Hey everyone. Its been awhile since I posted a blog on here. It seems lately that I am even busier than ever, but I am not getting any more work done than usual. In fact I might be "Behind" a little bit.

  It might be easy to blame this on the new arrival in our family, school work that I have to do, and even the recent activity within our church. However what it comes down to is that I have failed to prioritize certain things in my schedule. I am getting a lot done, however that "A Lot" isn't always the best things to be doing.

  How many of you are running constantly all day? Then when you get a free moment, it’s like you just crash or even worse... YOU START SOMETHING ELSE YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO DO.

  So many people think because they are busy, that means they are productive. That is furthest thing from the truth. I can run all day long and accomplish nothing that really matters. That is the simple message I want to share with you. Don't run yourself ragged all day and then go to sleep thinking, "I should have prayed more" or "I didn't read my Bible". You have to make time for God. Never give him the leftovers of your life. So look at the soccer practices, baseball games and websites you have went to over the last year and then add in all the "I HAVE TO DO THIS" things that you really didn't "HAVE" to do. Compare them with the times you sat down with God and just rested in his arms.

  There is a reason God rested on the Sabbath, and there is a reason he asked us to rest. It’s because he knows how dangerous getting worn out and stressed out can be.

  This week, set aside 10 min to pray and 10 min to read your bible. If you can do that every day I bet that 10 min will be the best part of your day and it might even turn into 15 or 20 min as you make it the MAIN EVENT of your day.

Hello all,

  It’s been a while since I have updated my blog and I apologize for that. My wife and I have welcomed into our family a brand new baby boy. His name is Max Hunter and so far, he is blessing to us. Granted there have been some sleepless nights and more than a few smelly diapers. However it has been worth all of the trouble and effort. He is growing every day and to be a part of that growth is amazing to say the least. I can't describe what it feels like and how much it has changed our life.

  What I can do is relate that to my walk with God. So many times I have wondered why my walk was weaker than I remembered or why I didn't feel as close to God. Then I realized I had not been actively seeking him out. My effort level had dropped due to a busy work schedule, personal commitments or just a lack of interest.

  My whole life has revolved around Max these past few weeks. It has done so because I have made him the priority. I have turned down invitations to go out to eat or to a show, I have gone without sleep, had my own meals interrupted so I could do something for him. Imagine if we lived like that for Christ. If everything we did, went through a filter of... HOW WILL THIS AFFECT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS?

  If we live our lives asking that question on a regular basis, we can only grow stronger and closer to our savior. So find some time and commit to praying, reading and asking yourself... what can I do to grow my relationship with Jesus?

  This blog entry will be a bit different as I am not going to share a story or write out some thoughts. I want to let you guys in on my planning process for the next few months.

  My first Goal is to no go crazy as I learn how to take care of a new human life. That will be a big one and I ask for your prayers so that I can be a good Dad and good husband to a recovering new mom.

  Once the new year hits I always like to start out the year with a sermon on new beginnings and fresh starts as this is the one time of year we tend to cut ourselves a break and allow our short comings to fall away and try to lose a few pounds, break some bad habits or shake whatever attitude has been dragging us down.

  Once we hit the new year and we get back in the swing of things as far as school and work go. I am going to start a series of sermons on "The Foundation of our Faith". I am going to try to use the bible to show why we believe what we believe and what the early church did to live out their faith. This is where you come in to play. I want you to leave me a comment or email me at zbrowning@reidlandchristianchurch.org with suggestions for topics. As always I will hit the core values of the Christian church such as the Sonship of Jesus, Authority of Scripture and Importance of prayer, baptism, communion and other practices of our faith. I want you to suggest some things you would like to hear about and if you have any questions about why we do certain things or why particular "Sacraments" are important to us, shoot me an email I will try to work those questions and suggestions into my sermon series.

  Please pray for our church to be blessed this CHRISTmas season and I pray you will be blessed by coming to join us in worship of Jesus Christ.

  As I have had several life changes in the past 3 years or so, I have began to appreciate the little things so much more. I used to be focused on traveling, presents and who I would see or what I would do during the holidays. Now as my wife and I wait for our son to be bron this year, I find myself not caring about any presents at all, doing any traveling, nor what will be the hot activities this holiday. I am happy to do one thing, just be home!

  The more I look back on the great Christmas experiences I had when I was young and the times I have enjoyed the most over the years, I see that it was never about the presents or anything physical. It was about the PRESENCE. Who was with me, what we shared-not physical things but conversations, hugs and laughs. As my little guy comes into this world it will be a great christmas to just sit around and be with everyone. I don't need trinkets, gagets or high tech toys. All I want and need is my family to be healthy, be with me and enjoy the time we have been given.

  This Christmas, why don't you stop for a moment or two and thank God for those around you and just enjoy their PRESENCE while you are ready to tear into the presents.

  This time of year is always special for me as Thanksgiving and Christmas are around the corner and with those comes my birthday. However this year its not my birthday that I am looking forward to this year. It's the birth of my son Max that is dominating my thoughts. I am excited about holding him for the first time, telling him I love him for the first time and especially watching our first football game together.

  As much as I am looking forward to my son arriving, I am also looking forward to understanding what having a son is like. I know I will never be able to fully understand what God did on the cross by giving us his son. But I think the more I know about my son and the more I love him, the more I will know just how special Jesus' death was and is. Its amazing how God is at work in all our lives and if we are looking for him he can teach us and show us things that we would never get on our own.

  As you read this weeks blog, try to think about how much God loves you and what he did when he gave his only son on the cross. I hope this deepens your faith and helps you draw closer to a loving God who would give anything to be close to you, even his own son!

  My wife has gotten the idea that we should build a fence around our backyard so the dog can run free, little max will have a nice place to play and so that we can "Enhance the price of our home". I am all about the first two. Our little dachshund love to run around and play. He also might need a place to go play at if he were get on Mom's nerves while Max was throwing a fit or worse, if Max were sleeping and Hurley was in particularly loud mood.

  I am always thinking about ideas for a sermon and it dawned on me that many times in our life we build a fence around our "Private Space" and hope no one comes in. At our prayer breakfast this past Thursday one of the participants and I started talking about a well known minister, in our tribe, who intentionally goes to a chili parlor to visit with a group of non-members and maybe non-Christians. He doesn't do this so he can boost attendance numbers; he already has about 15,000 per weekend. He does it to be like Jesus. He just goes out into his community and tries to make meaningful relationships.

  Many of us tend to stay within our own little circles, not meeting new people or caring if we are able to share our faith. It’s like we have put a fence up in our lives, we are content to look over into our neighbors’ lives. We might even be willing to yell at them about how high their grass is or what problems they have, but we wouldn't dare let them into our yard. We need to be more willing to share our life with others. Yes we will get burned or hurt sometimes, but isn't that worth the possibility of saving someone from everlasting punishment?

  I would like to ask that you tear down some fences in your life and begin to get out of your comfort zone. Maybe then you can reach lost and truly live out the last request of Jesus as he ascended to Heaven in Matt 28:19-20.

Hello all and I sorry for the lengthy delay in my blog posting. As some of you might have heard, our church was broken into and two laptops were taken. Mine was one of them so after jumping through all the insurance hoops and other fun things I have finally got a computer again. It’s amazing how lost I feel without the old one. Everyday something else pops out at me that was on the old computer. I will never get it back and thought it’s not life or death; it’s a big loss in some respects.

  I had every paper I had written for the 6 courses I had taken at Lipscomb on that computer. All three years worth of minister's reports I turn in at our monthly board meetings and 3 years worth of mileage reports as well. I had pictures of vacations Ashley and I went on as well as sonogram pics of Max. Now some of the pics were backed up so that isn't a big loss, but the other things are just gone. It’s not only the fact that they are gone, but that someone else has them. That is tough. I had saved several emails from special times here at church. The one that I will miss the most is one from an elder who sent a mass email out before a board meeting saying we had several items to discuss and he hoped it would be with a new full time minister present. That was a week before the church vote to hire me and it means a lot to know that the leadership was behind me.

  I guess it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but a little piece of me is broken for what I won't see or look at again. Now if I am that upset over temporary things, how upset should I be over sin and Godlessness in my life. We will lament and bemoan the loss of "stuff" but when we lose a right relationship with God sometimes we just think, "Awwww, I will just ask for forgiveness and it will be ok". Though that is true, are we really sorry and do we mourn the times we break the relationship with God or are we just worried we might die with sin in our life and go to the "Bad Place".

  I pray we could all take a look at what are sorry for loosing on our life. Even if we have a few gadgets or toys taken sometimes, I hope we will be most remorseful about the sinfulness and broken relationship with Jesus than we will about small "Things" that won't save us

  Well, it was a blessed week here at RCC. We had our first revival in almost 10 years and it was such a great experience. The preaching was top notch, the worship was so good and the food and fellowship were the icing on the cake.

  This was a good time for me as a preacher to see the sheep get fed and also recieve some of that spiritual food as well. It's so easy for me to get overloaded with sermon prep, service plans, visitation and the usual daily grind of ministry. I love what I do, but it is an emotionally demanding job. These mountain top experiences are just what I need to recharge my core. It was so nice to sit with my wife and just listen to a sermon and sing songs of praise. The whole thing has drawn me closer to Jesus and that in turn allows me to come back to the pulpit refreshed and ready to preach, lead and shepherd the way God desires me too.... ON FIRE FOR HIM!

  If you were unable to make it out to the revival, I encourage you to get on youtube or iTunes and find a fireball of a preacher and listen to him speak the word. Then listen to some praise and worship or just sing some hymns or a praise chorus or two and reconnect with God. So the next time you go to church its not just a "Regular Sunday" its a time where you are building on a close relationship with Jesus and bursting at the seams with joy and love in the Lord. If we all came to church on fire, then imagine what God could do with us.

  It starts in the heart and comes out in our speach, actions and life. What that "IT" will look like is up to you. Will "IT" be a fire for Jesus and desire to serve or will "IT" be hurt, hate or just a lack of drive to do anything? You decided, and when you do.... GO LIVE IT OUT!!!!!

  I have been fairly busy with planning for our upcoming revival, our homecoming service Sunday morning and all the little things that go along with ministry. As I have been working to make sure we have the best speakers, worship and refreshments I have noticed that the work before the revival is draining. Which is the exact opposite of what the revival itself is supposed to be. However this isn't too uncommon in our lives. We all do things we know will wear us out: late nights at the ball field with kids, overtime at work, sacrificing a nap for mowing the lawn or other chores around the house. But how many of us are sacrificing a nap or physical things so we can do something for the Kingdom of God?

  We are so busy with the daily grind that we neglect our relationship with God to the point we are not growing at all. I would encourage everyone to come out for our revival (Sept 28-30 starts at 6:00p) its a couple of hours each night and those hours could be the recharge you have been needing for awhile. The preaching is going to be great and the worship leaders are ready to lead us into the presence of God. I am so excited about what God is doing with this. Don't let the physical things get in the way of your spritual growth. If I had stopped planning just becuase three bands backed out or four different preachers weren't able to come then this revival wouldn't have happened. So don't let the devil get in your head and tell you that you don't have time or you are too tired. This is a chance for you to grow close to Jesus and fellowship with believers.

     SEE YOU THERE  SEPT 28-30 6:00p EACH NIGHT FOR SNACKS AND 6:30 FOR SERVICE

  Hello, I apologize for my lengthy absence from the blog. I have been running wild trying to get all the pieces together for our Homecoming and Revival that are coming up. It’s been a good experience and I have learned allot about what God is doing in our church. I am very excited to see what this is going to look like. It should be a great time for our church to recharge and catch a vision of where we go from here. We each need a time like that in our lives. To just rest, relax and recharge our physical bodies and especially our spirit. Ashley and I are taking our last week of vacation starting on Friday. We are going to Panama City, Florida. I am feeling torn about this trip. The week away from phones, school work and the day to day grind will be a huge blessing. However missing a Sunday and Wednesday of church is not something I look forward to. There is something special about the hug I get from "Miss Pam" the kiss on the cheek from Ruth and all the fellowship I enjoy with everyone. From the meal on Wed night to the laughs we have in Sunday school class, its hard for me to be away for even one week.

  I think this is the way God wanted church to be. Not a burdensome chore but a blessing to recharge our spiritual batteries. Although I will enjoy a trip to "Lyn's Country Buffet" and some good crab legs while I am in Florida, it won't be the same without the little blessings I come to appreciate from my church family.

  We just finished a book called "Stop Dating the Church and Fall in Love with the Family of God" it’s a great read and stresses the importance of committing to a church. We all know that no church is perfect, no church has the perfect sermon, or the perfect set list on their worship stands. But each church has a group of Christians that love, live and serve together. The trick is not to find a church we "like" or "think is cool" but to seek out a church where we can serve with likeminded individuals and WORSHIP JESUS CHRIST.

  I pray that you are at a place like that, and if you aren't there... then maybe you should come to our service and see if this group of believers is the church you want to fall in love with and look forward to Hugging, serving and LIVING you faith out with.

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