Kingdom Hearts Has Moved

I transferred my domain over to http://theobloggers.com/ and have a whole new look.

You can still find me at http://jasonbrowning.net but wanted to let some of you who were getting to me through Blogger know.

thanks,
Jason

A Preacher's Life

A happy Monday morning to all! I hope everyone had a good weekend. These were sent to me over the weekend by a member in the congregation here in La Grange. I thought these were pretty funny and wanted to share. Enjoy!

Jason

PREACHER'S LIFE

A preacher said to a farmer, "Do you belong to the Christian family?"

"No," he said, "they live two farms down."

"No, I mean are you lost?"

"No, I've been here thirty years."

"I mean, are you ready for Judgment Day?"

"When is it?"

"Could be today or tomorrow."

"Well, when you find out for sure when it is, you let me know. My wife will probably want to go both days!"

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Call to Another Church

A preacher places his order at the pet store. "I need at least 50 mice, 2,000 ants and as many of those little silverfish you can get."

The clerk replies, "We can probably do that, but it might take some time. Mind if I ask why you are placing such an unusual order?"

The preacher replies, "I've accepted an offer to another church and the men told me to leave the parsonage the way I found it."

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Farewell Offering

During the last Sunday service that the preacher was to spend at the church he served for some years, his hat was passed around for a goodwill offering.

When it returned to the preacher, it was empty.

The preacher didn't flinch.

He simply raised the hat to Heaven and said, "I thank You, Lord, that I got my hat back from this congregation."


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Hot-Air Hand Dryers

My preacher friend put sanitary hot air hand dryers in the rest rooms at the church where he preaches and after two weeks, took them out.

I asked him why and he confessed that they worked fine, but when he went in there he saw a sign that read, "For a sample of this week's sermon, push the button.

Ancient Words

Holy words long preserved for our walk in this world;
They resound with God's own heart, O, let the ancient words impart.
Words of life, words of hope, give us strength, help us cope;
In this world where-'er we roam, Ancient words will guide us home.

Ancient words ever true, changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.

Holy words of our faith, handed down to this age,
came to us through sacrifice, O, heed the faithful words of Christ.
Holy words, long preserved for our walk in this world,
They resound with God's own heart, O, let the ancient words impart.

Ancient words ever true, changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.

Ancient words ever true, changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.

We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.
O let the ancient words impart.

--Writer Unknown

Heart Flaws: Pessimism and Worry

I have been unable to blog on a consistent basis here of late but hopefully things will slow down for me in just a little over a month from now. Summer time is always the busiest time of the year for me. Maybe some time soon I will be able to share some of what else is making life so hectic for me right now.

Things are going okay here. Cody and the boys left yesterday for their annual trip to Wisconsin. They should be be back around the middle part of next week. It is always nice up there this time of year and I would love to have gone but there is just too much going on here that will not allow me to get away.

This past Sunday, I began a series of lessons on heart flaws; ones that are especially difficult for us as Christians. And Sunday's lesson was specifically on worrying too much and negativity/pessismism. The funny thing is of the 150 or so in our assembly Sunday morning, it was probably me that needed to hear the lesson more than anyone. I hope I was listening.

Of course, not all worrying is bad. I think it is commonly agreed that a little stress keeps us going and can be a good thing, so long as we don't allow our worrying and anxiety to deprive us of the joy that we should have as Christians. But think about some of the things we worry about. We worry about things that have already happened. We can't live in the past though (Luke 9:62). Or we tend to worry about things that will inevitablly happen. Or worry about something that will never happen. Again, yes, some of these are examples of our natural human reaction to life, and to a degree that is just the way we are, but the point is that God does not want us to allow these things to rob us of the overall happiness we should have as kingdom citizens.

Jesus' words in Matthew 6:19-34 provide a great text about this very subject. Notice what we can learn about being overly anxious from this text:

• It is unneccesary (v.32)
• It is a lack of trust (v.26, 31)
• It is prohibited (vv.25, 31, 34)
• It is pointless (v.27)
• It is what those that do not belong to God do (v.32)

So what can we do to overcome this tendency among us?

• Follow Joshua's lead in Joshua 24:15. Determine in our minds that we are going to conquer our penchants for being negative and pessimistic. Make the commitment that we are going to follow God regardless so there is little room for overly worrying about things. Afterall, God is in control.
• Follow David's example, and when we fall, get back up. Paul charges us to be steadfast in our labors, knowing they are not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
• Accentuate the positive (Philippians 4:8).
• Trust in God and stop trying to rely on ourselves (Isaiah 26:3-4; Philippians 4:13; Romans 8:28-31).
• Get busy for the kingdom and do something good for someone else (Matthew 6:33).
• Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Peter 5:7; James 5:16).

I hope to write more soon. Peace!

We Shall Assemble

We shall assemble on the mountain,

we shall assemble at the throne.

With humble hearts into His presence,

we bring an offering of song.

Glory and honor and dominion,

unto the Lamb, unto the King.

Oh hallelujah, hallelujah!

We sing the song of the redeemed.

We shall assemble on the mountain,
we shall assemble at the throne.
With humble hearts into His presence,
we bring an offering of song.
Glory and honor and dominion,
unto the Lamb, unto the King.
Oh hallelujah, hallelujah!
We sing the song of the redeemed.

--Twila Paris

Getting People's Attention

In Acts 2 we read about the Holy Spirit's descent upon the apostles. This was a special Jewish feast day called Pentecost, which means "50." This celebration occured 50 days after the Passover, which consequently always fell on "the first day of the week," if I understand correctly. In any event, this great feast was a commemoration. And multitudes of Jews and proselytes from all over the world would make the long journey to Jerusalem in order to participate in these festivities. Literally thousands of people would convene at this time of the year. And there were many different languages represented.

Think about it! With so many locations and languages being represented here, what a perfect opportunity for the Holy Spirit to come on this occasion and get the attention of the whole world. What we see transpiring in the first four verses of Acts 2 let all of Jerusalem and the different locations being represented that God was present and actively involved in His kingdom. The apostles, most of which were not highly educated, were now all of a sudden able to speak in other languages (tongues). The Holy Spirit had this impact on them directly so that they would be able to teach the gospel.

Imagine the curiosity this event must have sparked. Concerning the people's reaction to all of this, the text tells us:

"And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?'" (Acts 2:6-7)

"And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?'" (Acts 2:12)

God, through the Holy Spirit, got these people's attention. Because of these people's curiosity, they were ready to learn. People are no different today. And this is precisely why it seems to me that there is really a tremendous lesson for us in all of this. The Spirit does not miraculously work in us in the way He does in the apostles in this text. But this does not change the fact that we are who is responsible for seeking to accomplish what the Holy Spirit accomplished here. We are now the arms, legs, hands, and feet of Christ. We are now His ambassadors, seeking to deliver God's saving message to people. And so how can we be successful?

I think it has to start with us understanding that we too, must get the attention of people. Like it or not, we are not in a society that flocks to us begging us to teach them about Jesus and the gospel. We might find this on occasion, but generally speaking and for the most part, it is we who are responsible for seeking out the lost. So how do we get enough of their attention so we can get the gospel in their hands? I'm certainly no expert, and undoubtedly welcome your ideas. But here are a few that come to my mind:

• Our examples need to get people's attention (Matthew 5:13-16). Our influence and demeanor as Christians should spark people's curiosity and make them want what we have. There is something about a joyful, peaceful, and secure person that draws others to them. This is how opportunities arise.
• Our teaching needs to get people's attention. We need to support the strong preaching of Christ's gospel. We need to realize the urgency of teaching it (2 Timothy 4:2). But we have to find balance. One one hand, we cannot afford to be arrogant and pompous in our presentation of it. We must remember to always do so in love (Ephesians 4:15). On the other hand, neither can we afford to allow our fears of running people away to cause us to minimize the importance of teaching. That is just as lethal. And so the responsibility lies on us to learn how to discern when, when not, where, and how to speak up.
• Our involvement in the community--individually and congregationally--should get people's attention. We need to be thinking about effective ways to get out and let people in our communities know that we are an active family of God concerned for the souls and well-being of people. We need to demonstrate through our involvement in the community that we are interested in more than merely being right in arguments. I don't know about anyone else, as I can only speak for myself here, but I don't want to primarily be perceived as being content with sitting in our own circles talking about how we are the ones who have it all figured out.
• We need to befriend people in order to get their attention. I remember when I decided that I was going to preach full-time, a friend of mine who was a preacher reminded me that if I was lucky, 1% of my conversions would come from behind the pulpit. He wanted me to understand that I was going to have to get out and meet people and become friends with them. Folks, our conversions, for the most part are going to come in the deer blinds, on the golf courses, on fishing and hunting trips, on shopping trips, over lunch or dinner, in our homes where we are inviting people, etc. We need to be visiting those who are vulnerable, in hospitals, in nursing homes, those who have recently lost loved ones. We must allow ourselves to get involved in the lives of others. And this means that sometimes we might even need to step outside of our comfort zones. I do not think it is a mere coincidence that Jesus spent the majority of His time with those that most in His culture were uncomfortable with--tax collectors, prostitutes, adulteresses, lepers, disease-laden, the poor, the grieved and mournful, etc. Jesus knew that those who were most vulnerable were the ones most likely to respond to His willingness and desire to forgive sins.

Have a great day. Peace!

Every Time

(1) Every time I kneel to pray, I open up my heart to my Lord.
Every time I close my eyes, I feel the sweet embrace of my Lord.

(Chorus):
I don't know why so many things seem to get in the way of seeing my God's glory.
But I try every day to see Him and to thank Him for all the things He's given me.

(2) Every time I see a child, I see the gentleness of my Lord.
Every time I watch a storm, I know the awesome pow'r of my Lord.

(Chorus):
I don't know why so many things seem to get in the way of seeing my God's glory.
But I try every day to see Him and to thank Him for all the things He's given me.

(3) Every time I see the cross.

--Philip Organ