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.

What Makes a Good Bridge?

March 3, 2018March 2, 2018 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Bridge 2 “Look, I’m not hurting anything. I just want to sit here and rest,” he said. To his right my church had a sign that stated, “No Loitering”
“It’s okay,” I replied in a gentle voice.
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
“Yes.”

I went and got him a sack of food we keep for such occasions, and some water.

“Here ya go.”
“Thank you.”
“Your welcome. You mind if I hang out with you for a while?”
“Suit yourself,” he said as the sack crinkled while he checked out the food.
“What’s your name?”
“John,” he replied. His eyes, piercing, as if searching my soul.

The small talk started. It became clear he was a philosopher who didn’t have a place to hang his diploma. He also had a sense of humor. He shared he had made a mistake with his wife and kids, and she wasn’t willing to forgive. I felt that was my que to talk about God’s forgiveness. I tried hard to get him to come inside and sit in on the church service.

“I stink,” he kept saying.
“I assure you John, no one inside will care.” He was right about the odor too, but he insisted on attending the church service there on the sidewalk.

We talked for another 30 minutes or so. Before I left I offered to pray with him.

“You can do that in private, but not in front of me,” he said.

I didn’t understand, but respected his wishes. I’ve looked, but have never seen John again. Though thought of him often, I have prayed for him even more. I regretted not taking him to a restaurant to get something hot to eat. I also wish I had been brave enough to invite him to my house. He could have showered, I could have washed his clothes, and he could have slept on a soft, warm surface, even if for one night. I have consoled myself with knowing I did something, but I know I could have done more. Perhaps next time I will.

Since I have never seen an episode of “Bridge Hunters” on HGTV he replied, “One that has a flat surface to sleep on, and that isn’t facing into the wind.

Check it out: God never intended heaven to be served from earth. heartland church

The Other Side of Pain

February 10, 2018February 9, 2018 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

PAIN P ersonal
A nguish
I ntense
N umbness

N eeds
I llustrated
A wareness
P rovided

Beautiful songs are composed out of PAIN. Books, cards, and letters as well. When one hears, or reads words that were birthed in PAIN, it resonates, it feels familiar, and it comforts. It lets you know, “You’re not the only one who has felt this way.”

Respect PAIN, but don’t hang on to it too long. Place it in the hands of the One who has felt the very same thing. Jesus is there, waiting, loving, comforting. Saying to you, “You’re not alone in this.”

Then, look around you. There are people, who are a part of your world, who are hanging on to PAIN. You can see it in their eyes. For you saw it in yours, every time you looked in the mirror. Get beside them. Be Jesus in that moment to them, and say, “You’re not alone. Let me show you how to give it to Jesus.”

Check it out: Inspired, rich words: believemiraclesblog.wordpress.com