Happy Birthday Uncle Nathanael!
Much love from the Browns!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
There's No Stopping Us...
...which is too bad because if we had been stopped then this video might not exist.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Knowing when to quit?
Popular preacher and sought-after speaker Francis Chan announced on Sunday that he will be leaving his church in Simi Valley, Calif., to go on a new adventure God is calling him to.
Chan made clear that his decision to depart wasn't prompted by immorality, discipline or disputes within the church. Rather, he has long felt a restlessness and stirring to let go of the church he founded 16 years ago to "do something different."
Pastor Michael and I saw Francis Chan speak for the first time at Catalyst [http://www.catalystconference.com] last year. He capped off the best day of speaking I have ever heard. Malcolm Gladwell, Shane Hipps, Rob Bell, Tony Dungy, Matt Chandler and others had already shared and challenged us as leaders in a variety of ways. My brain was swimming in information overload and everything in me was fighting against returning that night to hear Chan. How in the world could this guy wrap up such an amazing day of gifted speaking? How could I handle or process anything more? All I can say is wow!
Chan approached the whole affair by detailing how he ended up on stage that night to share communion with us. In his remarks he even acknowledged that, in his opinion, he didn't feel like he belonged there with those awesome guys and proceeded to share their glowing attributes. Apparently, when he got the call to appear at Catalyst he was going to decline until they asked him if he would just share communion with everyone. All of this funneled into a discussion about humility and his personal feeling of wanting to quit being a pastor some weekends. He then reminded us of Ephesians 2 and how none of us should be there in that moment but by God's grace we were together. and how none of us can fix anything but God can fix everything. He also talked about 1 Peter 5:6 and how he found great grace and comfort in humility by remembering that "The God of ALL grace will HIMSELF will confirm, restore, strengthen and establish us" We just need to learn to ENJOY GOD'S GRACE.
Chan's talk was real and slightly disorganized compared to the speakers from earlier that day. He even changed up the order and called the band back up and directed distribution of communion to the 10,000 or so that were there. But communion that night was powerful and ruined us as leaders. His talk sealed the deal on everything we heard earlier that day and I can't imagine being able to have complete perspective on what God wanted to do in me with his word if I hadn't experienced Chan's talk.
I share all of that to give context that the seeds of this decision were obviously starting to grow in October of 2009 (or most likely sooner) but I have tremendous respect for Chan as he steps out into the unknown to meet God. I love this quote in the article:
Just five years ago, Chan was struggling with whether he was willing to completely surrender himself to God. He realized he was and was willing to go anywhere for God.
That challenges me immensely. Would I dare to step out into something unknown if God called me? How would I know his call? You can read the whole article at the link below but I'd love to discuss this int eh comments section below? How do you wrestle with things like this?
Labels: challenge, discussion, hearing God, leadership, ministry
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Hello...
- - - - - - - - - + + + - - - - - - - - - -
William Brown
bbaltimorebrown@gmail.com
Pastor of Worship, Creativity & Intergalactic Superhero
Desperation Church
http://www.desperationchurch.org
[O] 816.792.8335 [M] 816.651.5511
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Friday, April 09, 2010
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Imagining with Olivia
I set Olivia's playhouse up with a mix of ponies, littlest petshop animals and dinosaurs. The scenario I gave her is that the dinosaurs own the house and the other animals are being allowed to live there but they are unsure if the dinosaurs are being kind or preparing to eat them. The comic relief is provided by Grandpa who isn't sure if this is real or a dream. The only other human is a guy named Scott that works on the security system. Olivia immediately moved " the mean" dinosaurs to a holding pen and the story has become a musical.
