Rite of Passage for the Home and Church. D. Kevin Brown
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Our Father would be pleased to give us so much more if we only had the faith to ask for it.
David Alan Black
Professor of New Testament and Greek
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Preface
I am excited about the fact that this is my first book. Writing it was something I greatly enjoyed. Yet at times I found it to be completely overwhelming. About half-way into the book I had one of those “What have you done?” moments. But, obviously you are holding the finished product indicating the Lord guided and blessed me through it. I must say that I was exceedingly stretched in this process. I’m not afraid of being stretched, but I was pulled spiritually and emotionally in ways I have never been. I’m grateful for that stretching and how the Lord has used it to mold me into a more surrendered disciple. My family was stretched right along with me and I’m thankful they were so supportive through it all.
I realized in writing this book that I am a complete and utter failure without Jesus Christ. I am incapable of imparting any worthwhile knowledge to anyone that is worthwhile apart from the grace of God. After all, I have not even finished raising my own children. How can I possibly have anything to say to anyone who is in the process of raising or training children in some capacity? Yet I can write this book, not because of anything I have done or am doing. I have no great wisdom and claim no authority, except that of the Holy Scriptures.
I am a pastor at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church (MPBC) in Wilkesboro, NC. Wilkesboro is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Here is the amazing thing that astounds most people. I was literally raised in the church that I now pastor. I have been at MPBC since I was a one-year-old. I was chosen by the church body from within the ranks of the church family. We see this example in the book of Acts. Paul appointed elders in this manner, so I was not parachuted in; instead I was home-grown!
I was a businessman, mainly in the areas of finance and sales, for over 17 years before sensing the desire and leading from the Lord to shepherd his people. I’m still overwhelmed he manifested this desire and orchestrated the circumstances for them to be fulfilled in my home church. I have a passion for teaching and discipling men and families. I also have a strong desire for equipping the church for works of service. This passion for teaching has led me to the writing of this book.
I would like to tell you a little bit about my family. Most books only give a passing glance about the author and his or her background. Often, this leaves one to wonder about the author and his or her perspective. I thought I’d share a few things about my family, because this book is about a family subject written by a family man. Here is a picture of the Browns:
I am blessed to be married to a most wonderful and dedicated wife, Pam. She is indeed my suitable helper. She truly is my best friend and confidant. Pam was an English-major in college and her editing skills were put to the test with this book. Pam also has a Master’s Degree in elementary education. We have been married 20 years and we are the parents of four children. Katy is 17, Kandace is 13, and Clara and Andrew are 6. We adopted Clara and Andrew from China.
Katy loves reading, writing, blogging and playing several instruments (piano, guitar and viola). Katy also sings and plays in our church praise team. Kandace enjoys reading, clogging and playing the violin and mandolin. She assists teaching ballet at a local dance studio and also sings in the ladies’ ensemble at church. Both ladies are tremendous blessings and provide great help with Clara and Andrew. Clara loves music, ballet and singing. She’s constantly performing her ballet leaps around the house! Andrew is our little engineer. He enjoys building with anything he can stack, bundle or pile. He adores his sisters, and yes, they spoil him!
Writing this book has truly been a labor of love. It has been written to express my heart-felt desire to disciple Christ-centered young adults. The Christian faith depends upon the transfer of the gospel from one generation to the next. This book chronicles and describes the scriptural process for accomplishing this goal. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this book and I pray it will challenge, encourage and inspire you as well.
Houston, We Have a Problem
APOLLO 13
Even if you aren’t totally familiar with the 1970 voyage of Apollo 13, you are probably familiar with the expression made famous by astronaut Jim Lovell, “Houston, we have a problem.” Jim Lovell shared these now infamous words as he and two other flight partners, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, learned that the explosion of an onboard-oxygen tank had crippled their spacecraft. Perhaps some of you may remember this event that took place on April 13, 1970. Some may have even watched this drama unfold on TV. I was only 2 years old and can’t remember it at all; but I have seen the 1995 movie directed by Ron Howard, starring Tom Hanks. The movie documents how hundreds of people in the Houston Texas Mission Control Center worked to bring these men home. For those of you who know the story or have seen the movie, you know the breathtaking adventure that it was for these three astronauts, their families and the American public. It seems those who were around in 1970 were glued to their TV as they wondered, prayed and hoped that somehow these men could be rescued and brought safely home.
Imagine this scene with me. Put yourself back into 1970. You have just heard about the explosion in space. Everyone is wondering what is going to happen to these three astronauts in that tiny little capsule. Could the experts at Houston’s Mission Control get them home? The crippled capsule is called the Odyssey and it is hurtling through space headed toward the earth’s atmosphere at 35,245 feet per second. The astronauts are losing oxygen. All the computers on board the Odyssey are basically unusable because of the explosion. Mission Control has to figure out a way to slingshot the spaceship around the moon and back into earth’s atmosphere. Without computer guidance, the prospects of doing so seem impossible. Everyone is told there are no guarantees and the Odyssey could miss the earth completely or bounce off the atmosphere, if they do not hit it at the right trajectory. The heat shield on the underbelly of the Odyssey, which protects the men from the blazing inferno on reentry, may be cracked and they could burn up. Even if they make it through the earth’s atmosphere, the parachutes may not open upon reentry.
The famous and reliable, CBS News anchorman, Walter Cronkite is giving play by play of these events. There are TV cameras on board the USS Iwo Jima in the South Pacific, where the Odyssey is supposed to hit the ocean upon reentry. The world waits. Everyone has been told the ordeal of reentry to our atmosphere will last several minutes. There will be radio silence, or blackout, during Odyssey’s superheated reentry through the earth’s atmosphere. Walter Cronkite reports, “With no radio signal, there will be no way to tell how the crew and ship are faring.” Astronaut Jim Lovell radios to Mission Control they are preparing to make reentry. Then there is silence. Nothing but the static of the radio can be heard in Houston and across America by way of television. Cronkite indicates the blackout should last three minutes.
Time inches forward, second by second. People look at their watches or mantle clocks as the seconds tick off, counting down the time. Finally three minutes elapse and Houston makes the radio call, “Odyssey, this is Houston, do you read me?” This radio request is repeated over and over again. Cronkite alerts the waiting world, “Expected time of reacquisition, the time when the astronauts were expected to come out of blackout, has come and gone.” Cronkite continues with a shaky and uncertain voice, “About all we can do now is just listen, and … hope.” “Odyssey this is Houston, do you read me?” comes the request again from Mission Control. Three minutes and thirty seconds have now elapsed. “Odyssey this is Houston, do you copy?” A flight engineer from Mission Control breaks in, “That’s four minutes … standing by.” The spaceship is now one minute beyond the maximum. All hope seems lost. Again the request