Bel Air Presbyterian Church Pastors' Blog

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: “After this Jesus showed himself alive by many proofs…” One of the great mysteries this time of year is the fact that the Risen Christ showed himself alive for forty days in fabulous ways. He walked with his disciples, he ate and drank with them, he made them breakfast, he taught and encouraged them. But it is how he showed himself that is so mind-boggling.  He appears in rooms that are locked, and then disappears. He touches and hugs them yet the walls are mere visuals compared to the sheer power of the Resurrection body.

But why did he appear to whom—and why not all the time? The Lord rewards faith and the Omniscient One knows when we need those times of undeniable proof. He also knows when our faith needs to grow and trust him more. In my own life it seems recently that the Lord is so evident, and then “wham” he seems to be gone. The great comfort is to know the “afterglow of Easter” still lingers in the air when I’m tempted to give in to despair. I love my family at Bel Air and the support you bring into my journey. Here’s hoping for another one of those “surprised appearings” of God’s hand in all our lives. He is risen indeed!

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: “For we see through this veil of tears…”   As Paul was experiencing one of the toughest chapters in his life, he reminded his beloved church at Corinth that their trials often blind them to the good God is doing. I’m told that military camouflage works because it breaks up the normal pattern our eyes are used to seeing. When ever God or life shifts into a pattern we can’t discern it can seem like God has left the scene. Not so.

Hope is what you’re living for. Despair is what you’re living against. Paul reminds his church at Corinth, that faith allows us to reverse not the winds of life, but the direction it takes our boat. To tack against the wind is what the gift of faith is all about. One of the first moves any wrestler is taught is how to do a “reversal.” When your opponent is on top of you, you learn how to actually use his body gripping you to lean into it, and spin around behind. It’s a reversal worth two points in wrestling. In life, its worth a whole lot more. We come to a portion of Paul’s letter this morning which explodes into our lives when we let the Spirit of God speak to us. The eyes of faith allow us to see three things of hope through our tears:

…Life is a Process – Embrace it.

…Life is Perseverance – Endure.

….Life is Precious – Enjoy it.

Ironically, it is only through obstacles and opposition we can ever discover the power which is available. We can learn, just as Paul had to be taught, God’s glory is revealed in sometimes the most surprising, and frankly, irritating places in life. It is such a comfort this time of year to realize the Risen Christ walks with us through our valleys.

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: For the last five years I have been working with many fellow Presbyterians trying to find a way to create a new way of living together with people we disagree with over essentials of the faith. I’ve never liked labels, but they do “locate” someone on the general map. I have been the “liberal” member of a more “conservative” Presbyterian denomination, and now I am the conservative “evangelical” in a more liberal “progressive” Presbyterian denomination. When you are the “conservative” I’m always defending my intelligence and understanding of love. (Kind of a “You’re just so mean spirited and juvenile in your understanding of scripture.”) When I was the “liberal” I was defending my salvation and understanding of truth. (Kind of “You’re just so compromising with the truth in order to be nice.”) What to do?

Recently our denomination has proposed a bold new experiment in letting churches change local presbyteries or even create brand new ones in order to quit fighting and get on with the primary mission of the church – bringing people to Christ. Fantastic! What that means now is that Bel Air is free to link hands and hearts with other congregations who agree with our view of historic orthodoxy and traditional interpretations of the Holy Scriptures. Even though it still has to be approved by the whole church (majority vote of 173 Presbyteries nationally) I am more than hopeful a shiny new day is dawning. Honestly, I mean it! I believe we have “thread the needle” on being uncompromising on our theology and yet flexible enough for a new way to do the Church. In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing more. It feels so satisfying to have worked so hard for so long and see such a possibility finally birthed. Praise the Lord!

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: As we are a few weeks into the New Year I’m always reminded of how much of our happiness comes from our relationships. We are a few weeks from our Lenten time of gathering in homes for our small groups and are looking for the next team of leaders. Leading a group in a spiritual season to seek the Living God is one of life’s true privileges. Leading a band of spiritual friends is not about knowing all the answers to everyone’s problems. It is not about being the “model Christian” for others to imitate. It is simply about leading and being led. It is about letting the Lord lead us as facilitators in our own lives and we lead others to a new place with Christ. It is about bringing the “real you” to the “real them” and encountering the Holy Spirit in community.

As we study this precious season of Lent the “I Am” statements of Jesus we will discover people with the same burdens, the same questions, the same dreams and the same hopes each of us have. We have a wonderful guide during these next forty days in the study guide and DVDs to enrich and stimulate asking the questions of growing deeper with Christ. We as leaders just have to create the environment for the Lord to do the healing and calling. I am eagerly expecting many of us to make friends that will last for years to come. For those of you who say “yes” to helping “bless you!” Thank you so much for answering the call to love someone by letting them journey with you in a spirit of acceptance and kindness. I know you will grow more than those who are to benefit from your obedience to the Lord’s voice. As we get ready to celebrate Resurrection Morning on Easter know we all have to travel some distance even as Jesus made His last journey to Jerusalem. There will be tears and laughter, frustrations and liberations, tiredness and refreshment as we “draw near to God and as He draws near to us.” What a grand pilgrimage we journey with brothers and sisters across this great city.

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: As we enter another new year I had the bittersweet experience of helping someone plan out their funeral. He is a wonderful man who is in the last stages of cancer. Looking back at his life he was reflecting on what kind of legacy he was leaving. Will he be remembered? Will the good he planted grow and bless others? Will his family be taken care of and will they remember him with fondness? What was all the struggles, joys, sorrows, and successes all about?

It’s interesting to me that the New Testament doesn’t have a lot to say about the legacy we leave behind. The reason is that it’s so “forward” looking.  True it speaks about the witness and “good deeds” about what we do in the everyday life of living in Los Angeles.  But it repetitively speaks of how these “good deeds” follow us.

This whole journey of life is seen not as the end in itself, but simply the “preamble” of what lies ahead. This is not about “earning heaven” but about the kind of chapter we’re writing for our futures. For a Word from God that speaks comfort about the eternity in front of us, the bible is oddly sketchy on just what the details are like in glory.  I think it’s because our language and experiences are so shallow and inadequate compared to the sheer “weight of glory” we’re being prepared for. It’s like trying to explain the joy of marriage to a toddler. You have to say it’s simply better than ice cream. So too God uses hints and images of the wonder waiting. But we don’t have the language or minds to fully grasp the life that is being prepared for us.

We know there will be a richness of love, joy, and peace we have never experienced here yet. As I head into this New Year with all its promise and challenges, I want to write the best chapter of my walk with Christ yet. I pray for all of us we see the Living God write a message of power in our lives.

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: Christmas is a time of healing. We are all wounded and broken in some way. The coming of the Christ Child was the invasion of the Great Physician. Healing for the nations, for our sin, for our relationships, and healing for us as individuals. The great mystery of the Incarnation is that a “piece of the future” has broken off and invaded in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Christmas means that though the earth itself has not been freed of evil and the effects of sin, some of the blessings of the Kingdom are available to those who walk with the Lord. We’re already “forgiven,” we’re already “adopted,” we’re already “accepted,” and we can be to a great degree healed of many of the sufferings of this world.

One of the “healings” is the promise of healing our hearts, or our emotions. One of the great declarations of the birth of Christ was “fear not.” Just like the shepherds were told by the angels to “stop being afraid,” today the Lord needs healthy shepherds. Sick shepherds make sick sheep. In your ministry, God needs healthy shepherds, whoever she or he is. Fear can be healed and transformed into great power in our lives. How? By admitting it – be honest. Then submitting it – give it over the One Who already knows how we feel. And finally by committing it – that is, our faith over our fears.

As we saw with anger, fear, as any emotion, is neither good nor bad. Feeling something is not a sin, or righteous. It’s why we feel something, and then what we do with it, that God is concerned with. One of the dominant emotions of our culture is fear. Not only do we live in an “age of rage,” but also we live in a time of great fear. We are a nation almost paralyzed by fear. The old classic “good news bad news” is that the “bad news” is that it’s going to get a lot scarier as we approach the return of the Lord. The good news is that there is an antidote to fear – the power of the gift of faith. May this coming new year be one of bold faith and a confident peace…Christ has come!

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: This last week we looked at that intriguing passage in Luke 1:35 when the angel Gabriel announced to a stunned Mary she was to be “overshadowed” by the Holy Spirit for her holy pregnancy. I was thinking in my own life how at times I try everything I can to be “noticed” and not be “overshadowed” by anyone. What a freedom when we realize God’s overshadowing is the freedom of not performing or gaining the approval of anyone but the Lord. But it brings up the issue of how do we live together with others? Who sets the agenda?

Is the individual or the group more important? We all would love to think it’s the individual. But what about when there are a “bunch” of individuals? Does one person’s desires have the “right” to hold others hostage? Or is the individual at the mercy of the group? One of the questions Calvin and the Reformers had to answer was the issue of what we call “individual rights.” For them it was an issue of “rights within relationships.” I am free to follow what I think the Lord has laid on my heart; just as long as it does not “cause others to stumble.” My freedom is only constrained by my love for my fellow human beings.

The tricky part is in implementing our common agreed upon rules for relationships. Who and how are laws and ground rules created? The Geneva of the 16th century relied upon “wise and Godly” governance. Such large decisions were not left to the “mob.” Wise individuals with a track record were appointed by vote to lead.

They were hardly perfect in their decisions but they did have a deep sense of “the common good.” Good faith means the intentions of the heart. It was their “fiduciary” (Latin for faith is “fide”) outlook which allowed the freedom to adapt to new challenges. They knew God in His Providence would supply the direction and means to get there. This wise faith applies to all our relationships. Whether in the “common sense” ground rules of living with friends or family, to the culture of our businesses, to the elected leaders in LA we as citizens can release wise decisions by loving the Lord and each other in “good faith.”

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: Like many pastors, sometimes I get so overwhelmed by the sorrow people experience. I love my calling, but it is true you rarely have people say “hey something great just happened…I think I’ll call the pastor!” We usually get those late night calls when tragedy hits. So why do the holidays bring out so much sorrow?

Calvin experienced a lot of pain in his life. Not only did he lose siblings to death, but he also would lose his beloved son and wife to illness. He was pursued by the religious authorities of the day for his life. Yet when he writes there is deep sense of gratitude for the goodness of God and life. How does someone find that kind of joy in such tough times? Calvin’s answer was it depends on what you focus on.

When a plant bends or “follows” the sunlight it’s called “phototrophic.” By adjusting to the position of the moving sun it maximizes the life giving light. In the same way when we “adjust” our attention to the Son of God we can maximize the joy that’s available even in the ‘darkest’ times. I notice when I look around this city its very easy to focus on all the darkness. But when I actually go looking for the good that God is doing through the lives of others I end up seeing the world through different eyes.

One of the great statements of the reformers later in the Westminster Catechism is answering the very purpose of life. “What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Calvin and the other reformers knew it is impossible to truly glorify God and not enjoy Him and His creation. I’ll try and look around today for one little thing that is cool and thank God for it. I know how thankful I am for my spiritual family.

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: The holidays are close and that means having to gather our extended families. Have you ever noticed you sometimes have relatives or friends who like you but not each other? The worst thing you can do is try and force them into a relationship, it’s kind of like grabbing two ends of an electrical cord and attempting to “connect them.” The end result is you keep them apart and you take all the juice! But now and then the opposite happens. Once in a while there is someone in your life you don’t “relate” with, but they have a friend who can befriend both of you.

As we just celebrated Reformation Sunday on October 29th, I think of relationships. We don’t know if Calvin ever met Luther, but we do know they had a common friend in Phillip Melanchthon. Though both Luther in Germany and Calvin in Geneva were staunch allies in the reformation, they had big disagreements on communion. What fascinates me is that Phillip Melanchthon had the ability to relate to both friends even when they could not relate with one another. Sometimes in my life a particular friend of mine will introduce me to someone who will become an even more important person in my life later on. It’s also true of relatives. Sometimes we’re in good places, other times not so good. It can all work for God’s glory and our good if we let it.

As we continue to build new relationships with other churches and mission partners, we should not be surprised if they connect us to someone else who will be even more important to us. It’s easy to mistake a friendship as the “end of the road” vs. a “bend in the road.” Learning how to engage and disengage our friend’s friends is a crucial skill in our relational worlds.

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: As Albert Einstein said “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler than it is.” When the Apostle Paul quotes Jesus “it is more blessed to give than receive” to his beloved church in Corinth, he was simplifying life for them. The life of love is the most fulfilling journey any of us can take. We all know that. But oversimplifying life is to set ourselves up for frustration and failure. Just throwing our lives out there for everyone is not true love. There are times when we are called to make tough choices between two “good options” or several “bad options”. We all have limited resources of time, energy, money, and things. How we choose to give those precious commodities is sometimes a tough choice. But the driving force in our giving must be love. When Paul tells the Corinthians to “give” it’s not just because their Christian brothers and sisters in Jerusalem were suffering and needed help. It was to get the Corinthians into a spot where the power of God could be released into their lives. Giving is sometimes a simple act. Giving a listening ear to a frustrated friend. Giving an encouraging smile to a colleague at work who is having one of “those days”. Giving up a parking spot to another person even though we’re running late ourselves. Or giving of our hard earned money so others can be helped. It’s not too complicated in the heart—even if it takes wisdom and adult thinking in the execution of that gift of love. Cute clichés are the worst way to live life. Eternal truths are the bed rock of a life of fulfillment. “It is more blessed to give than receive” is one of those axioms we have to experience on a daily basis to position ourselves into the life we always wanted.