The World According To Chris Brewer

WARNING: Those who love the Church of God of Prophecy to death; work at International Headquarters; are good friends with some people at Headquarters; dislike me referring to Cleveland, Tennessee as Mecca; completely approve of the way things are run at HQ; face Mecca and pray to it for guidance and deliverance; or still suck on binkys should proceed with caution. Consider yourself forewarned and please move forward with eye protection, and have medical personnel readily available. If you have a cell phone, punch 911 in now so all you have to hit is the SEND button.

—–

At Youth Conference, I was asked what I would do if I were a pastor in the Church of God of Prophecy. I then asked Mrs. X (I withhold identities of those who ask me objectionable questions) if she wanted me to give my complete and honest answer, and if she could handle her ears bleeding. She said yes so I gave my diatribe. Now since many of you have asked me the same question, I will post my reasoning publicly. As mentioned above, make sure you are within access to medical personnel, because my answers might give you a heart attack or make your eyes water–I mean bleed.

Here goes.

If I were a pastor in the COGOP…the three most important things to me would be….

1. I would only be as affiliated with Headquarters itself as necessary. Which is to say, I don’t want any continued interaction with the folks down in Mecca. I’m trying to minister to people at my church and I don’t need a bunch of people telling me how to run things. I am more concerned with relational ministry among the people with my church…..if someone is saved, who are we to say they can’t join our church or even minister. Who cares about their circumstance as long as they are, and I will use the COGOP’s own words here, “walking in the light to the best of their knowledge and ability”? I don’t care if someone is divorced and remarried, looks weird, etc. If God has called them to ministry I plan to utilize them. So my only interaction with HQ would be for General Assembly, possibly Youth Conference, and sending in my ministry reports. Other than that, hey, I’ll see you all in heaven someday.
2. Our outreach would be team-oriented and concentrate more on the Word than what the church has to offer. This only makes sense, since you can’t get people to come to church by just sitting in a church building. If we’re gonna evangelize and go out and about and get people, why not just hold church services in public venues. That way, it will pique people’s interest and they might come…just a thought. On that same note, outreach would be team oriented. We would send teams of people into different areas…and no, our main focus would NOT be “come to my church, here’s a flyer, have a good day.” We would go out and tell people about the Word instead of what we have to offer as a church. Then as you build a personal relationship with the person, invite them to church….that way, they won’t feel as awkward as your regular church newcomer; they already know some people from the church.
3. Each ministry would have a specific focus that all the leadership would work together 100% to achieve. The main problem I see plaguing the COGOP today is a lack of central focus. We want people to come to church, but why. Is it the good thing to do or is there a better reason behind it. My personal take on this is that Christ ordained the church to reach out and minister….which basically means if you’re going to church for yourself, it’s for the wrong reason. So in order to minister, we need to be sharply focused on one major goal we want to achieve in each ministry: i.e. children, youth, college, adult, etc. Even ministries such as home groups, homeless outreach, public relations, etc. need to have a specific focus of what should be achieved. Without a vision, the people perish, and many of our churches are dying right now.

I will post more on this later, but I want your thoughts. I’m off to lunch…part 2 coming up sometime within the next couple of days.

I was gone on temporary duty for two and a half days, to the arm pit of North Carolina: Wilmington. I know I don’t even live there, and that was the first time I had ever visited the place, but my Lord…..that place sucks. Smog, cheap strip malls everywhere, people who don’t know how to drive (including a guy who flipped me the bird on US Highway 421), and a place called Kohl’s Frozen Custard make Wilmington by far the crappiest place I’ve ever been to in America. Period. It was such a bad place I actually would have rather gone back to the Azores for a couple days. Yeah….that’s when you know something’s pretty bad….me wishing I could go back to the prison I was in for 15 months.

But today I am back. After a five-hour trip back this morning and an equally long nap, I’m ready to go out and do something tonight. What to do, I don’t know. Maybe I might sit tight and just work on my next CD. Never mind, Sean just called so I think we’re going bowling.

By the way, tonight marks the 2-year anniversary of me not having even stepped foot in a dance club. I love the music, but I hate the places and the atmosphere now. Can’t stand the drinking, the party atmosphere, and the people who think they have to look cool or make a false impression to attract members of the opposite sex. I don’t think I’ll ever set foot in a club again….it’s not for me.

Back to the events of the past couple of days: A co-worker shot a news story about a Navy ship being renamed after a guy who was killed in combat in Afghanistan three years ago. I was pretty much the equipment guy and grip for my co-worker during the shoot, and it was a pretty interesting job. They had a bunch of foreign military folks–I saw people from Cameroon, Russia, Estonia, and Canada. Not to mention the top-ranking man in the entire Air Force, General John Jumper, was there as well. The guy’s family was there to break the bottle….and right afterward, there was an awesome flyover provided by the fighter squadron out of Seymour Johnson AFB in South Carolina. We met a bunch of nice and helpful people, and that was what made the trip salvageable. Not to mention, I think a good news story will come out of this.

Well, tomorrow is a big day for me. Can’t say why yet, so watch this space on Monday. I will have pictures.

Quote of the day:

I’m the same boy I used to be.

(Steve Winwood, in his song “Valerie”)

—-

Currently Listening To: “Technologic,” Daft Punk. Human After All (2005).

Top Rated Music for the Last Week: [In the following format: "Track," Artist. Album (Year).]

1. “Ready 2 Wear,” Felix da Housecat. Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever (2003).
2. “Battle,” Tim Deluxe. The Little Ginger Club Kid (2004).
3. “Make Love,” Daft Punk. Human After All (2005).
4. “Relax,” Etienne de Crecy. Tempovision (2002).
5. “Jump ‘N’ Shout,” Basement Jaxx. Remedy (1999).

Word of the day: WOW.

I say that because everything around here is moving at such a frantic pace that I almost can’t keep up. Among the things that are going on:

- Tomorrow I leave for North Carolina. I might not be able to update for a couple days, unless I can get a laptop and get online somewhere. I should be back Sunday.

- My dad is moving to Washington, D.C. for a few months to work for a construction company. He’ll be working with my “Uncle” Johnny Parker, at the National Archives. Sounds pretty cool, and the good thing is that he will only be two hours away from me. But….pray for my mom and brother, they’re gonna miss him for a few months.

- Things with Stephanie are going along very well. She’s a great person. Yeah, I know some of you guys don’t know what’s going on, but if I feel you need to know, just ask me and I’ll clue you in.

- I am tired. Ok, enough of the bulleted lists.

I’m just really excited about this summer. Lots of good stuff to come, lots of good things to do, and lots of eveything to be excited about. I feel good.

Today is my first post on my BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW BLOG. Heck yeah. Problem is, I just don’t know what to say.

Err, then again, maybe I do. In the world of sports…

- Tonight is our team’s first official softball practice. I feel good about playing for Air Combat Command Public Affairs this year, and even better to coach a team that will hopefully break its 26-game losing streak soon. If we win one game this year I will be happy, and if we win four or five I will be in heaven. I just have to figure out who is playing and where I will have everyone play. I’ve never coached an adult softball team before….I’ve only coached Little League (that was tons of fun). Just pray we win a couple this year and we have a lot of fun. Season record: 0-0. The season begins in May (when I’m gone).

- Yesterday’s Seattle Mariners score: Us 5, Minnesota Twins 0. Richie Sexson is the MAN after hitting two home runs and driving in all 5 of the Mariners’ runs home. Way to go Richie, now Adrian Beltre needs to get on board. He and Ichiro had some good hits yesterday too. Good win, I was impressed, on march my Mariners like a mighty army. Season record: 1-0.

In other news…

- I will be in North Carolina form Thursday morning to Saturday night. Those of you that have my phone number, call me up and tell me you love me. I’m gonna need it.

- I will more than likely be in Guatemala, first week of May.

Gotta cut this short, got some work to do. Peace.