From Where Have you Come?

Ezekiel 16:22, “In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.” Don’t forget from where you came and more importantly don’t forget who got you to where you are.

One of the easiest things to do when you experience either success or failure is to forget from where you came. Part of this is because we have short memories. Part of this is because we do not think clearly in times of pain or joy. In Ezekiel God used a visual of his chosen people when he found them. He described their condition as being one of an infant lying naked in a field surrounded by their own blood. Not a pretty picture, but God described their condition as such and he said, “I took you from there and made you a great nation.” In their many successes and failures they forgot their beginning.

Why would God want them to remember their meager beginning? It was not because he wanted them to relive pain and suffering, rather it is because he wanted them to remember who brought them from the depths to the heights. There is a popular and familiar saying, “Whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” That is not true. Whatever makes you look to God is what makes you stronger. One of the problems of joy and pain is we forget who has been with us and we put all of the focus on ourselves.

The truth is no one succeeded or failed on their own. The truth is no one has ever accomplished anything without God allowing it to happen. The Bible makes this clear in many passages: Ecclesiastes 3:11, 14 “He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end…I know that everything God does will endure forever’ nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does is so that men will revere him.” Paul said, “…everything comes from God.” (1 Cor. 11:12) and James said, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (1:17).

Certainly no one remembered from where he came like Jesus. Paul explains this beautifully for us in Phil. 2:5-8. Jesus humbled himself from the highest of highs to lowest of lows in order to be obedient to God. Jesus remembered from where he came when he said the very food that sustained him was to do what God asked him to do. John 4:34, “’My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.’”

So the next time something good or bad happens to you remember from where you came and remember for those of you in Christ Jesus who will always be with you.

September Surrey Hills news

School Daze!

Well school has finally returned and our students are getting back in the swing of school work and activities. At the Youth Evangelism Conference last month our students were challenged to take Jesus to their campus. Now is the time the challenge becomes reality. Pray for our students as they face the challenge of being salt and light to their friends in a dark world.

Stay tuned for details about Leadership Rocks next month October 14-15. This is a two day conference put on by Student Leadership University that will be, “a world-class, high-energy Experience that challenges your students to reach beyond today and grab hold of their God-centered futures.”

God has blessed Surrey Hills Baptist Church with a group of wonderful students that are leading the church in many ways!


Ministering with you,
Doug Brown 405-317-8076 rev.dougbrown@gmail.com P.S. follow me on Twitter, pastordougbrown, or Facebook it’s fun!

Do churches have it backwards?

I wasn't planning on writing today, but I ran across a verse from one of Paul’s letters that just hit me in the face.

“…while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.” 1 Corinthians 8:1

Paul is writing to a church that some believe had slogans for the way they should live their lives. He said they had the head knowledge of what to do, but they didn’t have the love associated with being a child of God. He goes on to say in verse 3, “But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.”

My limited observation of the local church today would lead me to believe that we have gotten love and knowledge mixed up. Churches today are filled with wonderful teachers and classes that know the difference between a Sadducee and a Pharisee, but when was the last time that class left the building and showed God’s love in their neighborhood? Ouch, that hurts me too.

Why are we closing the doors on more churches than we are opening on new churches? Why is the Southern Baptist Convention not growing, but reached a plateau for the last two years? Why are churches weak today? I believe one of the reasons is we have abandoned hair on fire love for people for knowledge of the Bible.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe the answer for our world today is the truth and proclamation of God’s word. I of all people love to understand and teach God’s word, but have we escaped into the church with an excuse to learn more and abandoned the people God has called us to love?

One of the great things from our student led echo groups formed during Falls Creek is that they have actually gotten out meeting people’s needs. They have shown love. A couple of groups have spent time at a senior adult care center.

Let’s reverse this trend of knowledge over love. Let’s be a people that the world would say, “They really know how to love people and take care of those in their neighborhood.” Let’s let love strengthen the church!

August News for Surrey Hills Baptist

And just like that summer is over, well not quite yet. August 19th and 20th most of our students will return to school. We have a lot planned in the month of August so don’t blink or you might miss something.

The most important thing we will do in August with our student ministry is welcome the new 6th graders. We have many things planned to help transition them to the “big time”.

First, on August 2nd and 9th the new 6th graders will be invited to a brunch at 11:00am. Tim Perdue and our student leadership team will teach a series on preparing for middle school.

Secondly, on August 22nd we will have an awesome Back to School Bash with inflatables, our youth band playing and great food. This will be open to all youth and we really want this to be an opportunity to invite friends who may not otherwise go to church. At the bash we will invite them to come back the next day to Sunday School.

Then on August 23rd we will have promotion Sunday. This will be the day that students move up to their new classes. New 6th graders will promote to their new Sunday School class in the youth room. We will also be adding 2 new youth classes that day as well.

For our current students we will be attending the Youth Evangelism Conference in Norman August 7th and 8th. The cost will be $20 and well worth it as Skillet and Blue Tree will be performing concerts along with great training from Chad Norris.

A busy, but great August ahead! An opportunity to invite new friends to some fun events at church. A chance to welcome the new 6th graders to the student ministry. A time to start school with a goal of sharing the love of Jesus with your friends.

Ministering with you,

Doug Brown
405-317-8076
rev.dougbrown@gmail.com
P.S. follow me on Twitter, pastordougbrown, or Facebook it’s fun!

Wow, time flies when you are having fun. I just looked up and it has been more than a month since my last post. It has been a busy and great month though.

Last week we had an incredible week at Falls Creek (church camp for our students at Surrey Hills Baptist). God blessed the entire week and many of our students really connected with God.

We had several students make recommitments to Christ, meaning they knew they had wandered away from God and they wanted to make a public commitment to return to him. If you are a person of prayer please pray that they will stick with their commitment to follow Christ. We also had 2 or 3 students that are beginning to seek God’s call on their life to missions, either short term or long term. And then we had one young lady who prayed to receive Jesus Christ as her boss and forgiver on Wednesday night. When she shared her decision with our group they erupted in great applause and joy for her.

Placing faith in Jesus is the most important decision that anyone can make. Alexis has begun a journey with God that will literally change her life and destiny. Again if you are a person of prayer lift up Alexis as she begins this journey.

The theme for Falls Creek this year was Echo. The verse for the camp was Psalm 145:4, “One generation will commend your works to another, they will tell of your mighty acts.” The challenge all week was to take the experience and the message of Falls Creek home and pass it on to others. What a great challenge that is for all of us. Pass it on!

To help the students take camp home they were encouraged to form Echo groups that will be student led. Echo groups will meet as the students can, to encourage and challenge each other to live the Christian life at home, school, and with friends. Another strong aspect of Echo groups will be serving others outside of the church.

I really want to brag on the Echo groups from Surrey Hills. They have already been meeting and growing and planning their service projects. They have made contacts with orphanages, nursing homes, and hospitals seeking places to go and spread the love of Jesus. One group is planning to mow lawns for those who need it free of charge. When we begin to serve God’s love will spread and God’s love is infectious.

I want to thank the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma leadership in general and James Lankford specifically for making Falls Creek a great camp for students. Falls Creek has gone through some amazing changes in the last 10 years and it is a result of leadership catching a vision of making it a place God would be honored and students would be connected with God through Jesus. Way to go BGCO! Way to go Falls Creek! Way to go Surrey Hills Echo groups! Way to go God!

Politically correct police have won.

Carrie Prejean stripped of the Miss California crown. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,525716,00.html

If you haven't followed this story it is one worth catching up on. Miss California was in the top three in the recent Miss USA pageant when in the interview part of the pageant she was asked her opinion of same-sex marriage. She had the strength of character to state what she believes. She said, "...a marriage should be between a man and a woman."

Since that statement Miss Prejean was treated as if she was the second coming of Adolf Hitler. Her name and character has been drug through the mud. She has been ridiculed and called hypocritical. The way she was treated you would think she had called for the death of all living polar bear cubs in the world.

And finally yesterday the news, literally news, came out that she had been stripped of her current title. Miss Prejean heard about the move in the news a sign of true disrespect. The “official” reason for her being ousted as Miss California was, “contract violations”. We could believe that if she had not been treated the way she was after her stance on same-sex marriage. Anyone with half a brain knows why she was stripped of her title.

The point of this story that I want to focus on is this: she was punished for her beliefs. In a day in which we are told there is no objective truth. We are told there is no right and wrong. It amazes me that in this setting someone can be punished for their beliefs. The true hypocrites in this story are those who mistreated Miss Prejean for her stance.

I also want to unequivocally state my position on the same-sex marriage issue. I believe marriage should be defined as one man and one woman united for life. This stance is not my own and of course it is not unique to me. This comes from the standard that has been set for my life: the Bible!

I also want to state that I love all people, just as Jesus did and just as the Bible calls me to do. I love homosexuals and I understand the struggle with sin, but that does not give us the right to change the standard just because we struggle.

So the next time you see someone punished for their beliefs stand up for the rights we still enjoy in this country to state our beliefs. “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech…”, Amendment I to the Constitution of the United States. And love them no matter what side of the issue you may be on.

Summer is here!

Summer is here! This seems to be the greatest news for students every year. Why? Summer brings freedom and fun. We have two rules in our student ministry: #1 have fun, #2 be respectful. I want to challenge and encourage our students to have a lot of fun this summer. Enjoy your swimming, cook outs, vacations, family time, and friend time.

I also want to challenge our students to seek God this summer. Don’t let the summer pass you by without taking the opportunity to see what God would be leading you to do this summer and upcoming school year. “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13. Seek God this summer!

To the wonderful supporters of our student ministry please be aware that we will need some funding support this summer. We are going to ask everyone to pay what they can to attend Falls Creek, but we are not going to turn anyone away because of money. If you can support our students financially please let me know. And as always please keep our student ministry in prayers!

We are also in need of sponsors, drivers and cooks to help with Falls Creek this summer. We are going July 13-18 this year. If you can not help the entire week that is fine, just let me know what you can do. Please let me know soon so we can begin serious planning.


Ministering with you,


Doug Brown
P.S. follow me on twitter, pastordougbrown, it’s fun!

Drop the baggage and Become a Follower of Jesus!

In Paul's second letter to Timothy Paul gave a strong charge to a young pastor, Timothy.

"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." 2 Timothy 2:22-26 NIV

Paul's challenge is clear, we must give people the hope that comes from the truth of Jesus Christ. "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" John 14:6 NIV This is the truth and the hope of the good news of knowing Jesus.

But, Paul also laid out a pattern that we must follow if we want to get to the point with people that we give them hope. In the United States we like the quickest way. We want the short cut. We want the value meal and we want it now. But there is a process to living the Christian life.

First Paul said we need to leave the bad behind. We need to leave evil desires. We need to leave foolish and stupid arguments.

Leaving the bad stuff is not enough. We must then chase after the good stuff. We must chase righteousness. We must chase faith. We must chase love. We must chase peace.

When we have reached this point we are in a position to gently teach hope. Peter spoke to this process as well when he said: "...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." 1 Peter 3:15 NIV If we are not prepared we can't give hope.

So, what do you need to leave behind, what can you do to pursue Jesus? If you are preparing yourself and if you are following the process God will bring people in your life that you can share hope with!

Is the American church worth its salt?

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men.” Matt. 5:13 HCSB

There was a time in the Roman Empire that soldiers were paid in salt. Salt was a precious commodity and salt was valuable enough to pay soldiers. This is the time when the phrase, “not worth his salt”, came into use. Salt was also used to help preserve meats as the salt stopped the spread of bacteria. And obviously salt is used to add flavor and taste to foods even to this day.

It was in this setting and timeframe that Jesus preached his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. Very early on in that message to those gathered to hear his words Jesus said that his followers are the salt of the earth.

I wonder if the churches in the United States have lost their saltiness. Anywhere from 3,500 to 4,000 churches close operation every year. The decline of the effectiveness of churches is obvious all around us. It seems to me as I look around the people of churches today it is more important to fit in and be like the world than it is to be different and to be salty.

What does it mean to be salty in our world today? I believe we need to be about 3 things:

1. Be worth our value. Jesus thought we were valuable enough to come and die for us. That act alone proves the value that we should display and live in the world. Add value to everything you come in contact with.
2. Stop the spread of corruption. When evil comes our way we should make sure it stops with us and is not spread by us. Make sure that you are different and those around you know it.
3. Add flavor to the world around us. The apostle Paul said, “Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.” Colossians 4:6 The church and churchgoers should add flavor and delight to those we come in contact with. This is a delicate balance we need to live as we stop corruption but also add flavor.