How far do we tolerate error?

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: It has been said that most managers turn a mere problem into a crises by “over” or “under” reacting. Once Calvin and the “band of theological brothers” successfully convinced the city leaders to embrace their understanding of what a “Godly city” would look like, they had to deal with the issue of enforcement. How do you change the hearts and minds of a group of citizens? How do you get people to behave? Calvin embraced the primary role of education. He believed in the call of teaching both boys and girls (something revolutionary at the time) in public schools with Christian values. He also called for the funding of the arts and the beautification of the city for the “blessing of the people.” He was zealous in preaching the right of the people to choose for themselves their own leadership. (Again, a very radical thing in the 16th century.) Thrift, hard work, and a concern for the poor were as much a part of Geneva’s politicians as its citizens.

But I think he certainly over reacted when he had a traveling “heretic from Spain” executed for teaching against the established order and stirring up the people. Though he and the city council were trying to “protect” the peace, and Calvin thought he was being “grace filled” when he had Severetus beheaded rather than the customary “burning at the stake” it hardly modeled theological tolerance. We must always strive for the truth and justice. But we must also want the person caught in darkness to find the light much more than wanting their demise. It certainly is true with our own personal opponents as well a society’s. How often I want my “pain causing people” to pay more than changing. I still have far to go in this journey of spiritual growth.

The Right Idea but the Wrong Timing

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: In honor of John Calvin’s five hundredth birthday, we’re looking at the “Father of Presbyterianism” and his experience with trying to make Geneva Switzerland the “Greatest City for Christ” in the 1500s.

Having been born the second of four brothers, Calvin lost one of his siblings in youth. His beautiful mother sadly also died when he was young. His father, who was an attorney for the church, sent his brilliant son off to Paris to become a priest and an attorney. Along the way he ran into the new teachings of this “Reformation” (they did not want to leave the Catholic church but to “reform” it) and the “Protestants” (they were protesting some of the teachings of the Church and the Pope) when he came to Geneva in 1536. This was a time of civil war and upheaval. Calvin and friends tried to institute (no pun) strict and radical laws on the city. They were hoping to “protect” people from heresy and immoral living. Sort of changing a major city into one happy “family camp.” How did the city respond? They were driven out for their lives and fled to Strasbourg, France. Did they try to change things too fast? How fast should we pray God changes the social systems and culture of Los Angeles? It takes wisdom.

Anyway, while he was in Strasbourg he met his wife and new friends who would help him refine his understanding of what following Christ in his time meant. Sadly his wife and son died in the nine years they were married. The man had much sorrow in his life, yet his writings drip with the goodness of God and life. Ironically, the leadership of Geneva sent for him to come and help transform the city they drove him out of earlier. Sometimes when God has us in our own “wilderness,” it’s there we meet life long friends and even loves. Sometimes we had the right idea but the wrong timing. Strasbourg was one of those chapters for John Calvin.

Predestined to Change Los Angeles?

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love Christ. For those whom God foreknew He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…” Romans 8:28 What’s with this whole “predestination” thing John Calvin and Presbyterians are infamous for? Is it like the old Scotsman who fell and broke his leg and said, “I”m glad that’s over”? Are all things predetermined and we’re just living out what cannot be changed? Or is everything dependent upon us and our choices? Calvin would have said “the wrong question always gets the wrong answer.” As Calvin came to Geneva, Switzerland and tried to change the city into a place where Christ was glorified, he wrestled with the great problem of life. Why do some people respond to the Gospel and have their hearts changed and others just blow off God no matter how many times they hear? Calvin’s conclusions in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (which his first draft he completed in his mid twenties!) was that we live a mystery. Not a mystery to be solved, but a mystery to be embraced. God is both totally sovereign and we are totally free. The Creator is not dependent upon His creation to get his next cue of what to do. Because God created and holds all of time and space in His hand (something the best of the new physics agrees with five hundred years after Calvin), He is the great “cause” of this cosmos. We don’t have to do great things for God in Los Angeles. We just need to participate in what He’s already doing.

For John Calvin this meant we did not have to “talk God into” saving us. He wanted to all along. It was His idea. The comfort is found when we fall and sin, we have the same grace-filled and loving God waiting for us to return and be healed as the very first time we heard of Jesus’ love. Calvin even pointed out that we could not come to Christ if it wasn’t for His grace. So when we share today with others about Christ remember the only way we can “fail” is to not share. The rest is up to them and this loving Omnipotent God. When we fall and stumble we can get back in line for this life-changing power called God’s forgiveness and take as many “servings” as we need. Don’t worry. God knows!

Happy 500th birthday John Calvin!

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: That usually gets a big yawn – even from Presbyterians. Why is this guy’s birthday so important? Because he was instrumental in much of the change of not only the church, but of western civilization. Calvin was raised as a good Catholic boy in France. He had one of those remarkable minds that comes along every few generations. By the time he was 27, he had written the essential summary of  Protestantism called the Institutes. Calvin was exposed to the teachings of Martin Luther and was overwhelmed with the freedom in Christ Luther spoke about. If Martin Luther was the heart of the reformation, then John Calvin was its primary mind. The whole concept of a democratic church and the Priesthood of every believer was championed by Calvin. Five centuries before we at Bel Air had the vision to transform Los Angeles into the greatest city for Christ, Calvin actually did it in Geneva, Switzerland. In the coming weeks, I want to share some of the tremendous successes, and some of the failures, that Calvin had in city transformation at Geneva. We have a lot to learn from this learned and impassioned lover of Christ. Calvin knew how much God loved the city, and how great a difference a handful of churches “sold out to Christ” can make. It’s alright to party a little on his birthday – even in moderation!

Expiration Date

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: They say there is a line between faith and foolishness. The other day I had to have milk in my coffee, and just because the expiration date was a week earlier, what could go wrong? Well after enjoying my cup of coffee cottage cheese, I realized some things just have to be used. Faith is the same. Even though faith is not something we work up on our own, but is a response to what God has already done, we need to act on it. When I look at my life, it’s the times that I step out in faith that actually creates more faith. Hardly a new revelation, but one I’m always shying away from.

Why does God so like this faith thing? I think it’s because relationships have shelf lives. If friendship is made up of shared experiences, we need to keep creating fresh experiences in our relationships. It is true some friends are low maintenace and can be peacefully “out of our sight” in our daily routines and “reconnected” after months like we just talked with them. But every relationship needs to be cared for because they are living, breathing things just like the people who make them up. God is no different. Faith means that we are taking His hand and learning fresh new things with our Heavenly Father. I hope to step out this week and discover a brand new thing with God. I know I’ve learned not to push dairy expiration dates too long.

Back to the Basics

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: “You know someone’s wit by their answers. You know their wisdom by their questions.” As I’ve always said, I really do like this aging thing. (Other than looking and feeling horrible, its quite fascinating!) One of the grand joys in life is finding old prayer journals and day timers. I found one the other day from my seminary days and as an intern at Bel Air in 1978. We had just had an all-staff “brown bag” and Rev. Donn  had asked us what it meant to be God’s man or woman serving in L. A. I found I was asking how to balance going to graduate school, not married a year yet, interning at Bel Air, as well as being house “maids” in Pasadena. This all before the days of Twitter, the Internet, or even cable TV! But the question continues to ring in my heart the same. How do we slow it down enough to hear the voice of God. It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone who was “deliciously” bored. The management of my time is still the best barometer of my yieldness to the Spirit of God. This season of Pentecost I’m going back to the basics of simply letting Christ be the Lord of my time . . . and life. Keep up the strategic planning of leadership, but keeping that “ear to heaven” very attuned. Pray for me.

No Poop for You

by Rev. Keenan Barber :: My son Micah was diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s Disease on Day #2 of his life (July 22, 2008). Three things tipped the doctors off – he wasn’t holding food down, he was not pooping, and his stomach was distended. According to NIDDK Online Health Information “Normally, muscles in the intestine push stool to the anus, where stool leaves the body. Special nerve cells in the intestine, called ganglion cells, make the muscles push. A person with HD does not have these nerve cells in the last part of the large intestine” The surgery entails determining the point at which the large intestines have healthy nerve cells, cut out the bad section of bowel, and reattach the healthy tissue to the anus. All of this with a 5 day old infant.

Micah spent about 4 days in the hospital recovering from this surgery, and then came home. For a while, we still had to help him have bowel movements while the new section of bowel learned its new role – to push the poop out. If we don’t help him with this important process, the stool will back up and become infected, and he would have to take another trip to the hospital, and quite frankly, we would be happy to not see the inside of another NICU.

Why am I telling you all this right now? I think the human body is amazing. It takes in food and drink, digests what it needs to, and then gets rid of the toxic junk. Our spiritual lives are actually pretty similar. We take things in, we process them, we ingest people’s words, we have sin in our body. What some of us have forgotten is that we can’t hold all that stuff in. God wants us to expel / get rid of / jettison the bad stuff.

Easter was only a few weeks ago, and we have already forgotten the work of Redemption Christ has done for us on the Cross. I think repentance is God’s way of allowing us to expel the bad stuff. And if we don’t get rid of the toxic materials in our lives, they find a way to infiltrate our system and make us sick. Sometimes this actually manifests itself in physical ways, and others it is just a giant millstone that we carry around of guilt or regret or remorse.

Look back at Micah – what were the signs? Sign #1 – He was throwing up food – are we able to take in the good things of life and hold onto to them? Sign #2 – No poop – are we holding onto the bad stuff either consciously or unconsciously?

Jesus came to set us free from the “poop” of our lives. Sometimes we just need to take the time to sit, reflect, and repent of some of the things we have engaged in our lives, and allow God’s mercy to pour over us and “cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Do Not Be Afraid

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: “Do not be afraid.” Matthew 28:10 Another one of the first words of Christ echoes what the angels said to the women at the tomb. “Do not be afraid.” It is so comforting to know that the Lord knows our fears and comes and meets us right where we are. He doesn’t chastise us for our feelings; but rather for our thinking. Fear can come in the little things as well as the looming ominous events of life. Sometimes its just the constant “angst” of the pace of life in LA.

I find myself this particular Eastertide 2009 caught between two fabulous and stressful events. The birth of our first grandchild by my oldest daughter Vanessa in Denver, and the marriage of my youngest daughter Rachel here in Los Angeles. Both within a week! And here I sit this day in between both events. Vanessa is past her due date. . . but I know that baby will come soon. Rachel’s wedding is still a week away. . . but there’s so much to still prepare. It reminds me of this whole journey of life. I know the Lord will take care of all the”‘big things” in life, but I still try to ‘mentally control all the contigencies. The Risen Christ will return someday for all of us and the real adventure of eternity will break into our ‘casual’ little lives. Its kind of like waiting for a birth. . . or a wedding. Just do the joyful work of preparation and the Blessed event will be here before we know it.

Eastertide

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: “Woman, why are you weeping? Who is it you are looking for?” (John 20)
What were the first words we have from Christ after His resurrection? Just like the church focuses on the precious  seven “last words” (they are actually seven statements) of Christ from the cross during Lent and Holy Week, so too, the church listens to the words of Jesus after He is Risen during the season of “Eastertide.” As Mary was crying outside the garden tomb, she turned and saw the Risen Christ standing there. She thought he was the Gardener. So Jesus, I believe with a smile asked, “Why are you sad? The one you are seeking is standing right here in front of you!” It is so easy to miss the very One we are longer for and desperately seeking. The very real tears and sorrows of life blur our vision to see the Lord’s Presence in our life. The more I look back at my life, and remember the bitter tears of tough times, the more I can now see the Lord’s gentle hand and Presence taking me through the tough chapter. I really want to not go seeking after the fame, pleasure, and false security of the world’s wealth. I want like the first astonished Easter people to seek and find Christ in this crazy city we call home.

Thoughts on Easter

by Rev.Kim Dorr :: In these days of economic crisis, uncertain futures, wavering relief – in the days before Easter, I found myself meditating on Luke 9:51:

“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (NIV)

I try to imagine what this must have been like for Jesus. Having just seen THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST again, the images are fresh in my mind – the beatings, the bloodshed, the torture, the anguish—How does one set out to resolutely move toward that??

My experience of human nature is that we seek to resolutely AVOID stuff like that. We want to know how to move in the opposite direction of anything like that rolling toward us. And if it’s just coming –the train wreck we know we can’t avoid – don’t we shut our eyes, duck our heads, hold our breath and kind of wait for it to hit? How does one move toward something awful?

Perhaps the answer is in the word “resolutely” – the way in which Jesus moved toward Jerusalem. To be resolute means to have a decided purpose, to be determined and from that determination to be bold, firm and steady. Jesus knew there was a magnificent purpose to what awaited him in Jerusalem. The purpose is what provided the courage and the peace. The purpose is what provided the ability to steadfastly move toward the unthinkable, to reach beyond the pain and embrace the hidden mystery of resurrection.

In these days, no matter what your circumstances are, know that God has a purpose for everything under heaven. As you look to our Lord, and reflect on His steps toward Jerusalem, may you see Him look toward you. In His eyes may you find God’s purpose more clearly revealed.