Historically speaking, Payback doesn't work

If you ever had reason to drive west of Utley, Texas, it would be easy to pass up the historical marker on the south side of FM 969. But if you did have time to stop and see what it says, it would tell you very little about what actually happened there. It's a place where people lived and died 171 years ago. A place where both dreams and nightmares came true.

FRONTIER FAMILY

One of the brave families who settled the frontier lived here when it was a lot easier to die than to actually live. Texas had just won her independence from Mexico, and the Coleman family settled on land deeded to them by Austin himself.

Robert and Elizabeth Coleman fought the Mexicans, the Comanches and the harsh Texas elements while scratching the ground for food and having babies. They lived with very little comfort on the Colorado River, and Robert commanded the fort nearby. They looked forward to a day where living would be less dangerous and survival more likely, but Robert never saw that day.

In 1837, Robert drowned in the Brazos River, and Elizabeth did not have the luxury to spend a season in mourning. Now she was a single mother with a three year old boy, a twelve year old boy and several daughters whose ages are not known to us now. For the next two years, she successfully fought and lived harder than most can imagine, nearly completely isolated from the rest of the world.

By then, her oldest boy Albert was fourteen, and he was a huge help in every way. The Coleman daughters had never known anything but frontier life, and they fit well into the rhythm of the farm. Tommy was now five and spent his days chasing rabbits and catching horned toads.

INDIAN BLOODBATH

On February 18, 1839, Elizabeth was working in the garden when she saw a raiding party of Comanche Indians coming full gallop towards the house. She screamed to the kids to get inside and for Albert to prepare to defend himself. Little Tommy was too far away to make it to the house in time, and as Elizabeth stood in the doorway, an Indian arrow pierced her throat. She fell where she stood in a bloody clump of writhing panic. As Albert frantically dragged her past the threshold, a Comanche picked up Tommy for parts unknown. Albert fired off a shot from his muzzleloader while his mother lay gurgling, and his sisters continued screaming from under the bed.

In the chaos and panic, I would imagine Albert found it difficult to reload the awkward rifle. He had no idea a Comanche warrior had his sights on him through a crack in the side of the house.

Several hours later, would-be rescuers arrived to find Tommy had been kidnapped and Albert, Elizabeth and one Comanche warrior dead. The girls were still under the bed and had to be pried away from their hiding place: a fairly common scene in early Texas history. An injustice barely comprehensible. The settlers vowed revenge for the horrific act of savagery, and they would have it.

THE REST OF THE STORY

If after this reading this, your blood is boiling a little, as it should, let me tell you another part of this same story. Like you, Elizabeth had no way of knowing, not that she would have cared, that the Comanches assaulting her were the surviving remnant of an Indian village who had just been massacred by settlers.

Four days earlier on February 14th, John Henry Moore had taken a Texan raiding party to find Indians and attacked a village at sunrise on the San Saba River. Besides warriors, women, children and the elderly were cut down, indiscriminately shot and left for dead. The surviving Comanches vowed revenge for the horrific act of savagery, and they would have it in the Coleman family, miles away.

Now before your blood boils at John Moore, as it should, let me tell you another part of this story. John Henry Moore was hunting Indians in retaliation of an attack on another family, and those Indians were hunting settlers in retaliation of another attack on an Indian village. The Cycle of Death goes on and on, and the stories are tragic and horrific.

IT A'INT YOURS

Revenge does not belong to us. It belongs to God. Mama taught me a long time ago not to take what doesn't belong to me, and the Brewer is reminding you to do the same. Revenge in the hands of a Holy God is a Holy thing. Revenge in the hands of somebody like me is an ugly thing that does more damage and very little good. Revenge in God’s hand brings Justice, but in our hands brings evil, even on innocent people. Next time you and I have trouble believing that, we should think about poor Albert trying to drag his mama in the house with an arrow through her throat or the panic and terror that little Indian girl must have felt as she took her last breath on the San Saba.

Forgiveness and trusting in the Lord to make things right comes from God Himself. Revenge belongs to Him. The choice to not be a bigger part of the problem belongs to you and me.

Deuteronomy 32:35

Vengeance is Mine, and recompense...

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

A TALE OF TWO KINGS

When James King Got up last Wednesday morning he woke up with a word and a mission. “God is going to help me find that little girl today.”

Four days earlier, a little girl named Nadia Bloom, had gone missing without a trace of evidence as to where she could be. When her bike and her helmet were found on the side of the street, everyone suspected the worst imaginable.

There were however endless miles of Florida swamp nearby and friends and family knew Nadia had mild autism and lived with Asperger’s syndrome. It was possible she had wandered off and simply gotten lost. They hoped it was possible.

She had just read a book about an adventurous little girl who went through the wilderness taking pictures of wildlife. Nadia did have her camera that day. After three days of Alligator infested swamps though, there were very few who considered it a possibility she could be found alive.

“At this point, it would be a miracle.” Authorities said.

Miracles happen.

Some time in the afternoon, 911 received a phone call from a remote location in the swamp. It was James King.

“I have found the missing girl, Nadia....” he said.

“Wait...Your in contact with her now?” asked the dispatcher.

“Yes, I have her in my arms. She’s fine.”

What CBS would call, The miracle in the swamp, was soon broadcast throughout the world. Nadia was covered from head to toe in mosquito bites and she was severely dehydrated but she really was fine. ”

“If I never believed in miracles before, I do now.” said the chief of police.

Twenty four hours later King was in New York City on every morning news show you can imagine. An awkward kind of guy who apparently does not wear socks, King sat in nice chairs, in front of huge cameras, holding a bible.

“God led me to her. He told me to recite Proverbs three and call out her name.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. That’s what I did and I found her. “

Nadia’s dad said of his daughter's rescue: "I can't even describe it. Let's give the glory to God."

I know another King who searches for and finds lost people. This King is also a miracle worker. This king is willing to go where no one else is willing to go to rescue the hurting and save the lost. This King is actually King over all Kings and I know him personally because I happen to be part of the family. His name is Jesus.

In whatever swamp you find yourself sinking in this week, The Brewer encourages you to call out to the only one who really can rescue and save. God bless you so much as you face life believing in miracles and looking forward to the impossible.

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

Power Drain

I have had the blessing of having a really good landlord over the years. The owner of our rented church facility is actually a child hood friend of mine, Julie McMurry Thames, who has been a wonderful host to us for more than 12 years.

I recently had to tell her that we will be moving out because the good people at First Baptist in Joshua are selling their building to us and allowing us to move in sometime in early October. It’s a huge upgrade for our band of believers and actually a dream come true for all our leadership team. I’ll tell you more about that in the weeks to come, but let me first tell you about an issue with another rented property.

About ten years ago, we began to rent a building, not belonging to my friend Julie, which we would use as our youth facility. It was old and run down, but we accepted the challenge of a huge renovation and built it from the inside out. It lacked even a bathroom, and after four months of hard work, we were able to open a facility for teenagers to hang out and for young lives to be changed. We called it the Power House, and as it turned out, the name would be prophetic. Our first electric bill there was somewhere around $850.00, and other than during the construction, we were not even using the building.

We had some professional electricians come over and see what our problem was and turns out, there was no problem. Every month after that, no matter what, our electricity bill would be some where in the order of a thousand dollars. Though it was terrible and a huge financial strain on a little ministry like ours, we decided to go ahead and keep the facility because: number one, we have a huge heart for reaching teenagers; number two, we had spent more than $8,000.00 getting the building operable; and number three, we were locked into a contract with our landlord.

For ten years, we kept up the building, never missed a rental payment and loved on teenagers while watching that electricity bill get bigger and bigger. This year, it went above $1,500 several months in a row, and I finally had enough. Mind you, we use the building for one night a week. We began shutting it all down and moving out this last month while moving our youth services to Saturday night in our other facility. In the process, we turned off all the electricity and lo and behold, the meter was still spinning. We did a little investigating and discovered that the surrounding buildings don’t have a meter at all! Someone has been stealing electricity from us for more than 10 years.

The Texan in me wants to go to war over such a thing, and I am still contemplating, but it’s made me think a lot about the subject of a power drain. It’s just not an option for me to live a spiritually powerless life! I don’t want to miss out on what Paul calls “...the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe . . ."

We receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us (Acts 1:8). Living life in the Spirit, by the Spirit, is a constant work in progress for all Christians. We get to live and operate in a different spirit and attitude than the world we live in. I love that!

We learn of the power of God through "great and precious promises" (II Peter 1:3-4). We unwrap and discover our destiny as we continually discover who the Lord is to us. That power goes to "all things that pertain to life and godliness." It’s learning to pray and learning to throw a curve ball. It’s wrapping our heads around theology and understanding the housing market. It’s raising our kids and leaving a legacy. God’s Power is for everything we are involved in.

We see the power of God in our lives when our character reflects "all patience and long suffering with joyfulness" (Colossians 1:11). Now we’re talking supernatural power to not throw a constant fit. To live in conflict without living in strife. Come on Jesus!

I know right now, there are lots of things out there with the purpose of stealing my power. Let me serve the devil notice: you cosmic punk, you can’t have it! There are too many people depending on me, and the person reading this, to continue to allow you to steal from us anymore. We choose to partner with God and put an end to the drainage as of right now. It is my responsibility to be full of the Spirit and to live life in such a way that is more about Easter morning than Good Friday.

So, Elvis has left the building but with a right mind and a right heart. Since I couldn't turn off the electricity, I thought it wise to go ahead and shut off the water at my meter. It turns out I couldn't do that either. As soon as I did, the neighbors came out and said I had shut all the water off to their building.

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

A TIME TRAVELERS PERSPECTIVE OF CALVARY’S CROSS

This week’s confession of a highly caffeinated Christian comes boldly perked with a seasonal blend. Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Morning. It’s not just a great time of year to sell little rabbits at the feed store, Its an amazing season to contemplate History’s greatest hinge.

When I think about how Jesus lived, suffered, died and then slapped death in the face for me, I think about some things only a weirdo like me would think about. One of those things is Time Travel. Yes-time travel.

I would love to go back through time and actually witness Jesus in the flesh. Being a Christian I believe He was God made flesh, not just God pretending to be a man, so I tend to think other weird things too. Would I be able to talk to him since I don’t speak Hebrew? Nobody actually spoke English 2000 years ago, much less Texan.

Maybe I would have to be a fly on a wall somehow and just observe. So on my time travel list of Jesus things to see would have to be, the feeding of the five thousand. Oh I would so want to see Jesus walking on the water and defending the woman caught in the act. What were you writing on the ground there, Jesus? So many things but more than all of that, even more than actually being in the house with the disciples when Jesus showed up after the resurrection, I would want to somehow be there the day he carried the cross.

Years ago I used to think about being in Jerusalem on that day and how I would love to be there just to encourage him some how. I would love to give him a drink when he was so thirsty. I would love to clothe him when they tore his robe off of him. Anything to ease His pain or lighten his burden of what He was going through for my sake. If there was no way to do any of that, If I could just be one face in the hateful crowd that yelled back, “Thank you, Jesus!” You can do it Lord! Its not always going to be like this!”

This one day changes everything, Lord. Thank you sir, I love you sir!”. Anything, so He wasn't so alone as He made that march for all of us.

So one night in prayer about ten years ago, I was praying and complaining to God about my lack of a time machine to do such a thing. “Yes, Lord I do plan to stop by the Alamo and make sure Davie Crocket knows you in his heart, but I want to come and love on you when you were hurting so bad.”

In an instant, in a way like only God can, and in a way like is a little different for each of us, I felt God speak a word into my heart. “You already do and you have many times.”is what God said to me. a split second later, I was thinking about Matthew 25 and How Jesus said if we would give somebody who was a thirsty, a drink of water He would count it as if we did it to him. If we would visit folks in prison and clothe the naked and help hurting people he would count it as if we fed and clothed and helped Him when he needed it.

Come to find out I have done a lot of time traveling over the years. This last saturday, me and my friends were able to give food and clothes away to over 700 people, and in that, I was able to encourage somebody who was hurt and feed somebody who was hungry. I never left the county or the current year but in the eyes of Jesus I was there with HIm when he was hurting the most

I can’t go back through time like I would like to, but I get to live for Jesus right now in a way I shouldn't be able to. Happy resurrection day guys and God bless you in living out a life that proves he is risen.

“I see the face of Jesus in every hurting person I take care of.” Mother Theresa

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

WOODEN WONDER

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Max Lucado says it this way.

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

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

THE TRUTH ABOUT FACTS

Enter Joe Friday, a man after the facts and only the facts. “Just the facts ma’am,” he says as he patiently scribbles away on his little note pad. Sometimes Joe Friday wannabes will write me and say that my highly anticipated confessions from this highly caffeinated Christian should be more factual and less and about the fanciful ideas of Jesus Christ and modern day miracles.

I would hate to loose you Joe Fridays out there as readers so let’s throw in some facts like my last name were Aikman instead of Brewer.

Facts about words

"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order. "Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel and “racecar” spelt backwards is still racecar.

Did you know the name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan and there was never a recorded Wendy before that book came out? Are you aware that there are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple and silver? Interesting.

Facts on Animals

Did you know polar bears are left-handed, an ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain and a butterfly tastes with its feet? Yes, I know a butterfly is not an animal but tasting with its feet reminds me of how a Giraffe can clean its ears with its own 21-inch tongue. I don’t know why — it just does. The ostrich eye thing is an interesting fact that reminds me a dolphin always sleeps with one eye open and an owl is the only bird which can see the color blue.

Joe Friday is going to love this column.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors, hot water weighs more than cold water, sound travels 15 times faster through steel than through the air and Warren Beatty and Shirley McLain are brother and sister. Whew, I’m getting a kick out appeasing the more-factual and less-Jesus-loving crowd out there.

Here’s a fact: It’s my column and I’ll talk about Jesus as much as I want to. If you feel threatened by that, I say pull up your big-boy pants and write something better. As an ambassador for Christ I will actively engage the arenas of the world for the Kingdom and there are always going to be people out there who can’t stand Christians or the mention of the “J” word. In case you’re not sure about the “J” word, I’m talking Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus!

Oh I know I just made somebody mad, and it cracks me up a little. The name Brewer doesn’t just mean coffee or beer maker, it also means troublemaker, as in storms brewing. I love my name.

The problem with Facts

It’s not good to live according to facts. Facts change from perspective to perspective and moment to moment. For those of us who have chosen the way of Jesus Christ, we live according to truth. Truth supersedes facts. Facts are temporary and truth is eternal. Facts can make you miserable and truth sets you free.

So Joe, I would encourage you to not settle for the facts when you can actually have the truth.

Here’s another fact for you. The tomb in Jerusalem is empty. The truth is Jesus Christ is risen from the dead having slapped death in the face for all of us.

Troy Brewer is the pastor of Open Door ministries near Joshua and Crowley and can be reached through his Web site at www.freshfromthebrewer.com.

The Rip Off

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

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

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

Cattle killers

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

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

Snail mail

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

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

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

Money back guarantee

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

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

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

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

The Brewer pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and Crowley and can be found at www.troybrewer.com.