Reflections on Being Loyal to Jesus Christ

Loyalty! What a noble and inspiring word to meditate on! The dictionary defines loyalty as: "faithful adherence to a sovereign, government, leader, cause, etc." In other words, loyalty means to have a passionate and persistent devotion to something or someone. Loyalty is a commitment to stand by someone or something with undaunted resolve no matter what form the detractors may take. Time may go by, but loyalty never stops clinging to her person or cause.

I just changed my Blog title today to: "Loyal to Jesus Christ" not because I am perfectly loyal to Him, but rather, because it is my goal to be more and more loyal to Him. I have always valued loyalty throughout my life...but that is not bragging...it is more of a confession. Let me explain what I mean: Before I came into a relationship with Christ, I was loyal to many unworthy people and things. I was fiercely loyal to many friends growing up who were very bad influences. "Bad company corrupts good moral" says the Good Book (I Cor.15:33). Therefore, my loyalty to maintaining close friendships with "bad company" proved to be an ignoble use of the noble quality of loyalty. For over 3 years, I was passionately loyal to a false religion. I believed with all my heart that that religious system was true. I would have given my life for that religion if the moment would ever have come. Therefore, I was sincere and loyal...but sincerely wrong and loyal to a false religion. Once again, I was found guilty of imperfect human loyalty.

However, one day a Strange Man "stepped in front of me". His name is Jesus Christ, the God-man. God in the flesh. The Son of God...the Lamb of God who takes away, not just the sins of the world, but my sins! No one ever spoke like this Unusual Man. No one ever lived like Him. As God's servants began to implore me to receive Jesus Christ and be saved, my heart began to melt...and I experienced first hand the new birth of salvation in Jesus. From that day, God created in me a noble loyalty to Jesus Christ. It is a loyalty that has its foundation and origin in God Himself. "We love, because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).

True loyalty to Jesus Christ can be spelled as follows: O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15) Beloved, we are loyal to Christ, when we obey Him. It is as plain, simple and glorious as that! Be loyalty to Christ. Obey His word as it applies to your life today. Therein is noble loyalty. A loyalty that transcends our human weakness and places our feet on the high places where His grace abounds.

Overshadowed by the Cross

Overshadowed by the Cross
“A Psalm of Mary”
Written by Robert L. Brannon, Christmas 2009

The words of Gabriel were very clear,
His name is Jesus, salvation’s near.
A light to Gentiles, that is He,
To Israel, Glory and Jubilee.

I look down and see Him in the crèche,
The Baby whom angels call, “God-in-the-Flesh”.
And I am sure their words are true,
A Savior’s born to make us new.

In Bethlehem is born this King,
The angels and all heaven sing.
And here I am, a mother-girl,
Watching prophecies unfurl.

My heart is a treasure-trove of awe,
As I watch my Jesus in the straw.
Then I lift Him from His manger low,
And count His fingers, and His toes.

As I lift Him up so very high,
The star of glory shines from the sky.
His body straight, His arms extend,
His shadow falls upon the pen.

Alas, what does His shadow cast,
This Babe in arms that I hold fast?
My soul is pierced! Oh, is all lost?
His shadow forms a Roman cross!

I cringe to think of death at birth,
Yet Jesus smiles in holy mirth.
Yes, Jesus has a destiny,
To pay sin’s price for you and me.

They’ll pierce You, Jesus, in the end,
You’ll pay our penalty for sin.
And how I love you, Savior-King!
Salvation’s song, I now can sing!

Background behind this Poem and Painting
Once the Christmas season comes around each year, I like to choose a different part of the Christmas story to personally meditate on in order to worship Christ for His incarnation. Some years it has been a meditation of the passages of Scriptures pertaining to the star, the wise men, the shepherds, etc... But this year (2009), I have been captivated by the way that Galatians 6:14 relates to Christmas and the incarnation of Christ. Galatians 6:14 says, "But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." For the apostle Paul (with his many amazing accomplishments), only one thing really mattered to him - the Cross. To him, all other accomplishments were considered as rubbish in comparison. This verse of Scripture has been such a sweet rebuke to me over the past several months. I too only have one thing to boast in...not ministry, not family, not accomplishments...but rather...the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The angel said of Jesus, "You shall call His name Jesus (salvation), for He will save His people from their sins." (Matt.1:21) He came to save us from our sins...ON THE CROSS. All the prophecies, the birth, life and death of Christ were all about glorifying God by redeeming Adam's helpless race...on the Cross! Jesus' purpose and mission in life was to "set His face toward Jerusalem" to pay the penalty of our sins...on the Cross. While walking on the mountain the other day and meditating on these truths about the incarnation and the Cross of Christ, an image came to my mind of the bright star shining behind Mary and Jesus as she lifted Him from the manger...and then something surprising happened before Mary's eyes and in her heart! (see artwork above). I explained this image to my friend, Steve Seropian, an artist and a fellow member of Rocky Mountain Bible Church here in Utah. Steve drew this image, and I wrote a poem to go with it. I hope that you are inspired, by the artwork and the poem, to bask in the Shadow of the Cross this Christmas Season...and throughout the entire year!

A Fly on the Western Wall (Lesson: Unity and Submission)

It is hard to describe the emotions that I (Rob Brannon) felt as I stood next to the Western Wall in Jerusalem and soaked in all of the sights and sounds of the Jewish worshipers praying to Adonai (the Lord) at what the Jews consider to be the holiest site on earth. It was the third Friday evening in May (May 21, 2004), and normally I would have been at the board meeting of my home church if I were in Alabama. But not this Friday night, instead I was celebrating the Sabbath day at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem with hundreds of passionate Jewish worshipers of all ages. As I entered the inner court of the Western Wall plaza, I was handed a kippa, or Jewish cap, that all men are required to wear as they pray next to the Western Wall. The inner court of the wall was divided into two sections: one for men and one for women. Before praying at the wall, I reminded myself of the words that Christ spoke to the “woman at the well” when He told her that “neither the mountain nor Jerusalem” are the true places of worship, but rather the place of true worship is in our hearts where we are to worship the Lord “in spirit and in truth”.
I then walked from the inner court of the Western Wall to the outer court plaza. At this outer court of the Western Wall were several hundred young men from the Yeshiva, or Jewish Seminary, who began to sing and to dance to Adonai with all of their hearts. Then all of the sudden, a small group of guys in the middle of this large mass of young men latched hands together, and gave birth to a stereo-typical group of Jews twirling in a circle while dancing and passionately singing in Hebrew. (I had to pinch myself to make sure that I was not having a flash back in my mind from “Fiddler on the Roof”) Within minutes, this group of twirling young men grew into a group of about one hundred men. They were now all locked together in perfect unity with their arms around the shoulders of their neighbors. They appeared to be one large moving amoeba instead of many individuals. Their large circle moved rhythmically clockwise as they kicked their right foot and then their left into the middle of the circle in perfect harmony. They were all singing the same song and doing the same dance steps. More and more men kept joining in so that the circle kept expanding further and further into the plaza. I was so mesmerized by the whole event that I almost got trampled by the worshipers as the circle nearly engulfed me! I quickly moved to the top of a stone bench at the extremity of the plaza, and I surveyed the humungous circle of united worshipers. I estimated that there were about 400 men total in this mammoth circle! What an amazing sight to see this huge group of Jewish men singing and dancing to Adonai, all in one accord! Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!
Then, to my chagrin, I noticed that the unity of the worshipers began to break down. A man on one side of the circle began to sing a different song than the group was singing. Soon there were three different songs being sung by different sections of the men in the huge circle. Then things really started to fall apart as the conflicting and independent dance steps of some began to disrupt the unified dancing of others in the circle. Then without a warning, the circle began to involuntarily break apart. It became impossible for them to hang on to their neighbor as one person pulled one way and someone else pulled the other way. The circle broke apart into many different fragments. It was no longer one united group of men. The group unity and solidarity was lost. The worship came to an abrupt end as everyone dropped hands and gave up the celebration of Adonai and the celebration of brotherhood.
My euphoria, of being a “fly on the Western Wall” during Sabbath, quickly turned into disappointed as I sadly watched people turn their backs on the group and walk away from the circle that had just fallen apart. It was all over. No doubt about it. The celebration had ended…UNTIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, a hand full of zealous young men sprinted with all of their might to the large open space at the epicenter of the dying circle. Once these young men arrived at the middle of the circle, they dove into each others arms and passionately locked arms together once again. With smiles and laughter, they treasured the moment of being reunited. My heart leapt within me as I saw this zealous group of young men mending the breaches in the “wall of broken fellowship” by once again singing the same song, following the same leader and dancing in unity with one another! It didn’t take long before the group of worshipers grew from the original small handful of men to over 100 united worshipers. Their united voices rang out in Hebrew as if it were the voice of one man. It was a powerful moment for me as I pondered: the value of spiritual unity, the importance of remaining hopeful in the midst of trials, and the logic of all following one leader. It is great to know that instead of walking away from the circle in despair, we can always come to Adonai who is more than able to mend the breaches. These are days of trials and testing. However, Adonai is at work in our midst, and He will not fail us. He is in the process of enlarging our hearts! Let’s cling to Him and to each other. Let’s humbly follow the Leader and His anointed servants. Let’s sprint to the middle of the circle, and join our hands together. Adonai is with us, and He will be magnified as He tenderly cares for His bride.

Grace be with you, my fellow evangelists,

Rob

In Memory of My Beloved "Everlasting" Shoes: 1997-2006, R.I.P. (Lesson: Endurance)

Fortitudine Vincimus (Latin for, "By endurance, we conquer"): this was Antarctic explorer, Sir Earnest Shackleton's lifetime motto. In his book called, "Endurance", you can read about his amazing survival story that started in 1915 and lasted for nearly two year. There were 27 other men in his crew who floated around on ice flows in the Weddell Ocean of Antarctica. Shackleton and his crew were stranded with very little hope of survival, but Shackleton refused to give up hope that he could save his 27 beloved friends from certain death. True to his motto, he conquered (saved ALL of his men) because he endured with hope and found a way (by the grace of God) to rescue his men.

Dear fellow evangelist, we must not give up or shrink back from our ministry to evangelise the lost during these difficult last days. The stakes are very high for our rescue mission. Souls are lost and hanging in the balance without Jesus Christ. As an evangelist, you have a call to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Revelation 14:4). The Pastor's call is to keep feeding the sheep they are given to shepherd. As an evangelist, your call is to keep going to the lost WHEREVER the Lord sends you and to keep faithfully telling the "old, old story of the cross".

PICTURED ABOVE ARE MY BELOVED "EVERLASTING" SHOES! These shoes served me faithfully in "active combat" from 1997 until June 6, 2006. On 6-6-06, under blue skies in Utah, I buried my beloved shoes "at sea" (well, our trash can is ocean blue, so use your imagination). I took the above picture just moments before the burial ceremony. During the ceremony, my kids told me that I should have had them dipped in copper like parents used to do with their kid's baby shoes so that I could memorialize these heroic shoes. These incredible shoes lasted an amazing nine years without falling apart! That's right! Nine years! Can you believe that! (My everyday shoes normally only last me one year). I bought these Nike low cut hiking shoes back in 1996 and stored them in a barrel in Chad, Africa until the fullness of time arrived for their active duty to begin. I wore them from 1997 (starting in Africa) through 2006 (ending in Utah). These unbelievable shoes were worn all over the bush of Chad, Africa as I evangelized the Arab and Fulani nomads of Chad. I wore these shoes on my dirt bike nearly every day from 1997 to 2000 as I pursued the nomads deep into the bush. I wore them in mud, dirt, dust, and rain. I played basketball with the kids in this shoes. Then for the next 4 years, I wore these shoes almost everyday in my Soccette Sports Ministry that took me throughout the USA, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Greece, Jordan, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Thailand. By the year of our Lord 2001, these "everlasting shoes" had earned the respect of everyone in my family because they had taken a multitudinous multiplicity of lickings and yet they kept on ticking...and still looked great to boot! The soles were still in great shape, the stitching was in tact, and they still looked cool! My wife could not believe how many times I replaced the shoe strings in these shoes. Generation after generation of shoe strings arose and fell during the public ministry of these "everlasting" shoes.

Then the crowning moment of glory came to honor these humble shoes. In May of 2004, I made an Evangelistic Outreach trip to Israel. Immediately after preaching at a very crowded youth meeting in a small apartment for a church in Haifa, I was looking down at the floor trying to navigate my feet through the jam-packed crowd, toward the much-longed-for snack table at the other end of the room. To my amazement as I looked down at the floor in front of me, I saw a pair of feet with the very same style and brand of Nike low cut hiking shoes as mine! I looked up to see whose blessed face belonged to these illustrious shoes. My eyes locked with a young Israeli man who smiled at me as I informed him that we were both wearing the very same type of shoes (BTW, our faces were so close that I could have told you what flavor gum he was chewing:) With a strong Hebrew accent and broken English, he said something like this, "Yes, we are! And these shoes are so durable! They seem to never wear out!" I burst into uncontrolled laughter and joy as I recounted to him the same testimony of my own "everlasting" shoes. He went on to profusely brag about the battles that his shoes had endured without wearing out. Back and forth we went, swapping stories and smiling as we enjoyed the fellowship of being the proud owners of these "like-precious, everlasting" shoes!

Beloved fellow evangelist, here is my point in sharing this light-hearted illustration, God has made YOU to victoriously endure hardships. He is your Maker, and He will never, never forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). "ENDURE hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (II Timothy 4:5). "Let us run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 12:1,2). "Let us not lose heart in doing good (preaching the gospel), for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary" (Galatians 6:9).

Beloved, my shoes were made by skilled craftsmen from very durable materials...but they are just the work of men. They lasted nine amazing years under very adverse circumstances, but you my fellow evangelist, you have been made by God and set apart for the gospel. The Lord will carry you all the way to the finish line for His glory. You have been called to endure, to overcome and to win this long, hard marathon for lost souls (see I Corinthians 9:24-27). Don't give up! "Run to Win" by "Running with Endurance" in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

Grace be with you,

Rob

There once was a man named Philip...

There was a certain follower of Jesus Christ in the New Testament who was defined by his role within the church. His name was Philip: "Philip the evangelist" (Acts 21:8). In the book of Acts, this choice servant of Christ left the glamor of the revivals in Samaria to obediently follow the humble call of God down the dusty, lonely desert road that leads to Gaza. This road would not lead him to fame or fortune, but it would channel him deep into the will of God. On this Gaza road, Philip would encounter a certain Ethiopian Eunuch whom the Holy Spirit had prepared for the gospel...and you know the rest of the story! There is power and fruitfulness that awaits every obedient servant who follows the Master's way.

Dear fellow evangelists, in this blog, my goal is to come alongside of you and to put my arm around you as you plod along on the proverbial "Gaza Road". By its very nature, the Gaza Road is a lonely, forgotten and difficult road to follow. But take courage for you are not alone! The Master Evangelist, Jesus Christ, walks before you. My prayer is that this blog will be an encouragement to you. Cool water to the thirst soul. A stream in the desert.

Grace be with you,

Rob