100% !?

Just recently I was hard at work, browsing through FaceBook and I came across a status post from an old student of mine.  I read what she posted and I was awe struck.  Seriously, I could not believe she actually posted what she did. She said something that was out of the character of most teenagers.  I’m not saying she surprised me, but her choice of words put me in a speechless state.

What she posted got my wheels turning.  I began to think about what she said and how most Christians would disagree with her, not with their words but through their actions.  I even at times would probably act like what she stated was not fully correct.  Even as a pastor, I’m not perfect and do some stupid things. When life gets rough, a lot of us “believers” complain about God not answering our prayers.  We don’t understand why we as the “chosen children” experience the difficulties of life.  We often blame God and His will. 

But what my student posted put it all into perspective for me and I hope as you read this, it will also bless you.  After I read the post I began to notice that it’s not God’s fault nor should I blame Him when things go “not as planned”. You see some “believers” have Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” tattooed on their minds.  So when the going gets tough, we blame God. But if we continue reading the passage we would see the condition of this statement.

Hopefully by now you are sitting on the edge of your computer chair wondering what she posted that might challenge some "believers". This is what my student posted, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”(Jeremiah 29:13). You see, there is a condition that we must meet, but some of us don't.  When things get tough, before we blame God, let us examine ourselves.  I will be the first to say, that at times I generally think of myself before I think of honoring God.  I’m just being real.  Remember in our relationship with God, we are the imperfect ones.  We are the ones that make mistakes that cause consequences.  So if we are honest with ourselves, why do we blame God? You get me?

My student was right, she was dead on, and of course she was, she quoted the inerrant word of God.  Let us remember that God desires us to seek Him with all our heart.  Why, because He is passionately in love with us. Next time life doesn’t go as we planned, examine your heart and all its nooks and crannies, and then seek God with all you have. 

Stop wherever you are and go back to when you first trusted in Him fully and once you’re there, hold to Him firmly (Revelations 3).

Being Real....

     I have been debating whether or not I should blog.  You see, Phil Brown is a thinker.  I spend more time thinking about issues than I do attacking them. So being the self proclaimed great thinker that I am, I thought I'd start putting my thoughts to pen, well sorta.  I began to think of a catchy title, but for some reason "Deep Thoughts by Phil Brown" revived memories of SNL and just didn't seem to fit. So as I thought even more intensely on the blogging idea, I was approached to lead our weekly devotional for the staff of Krush Student Ministry and at that very second it became very clear. I thought "Just be you Phil, be REAL" and there we go, a new era in blogging begins with "Phil Being Real".

    I have come across many blogs, many websites, many FaceBook posts from professed Christians, and each post seem to be a bit over kill, exaggerated or over baring.  Here me out, I'm

not meaning to cast judgment, I'm merely trying to read the post as an "unbeliever" would as they accidently come across them.  I'm exhausted from trying to justify or reason with the author’s words or explanations of their beliefs or strong forceful thoughts.  As I struggle to look at these "Christian" postings, I begin to think.  My thoughts lead to one question, “When did Christianity become so far complex?” which spurs me to another question “Why do we as Christians feel that we need to portray a certain look?”

    Seriously, who began to teach Christians the art of covering ourselves? As I grew up in a Pastors family, we lived as two different families, one family being Bro. Brown’s family and the other being the average Brown family.  Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like each Sunday and Wednesday we spent our days worshiping God and then the rest of the week sacrificing small goats to the gods of wind, earth, and fire (you know what I mean). Our lives were different because we felt as if we needed to play the “happy go lucky” Christian family that never experienced life’s struggles.  I was indirectly taught that we always need to be seen as the perfect Christian family.

    In our lives as Christians, many issues are overlooked and not addressed because we haven’t been taught to talk openly about our struggles.  I am tired of hiding things and covering up, to play a role in “Christianity”.

     3 years ago, my wife and I hit a brick wall. Our lives were turned upside down.  At this point, we could either face life with complete honesty or we could cover up and smile.  We chose to be “REAL”,  Real with God, Real with each other, Real with ourselves, Real with our family, Real with our friends, and most importantly Real with the world.  Do you want to know what happened when we made this choice? God became more real and apparent than He has ever in my life.  Just as God’s word says, God became real to me once I became real with Him and others. (2 Samuel 22)

    So with all that being said, I invite you to follow “Phil Being Real”