Brad's Blog

Day 1 of our 21 Day Challenge

2011-10-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well i thought i had flipped back to Genesis with all the names and who's baby daddy is who. lol
I did find a few good names for the runt that's on the way, you know i think it would be cool to have my name written in a book as a "baby daddy". One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about Joseph, the one with the 'North Face' I mean the coat of many colors or the techno colored coat or what ever you wanna call it. I never thought about this but Joseph and Joseph (Jesus' earthly father), the dads had the same name, Jacob... just thought it was cool. So that makes me think, should i name the runt Knox Leon, or William Huckleberry like Brad Pitt and Brad Paisley? It's a thought, well anyways I'm supposed to be blogging about Matthew 1 & 2 so here you go. If you wanna be famous like Joseph, Mary and Jesus, you gotta do what God a.k.a. the angel of the Lord says and you and your baby will live longer. And oh yeah, don't name you kid Amminadad, it just ain't right. Well thanks for reading my blog and please don't forget to read Matthew 1&2 and also check out Bro. Tom's blog tomorrow as he blogs about chapter 3.
Don't forget to invest in this ministry, cause God is investing in you!!

Day Two of The Radical Experiment

2011-08-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

I've always enjoyed preaching and teaching stories from the Bible that would make people say; "I didn't know that was in the Bible" to which I would say; "You should read your Bible" with a smile on my face of course!! But in today's reading plan which consist of Genesis 3&4, Matthew 2:13-23, Matthew 3:1-6, Psalm 2:1-12, and Proverbs 1:7-9 I found out that Adam & Eve had a third son named Seth. Now I know what your thinking, your a preacher and you didn't know that!! And I would have to say to that yep, now I've read Genesis many times and I've read thru the entire Bible but I guess it never clicked!

One of my goals as being a pastor is being "REAL" and "Transparent" well, here ya go!

Your Friend

Brad
"He died for me, I live for Him"

The Radical Experiment

2011-08-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

August 1, 2011 My start into the Radical Experiment!!What is the Radical Experiment??
It's from the book, "Radical; Taking back your faith from the American dream"! Its a 1 year experiment consisting of 5 commitments!

1) Pray for the entire world
2) Read thru the entire Word
3) Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose
4) Spend your time in another context
5) Commit your life to a multiplying community

I started today praying and reading and planning to do this experiment with all that is within me. As is set off on my journey, I ask that you pray form me that I might not fall short of this life changing task! If you would like more information about this please let me know!!

Your Friend

Brad

"Up Lifting and Encouraging Message"

2011-07-30T22:34:00.000-07:00

   I have heard people say that, at there church there is always a " up lifting and encouraging message".
This should be part of "The Seven Last Phrases Of The Church" that Bro. Grady has on his blog. I'm not going to translate it for you cause i think you'll get what I'm saying.

   A few years ago i went to church with a guy that at the end of every service i tried to hide from him because he was gonna tell me the same thing, and frankly i was tired of hearing it. He would always FIND me and say "man, my toes are hurting" or "i felt like crawling under the pew this morning". I thought to myself, the message was good but man, you got some problems if your always feeling like that! Well folks, this guy was right where God wanted him but, what i didn't see was God trying to show me something... that I was not where i should have been.

You see, this guy had a love for Christ!! He dug into the Word like he was digging for gold, he gave all he could give, he served everywhere he could, and he was always talking about Christ. He wasn't a "Pastor", he was just a guy that realized the love that God had for him by sending His son Jesus to die for him on the Cross, so he was just simply living a life that God called him to live. He loved the messages that stepped on his toes because he knew that the message was a Word from God to help him become who God wanted him to be.

   So i was thinking about all this stuff today while i was cutting grass, you know the two extremes. One person always having "up lifting and encouraging messages" and the other always getting his toes stepped on and i asked myself which group am i in. And i came to realize that I don't need to hear a "up lifting and encouraging message"!! No its not because I'm a pastor, or because I'm "holier than thou" but because I'm not the person God wants me to be and I'm not doing all that God wants me to be doing!! And because of this, my toes should be hurting every Sunday when the preacher brings God's Word. The only time i need to hear a "up lifting and encouraging message" is when i am the person God wants me to be and I'm doing what God wants me to be doing. This "up lifting and encouraging message" will be telling me to keep on fighting the good fight, and will lift me up with wings like eagles. Until I'm the person God has called me to be, bring on the toe stomping and i'll be wearing my toe shoes!!

   Think about the messages you hear every Sunday, and think about who you are compared to who God wants you to be. Have your toes been hurting or are all the messages up lifting and encouraging??

Number 1, if your toes are not hurting either your not where you should be with God or your pastor isn't.

Number 2, if all the messages are up lifting and encouraging either your the complete and perfect person God wants you to be or your pastor is not where he should be and is just a "Good" speaker.

   I gonna guess your not where you should be with God (and sometimes both) for Number 1 and your pastor is not where he should be and is just a "Good" speaker for Number 2.
Now I'm sure there are those out there that are the complete opposite of this, so don't beat me up if that's you but i would love to meet you!

   People tend to leave church's to go to another one because of the "Up Lifting and Encouraging Messages". Clearly these people are just looking for a "Good" speaker, and they don't want their toes stepped on or hear anything God wants to say to them. I'm sure there's a "spiritual" reason if i were to ask them, but i think i would just hear excuses that make them feel better about running from God.

   You may be the person running from God (yes, that's what your doing), just stop for a second and think about all this. Why are you running? Is it because you don't wanna give up your time, or your money? You don't wanna change who "you are" as a person? Whatever your "reason" is think about the "reason" Christ died on the Cross... for you and me!! He didn't die so that we can just do whatever makes us happy or fits our life style but to save us from sin and ourselves so that we can show Christs' love to the world. How can show "His" love when "Our" ambitions just lead us to hearing a "Good" speaker instead of Gods Word.

   Sorry if this offends you, wait no I'm not... i hope your toes are hurting!! I pray that you'll realize what He has done for you!

Brad
"He died for me, I live for Him"

web site

2011-06-27T14:42:00.001-07:00

working on building a new web site for our church.