The Joys of Technology

Technology is an amazing thing, especially if you can figure out how to make things work properly!  I apologize if you have signed up to receive this blog by email and nothing has happened.  My tech support (which is my wife!) is trying to work out all the bugs with the blogger and feed burner folks.


Maybe I should offer to raise her pay???  


We hope to have things running smoothly soon.  Thanks for your grace and patience with us.

The Sheep and The Shepherd

"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD"

Today in ABF class we talked about Psalm 23.  Next to John 3:16, this is probably one of the most often quoted sections of scripture from the Bible.  These words have been sung by mothers to soothe a crying baby, whispered by young men as they ran at an enemy across a bloody battlefield, spoken over a flower covered coffin at a graveside, and recited by children on countless hot summer days during vacation bible school.  

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.  He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.   Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.   You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever".

Most of you probably didn't even really read these verses just now, but glanced over them quickly because you were so familiar with them.   Oh yeah, we got these down pat.   

AND THAT IS THE PROBLEM!    

Our common knowledge - our familiarity - with these verses puts us on dangerous ground.   Do we even really pay attention to the first 5 words?   The words that I believe are the most important in the entire chapter?  A grasp of those first 5 small but incredibly important words is needed to really understand the next 4 words... "I shall not want".

"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD"

THE = not "a" but "the".   David knew there was only 1 God.   At the time David was writing this psalm, experts believe the Egyptians had 360 different gods; that is a different one for almost every day of the year.   And the Canaanites whom David would have been very familiar with, worshipped many different gods as well.  But David knew His God was "The".

LORD = one who rules over all. The word used for Lord was Jehovah, the Jews most sacred name for deity.  Jehovah is my shepherd! 

IS = always has been, always will be.   Our God is eternal.

MY = not a shepherd, but MY shepherd.  Our relationship with the Lord is personal.

SHEPHERD = responsible for every care the sheep might have, to be their guide, their protector, their constant companion.

"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD"

The one who never had a beginning and never has an ending, the ruler of the universe, the great I AM is my shepherd!  

But it gets even better.   3 different times in the NT Jesus is referred to as a shepherd.  

John 10, Hebrews 13, 1 Peter 5   

The Good Shepherd lays down His life/The Great Shepherd rose from the dead/The Chief Shepherd is coming to take us out of this mess!

When you think about Jesus in Psalm 23 - you are talking about His deity as Lord and His humanity as shepherd.   A king and a shepherd.   A God who is able and a shepherd who is available.   

"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD"

Is the Lord your shepherd?   The answer to that is the key to the entire chapter.  

Without Jesus as your Lord and Shepherd - you will never be able to say "I shall not want".   Only the Sovereign and the Shepherd leads to satisfaction.  

So much more that we talked about in class today - especially those next 4 words...

"I SHALL NOT WANT"

We'll catch up tomorrow.  

  

Not Just For Girls

A phenomenon has swept through my home, the homes of my wife's friends, and the homes of most of the female members of my ABF this past year.   It's called "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.   According to my wife, it is a life changing book.  And yes, I can see a change in her and how she has handled this past year.


The premise of the book is this - be thankful - and keep track of these things that you are thankful for in a journal or notebook of some type all the way up to 1000.  To see God's gift to us in every circumstance, no matter how hard or beautiful it might seem at the time.


The women love it!   But how come it's just them?


Why don't men count their blessings?  
Why aren't we giving thanks in all things?  
And writing them down so we can look back over them?   


I know sometimes we do utter a quick "Thank You Jesus", especially when there are scary moments and we escape back to our normal, everyday life.   But just saying the word "blessings" or "counting gifts" sounds like something a woman might do.  It's almost like we think it could be unmanly to do such a thing.

But Jesus --- the most manly man --- gave thanks --- even on the night before he went to the cross.

"And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  Luke 22:19 ESV

The second "I" of Uprising/REUP is INTIMACY.  It is centered around spending time journaling and recording God's work and blessings in our lives.  Doing so we leave a memorial of our own for our families and generations to come. 


In Joshua 4:5-7 we read, "⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”  ESV

How different would we be as fathers, as husbands, as sons, as friends, as employees, as volunteers, as teammates, as bosses if we lived a life of giving thanks?    If we spent time each day recording what God has done in and around our lives?


Henry Ward Beecher said, "The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings"! 

Cookies and Saints

"For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do but I am doing the very thing that I hate."  (Romans 7:15 NASB)

I really enjoy chocolate chip cookies!   But the kind I like have gluten in them and I don't need to be eating them.  

I was diagnosed back in March 2011 with a very rare lymph node disease called Castleman's Disease.  It affects my autoimmune system and I have a mass located in the pelvic area that is caused by the disease.  I will be having surgery on Feb 9th to try and remove the mass but until then and even after, I have to do things that are best for my immune system.  One of those things is to be gluten free in my daily diet.  So unless something is cooked or baked without gluten (wheat, barley, rye) I don't need to eat it.  Do you realize how hard that is?  

I have done pretty good (I think!) Although I have been guilty of doing the very thing I don't want to do or should do... like eating cookies, a breaded Chick-fil-A sandwich, biscuits, and a few other things.  Why did I do that? It wasn't practicing what  I would like to do.  As Paul states in Rom 7:15.."I do not understand ..."

Praise God that He knew we would be this way!  Jesus was the only one that could do the right thing all the time.  He was God incarnate!  Jesus died on that cross to take care of our past, present and future disobedience (sins).  God knew even though we have a new nature (HIS nature) in us we would still do things that aren't  the best for us.  

HE KNEW WE WOULD BE SAINTS WHO WILL SOMETIMES SIN and He went ahead and took care of the penalty for those sins.   But just like eating those cookies that aren't gluten free, there are consequences in this life for my disobedience. And even though my loving wife may condemn me for eating those cookies, my loving God doesn't condemn me for my disobedience..."Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". (Rom 8:1)

What's cool is that I have been going gluten free long enough now that my body has gotten used to it, so when I do eat something with gluten in it my body reacts and rejects it.  That makes me no longer want anything with gluten.

That is kind of like what happens as I grow in my relationship with HIM.  He replaces my desire for whatever I craved before with something else that is better.   As I grow closer to Him, my cravings change - wanting more of what He desires. 

"Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart". Ps 37:4

I am still looking for what that is in regards to warm chocolate chip cookies.....

I hate our cat!!!

Our cat is one of my least favorite things in life!  This is her (Baby Kitty) in her usual day-long position, sleeping on a soft fuzzy blanket in front of a window.

Baby goes around carefree thinking she owns the place. 

Baby leaves hair everywhere for us to deal with.  

Baby pesters us until we give her what she wants to meet her needs.

This month - about once a week - Baby has been urinating in front of her litter box (on a rubber mat) instead of inside it.  We have no idea why and it's not cute!

When we try to punish her for doing it, she doesn't seem to be bothered and instantly goes back to doing whatever she was doing before - usually taking a nap - which is her top priority for every day.  

This all makes me want to leave the front door open and hope she will go and find another family so I don't have to deal with her anymore.
  
WAIT A MINUTE....this also sound like me (well not the litter box part)!!  

I go through life like I own the place. I leave messes for others to deal with and I want my needs met as soon as possible. God chastens me at times and then I start acting like it didn't even bother me and I go right back to doing the same old things.  

I wonder if God wishes He could leave the door open so I might run off and then He wouldn't have to deal with me anymore?

WAIT A MINUTE.....that's not my God!!   He looks at me as being the apple of His eye.  

These verses validate that He looks at me in a way that I can't even begin to comprehend:
2 Cor. 5:17  New Creation
Rom. 8:1  Not Condemned
Phil 3:20  Citizen of Heaven
Eph 1:4  Holy and Blameless
1 Cor 1:2  Saint
Heb 9:28 Forgiven


And many other verses like these make His view of me very clear.  Oh, if I could only see myself the way HE sees me!


"The Lord is my shepherd...He restores my soul....Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me....surely Your goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life.  (Psalm 23:1,4,6)


What wonderful news to know that the thoughts I have about my cat never cross HIS mind because of what Jesus did on that cross.  What an amazing God!!!


And if you stop by to see us and the front door is standing open... my wife and cat are probably hoping I'm heading out for a long walk.

Blessed to be Salt and Light

We've been talking a lot about BLESSINGS at our church this year, in the main worship services and in our ABF (Sunday School) class.   For the past couple of weeks, we've been digging into Matthew 5:1-16 during class.


We started with BLESSED - what does that word mean in society today?  


The word for blessed is "makarioi"which means to be characterized by the quality of God.   It also means to be fully satisfied.  When a person has Christ living in Him, he is blessed and truly satisfied.  Blessedness happens when Christ lives in our hearts and brings a fundamental satisfaction in our lives.   Lots of folks can say they are happy, but only those who have the indwelling life of Christ can say they are blessed.  


We talked about poor in spirit, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst, mercy, purity of heart, being a peacemaker, and persecution.  The class had lots of great examples and discussion on what each of those meant - both to society in general and from God's Word and the difference in the two views.  


And then we got to verse 13 - 16 and it got hard.   


YOU ARE the salt of the earth.  
YOU ARE the light of the world.   
LET your light shine.


See folks, it's not about me.  It's not about you.  It's not about the clothes you wear or the size of your Bible. It's not about the hymns and it's not about the building.  


It's about showing THEM, it's about HIM.   


Salt has many uses and we named them in class.   It flavors, it preserves, it heals, it tenderizes, and it creates  thirst.  Light has many uses and we named some of them in class too.   It exposes darkness, makes things grow, provides heat, and illuminates paths.  


In Matthew 5:14 Jesus calls us the LIGHT - and in John 8:12 Jesus says He is the LIGHT.   You see, it is Jesus' light within us that we are supposed to be sharing with others.   As the salt, we should be flavoring the world around us and making people thirsty to have the LIVING WATER so they will never thirst again. 


IT'S ABOUT SHOWING THEM 
                                      THAT IT'S ABOUT HIM 
                                                                           AND THAT IS BLESSED.

Happy Anniversary?

Anniversary's are a day that mark an occasion.

Some are happy like the anniversary of the day you married your soul mate, or the anniversary of the day you first opened your own business.

Some are solemn like the anniversary of the day you lost your child to an illness, or the day our nation remembers a tragedy.   

I'm not real sure how to describe this anniversary.

January 20, 2011 started as a normal day for the Brown family.
And as I try to do each morning, I spent time in reading God's Word and prayer.
And just like each morning in prayer with my Father; I prayed for Him to make me know His ways, to teach me His paths, and to lead me in His truth (Psalm 25:4,5).

Within just a few hours of that prayer, my life was remarkably different than anything I could have imagined.   It has been a long year.

When I prayed that prayer - did I mean it?

I had a car wreck on a  bad winter day.  The wreck was pretty forceful and there wasn't much left of my car but I didn't have a single scratch.  Not a single scratch.  What I did have was a mass that had never been seen before.  It has been a long year.

That led to scans and tests and tests and scans.  Those led to biopsies and hospitals and hospitals and biopsies.  It has been a long year.

I've become an expert at searching the internet for medical terms, patient blogs, and diagnosis.  It has been a long year.

There have been IV's, prescriptions, consults, insurance papers, hospital gowns, amazing doctors, vital signs, wheelchairs, excellent nurses, bandages, tubes, waiting rooms, questionnaires, machines, hospital food, and many many prayers, cards, visits, hugs, kisses, tears, and incredible friends.  It has been a long year.
 
It's not cancer.  It's a rare disease (so rare that less than 200 people per year are diagnosed) called Castleman's Disease.  There are 2 kinds of the disease and I have the better one.   There are 2 variations of this kind and yes, I have the better one of it as well.

So now exactly one year later on the anniversary of the wreck, we met with a surgeon and made plans for the removal.   It won't be a simple surgery but it's an answer.   Its been a long year.

"We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken."       2 Corinthians 4:8-9 MSG

It's been a long year.  It has been a GREAT year!


This past year has been a year that gave me more time alone with my Father, a chance to sit up close to Him and to hear His voice, to see His people at work in the way they ministered to me, to feel Him holding me when I was my weakest and to see over and over that He was truly going before me throughout everyday of this past year.  I still don't know all the answers and have so much more to grow.

I prayed for Him to make me know His ways, to teach me His paths, and to lead me in His truth 

(Psalm 25: 4, 5)

There has been peace.  There has been rest.  There has been help.  There has been joy.  There has been blessing.  There has been comfort.  There has been mercy.  There has been security.   There has been power.  There has been thanksgiving.  There has been grace.  There has been strength.  There has been love.   So much love lavished on me by the Father.

It has been a great year!  
Happy Anniversary.

A Promise Keeper

After many years, my parents were able to take their long dreamed of trip to Israel that they had promised to each other.  Both have said it was a life changing experience for them, to actually see with their own eyes the places they had read and studied about for so long.  To place their feet on the very same paths that Jesus may have placed His feet, to see the waters, smell the air, and touch the soil of this land long ago promised to God's people.   They kept the promise to each other to make this dream trip a reality. 

We as flawed humans can't always keep the promises we make.  

However,,,

God was and is a PROMISE KEEPER.

Deuteronomy 1:21 says "The Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you.  Do not fear or be dismayed."

God's people were to step forward in confidence, to walk boldly knowing that their God, the "I AM", was going before them.   Those same promises that are repeated over and over in His Word, that we can walk boldly and claim the land He has put before us, are still true today. 

This past year has been 365 days of more uncertainty, pain, panic, stress, darkness, and fear than I have ever known.  (More on that tomorrow) It has also been a year filled with more blessings, peace, love, trust, faith, thanksgiving, and intimacy than I have ever imagined possible.  

What would I have done differently?  What could I have been doing? What should I be doing now?

One thing I am learning ---His Word says "GO UP",  "TAKE POSSESSION, "DO NOT FEAR OR BE DISMAYED" --- to lay claim to what God has promised me.  

And what actually did He promise? 

He promised 

Jeremiah 29:11

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

He promised

Matthew 11:28-29

²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

He promised

John 14:27

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

He promised

Romans 8:37-39

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

He promised

Philipians 4:19

¹⁹ And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

He promised

Isaiah 40:29-31

²⁹ He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. ³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; ³¹ but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

He promised.  He promised.  He promised. 

Make a list yourself - there are so many more - and be reminded and amazed at how God cares for you. 

He is the FIRST and ONLY true PROMISE KEEPER.

TRUST

I am blessed to have other men around me willing to pour themselves into me, who check on me, push me when I need it, and just love me as a brother in Christ.  The following was sent by my friend Wes and it is worth sharing:

In his book Ruthless Trust, Brennan Manning tells a poignant story about the brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh, who worked for three months at “ the House of the dying” in Calcutta.  Kavanaugh was seeking clear direction on how best to spend the rest of his life.  On the first morning there he met Mother Teresa, who asked what she could do for him.  When Kavanaugh asked her too pray for him, she asked what she could pray for.  He said, “ Pray that I have clarity.” 

She said firmly, “ No, I will not do that.  Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.”  When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, ‘ I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust.  So I will pray that you trust God.”

We all would like to know that what is going to happen in the future.  To know what the next year, next month, next week, next day, or even the next hour might hold for us and our families.   But once we feel we have the clarity we’re looking for, we are far less likely to depend on God’s continuing guidance.  In these times, it’s our trust in God that will see us through.

Feeding the brain

Philippians 4:8,9
⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.




I've never been what you might call a "reader" - only if you were to include reading Sports Illustrated and the sports section of the paper.  At least that's how I used to be until the last few years.   Now I do read more than I ever imagined that I would.  I still can't compare to the way my wife reads, born with a book in her hand and setting speed reading records, but I have found that the habit has grown and become a part now of my regular routine.   


Books have become a source of information, enlightenment, and even relaxation. I think my joy in reading started first when I realized what an incredible thing God's Word really is for us.   Made up of 66 books, breathed by God, without error, the authoritative Word of God.   Applicable to our life today and written so that all man can know Him.  Reading that book started a hunger to know Him more and the hunger continues to grow as He reveals Himself.   


Along the way, other books have made their way to my bookshelf and along with God's Word have continued to keep my mind thinking on the things that are "excellent."   I thought I'd share some of those on my reading list and if you were looking for something to read along with reading your Bible, maybe one or more of them might be something that would appeal to the "reader" in you.


One of my favorite books that I've gone back to over and over; Holy Transformation by Chip Ingram. My friend Don Blackmore recommended this one to me and as you can see from my notes stuck inside it, there have been many things I've taken from it.


Here are a few I've read over the past few months I would recommend to anyone looking to keep their thinking honorable, commendable, and true:


Radical by David Platt
Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman
The Bravehearted Gospel by Eric Ludy
Holy Ambition by Chip Ingram
In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson
The Indwelling Life of Christ by W. Ian Thomas


These are just a few, I'll put some others on my reading list.  And I would love to hear from you, what do you recommend that I read next?  

Lion on a snowy day

"Then Benaiah the son of  Jehoida, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab.  He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day"  ( 2 Samuel 23:20)

Have you ever seen this tucked away verse in 2 Samuel? 


It was brought to my attention recently and I have spent some time reflecting on it.  It says he "went down" which means it was a choice….it doesn't say he was thrown into the pit.  That tells me that he was a man who would not try and avoid the "lions" in his life but would go down in the pit and face them.   


I think that would require an immense amount of faith and authority.  I'm sure he felt some fear, I am sure he had to be unsure of his future but he did it anyway.  I have personally faced "a lion" in the past few weeks and after reading this verse I realize that GOD has gone before me into the pit on a snowy day to face this lion….there are two sets of footprints in the snow…the lion and HIS and only one will come out of that pit and it is THE GREATEST WARRIOR known to man.  I challenge you to trust HIM as you come across your lions in the pit on a snowy day!!