Kingdom Hearts

As I am sure everyone knows by now, me and my family will be moving to Longview soon as I begin a new career as a therapist in a psychiatric facility in just less than 3 weeks.

This weekend while on the road, my wife and I were talking about what kind of things we will and won’t miss about preaching these past 11 years.  So as I was thinking about it more this morning, I thought I would post some of the things I will miss the most about my life as a preacher:

1. The brethren here in La Grange.  Incredible group of people that I love tremendously.
2. The feeling of fulfillment I get during the day from sitting in my office and spending several hours at a time studying my Bible.
3. The relationships I established in the community here in La Grange.  Great people here, for sure.
4. The time I was able to spend with people in need of encouragement.
5. Having the time to do things for others that actually matter.   
6. The personal satisfaction I feel when people tell me that my lessons benefited them in some way.
7. The opportunities to teach people God’s plan of salvation and seeing the happiness that accompanies their response.
8. The flexibility of schedule that allowed me to sometimes take the boys to the office or on visits with me.  Cody will probably miss this more than me, even.
9. The flexibility of schedule during the day to take care of personal business that a “9 to 5″ job will not afford.
10. The people who feel like they need to take the preacher out to eat all the time.
11. The enjoyment of teaching on a consistent basis.
12. The time that preaching allows me to spend blogging.
13. The camaraderie and fellowship I have with other preachers.
14. Being only an hour away from my parents in Victoria.
15. The amount of time I get to spend on facebook during the day, which is way too much. LOL!

I am quite positive that there are other things that I will miss that I just don’t realize yet or that I am not thinking of right now.  And yes, some of these I will still be able to enjoy doing to a degree, but not as part of my every day work as a representative of the congregation here. 

Peace!

Sunday morning after worship services here in La Grange, I had an exciting, yet difficult announcement to make.

As many of you know, since receiving my masters degree a little over a year ago, I have wanted to get my license in professional counseling (LPC).  The downside of this exciting goal is that I have known that at some point, if I ever decided to pursue this, I would have to take at least a 2-year hiatus from preaching in order to accumulate the 3,000 supervised hours I need to be awarded my LPC.

The opportunity has been presented.  After much prayer and deliberation with my wife, I have decided to accept an offer to work as a therapist at a psychiatric facility for inmates near Tyler, Texas.  I will be working for University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).

This decision is difficult on so many levels.  My heart is in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It always will be.  There is not a more important work in the world, and I will miss it immensely.  I am going to miss the congregation here in La Grange.  I am indebted to you in more ways than you will ever know.  I love you brethren dearly and cannot express in words how much you mean to me, Cody, and the boys.  The elders, as well as membership as a whole, have stood behind me, and have supported me in my growth not only as a preacher, but as a Christian.  This is extremely hard to walk away from.  This will be a tough adjustment for me, for sure.  I love my work as a preacher and it is all I have known for 11 years now.  I am so thankful to my wife for allowing me to do what I love doing. 

But it is time to move forward now.  And I have so much for which to still be grateful.  My family’s last Sunday here as La Grange residents will be Sunday, September 6^th.  We will be moving to the Longview/Tyler area.  I do not know what the future holds as for 2 years from now once I obtain my license.  Perhaps I will come back to a career in preaching.  That option will certainly exist.  Perhaps I will stay where I am if I like it there and enjoy what I am doing.  At this point, I simply do not know.  Or maybe I will even one day have a private practice as a therapist.  That opportunity will also exist.  I thank God for the doors of opportunity He has opened for me and my family. 

I covet your prayers.  I am convinced that this is the right decision for my family and me right now but it is still painfully difficult.  This will be a big adjustment for me as well as for my entire family.  I need your prayers for strength, courage, faith, love, and grace as I continue my partnership with Christ in His kingdom.  Please say a prayer for me, that regardless of what I do in life, I will be the husband, dad, Christian brother, friend, kingdom citizen, and now co-worker that God has called me to be.  And may I always remember, regardless of whether I am a preacher or not, that I belong to and have responsibilities in the greatest kingdom that could ever exist.

We love you all!

I have a story to tell before sharing an awesome video.

Some of mine and Cody’s best friends, Clay and Joanna Martin, live in Hobbs, New Mexico. He preaches there. While attending college at what is now called Texas State University in San Marcos, Clay was my roommate and he dated Joanna at the same time me and Cody were dating. So we all became quite close. We were very involved with the church there together and with the Bible Chair there. I attribute a lot of my growth as a new Christian to Clay and his encouragement. There is nothing quite like staying up til 3 AM talking bible, knowing you have a 8:00 AM class that same morning. He challenged me. He grew with me. Those are truly some of the greatest years of my life. And I will forever be indebted to him.

In the summer of 1997, we all went our separate ways. We still see each other and talk frequently. But we all got married that summer. First, John and Amber Johanson, then me and Cody, then Clay and Joanna, later that summer Patrick and Melissa Hammack, then Travis and Melissa Herbelin. Well, while we were all engaged, the running joke was undoubtedly, Clay and Joanna would be the first to get pregnant. They didn’t disappoint. About 3 months after they were married, they showed up at the door of our apartment to announce their good news. Of course, I laughed at them. But at the same time I was happy for them. We all knew it would happen, accident or not. I remember going to visit them at the hospital on the night of Caleb’s birth day. Just a few hours old, he was crying and Joanna held him and sang to him, while saying, “Mommy is here. It’s okay.” I wept. Then Clay laughed at me. So I guess he actually got the last laugh.

Great memories! Well, this coming July Caleb will be 11 years old. He is growing up. What a great young man he has turned out to be and Cody and I love him as if he were one of our own. Clay and Joanna have obviously done a great job with him, along with their two daughters, Faith and Jenna. And he is as strong as an ox. I found out this past December when we saw them, that I can no longer easily pick him up and manhandle him like I used to do.

Well, I wanted to share with you a video of Caleb preaching his first sermon. I hope all will take the time to watch this. It is incredibly encouraging and refreshing. It is only 3 1/2 minutes long so it won’t take up too much of your time. His brevity in and of itself is a great example to us preachers, right? HA! He has us all beat I think, with regard to his age for preaching his first sermon. And what an awesome topic, Jesus is the only One who saves. Great job, Caleb!

Clay and Joanna Martin, we love you. You guys are incredible. Thank you for the encouragement you are for Cody and me. And thank you for your wonderful example of raising a young boy who is learning more and more every day how to love Jesus and walk with Him. And may God’s richest blessings continue to shine on your beautiful family!

*This is something I wrote a couple of weeks before the elections in early November. It did create some discussion when I put it in our church bulletin, but for the most part, people appreciated it….so they told me that anyway,

It is interesting to me how this is a particular time when politics is such a great part of discussion among so many people. I’m not being critical of it, altogether. I am certainly guilty of it myself. I undoubtedly have my opinion as to who I want or don’t want to be our next president, just as I have my thoughts on our current president and presidents of our past.

But what I find fascinating is how many articles I have seen written in church or religious publications, promoting certain political parties. The amount of advertisements for various churches with regard to sermons that will be preached surrounding the issues of political candidates is astounding. For example, about a week ago, there was a big news story that began with, “On Sunday, more than 30 pastors across the country are expected to preach a sermon that endorses or opposes a political candidate by name.” The article goes on to discuss how technically, this is a violation of law that says tax-exempt organizations (i.e., churches) are banned from involvement in political campaigns. It then goes on to discuss certain “pastors” who fully intend to violate this “ban.” Now whether or not this is really a matter of breaking the law, who knows? I guess it can be debated among those who actually care. I personally don’t. There is another point in the article where a quote is given, “if you are a Christian, you cannot support a candidate like ______.” Now again, don’t get me wrong. I have my reasons for supporting certain candidates and not supporting others. And yes, a large part of my ideology does surround moral issues. I’m just not convinced however, that the pulpit is the place for me to promote this. I don’t believe that is what Jesus called me to do as one who is privileged to preach His precious and saving gospel message. I believe if our elders were primarily concerned about whom you vote for, they would advise you to watch a certain news channel or read a particular newspaper. Besides, I am probably not knowledgeable enough on every issue to make that my agenda anyway.

There are certainly a lot of things that I do not know, believe me. Hopefully I will always realize that I have a lot to learn. But let me share with you what I do know for a fact. Jesus stated in His Word, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. As it is, My kingdom does not have its origin here” (John 18:36). Thank God that we can have the peace and security that our citizenship is in a much grander place than what this present-day world has to offer (I Peter 2:9-17). Thank God that we will have the freedom to choose where we want to worship Him and the right to exercise our privilege to worship Him regardless of who our president is. I want my citizenship and therefore focus, to be in heaven (Philippians 3:14). May that be what I strive for! This is the hope that I have through the resurrection of my Great Redeemer in Jesus Christ. It is an inheritance that cannot perish and will never be corrupt (I Peter 1:3-4). It is my desire to promote and endorse this kingdom, and it’s King.

I know this article will probably come across as somewhat controversial. If so, please accept my apologies. To offend anyone is far from my intentions. I am confident that there are dear friends of mine who will disagree with me because in their mind, we have a moral obligation as preachers to talk about these issues. And perhaps they are correct. My opinions have been wrong on many occasions. If that is the case, then by all means, do what you feel is the right thing to do. I hope your Lord’s Day will be fruitful. For what it is worth, at one time I thought this way too. I have changed. As for now, my time will be spent preparing to promote Jesus Christ, not our political candidates. My loyalties will be on what Jesus says concerning these “issues,” not on what political parties say about them. Please pray for me, that I am successful in promoting the cause of Jesus Christ, not only in my teaching but in my actions, personal conversations, and attitude. And may I seek every day to follow Him and conform more to His image.

I will conclude with a quote from the leader of the greatest kingdom: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you” (Matthew 6:33). I am Jason Browning and I approve this message.