Donny,
I just wanted to say that I enjoyed getting to know you these past few months. And I think you have a heart of gold. We'll take care of things here as best we can. So long, my friend.
Brian
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
CONTRAST
If we are to be a people that seeks to follow and immulate Jesus Christ, if we are to be a people who seeks to draw closer to their creator - God, and if we are to become the very people that God desires for us to be, then, we must understand that what makes Him God is His beauty.
Beauty is the orchestration and unification of individual parts to create a body of work that is one. I believe that the word to use here is contrast. Yet, this word is not about differences. To contrast is to take different parts to make one unified whole.
I pray that we seek to become whole and stop focusing on our individual selves... uh... I mean parts.
B
Beauty is the orchestration and unification of individual parts to create a body of work that is one. I believe that the word to use here is contrast. Yet, this word is not about differences. To contrast is to take different parts to make one unified whole.
I pray that we seek to become whole and stop focusing on our individual selves... uh... I mean parts.
B
Monday, June 25, 2007
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
I have been looking at the life and ministry of a man who is considered a great example for ministry leaders and all Christians to model their careers and lives after. So, with such a strong recommedation from centuries of pastors and authors, the discoveries I made were a little surprising.
When you think of the life and legacy of Jesus Christ, many believers focus on the words he spoke or the attitude of love he displayed, or even the righteous anger that he poured out at the temple against the money changers. I have long been this type of thinker who immediately focuses and relies on the public life of Jesus. That has been my main resource for discovering what it takes to honor and please God.
My recent re-visit to the scriptures that tells about much of the life of Jesus, however, has left me a little surprised at what I discovered was the main crux of His ministry and effectiveness. It was not His public ministry that propelled Jesus. It was His private prayer life. I discovered that Jesus went into seclusion and prayer way more often than He spoke to the crowds. As a matter of fact, the majority of His teachings were in private to just a few of His followers. These teaching never made it to the scriptures as John so boldly declared, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." (John 21:25)
So what was it that Jesus valued the most? What was it that led Him to spend the majority of His ministry in private, rather than in the public eye? It was His desire and priority for the health and growth of His soul.
B.U.I.L.D.ING TOGETHER,
BRIAN
When you think of the life and legacy of Jesus Christ, many believers focus on the words he spoke or the attitude of love he displayed, or even the righteous anger that he poured out at the temple against the money changers. I have long been this type of thinker who immediately focuses and relies on the public life of Jesus. That has been my main resource for discovering what it takes to honor and please God.
My recent re-visit to the scriptures that tells about much of the life of Jesus, however, has left me a little surprised at what I discovered was the main crux of His ministry and effectiveness. It was not His public ministry that propelled Jesus. It was His private prayer life. I discovered that Jesus went into seclusion and prayer way more often than He spoke to the crowds. As a matter of fact, the majority of His teachings were in private to just a few of His followers. These teaching never made it to the scriptures as John so boldly declared, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." (John 21:25)
So what was it that Jesus valued the most? What was it that led Him to spend the majority of His ministry in private, rather than in the public eye? It was His desire and priority for the health and growth of His soul.
B.U.I.L.D.ING TOGETHER,
BRIAN
Monday, June 18, 2007
WHAT A MESS
So, last week was our middle school VBS. It was fun, exciting, and enjoyed by all. I believe we grew closer to Christ by studying some of the more heroic figures found in the Holy Scriptures. We had about forty hundred water fights, and to top it off, the Troy Fire Department was gracious enough to come and drench us with a lot of water.
Now that it's the following week, as I look at my office, wow, what a mess. But as I start sorting through all of our supplies and leftover materials, I am constantly reminded of the success that we had with our students last week. I am reminded of picture of Jesus that they were given and the priority of Holiness that was sought after. I am reminded of the unlikely friendships that were established by the students. I am reminded of the great help that some of our volunteers gave.
I don't mind messes in life sometimes. As we try to re-establish order, we will be reminded of the blessings that God has given to us. Yeah, sometimes we are reminded of "not so nice" memories. Which is why we must fight to focus on our positive and Godly experiences. There might be a mess to clean up, but what good lessons and relationships have you gained from it?
B.U.I.L.D.ING TOGETHER,
BRIAN
Now that it's the following week, as I look at my office, wow, what a mess. But as I start sorting through all of our supplies and leftover materials, I am constantly reminded of the success that we had with our students last week. I am reminded of picture of Jesus that they were given and the priority of Holiness that was sought after. I am reminded of the unlikely friendships that were established by the students. I am reminded of the great help that some of our volunteers gave.
I don't mind messes in life sometimes. As we try to re-establish order, we will be reminded of the blessings that God has given to us. Yeah, sometimes we are reminded of "not so nice" memories. Which is why we must fight to focus on our positive and Godly experiences. There might be a mess to clean up, but what good lessons and relationships have you gained from it?
B.U.I.L.D.ING TOGETHER,
BRIAN
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
ANY CRACK, ANY HOLE, ANY OPENING
Today I was reminded of Paul's commitment to evangelism when he said that he would become all things to all men so that some might be saved. That is a WOW level of intensity and commitment. And the truth is that I don't think it's that hard to get this excited and focused about evangelism. However, I do feel that this fire can be easily exstinguished if we don't discover ways to light "other wood."
What I mean is that we must be in constant contact with the lost people we are trying to bring to Jesus. And while we are in contact with them, we must discover who they are, what makes them tick, what they believe and why they believe it without the first hint of a judgemental attitude.
Please find the things that your lost friends are passionate about and seek God's counsel on how to relate those passions to the gospel of Christ. And the gospel of Christ will always relate to a person's deep inner passions, believe that.
Use any crack, any hole, or any opening to show the people in your life that God made them for His good pleasure and that He gave us Jesus to pay the price for our sins, and if we trust Him, we can have everlasting life with our Creator.
B.U.I.L.D.ING
BRIAN
What I mean is that we must be in constant contact with the lost people we are trying to bring to Jesus. And while we are in contact with them, we must discover who they are, what makes them tick, what they believe and why they believe it without the first hint of a judgemental attitude.
Please find the things that your lost friends are passionate about and seek God's counsel on how to relate those passions to the gospel of Christ. And the gospel of Christ will always relate to a person's deep inner passions, believe that.
Use any crack, any hole, or any opening to show the people in your life that God made them for His good pleasure and that He gave us Jesus to pay the price for our sins, and if we trust Him, we can have everlasting life with our Creator.
B.U.I.L.D.ING
BRIAN
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
ALL IN A DAY'S WORK
I came across this in group magazine by Josh Griffin and had to share it, enjoy!
"I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asks me: 'What do you do all day?' It's not like I'm sitting on my hands, right? Well, I'm also not working for a nickel a day in a South American sweatshop, but I think most people just assume that we all show up on Sunday, turn on some lights, talk about God, then take the next six days off. I thought it'd be helpful to share some of my best answers to that most obnoxious of questions.
1. 'Oh, I play Xbox 360 all day. Yep, I bet you thought I worked all week, didn't you? Nope, I crash in the youth room on a beanbag with the weekend's leftover Cool Ranch Doritos and play video games. And also, I have nearly unlimited access to animal crackers and juice in the nursery.'
2. 'I sit here all day and pray for students just like you. I get to the office before 5 a.m. for my morning devotion. I eat a hearty breakfast, enjoy some of the Apocrypha and My Utmost For His Highest, read the news on the Internet, grab a multivitamin, and then settle in for a few hours of prayer. I mean Jesus prayer - I sweat blood. I pray you'll break up with that Harlot of Babylon, er... the girl you're dating. And I pray that you'll stop asking me what I do all day.'
3. 'I just like to chill on MySpace. I love getting friend requests, and sending messages to my virtual homies. Did I mention that all my friends are Internet-only friends? Maybe I should get out of the office a little more.'
4. 'I like to spend a good chunk of my day drawing ideas for tattoos in my spiral notebook. I've been toying with some kink of a Jesus-fish-dragon-cross thing across my back - what do you think? I'll do whatever it takes to reach my young people.'
5. 'I'm passionately trying to connect my teenagers to God. I cry about them graduating from their faith when they graduste from high school. My heart hurts when a student goes down the wrong path; my heart sings when they take a step toward spiritual growth. I journey hand-in-hand with about two dozen kids through some of the most challenging years of their lives. Yeah, that's what I do.'"
"I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asks me: 'What do you do all day?' It's not like I'm sitting on my hands, right? Well, I'm also not working for a nickel a day in a South American sweatshop, but I think most people just assume that we all show up on Sunday, turn on some lights, talk about God, then take the next six days off. I thought it'd be helpful to share some of my best answers to that most obnoxious of questions.
1. 'Oh, I play Xbox 360 all day. Yep, I bet you thought I worked all week, didn't you? Nope, I crash in the youth room on a beanbag with the weekend's leftover Cool Ranch Doritos and play video games. And also, I have nearly unlimited access to animal crackers and juice in the nursery.'
2. 'I sit here all day and pray for students just like you. I get to the office before 5 a.m. for my morning devotion. I eat a hearty breakfast, enjoy some of the Apocrypha and My Utmost For His Highest, read the news on the Internet, grab a multivitamin, and then settle in for a few hours of prayer. I mean Jesus prayer - I sweat blood. I pray you'll break up with that Harlot of Babylon, er... the girl you're dating. And I pray that you'll stop asking me what I do all day.'
3. 'I just like to chill on MySpace. I love getting friend requests, and sending messages to my virtual homies. Did I mention that all my friends are Internet-only friends? Maybe I should get out of the office a little more.'
4. 'I like to spend a good chunk of my day drawing ideas for tattoos in my spiral notebook. I've been toying with some kink of a Jesus-fish-dragon-cross thing across my back - what do you think? I'll do whatever it takes to reach my young people.'
5. 'I'm passionately trying to connect my teenagers to God. I cry about them graduating from their faith when they graduste from high school. My heart hurts when a student goes down the wrong path; my heart sings when they take a step toward spiritual growth. I journey hand-in-hand with about two dozen kids through some of the most challenging years of their lives. Yeah, that's what I do.'"
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
THE BEST WAY TO "DO"
"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13
I believe that one of the greatest assets a young person of Christ can use is their idealism. The reason that idealism can be so important is because it is the root from where we all come from. The older we get and the more experiences we go through, the less we listen to our ideals. This is the point where we focus on our outcomes and how we improve or repeat them.
When we focus on these outcomes, we become dedicated to them rather than the belief system that fuels us. Once we are more interested in an end rather than what fuels our ends, then, we will accept any ideal and belief, as long as we get where we want to go.
The ideal of love is of greatest importance, according to scripture. I believe that it doesn't matter how many people like you, or how many times you get recognized, or how often you're paid, or how much you're paid. What matters is how high you scored on the "love test."
Did you speak in a loving manner? Did you think in a loving manner? Did you act out love? Would God be linked to your type of behavior?
No matter what happens to you, it is never okay to not love.
B.U.I.L.D.ING,
BRIAN
I believe that one of the greatest assets a young person of Christ can use is their idealism. The reason that idealism can be so important is because it is the root from where we all come from. The older we get and the more experiences we go through, the less we listen to our ideals. This is the point where we focus on our outcomes and how we improve or repeat them.
When we focus on these outcomes, we become dedicated to them rather than the belief system that fuels us. Once we are more interested in an end rather than what fuels our ends, then, we will accept any ideal and belief, as long as we get where we want to go.
The ideal of love is of greatest importance, according to scripture. I believe that it doesn't matter how many people like you, or how many times you get recognized, or how often you're paid, or how much you're paid. What matters is how high you scored on the "love test."
Did you speak in a loving manner? Did you think in a loving manner? Did you act out love? Would God be linked to your type of behavior?
No matter what happens to you, it is never okay to not love.
B.U.I.L.D.ING,
BRIAN
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