The "Fresh Prince" and self-made man

"In West Philadelphia, born and raised, on the playground is how he spent most of his days... I got in one little fight and my mom got scared. She said, you're moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air."

If you were a kid/teen in the '90's, you know the song. It's the intro to the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air", starring Will Smith. Will was a kid from Philly, whose mother sent him to live with his aunt and uncle to get him out of a bad situation.

I was watching an episode of the Fresh Prince the other day and part of the story tied in really well with the lesson I was working on for Wednesday night. Will was starting to feel like he was too much like Carlton(his cousin who he thought was rich and spoiled). So, instead of using money from his uncle to pay for homecoming, Will decided to go out and get a job without telling his family. Before long, word got back to his aunt and uncle that Will was missing curfew, falling asleep in class, and skipping basketball practice. 

This turned into a confrontation between Will and Uncle Phil at the restaurant. Will explained how he was just trying to be a man and make his own way. Uncle Phil's response was what got me thinking. He said, "Nobody does anything without help... people opened doors for me. And, I worked hard to open doors for you! It doesn't make you any less of a man to walk through them."

 

 What does this have to do with my lesson? I am glad you asked. We were studying out of Jeremiah 18:

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

 As Christians, we need to remember salvation does not come from anything we do. It is a gift from God through Jesus Christ, our savior. That is the only way to be found right in His sight. We cannot do enough good or earn our way to heaven, because we have all messed up.

In this world, the self-made man is glorified. Getting somewhere on our own is something we take pride in. We must remember we are only as valuable as we allow God to make us. We must allow God to go to work and form us into something great.

This race is all about walking through that door of grace Jesus himself opened up on the cross!

Science is not a rival to religion

“Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals.”

Martin Luther King Jr. made those remarks. We often hear debates centered around "science vs. religion". I think we are missing the boat. Just to keep it simple, I believe science goes a long way to tell us the only explanation for this world is a being greater than ourselves.

We read in Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.

That leads me to the following quote from Evelyn Underhill:

Rejoice always!

Robert Frost once said, "“Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.”

Think about that statement and about the last time you were truly happy! What a feeling!

Why were you happy? New car? New job? A resolution to a big problem? When we rely on circumstances to make us happy, we will not get to experience fullness in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4 tells us, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." I think it means something that he repeats it for us again. "REJOICE!" What we find in the Lord is truly something to be happy about!

Through Christ, you have a promise of a home in heaven for eternity! REJOICE!

I am called to live by the same faith that Noah sailed by

I spent part of my morning listening to Jim Brinkerhoff's final sermon at the Auburn Church of Christ from Nov. 10th. Jim passed away last week and I attended a service celebrating his life Sunday.

I got a lot out of the lesson just from the sermon itself, but also from reflecting on his style of preaching and all the lessons I have heard from Jim over the years. His level of preparation is inspiring and his intellect makes me want to study harder. Jim taught me what a man of God should look like, because he spent his entire ministry pointing to God.

In this final sermon he is discussing the flood.  There were a couple of points that stood out. The first is the title of this post, "I am called to live by the same faith that Noah sailed by."

He goes on to remind us of God's gracious offer before the flood. And that at some point God's gracious offer ends. The same is true for us in God's final judgement when Christ returns. Check out the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:

37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Jim says, "Do not let business as usual cause you to forget... How are you responding to the patience of God?"

See you soon, Jim

I was one of more than 1,000 people that flooded the Auburn Church of Christ Sunday to pay respect to a man that changed lives and inspired thousands of people to look to Jesus. Jim Brinkerhoff died last week after 30 years with the Auburn Christian Student Center. The sheer number of family, friends and former students in attendance is enough to tell the story of who Jim was and what he meant to so many.

Photo from Walt Malone

Over the last few days, I have read many tributes to Jim through blogs and social media. Each one of those tributes describing our beloved campus minister as a man of God who taught us what it means to serve the Lord.

I posted the following on facebook the day after he passed away:

My heart is still heavy with the news of Jim Brinkerhoff's passing. As the campus minister at the Auburn's Christian Student Center, Jim touched thousands of lives as he helped students develop and own their faith. 

What I remember most about Jim is how he poured himself into every lesson. You could tell how much he cared about what he was saying in those brief pauses where he would hold up a finger and invite you in to his thoughts a little deeper.

The lesson I try to live by and will always remember is a simple one: "I am a Christian who just happens to be a student(or whatever your current occupation or circumstance)". I have repeated this countless times in various lessons and conversations.

Jim Brinkerhoff was a giant of our faith in the way he lived his life always pointing to Jesus, showing us what it means to live Matt. 5:16. His legacy will live on throughout the world through us who shine the light we saw in him so abundantly. 

Sunday's service was captured on video. You can watch it in its entirety at the Auburn Church of Christ website under sermons.