Serving Rascals, Clumsy Disciples, and Physically and Mentally Ill Believers with the Unconditional Love of Jesus Christ
Author: Pastor Bryan Lowe
A repentant rascal with definite issues, but who is seeking to be authentic in his faith to Jesus Christ.
An avid reader and a hopeful writer. Husband and father. A pastor and Bible teacher. A brain tumor survivor. Diagnosed with clinical depression, and now disabled.
Enjoys life, such as it is, in Alask.a (Actually I have it pretty good.)
If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be meetings.
You should not confuse your career with your life.
Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
Your friends love you anyway.
A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.(This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.
Somebody has been pulling your leg! There isn’t any provision added to your contract with the Father that releases you from “any pain or duress while acting as a disciple while in this dark world.” This “rider clause” doesn’t work, it has no validity or legal precedent–it simply is not true.
Not everyone agrees with me on this point. But becoming a saint is not an automatic or a painless process. Discipleship is like being mashed until you are soft and gracious inside, and that my friend, takes a lot of time and tears, in equal proportions. Painless Christianity and spontaneous sainthood is definitely fiction. It is a lie, and a crooked one at that.
Just pour a little water on it, and presto-chango! And stand back and watch it grow.
Perhaps our “hi-tech” culture gives us false expectations. We have the microwave, high-def TV, fast food places and the computer/internet (my fave.) I guess that I’m trying to say is that we think that there is a corresponding effect into spiritual things. But there isn’t.
Spiritual growth or discipleship is a definite growth process. The incredible redwood forests of Northern California where all once tiny, vulnerable seeds. But something happened! They grew and grew. It took centuries to attain their amazing heights. We see them in the present, the “now” –and never what they used to be.
Unquestionably, the life-giving, Holy Spirit can accelerate growth. But the standard set in the Word is more like “slow and steady.” Even God’s favorites in scripture had periods of waiting and testing. I suppose that’s where faith comes in to play. All too often we look for a formula when we should be seeking an obedience. (But honestly, formulas are fun– and nice, and clean and quick.)
Formula-istic faith isn’t really real, we just insist that it has to be. But the Father has different plans for raising his children. No shortcuts or detours, we walk through the floods and then we take a lap (or two) through the fire (my theory, this is to dry us off after the floods, lol.) Otherwise, he would have to write an apology to the martyrs that came before us.
But I beg, and plead for you, to accept the real terms of your discipleship. You will only fool yourself if you think instant is better then real. But to accept the foolish may seem to be faith to some; but to walk through the darkness with just a candle takes real faith. I’m not a “palm reader,” but I predict you are going to face hard times and challenges that will “rock your world.”
“Paul and Barnabas preached the good news in Derbe and won some people to the Lord. Then they went back to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia. 22 They encouraged the followers and begged them to remain faithful. They told them, “We have to suffer a lot before we can get into God’s kingdom.”
“God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth.”
John 4:24, CEV
When we come to a faith in Jesus, we often find we have to overcome a great deal of ignorance. But at the starting point, we have got to understand that God is a Spirit. He is not physical or material. Things that can be seen or touched are simply not in His realm or circumference. He is Spirit.
When we come to Him in faith, we need to enter His presence under the amazing auspices of the Holy Spirit. He opens the door, and gives us a royal entrance into the very depths of His presence. We put ourselves under His control, and He escorts us into a deep communion.
Our dependence on the Holy Spirit shouldn’t be a hardship. Think of Him as a ‘master ofdivine protocol.’ The Spirit’s presence with us will communicate an openness and a certain sincerity. He authorizes us, and in a way ‘translates’ for us while we are deep in God’s presence. He makes things work for us.
John knits together the idea of ‘spirit’ and ‘truth.’ Truth will always carry with it “worship”. As we begin to understand, we will begin to truly worship. Often we have an invalid concept that our praise and worship are just happenings in a charged atmosphere. But authentic worship pushes down its roots into what is true and real. And essentially, it is the ‘most real’ thing we could choose to do.
I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at a very young age, lol.
My parents were very young, my mom 16 and my dad was almost 18.
I grew up in Northern Wisconsin. In a brick farmhouse. I used a hand-pump and an outdoor toilet for awhile.
I was very close to my great-grand parents, Ben and Eva Tarbox.
I joined the Army when I was 17, and stationed in Hawaii, was a hospital corpsmen.
When discharged I came to Homer, Alaska to attend the Alaska Bible Institute. I graduated in 1984.
Lynn and I met in 1987 in San Francisco, we married in 1989 and lived in the city for several months.
I was stranded for 36 hours in a small car north of Fairbanks in January 1986. It got down to 30 below zero. A week later I was almost burned to death in a cabin fire. I have lots of scar tissue on my back.
I drove an old van from Mexico to Alaska in 1998, I patched a big hole in the gas tank using a bar of lye soap. I drove it all the way to Homer without it leaking. Go figure.
I pastored Kachemak Bay Christian Church for three years. I loved it.
I had several medical crisis’ beginning in 2002. Brain surgery was needed, I found I had contracted HCV in 2003.
I aspire to be a writer. I’m now negotiating with a publisher. I also have three blogs.
I have severe tinnitus. I hear noise all the time. It gets old.
As a boy, my dream was to be a writer, or a forester.
Broken Believers 