To See The Nations Worship

For The Nations

shaybrannon — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:51:46 +0000

Finally! After several months of living in our house, I have decided what I want to hang on the large wall in the front room. It’s kind of an interesting little room. I’m not sure what it was supposed to be when it was built. Maybe a small living room or a parlor. But I don’t really need another place to put a couch so I made the room into a study/prayer room/missions room. Whatever you want to call it! I’ve put alot of our favorite books there. Also, I finally have a place to display some travel keepsakes and things we’ve received over the years concerning missions. My small collection of globes and maps have a place. I just love this little room. It receives beautiful morning light and it’s warm and cozy. Hopefully it’s a welcoming room for those that visit us.

But the large wall in this room really stumped me. I wanted to put something there that would be attractive but useful to the purpose of the room. One large picture? Several pictures of places we have been? Maps? For several months, I shopped around for something and I looked on the web for ideas. I felt like when I saw it I would know it was right. Well, it ended up being a large world map with just the right colors and the most recent country boundaries. It cost $8! Definitely cost me more to frame it! The lady at Michael’s was so helpful. Apparently she had framed these kinds of maps before. Because it was a large map and I planned to take the map on and off the wall to use it in different ways, she suggested no glass or acrylic be used. She just laminated it and framed it. It’s so light! I’ll be able to take it off the wall easily.

So the map is hung. And I hope it will remind me to pray regularly for the nations. What a huge world we live in! So many countries need us to pray that they will honor and love the true King. My desire is that the nations will bow the knee now and not be forced to when Christ returns. And He IS coming again. He has promised this in scripture. (see 1 and 2 Thessalonians) Praise Him now! Believe now! Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Pray For Nigeria

shaybrannon — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:07:15 +0000

I was blessed to serve with a precious Nigerian lady in the Budapest BSF class. Her life was one of integrity and she faced hardship in her country for her Christian beliefs and faith. How sad I am for her home country because of the violence that has erupted there in recent months due to radical Islamic sects. The article below details the latest round of attacks. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in this war-torn country. There are many there that stand for the cause of Christ despite persecution. For those of us that live in the United States, we don’t face such horror. At this point, our Christian beliefs might be challenged in the culture through ridicule and loss of standing. But there may come a time that we will face physical violence because of our faith. Are we ready?

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/22/10209723-nigerias-deadliest-terror-attack-kills-at-least-178

Kano, Nigeria, Police Headquarters

The Manhattan Declaration

shaybrannon — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:00:47 +0000

Dr. George

Dr. Timothy George, the Dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, spoke recently at our church. Dr. George is always fascinating to listen to and our church has had the privilege to host him several times to speak. Pastor Steve specifically asked him to speak this time on “The Manhattan Declaration” and how it applied to the Church universal and to individual believers. Dr. George, along with Chuck Colson, is one of the authors of this important document.

I had never heard of The Manhattan Declaration and was very interested to hear what Dr. George had to say. As our moral and spiritual culture is crumbling before us, there is a desire to unite those that would stand for 3 basic truths. The Manhattan Declaration calls on all that would agree on: the sanctity of life and the protection of the unborn, the dignity of marriage as a union of a husband and a wife, and religious freedom for all people. I feel strongly about all 3 of these issues and I feel that our culture attacks these truths on many levels.

January 22 is Sanctity of Life Sunday and marks the number years since Roe v. Wade. So what Dr. George was speaking on was very applicable. The institution of marriage has been attacked and ridiculed and many would say that marriage between a man and a woman is out of style and not needed. And unless there is freedom for all religions and beliefs, then my faith is in danger of being outlawed.

The Manhattan Declaration is not a very long document and would be worthy of your time to read. Please consider joining the half million people that have already signed the document. You can go online to do that. Let’s stand for what is right and good.

www.manhattandeclaration.org

www.beesondivinity.com

25 Years of God’s Grace

shaybrannon — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:46:48 +0000

Our family is thanking and praising God alot this week! It was 25 years ago this week that our company, SCS, was incorporated. Looking back, it’s very easy to see God’s hand in the things that happened– in hard times AND good times. Only through Him were we able to grow and be sustained for this many years. Hopefully there have been many satisfied customers over these 25 years and we are thrilled that families benefitted from the jobs that SCS provided. Thank you, God, for Your grace! If You would be pleased, we ask for more years of viability for this company and that our work would bring You glory and honor.

www.scsonline.com

A Morning of Prayer

shaybrannon — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:35:11 +0000

*A church-wide invitation..check.

*Saving the date on the calendar..check.

*Early morning, lots of coffee..check.

*A warm church on a cold morning..check.

*An entire 3 1/2 hours to spend alone with the Lord praying and reading His Word..check and check.

Must be Half Day of Prayer at First Bible Church! What a blessing to live in a country where I’m free to go to the church of my choice and spend time with other believers while we talk to God and about God. I just got to do this yesterday and always always God is gracious to speak to me through this time and through His Word. I won’t bore you with all the details but will share a few things.

Often during this prayer time, God seems to focus me on a specific verse that sums up my time with Him. The last Day of Prayer I attended, the verse was Philippians 1:6. This year the verse was 2 Corinthians 5:9. “So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” (emphasis mine) When that verse was highlighted to me during those 3 1/2 hours, it felt like everything I read or thought about during those hours would come back to this specific point of pleasing God. How simple. My purpose, aim, goal, vision, God’s will for my life, etc., is to please Him. Why do I make it so hard?? Why do I rail against this truth or try to sidestep it by disobedience, ignorance, laziness, or a desire to play God myself? He has provided me the power through the Holy Spirit to please Him. To live in order to please God. (1 Thessalonians 4:1) This should not be a burden. It should be my joy to please Him.

Much of my prayer time was also spent praying for loved ones, my church, the nations, the United States, my marriage, BSF, and a difficult situation I found myself in. What a privilege to have the ability through the completed work of Christ to approach God’s throne of grace to find the power and comfort that I need. (Hebrews 4:16) He is available to me through Christ and my desire is to obey Him and please Him.

An Old Friend Returns

shaybrannon — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:40:48 +0000

Well, an old friend as in a special book! Might sound a little ditzy but I think of many of my favorite Christian-based books as old friends. Some of these old friends have been on my bookshelves for years. This kind of friend never goes out of style and is timeless. Some of these books I read again about every 12 to 15 months. Others I go a little longer between readings. Sometimes I don’t even read the whole book. Maybe just a chapter or two during my devotions. But these friends are there–standing up for truth and encouraging me to think on the attributes and characteristics of God.

One of those old friends returned by way of what we’re studying in our Sunday School class at church. The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. Ah, a classic. This book was first recommended to me in 1995 by my pastor. I immediately purchased the book and have kept this same copy for many years. The book’s principles of holiness and pursuing holiness are still relevant because they are principles based on scripture. Can’t go wrong with that. The book is a deep thinking book but remarkably it’s an easy read. The chapters aren’t too long and the main truths in each chapter are easy to pick out. I feel I am changed every time I read it. It’s been really fun to use this book as a study for our Sunday School class and to see our group of young adults become friends with the book.

I noticed on the Christian Book website that they have this great book for only $5!! And the study guide that goes along with the book is only $5. That’s a steal. I think I’ll buy a few of them and pass them out to people that I think would love reading it. Maybe you would?

www.christianbook.com

Iran Threat Growing/Joel Rosenberg

shaybrannon — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:51:13 +0000

I believe Joel Rosenberg is a voice in our generation that is sounding the alarm for evil around us and alerting us to those that would oppose Jesus Christ. Joel is warning us about Iran. We must listen and we must pray. Here’s a recent post on his blog that details what even the secular press is saying about Iran and its tactics. Believers, let’s not be caught unaware!

http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/iran-threat-growing-latest-headlines/

BSF Resumes! 2012

shaybrannon — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:44:33 +0000

For those in the Northern hemisphere, BSF probably starts back THIS coming week for most. Check the website if you want to join for the first time! Your life will be permanently changed through the study of God’s Word. It’s never too late to get started! Do it now. Find out if there is a class near you. For the North Alabama area, the two ladies’ classes and the men’s class begins next week. The dates are:

Evening Men: Monday, January 9th, 6:30 p.m., First Baptist, Huntsville

Evening Women: Tuesday, January 10th, 6:25 p.m., Southside Baptist, Huntsville

Day Women: Wednesday, January 11th, 9:10 a.m., Southwood Presbyterian, Huntsville

www.bsfinternational.org

The Good Will of God

shaybrannon — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:59:30 +0000

Hope you don’t mind but I’m using this post to jot down a few notes from this past Sunday’s sermon by Pastor Steve. It makes me frustrated that I have such a horrible memory! So many times I wish I could remember how Steve explained a particular truth but I just can’t bring it to my mind. He puts things in such simple, applicable words and I still can’t remember. Ugh. More evidence of age setting in, I guess. Maybe that’s an excuse for laziness! I hope to be better organized this year with how I keep sermon and lecture notes. If anyone has some good ideas on that, I’m open to trying. One way I seem to remember a principle or application better is to write it down a few times and say it out loud.

So with that said, I’m writing down a couple of key points Steve had to say about God’s will. I feel like if I remember these points I could better speak to the age-old question of “Why did God let this happen if He’s such a good God?” Obviously that’s a HUGE discussion of theology and there are tons of scripture to speak to this. I wouldn’t pretend to have all the answers to that question. But maybe one place to start is the biblical fact that GOD IS GOOD. That sounds kinda trite but if we really thought about the implications of that truth I think alot of our doubts and fears would disappear. I remember as a child saying a blessing before mealtimes that went like…God is good, God is great, let us thank Him for our food. Amen. A simple prayer but it has profound truths. I feel pretty sure that I had no clue, when I was praying as a child, what it meant to say that God is good. God’s goodness is critical to our faith and we can consistently trust Him because He is good. Without the goodness of God, despair would probably set in as we look around us and see sorrow, tragedy, sickness and death. We must trust that despite events around us NOT being good, that God is the only One that IS good and has the good plan.

Part of His goodness is the good will of God. On Sunday, Steve talked about two ways to describe God’s will. There is His revealed will and His secret will. Steve defined them this way:

*God’s revealed will (aka, moral will, declared will): God’s moral commands tell us how we should live our lives to please Him. (i.e. 10 commandments, greatest commandments: love God, love others).

*God’s secret will (aka, providential will, decreed will): All events in history that God has ordained should come about, including sinful acts that violate His revealed will.

In the Bible, there are many examples of acts that violated God’s revealed will in keeping with God’s secret will. One is the attempted murder of Joseph by his brothers. (Gen 50:20) It was against God’s revealed will/moral will that Joseph’s brothers would try to kill him. But it was God’s secret will that allowed this sin/hardship to be used to bring about God’s plan of caring for Joseph and the people of Israel. Steve gave several more examples and listening to his entire sermon would be a great idea.

For me, this was such an encouraging sermon. Even though hard things might happen in my life or in the lives of my family and friends, I can know that it is against God’s revealed will for this suffering to occur. It was never God’s will for sin and suffering to be a part of our lives but man’s fall brought these into the world. Yet, God’s secret will should encourage us that His plan is sovereign and “nothing will thrwart God’s plan for us as believers”. And as Steve so clearly stated:” God’s secret will ordains and permits what He despises in the short term in order to accomplish our greatest good and His greatest glory in the long term.”

www.fbc.org

Looking Back/Looking Ahead

shaybrannon — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:47:23 +0000

As I’ve seen or talked with people in the last couple of days, the conversation usually ends with “Happy New Year!”. With Christmas over and 2012 straight ahead, thoughts of a new year and a new beginning are on our minds. For a lot of us it seems, we’re not too sad to see 2011 in our rear view mirror. This past year was an emotional rollercoaster for some, others faced the loss of a loved one, some family members lost everything in the April tornado outbreak, one friend saw the uptick in care for elderly parents, a co-worker faced a difficult surgery, and still others experienced financial strain, a crisis in faith, health issues, and divorce. Maybe 2011 just confirmed that life is hard.

Yet all of us that went through hard times in 2011 would probably agree that despite life being hard, life is precious. We are thankful that we survived 2011 and are pushing ahead to 2012. None of us can boast about tomorrow because tomorrow is a gift from our Creator. As believers, we are not a people without hope. There is an expectation that all things work together for good and that our suffering and trials have a purpose. In that there is great joy. The older I get, the more I need this truth!

So here we are at the threshold of a new year. 2012! Wow! Wasn’t it just 2000?? There are many emotions as we look ahead. Maybe excitement? Apprehension? Determination? At a point of making decisions? Whatever you are thinking and feeling on this last day of 2011, God has you in His sights. He is focused on your life and His plan is good and for your good. We do not depend on luck or a vague sense of “karma” that our lives will somehow work out. In Him, we move and have our being. Happy 2012! May this year be full of evidence that God is in control and all things are possible through Him.

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28