Bel Air Presbyterian Church Pastors' Blog

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.

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: Our Jewish friends are beginning a New Year this week. Every year the children of Israel set aside the ‘days of awe’ to prepare themselves for the New Year. They do this not just by looking ahead – but by looking inward and ‘repenting’ of their sins. This very simple Hebrew word shub (which means ‘turn’) has a very deep connotation. It is not so much our English word ‘repent’ with it’s emphasis on emotional sorrow and regret for our wrong deeds. It is much more concerned with ‘aligning’ our lives with the purposes of God. Less about beating ourselves up for our failures in the past and more about changing our lives right now. And before they could make things right with God, they had to make things right with people they had wronged or offended. Jesus knew this custom when he said “if you are offering your gift to God at the altar, and you remember your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift at the altar, go first and make peace with your brother. Then you can return and offer your gift to God.” (Matthew 5) In other words, our relational lives here on earth have impact on our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

The three little magic words in a marriage are not “I love you.” They are “please forgive me” or “I am sorry.” Asking someone to forgive seems the ultimate in being vulnerable and weak. It actually is the ultimate in being strong and wise. Having the maturity to admit and accept the truth we are all sinners saved by grace allows us to heal the wounds of living together. God spoke and demonstrated that kind of relentless love in his gift on the cross. He was not willing to lose the joy of having us for His own by the breach in our relationship with Him. When we learn to say “I am sorry” in a sincere way the whole world opens up for new and stronger love. It takes work. It takes a look inside and letting God give us the strength to get it right so we can walk forward into God’s grand future together.

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: I think Francis of Assisi best described the Christian life when he said we are called to Vita Evangelica (in Latin) or “perform/live out the gospel.”  The “good news” is that God is for us and not against us. Our whole salvation was God’s dream long before we even realized our need. But it is not something just to be “believed.” It is something to be experienced and lived out.

This last week back in Minneapolis over 800 Presbyterian churches met to discuss how to best ‘live out’ the Gospel in our denomination and culture. There are some very creative and hopeful proposals that are being created as we seek the Lord’s face. More on the next steps later this week.

What really spoke to my heart was an explanation of the Gospel by one the theologians and scholars attending. Someone asked him to explain the whole “Jesus thing” and he said the Gospel is “A costly demonstration of unexpected love.” Spot on! The Person and Work of Jesus Christ was “costly” beyond anything we’ll ever understand. The gospel is a “demonstration” and something that can be seen and not just talked about. It was totally “unexpected” in that God gave this costly gift even as we were shaking our sinful fists in his face. And it was and always will be the “final definition” of what love is all about.

I pray this next week I will rejoice and let this Risen Christ, by the power of the Spirit, live this extravagant lifestyle of love out in my life. Vita Evangelica!

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: As many of us know our denomination is the midst of great challenges. Like most “main line” denominations we Presbyterians are in the heated discussions of “how to interpret the bible.” Nothing new. But a different intensity to the interactions. The bottom line “plan of action” boils down to two options. Do we stay in the “lovers’ quarrel” and model to the next generation that you stay in relationships you disagree with, or do we find somehow to graciously leave and admit we are “two different faiths” trying to live in the same house?

One of our members Dr. Richard Mouw, the President of Fuller Seminary, wrote in his book “Uncommon Decency” how we tend to be either “evangelizers” or “dialoguers.” We who are evangelizers are persuaded of the need to bring the other person to our understanding of truth. We who are “dialoguers” want to be in the relationship more than change the individual. The evangelizers accuse the dialoguers of being “wishy- washy’”and no convictions. The dialoguers accuse the evangelizers of being hard headed doctrinists who won’t learn anything new from others, even if it’s the truth. I guess I am like most people a mixture of both.

One thing is perfectly clear. I want to be in relationship with others who disagree with me and see the world from different eyes. I also am deeply convicted of the truth of the Scriptures being fairly straight forward. Keep me and our whole church in deep prayers as we try and figure a way to “hold both sides of the coin” in God’s merciful hands. We need to boldly and lovingly hold our convictions while finding a new way to live together in these fast changing times.