By Gobel Brockman
Junior High romance. There's nothing quite like it. The nervousness, the "Go ask her if she likes me!", the bitter breakups, and all the notes that say 'Do you like me? Circle yes or no.' (Many young guys would have had better luck if they had known that 'XOXOXO' wasn't an invitation to play Tic-Tac-Toe.) We look back on it now and laugh at how silly it was, but at the time the fate of the free world rested on it. One of the biggest questions asked in those times was "Do you like me or like me like me?
We actually see a bit of that in the Book of John. Jesus had been crucified and was raised from the dead. The 11 remaining disciples were huddled together, fearful they might be next. One morning Peter works up the nerve to go fishing (His former trade). The others join him. After a night of failure they see Jesus on the bank. He tells them to cast on the other side, and their nets were miraculously filled. They realized it was Jesus, and Peter jumped in to swim to him. When they arrive, Jesus has prepared a fire to cook the fish. As they were sitting and eating, Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" Peter had denied Jesus - three times. I'm sure Peter's heart was broken beyond measure at his failure. How could Jesus ask him that? The answer seemed evident. You don't deny someone you love. The thing is, the English translation doesn't do the Greek justice. There are three Greek words for love: eros (where we get the term erotic); phileo (meaning brotherly love) and agape (the highest form of love). When Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, He used agape. Peter, however, responded with phileo. Then an interesting thing happened. The third time Jesus asked the question, he used phileo. There are many aspects to this, but the one I want to address now is this: Jesus is meeting Peter where he was in his faith. It was as if Jesus was saying, "OK, if that's where you are, we'll start from there and move forward."
Some of you reading this right now are in a good place. Your faith is secure, and your walk with Christ is solid. For some of you, maybe it's not like that. Maybe life has thrown you a few curves - or maybe even a few bean balls. You may be in situations where you're not sure what to do or where to go. If that's you, I want you to know that God isn't upset with you. Just like Simon Peter, He's more than willing to meet you where you are. He's not there to criticize how weak you are, He's there to give you strength and build your faith. You see, He's crazy in love with you. Enough so to lay down His life on the cross. If he's willing to do that, He's willing to patiently work with all of us to get our phileo to an agape.
It's history's biggest XOXOXO.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
The "Acts 29" Generation
By Gobel Brockman
I once heard of a Pastor who was about to deliver his Sunday morning sermon. He invited the congregation to turn to Acts chapter 29 for his text. The sound of flapping pages started. It continued. People searched in vain for Acts 29. Finally someone spoke loud enough for the Pastor to hear, hoping to help him correct his mistake. "There is no Acts 29!", they said. "Yes, there is!" he insisted. People looked at him, wondering why it had been so long since their Pastor had picked up a Bible. He then pointed his finger and waived it over the congregation and said, "YOU are Acts 29. It's being written right now. What's YOUR section going to say?" He then proceeded to deliver a message about the importance of living out our faith in a way that affects the world around us.
What got me thinking of this was a conversation I recently had with someone about Simon Peter. That guy was a mess. Every time he turned around he was putting his foot in his mouth. He once rebuked Jesus because he was saying something Peter didn't like. He boldly asked Jesus to allow him to walk on water, then promptly lost faith and had to be rescued. As Jesus spoke of his upcoming crucifixion, Peter loudly proclaimed that he would never forsake Jesus. A few hours later, the accusation of a servant girl caused him to deny that he even knew Jesus. Time and time again Jesus had to either correct him or rescue him.
Then, after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, we get to the book of Acts.
In the second chapter, we see the disciples being filled with the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God went from being with them to dwelling in them. They were filled with a boldness they had heretofore not experienced. This same Peter, who had been such a wreck, was now boldly proclaiming to all of Jerusalem, "You killed Jesus, but God has made this same Jesus Lord and Christ. It is His name that brings salvation!" - and 3,000 responded to the message. In the rest of the book of Acts, we see the disciples 'turning the world upside down' for Jesus.
That's where you and I come in. It's our turn now. The book of Acts has 28 chapters. WE are living and 'writing' the 29th chapter. It's our opportunity RIGHT NOW to allow God to accomplish the impossible through us. Maybe your CDs won't end up being prominently displayed in a Bible bookstore. Maybe your mailbox won't be filled with orders for your latest DVD teaching series for $29.99 (plus shipping and handling). But if we will allow God to fill us with the Holy Spirit, be willing to say as Jesus did, "Not my will, but Yours be done", and then be willing to step out in faith, then maybe - just maybe - we would see OUR world 'turned upside down'. It doesn't take much looking around to see that this nation is in trouble. People are hurting. People are searching. There are a few who are looking to Washington to fix the mess, not realizing that Washington helped create some of the mess. We do not need political change; we need a revival. We need God's Spirit to move among us and in us again so that all will see that Jesus is exactly who He proclaimed to be. We need the church to follow the example of the disciples and become of 'one mind and one accord' again so that the Holy Spirit will touch us again. It can begin with you and me.
Acts 29 is being written right now. What's your section going to say?
I once heard of a Pastor who was about to deliver his Sunday morning sermon. He invited the congregation to turn to Acts chapter 29 for his text. The sound of flapping pages started. It continued. People searched in vain for Acts 29. Finally someone spoke loud enough for the Pastor to hear, hoping to help him correct his mistake. "There is no Acts 29!", they said. "Yes, there is!" he insisted. People looked at him, wondering why it had been so long since their Pastor had picked up a Bible. He then pointed his finger and waived it over the congregation and said, "YOU are Acts 29. It's being written right now. What's YOUR section going to say?" He then proceeded to deliver a message about the importance of living out our faith in a way that affects the world around us.
What got me thinking of this was a conversation I recently had with someone about Simon Peter. That guy was a mess. Every time he turned around he was putting his foot in his mouth. He once rebuked Jesus because he was saying something Peter didn't like. He boldly asked Jesus to allow him to walk on water, then promptly lost faith and had to be rescued. As Jesus spoke of his upcoming crucifixion, Peter loudly proclaimed that he would never forsake Jesus. A few hours later, the accusation of a servant girl caused him to deny that he even knew Jesus. Time and time again Jesus had to either correct him or rescue him.
Then, after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, we get to the book of Acts.
In the second chapter, we see the disciples being filled with the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God went from being with them to dwelling in them. They were filled with a boldness they had heretofore not experienced. This same Peter, who had been such a wreck, was now boldly proclaiming to all of Jerusalem, "You killed Jesus, but God has made this same Jesus Lord and Christ. It is His name that brings salvation!" - and 3,000 responded to the message. In the rest of the book of Acts, we see the disciples 'turning the world upside down' for Jesus.
That's where you and I come in. It's our turn now. The book of Acts has 28 chapters. WE are living and 'writing' the 29th chapter. It's our opportunity RIGHT NOW to allow God to accomplish the impossible through us. Maybe your CDs won't end up being prominently displayed in a Bible bookstore. Maybe your mailbox won't be filled with orders for your latest DVD teaching series for $29.99 (plus shipping and handling). But if we will allow God to fill us with the Holy Spirit, be willing to say as Jesus did, "Not my will, but Yours be done", and then be willing to step out in faith, then maybe - just maybe - we would see OUR world 'turned upside down'. It doesn't take much looking around to see that this nation is in trouble. People are hurting. People are searching. There are a few who are looking to Washington to fix the mess, not realizing that Washington helped create some of the mess. We do not need political change; we need a revival. We need God's Spirit to move among us and in us again so that all will see that Jesus is exactly who He proclaimed to be. We need the church to follow the example of the disciples and become of 'one mind and one accord' again so that the Holy Spirit will touch us again. It can begin with you and me.
Acts 29 is being written right now. What's your section going to say?
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Just Keep Rootin'....
By Gobel Brockman
It is said that the following story was one of President Ronald Reagan's favorites:
-There once were twin boys who were identical in their appearance, but polar opposites in their personalities. One was always worried and fretful, and the other was always upbeat and jovial. A physiologist decided to do an experiment. He put the sad twin in a room full of brand new toys and told him he could play with them to his heart's content. He then put the upbeat boy in a room full of horse manure. An hour later he came back to check on them. The sad twin was sitting in the middle of the floor crying, the toys untouched. When the physiologist asked him why he wasn't playing with the toys, he replied, "If I do I know I'll break them." He then went and checked on the other boy. He was gleefully flinging manure all over the room. "What are are doing?", the physiologist asked. The boy replied, "With all this manure, there's gotta be a pony in here somewhere!"
Sadly, the first twin in that story describes a lot of people. There are some folks who are always looking for the negative and fearing the worst. It seems they can't be happy unless they're worrying about something. The fear of the unknown or the uncertain seems to totally immobilize them. I've seen people who have faced difficult circumstances in their lives allow that to convince them that every episode in life will end tragically. The sad thing is, they become like the boy who can't enjoy the room full of toys because of what might happen if they do.
Faith, on the other hand, can cause you to "root through the manure". One thing I struggle with in ministry is trying to deal with people who think they should never have to do that. Their mentality seems to be that if you believe in God, He should take care of every situation so that we don't have to face any adversity. That sounds great, but it's far-removed from reality. In Matthew 13 Jesus said that the kingdom of God was like a treasure that a man finds in a field, and with joy he sells everything he has and buys the field. If you'll notice, Jesus didn't say he bought the treasure, He said he bought the field. That says to us that if we want the treasure, there's a field that comes with it, and we're going to have to do some digging if we want the treasure. But just like that little boy, we can't let the digging get in the way of our expectancy that there's a treasure in there somewhere. And indeed there is.
I want you to take a moment and do some critical self-evaluation. Which boy are you? Are you going through life convinced that every good and perfect gift will be taken from you, or are you believing that there's an ultimate treasure waiting for you that's worth digging through a little manure to get to? If you feel like you're the former, you may be asking, "How do I change that?" We begin by believing that God has our best interest at heart, and that He has a treasure for all of us. We also must realize that yes sometimes bad, even horrible things are going to happen. That's just the result of living in a fallen world. But even in the midst of that, there's still a treasure at the bottom. The sadness and difficulties we face are temporary; the treasure we'll receive will last for eternity.
Just keep rootin'....
It is said that the following story was one of President Ronald Reagan's favorites:
-There once were twin boys who were identical in their appearance, but polar opposites in their personalities. One was always worried and fretful, and the other was always upbeat and jovial. A physiologist decided to do an experiment. He put the sad twin in a room full of brand new toys and told him he could play with them to his heart's content. He then put the upbeat boy in a room full of horse manure. An hour later he came back to check on them. The sad twin was sitting in the middle of the floor crying, the toys untouched. When the physiologist asked him why he wasn't playing with the toys, he replied, "If I do I know I'll break them." He then went and checked on the other boy. He was gleefully flinging manure all over the room. "What are are doing?", the physiologist asked. The boy replied, "With all this manure, there's gotta be a pony in here somewhere!"
Sadly, the first twin in that story describes a lot of people. There are some folks who are always looking for the negative and fearing the worst. It seems they can't be happy unless they're worrying about something. The fear of the unknown or the uncertain seems to totally immobilize them. I've seen people who have faced difficult circumstances in their lives allow that to convince them that every episode in life will end tragically. The sad thing is, they become like the boy who can't enjoy the room full of toys because of what might happen if they do.
Faith, on the other hand, can cause you to "root through the manure". One thing I struggle with in ministry is trying to deal with people who think they should never have to do that. Their mentality seems to be that if you believe in God, He should take care of every situation so that we don't have to face any adversity. That sounds great, but it's far-removed from reality. In Matthew 13 Jesus said that the kingdom of God was like a treasure that a man finds in a field, and with joy he sells everything he has and buys the field. If you'll notice, Jesus didn't say he bought the treasure, He said he bought the field. That says to us that if we want the treasure, there's a field that comes with it, and we're going to have to do some digging if we want the treasure. But just like that little boy, we can't let the digging get in the way of our expectancy that there's a treasure in there somewhere. And indeed there is.
I want you to take a moment and do some critical self-evaluation. Which boy are you? Are you going through life convinced that every good and perfect gift will be taken from you, or are you believing that there's an ultimate treasure waiting for you that's worth digging through a little manure to get to? If you feel like you're the former, you may be asking, "How do I change that?" We begin by believing that God has our best interest at heart, and that He has a treasure for all of us. We also must realize that yes sometimes bad, even horrible things are going to happen. That's just the result of living in a fallen world. But even in the midst of that, there's still a treasure at the bottom. The sadness and difficulties we face are temporary; the treasure we'll receive will last for eternity.
Just keep rootin'....
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Face Value
By Gobel Brockman
I begin by asking you to use your imagination. I want you to picture two $20 bills lying before you. The one on the left is new. No creases, no tears, no stains. You pick it up and the paper is so crisp you almost get a paper cut. You can smell the aroma of Federal Reserve ink. Now look at the one on the right. It's old and crumpled up. The edges are torn. The ink has faded. Someone has taken a black pen and given President Jackson a black eye and a dunce cap. The only smell remaining is from the pockets and purses of countless people. Now, here's the question: if you pick up the new one on the left and head to your local Wal-Mart, how much product could you buy with it? Simple - $20 worth. If you go back in a few moments later with the old one on the right, how much product could you buy? You're correct - $20 worth. My point? $20 is $20.
I remember when I became a Christian at age 18. It was an incredible time in my life. Everything was new. The Bible refers to it as being "born again", and that's exactly how I felt. The drugs and booze that had caused me so many problems were instantly gone. There was a new joy and purpose in my life. It seemed that prayers would barely leave my mouth and the answers would come. Then, little by little, things began to get a bit more difficult. God didn't answer prayer as fast as before. Complications arose from unexpected places. Reality began to set in that Christianity wasn't all up-tempo hymns and Welch's grape juice in Communion cups. People could still hurt you. You still had to get up and earn a living. Sometimes God's answers to prayer were either "Trust Me" or a flat-out "No, just wait." Over the years, some of the newness had worn off. Reality had given me some rough edges. Life had given me a few black eyes, and many times I felt like I deserved to be wearing a 'dunce hat'. The thing is, I know I'm not the only one that's faced that. Perhaps you've had relationships that have left you permanently torn. Maybe life has left you feeling that you've been left in somebody's pocket and spun in the wash cycle a time or two. But here's the point I want to make:
We may have lost some luster, but we haven't lost our value.
You and I are worth as much to God now as when we started. Yes, we have some wear. We may be marred and scarred. But we also have some incredible stories to share about the way God chose to 'spend' us in His kingdom. Like a well-traveled $20 bill, we've been used by God to do a lot. Much more than that, He still has unmeasurable love for us. He doesn't just see us as something to spend as He pleases, He sees us as people worth laying down His life for. Which should make us all the more desirous to be willing to be spent as He wishes. So don't grow weary. You're still worth as much to God as you were in the beginning. He still has many ways to touch other people's lives through you. Don't let the tears, smears, and graffiti get you down - they're just badges of honor of a useful, well-lived life.
You're still in circulation.
I begin by asking you to use your imagination. I want you to picture two $20 bills lying before you. The one on the left is new. No creases, no tears, no stains. You pick it up and the paper is so crisp you almost get a paper cut. You can smell the aroma of Federal Reserve ink. Now look at the one on the right. It's old and crumpled up. The edges are torn. The ink has faded. Someone has taken a black pen and given President Jackson a black eye and a dunce cap. The only smell remaining is from the pockets and purses of countless people. Now, here's the question: if you pick up the new one on the left and head to your local Wal-Mart, how much product could you buy with it? Simple - $20 worth. If you go back in a few moments later with the old one on the right, how much product could you buy? You're correct - $20 worth. My point? $20 is $20.
I remember when I became a Christian at age 18. It was an incredible time in my life. Everything was new. The Bible refers to it as being "born again", and that's exactly how I felt. The drugs and booze that had caused me so many problems were instantly gone. There was a new joy and purpose in my life. It seemed that prayers would barely leave my mouth and the answers would come. Then, little by little, things began to get a bit more difficult. God didn't answer prayer as fast as before. Complications arose from unexpected places. Reality began to set in that Christianity wasn't all up-tempo hymns and Welch's grape juice in Communion cups. People could still hurt you. You still had to get up and earn a living. Sometimes God's answers to prayer were either "Trust Me" or a flat-out "No, just wait." Over the years, some of the newness had worn off. Reality had given me some rough edges. Life had given me a few black eyes, and many times I felt like I deserved to be wearing a 'dunce hat'. The thing is, I know I'm not the only one that's faced that. Perhaps you've had relationships that have left you permanently torn. Maybe life has left you feeling that you've been left in somebody's pocket and spun in the wash cycle a time or two. But here's the point I want to make:
We may have lost some luster, but we haven't lost our value.
You and I are worth as much to God now as when we started. Yes, we have some wear. We may be marred and scarred. But we also have some incredible stories to share about the way God chose to 'spend' us in His kingdom. Like a well-traveled $20 bill, we've been used by God to do a lot. Much more than that, He still has unmeasurable love for us. He doesn't just see us as something to spend as He pleases, He sees us as people worth laying down His life for. Which should make us all the more desirous to be willing to be spent as He wishes. So don't grow weary. You're still worth as much to God as you were in the beginning. He still has many ways to touch other people's lives through you. Don't let the tears, smears, and graffiti get you down - they're just badges of honor of a useful, well-lived life.
You're still in circulation.
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