Where are you looking?

Hello everyone its been over a month since my last blog. We've been so busy around our house with getting ready for weddings, grandchildren,livestock shows, prom; I could go on but I think everyone knows what I mean. I beleive our children are the greatest blessing, other than salvation, that the Good Lord gives us!
I've always loved this time of year. Everything is getting green and blooming, fishing is going good, spring turkey season for some is here, just a great time of year to be outside and enjoying what GOD has made for us to enjoy! Another reason to enjoy a beatiful day like yesterday for some is Easter Egg hunts. I think this is another area we've put commercialism in front of what is Holy,thats another subject for another time.
As I've meditated on the scriptures of the "season" the last couple of weeks what really struck me was the verse:
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.

"why do you look for the living among the dead" with all of the false religions,prophets and so forth out there I think this passage rings true! We have longing in us as humans that can only be satisfied by GOD. Day in and day out we see our fellow man chase (and us as well!) money,hobbies,religion,careers, all these differant things to fill our soul. In other words we are searching for the living among the dead!
We as Christians can also be as guilty when we put tradition and religion before Christ! He is the only way and only reason for salvation, His Blood! We hear alot of "ways" to get to Heaven but scripture correctly states JESUS is the ONLY way! To pursue any other way is "looking for the living among the dead"
If you are reading this blog and do not know Jesus as your personal savior there is no time like now to accept HIM. Its not hard, we see John 3:16 and it tells all:

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
It's that simple! Accept HIM as your Savior! I promise you'll NEVER regret it!
It's been wonderful getting back in the swing of things and taking up writing again!
Remeber to pray for everyone in your life, whether it's because of death, salvation, sickness etc... ALWAYS leave it with GOD!

As Always, I Love You and the LORD surely loves you!!!!!!!!!!!

In HIM, BrianF

Title or Testimony?

WOW! It's been an incredible couple of weeks! Things have been crazy at work but we have finally got things on track(praise the Lord)! His blessings are everywhere.
It has been my honor to be appointed men's minister at my home church. We look forward to this responsibility and the blessings the Lord has in store for us.
One of the duties is to have a speaker at our 1st Saturday of the month men's breakfast. It is called "My Brothers Keeper" and it is a community wide movement, all churches are invited and many differant ones are represented. Instead of having a preacher every month I felt lead to have men share their testimony. I think we need to get back to our testimonies, remember where we came from! Saying that brings me to a person I work with that has one of the most powerful testimonies I've ever heard.
I work in a prison and I've come to know all kinds of men, not all bad, some have found the Lord and work for His kingdom everyday. There is one man I've gotten to know that humbles me a great deal. This man will probably be in prison the rest of his life and he amazes me the attitude of pure joy he has every day. We should take a lesson from this man, if he can find such joy in the Lord in prison what does that say for us? He tells me that prison was the best thing that ever happened to him because he found Jesus here! I could go on but it would overwhelm me to try and tell his complete story. Anyway that's his testimony not mine!
I guess this brings me to my point or why I picked this title. Several years ago I heard sermon with the same title:"Do you have a title or a testimony". In todays society with all the stress put on success and doing well financely, I think to much is put on your title you achieve and not your testimony in life. If we wonder what is really important or how a person could find joy in prison I believe the Bible has the perfect example: Philippians 1:12-14


12Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard[b] and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

Here the Apostle Paul tells about being confined and all he does is praise God for the opportunity to advance the Gospel, now that's a testimony! I think we can all take a lesson from these powerful accounts of what God can do in any circumstances!
I hope and pray you enjoy this blog as much as I enjoyed writing it. In the meantime;
I love you and the LORD surely loves you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In HIM, BrianF

Well friends here we are at the end of the week. It has been a week full of blessings and also our share of problems, that's how it is. The first of the year I asked for growth and this is how one grows; through trials! Be careful what you pray for! I would not change anything, GOD has taken care of my family and me as HE always will! I realized last week that you don't go to bed 5 ft. tall (spiritually) and wake up 6'8", don't work that way!
This will be a short blog, I'll get back in the swing of things in the next couple of weeks. We are going through some major changes at work so my blog may miss a couple of weeks, bare with me please.

Philippians 4:4-7
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I end as always, I Love You and the LORD surely Loves You!!!!!!!!!
In HIM, BrianF

Serving

Good Morning All!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's great to be back in the swing of things, I've been ill for about two weeks,nothing serious.
This past weekend I finally started feeling good so I decided to do a little project that needed doing and would help others. A friend and fellow minister had the same idea so we pitched in and got the job done. This little project reminded me of a time in my life when I was blessed to take a child that had been very ill fishing. O.K. this would be to long of a story to go into, so take my word for it please, it was a blessing of a life time to take this child and her friend out in my boat! It was awesome!
We need to remember that our Master and Savior came as a servant! You see the thing is when we serve WE get a huge blessing! Why is it so hard to remember that? You think about it and I'll bet everytime you've helped someone, with the right motives, you have been blessed beyond measure. Let's take a look at what Jesus had to say:
Luke 14:12-14 12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." (NIV)
Read verse 14a again "and you will be blessed" my friends this comes straight from the mouth of our Lord and Savior!
Meditate on these things in the days ahead and remember while lending a hand or helping out, you may end up with the greatest blessing of all!

As always I love you and the Lord surely loves you!!!!!!!!
In Him, BrianF

Filling Someone's Shoes

Good Monday! I truly hope everyone had a blessed weekend! We (my wife and I) had a wonderful time both going to thrift stores and a wonderful day of worship yesterday! I feel truly "blessed and highly favored"! That's what GOD will do for you, not can but will do for you!
While looking at the Thursday night "disc. 101" material and scripture last night, I was hit with a powerful message for this week that I'll share a bit here.
I know we have all seen instances where someone had to step up and "fill" the shoes of a person that had left a great legacy. I think there is probably plenty of us that has been in that situation in our lifes, I know I have! Sure I've never had to follow a Joe Montanna or Nolan Ryan but there have been times I have felt "not up" to the task at hand. I think at times like this we must meditate on God's Word for what He would have for us! There was a time in my life when I had to follow one of the best Bible teachers I've ever heard. One day as I was praying the Lord laid this verse on my heart I would love to share with you: Joshua 1:1-5
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
WOW! re-read the last line again "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you" Jesus makes the same promise to "be with us always".
You see these are the challenges in life that can grow us spiritually! I love to say what doesn't kill me is bound to make me stronger, that can be true if we lean on the Lord during these challenges of life! I truly believe that's how to become better, more mature Christians! Then we are more than able,through GOD, to face any challenge- no shoes will to big to fill as long as we let GOD fill'em!
I hope anyone who reads this takes comfort in the Lord-enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! As always remember;
I love you and the Lord surely loves you!

In Him, BrianF

UNCERTAIN TIMES

I wonder as I hear everything from a New World Order to global warming to our bad economy, what will be the next helping of bad news. The truth is there have always been both good times and bad, that will never change. It seems as though the bad times are always worse when they are happening to us! Do the good times seem the best ever when they are happening to us? We are covered every day with information from news sources, preachers, freinds, relatives, etc... some tell us how the economy is recovering and times are bright, others tell us of war, economic reccesion, bad things. They can't both be true, I think it's the "spin" we put on such things that influence us.
We can interprit events how the world does or "spin" them with Christ that lives in us! Spin seems to be one of the buzz words of the last few years. Mainly used in politics, to cast the perception of a story the way certain parties would like it to sound or appear. One popular journalist even has a program known as the "Spin Zone". Lets look at this concept in a totally different light.
As Christian people we should always look at the bright side, for the blessing,what God is trying to teach me. Through out the Bible we see example after example of God's children in hard times and always see the reason or lesson in it. I guess that's true unless it's happening to us, that's just a human response! We must learn this lesson that God is always there for us.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am always looking for the straight,simple,easy answer. I'll always find it in the Word of God! Take the 115 Psalm 13-14:
13 he will bless those who fear the LORD— small and great alike.
14 May the LORD make you increase, both you and your children.
This is a promise from above; the Bible is full of promises the Lord has made to us! ME! Someone even took the time to list them in a book; scriptures called "God's Promises" you can find it in any Christian book store.
So the next times it seems the chips are down, finances are bad, war and terror everywhere remember we are children of the King, a royal preisthood-our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills! Put the Christian spin on it or no spin at all, it's just plain ole truth! He is risen! He lives!
We are starting our winter Bible class this Thursday night and again anyone in the Pauls Valley area is welcome! "Growing Through Lifes Challenges" If you are in need of a church home we would love to have you at Bethlehem Missionary Baptists Church!
I end as always; I love you and the Lord surely loves you!!!!!!!!

In Him, BrianF

GROWING

Well, Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a safe New Years Eve. Ellen and I spent the evening at church from ten o'clock till midnight. We enjoyed a great message and a wonderful time of prayer! I can't think of a better way to ring in the new year than to be talking to our heavenly Father! Praise GOD!!!!!!!!!!!
Since it is the first of the year alot of folks make what we refer to as "new years resolutions". In the past and maybe even this year we've all been guilty of this. It always amazes me that people think to make a pledge to oneself at the first of the year might make it easier to keep. At the start of the New Years Eve service our pastor ask the question has anyone made a "new years resolution"? It truly warmed my heart that all most everyone there wanted more of GOD, to walk closer, to grow, to experience Him more deeply.
In the next year my prayer for myself is to grow and mature more in Him. If I am ever to become the preacher God has called me to be, maturity and growth in His word is essential! We could all use more of God in our lives. Prayer and Bible study is where its at!
We are getting ready to start our winter discipleship study. I prayed and looked for what God would have for us in this time of study. I think with all I've witnessed lately that a study on growth is where the Lord is leading. So, a week from this Thursday night (14th), we will begin our study "Growing through Life's Challenges". I'm very excited about leading this study!
At one time in my life I spent a great deal of time and money trying to be a pro fisherman. One time I had my boat at a marine mechanics shop and noticed a sign on the wall "problems to everyone are opportunities with God". How many times do look at difficulties as areas to grow? I don't like I should. So with all that being said we are very excited on this new study. It will start at six o'clock and last around 0ne hour to an hour and a half, starting Jan. 14th. This will be a twelve week study and we would be glad for any and everyone to attend!
We are starting a new year at Bethlehem "Live It Out" is our slogan. If you havn't a church home everyone is welcome at Bethlehem! I've been priviledged to study at several churches under some excellent Bible teachers but I enjoy the spiritual food here at Bethlehem more than I have anywhere in my life!
I'll leave you with a scripture Pasor Eaton used Sunday morning in his sermon text. Joshua 1:8
" Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
If you are in the Pauls Valley area Bethlehem Missionary Baptists Church is located at 311 N. Dunbar in Pauls Valley and everyone is always welcome!
I leave you as I always do: I love you and the LORD surely loves you!!!!!!!

In HIM, Brian F.