Emily's Birthday

As Emily turns 5 today, I am grateful to be her Dad. She teaches me the importance of making friends and showing kindness to others. She genuinely loves meeting and connecting with people. And she always has a song in our heart as she dances and sings all day long. She brings out the best in those around her by making them feel special. You are all special to her. Happy Birthday Emily!

Christmas Light Part 1

This week I have been working on the garland and Christmas lights that wrap the front porch columns at our home.  Last night we turned on the lights for the first time.  I was amazed at just how much better the house looks with lights.

As I drove home from our church service Sunday night, my eyes were drawn to all the Christmas lights in businesses and homes.  I looked at places and homes that I had never bothered to see before.  Now wrapped in light, our town and community takes on a warmer feel.

Some Christmas light displays are attention grabbing.  Others are subtle.  The complicated light displays show that great amount of time and effort that went into them.  Some look like somebody threw some lights up into a tree and flipped a switch. Either way the lights do two amazing things to our homes this time of year.

1) The cold edges of "sameness" are softened by the glow of change.  Something special has come. Light and color has broken into the bland.

2) The warm light welcomes others to see more of our homes and lives.  The lights in the window communicate softly that hope lives here.  The tree glowing in the window says there is a family inside that will be gathering to give gifts and blessings.  The lighted blowup Santa riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in front yard says...well there is someone here who is still a child at heart.

The darkness of world was invaded by Jesus Christ, the true light. Come hear more about God's Christmas lights this month at Pleasant View Baptist Church in Carrollton, GA.

This week: The Light of Rescue

Picture from our old home in Mandeville, LA

Top Ten Things I am Thankful For at Church This Year

No particular order.

1) Opportunities to meet so many new people around our church this year.

2) Our newest staff member: Chris Stamps who is serving as our children's ministry director.

3) My parents, Bobby and Elizabeth Brown who joined our church and moved to Carrollton this year!

4) Our newly revamped preschool/nursery ministry headed up by Owen and Heather Henderson.

5) The multi-media enhancement to our sanctuary. It is a blessing to us all. And Tommy Brown who led the way in pulling this all together.

6) The remodeling project in the adult Sunday School area. Big thanks to Tony Cole who has led the team making this a reality.

7) A flag pole that was recently dedicated to all the current and past veterans of Pleasant View Baptist Church. A great team of guys who had the vision for this.

8) Two amazing groups that went on mission this year to New Orleans and Jamaica.

9) Special church wide events this year that were led by a great group of leaders: VBS, Fall Festival, Run for Jamaica 5k and Market Day, and Memorial Sunday.

10) A great leadership team in staff, administrative assistant, and deacon group. An amazing group making good things happen for God's glory.

An amazing year it has been. These and multiple other highlights remind of just how blessed by God we have been this year.

Flag Pole Dedication

On Sunday, November 11, 2012 Pleasant View Baptist Church dedicated a flag pole in honor of all veterans from our church and community.  There are 96 veterans buried in our cemetery. This pole will honor their service as it holds the flag of our country. Many thanks are in order in making this flag pole possible.  Many gave to the project financially.  Several men contributed to effort including the help from Carroll EMC.  Whenever you pass this way, come check it out.  And take time to remember what it stands for.

A Tone of Trust and Respect. Trust God and Respect our Leaders

In response to what has been an overwhelming display of disrespect and despair by many in the public square (Facebook in particular) I hope to share some thoughts that may help us move forward and together.  My reflections speak particularly to the followers of Jesus Christ who are to live as members of the Kingdom of God.   

As followers of Christ, where there is no conflict with God's law, obey the laws of the state. Consider Paul's words to the church in Rome living under a pagan emperor.

Romans 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.  5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.  7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

So long as no one in leadership is requiring that we abandon the mission of making disciples of Jesus, let us pray for our leaders and willingly submit to their authority.

Show respect. Give honor.

When we disrespect our leaders, we model for our children and others a pattern of rebellion that will not be blessed by God. This is true of how we show respect not only for our President, but our bosses, teachers, and local officials. 

In Mitt Romney's concession speech last night he said this, "We look to our pastors, priests and rabbis and counselors of all kinds to testify of the enduring principles upon which our society is built: honest, charity, integrity, and family. We look to parents, for in the final analysis everything depends on the success of our homes."

Moving forward, we pray for and show respect to our leaders. Love God most and love your neighbor. May God grant that our leaders have a heart to serve. Until it is time to vote again, let's get back to work. Let's get back to faith, hope, and love.  And the greatest of these is love.

Trick or Treat

It is that time of the year again when fright and fear become big business:  haunted houses, horror movies, and scary decorations.  I have always enjoyed the good fun associated with Halloween.  I enjoy being frightened and spooked out of my shoes from time to time.  I even like that crazy feeling of my hair standing up on the back of my neck.  But I also enjoy getting to the exit of a haunted house, turning the lights on, or walking out of the theater knowing that it was not "real."

Real fear can be quite the motivator.  Many folk play on our fears to persuade to do or buy certain thing.  But fear do not always produce the effect intended. In a book entitled Mind Changers, Em Griffin states that fear can be an effective motivator or it can boomerang and turn people off. In research studies, some fear is helpful in persuading opinion but too much fear actually will have the opposite effect.  When too much fear is used three common reactions are given by folks:

1.       "I was scared out of my mind." In a sense of panic, without thoughtful logic, a person makes a decision based on the experienced fear. Then the person will try to avoid anything connected with what "scared them to death." Folks who use scare tactics in sharing the gospel need to pay attention to this. Scaring people "out of hell" this time of year with all kinds presentations may get a reaction and decision. But the person may avoid anything involved with your church in the future. Why? You scared them.

2.       Another reaction people may give when confronted with great fear is "Aw, it'll never happen to me." A person may dismiss the reality of the need for fear.  No matter how terrifying something is if they do not see the probability of it happening to them, they will dismiss the fear without effect.

3.       Or, the person experiencing fear may see our solution to the problem and say, "I don't think it'll do any good." The fear tactic begins to boomerang when the fright outweighs the credibility of the solution.  If the solution seems too simple or unbelievable, the person will be pushed away.

Is there a better approach to being persuasive? I am thinking in particular here about training, coaching, evangelism, parenting, and swaying public opinion. 

In Romans chapter 2 the apostle Paul described the justified wrath and judgement that is surely to come on mankind, yet, in verse 4 he revealed that it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance (changing our mind, turning back to God). Fear may have some effectiveness, but it is kindness that leads to changing one's mind.

What was God's method to win our hearts and minds? The way of the cross. Jesus willingly took on our punishment in order to win our hearts. Kindness, love, grace.

Fear tactics may have they place and limited effectiveness.  Ultimately, in changing hearts and minds we must help people see things (experience realty) from a different perspective. Being overwhelmed by an experience of love and kindness may have a more lasting effect on one's perspective than fear.

During the season of "Trick or Treat,"  I want to lean toward treat, treating others with kindness. Life is scary enough without me adding anything to it.

Resource for politics

Great resource for how to cut through politics and gospel. Check it out:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0802404871

Safely back in the US

The team just landed. Home safe and sound. Thank you all for your prayers during this week.

Headed to the airport

Great week. Our hearts are turning toward home and that God will bless and protect his people here.

2 great pictures from our day at the school

View of the day

Beach Day

The team is celebrating with a relaxing day at the beach today. Looking forward the fun the sun. Pictures to come.

Great day at the Victory Christian Fellowship

Conference tonight

We had a great conference tonight. Thank you to all who prayed. The church was very appreciative of all we did. Tomorrow (Thursday) the whole team will be back at Victory Christian Fellowship during school hours to be there with the students and teachers. Looking for to it.

Some pictures from today

Finishing out section of the wall for the new church building in Spot Valley.

Conferences tonight

Pray for our team as we lead a men's and women's conference tonight. Pray that we will encourage and instruct.

Steps completed by Destin and Doug

Amazing 2nd lunch/snack

We stopped and ate some pork at Scotchies. It was great. Check out the pit. For cooking. Smelled and tasted amazing.

Walls getting higher

Progress made on the church walls. Tommy Brown would be proud of our concrete work...maybe.

Children's Home

The ladies were here at Blossom Gardens children's home. It is run by the state. This day there were also missionaries from Switzerland volunteering as well.

Adding to the local economy

Doug and Leroy purchasing some fruit and sugar cane from a street vendor. Fresh and delicious.

View from my devotion time

Praying for a great day. Loving the beauty of Jamaica this morning.

One more photo from today

You can see more on facebook on some of the team member pages.

Dinner

We ate great tonight! Pumpkin rice, chicken, slaw, vegetable and beef stir fry and ice cream (almond I think). Ready to sleep great tonight...but no running water at all. Having to improvise using the pool water for lots of uses tonight.

Sifting sand for mortar mix

Ladies painting

Concrete wall work

Big day ahead

So far today, we have no rain. Not a cloud in the sky. Looks like a great day to pour concrete! Doug has gone with Pastor Leroy to purchase supplies. We are following behind, meeting at Spot Valley mission church. I would never attempt this at home. I have a tough time gauging how to mix quickcrete, but here we go. Building a wall to last for a church to make disciples of Jesus for generations to come.

Great service this morning

The service this morning went great. It has started raining and has continued all afternoon. We plan to begin working on concrete walls at the church in Spot Valley in the morning. Pray for good weather.

Great afternoon on the the beach

The crew has arrived safely and spent the afternoon on the beach and shopping. We met with pastor Leroy. Looks like we will be pouring some concrete! Starting Monday morning. I will be preaching in the morning at Victory Christian Fellowship. We are getting ready for supper with pastor Leroy at the pork pit. Should be a great meal.

Bags are packed ready to go

Headed to the Airport

The Jamaica mission team is headed to the airport. We are set to land in Montego Bay around lunch time (Saturday). Pictures and updates will be posted here. Prayer for our team today as we travel and go through customs.



--
Myles Brown

Seeing 4 Directions

On Sunday I shared during my Bible talk that in order to make the best decisions, we need to see 4 directions (a 360 degree approach).

Here is the recap and warnings about being using less than all four angles.

1. God's Spirit.  We often "feel/sense" a leading from the spiritual realm.  However, we must be careful. Not all spiritual leadings are from God.  God's Spirit always squares with the word of God, ways of God, and purposes of God.  Other spiritual forces seek to persuade us as well which appeal to lots of motives. 2 big ones are our selfishness and arrogance (pride). 

2. Good Sense.  Using good common sense is valuable and can prove to be life saving.  God rarely leads away from good sense.  But He may push the boundaries and defy cultural opinions of wisdom.

3. God's People. We need the counsel of people who are also seeking to follow God.  The key here is to gain advice and counsel from people love you enough to speak truth, correction, and warnings.  Something to remember is that you will often need to seek out the counsel of the wise.  The wise do not go about dishing out advice.  You must seek their counsel and heed it.

4. Circumstances.  God opens and closes doors or opportunity. But not every opportunity that appeals to us is from God.  Circumstances can be a test to see if we will make a decision based on faith or pursue selfish, arrogant paths, easy/lazy paths, or deviant paths.

Complicated? No one said decisions were easy. Look in 4 directions and operate in faith.

Comments and thoughts welcome.

Thoughts from Sunday's Ministry Fair

Dear ministry team leaders,

What a great day we had Sunday! The ministry fair was amazing because of the hard work and creativity that you put forward.  Several good things happened Sunday. Here are a few:

1.       Worship attendees and members saw the multiple ways to "get in the game."

2.       There was a "join us" attitude that demonstrated to all that we are an inclusive bunch. 

3.       The operating value of EXCELLENCE was lived out. There was no shabby work done Sunday. People across the board gave their best effort.

4.       Sharp: We did things Sunday in a sharp way. Thoughtfulness and creativity was demonstrated by all.

A few ministries saw immediate responses in folks wanting to join the effort. All ministry areas that participated were showcased. Each group in our local body of Christ shined well.

Thank you so much for putting your best foot forward. We will continue to explore new ways of communicating and promoting opportunities to "get in the game."

 

Pastor Myles

What is the Church?

A church is not a building with a steeple, stainglass windows, or a more contemporary building with banners and no windows.

As we saw from the Bible Sunday, the church is the people of God.  A called out bunch who have received God's mercy.

The church is the body of Christ in the world.  We follow the lead of our head (Christ Jesus).  We function best when we work together and use our uniquely given gifts, abilities, and talents.

The church is where we learn to really love people with names and faces.  It is joyful hard work to love one another the way Jesus loves us.  We prove that we really love when we link arms with a church family and work together through thick and thin.

The church is the plan for taking God's message of love and forgiveness to the world. 

Get in the Game 1: knowing the context

In the game of life, knowing the lay of the land is vitally important.  Sizing up situations correctly can mean the difference between life and death, joy and dismay, success and failure.

So just what kind of world do we live in? What is reality?

1. There is the God of the Bible who created all else. He is the Uncreated One who created all else.
2. The reality he created is:
• made up of some things that will fade away and some that are eternal
• has both a spiritual and physical (material) plane which interpenetrate.
• operates by cause and effect
3. The creation of God contains:
• matter and energy governed by the laws discoverable by physics and chemistry
• plants, animals, humans, and inanimate objects (living and non-living things)
• spirit beings (holy and demonic angels)
4. What happens in life is the result of:
• actions of people (freely choosing)
• directional sway of Satan (the prince of this world)
• interference by spirit beings in defense of God and his children and unholy spirits blocking the ways of God.
• Under God supreme power and purposes

So...

Living God's ways in His world really matters and prayer really works. Know this and living in the REALity will make all the difference in the world.

Come find out more this week as we consider: What is the Christian Life? PVBC Carrollton, 11 AM Sunday.

Knowing the Real will avoid falling for the fake

Experts in diamonds, money, antiques, and art are trained in how to know the real/authentic.  There may be endless ways that counterfeiters try to fake "the real thing."  In order to recognize the counterfeit, one must be trained and know the real.

2 Peter is a letter to the church about knowing the real God revealed in His Son, Jesus the Christ.  Essential knowledge to keep from being fooled by probable impostors and false teachings.

The end of 2 Peters says this:

2 Peter 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The way we keep on our guard is keep grow in in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Know him well and those impostors will fall way short of the real and so will false religion/teachings of man.

Trail run at Clinton Nature Preserve in Douglas County

These are just a few picture from a new area at Clinton Nature Preserve that I ran through this afternoon.  I am really enjoying running here and discovering new wtrails and connectors.

This stream has a nice wooden bridge over it.

This little rabbit was noy scared of me at all.  If I he knew my taste for rabbit, he would not have been so still.

Looks like a bigfoot print to me.  One area was real boggy from all the recent rain.

This challenging section was more steep than the picture reveals.  I had a good time getting my thoughts together for tomorrow's message at Pleasant View.

Kids Pool Party

Having fun at the kids pool party.

Free from the Fear of Danger

A great benefit of listening to wisdom, is trading fear of danger for trust in the Lord.

Proverbs 1:3 "But whoever listens to me (wisdom) will live securely and be free from the fear of danger."

We do not live in a safe world. Dangers are everywhere: mean people, contaminated drinking water, infectious diseases, and natural disasters to name just a few.

With caution we carry around hand sanitizers, bottled water, concealed weapons, and healthy dose of caution (and maybe just a little paranoia).

Listening to wisdom, God's ways for life, produces freedom from the fear of danger.

Dangers still exist. But can you imagine being free from the fear of it?

The first step on the path of wisdom (breaking off point) is the fear/trust of God.

Proverbs 1:7 "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline."

Leave fear of danger and begin a life of trust/fear of the Lord. It will set you free.

Discussion and comments welcome.

Results of shared leadership responsibility

Following up on the Bible talk on Sunday, I would like to share 2 great benefits from Moses' following Jethro's advice. This applies to us as well.

By placing capable/high character people in charge of various levels of stewardship (10s, 50s, 100s, and 1000s) the following happens:

1. Leadership is a joy and not a strain.

See Ephesians 4:11-16 and 1 Timother 3:13.  Everybody does their part and share in the joy of teamwork.

    2. People are satisfied

When people are under capable leaders, they rejoice. See Proverbs 29:2. Also, clear organization helps people know who to go to for help, instruction, encourgament, complaints, suggestions.  In our local church some of the first places to reach out to are the following leaders: Sunday School teachers/group leaders, deacons, ministry directors in areas of music, children, preschool, and youth.  These folks are capable leaders with high character ready to help, teach, encourage, support, and lead.

Final night message (notes from Bryan)

>
> Truth
> Isaiah 6:1-8
>
> 1) Our God is incomprehensible glorious
>
> 2) Our sin is infinitely serious
> We are lost in our sin/separates us from God.
> Sin makes us slaves. Also, enemies to God.
> God send Christ to save us from sin.
> God keeps no record of your sins with Christ.
>
> 3) Our mission is indescribably urgent.
> Be Audacious!
> Surrender to God the mission of sharing the Word of God to others.
> We don't have time to waste it.
>
> Be bold about sharing Christ with others.
>
> Take my life Lord and use me in every way.

Block Party

Block party went great! Thanks for prayers.

Headed to block party

Pray for our students as we go to lead a block party for children and families at a RV PARK.

Afternoon Update

Parker George led the afternoon Bible study. He shared from Hebrews 11 about living by faith with courage. We also prayed for our block party that we will be leading tomorrow afternoon. Then the group went in a couple directions. I took Danny Evans, Jack Griffith, Daniel Quattlebaum, Nathin Wendlandt, and Britt Wheatherby. The rest of the crew hung out at the pool at the hotel. Eating at the Shrimp Basket for supper before heading to evening worship service. The group is doing great. Thank you for praying. Please continue.

Worship Celebration

Expecting a great day as we gather.

Beautiful Morning View

Praying for a great day for a students and leaders

Phase 10

Late night phase 10 game! Here we go. We could be here a while.

Dinner at the Bravo Taco

Great afternoon at the beach

Frisbee, volleyball, and swimming kind of afternoon. Great day at the beach. Supper in about an hour. Worship service will be at 7:00 am central time time tonight.

Celebration Worship Service

Morning at Camp

Last the students were challenged about really knowing God. Scripture passage was Jeremiah 9:23-24.

3 reasons we are here:

Know God's glory
Listen to God's word
Advance the Kingdom of God

4 goal:

For routine religion to be no longer tolerable
Casual worship not possible
Total surrender to Jesus is the only way to live
And the global mission is not negotiable.

Pray for these guys as they pursue these purposes and goals this week.

Headed to morning worship celebration. Pictures to follow...

1st night worship service

We just finished a pizza supper. We are now headed to the worship service for night 1.

Pray for our group and the many others to respond to God's presence tonight as we worship and learn.

We made it!

Thanks for praying. We are here. Getting oriented and checked in.

Another stop

Travis said he to go!

Riding First Class

Check out all the leg room! Ridin first class behind Travis.

First Stop Lagrange

Had to stop for breakfast at Lagrange Chickfila. Gonna take a while.