Poem: Brass Garden

Marketplace Christian


Flowers planted carefully in a brass garden,

The blossoms could soften the heart of the hardened.

The colors soothed us and gave us great joy.

But then our lives got busy and they were forgotten as toys.

They were left unattended, flowers in a brass garden.

We took a moment to allow life to catch up,

as we sat in the yard as our tea grew cold in our cups.

The blossoms were no more, but what stood in its space,

was a message from God that put us in our place.

We allowed time to pass and the world caught up.

Where the flowers were, seeds had planted their roots.

Weeds had taken over, more than shoots.

They took over the sod and drained all the life.

No more fighting for space, no more strife.

The garden of brass had no more room for flowery roots.

If we had only weeded the problem at the first breaking of
ground.

We could have saved our blossoms and all the others we've found.


The flowers were there still, wilted and brown.

The blossoms were just a memory, nowhere to be found.

The joy was gone and the birds made no sound.

I silently prayed, "let not my heart be hardened",

The answer was clear, we received our pardon.

Let's pull the weeds together, all the way to the roots.

Removing all signs of even the shoots.

once again we'll have joy and flowers in our brass garden.

by

Wayne Brooks
2/18/99

Holy Hands

He stood in his pew gazing at his hands. He wanted to "Lift Holy Hands" in worship although what he was looking at did not resemble Holiness. His hands were badly marked by years of hard manual labor. How could he raise them to the Lord he loved? He left each Sunday in the same way. He was ashamed of his hands. Neither gloves nor lotion could erase the years of wear. On his job he did his best like a child of God should. And gloves would only get in the way.

Then one Sunday they sung a song of worship saying, "It's all about you, Jesus". He decided he could not hold them down any longer. He started off low, lifting only a little and as his faith grew stronger, they made it up high. He stretched out his work-worn hands as far as they could go. Trying to put away the feelings of shame over how "un-holy" his hands looked. He saw in his spirit two hands coming down to hold his. He felt utterly astonished as he looked up at the hands of a man who had spent many years in a carpenter’s shop working with primitive tools. His hands were badly scared beyond repair from punctures made by wood chisels as he lovingly carved quality wood products for his customers. His hands were badly calloused from swinging an ax to cut down trees to make yokes for oxen. His hands were badly marred from what looked like large nail holes. He thought for-sure these hands were worst looking than his own and still he knew that these were truly Holy Hands reaching down to him.

Then he heard a soft sweet, but stern, voice speaking to him the word "Avodah". Although he felt himself an un-learned common labor and all other tongues sounded like Greek. He somehow knew that the word was speaking of "worship by working".

Well this was more than he could stand and he knew that because of the hands stretching down to him that his hands had truly been made Holy. Now every time he prayed, worshiped, or worked, he knew that through the Blood of Christ, he has been made clean and that he now had "Holy Hands".

3/4/02

A Call to Prayer for the Churches in Crisis

I found this card in a used book the other day. Since November 8 is this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, I thought I would share this to prepare us. I got my wife to type and change some of the wording to make it more common language. Not so churchy. For more info on the Persecuted Church, Click on the title of this post.

The church of Christ is in crisis Throughout the world
ABROAD:Suffering is terrible in many lands.
Imprisonment and death are very real for some.
Tension and strain are usual.
Alarming needs, both spiritual and physical abound.
Losses, like never seen before, are being suffered.
Heroism and steadfastness in the faith need encouragement.
AT HOME:
Where there may be lies, blindness,
Self-centeredness, spiritual poverty,
Lack of power and joy,
May it not rob Your church of her witness.
Loyalty and sacrifice need recognition and increase.

THEREFORE:A call to prayer and penitence is given here,
Calling Christians everywhere to show themselves
with the critical challenge of burdens abroad
and also with the indifferences at home—that it will
please God to set our souls and churches AFLAME
with His gospel of salvation in this dreadful
day of opportunity and judgment.

Here is a prayer for the persecuted Church:
"O Lord, we lift our prayers together to You
For Your church in crisis. Only You can lead it;
Only You can clean it;
Only You can save it for its task today.
Where it is troubled without, strengthen it within.
Where it is confused, deliver it from hopelessness.
Where fires of persecution rage against it,
Let it know that You have not forsaken it.
Where it is cast down, show that it cannot be destroyed.
In its comfort zone, excite it.
In its complacency, waken it.
In its blindness, show it Your face.
In its deadness, bring it to life.
In its loyalty and sacrifice, sustain it.

So, O Lord, may Your church be shaken awake
in this awesome day of judgment---
to its central place in history,
to its divine power on earth,
to its clear gospel of peace and salvation,---
and witness so to Thee
that men and nations may know
You ONLY are God."

“Set us afire Lord,
Stir us we pray!
While the world perishes,
We go our way
Purposeless, passionless day after day.
Set us afire, Lord,
Stir us we pray!”
Amen


Taken from a committee of the council of the Presbyterian Church
February, 1950

2 Chron 7:14 Call to Prayer for Nation

I normally don't pass on forwards, but I felt I needed to do this one. And I wanted to post it here. As stated the author is unknown,but I agree with it.
And for all of my international readers, this applies to your country also.

Wayne

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Bill Taylor
To: Sent: Sat, October 24, 2009 11:35:24 AM
Subject: Fwd: FW: 2 Chron 7:14

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 Chron 7:14

We are speeding towards one world government and the second
coming at a rapid pace. I remember reading about the children
of Israel who turned from God time and time again, only to realize
their mistake and pray for forgiveness. Each time, God would
forgive them and they would walk with him for a time. So, I am
going to ask you to join me in praying for our nation everyday.

God is in control!!!
Our president did not encourage participation in the National Day
of Prayer. He called it an event He thinks it should be private
prayer instead of Public Prayer.
May God Have Mercy On America & Protect Our Troops
In Texarkana last week, there were signs in people's yards that
said, " America , prayer is our only hope" with 2 Chron. 7:14
underneath. We certainly need God's help!
I have no idea who started this, but I certainly agree with this
e-mail. I heard a preacher on TV tonight who said if we pray for
our nation that things will turn around. After a day of contemplation
and soul searching, I have decided to reach out to my friends and
relatives and ask you to do something that has been troubling me
for a long time.

Our nation is/has been on the slippery slope for a long time. If you
look around you will find corruption, greed, moral decay, and a
steady move away from the things that made us great. The
principles upon which this nation was founded are no longer our
backbone. However, we can reverse this trend.

2 Chron. 7:14 in God's word he states, "If my people who are
called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
I am convinced that we must pray for our nation and its leaders and
ask for forgiveness. So I ask you to join me in this plea to our Lord.
Would you please send this to people in your address book and ask
them to pray everyday. If you do and they comply, we will lift up
millions and millions of prayers a day to our Creator. He will hear
us and in faith will answer.

Let me just add a quote from Ronald Reagan. "If we ever forget
that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
I truly believe this is why the United States of America is in the
shape we are in today. Most people have forgotten that we are one
nation under God! Let us as Christians stand up and remind people
of this..!

Author unknown but I support them.

Holy Spirit, Take A Break

Did you ever wish the Holy Spirit would just take a break? Tonight at work was one of those days. One of the other drivers got in my way while I was pulling an order, blocking my way so he could get his. It really made me mad (or aggravated, I seldom get mad). I was forced to leave the area before I said something I would regret. Luckily I needed to change the battery in my lift. I really wanted to get mad and tell the boy what I thought. I think some of them are taking advantage of my loving nature. {LOL} But the Holy Spirit softly spoke those Oh familiar words, "get over it". So I went back and finished my load after he was out of the way. I had finished my order way before some of the others so I was told to help some of them with there's since it was almost time to knock off. Sooo while I was looking, guess who was the first one I came across?. You guessed it. Big Boy himself. He was stacking a pallet load. A real pesky part of the job. I paused to help him and could not help but "get over it".
And again while I was helping another driver with his load I noticed a couple of damaged cases on the pallet. I cleverly shifted them to face the damaged part inside so they would not show. It was 5 minutes until time to leave. But that Holy Spirit softly spoke those Oh familiar words," If you were the customer would you want those? and if Jesus was loading that pallet would He let that go?". So I fixed the pallet and replaced the case.
Some times you just want to tell Him to take a break. But as I felt later. I did the right things and the Lord was pleased. And that is what it is all about. Now I'll take the break.
Oct 2009 Working at Bremner Foods

On God's Time

In an article way back I wrote on the subject of being called to the workplace I stated that I wouldn't write about the basic things of the Christian life. I had stated that I felt these things were sure to be part of a believer's character and not something we should work on.

But on further examination I have seen a lack of these qualities in many true believers including myself. In this post I would like to offer some hint of the way we should conduct ourselves in the workplace. So that we may not damage the witness we desire to be. The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is how a believer who is trying to please God and witness to his co-workers can habitually show up for work late. Employees and employers know that this will sometimes happen, but I have noticed that some Christians make a habit of dragging in late almost everyday. You can rely on them always to be there, but in their own time. I had one older brother tell me years ago that when he was younger his boss started work at a certain time but had him coming in 30 minutes earlier. When he asked his boss why, he answered that he could count on one thing about him. That was that he would be late everyday at least 30 minutes. That put him at work on time.

Do we seriously believe the Lord is pleased with this attitude? How would we feel if all of our prayers and blessings from God where always late. Our witness of God would be like this: "My God answers prayers all the time. Always late, but hey, better late than never. Right?"

This attitude of serving our employer at our own pace usually spills over into the church. I find it easy to make it late to services. Surely it's different than work, I don't get paid to go to Church (Or do I?) But lately I've seen that it's not a matter of distraction that keeps us tardy but an attitude that we're get there when we get there. The whole world moves around us and "if " we make it at all, those waiting should count themselves blessed that we did.

I cannot picture the Lord Jesus as being late for anything. He was accused of being late for Lazarus but they found out different. God the Father told Him to wait on arriving in Bethany, but I'm sure He was never late getting to the carpenter shop or the synagogue. The whole life of Christ was spent being on God the Father's time and not His own. If we are to walk as Christ walked, should we also live our lives on God's time and not our own?

And remember; "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve (work for) the Lord Christ." Colossians 3:22-24

August 10, 2001

Temp #43: Attitude Towards Co-Workers

"Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:22 but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire."
Matthew 5:21-22

In reading this verse I am reminded that I need to watch what I say about people at work. In an environment where decisions don't make sense and very anti-family and just anti-common sense, I tend to refer to those making the decisions as stupid or idiotic. But here Jesus tells us not to call others Raca. Which most all teachers of scripture agree means empty-headed or useless person. How being subject to the courts applies to use is unknowable since we have no such laws against speaking these words. We must assume that if Jesus spoke of us being liable to , back then, earthly courts then surly we are liable to a Heavenly court. But weather liable or not, just because the Lord said not to do it is enough to warrant compliance.
In context this passage is in the "Sermon on the Mount" which deals a lot with judging others and our attitude to those over us. We seem to be told to put our trust in those over us as a sign of our right relationship with the Lord. I suppose if those over us make a mistake and it affects us negatively, then we must in turn trust the Lord to work it out to our or His benefit. Again the Kingdom of God is not about me but Him who rules it. Trust, what a wonderful attitude.

Temp #43: The Stand

Still working through the temp company. Three others were just hired on full time. Although I've been with BFG longer with PR, they have been in the department longer. One that was hired is leaving for boot camp and just quit. Why would anyone hire a guy knowing he was going to leave soon? The amazement of a worldly mind.
I've been playing pretty nice. Just reading my bible at break time and working hard unto-the-Lord. Pretty much keeping my mouth shut until the right time to say something. I don't comment of the filthy language because a lot of times I'm not included in the conversation.
But today while both shifts were meeting, one of the guys announced that they could now buy alcohol on Sundays in Alabama. And after much celebration from all (but me) around he added that he had heard it on the news that Montgomery (our capital) voted it in with out any opposition. Then the guy next to me went into how he was glad. Now he would not have to stock up on Saturday to be able to drink on Sunday.
Well this was about all I could take so I added in," Well this makes me feel great. My mother was ran over while walking home from church on a Sunday by a drunk driver. I appreciate it guys". Well you could feel the air sucked out of the room. Needless to say I was the most unpopular person working that night. One guy did stop to give some positive comments on what I had said and gave a testimony of the Lord delivering him through a Recovery Program.

What hit me the hardest is, were where our Pastors and denominational leaders at during this vote. Was it keep quit so they could pass it without hindrance?
We Christians need to get our Pastors on the ball or we are going to lose everything to the world.
I know, I've heard it before," if Alabama does not let it be sold (for taxes) they will buy it in Ga. or Fl.
Well next time my mom is in pain waiting for another operation to fix what was broke 30 yrs ago, I'll just tell her, "It's OK mom, if that guy did not hit you someone else would have". That will make things alright.
What else will we let go of. I forsee an abortion clinic out numbering our Churches. If that is possible.
Well, I felt I needed to make a stand on this issue. I did not lose my temper, but they could tell I was aggravated.
I pray that when things get bad for my co-workers and they need answers that they will seek out those willing to stand apart and seek answers to life. I know not what seed was planted, but I'll just let it grow.

(Later Note: I was told latere that it was decide during our last election. Sorry, just needed to rant, excuse me "exault". LOL

Resisting Sexual Temptation in the Workplace

With more interaction between men and women in the workplace, the battle to be more like Jesus and maintaining a Christ-like testimony has become harder to win. Besides the elementary disciplines of the Christian life, such as stay in the Bible, stay in prayer, and stay in Christian fellowship. There is more we can do to protect ourselves from the attacks of the enemy.
The Call
The first needful thing for us to do is realize that we as Christians are called to be Ambassadors for Christ wherever we are. Considering that most of us spend the largest part of our waking hours at work would suggest the Lord intends for us to serve Him in the marketplace.
And as an Ambassador, everything we do and say is a direct reflection on the One who has called us. Namely Jesus.
If one of the ladies from the office walks through the shop and all the guys quit working to stop and stare. How do you glorify God by doing likewise?
If the ladies in the office gather at the cooler to talk about the delivery guy who brings in the office supply, how will you further the cause of Christ by joining in?
The Enemy
Second, When you committed yourself to being a witness in the workplace, unseen enemies vowed to see you fail. If not destroyed, they will put forth their best effort to cause your failure. The only way to battle them is to resist {James 4:7} or cease being an Ambassador on earth for Christ and return to being a tourist, buying worldly trinkets that will not last.
It is hard to believe there are persons placed in our lives by the enemy to cause our downfall. For a long time my wife tried to warn me about getting too close to the women at work. Some who would love to seduce me and leave me in ruins. Of course I laughed it off, not believing that there were such people. Through years of management experience and dealing with employee relationship conflicts, I came to the conclusion that once again she was "right".
The Testimony
In Revelation 12:11, the Bible states:
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their TESTIMONY, and they loved not their lives to the death."
We know the blood of the Lamb cleanses us from past, present and future sins, and relieving the enemy of any claim to our spirit, soul or body. We also know we should not love our lives so much that we would trade our faith for it. But what many people don't know is that our testimony is one of the most powerful weapons against the enemy. He can dispute the scripture, but he can not dispute what the Lord has done for you.
We can live a good life in front of people, but without the confession of faith, we are just a "good" person. We are no different than the rest of the workforce.
To battle temptations in the workplace, I would first find ways to express my faith to others in a loving way. Anything from face-to-face discussion to simply speaking of your church or pastor during a regular conversation. T-shirts, bracelets and crosses are good, but anyone can wear them.
"For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation." Romans 10:10
By establishing your faith verbally, you will divide your co-workers into two groups: those who respect your position and those that do not. The enemy will use those who don't.
Along with voicing your faith, try bringing your Bible to work and maybe even reading it at the break table. Not just any good ole' boy would do this. And remember not to keep your head buried in the pages. Come up for air and breath the Spirit of Life on someone in need.
The Resisting
As mentioned before, we are commanded to resist the enemy, and he will flee. There are many ways of resisting. There is the refusing to commit the sin when tempted. And there is the "Karate Kid" way. You remember the movie. The kid was told the best defense against a blow was not to be there. I must believe that the best way is the latter. To do this I would first recommend you do not allow yourself to be placed in a position where the enemy can foster temptation.
If your supervisor pairs you with a partner of the opposite sex that is known for "sweet talking the ladies" or dressing seductively, ask to be changed. If this does not work, stay focused on your work and insist they do likewise. And of course seek an opportunity to be a witness. If you are in a position to decide company policy, insist on a dress code that demands that nobody dress in " attire that distracts others from their work".
The Relationships
The emphasis in evangelism now is for the evangelist to cultivate a relationship with the prospects before sharing Christ with them. This is widely known as "relationship evangelism". This is a good idea, but we must use caution when befriending someone of the opposite sex. Do not become caught up in the affairs of their home, married or sex life. The person may sound in need, but they might just feel lonely and wouldn't mind using you to temporarily fill that void.
Men, if a woman talks to you, she's trying to communicate something to you. Listen, and if it has a hint of intimacy., Flee! Do not get caught with her alone.
Ladies, If a smooth talking guy comes over to your work area uninvited, send him on his way. Unless it is work related.
The best way to treat a friend of the opposite sex is to treat them as a brother or sister. As stated in First Timothy chapter five and one thru two. There is no problem with having friends of a different gender. Just don't get off alone with them. Stay around the break area where there is safety and support. And never agree to meet after hours unless your spouse can attend.
For those truly in need, keep a list of trusted pastors and their wives and be prepared to refer to them.
Let me stress to you that this is not the final word on the matter. If we would just focus on the Lord, other interest will fade away. Do not forget to stay in the Word, prayer, and Christian fellowship. In these disciplines you can put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the scheming of the Devil {Ephesians 6:10-20}. And if you are still having problems, then there is always Matthew 5:27-30.