle.
These confessions of a highly caffeinated Christian only go so far but let me give God glory for giving me and my 16 year old son the ability to overcome those robbers. They got away with a few dollars from Bens front pocket but with a lot less pride and a few less teeth after it was all over with.
My suggestion to the robbers is to not tangle with two men of God from Texas. Especially ones nearly crazy from a lack of enchiladas. If you know my grandmother Francis Millican, please don’t tell her this part of the story. I’m in enough trouble for going there anyway.
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield."
Psalms 91:1-4
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Dead Sea Christians
Last Saturday, we had the privledge of doing what we call a “monster” food outreach. We think of it in terms of a monster truck, a whole lot bigger than usual. We gave away more than 60,000 pounds of food, had a free garage sale and cooked more than a thousand hamburgers and hotdogs.
A lot of single moms and grand parents, who now have to raise their grandchildren, came out for several pallets of free diapers. Others came for the free haircuts from 7 professional hairdressers. We gave away more than 500 pairs of brand new shoes and thousands of dollars worth of new and used clothes, all in great shape. It was so much fun and we heard so many testimonies from very grateful people.
It takes a lot of money, a lot of time and a lot of hard work from a lot of giving people to make something like this happen. You might be reading this and wonder why in the world a church would do something like this, and that’s a question I love to answer. It is just as easy to answer why churches don’t make a difference in their community, as it is to answer why churches do, but let me show a picture that explains both.
Bodies of water
Over in the Middle East there’s a tear shaped lake, the locals call a sea. There are several things unique about this body of water and both are found in its very name. “The Dead Sea” is so full of salt and minerals that not a single fish can live in it.
Its 15 miles wide and over 50 miles long and from a distance its beauty is breathtaking. Once you get closer you find its safer to drink dirt then it is to drink from the Dead Sea. Its contents are more than 42% salt and otherwise toxic minerals and the water is so thick with it, you can’t even sink.
At 1300 feet below sea level it’s officially the lowest place on earth and there lies the reason it can’t support life. Because every other place in the world is literally “up hill,” water goes in and nothing goes out. The same water that carries in salt and minerals from the land usually carries out those same materials into other lakes, but not this one. This lake is an eternal geographical receiver and nothing flows out whatsoever.
I’m scared to death of being a “Dead Sea Christian” in a Dead Sea church. We give away more than a million pounds of food every year to people that may never help us in any way because we have so much life flowing into us, we had better have life flowing through us.
A lot of us Christians (and even churches) are positioned in life to continually receive. We take in and never give out. And just like that body of water, many of us have no life in us at all and some of our churches, while beautiful to look at, are more poisonous than life; giving because we only look to receive.
Just like the Dead Sea, you can’t get deep in those kinds of churches. They are full of shallow Christianity and fail to deliver up close what they advertise from far off. As said before, I am scared of being a Dead Sea Christian and confess that my selfishness has probably hurt more people than I’ve ever helped. It’s not something I’ve got a complete handle on, but a mark I am pressing toward by the grace of God.
By the time this is printed, I will be in India with my sixteen-year-old son, Benjamin. We will hanging out at our orphanage in Visakhaptnum and will also spend some time at the leper colony our church supports. Next weeks cup from the Brewer, should be one with a dash of curry in it. I hope to be able to write you from the far side of the world. Don’t forget to say a prayer for the Brewer and don’t you dare be a Dead Sea Christian.
A lot of single moms and grand parents, who now have to raise their grandchildren, came out for several pallets of free diapers. Others came for the free haircuts from 7 professional hairdressers. We gave away more than 500 pairs of brand new shoes and thousands of dollars worth of new and used clothes, all in great shape. It was so much fun and we heard so many testimonies from very grateful people.
It takes a lot of money, a lot of time and a lot of hard work from a lot of giving people to make something like this happen. You might be reading this and wonder why in the world a church would do something like this, and that’s a question I love to answer. It is just as easy to answer why churches don’t make a difference in their community, as it is to answer why churches do, but let me show a picture that explains both.
Bodies of water
Over in the Middle East there’s a tear shaped lake, the locals call a sea. There are several things unique about this body of water and both are found in its very name. “The Dead Sea” is so full of salt and minerals that not a single fish can live in it.
Its 15 miles wide and over 50 miles long and from a distance its beauty is breathtaking. Once you get closer you find its safer to drink dirt then it is to drink from the Dead Sea. Its contents are more than 42% salt and otherwise toxic minerals and the water is so thick with it, you can’t even sink.
At 1300 feet below sea level it’s officially the lowest place on earth and there lies the reason it can’t support life. Because every other place in the world is literally “up hill,” water goes in and nothing goes out. The same water that carries in salt and minerals from the land usually carries out those same materials into other lakes, but not this one. This lake is an eternal geographical receiver and nothing flows out whatsoever.
I’m scared to death of being a “Dead Sea Christian” in a Dead Sea church. We give away more than a million pounds of food every year to people that may never help us in any way because we have so much life flowing into us, we had better have life flowing through us.
A lot of us Christians (and even churches) are positioned in life to continually receive. We take in and never give out. And just like that body of water, many of us have no life in us at all and some of our churches, while beautiful to look at, are more poisonous than life; giving because we only look to receive.
Just like the Dead Sea, you can’t get deep in those kinds of churches. They are full of shallow Christianity and fail to deliver up close what they advertise from far off. As said before, I am scared of being a Dead Sea Christian and confess that my selfishness has probably hurt more people than I’ve ever helped. It’s not something I’ve got a complete handle on, but a mark I am pressing toward by the grace of God.
By the time this is printed, I will be in India with my sixteen-year-old son, Benjamin. We will hanging out at our orphanage in Visakhaptnum and will also spend some time at the leper colony our church supports. Next weeks cup from the Brewer, should be one with a dash of curry in it. I hope to be able to write you from the far side of the world. Don’t forget to say a prayer for the Brewer and don’t you dare be a Dead Sea Christian.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Givin It Up
By his own estimate, Robin Agnew tried to quit smoking about 20 times. "I would quit for about four weeks at a time," said Agnew. "Then one day about 12 years ago, Agnew puffed a cigarette in a Baltimore Maryland Park, threw the rest of his pack in a trash can and never smoked again.
"I finally quit when I became a nurse. It was professionally incompatible," he said.
The Brewer himself used to live in Marlboro Country, but by way of the red sea I was delivered from the Pharaoh of Copenhagen and all things tobacco, back in 1994. It remains one of the greatest single victories of my life.
I had been a dedicated Christian for nearly nine years at that time and had walked right out of a lot of things that sent stronger people to rehabs. But I just couldn't live a life without a round can in my back pocket, even if I was living for Jesus. I learned how to do food outreaches with a dip of snuff in my mouth, and then found me some grace and liberty scriptures to quote if anybody didn't like it.
The truth of the matter is I wanted to quit but didn't know how. Every time I decided to quit it was like trying to land the space shuttle. My projectory would start off right but once the real suffering commenced, I would get off course and fall apart on re-entry.
Rude Awakenings
I would say a prayer, throw a full can of snuff out the window and pull over to buy a new one 10 miles down the road. I had to quit; I had to keep trying, because as Nurse Agnew once said, it was completely incompatible.
On the early morning hours of October 31st 2004, I awoke from a dream that properly motivated me to take my addiction very seriously. There's not any point in me describing it because most would say it was merely a nightmare, but I received it as a holy warning from a Spiritual dad that was taking me to the woodshed.
I got rid of every snuff can and cigarette I could find and to this day have not taken in a measurable amount of any form of nicotine. The last time I quit really was the last time I quit.
Thomas Edison once said, "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try one more time."
Getting back up on the horse is just as important as the horse being broken. I hate bondage. I hate addiction and so does the Lord. I truly don't think that smoking or the use of tobacco is that big of a deal except that it simply is not compatible with the testimony of a Christian. Its bad for you and it's a bad testimony. I don't think smoking will send you to hell, but I do think it will make you smell like you've been there.
Across the Pond
Several years ago my wife and I were on one of our first visits to Uganda, East Africa. At a baptism ceremony in a fast moving river, about 50 new converts were about to take the holy plunge. Once the music started people began to celebrate and to my amazement the folks in line striped down naked! Their public display revealed a lot more than their faith in Jesus.
A few years later, that same Pastor was touring through Texas when he stopped to preach at my church, Open Door Ministries. He came in my office and said "Pastor Troy, there are people smoking cigarettes in the parking lot outside. Why do you not go out and confront them?"
I reminded him that I had been to his church several times and that he should be more concerned for the naked people in his church than the smokers in mine. I will take smokers over streakers any day of the week.
The bottom line is that Christ set us free not for us to be in bondage but for us to be set free. If you have tried hard to come out of some things and failed before, I encourage you to try again. Don't give up! Your life is worth fighting for. Addiction is incompatible with a victorious person like you. There is no point in being defeated by an already defeated devil.
Romans 6:18"Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
Contact: The Brewer welcomes your input FFTB@OpenDoorMinistries.org
By Phone: 817-297-6911.
Online: http://www.opendoorministries.org/ & http://www.joshuarising.com/
"I finally quit when I became a nurse. It was professionally incompatible," he said.
The Brewer himself used to live in Marlboro Country, but by way of the red sea I was delivered from the Pharaoh of Copenhagen and all things tobacco, back in 1994. It remains one of the greatest single victories of my life.
I had been a dedicated Christian for nearly nine years at that time and had walked right out of a lot of things that sent stronger people to rehabs. But I just couldn't live a life without a round can in my back pocket, even if I was living for Jesus. I learned how to do food outreaches with a dip of snuff in my mouth, and then found me some grace and liberty scriptures to quote if anybody didn't like it.
The truth of the matter is I wanted to quit but didn't know how. Every time I decided to quit it was like trying to land the space shuttle. My projectory would start off right but once the real suffering commenced, I would get off course and fall apart on re-entry.
Rude Awakenings
I would say a prayer, throw a full can of snuff out the window and pull over to buy a new one 10 miles down the road. I had to quit; I had to keep trying, because as Nurse Agnew once said, it was completely incompatible.
On the early morning hours of October 31st 2004, I awoke from a dream that properly motivated me to take my addiction very seriously. There's not any point in me describing it because most would say it was merely a nightmare, but I received it as a holy warning from a Spiritual dad that was taking me to the woodshed.
I got rid of every snuff can and cigarette I could find and to this day have not taken in a measurable amount of any form of nicotine. The last time I quit really was the last time I quit.
Thomas Edison once said, "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try one more time."
Getting back up on the horse is just as important as the horse being broken. I hate bondage. I hate addiction and so does the Lord. I truly don't think that smoking or the use of tobacco is that big of a deal except that it simply is not compatible with the testimony of a Christian. Its bad for you and it's a bad testimony. I don't think smoking will send you to hell, but I do think it will make you smell like you've been there.
Across the Pond
Several years ago my wife and I were on one of our first visits to Uganda, East Africa. At a baptism ceremony in a fast moving river, about 50 new converts were about to take the holy plunge. Once the music started people began to celebrate and to my amazement the folks in line striped down naked! Their public display revealed a lot more than their faith in Jesus.
A few years later, that same Pastor was touring through Texas when he stopped to preach at my church, Open Door Ministries. He came in my office and said "Pastor Troy, there are people smoking cigarettes in the parking lot outside. Why do you not go out and confront them?"
I reminded him that I had been to his church several times and that he should be more concerned for the naked people in his church than the smokers in mine. I will take smokers over streakers any day of the week.
The bottom line is that Christ set us free not for us to be in bondage but for us to be set free. If you have tried hard to come out of some things and failed before, I encourage you to try again. Don't give up! Your life is worth fighting for. Addiction is incompatible with a victorious person like you. There is no point in being defeated by an already defeated devil.
Romans 6:18"Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
Contact: The Brewer welcomes your input FFTB@OpenDoorMinistries.org
By Phone: 817-297-6911.
Online: http://www.opendoorministries.org/ & http://www.joshuarising.com/
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