Jared Brown

If you have ever wondered “should I sponsor a child”  the answer is a resounding, YES!  Sponsoring a child is so much more than giving $38 a month but it is a long lasting relationship with a child whose life you get to impact and who will forever change your life.  What you are about to see is 14 out of 16 of us on this trip meeting their child. To sponsor is not picking up a packet but it is seeing a child in need and responding.  I hope  as you look at these pictures you see a portion of the joy we felt meeting our kids and respond with action.  If you do not sponsor a child I encourage you to please heavily consider it by checking out Compassion.  If you already sponsor then as you finish reading this blog please write your child and let them know you love them and are praying for them.  Encourage them to work hard in school and let them know that Jesus loves them so much.  And, then why don’t you think about if you could sponsor another child.  Remember 2 Billion people live on less than $1 a Day and through compassion you have a chance to end the cycle of poverty in not only a child’s life but a family.

Hope you enjoy what we got to be apart of:

This Past Summer of 2010 we had 4 Former Compassion Children Who Graduated College Came to the US and Traveled with us telling their stories at our camps About what Compassion did for them and How Their Sponsors Changed Their Lives.  (I know, run on sentence and wrong punctuations, but hey it’s cool) .  Today we Got to see 2 of them:

Daniel

David

More to come tomorrow . . .

Today has been an incredible day. After about 20 hours flying I arrived in Kenya yesterday with 15 of my friends and coworkers.  We have the privilege of being here with Compassion International seeing the wonderful work they are doing to release children from poverty in Jesus name.

Instead of telling you what I did I think it might be a little more interesting to show.  I hope you enjoy:

This is just a glimpse of what we got to be apart of Today and it was amazing.  These opportunities and children have changed our lives forever.

To Be Continued . . .

If you’ve talked to me over the past week you have probably heard me say something about this book I am reading; The Supremacy of God in Preaching.  There is this quote in there that has had me really thinking the last few days and so thought I’d share.

“It’s now part of our nature.  We take the mirror of God’s image, which was intended to reflect his glory in the world, and turn our back to the light, and fall in love with the contours of our own dark shadow, trying desperately to convince ourselves (with technological advance or management skills or athletic skills or academic achievements or sexual exploits or counterculture hair styles) that the dark shadow of the image on the ground in front of us is really glorious and satisfying.  And in our proud love affair with ourselves, we pour contempt (whether we know it or not!) on the worth of God’s glory.  And as our pride pours contempt upon God’s glory, his righteousness obliges him to pour wrath upon our pride.”

I find that many times we trade God’s infinite glory for our own shadows. We have traded the creator for creation and try to make creation infinitely glorious and infinitely satisfying.  We have looked up at God, who is all satisfying, giver of life, redeemer, loving, kind, merciful, gracious, life sustainer and spat at him by then turning and looking down at our shadow, merely an image with no real form or essence and say I choose this.  I want myself.

Conviction has laid heavy on me cause I look at my life and say God, wow forgive me for how many times I have chosen everything but you.  The beauty of all this is I do not have to earn anything and I can’t make God want me or love me.  He does that on his own accord.  Through God’s grace and mercy I have had my eyes open to how my “shadow” draws me in.

As a christian who is reading this, have you ever had the feeling that God was calling you to something like church planting domestically or internationally (I’m here), or a job, or a school to attend, maybe it’s seminary(this is me too), or even furthering your education(this is also me), or a church to join, or maybe even how to reach people, maybe it’s what is next in your life (here too),  and instead of stopping and seeking God you go straight ahead into planning and figuring it out for yourself?  I do this more times then not.  I think “oh yea God is leading, now let me just go and do it”.  I focus on me “my shadow in front of me”.  I am not trying to do bad stuff or go against God but I take my focus and gaze off him and rely on myself.  How i hope and pray that you and I would no longer go with what we think is best or what our friends think would be great, or what our parents want for us, or what the culture says even church culture, but would we bask in the presence of God, in his glory, and seek him for direction.  I think that wise counsel is a great thing and needed so please do not be a person on an island, but be wise in not elevating mans sometimes selfish council over God’s wisdom.  I know, I know how do we discern this? How do we know if someone is giving us good advice?  How can I trust what someone is saying is Godly and not selfish?  This is where I would say I am still learning this too but what I do know is we need to pause and in our frantic seeking, stop, pray, fast and seek God, asking for his discernment and guidance and that clarity would be set before us. Peace will come.  Peace doesn’t always mean Oh I know what I am doing 100% now and that I have no worries or questions, but it does mean in the midst of uncertainty and searching I have a confidence that my God will hold me stead fast and not fail.

(I quote Romans a bunch so for those of you who know me just laugh again that I am using it once again, but see the richness now of what it says…)

Romans 11:33-12:2

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable are hi ways!  For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

How wonderful that there is no one who can say they have counseled God?  May we rest in his mercies and trust in his sovereignty to guide us and lead us, finding peace, and in doing so may we pray for direction, pray and seek godly counsel from those around us and then may we boldly run for Christ so that when those around us see they stand in awe of the glory of God.  May we never trade glory for shadows.

It has been a long time since I’ve blogged so sorry.  I have found myself extremely busy and just haven’t taken the time to talk about what is going on in my life and what God has been doing.  I am currently with a team of 27 people, including myself, who will be doing camps for churches across the US.  I am have the privilege of serving along side these awesome awesome people.  I am blessed to be called their leader as I know that this is not something to take lightly.  I am currently at this moment sitting in an office where I am surrounded by my office staff as they watch things on the internet like glee and chuck and I find myself laughing as they trust me and ask for permission.  I have never looked at my responsibility as leader to so serious as I do now.  I want each one of my staff members to thrive and succeed at all they do!  I hope and pray that God leads me and directs me as these people trust me with there lives.

We have such a great privilege to take the Gospel to our nation as we trust and hope in our One True God as he changes lives.  I am so humbled to know that God has poured out his Grace and mercy on us.  This reality has become so true to me in the past few months as I have read through Romans over and over and am constantly reminded of His goodness in all things as he has completely consumed his wrath so we may have peace with him as his glory reigns forever. Amen!

So “TIA” is something Daniel, our friend traveling with us from Kenya, says which means “this is america”. He says this because of how great we have it over here and when he sees things he can’t believe he say “TIA”.  Pretty funny.  We have also adopted it for our team as we are the AQUA team and so it also means This is Aqua.  I love my team.  One day I will introduce you to all of them.

What is your Name?  My name is Jared Adam Brown.  My parents saw fit to name me after a few men in the Bible; Jared is in Genesis 5:18-20.  He lived to be 962 years old and was the father of Enoch who was one of 2 men to be taken from the earth with out dying, by God.  Then you have Adam, the man God started humanity with and also the man who committed the first sin which separated us from God.  My last name Brown comes from German and English descent.  So that is my name, but honestly what is my name?  Is it simply those words and so when someone says those words that is all there is to me.  Or, does my name provoke meaning, definition, maybe character.  You see when I say “Brad Pitt” you automatically think of the person and you can think of his movies and that he is married to Angelina JoLee and that they adopt and help to take care of children.  If someone talks about you they are not talking about your name they are talking about your essence, the very being of who you are.  So what is to a Name?

More than I think any of us would ever imagine or really think about to be honest.  Hundreds of years ago your name was your reputation.  It was all you had to go off of with someone because it represented everything about them.  I have a circle of friends that if you said Jared Brown they could tell you all about me and what I stand for and what my character is like.  You have people like that in your life too.  Some people think to highly of their name!  You see we may not be as focused on how our name invokes meaning in peoples minds and that our name causes emotions to well up, good or bad, in some ones mind and soul.  This is something people were very aware of hundreds of years ago, that their name provoked peoples thoughts and that based just off your name some one knew what you believed, did for a job, and even knew where you were from.  A name meant so much!  Today it means just as much.  We just do not think as highly if our our actual name (the words).  Actually most of us think to highly of our name (ourself) we just don’t think we do or will admit we do.  Oh, How can I say that?  Well in the next few things I hope to make us aware of how exactly we do this.

The word name means; “a word or set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known, addressed, or referred to; someone or something regarded as existing”.  When was the last tim you thought,”oh my name means I exist?  You probably have never thought that because a name just as a word does not mean you exist, but you as the being makes the “name” come to life.  You as a person as a living being give definition to that name (as a word or group of words) .  How incredible and scary is that?  That who you are, what you do, how you live, and what you say causes some body else to have an emotional response.  I think it is pretty cool and it is pretty weighing on me as a person that my name can do that much.

The greek word for name is onoma meaning reputation.  I want to tell you the greek word because what I am about to share with you comes from the New Testament which was originally written in greek.  So hopefully this will give you a better understanding as you read some of these texts.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.  After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs…[...]…And again, when he brings the firstborn(being Jesus) into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’ … of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom; You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” And, “You, Lord, laid the foundations of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain;”

Hebrews 1:1-11

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is your in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:5-11

…”Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,”

Romans 1:5-6

I hope you see the recurring theme here.  It is all about the NAME of Christ!  He is glorified by angels and creation worships him and we have this notion that, “no it is about me and my name, and that I must get the glory.”  Now I know we do not think this on a daily basis but tell me this when you see some one in need maybe in the side of the road do you or I stop to help them.  Give them food or give them money or a jacket or maybe even a quick ride somewhere.  Probably not.  Let’s go a different route.  What consumes most of our thoughts?  Is it having the next new and flashy thing?  Is it having new clothes so people think highly of us?  Maybe it is in the way we act so people will like us?  I am so convicted in my own life that most things are about me and what people will think of me.  I want I want I want, and I lose sight that I have received grace and mercy for the name sake of Jesus and his glory.  He has the name that is above all names and he is worthy to be praised and adored and worshiped. Creation worships him without even thinking about it.  Creation sings his praise.  His name is renown in all the earth because of what he has done.  I hope that we, myself included, can take the focus off ourselves and in all things point to Christ.

Does our name have the reputation of Christ?  Is the name of Jesus what people will say after they have met you or will they remember you above all else?  May it be that Christ lives and shines through your every action and word.  I write this to myself because I have not been concerned with the name of Christ as much as I have with my own name, but, yes but, today that changes because Christ lives in me and it is his grace that walks through me.

This morning I have been talking to a few friends.  Some of these friends I have known since 8th grade and I would consider to be my best friend.  Others I met just a 5 years ago, some 2 years, and others a few months ago, but what I am grateful for is the encouragement that comes from the incredible friendships.  It is always nice to have that relationship with people that constantly build you and at the same time being able to build my friends as well.  I hope that I am as good of a friend to them as they are to me.

I am grateful for being so blessed living here in the US and that I have no needs in my life.  I am seeking for myself why I want so much, and trying to take my wants and give what I would buy for myself to those in need.  For me this is not easy because I have been raised in a society that says if you want it go get it or do everything you can to make it happen for yourself.  God has completely and radically called me on the carpet to this saying:

“For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, I was naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.  Then  they also will answer, saying ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”

Matthew 25:42-45

I know the grace of God covers me and that Jesus Christ saved me through his power and life, and that is nothing from myself. But, oh the dreaded but, if I have the power of salvation that is the gospel, which is Jesus Christ living a perfect life and dying as a substitute for me and making me right through his righteousness, then that GRACE will walk out of through my life.  I know that the salvation of the gospel lives in me because of the battle that exist in me and that everyday I feel the spirit battling the flesh of idolatry.  Thank God for the Holy Spirit who convicts and guides and leads us to repentance of self glorification instead of God glorification.

I am grateful that I have a roof over my head.  I am grateful that I have food anytime I want it.  I am grateful I have clean water. I am grateful that I have deodorant.  I am grateful that I have a toothbrush and toothpaste.  I am grateful that I have clothes and lots of them.  I am grateful for my bed with a mattress.  I am grateful for my truck.  I am grateful for shoes.  I am grateful for my job that makes me 15% of the world’s wealth.  I am grateful for my 5 bibles.  I am grateful for my cell phone.  I am grateful for having an education.  I am grateful for a college degree.  I am grateful for books that tell me a story.  I am grateful for my computer.  I am grateful that I can give.  I am grateful that I sponsor 3 kids through compassion and that those kids have changed my life.  I am grateful for my church and faith family.  I am grateful for grace and that first God has given it to me and that second I have friends who show me grace too.  I am grateful that I am blessed so I can be a blessings to those in need.  I am grateful that I have so much that I can meet some ones physical need in order to help them realize their spiritual need.

What are you grateful for today?

The place I work has a department called the call center. You guessed it they are the front line for calls that come in as they answer any questions that may arise. These guys and gals are awesome! In my role at the office I do not deal with the every day constant phone calls like they do and they take it like champs. I am grateful for people wililng to answer the phone in order to help solve a problem for some one. You may say that is no big deal, but I would beg to differ seeing as if they were not here I would be sitting at my desk answering the phone all day instead of building displays, building recreation games, working on the details for all our summer events, and would be more stressed out.  So I would say they are so beneficial.  Also they are just cool people to and fun to go hang with.  Every once and a while I get to work the call center and it’s cool because not only does it let me appreciate the people working in here but it gives me time to read and study.

I have been reading through the whole bible with my church and wow how encouraged I am by recalling these stories of our forefathers and how incredible our God is. I mean look at Moses. He was a stuttering, blubbering, shy, scared man who did not want to do what the Lord asked of Him, but God in his glory and majesty lead Moses, spoke through him, acted through him and caused a great awakening of His people. The crazy thing is that even through all the miraculous things God did for his people they still doubted him and worshiped idols. The other crazy thing is we do the same thing! God has sent his son, Jesus, to die on our behalf for our sins and bare God’s wrath. We just, in our depravity and self seeking glory, ignore this and live for ourselves. I have encountered some people in my life who have encouraged me because of their lives and how everything screams dedication, love, mercy, grace, and glory of God. Why is this encouraging? In the old testamite we see the presence of the almighty God in the holy place, the temple. Now because of the new testamite because of Christ the same almighty God dwells in us!

May we cast aside worship of ourself and instead turn to adoration of God and abandon this self glorification life style we have been sold.

Sometimes we make mistakes and they can linger over us.  Not fun I know.  I have actually been faced with that in my own life a few times and even recently.  Sometimes we do not think in the moment this will affect someone or hurt someone, and it may not, but I know a lot of times it does.  I have also talked to a few people I know who have the same thing going on in their own life, where they regret a decision they made and feel it was a mistake.  I know that this is very easy to step in and feel guilty and ashamed and condemned.  I do feel that the Holy Spirit convicts us in his guiding and directing of our lives as well as in refining us as a believer in Christ, but also the devil can use these feelings against us to make us feel defeated and useless.  Yes me make mistakes!  We all do and people are watching and sometimes they see our mistakes and sometimes they don’t, but either way we learn from them.

I am reminded of 2 passages here:

“Therefore let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.  I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.  For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.  By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.  So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.  So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

-Romans 14:13-19

People are always watching and the things we do may not be bad to those around you but the moment it causes a brother or sister to stumble then it is wrong.  I know this is true for my own life that I have made mistakes that at the time I didn’t think was a that big of a deal, but when a brother stumbles because of it, it should be a big deal.  Always be above reproach.  I have been reminded of this for all aspects of my life, but along with this passage I am reminded of the passage in John 8 where the woman is caught in adultery and the pharisees bring her before Jesus to catch him making a mistake or breaking the law in order to bring charges up against him.  These men throw her at the feet of Jesus and say she was caught in sin the law says she is to be stoned, and Jesus responds with………..Grace and Forgiveness and a statement that echoes in my mind, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”  Sin is at our core, it is our nature and we will make mistakes, but grace covers this before God.  Yes, there are consequences here on earth for some of the decisions we make and they hurt, but we have a God who is gracious and forgives us and wipes us clean.  What a story of redemption for us! Live in this knowledge and in this freedom!  Realize your mistake, take the consequences as they come as bad as they do hurt, and then take a step and start moving forward.

As I wrote earlier, let us be careful of our actions because we do not want to be a stumbling block to anyone else or cause another to sin.  I am guilty of this as we all are, but we are told “I do not condemn you, go and sin no more.“, thank you Jesus for love and for redemption in our messed up view and depraved minds.  I love that we have a God who yes will judge us, but will, for those of us with Christ covering of our sins, says welcome your sin has been forgiven.  Praise be to God for unconditional love and for choosing to save me from myself.

I leave you with this……

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly….–but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ dies for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

Romans 5:1-9

Praise be to God for our freedom from sin and that he is continually molding and shaping us.

John Stott wrote:

“The highest of missionary motives is neither obedience to the great commission(important as that is), nor the love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (as strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God), but rather ZEAL – burning and passionate ZEAL – for the glory of Jesus Christ.”

The goal of the gospel for us, as followers of Christ, is simply to make the name of Christ known and to make him look glorious no matter the circumstance in our lives.  I wouldn’t say this is easy, trust me, I have been through my share of hard times and marks of suffering but what else do we need but Christ and the power of the gospel to lead and guide us through these times.  My friends overseas who live in constant suffering and poverty make God look so glorious and I am thankful for their story to encourage my journey.

Do you, believer, view the gospel as urgent?  So urgent that you would say the same thing Paul does in Romans 9:1-3 “I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.  For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

Do we feel this way about our fellow human race?  Paul is saying he would be willing to be cut off from God, from salvation, so that they might have Christ’s saving grace.  He knows this will not happen or do any good because only through Christ can God’s wrath be satisfied, but he is in that much turmoil for people.

Are we?

I once read …

“Poverty doesn’t just consist of being hungry for bread, but rather it is a tremendous hunger for human dignity.” -Mother Teresa

“Poverty is not a lack of stuff, but a lack of hope.”

I have had a packed schedule, since returning from Kenya, interviewing college students who could be potentially working with me this summer as I travel with Student Life doing summer camps.  So as some may know I haven’t written in a few days, and in the past few days I have had time to think through my trip and read a few things on poverty.  I’ve been reading a few things by Mother Teresa in her “On Poverty & the Poor”.  For example:

“The world today is hungry not only for bread but hungry for love, hungry to be wanted, to be loved.  They are hungry to feel the presence of Christ.”

“It is much harder and, perhaps, more challenging to turn our attention and concern toward the poor who live right next door to us.”

“…a person who is shut out, feels unwanted by society, unloved and terrified – how much more difficult is it to remove that hunger?”

“This is what we must often so in our works: [...] satisfy the needs of the body, so we can then bring Christ to the poor.”

“Jesus gives me the opportunity to feed Him by feeding those who are hungry, t clothe Him by clothing those who are naked, to heal Him by caring for those who are sick, and to offer Him shelter by housing those who are homeless and unwanted.”

There are opportunities all around us, and I know that the “sexy” thing to do is to take care of people around the world and YES this is right and good, but it is also right and good to take care o our neighbors here.  The spiritual poverty looks very similar in Kenya as it does here in the United States.  As I once heard a pastor say, why do we feel like we have to choose?  the simple answer is we don’t!!  Serve here and there!  Live here and Go there, or Live there and Come here!  We cannot keep turning a blind eye to one though.  I find myself becoming so complacent in doing my part, meaning I give to compassion and pray for those in need and find myself moved to take care of those in need here and in the world yet go home after work, maybe go see a movie, or just go feed my desire to be entertained.  I am not saying I feel or you should feel like I am earning something by doing all this, but for those of us who claim a relationship with Christ then our actions should be to take care of Him by taking of the least of them.

My fear is what Mother Teresa says:

“You in the west have the spiritually poorest of the poor much more than you have the physically poor.”

Why?

“One day there springs up the desire for money and for all that money can provide – the superfluous, luxury in eating, luxury in dressing, trifles.  Needs increase because one thing calls for another.”

We become self entitled and so we begin to want and want and stop caring about the needs of others.  I do not think that there is this idea of well I an do my part by giving a little here and there but not of my time, and this is what I am dealing with in my own life.

I will agree that most of what I am writing is for those who believe in Christ, but for those that may be reading this who do not believe in Jesus then I would first say, I pray and hope you come to know him and have a personal relationship with him, and then second, why would you think that by feeding your own wants and desires you will be happy all the time.  Cause if you are honest with yourself you aren’t happy unless you have the next new or best thing.  You will constantly want to feed your desire of stuff while your fellow man is lacking clean water, food to eat, clothes to keep them warm, and shelter over their head.  You too must act and help.  Being idle is leaving them to die and to feel unloved.  They are some ones mom, dad, child, sister, brother or loved one.

I love in Mother Teresa’s book where she says, “We have no right to judge the rich.  For our part, what we desire is not a class struggle but a class encounter, in which the rich save the poor and the poor save the rich.”

May we help each other, serve each other, love each other, and truly care about our brothers and sisters.

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Matthew 25:40