The Call to Preach

There is something major in my life that I've talked about to people, but never really spent the time to explain fully. That is my call to preach.

Almost all of the prophets in the Old Testament have a record of their call. The disciples were called directly from Jesus Christ and sent out from His presence from time to time to preach the gospel. Some would argue that the Great Commission is a call for all men to preach. I would tend to agree, but not in the sense that all men are supposed to stand behind a pulpit every week.

When I was just a boy, maybe eight or nine, I came down the stairs after getting home from church one night. I told my parents I felt like I was supposed to preach when I grew up. My parents were wise enough not to take that hook, line, and sinker. Many Christian parents would immediately be enrolling kids in preaching contests and start looking at Bible colleges! They told me with a smile that that was a good thing, but that I should keep praying about it. I did just that, but after a while that impression seemed to wear off on me. I just wasn't sure about it, and I didn't have to have been. I was a kid!

It wasn't until my freshman year of High School that preaching was impressed upon my heart again. We were living in Lebanon, OH and going to Grace Baptist Church in Middletown, OH. Max Fernandez (who is now the pastor there) was the youth leader at the time and he took us to Youth Congress. Youth Congress is a week of teen camp hosted by the Temple Baptist Church in Powell, TN where Brettnay and I are now members. Youth Congress is a blast for teenagers and I would  recommend it to anyone! I do not remember what the preacher was preaching that night. I don't even remember who the preacher was. But I remember that while I had my head bowed that day I felt the impression of God on my spirit about preaching.

 I struggled within myself because I didn't want to go forward. I didn't want to surrender my own selfish desires to God. It had been a long time since I was a boy and talked to my parents. Could God use someone like me?

Someone walked by the pew and brushed my shoulder as they did. It was enough to get me to lift my head and when I did I saw the most obvious slap in the face from God I have received to date. When I looked up I saw a verse imprinted above the baptistery of the church. "...They ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ" Acts 5:42. I believe God can use a brush on the shoulder to get your attention. I go to church there now and every time I look at the baptistery I see that verse.

I didn't go forward that day. To my shame I shook off God's slap in the face and waited. The next service I couldn't do that again and I went forward and surrendered to the call. Soon after I was called to missions, but that's a story for another day.

Thanks for your faithfulness to read the blog and please continue to pray for Brettnay and I as we seek to follow God's will for our lives!

Your brother in Christ,
Simeon

Tired of Leadership?

People everywhere complain about leadership. It doesn't matter if it's a boss at work or the President of the United States, people always seem to be dissatisfied with those in charge. I know that we don't always agree with our leaders. Many times we are even opposed to what they stand for. We've all seen the posts on our social media feeds when the leader we didn't want gets elected to office. "God's still on the throne" they all say. What does that even mean anyways? Let's explore that thought.

Today in one of my classes we began going through the book of Daniel. The class had nothing to do with leadership, but something spawned a thought. I was placed in a group to talk about Chapter 4. Have you ever seen the Emperor's New Groove? It's a G rated Disney film about a selfish emperor being turned into an animal to learn a lesson in humility. I doubt Disney knew it but their story is extremely similar to a Bible story. Daniel 4 is about Nebuchadnezzar's second dream. In this second dream he sees a huge tree that stretched up into the sky. All sorts of animals took shade under it, and birds lived in it's branches. The tree produced fruit that fed all the beasts that took residence there. Then one day, a watcher came from heaven and commanded that the tree be cut down to a stump. It was cut down and the stump was all that remained. No animals lived there anymore. No birds, no fruit, no life left.

What did it mean? Nebuchadnezzar called Daniel and asked him to interpret his dream for him. Daniel told him that he was the tree that would be cut down. He would be chased out by men and would eat grass like a beast. I'm sure he brushed that off. It was just a dream right? The Bible says that in the twelfth month of the year, Nebuchadnezzar looked at all he had and gloried within himself of all his great works. Then God smote him with madness. He was chased out of the city and began to eat grass like an animal! What God said was true. His pride caught up with him. Finally he came to himself and realized that God was almighty and could do all things. God was "on the throne" and Nebuchadnezzar was just a man. He confessed this to God and God restored him to his throne.

So you see. God is in control. No matter who your boss is or who the president is, no matter who your parents are or who your landlord is, God is God. He is head over all. He can cast down the mighty and set up the righteous. We are all in His great hands! Do not worry Christian; God will take care of you!

Statistics Don't Change Lives

If you've spent very much time in an evangelistic church, you have heard all the stats by now. You have heard that there are over 7.6 billion people in the world and almost all of them are lost. There are "X" amount of starving children and diseases are running rampant in "this" country or "that" country. You know about missionaries trying to help people recover from tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and all sorts of other natural disasters. You know there are Christians around the world who are still dying for their faith. So why are we unaffected?

This thought has plagued me for some time now. I know that I sit in service after service and listen to the needs of the world. Brettnay and I go to a church that has a great burden for England. A country that once was an international hub for the spread of the gospel yet is now one of the most spiritually dark places in the world. England's fastest growing religion is Islam! But would it shock you to know that Islam is also America's fastest growing religion? Mosques pop up every day around our country while churches are closing. What's happening? Why isn't God blessing us anymore? I'll tell you why. The world has become a statistic to us.

When was the last time you had a conversation with someone who wasn't born in America about Jesus Christ? I work downtown; I see foreigners every day. They speak enough English to get by and try to make a better life for themselves. Most of us, including myself, view this as an inconvenience. "Learn English or go home", we mutter to ourselves. But they aren't here because they need a better life. They are here because God placed them here. We have an opportunity unlike any other country in the history of mankind. We have an "international hub" for the gospel right here at home! America is the second largest Hispanic country in the world, second only to Mexico. But there is another statistic. When will we decide that people aren't statistics?

Jesus said in his iconic "Great Commission" to "preach the gospel to every creature". He didn't say to preach to every country or to every people group. He brought it down to the individual. We all can't be a Billy Graham or D. L. Moody and preach to thousands of people. But one thing that all men God uses do is witness to individuals. Charles Spurgeon was well known for spending hours witnessing to single individuals as well as preaching to large crowds. What if I told you he wouldn't have been blessed with the crowds if he hadn't spent time with the individuals? People aren't statistics to men like Spurgeon, Moody, Graham, and many other men. They are individuals who need a Savior.

Keep thinking friends,
Simeon Brazzell
I Tim. 1:12