Megan is awesome

We just got back from a few days in Lake Tahoe and enjoyed a much needed break, though now I think I need a relaxing vacation, the kind without a toddler :-)

The coolest thing about the trip for me was the one day Megan and I were able to go skiing. What was so great about this day was that my eyes were truly opened to how awesome Megan and I compliment each other as a unit; actually, I guess its simply how Megan makes me a better person.

We had been skiing once before a couple of years ago and we went for only one day and did the beginner lesson, never going on anything but the training hill and a couple of greens or "easies."

This past weekend in Tahoe, they only had a few runs open because they hadn't received much snow yet and all of them were blue or intermediate. Now, everyone I know who is a good skier has always told me to get the lesson each time I go, at least for a while until we get good. So on this trip, I assumed we just wouldn't do much skiing because we would only be able to go into the training area, which wasn't even a hill at all at this resort.

Megan had a different idea. I think her exacts words were, "We know how to ski, we'll be fine." Somehow she convinced me and I believed we could just go skiing on the blue runs even though I had no real idea what to do (I watched a YouTube video on the way up to the lift).

So we rented the equipment and had a blast! I was so thankful that Megan stretched me and kept me from taking the safe route. I never would have gone had Megan not been with me. For me, this was a great example of how God uses her strengths to help me through my weaknesses or fears of doing things I know nothing about!

Oh yeah, the best part was while we were riding up the gondola to get to the lift. We are bundled up, all of our equipment on, and Megan looks at me and says "What are we doing? I have no idea how to ski." I love that girl.

Christian Counter Culture: Two simple differences

I have been writing a research paper on the Beatitudes and came across this simple idea that is a great way to see where we are in our walk with God.

We live in a world that values pride over humility and aggression over mercy. Each time we are prideful and each time we are aggressive (especially when driving in traffic) we are living in the world culture instead of the Christian Counter Culture Jesus has called us to.

hmm...

it's okay if people think that

In Mark 12:14 the Pharisees told Jesus they knew he didn't care about any one's opinion and he was not swayed by ones appearances, because He teaches the truth of God alone.



A few years ago one of my friends was ask why I had to be so "weird" about Jesus. He said he knew other Christians who didn't act so radical.

This comment brought the full revelation to me that there is not much of a difference between most Americans who claim to be Christians and those who are Atheists or of any other religion. It's just some title they put on themselves if ask the question of what they believe, but it is not their life. Being a follower of Jesus is not just a religion, a faith, or any other movement. It is a way of life that encompasses every aspect of who we are as a person, what are thoughts are on every situation.

I only write this because for 20 plus years I believed I was a Christian and most of America would have agreed with me, yet I was more swayed by man and what the media said than by anything Jesus said or did.

When we fully give our heart to God, our closest family and friends may think we have gone of the deep end. But that is not a bad thing.

We must remember that we live in a country where claiming to be a Christian doesn't have as much to do with Christ as it does with our social status. The claim to be Christian deals more with what it means for us as a 21st Century American, than it does with being a devoted follower of Christ.

I think its safe to say, in the world we live in today, we can only hope people think that we are a little over excited about Jesus, otherwise we just blend into the group on the fence and will find ourselves like the lukewarm church in Revelation.

thankful

I have heard it said before that the longer you are a parent, the more you began to understand God's love.

This has really been true for me the last week or so. Boden's first year and a half of life has been relatively uneventful (thank God). But the last week he has managed to put a couple of nice dents in his face. On Thanksgiving morning he cut his face open when he fell on a pen and I was sick to my stomach over it for quite a while.

I now know for sure that Boden is going to be okay, yet I still hurt for him. When Jesus went to the cross, God knew he was ultimately going to be okay, so it must not have hurt him that much, Yeah Right (or at least that thought had crossed my mind before).

Ask any parent who has watched their child suffer even a little how much it hurts them, even though they know he(s) is going to be okay and you will quickly discover the pain a parent goes through when their children are hurting.

I know this is basic and most have realized this real world comparison for a long time; it has just really hit home with me the last couple of days and renewed my awe, amazement, and thankfulness for the cross and the life that it gives us.

So as we end the "official" thankful season, I must say I am so truly thankful for the life that all who follow Jesus can hold fast to!

some thoughts

Well, for a while there I thought I was going to be good at keeping up with blogging, but the last three weeks have been crazy.

What I started to share a couple of weeks ago and never finished was about unity. I basically spent the month of October meditating on John chapter 17 and the understanding of the unity or oneness that Jesus desires to have with each of us is amazing. We talk a lot about unity in our life. Often it is in regards to family, friends, the church, or even perhaps or fellow employees.

But there is a huge truth to unity I think we often forget. We must first be one with God before we can ever be truly united with our family, friends, or church. That is how He designed it. It is through unity with God that we are able to understand what a true sacrificial life is and the only way we can learn to be a person that can give up enough to truly be united with another person.

In the America we live in today, I know it is truly important for the church to rise up like never before and be a voice for the Lord. And for this to happen we must be one with God.

But that is not all, even when it comes to our families, we must first be unified with God before we can truly be unified in our marriages, relationships with our children/parents, etc. I believe that when we get this, we will truly see men and women of God living at another level.

no famine here

So check this out, Psalm 37:18-19, God promises that we will have abundance in times of famine and that we will not be ashamed. Now normally we simply think of famine in regards to food...

I'm spending the next week thinking of all the areas in my life where there is a shortage or a famine, or I'm just not living to the level I believe I should and I'm declaring God's promise of abundance in that area and making it a focus and a priority to rid famine from every area of my life.

I think if we all do this, we just may have a greater impact for God and open ourselves up to be used by him in areas we never imagined.

Church get ready

Well, most of the Christian church has been praying for revival. In fact, the LIFE bands and LIFE shirts we have at our church have the prayer that says "God, send revival to America."

Now I'm making this as a somewhat sarcastic comment, but I do believe there could be truth in it.

Millions of Americans have decided to place their hope in a man and not in God. When they find out that the man won't save them or help, God may decide to send revival. People crying out for change through the hope of a man will begin crying out for God with the revelation that He is the only one, the only way!

Change

As I was leaving the rec center after voting this afternoon there was a group of people giving out stickers and buttons that said "I chose change" and had the Obama symbol on them. Now this post has nothing to do with Obama or McCain, it has to do with change. Millions of people voted for or chose "change" today, but I wonder if they have actually taken any steps to "change" themselves.

Unfortunately we are living in a country that contains millions of people who are dissatisfied with the way things are so they want someone to change things, both republicans and democrats, pro-lifer's and pro-choicer's. I think we could really see change if we decided to change ourselves. It is so much easier for us to ask someone else to change or to say we are voting for someone else to change and not actually go forward and do anything ourselves, yet still feel good about ourselves because we voted for the person who wants change...

Real change is real hard. It's not a cool slogan and it's not something that makes everything wonderful.

Your either Pro Life or Pro Abortion, the choice was made before the life was created

Lately the abortion topic and the life of children in general has been on my heart and mind. I believe God is taking me into a deeper understanding to what His heart truly is for the millions of children in America who have no voice; and the importance of our role as Christians in seeking justice for them.

I ask that you would pray with me that as we go to the polls in a week that we would all know God's heart and vote with that as our guide. Let's pray that every Christian votes with God's heart (83% of Americans claim to be Christians).

I am not a republican or a democrat, but what I do believe is that we should vote based on the issues that have eternal significance, not letting the temporary issues guide us. The economy will recover and will go through another recession just like this one in 5-50 years and everything will be fine after that one as well. But when it comes to eternity, we really need to think about the millions of children that are aborted in America each year and do our part to help put an end to these killings.

Just think about it, do you think God really cares more about US economy and the unemployment rate than he does for the life of his children? We must put our faith into action and vote for what matters eternally, LIFE.

pass the plate

I just finished an incredible week at Regent. I spent the week hanging with 25 pastors and aspiring pastors talking about sermon preparation and delivery and then we each preached a 15 minute sermon.

I learned a great deal from the professor (he is a pastor who just stepped down from leading a church that he took from 1 site to 6 so he had a great amount of knowledge to offer) and the other pastors in class.

One interesting thing I learned though came this morning when the African-American pastors fully explained what "pass the plate" means. You see, after a pastor gives a great sermon it is common in African churches and many African-American churches here in the US, for there to be an offering taken to bless the preacher for bringing the word so powerfully. The idea is that they are sowing into what God is doing because it is clear he is moving in the preacher.

Our professor then told us about his first experience with this, only it was a little different... He was in a church where people just started coming up and putting money on the altar while he was preaching. Then, three other pastors in the class said the churches they are in now (Virginia and Florida) also do that. I can't imagine seeing people throw cash on the altar during a sermon...

However, we are thinking about testing it out. So if any of you are ever at Destiny and you see Megan and I go up to the altar and drop a $20, you will know why. Let me just say, good luck Jim and company!

Greek is really hard

So I haven't been doing a much blogging because every second I get on the computer I am reviewing Greek vocabulary or grammar. Who knew I needed to have a good grasp of English grammar so I could pick up Greek grammar more easily. I should have paid closer attention back in high school...

eat a little each day

If you have ever gone through those stages where you don't feel or think that reading the Bible is transforming your life or that God is not giving you insight regularly, think again. As a father of a one year old, I have experienced the miracle of seeing and infant grow into a toddler, and the changes in Boden from the age of 1 month to 1 year have been remarkable.

What was it that caused that remarkable change? It was all of those little tiny things that seemed like no big deal. That glass of milk in the morning didn't by itself make him grow, at least not that could be seen with the human eye. He didn't take a drink and grow an inch before my eyes, it's been a process, and each day, each element that he consumes is proving beneficial for his future. So how important is that banana for breakfast and that cup of milk at night? I would say it is crucial.

And so it is with the Word of God. It is the most important nutrient we can put in our bodies each day. We don't always notice the impact of a 30 minute or 3 minute devotion time reading our bible, and we wonder why we are reading about Kings from 3000 years ago? After a year, though, just like watching Boden grow, we grow in our understanding of God and find ourselves with an intimate relationship with the King of kings and experiencing a new level of maturity in Christ.

Economic what?

So apparently what the stock market is doing is a big deal and people are getting pretty worked up about, even those that don't have any money invested. As Christians we have to emphatically say "so what" to the economic dysfunction and fear spikes that the world is pushing for.

There is only one who provides, one who can truly change our life. Jeremiah wrote about some "troubles" of the Jews in the book of Lamentations. The people of this time found themselves in a position that has repeated itself continuously throughout history; struggling, needing help, looking all around, looking to idols. Today, if we are turning to our jobs, paychecks, friends, and even pastors to save us or putting our trust in them, we are engaged in idolatry as well.

As everyone in America freaks out about the economy and the stock market, lets turn to God and not suffer the same things wrote about in Lamentations as as a result of turning to the everything and everyone else for help (Lamentations 1:19). We must keep and strengthen our trust in God; turning only to him. After all, we know He wins, which means His way must be perfect, so lets just stay on His side.

Fear God, Love God

With all the changes that have taken place in our life the last month I have spent a lot of time seeking God for more detail and understanding into every situation. At the beginning of the week He provided that great detail I have been seeking; now its really complicated so I don't know if anyone else could understand :-). Ecclesiastes 12:13, "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind."

I was looking for some deep, complicated, special answers just for me. Instead, I was struck with the powerful truth that I don't understand the fear of the Lord. I could continue to tell myself I did, but what good would that do? My prayer life is changing dramatically as a result. In Proverbs chapter 1 Solomon writes that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and then follows up with the words from Ecclesiastes. Because of this I'm left with the realization that it really is that simple, fear the Lord. Now, its time for me to allow the Teacher to teach and see this revelation come to pass.

To keep God's commandments there is no secret either. In John chapter 14 Jesus said "if you love me you will keep my commandments." I don't need to try and keep His commandments as if doing something (works) is going to help me. The love inside of me for the Father naturally causes the obedience He speaks of.

So for me the words read, "Fear God, Love God; for this is all He asks of me!"

The power is there, even if you can't "see it"

Do we really understand the power of God that is in us? Can we? For the past several months I have been going over this and I'm currently studying the use of the word power when referring to what God gives to us. We pray so much, both individually and corporately, for God's glory, for God's power, for Him to manifest and work miracles through us. Do we realize the power for all of this is in us already? We don't have to continually pray and ask for it, we simply have to believe without doubting that it truly is in us. Then our prayers can be focused on what God wants us to do, rather than the power and ability to do it!

We should be praying for the ability to recognize God's power that is living us. This is the greatest power in the universe, what raised Jesus from the dead. Throughout the Old Testament God's power was used to bring victory to His people when everything visible in the natural said it could not be done.

When the twelve Israelites went to spy out the promised land that God had promised them, the report brought back by the ten was that of fear and doubt because they could see the power of the people in the land and they knew that their power could not overtake them. They declared they were as grasshoppers compared to the giants of the Land (Numbers 13). In the natural that is all they could see, they were blind to God's power because they didn't understand how something could really exist and not be visible with their own eyes.

Author Andrew Whommack writes Spirit Soul & Body that the Word is our mirror to see God's power in us. When we read it, does it read us? Do we see the reflection of God's power in us? We do not have to keep trying to earn this or gain it somehow, we simply have to believe and understand it is really in us, even though we can not necessarily see or feel it.

If we all get an understanding of this, I think we will see the power of God activated across our nation and lives truly changed.

Fall Semester begins

Well, today marks the official start of my first semester as a full-time seminary student. I am certainly learning the last couple of weeks that when God tells us we must live on faith he is not kidding. With the two leaps I have taken the last couple of weeks the gulp has been more than I could even come close to handling on my own power.

Last night I became well acquainted with the required assignments, research papers and books to read for this semester, WOW!

After several minutes of trying to convince myself I couldn't do it, that there was no way I could learn all of this information in the time I had, I turned off my computer and went to bed. The great part is this ended this morning when I remembered I wasn't doing any of it anyway. In 1 Corinthians 2:4, Paul declared that his preaching had nothing to do with him, but was all due to the Holy Spirit through him. His confidence was not in his ability to preach, his confidence was in the Holy Spirit. So I realized I was trying to my confidence in myself, thinking that I needed to be "great" so I could learn all the information. Well, I realize that is a horrible idea. I am going to put my confidence in the Holy Spirit living in me, that He will be the one who ensures I learn and perform... What a relief...

Christianizing America has made us non-Christian as a nation

We have all heard the talk about how far America has moved away from God the last 50 years and it is easy to point out the negative things that have caused this such as high divorce rates and the promotion of relative truth.

However, many what appear to be positive things have been created. For instance, there are numerous Christian TV shows now, Christian radio stations that talk about all the great Christian places you can go and the Christian businesses you should support. There are now many Christian bookstores, Christian cruises, and Christian clothes. So when does a "dedicated" Christian have the opportunity to bump into those who don't believe and share the love of Jesus?

Has anyone stepped back and said none of this stuff is helping to transform America? Is it only isolating Christians from the rest of America?

If we are going to see America transformed for Christ and make sure we do not support just another revival that goes down in history with the other hundreds of them, we must seek God on these issues and discovery what "good" things must be changed.

life change today

So today I guess it became official, I am retiring (I just love saying that) from Boeing and going on staff at Destiny Church and attending seminary at Regent University through Distance Education and modular classes.

Working at Boeing opened up numerous opportunities for us over the years including the ability for Megan to become a stay at home mom and paying for my seminary classes the last two years. Today was somewhat bitter-sweet as I realized many of the close friends I have made at work the last few years will no longer be a few feet away.

This is an exciting time for Megan and I. We have watched God line things up for us the past couple of years so we could make this transition; with each step of faith we took, he provided more than we could have imagined. I know that God is faithful and is the ultimate provider of everything we have. He knows everything we need and promises to provide, now that's as good as it gets. I look forward to the many doors and opportunities He will bring to my family in this new season of our life.

Is there anything still considered obscene

So I'm still having a little trouble consistently blogging, but I believe the tide is turning and August is the start of what I hope will be an interesting, informative, and thought provoking blog.

All afternoon I have been asking myself if there is anything considered obscene anymore in American culture? We all know television went off the deep end a few years ago, but we know we can keep ourselves from anything we do not want to see, by simply not watching TV. Today I saw something that I didn't know how to keep from seeing and it was nothing but words; a billboard for a used car dealership that said "Easier than your prom date." Immediately I couldn't believe it was really there and said that, then my thoughts went to "what are kids supposed to think when they read that?"

At my church we have been praying for revival in America, to truly see not just a move of God, but a society transformed by Him. Today was just another reminder of how far away from God America has gone, and how important it is for Christians to rise up and stand out against the things that are of this world. If we just let things go and don't press into God, things will keep on the downhill and who can really imagine what would be considered obscene in 25 years; my guess is nothing.

Kingdom

Luke chapter 12 says we are to seek the kingdom of God and nothing else. By seeking the kingdom of God first, everything we need will be provided.

So how do we seek the Kingdom of God everyday from a practical standpoint? Romans says the Kingdom of God is living joyful in the Holy Spirit and in 1 Corinthians we read that the Kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power.

The Holy Spirit is power, not talk. The words that come from a pulpit are not what causes change in us, it is the working of the Holy Spirit because we open ourselves to receive. In order to experience God's Kingdom and the power that it is, we must give full control of ourselves over to the Holy Spirit and quit trying to talk our way into intimacy with God. The Holy Spirit is who brings us to the Kingdom, we can't do it.

We must seek aggressively

Isn’t it interesting that we can see someone who has an amazingly close relationship with God and say, “Wow, I wish I could have that kind of intimacy with Him.” How often are we left wishing we could spend more time in God’s presence, but we think we don’t know how?

It’s like exercising and being in shape. We see the person at the pool who looks like they must spend 4 hours a day at the gym and we say we wish we could look like that; yet we spend our evening on the couch eating pizza and watching television. With God it’s the same way, we don’t have an intimate relationship with Him where we spend much time in his presence if we passively sit on the couch and do not aggressively seek to spend time with Him. It’s easier to sit on the couch and watch television than it is to go to the gym and get in shape. Is it also easier to sit on the couch and watch television than it is to aggressively seek God? Are we willing to do what our mind tells us is hard, so our heart can be blessed?

Just as the ripped body is ours for the taking if we spend time in the gym; true intimacy and time in God’s presence is ours if we aggressively seek Him.

Are we being reprogrammed?

I recently read an article entitled "Is Google Making us Stupid?"

It's interesting to think about how each generation is "reprogrammed" by something and if/how the Internet is reprogramming us today.

What does this mean for us as Christians? How must we change the way we communicate the Truth of Jesus if we only get attention for a couple of paragraphs?

Father's Day and focusing on the mission

So today was my first Father's Day and it was a great one. If all I had done today was hang out with my family I would have been happy, but today was an even bigger day for the Brueseke's. For my Father's Day gift Megan and Boden got me a framed copy of our newly minted Brueseke Family Mission. It's taken from 2 Peter 1:3-11. I have been meditating on these verses for several weeks now and I believe they provide the baseline for what our walk with God is all about. To be a follower of God we can really only have one mission and we all have to have it, that is the Great Commission, to go into all the world and share the Gospel. To do that and as we do that we grow and learn more about God, gaining understanding to how he wants us to do life.

In 2 Peter, Peter list characteristics: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. He says if we grow in these qualities we can not be ineffective in our knowledge of God. Further he says if we practice these qualities, we can not fall. And finally, that by living out these qualities, there will be richly provided for us an entrance into heaven!

So we are striving to live out these qualities, growing in them, and gaining understanding of God, knowing that by doing so not only will we keep from falling, but we will be effective for God, effective for the Great Commission.

Getting started

So here goes, I'm finally doing this and Megan is probably the only one that will read this for a while, until she starts making post as well, but eventually we hope to communicate what is going on in our life to many of our friends and family through this outlet.

God has truly been so amazing the last few years and I want to make sure we are sharing the many things He is doing in our life. I also want to make sure and provide my thoughts and insights (though sure to be boring at times) on many of the things I am studying in seminary and how they practically apply to all of us.

Pictures will be posted soon.