I read something this past week, and well, it bothered me.
It is becoming increasingly clear that one is being forced to stand up for the One they believe in, or for what they believe in. Moral issues are being thrown in our faces. There is open talk about what some call right, and what others call wrong. Used to, you could stay quiet and say, “What they do behind closed doors is their business.” Today, the doors are being ripped off their hinges and the whole world can now see what individuals believe.
What bothered me was some people’s response to this “In your face” attitude, and so I pondered, what would Jesus’ response to this be? You don’t have to look very long in the word of God to find the answer:
Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?” Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.” Mat. 9:10-13 (MSG)
The truth is; God gives man freewill, so who are we not to? Are we greater than God? If you see something on TV or on Facebook, you don’t agree with or like, and can’t find something “graceful” to say then just scroll on. I do that whenever I see post about dogs and cats. “Change the channel” if you will.
Is Jesus on Facebook? No, but we who claim to be His followers are.
Copyright © 2019 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
A somber event took place in front of me. The reality is this; for a man, using his own reasoning, which is limited, nothing could satisfy him. No proof would be enough. Everything God might do, or has done, to prove his own existence, some men would reason it away, and have. It’s as if they try to make God conform to their rules of existence, and that’s just not going to happen.
What do you charge for your LOVE? Is that by the ounce, gallon, hour, or some other form of measurement? Do people, or your family, feel you can’t be bothered? Your friends never ask for a favor, because they know you won’t help for whatever convenient excuse you flip to in your “excuse Rolodex”? LOVE is more than words. It is action. It does. It does whatever it takes. It does, whatever it can, for others.
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.
We are gathered here today to pay our respects to Mark Brady. In this grave, six feet below us, lies his body, his flesh. Living by his flesh caused him to hurt a lot of people. Wife, children, friends, sibling, coworkers, and even his mother and father. Being led by his flesh opened the door to enter into a sin, where the result cast him out of the will of God.
A river flows downstream. Life in a boat, doing nothing, on that stream, comes easy, natural. It takes no effort, but to go upstream is another story. The mightier the current, the harder one must paddle, or use external power. You stop for one instance, or turn off the engine, and you begin going back down.
At the age of seven, I knew I was a convicted cookie thief! I went to a church, where the anointed man of God, my pastor, scared the hell out of me! He preached straight up sermons concerning what would happen if we died and had not accepted Jesus to forgive us of our sins. As a result, out of fear of going to hell, I choose God, and heaven.
brady, mark a. 