Happy Easter! Check out the message I preached Easter Sunday called "The Resurrection Kind Of Life" https://stream.streamingchurch.tv/stream.php?churchid=church9559&notes_id=62796

Here is the message from 3-29-20..."HOW GOD HELPS YOU WHEN LIFE HURTS YOU"


https://www.facebook.com/NewDayChurchBrandon/videos/1456096847903896/UzpfSTExOTIxMjE5NDI6MTAyMjI0MTgyMjU3NDMwOTY/

Check out my Sunday morning message today (3-22-20) on "The Mysterious Ways Of God"



https://stream.streamingchurch.tv/stream.php?churchid=church9559&notes_id=62249

GOOD FRIDAY.......IS GOOD!

Today is the day we remember the Crucifixion of Jesus, Good Friday. That most ominous and foreboding day when our Savior was brutally beaten and hung on a wooden cross, murdered, like a common criminal. It was the "darkest" day in human history.

Question. Have you ever had a "dark" day? Are you experiencing some "darkness" even now? Times when life is just not so great? Times when things are headed south in a hurry, and and it seems all is lost? At some point, unfortunately, we all have been there (or ARE there now).

And when those times come, we have at least a couple of choices. We can run and hide, or we can face the trial, and trust the “God in us” to work walk us through it. And of course, option two is not always so easy. In fact, it it usually most difficult. That's why most of us often choose the "run and hide" option. Because when that dark moment of discouragement comes knocking, it is SO EASY to just turn off the lights and pull the covers over our head and ignore anything that goes “bump in the night”…right?

That's why often times we preoccupy with our TV, Cell phone, computer, whatever…mentally and emotionally ignoring the creeping darkness, so we wont have to confront. But think about this. What if in those times of avoidance, we are missing what God may have for us…yes, EVEN in our Darkest Discouragement? And, what if we decided to encounter and even explore more intensely that frightening darkness and the Holy One who is with us, even IN that frightening darkness?

You see, if we could have written the Biblical script for Good Friday, no doubt we would have omitted the betrayal and trial and beatings and jeers and mockery and the cross and the torturous death. We would have omitted the Discouragement and Darkness...and gone right to Easter! Because no one likes the pain...the Darkness!

So heres the deal…we have always been told there there is a “silver lining in every cloud”…and I want you to know IT IS TRUE! "ALL things DO work together for good..."

So, here is Jesus hanging on a wooden cross, stretched out to die this agonizing death in the blistering sun. And do you remember what happened? This is great. At the hottest part of that daytime the Bible states that …“darkness fell over whole region!”

Now, at first glance that sounds like something bad...haunting...I mean, its "Darkness" after all! But wait. Because maybe, just maybe, that darkness (at least for Jesus' sake) was not meant to be a bad thing. What if that darkness was more like a cup of cold water to a thirsty soul? What if God used EVEN that "darkness" as a blessed respite from the heat in the midst of Jesus' suffering? Because when it happened the Bible also states that Jesus turned His gaze to God and shouted…“Father, I entrust My spirit into Your hands!”

Now maybe that sounds hollow to you, given the circumstances, but I’m believing that what transpired was this. At that moment, Jesus was able to place His dying self into God’s hands with such a profound trust because...LISTEN... because He had learned to walk in the dark! He knew in the core of his being, that even in death, God goes with him all the way. A BEAUTIFUL truth...learned in the midst of....Darkness.

I pray you have a blessed Good Friday and Easter. And I pray that whatever "Darkness" you may be walking through right now, that you will sense the presence of our gracious God. The one who is with YOU all the way, as He was with His Son. The one who calls you His Beloved as Jesus was His Beloved. The one who promises to "never leave you nor forsake you." The one who promises to "meet your need" and even grant "the desires of your heart."....Blessings....

I AM MORPHING!

I no longer believe that the story of the "fall of man" in Genesis 3 is about "sin and separation." I believe it instead, to be the story of "shame and alienation." Certainly, sin is evident and an issue, but it is not the PRIMAL issue like I have believed and subsequently taught all my Christian life.

Think. After the man and the woman ate of the forbidden tree the Scriptures describe them as being "naked and ashamed" NOT "naked and sinful." Isn't that something? Chew on that one for just a minute.

AND another thing...God never separated Himself from humankind, either during or after this incident (though Adam and Eve no doubt FELT as if He had.) Rather God came to them IN their failure and graciously covered their shame. And even when they left the garden, God was STILL with them and STILL their God.

Jesus (God) was so "right on" when He proclaimed "I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you." And "never" means what?....NEVER! Whether I am in the midst of the worst rebellion possible, or the best days of intimacy that I have ever experienced with Him...either way HE is there, forgiving my sin and covering my shame.

In fact, that is what the cross was all about. It was God's glorious display of Grace whereby He proved, once and for all, that each of us are His Beloved...whole, complete, forgiven and without shame!

REFLECTIONS ON A LEGACY

Two men have impacted and influenced my life like no other. The first was my Grandfather, the second was his son (my Uncle) Milton McClay. I always called him "Uncle Bud" and to this day he has been the most loving, grace giving, encouraging and completely giving man I have ever known. 

When my mother and dad divorced I was barely 3 years old, and Uncle Bud and my Grandfather dramatically stepped up and into my life, bringing stability and nurture in a way that would basically set the course for the entirety of my life. 

Because of those men, I learned to love people regardless of their color, or how much money they had or where they lived. Through those men I learned to hug and kiss and say "I love you." By the way they lived their lives I learned about God, and how to care for others, and how to just love life! 

My Uncle Bud took me to his baseball games (even getting me my own team uniform and baseball glove). He built homemade kites with torn up old t-shirts for tails, and we would fly them on Saturday mornings. At night he and my grandfather would sit with me on the porch as we listened to the doves cooing and calling from the elm trees. He said they were telling each other goodnight... "Good night momma dove. Good night daddy dove. Good night Mikey dove." I so treasured those moments. 

Several years ago I found some letters in my mother's things after she passed away. A few of them were from my Uncle Bud when he was away in the Army. In his writings he always asked about his family (including me), and he always expressed his "I love you's" over and over. He often spoke of his church, and his faith, thanking God for taking such good care of him and for giving him such a beautiful family. He truly was...the real deal!

I could go on and on I suppose, but the reason for this writing is to simply just remind us of the importance of the "little things" in building our legacy. The times we have with family and friends...the opportunities we have to express grace and unconditional love...the blessings that we enjoy, and that we then give away to others...all of it is SO significant! AND....all of it is so brief. Doesn't it pass by so quickly? 

So take advantage of every moment, will you? Don't dismiss those "small things." Leave a legacy that your family and friends will (with much thankfulness and joy) talk about and relive over and over again, long after you leave this planet. My Uncle Bud did that...and I will be forever grateful that he did!

A MOTHER'S PERSPECTIVE

One of our Mom's at New Day Church, Katie Brown, sent me the following letter. It is a WONDERFUL Mother's Day story about the influence that Mother's have on their kids. Get ready to be blessed!! (By the way, Katie's mother's name is Sharron Cosby)


I wanted so badly to speak up yesterday (at church) and say something about the impact my mother has had on my life, how she has shaped and loved and guided me but I couldn't, so I wanted to share it now... because I dont want it to go unsaid.

Second, I was overcome with emotion this Mothers Day, I was worn down and felt beat up by my own children... on MOTHERS DAY! I told Mark that I kept waiting for one of them to tell me it was all a big joke... but that never happened. I came into church so upset, so angry and disappointed in their behavior, so mad at myself for reacting to all of it. All I knew for the first half hour of church on Mother's Day was that being a Mom is hard, very hard sometimes, but seriously, this was MOTHERS DAY, couldn't my kids be perfect for just this one day? I was doing good at holding back my tears until my mom walked in, she always knows when my heart isnt right and she knew from passing Mark on the way back out to the car with Mason and Kody's downcast look that this wasn't a Hallmark card day. When my mom hugged me and gave the "ive been there" smile and a comforting chuckle and said "it will be okay, it isnt always easy"... the tears came rushing out. I looked at my mother, complete with her crown of grace and dignity, her upright character and her sweet delicate hands that have folded in prayer for me more times than I could ever imagine and thought... she survived me, and she did it with undying, unshakable love, a love deeply rooted in the grace that only the Lord can provide, she forgives us swiftly and without question, she continues to provide and care for us, she covers us with prayer daily and I believe her prayer has literally saved my life many times.

One of the most important things I believe she did was example for us, she believes in the Proverbs 31 woman and she has lived her life in such a way that we are prepared and when faced with the difficult moments of motherhood I can use her life as a guide... "what would mom do?" She has walked with God my whole life and she has shown me in real, tangible ways how to be a Godly mother. She has laid the ground for me to grow into a mother that my children will adore, respect and cherish... like the new mother who looks at her child like a jewel, their most valued treasure that is how I see my mother... precious and rare, valued and cherished.

By the way, before you dismissed the kids you said "Mothers Day" and Mason looks up at me and says "hey, IT'S MOTHERS DAY" and gave me the biggest, cheesiest smile you could imagine, then looked at Caleb and said "Caleb, its Mother's Day"... maybe he just didn't get the memo the night before? A learning moment... my anger melted, my heart softened, I looked at my dad and we started laughing, all the unruly behavior of the morning didn't matter... Kody came and sat by me and I held my kids and as the last song played, I prayed over them, I wept into their hair, I kissed their sweet cheeks, I whispered my love to both of them; I exampled.