Bright Wings

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with Ah! Bright Wings.

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November 10, 2009

“When I looked at the screen I saw a baby…fighting for its life…”

Mike Huckabee interviews Abby Johnson, the executive director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas who famously walked away from the death mill after seeing an ultrasound of an abortion.

From 2:30 - 3:17 in the clip, “When I looked at the screen I saw…a baby…I saw the probe going into the woman’s uterus. And at that moment I saw the baby moving and trying to get away from the probe..and I thought, ‘It’s fighting for its life!’”

Praise God for Mike Huckabee who put this interview on national television, and for his open condemnation of this National sin. Praise God for Fox News allowing him to do so. Praise God for this woman who is now a pro-life champion.

May God bring shame, disrepute, and an ultimate end to the wickedness and tyranny of Planned Parenthood and the despicable abortion industry in America.

May God shed more light on the reality of this holocaust.

Support life. Love and care for women in crisis pregnancies and their precious children. Support your local Pro-Life Pregnancy Center. Become a counselor. Become a pro-life ultrasound tech. Vote pro-life.

Tags: Abortion

posted by Erik Braun

November 10, 2009

How We Got Where We Are…

I’ll be blogging along through our Vision 2010 series over the next few weeks. Mostly I’ll be posting bits and pieces of our three week vision series that you can read or listen to on line. This past Sunday we looked at the question, “How Should We Grow?” Before we get into all that it might help for those of you still somewhat in the dark to discover the history of our land/facilities searches and campaign up to now.

Four Oaks Community Church was planted in Tallahassee almost twenty years ago by Pastor John Kaiser and a handful of folks. This new church family had a heart to reach the lost in Tallahassee with the gospel and to establish a biblical local church to equip believers for Christian life and mission. Over those first years the Four Oaks family grew steadily in corporate worship and small group gatherings. They met in a storefront location, an elementary school, a renovated warehouse (the Four Oaks Ministry Center), and then at Community Christian School. In 1999/2000 Pastor John Kaiser resigned as Sr. Pastor at Four Oaks and went to California to work with church planters and is currently president of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada.  In the Fall of 2000, the elders of the church presented me Braun to the Four Oaks family, and the church family called me to come and serve this body as Senior Pastor.  I preached my first sermon on Dec. 31, 2000.  I was 27 years old, Tori was great with child- our firstborn, Esther Catherine would come in February 2001. The family at Four Oaks would prove to be a brave congregation, and a patient one as well, letting me grow as a pastor (and as a man) in your midst.

I want to give you a brief overview of our various land searches and building programs in the years that I have been here at Four Oaks.  This is important not because land and facilities are so much the focus, but because it is wonderful to see the providence and grace of God to us over the years. The elders immediately began to search for land to build a permanent ministry/gathering facility during my first months here in the Spring of 2001.  We ultimately found and purchased two 10 acre parcels of land on Bradfordville Road. We began planning to build on that property launching a stewardship drive called the Journey Campaign. We raised 2 million in pledges and moved steadily toward breaking ground and building. It soon became apparent that there were existing deed restrictions on that property that were missed by our closing attorney that did not allow more than a single residence to be built on each 10 acre parcel of land. We had to sell the property and start our search anew. 

Some time after that we began discussions and ultimately contracted with Wildwood Presbyterian on Ox Bottom Rd. to purchase their 50,000 sq. ft facility so they could expand into another facility.  After a year and a half of planning and preparing for this move, Wildwood was unable to build as they had planned, and we released them from the contract and began to look for another place to build our ministry facility.

During all this we had outgrown our space at Community Christian School. In the Fall of 2006 the Elders strategically called the church to move our Sunday services to Chiles High School. Our first worship service here at Chiles was Easter Sunday 2007 presenting us with room to grow as we continued to search for a permanent ‘hub of ministry’.  Some months later in December of 2007 we purchased our 60k sq ft shopping center on the corner of Kerry Forest and Shannon Lakes.  Last Fall of 2008 we completed the IMPOSSIBLE TOUR campaign where the church family sacrificially committed to a three year goal of 3.8 million dollars to renovate almost 50k sq ft of ministry space. By God’s grace and the generosity of his people, over a million dollars in cash was given before 2008 was over and we miraculously sold our ministry center on Raymond Diehl Rd. to a church that would allow us to lease the facility back and utilize our offices and youth ministry space until we are ready to move into the Four Oaks Center. We began the renovation in January of 2009 and that renovation and build out should be complete this December, ready for us to move in the first two Sundays of January 2010.  That’s the history of Four Oaks’ land and facilities journey as best I can relate it.

Tags: Church Life

posted by Erik Braun

November 04, 2009

Pursuing Obedience and Fighting Legalism

In a libertine culture, the pursuit of obedience will often be decried as legalism. But, there is no doubt that the Scriptures call us to holiness: “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 7:21). There is no ignoring the myriad exhortations in God’s Word toward obedience: “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart” (1 Pet. 1:22). 

How are we to live with conviction toward obedience without becoming legalists? Paul’s classic proclamation in Romans 1:17 proclaims that in the gospel ‘the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith’. The New International Version translates it this way, ‘a righteousness that is by faith from first to last’. Twice more in the letter to the Romans Paul uses this sort of language regarding the gospel of God’s grace by faith in Christ. Paul describes his calling as an apostle and servant of Christ: ‘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’ (Rom. 1:5). Paul closes the great epistle, “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith- to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.” (Rom.16:25-27)  There is a lot that could be said about these passages- but the focus for now must be on this idea that righteousness that is gained by faith in Christ is continued by faith in Christ. The same instrument of faith that gives us righteous standing before God in justification is the instrument that empowers and enables us to live before God in sanctification. As Tim Keller says, ‘the gospel is not just the ABC’s of the Christian life; it is the A to Z of the Christian life’. This is the sense in which we must understand the writer of Hebrews who says, ‘without faith it is impossible to please God’ (Hebrews 11: 6). Our obedience must be an obedience of faith. It must be an obedience that trusts in God’s power and rests ultimately on God’s grace, or else it is an act of self reliance and confidence toward the flesh.

As we pursue God in our convictions and daily decisions I suggest a process of engaging one’s heart before God. It is crucial that we ever wield the two edge sword of gospel truth that cuts against sin in one direction and against prideful self righteousness in the other. In all it is really the same fight against the same core idolatry.

1. As you pursue God in holiness preach the gospel of grace through faith to your convictions and context. In the Braun family we have decided to homeschool our children. This is a matter of Christian liberty and personal conviction. We have made this decision based upon our specific calling, gifting, context, and the application of implicit principles of God’s Word regarding parenting and caring for children. Many in our church have been led in their conviction toward public schooling, others toward private Christian schooling. As the Braun’s make such a decision and live and practice it daily- we must preach the gospel to ourselves and this decision. Homeschooling never merited righteousness before God and never will. If we were to send our kids to Killearn Lakes Elementary tomorrow it would not change the reality that they are saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ.

2. Understand and be clear on what God’s Word says explicitly with regard to your convictions. Be clear on where your convictions are based upon general implications and principles of wisdom from God’s Word, but not upon the direct and explicit teaching of Scripture. For example, many believers have made the godly and wise decision not to drink alchohol. The bible does not explicitly condemn the consumption of alcohol.  To abstain because of conscience or personal conviction is wise, to abstain as a matter of biblical necessity is legalism and wrong.

3. Ask yourself where your conscience is on this matter or that. The conscience is an instrument of conviction in the believer’s life. If your conscience is burdened about seeing a violent movie- then honor the work of the Spirit in conviction in your conscience with abstinence. But do not make your burdened conscience the arbitrary guide of holiness unilaterally in other’s lives. Ask: Has my particular context, calling, weaknesses, strengths, etc. made it necessary for me to pursue this or that conviction before God? Do a word study on ‘conscience’ to find how important this principle is in Christian sanctification (Acts 23:1; 24:16; Rom. 9:1; 1 Cor. 8, 10; 1 Tim. 1:5, 19; 3:9).

4. Have I pursued biblical patterns of guidance and wisdom in my life? These are - older believers, faithful brothers and sisters, biblical leaders (elders and pastors), parents.

5. Am I careful in NOT extending matters of personal devotion, conviction, and practice of holiness before the Lord woodenly into the lives of others. We are share our convictions and disciple and encourage other believers in theirs- but we must not apply our convictions in Christian liberty and personal decisions as if they are universal truths, and necessary in all contexts.

May God’s grace meet you in the pursuit of holiness and the fight against sin and self reliance!

Tags: Spiritual Disciplines

posted by Erik Braun

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