Dump or Garden?

March 31, 2018March 30, 2018 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

CtS21ft CamH3' 35mm 0001 Mankind’s first address was inside Garden Grove Estates. God gave Adam and Eve a home there, but they wanted more. They wanted to know what God knew, even though he told them that kind of knowledge wasn’t for them. They disobeyed, and got evicted.

Do you live in a garden? I don’t live in a perfect one yet, but things are growing. And I don’t even have a green thumb either! My neighbor one day saw me trying to plant some flowers. She said, “You don’t know what you are doing!” I said, “I know, but I am having a great time.” I desire, ache to live where God intended, meaning the kind of life, but since I don’t know what I am doing I need him. I need him to design it. I need him to remove the weeds, remove the trash, move boulders, and dig trenches for the living waters to flow in my garden.

I look around, and I see very few people living in gardens. Instead, they have, like Adam and Eve, believed the lies of the devil, and have paid the consequences. They have gotten hurt, down, defeated, or have settled. Some have given up. They act like “hope” is a four letter word, so they accept life in a dump. It stinks! It’s dirty, toxic, hazardous to your health, but they accept it. More and more broken, ugly, bent, faded, rusty things of life, gets dumped on them day after day, and they take it. They call it life, and just assume, it can’t get any better.

This is not the kind of life God intended for you. It hurts him to see pile after pile of trash dumped upon you. Guess what? You don’t have to live there! You can move out of the dump, and into a garden, but you will need the help of the Gardner. The One who loves you like you can’t even imagine. Will you accept his invitation? Will you change your address? Come live in the garden God wanted you to live in. Oh, and the cost? Free, for his Son, Jesus paid it for you.

One Man’s Sin

October 7, 2017October 7, 2017 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

As we saw this past week, in a very visual way, one man’s sin, hurts another human being. It doesn’t have to be a mass killing either. It can be a lie, but when found out another is hurt for they got deceived. A cheating spouse, a wayward leader. Someone else will get hurt.

Unfortunately, as long as there is sin in this world, there will be hurt. There is sin in the world because of evil spirits that rule over this world. When Adam and Eve sinned (disobeyed God) it opened up the door for evil to come over us.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

But there is hope! For those who have accepted God’s free gift of having their sin’s forgiven, by accepting that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. There will come a day when God’s Spirit rules over a new earth, and that will cause peace, and no more pain, and no more tears.

My heart ache’s for those that were affected this week by one’s man sin, but I do not get discouraged, or want to give up, because I know, without a doubt, God’s word is true, and one day there will be peace.

It Hurts!

May 27, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

HURT You listen as they describe their current pain, despair, nightmare of a life. They go on and on without the slightest glimmer of hope on their face, or in their voice. They want relief, they want out, they want something so different then what they have. Like a blind man looking for his glasses, their searching is in vain.

You’ve heard it before, from them and from others you care so much about. Will this be the time they listen to you? Have they reached the end of their rope? Have they had enough? Maybe, maybe this will be the time they here you share the life they could have if they would only accept the free gift of Jesus Christ. How His death provides life. How His taking on the whole worlds sin and sorrow deliveres eternal joy, happiness, and peace, if we just say, “Yes” to His offer.

It hurts, when we hear them say, “Thanks, but it’s not for me.” It doesn’t make sense. It’s hard for us to understand. Irwin McManis put it like this, “People would rather live a bad life “they” purchased, than a great life that is free.”

Keep praying and trusting God for those you care about.

Allergic to God

February 5, 2017February 5, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

end-times-2 Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.

Sound familiar? Like something right out of the news? Or remind you of people you know, work with, or even in your family? The above is a description of end times from 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 1-5. (MSG) Those words were written over 2000 years ago.

GOD KNOWS WHAT WOULD, IS, AND WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.

Choose to Live

November 20, 2016November 20, 2016 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

20161119_112851 A young man hid in the bushes. When he judged the train was too close to stop in time he ran out and dove onto the tracks.

I was riding that train on my way to work this past week. I have been commuting in and out of Chicago for 23 years, but this was the first time I have actually been on the train that struck a pedestrian. They ruled it a suicide immediately.

While the investigation was proceeding I thought about this person and wondered, how bad was his life that he decided he had no more hope? What was going on? Satan won a victory that morning. John 10:10 tells us, “Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy.” Anything God has created, or made, including mankind, Satan wants to get rid of it.

Pastor Robert Morris, of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas once said, “As long as you are alive, you have hope.” If you are hurting, if the pain is more than you think you can bare, then please talk to someone. Please, I beg you. There are numerous organizations that are set up to help in all kinds of ways, but you must contact them. Depression, and mental illness is not something that shows up on the outside. Most people may not ever know, until you speak up. And if someone speaks up to you, I pray you will love and care about them enough to listen intently, and help them. Life, can be a beautiful thing. Choose it.

They Walk Among Us

September 25, 2016September 25, 2016 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Jessica, while at a red light, feels moisture drip upon her cheeks. She can’t believe the hurt has reached her eyes. Roger, holds his head in the stream of water showering upon him while he mumbles words. A prayer perhaps? He hopes the sound of the falling water conceals his pain, his desperation. Cassandra stares at the dark ceiling, instead of sleeping, longing for an answer. An answer that would change her life. Manuel walks aimlessly, at times looking up, hoping any minute now God would heal him.

Just stories lines, or glimpses of real life? Perhaps they feel real because you have been there, or you are there now. No matter where you are, or what you are going through, know this; YOU ARE NOT ALONE. You are not the only one who has ever walked the path you are on, even though it feels like it. There are others, who are there now, or who have found the exit.

Where are these people? Who are they? Include in your prayers to God to lead you to them. They might be in your church, or they might be your neighbor, or across the aisle at work, but the truth is they walk among us. They can help you. They can listen to you. They can pray for you, or with you. But in order for that to happen they have to know. They have to know what you are going through. Take a chance on being honest when someone ask you how you are. And if you are one who hears a story of real life going on dare to listen int 051312_01-3jb ently. Believe with them for God to deliver them, answer them, or heal them. Life is hard, but it is even harder by yourself.

If you struggle finding someone, or trusting someone enough to open up with the truth, you are still not alone. There is no where you can go to escape the eye of God, or His love. Have faith, have hope for your exit may be within the next mile.

The Closet Door

August 27, 2016 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Closet Like most kids, I was afraid of the dark. I would turn off my bedroom light and run and jump in bed from about three feet away so the monsters under it couldn’t grab my ankles and pull me under. I was especially afraid of the darkness that dwelled inside my closet. Embarrassed to admit it, but I was 40 years old before I could leave the closet door open on purpose at bedtime. Too many horror movies I guess.

There is another closet where darkness hangs I am still afraid. It is the one in my heart. I fear the part of me that does come out occasionally that can lead to monstrous results. I desire someday I can leave its door open, on purpose, and not be afraid. The only way that will ever happen is if I allow God to go there and clean out the closet, remove the darkness.

Darkness cannot remain when there is light, and God is: Light.

1Jo 1:5 This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him. (MSG)

That God is light – Light, in the Scriptures, is the emblem of purity, truth, knowledge, prosperity, and happiness – as darkness is of the opposite. John here says that “God is light” – not the light, or a light, but light itself; that is, he is himself all light, and is the source and fountain of light in all worlds. He is perfectly pure, without any admixture of sin. He has all knowledge, with no admixture of ignorance on any subject. He is infinitely happy, with nothing to make him miserable. He is infinitely true, never stating or countenancing error; he is blessed in all his ways, never knowing the darkness of disappointment and adversity. (Barnes Notes – Bible Commentary)