The Way Back To God - A Review

We've been doing a study of Psalm 51 in Sunday School over the past 13 weeks. This study is entitled The Way Back to God, and the study material was written by Pastor Clarence Sexton. You can find the book here. I would like to briefly tell you what this study has meant to me.

I will tell you a little bit of my story without getting into too much detail. I think that when people give testimonies, they often glorify their sin in the process. I actually heard someone on the radio the other day say that they had "built their testimony" as a young person before they got saved. They meant by that that they'd done a lot of bad things in life, and that Christ had rescued them from it. That's good that they are now saved, but they didn't build their testimony by being a sinner. We all have the same testimony which is that Christ saved us when we were sinners through his death, burial, and resurrection.

When I was in junior high school, I became filled with rebellion in my heart as many young men do. I became puffed up in pride and thought that I could handle sin rather than it handle me. I found that I was wrong. It took me getting caught and the intervention of my parents and my youth leader to get me back on track. Most importantly, it took the forgiveness of God being felt in my own heart. I was already a Christian, but I'd lost my way. Psalm 51 is the sinner's guide back to God. Pastor Clarence Sexton wrote this book to help people break down and digest what David penned in his own prayer to God.

Pastor Sexton goes systematically through Psalm 51 verse by verse and explains what each part of David's prayer means and how it applies to every Christian. You don't have to be involved in horrible sin to be away from God. I would venture to say that most American Christians are away from God simply because they aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing. They are committing sins of omission rather than sins of commission. This book is a refresher course on what your relationship with God is supposed to be like. It's a measuring stick to help you see where you are in your own personal relationship with Him. Only you can know if you are closer to God today than you have ever been.

The truth is the way back to God isn't a secret. It's always been the same, but it comes down to our own willingness to see our sin for what it is, confess it to Christ, and allow Him to cleanse us. I strongly urge anyone who hasn't read this book to get it and study it! It will help you no matter where you are in life.


Your friend,
Simeon Brazzell
I Tim 1:12

An Update on Our Calling

Many of you know that we are called to be missionaries to Australia, but you may be wondering when are going, what are we hoping to accomplish, where will we be ministering. In answer to your questions, we have no idea! There is no doubt in our hearts that God has called us, and that we will be going there. The specifics are a little hazier for us right now. 

We have been struggling with this a bit because we want to act on what God has put in our hearts! At the same time, we do not want to get ahead of God's perfect timing. Isiah 55:8-9 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." God is working in our hearts in this area. Pastor Tim Cruise from Shining Light Baptist Church was preaching at our church recently, and something he said was such an encouragement to Simeon and me. He said that in the "waiting process" God is not only preparing you, but He is also preparing the place, people, and work that He has for you. There are several areas in our lives where we know God is preparing us, and what an amazing thought it is that while He's working on our hearts here in the states, He is also working in Australia preparing the way for us!

These are a few things that we are currently doing in preparation for God's call. 
1. We started a savings account when we got married that we put money into each month that we will use to take a survey trip. Plane tickets alone are around $2,300 for one person! We would like to spend several weeks traveling around to established ministries as we pray about where God would have us and in what capacity He would have us serve.
2. We are in the process of finding missionaries, pastors, and churches who hold to our doctrinal position and are actively serving Christ in Australia. Websites such as Baptist Friends and Baptist International Missions, Inc. have been so helpful as we contact different ministries. We are praying that through these contacts, we would form friendships, learn more about God's work in Australia, and possibly find ministries to visit while we are on our survey trip.

Simeon and I would greatly appreciate your prayers concerning the things listed above! If you know of any ministries in Australia, please comment and let us know!

We are so excited about what God has for our future, but until He opens those doors, we are enjoying serving him in "our Jerusalem." Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." 


All for His Glory,
Brettnay Brazzell

A Spirit of Criticism

If you think that I am perfect in this area, then I have news for you! I am not. Not that anyone on the planet thinks that I am.

Criticism is a struggle that we sarcastic people struggle with. It's easy for us to excuse our behavior by saying it's just the way we are. I'm not going to talk about sarcasm because, in and of itself, sarcasm isn't wrong. I do want to talk a bit about criticism and having a critical spirit.

The truth is, criticism isn't wrong either. There is a way to be critical with the end goal being improvement. For instance, companies often will employ an auditor to go through their books and look for error. They do this so that they catch problems before an authority does or just to improve their own books. The auditor is being "critical". He's searching for error, yet he's not doing anything wrong in doing so.

A critical spirit is an attitude of criticism. If you have a critical spirit, then you are the person who finds something wrong in everything. Everyone knows someone like this: a coworker who is constantly complaining about management, a church member who complains about the leadership of the pastor, a family member who always find something to complain about. Not all criticism is bad, but a spirit of criticism is always a bad thing.

So what about being critical to help someone? I mean, it's ok to be critical of the pastor because it keeps him honest right? More often than not, criticism is used to demean or harm rather than correct. A major difference between criticism and a critical spirit is that criticism is usually given directly to the source of the problem, whereas a person with a critical spirit complains to others. It's ok to go to your pastor if you have a genuine concern about something. If you are just wanting to complain you should probably just keep it to yourself. Too often we complain to each other instead of talking to the party responsible.

Also criticism doesn't have to see change to be satisfied. If the auditor sees a problem, he reports it to the correct party and moves on. He's not responsible to force change. A person with a critical spirit will only be happy with the way something is done if they are in charge. If something goes wrong, it's always someone else's fault. It's OK to notice and report an issue, it's not OK to search for problems for the sake of looking smarter or putting someone else down. I think today's news media has a critical spirit. Good news is no news. Only bad news is aired because people have a critical spirit. Should foul play in government be exposed? Yes! But good things should too.

I'm working on this one myself. I am both observant and critical which is a dangerous combo. It's really bad for the observant, critical, perfectionists out there. Thankfully, I'm not also the latter. I'm working on it, and I hope you'll do the same. Next time you're being critical, ask yourself if you are helping anyone or just making everyone miserable.

Keep thinking my friends,

Simeon Brazzell