By Gobel Brockman
I had only been in ministry a few months when I attended my first Minister's Conference. The keynote speaker was one of the biggest names in our denomination at that time. I had heard nothing but good things about his preaching. When his time to preach came during the opening night service, he stepped to the pulpit and....blah. It reminded me of the joke, "Pastor, that sermon was just like medicine - Ambien®" It turned out to be a boring and disappointingly uneventful evening. I commented to the man who was my pastor at the time as we were leaving, "I would much rather hear you preach."
But the interesting thing is this: there was one point he made in that otherwise boring message that is still with me thirty three years later. He said this: "The Bible is filled with many stories of judgment. In its pages many people paid the ultimate price for rejecting and rebelling against God. But if you will notice, the very last verse in the entire Bible says this: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." If the Bible ends its entire message with grace, so should you and I." I'm sorry to say that I haven't always lived up to that, but I have always came back to it.
Grace. There is no way in the world I can give an adequate definition of it in a short Sunday devotional. No matter what I say today, I will be leaving some very important aspects out. It would serve us all well to continually learn about, appreciate, and love the grace of God. But for today, I'm referring to grace simply as God saying, "You get another chance. The end of your story hasn't been written yet."
A minister who truly believes in the word of God cannot water down its message. If the Bible calls something "sin" then we can do no less. At times difficult situations must be confronted directly. But in the midst of it, I need to constantly remember that grace is there - not to give us permission to sin, but to give us power to overcome it. Power that we do not have within ourselves.
God has been very gracious to me. I have blown it in ways that are downright embarrassing to me - as a husband, father, minister, and a Christian in general. I'm sure everyone reading this can say the same thing, simply because the Bible says in Romans, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And yet we all hear these glorious words: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."
You may be in a place right now where you feel like an utter failure. You have blown it, you've hurt other people, you've damaged your reputation, and you see no hope for the future. If that's you, I have "Gospel" for you. (Gospel means "good news.") The last chapter of your story hasn't been written yet. Confess your sin, turn away from it, and turn every aspect of your life over to Jesus. Grace can turn what the devil intended for evil in your life and turn it around for good.
"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."
(At least I ended one message right....)
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Sunday, November 23, 2014
One Day In a 6th Grade Classroom
By Gobel Brockman
Several years ago I was channel surfing (one of my favorite forms of exercise) and came upon a preacher telling this story:
I want to take you inside Miss Jones's 6th grade classroom. It's the last day before Christmas break, and they're having their Christmas party. All of the kids are dressed well and look fine - except Teddy. Teddy's hair is unkempt, his clothes are wrinkled and dirty, and he doesn't smell very good. His eyes are distant and empty. Miss Jones didn't work with Teddy much; she figured he was a lost cause, and her time could be better spent with the other children. Her demeanor towards him was almost callous, which was strange since she knew his story: his mother had recently died, and his father was an alcoholic who showed no interest in Teddy's life whatsoever.
As the class party went on Miss Jones was opening the presents her kids had brought, and she opened her poorly-wrapped present from Teddy. It contained two items - a rhinestone bracelet with a few stones missing, and a half-empty bottle of perfume. The other kids laughed. Miss Jones wasn't completely heartless; she put on the bracelet and dabbed a bit of perfume on and thanked him. He was the last one to leave class that day, and he said to hear, "I'm glad you like the perfume and bracelet. You look and smell just like my mom used to. Merry Christmas, Miss Jones." After Teddy left, with tears running down her cheeks she got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her for the way she had treated Teddy - and all the kids like him she'd had in the past. She recommitted her life to Christ and asked Him to change her heart.
When the kids returned from Christmas break they had a new teacher. It was still Miss Jones, but she was a new teacher. She was committed to showing the love of God to her students - especially Teddy. She spent the rest of that year doing everything she could to make Teddy the best student he could be. She poured her heart into him, and for the first time in his young life he knew what hope felt like.
Six years later Miss Jones got a letter from Teddy:
Dear Miss Jones:
I'm graduating high school in a few weeks, and they just told me I'm Salutatorian. I wanted you to be the first to know.
Four years later she received another letter:
Dear Miss Jones:
I'm graduating college soon, and they're saying I have the highest G.P.A. in the class. I wanted you to be the first to know.
Four years later, another letter:
Dear Miss Jones:
From now on when I sign my name, I get to put "M.D." at the end of it. I'm a doctor now - what do you think of that? Also, I'm going to be married in a few weeks, and if you can, I'd like you to come and sit in the place my mother would have sat. My Dad passed away a couple of years ago and you're the closest thing to family that I have."
Perhaps you're Teddy. You feel like you have no future and no hope. I want you to know that's a lie. God made you and He can still do something amazing with your life. I don't know where you are in life right now, but I do know that by the power of God's Spirit you don't have to stay there.
Perhaps you're Miss Jones. God wants to use you to be an instrument of change in someone's life if you will let Him change you. Remember, in your own way you were a mess once too.
I have no interest in simply telling you a "feel-good" story that warms the heart and does nothing else. I'm talking about change. Miss Jones changed, and because of that so did Teddy's life. My purpose is to tell you that the final chapter of your life hasn't been written yet, and if you'll surrender every part of your life to Jesus in repentance and submission, the rest of your story can be a pretty incredible journey.
I don't want to give a motivational speech - I want to tell you that Jesus can change your life.
Several years ago I was channel surfing (one of my favorite forms of exercise) and came upon a preacher telling this story:
I want to take you inside Miss Jones's 6th grade classroom. It's the last day before Christmas break, and they're having their Christmas party. All of the kids are dressed well and look fine - except Teddy. Teddy's hair is unkempt, his clothes are wrinkled and dirty, and he doesn't smell very good. His eyes are distant and empty. Miss Jones didn't work with Teddy much; she figured he was a lost cause, and her time could be better spent with the other children. Her demeanor towards him was almost callous, which was strange since she knew his story: his mother had recently died, and his father was an alcoholic who showed no interest in Teddy's life whatsoever.
As the class party went on Miss Jones was opening the presents her kids had brought, and she opened her poorly-wrapped present from Teddy. It contained two items - a rhinestone bracelet with a few stones missing, and a half-empty bottle of perfume. The other kids laughed. Miss Jones wasn't completely heartless; she put on the bracelet and dabbed a bit of perfume on and thanked him. He was the last one to leave class that day, and he said to hear, "I'm glad you like the perfume and bracelet. You look and smell just like my mom used to. Merry Christmas, Miss Jones." After Teddy left, with tears running down her cheeks she got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her for the way she had treated Teddy - and all the kids like him she'd had in the past. She recommitted her life to Christ and asked Him to change her heart.
When the kids returned from Christmas break they had a new teacher. It was still Miss Jones, but she was a new teacher. She was committed to showing the love of God to her students - especially Teddy. She spent the rest of that year doing everything she could to make Teddy the best student he could be. She poured her heart into him, and for the first time in his young life he knew what hope felt like.
Six years later Miss Jones got a letter from Teddy:
Dear Miss Jones:
I'm graduating high school in a few weeks, and they just told me I'm Salutatorian. I wanted you to be the first to know.
Four years later she received another letter:
Dear Miss Jones:
I'm graduating college soon, and they're saying I have the highest G.P.A. in the class. I wanted you to be the first to know.
Four years later, another letter:
Dear Miss Jones:
From now on when I sign my name, I get to put "M.D." at the end of it. I'm a doctor now - what do you think of that? Also, I'm going to be married in a few weeks, and if you can, I'd like you to come and sit in the place my mother would have sat. My Dad passed away a couple of years ago and you're the closest thing to family that I have."
Perhaps you're Teddy. You feel like you have no future and no hope. I want you to know that's a lie. God made you and He can still do something amazing with your life. I don't know where you are in life right now, but I do know that by the power of God's Spirit you don't have to stay there.
Perhaps you're Miss Jones. God wants to use you to be an instrument of change in someone's life if you will let Him change you. Remember, in your own way you were a mess once too.
I have no interest in simply telling you a "feel-good" story that warms the heart and does nothing else. I'm talking about change. Miss Jones changed, and because of that so did Teddy's life. My purpose is to tell you that the final chapter of your life hasn't been written yet, and if you'll surrender every part of your life to Jesus in repentance and submission, the rest of your story can be a pretty incredible journey.
I don't want to give a motivational speech - I want to tell you that Jesus can change your life.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Follow the Leader - and Leave a Trail of Dust Behind You
By Gobel Brockman
There are certain laws that will always be true:
* 1+1 will always equal 2. (Law of Mathematics.)
* "What goes up must come down." (Law of Gravity.)
* There will always be road construction on I-65 by the Southport exit. (Law of living in Central Indiana.)
Newton's Third Law says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the Christian life, we can put it this way - to follow something, you must leave something else behind. The disciples of Jesus found that out. In Matthew 4 Jesus called to Peter and Andrew as they were fishing and said, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." The Bible says "they left their nets and followed Him." Soon they came upon James and John as they were fishing and Jesus gave them the same invitation. The Bible says "they left their boats and their father and followed Him." In Luke 5 Jesus saw Matthew at his booth collecting taxes and simply said, "Follow me." You guessed it - the Bible says "he left all, arose, and followed Him." I hope you're seeing a pattern here:
Jesus called.
Men followed.
To do so, they had to leave something behind.
For some, it was their vocation and livelihood. For some, it was family that I'm sure they loved dearly. For some, it was "all." We are no different nor any better than they were. If we're going to follow Jesus, we can't follow Him without leaving something behind. It may be a career. It may be to sacrifice financial security, enter a ministry, and trust Him to provide. It may be giving up your dreams and desires to take up His. It may indeed be to leave family behind to fulfill God's purpose for your life. But if we're serious about being a disciple of Jesus, we will follow the original disciple's example and "leave all to follow Him." David Wilkerson once put it this way: "Self-denial is not something you give up, it's someone - the giving up of yourself, giving up everything you are. It's a living sacrifice to the Lord Jesus." I quoted this Scripture from Luke 9 last week, but it bears repeating: "If any man has his hand to the plough and looks back, he is not fit for the Kingdom of God." He also said in that same chapter that anyone that wanted to be His disciple must "Deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Me." The thing about taking up your cross - it's a one-way trip. When a man picked up a cross, he wasn't coming back.
I also want you to keep this in mind - they knew what they were leaving, they knew who they were following, but they didn't know where they were going. They simply heard Jesus say, "Follow Me." Had Jesus told them everything they were going to encounter at the outset of their journey, would they have still followed? I don't know. What I do know is that Hebrews 11 says that "without faith it is impossible to please God" and faith is not needed when we have all the answers. The call of Jesus isn't "Follow Me. We'll sit down and I'll tell you everything that's in store for you, and then you can decide for yourself." The call of Jesus is, "Follow Me."
Period.
Let me put it another way: "Get in, sit down, shut up, and hang on." Sound familiar?
There are certain laws that will always be true:
* 1+1 will always equal 2. (Law of Mathematics.)
* "What goes up must come down." (Law of Gravity.)
* There will always be road construction on I-65 by the Southport exit. (Law of living in Central Indiana.)
Newton's Third Law says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the Christian life, we can put it this way - to follow something, you must leave something else behind. The disciples of Jesus found that out. In Matthew 4 Jesus called to Peter and Andrew as they were fishing and said, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." The Bible says "they left their nets and followed Him." Soon they came upon James and John as they were fishing and Jesus gave them the same invitation. The Bible says "they left their boats and their father and followed Him." In Luke 5 Jesus saw Matthew at his booth collecting taxes and simply said, "Follow me." You guessed it - the Bible says "he left all, arose, and followed Him." I hope you're seeing a pattern here:
Jesus called.
Men followed.
To do so, they had to leave something behind.
For some, it was their vocation and livelihood. For some, it was family that I'm sure they loved dearly. For some, it was "all." We are no different nor any better than they were. If we're going to follow Jesus, we can't follow Him without leaving something behind. It may be a career. It may be to sacrifice financial security, enter a ministry, and trust Him to provide. It may be giving up your dreams and desires to take up His. It may indeed be to leave family behind to fulfill God's purpose for your life. But if we're serious about being a disciple of Jesus, we will follow the original disciple's example and "leave all to follow Him." David Wilkerson once put it this way: "Self-denial is not something you give up, it's someone - the giving up of yourself, giving up everything you are. It's a living sacrifice to the Lord Jesus." I quoted this Scripture from Luke 9 last week, but it bears repeating: "If any man has his hand to the plough and looks back, he is not fit for the Kingdom of God." He also said in that same chapter that anyone that wanted to be His disciple must "Deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Me." The thing about taking up your cross - it's a one-way trip. When a man picked up a cross, he wasn't coming back.
I also want you to keep this in mind - they knew what they were leaving, they knew who they were following, but they didn't know where they were going. They simply heard Jesus say, "Follow Me." Had Jesus told them everything they were going to encounter at the outset of their journey, would they have still followed? I don't know. What I do know is that Hebrews 11 says that "without faith it is impossible to please God" and faith is not needed when we have all the answers. The call of Jesus isn't "Follow Me. We'll sit down and I'll tell you everything that's in store for you, and then you can decide for yourself." The call of Jesus is, "Follow Me."
Period.
Let me put it another way: "Get in, sit down, shut up, and hang on." Sound familiar?
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Heaven's Car Has a Bumper Sticker
By Gobel Brockman
One of the things I find interesting about being in ministry is that you tend to look for sermon illustrations and object lessons in everything. While others are simply enjoying their surroundings, you're looking for life lessons. Sometimes it's at major events, but sometimes it's in the simplest of situations. I once was driving behind a car that had one of those bumper stickers that says:
"Get In, Sit Down, Shut Up, & Hang On!"
As soon as I read it I thought, "What a great description of the Christian life!" What do I mean?
1) "Get In"
I would say that John 3:16 is probably the most familiar verse in the Bible: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." That verse is God saying to you and me, "Get in!" Regardless of how bad you've been, or how far you've fallen, God has room for you. He was willing to let His son die that we might live. The offer is to all: life is a journey, He has room for us, but He wants to be the driver.
2) "Sit Down"
It's not a good idea to stand up in a moving vehicle. Once you're in a car you need to decide you're staying there for the duration of the trip. If you decide that you no longer want to follow where God's leading, you're going to have to abandon the trip while He's still moving. Jesus made a hard statement in Luke 9: "If anyone has their hand on the plough and looks back, he is not fit for the kingdom of God." Before you get in, make up your mind that you're going to stay in.
3) "Shut Up"
Speaking of bumper stickers, you know the one that says, "God Is My Co-Pilot"? It's wrong. God doesn't need GPS and He doesn't allow backseat drivers. Many times we seem to think that we know what's better for our lives than God does. In those times, we're wrong. Looking back, some of the best answers to prayer I've ever received is when God said "No" because He knew what was ahead. He sees everything - every turn, every obstacle, every bit of foul weather - and He knows the best route to take. So when we think we have better ideas as to what we should be doing next, here's what we should do: SHUT UP.
4) "Hang On"
I've occasionally heard people say that Christianity seems boring to them. Those who would say that have never stepped out in faith and let God take them where He wants them to go. God has opened some doors for me over the years that I never would have opened for myself, and I've seen some pretty incredible things in the process. For awhile in the early 90's God opened a door for me to do a weekly short-wave radio program, and I got responses from places like Scotland, Trinidad, and Nigeria. He's led me to opportunities to play music in some pretty unusual places, and I've seen Him do some amazing things in people. I could go on (and on and on...) but the point is that it's been an incredible trip so far - and it's not over yet. As long as I have relatively good health and half a mind (although some might say I'm flattering myself there) I plan to continue to let God take me wherever He wants to go. The trip's not over yet, and I'm interested to see where it's going from here.
"Get in, sit down, shut up, & hang on." The car's pulled over, the door's open, the destination's out of your control, and it's going to be a wild ride. You in?
One of the things I find interesting about being in ministry is that you tend to look for sermon illustrations and object lessons in everything. While others are simply enjoying their surroundings, you're looking for life lessons. Sometimes it's at major events, but sometimes it's in the simplest of situations. I once was driving behind a car that had one of those bumper stickers that says:
"Get In, Sit Down, Shut Up, & Hang On!"
As soon as I read it I thought, "What a great description of the Christian life!" What do I mean?
1) "Get In"
I would say that John 3:16 is probably the most familiar verse in the Bible: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." That verse is God saying to you and me, "Get in!" Regardless of how bad you've been, or how far you've fallen, God has room for you. He was willing to let His son die that we might live. The offer is to all: life is a journey, He has room for us, but He wants to be the driver.
2) "Sit Down"
It's not a good idea to stand up in a moving vehicle. Once you're in a car you need to decide you're staying there for the duration of the trip. If you decide that you no longer want to follow where God's leading, you're going to have to abandon the trip while He's still moving. Jesus made a hard statement in Luke 9: "If anyone has their hand on the plough and looks back, he is not fit for the kingdom of God." Before you get in, make up your mind that you're going to stay in.
3) "Shut Up"
Speaking of bumper stickers, you know the one that says, "God Is My Co-Pilot"? It's wrong. God doesn't need GPS and He doesn't allow backseat drivers. Many times we seem to think that we know what's better for our lives than God does. In those times, we're wrong. Looking back, some of the best answers to prayer I've ever received is when God said "No" because He knew what was ahead. He sees everything - every turn, every obstacle, every bit of foul weather - and He knows the best route to take. So when we think we have better ideas as to what we should be doing next, here's what we should do: SHUT UP.
4) "Hang On"
I've occasionally heard people say that Christianity seems boring to them. Those who would say that have never stepped out in faith and let God take them where He wants them to go. God has opened some doors for me over the years that I never would have opened for myself, and I've seen some pretty incredible things in the process. For awhile in the early 90's God opened a door for me to do a weekly short-wave radio program, and I got responses from places like Scotland, Trinidad, and Nigeria. He's led me to opportunities to play music in some pretty unusual places, and I've seen Him do some amazing things in people. I could go on (and on and on...) but the point is that it's been an incredible trip so far - and it's not over yet. As long as I have relatively good health and half a mind (although some might say I'm flattering myself there) I plan to continue to let God take me wherever He wants to go. The trip's not over yet, and I'm interested to see where it's going from here.
"Get in, sit down, shut up, & hang on." The car's pulled over, the door's open, the destination's out of your control, and it's going to be a wild ride. You in?
Sunday, November 2, 2014
I Heard You, I Just Didn't Hear You
By Gobel Brockman
Back in the 80's I worked in the housekeeping department at a local hospital. One day my supervisor came to where a co-worker and I were working, and she was almost in tears from laughter. A lady from another country was being interviewed for another Supervisor position in the hospital, but it was obvious that she was struggling with English. She was asked, "If you had an employee - we'll call her Grace - who you noticed was spending too much time standing around talking, how would you deal with her?" After a pause, and with a puzzled look on her face, she finally responded, "Well, I would rinse Grace down...uh...in a germicidal..." All three of us were in tears as she told the story. My first thought was, "That'll be a reprimand Grace will never forget!"
Language barriers can be tough. I've shared before about my trip to Quebec City and the funny 'problems' I had due to my lack of understanding of French. However, it's a completely different story when someone fully understands what you're saying but chooses to reject it. In John 8 Jesus was speaking to people who were rejecting His message, and He told them this: "Why can you not understand My speech? Because you cannot bear to hear what I say." Sadly, I would say that's a pretty apt description of this generation. Paul said in II Timothy 4 that "The time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine." We are definitely in a time when many reject any hard word they hear. Some people think of Jesus as a guy holding a sheep with a halo around His head, but cannot see Him turning over tables and driving people out of the temple with a whip in His hand. The Bible does indeed describe Him as "The Lamb of God," but it also describes Him as "The Lion of the tribe of Judah."
My point this week is this: there's more to the word of God than "Jesus loves me, this I know..." There are hard truths that come with it. We get confronted with the awfulness of our sin. We are told to repent. We are told that there are consequences to our choices and actions. It's one thing if we don't understand something, but quite another to reject something we do understand. When the word of God and the Holy Spirit confront us with things we need to hear, may we accept them with gratefulness. God's word, God's Spirit, and the blood of Jesus can make us clean.
No germicidal required.
Back in the 80's I worked in the housekeeping department at a local hospital. One day my supervisor came to where a co-worker and I were working, and she was almost in tears from laughter. A lady from another country was being interviewed for another Supervisor position in the hospital, but it was obvious that she was struggling with English. She was asked, "If you had an employee - we'll call her Grace - who you noticed was spending too much time standing around talking, how would you deal with her?" After a pause, and with a puzzled look on her face, she finally responded, "Well, I would rinse Grace down...uh...in a germicidal..." All three of us were in tears as she told the story. My first thought was, "That'll be a reprimand Grace will never forget!"
Language barriers can be tough. I've shared before about my trip to Quebec City and the funny 'problems' I had due to my lack of understanding of French. However, it's a completely different story when someone fully understands what you're saying but chooses to reject it. In John 8 Jesus was speaking to people who were rejecting His message, and He told them this: "Why can you not understand My speech? Because you cannot bear to hear what I say." Sadly, I would say that's a pretty apt description of this generation. Paul said in II Timothy 4 that "The time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine." We are definitely in a time when many reject any hard word they hear. Some people think of Jesus as a guy holding a sheep with a halo around His head, but cannot see Him turning over tables and driving people out of the temple with a whip in His hand. The Bible does indeed describe Him as "The Lamb of God," but it also describes Him as "The Lion of the tribe of Judah."
My point this week is this: there's more to the word of God than "Jesus loves me, this I know..." There are hard truths that come with it. We get confronted with the awfulness of our sin. We are told to repent. We are told that there are consequences to our choices and actions. It's one thing if we don't understand something, but quite another to reject something we do understand. When the word of God and the Holy Spirit confront us with things we need to hear, may we accept them with gratefulness. God's word, God's Spirit, and the blood of Jesus can make us clean.
No germicidal required.
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