The World According To Chris Brewer

OK…so Melissa woke me up with a text message around 8:20. I forgot to turn my cell phone’s ringer off.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express here in New Albany, IN for the night. Nice people around this area…almost everyone I have passed in the halls, on the street, etc. gives a friendly hello and some are even willing to strike up a nice conversation. I talked with one guy about Verizon cell phone reception for a bit last night.

This morning I woke up, went downstairs, had breakfast. That’s about it. It’s time for me to hit the road again and say goodbye to New Albany. Hopefully I can make it to my parents’ house by evening time.

Right now I’m gonna get some gas, head out and not stop for a few hours. We’ll see what today brings me. Beautiful drive yesterday, and now I find myself on the outer fringe of the Midwest.

That’s it! Have a great day and I will update more later.

Day 1. Newport News, Virginia to New Albany, Indiana. 665.9 miles covered. 8 hours and 54 minutes of total travel time. Average speed: 79 mph.

I’m here at the Holiday Inn Express in New Albany, and even though I’ve been sitting on my butt turning a steering wheel left and right all day, it’s been eventful. Here’s some of what has happened.

- I think I passed about 15 construction zones. West Virginia DOT is terrible….not only do they close one lane, but they narrow the road to where you can barely steer your car without fear of running into a jersey barrier. Then they make you drive through all these curves at 40 miles an hour, with truckers in front of you going about 25. It’s horrible. Never travel I-64 in West Virginia unless you have to, just for that reason. What West Virginia has in scenery is negated by terrible road conditions in construction zones.

- My transmission, which is expected to fail many times during this trip, only did it once, but it set me back about 2 hours on my trip. It happened in Charleston, WV.

- I thought I was going to get pulled over in Kentucky. I was going 73 mph in a 65 zone (work zone, no less) and lo and behold, I see blue lights flashing behind me. Sucks because KY doesn’t mess around, they double the MAXIMUM fine you can get for a traffic offense, if you get caught in a work zone. But praise be to Jesus, I moved to the right lane and the cop goes by, lights flashing. Amazing, because I could have swore I saw that same car with its lights off, near a donut shop at the next exit. Go figure.

- YANKEES LOSE, YANKEES LOSE. Now that all that is wrong with baseball has been killed off for the year 2005, I have no reason to watch baseball anymore until the Mariners start the 2006 season.

I am off to bed. Tomorrow I wake up at 9:30, and get back on the road. I expect to be at the Missouri Brewer Compound around 7 or 8 PM Central time.

Give me a call if you know the number. Peace, and thanks for the prayers for safe travel.

In about 20 minutes I will be hitting the high road to Springfield, Missouri to visit my mom and brother. Weather is holding up okay right now, but pray for safe travel as I will attempt to at least make it to Louisville, KY by the end of the day.

I will try to update as much as possible. Thanks for the prayers.

Short recap of tonight’s football game, really quick before I go to bed.

Team A was Tyler Ashworth, Jonathan Masters, Laura Masters, Mikey Phillips, Aaron Ruggerio, and Jessie Ruggerio.
Team B was Wes Ashworth, Melissa Atchley, Adam Gillette, Krista Lankford, a kid named Will and myself.

The weather let up for just enough time so we could play the game with relatively decent weather. We ended up tied at 7 touchdowns each (49-49) before we decided to call it a night and go to Dairy Queen.

Mikey P and Jonathan both caught two touchdowns for the bad guys. Tyler also ran back a kickoff for a TD. I think Laura and Jessie both caught touchdowns as well. For the good guys, Melissa and I both caught two touchdowns each. Wes ran back a kick, and Krista and Adam both caught TD passes.

Best two catches of the night: I made this weird one-handed catch on a pass that was thrown to my left for our first touchdown of the game, tying it at 7. Mikey countered later by making a diving TD catch to give the bad guys a 35-28 lead, late in the game. It was amazing, leaping in the corner of the endzone like he did.

The game’s co-MVPs were Melissa (2 touchdown catches, numerous stops on defense and key blocks during kick returns) and Krista (1 touchdown catch, numerous stops on defense and catching some huge 1st down passes). The women pretty much dominated the football game for our team; it was an awesome sight to see.

Good game, and good times at Dairy Queen afterward.

Oh, and we’re planning another game for the 29th. Be there!

Melissa has provided me with the ultimate proof that it is not always God’s will to heal everybody. I talked with her last night and she said she had read Matthew 27 in a Bible study. After pointing out a few verses, I am now fully convinced that the fact that Jesus didn’t bring himself off of the cross is the ultimate evidence that it’s not always God’s will to heal.

Think about that. God’s motive through the suffering and affliction of his own Son was that we might have eternal life. If he chose to bring Jesus off the cross and heal him, we would be stuck to Old Testament laws and would have a MUCH harder time getting into heaven than we do now. So that goes to prove that God uses suffering for good things.

A more modern example of the same concept is Joni Eareckson Tada, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident. She asked God to heal her and restore her ability to walk again, for years. You’ve gotta read this article – it tells more about her and her struggle to accept God’s will for her life as a quadriplegic. She uses her disability to reach out to people who wouldn’t otherwise believe in Jesus. Not to mention, she makes awesome paintings — using only her teeth.

When will people get it through their heads that God has a higher purpose than what we think, higher than our own physical healing? You tell me.

Oh, and thanks, Melissa, for showing me the ultimate proof that backs up our argument.

Check this out. Here’s video of a car chase that went all throughout Seattle’s East side yesterday evening.

We never get anything like that in the Northwest, so personally for me, it was a treat to watch.

Link: KING channel 5, breaking news coverage of car chase (over 17 minutes long)
Link: KIRO channel 7, raw video of car chase (about 5 minutes)

…but it’s really bothering me. I keep seeing examples among Christianity of people preaching and teaching that it’s always God’s will to heal and there’s something wrong with you if you’re not healed. The people who teach this claim that you have already been healed, you just have to accept it.

I believe people who believe this are horribly misled. I have stated my reasoning in a previous post. See here.

I found an article on a website today that cites Scripture reference combating the highly destructive Word-Faith movement and sheds some light as to how a lot of WOF believers operate. Here it is….it’s rather long. I’ve got a couple quotable quotes from the site here.

The vibrant message delivered with great authority through these media, and seemingly backed by Scripture and buttressed by claims of the miraculous, has led many astray. These teachers often deliver cautions against those who would criticize the doctrines.

….Word-Faith adherents often gain an attitude of superiority. Word-Faith adherents consider any criticism of their doctrine to be an attack by those who are not “spiritually mature,” and have not had this “higher revelation.”

I realize that those who proclaim the name of Jesus Christ as their Savior are fellow Christians and that is a common bond. But when Christians start trying to teach other people stuff that is not in the Bible, that is where I cross the line. The following paragraph from the above referenced article states my personal belief on the issue.

We believe in divine healing, both instantaneous and gradual, the existence of demons and deliverance from them; and that the gifts of the Spirit are for the church today as they have been since its beginning. Criticizing a body of teachings is not the same as judging one who accepts those teachings. However, Christians are told to compare any teachings, and the gospel they bring, to the Word of God and to cast off any that contradict Scripture (Acts 17:11; Galatians 1:6-9; 1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Rest assured I will continue to vehemently oppose the Word-Faith doctrine and its beliefs.

It is a sad day today for those of us who have lived or currently live in Northwest Oregon and taken in the beauty and history of Fort Clatsop National Memorial.

Last night the replica of Fort Clatsop itself, the place Lewis and Clark built during their journey to the Pacific Ocean, burned to the ground — well, most of it, that is. Investigators are calling the fire suspicious since it comes about a month before the planned celebration of the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark’s expedition.

I remember going there as a kid, hiking the trails, going to the replica and seeing people dressed up as settlers, Indians, people who lived at the Fort…it made history come alive to me. It may seem insignificant to someone else, but to see a place I loved to visit burn down to the ground really sucks. I hope if it is arson, that they catch the person who set the place on fire.

KATU, channel 2 in Portland, showed an interview with the park ranger. He was pretty broke up about it. Consider the fact a lot of people volunteered their time to make Fort Clatsop an experience for tourists, and now ashes litter the place.

Here are some links to news stories and video about the incident. It’s pretty sad. Good piece of Oregon history, gone just like that.

Link: MSNBC article - “Lewis and Clark Fort Replica Destroyed”
Link: KATU video report on the fire

What: 2nd Annual Lakeside Church Football Game
Where: Warwick High School practice field (click here for directions)
When: Saturday, October 8, 7:30 PM
Why: Just to have fun.

Yes, it’s that time of year again…fall, and that means a ton of football. This Saturday night at 7:30, everyone from the Ring of Fire Youth Group is invited to the 2nd Annual Lakeside Church Football Game. This time, we’re holding it under the lights at Warwick High School. Well, not really the lights, but the lighted practice field. So dress in your best (or craziest) athletic gear and get ready to roll. It’s gonna be flag football once again so the risk of injury is minimal.

Any questions, email me. Any changes to schedule, location, etc. (though not expected) will be posted here.

Check this out. It’s something I’ve been working on for awhile now. I heard the Abba song “Mamma Mia!” in a TV ad for their musical and I figured it would be nice if that song was updated and given sort of a modern groove.

As Dr. Emmett Brown said in Back to the Future: “Please forgive the crudity of this model, it is not built to scale.” That is to say, the song is not complete, but I am gracious enough to give you a sample.

I’ve been told by a couple people that have already heard it, that the track borders on something downtempo but could still get you up and dancing for a while. Awesome. I’ve never made a track like that before.

I offer it up to you. In case you wish to sing along, the only vocal part used in the song is “Mamma Mia, here I go again. My my, how can I resist you?”

Enjoy.

Link: Abba - “Mamma Mia!” (Chris Brewer Remix)