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We Almost Lost Him

Posted by Michael Breznau on 5:23 pm in Pain and Suffering, Story Time, Theology | 0 comments

The last several days have been a whirlwind of activity, stress, and no sleep. This past Monday, Hudson came down with a cough that increasingly worsened over the course of Wednesday and Thursday. We tried several homeopathic methods recommended to us by our midwife and pediatrician, but his situation came to a head at 5:30pm, Thursday night.

 

Five minutes after I left for evening work at Dallas Bible Church, he fell into a coughing spell and stopped breathing altogether. Stephanie quickly tried to help him cough it up, but then decided to call 911. Through the instruction of the 911 attendant, Stephanie successfully resuscitated him after 4 attempts…and approximately 1 minute. His body had turned very blue and completely limp during this time.Moments later, the EMS team arrived and rushed Stephanie and Hudson to the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. I got a quick call from Stephanie and immediately left work and headed to the hospital. Between 6:30-10:00pm they performed several tests on him, included a chest x-ray, spinal tap, etc…

After receiving oxygen help, he started to regain his color and strength. However, by this time he had lost 1.5 pounds and was severely dehydrated. At first his chest x-ray showed evidence of neo-natal pneumonia, but now the official diagnosis is “pertussis.” This is more practically known as the Whooping cough.

 

Around 3:00am he had another episode and went “code blue.” Praise be to the Lord, he recovered fine and now is resting well. To say the least, we need your prayers. Many, many wonderful, loving people have blessed us with their visits and prayers and we are so grateful to the Lord for their care. The doctor said that he has never seen I child with this leave earlier than 4 days or later than 34 days. So, it may be awhile. He has to be able to go 12 hours without artificial oxygen before he can leave.

 

We do ask for your prayers during this time. Please pray that Hudson will recover thoroughly and quickly, without any lasting side effects. Also please pray for my dear Stephanie, that she would also heal from her sickness (she also has the whooping cough). Please pray also that I will be able to balance my school work (that is rapidly piling up), work, and family.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. We love you all!

In Christ Alone,
Michael

 

Our lil’ Hudson…

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flame will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. ~ Isaiah 43:2-3

Finally Home…

April 6, 2009 at 3:58pm

Dear Family and Friends,After more than 10 days of testing, “code-blue” moments, medication, rest, and recovery, we are finally and safely home. For both Stephanie and I, there were times of great fear and anxiety over our little son’s condition, but the Lord graciously gave us peace and comfort in our times of need. Almost every day we were pleasantly surprised by visiting guests who offered their prayers and encouragement. We are so very grateful for each dear one who stopped by during this ordeal. We cannot thank you enough for your smiles, care packages, and thoughtful words that ministered to our hearts during this time.

 

Each card, balloon, email note, flower, and gift uplifted our hearts and brought joy to our long days. Over the past ten days we have felt overwhelmed by the love of Christ more than ever before. Thank you all for your constant prayers. We are so thankful to the Lord for each one of you.

 

Children’s Medical Center of Dallas did an excellent job treating Hudson and their conscientious care was greatly appreciated. Hudson is doing much better now, and although he still has a mild cough, the frequency of his struggles has significantly decreased. He is VERY hungry all the time, and this morning he let Mommy and Daddy know this dozens of times through the effective use of his strong lungs and vocal chords.

 

He is now resting peacefully at home with Stephanie and I. What relief we find in simply seeing him rest soundly with good color in his little, pudgy cheeks. Please continue to pray that he completely recovers from pertussis and is able to regain the weight he lost over the past two weeks. Also, please continue praying for Stephanie’s cough as well. She suffered some bruising of ribs due to her coughing and this pain is still hard to bear. For us as a family, please pray that the Father continues to physically recover us, and unite and ground us in the love of His Son, Jesus Christ. Also, the pressure of finishing this semester of seminary will be particularly heavy on my shoulders over the next four weeks, as I try to desperately catch up with all the assignments – I would covet your prayers in this regard.

 

Thank you for your loving support, prayers, and thoughtful exhortations. We are sincerely grateful for all of you and pray that the Lord blesses you with His peace and grace.

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.” ~ Psalm 121

In Christ Alone,
Michael Breznau

 

March 18th, 2015 

And now our dear Hudson is 6 years old! He is a vibrant follower of Jesus Christ and loves to share the Good News to everyone he meets. His eyes sparkle with creativity and wit. His heart brims over with joy. And his life is marked by divine grace.

 

Hudson, we love you so very much. Thank you for reminding us of God’s grace and truth. You are the most special and wonderful boy in all the world!

~ Mommy and Papa

It’s Still Raining

Posted by Michael Breznau on 3:44 pm in Pain and Suffering, Story Time, Worship | 0 comments

From this week 8 years ago…. 

Originally written on the evening of March 16th, 2007  

Rain, rain falling down…continuously cascading out of the atmospheric ceiling of gray clouds. Might I say miserable, dismal weather? Weather that makes one perhaps bored, lonely, or depressed?

As I looked out of my apartment window early this afternoon I noticed the gray wisps that had been hanging over the Dallas area for the last four days had finally given up there holding pattern and had decided to let loose with a good downpour. As I peered out through the glass and storm screen, I was inspired to tell you something that the Lord had placed on my heart quite a while ago, but maybe out of fear, or simply the lack of time, I neglected to do so.

But now as I sit here done with most of my seminary assignments (for now) at quarter past ten, and it’s still raining, the Lord has again prompted me to tell you about a time in my life when it kept raining, in fact it seemed to rain for more than six months…

At the Top of My Lungs

At five years old I can remember loving to sing, and when I mean love, I mean everyday at the top of my lungs. Of course five year olds can’t sing very well, but I sure tried, in fact there’s even evidence through the witness of my mother that I tried when I was in her womb, (as attested by all the kicking and punching going on in her stomach during the song service at church). As I grew older I continued singing. I sang to my piano teacher as I pounded out my lessons, I joined the kid’s choir at church, and I screamed around the house with a five gallon bucket used as a percussion instrument, vocally reverberating something that referenced the mystery of the Trinity.

As I grew into my teen years my love for the Lord deepened, and my desire to sing and worship Him through instrumental song only grew. At fifteen years old, I remember when our music pastor asked me to sing a solo…yikes; I still can’t believe they let me do it at the green age of fifteen. But, as nervous as I was, I loved it…I just knew this is what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing.

The church we attended at that time gave me many wonderful opportunities to use my gifts to glorify God. I began not only playing the trumpet in their small orchestra ensemble, but also leading worship on Wednesday nights, and then even on Sunday mornings. I participated in choirs, more solos, and other community concerts, and God was blessing my ministry! Through a variety of circumstances I ended up leaving that church when I was twenty, but soon God opened other doors through which I could minister in music. I returned once more to leading worship at a couple small churches, along with other various music opportunities in the Eternal Vision program, and other various music classes etc…

My only point in saying all these things up to this point is not to blab about my musical background, but simply to share with you how large a place music has always had in my life.

To me worshiping God and music were synonymous and inseparable. How little I knew…

In the fall of 2005 the Lord clearly directed me to go on a missions trip to the faraway land of India. And, what was supposed to be a three week trip ended up being a great five-week “baptism” into real life ministry. I had a wonderful, awesome time. I saw God work in so many powerful ways, to think about it still blows my mind. But this trip was not without difficulty.

During one of the largest crusades we were involved in, we went forward to sing a few songs…no big deal I thought. Me as the “music guy” had prepared a few selections and I thought we could do a decent job. However as we were starting to sing the first song, I noticed something didn’t seem quite right with my voice. I deduced it to be merely some slight association with the congestion I was dealing with at the time, and thought it would eventually return back to normal. The only problem is that it only grew worse. But you know me, I didn’t completely lose my voice so why not keep going? So that is just what I did. I actually preached an hour long message right after we finished that series of songs…

As my time in India drew to a close, the problem with my voice started to bother me more, but at the time I was sick with so many other ailments, I figured things would heal up when I got back to home turf…

“and it’s still raining…”

I was quite green around the gills when I finally stepped foot on American soil, but within a few weeks of having my mom’s great health food and a heavy dose of vitamins everyday, I started feeling well again. The only not so funny thing was ahem…was my voice was in really bad shape. I couldn’t figure it out. It didn’t matter what vocal exercises I tried to do, it simply would not get any better. My loss of voice was right in the pivotal, power center of my range…it would go from a grating sound to sometimes completely nothing. You may laugh, but I certainly wasn’t.

After three months of wondering, I finally decided to get back with my voice teacher and see what he had to say. After hearing me try to sing a little bit he recommended that I go to a specialty clinic at the University of Michigan. Now, you have to realize that I had now gone more than three months without being able to sing (at least like I used too)…My heart was starting to really sink.

“and it’s still raining…”

As I made my way to this vocal clinic for a diagnostic exam, I couldn’t help but be filled with despair. Why would God send me to India, and then take away the gift that I was so sure he had given me? Why does it have to be my voice? “God, why does it have to be me?” As the doctor showed me the video from the stroboscope he had put down my throat and said, “Well Michael, what you have is a laryngeal asymmetry caused by the apparent viral damage of your upper superior laryngeal nerve…in other words a semi-paresis of your left vocal fold”…I don’t remember crying outwardly, but if I wasn’t, I certainly was weeping on the inside.

Get out of the Way

It didn’t get any better either, the doctor then graciously said that there was NOTHING he could do about it accept to wait maybe a year or so to see if it would clear up. Then he recommended that I start vocal therapy to learn how to best utilize what I did have. Hmmm…what did I have anyway? The therapy proved to be insightful, but also very expensive, something I’m not always akin to, especially when it comes to giving it to hospital bills.

But I must say one thing they did tell me in therapy really jumped out at me and hit me right across the forehead…it was from Mr. Leslie Guinn (I retired, but still famous classical singer), he said, “Michael, if I can get you out of the way of your voice, you then will be able to actually use it.”

Now, this may sound really crazy to some of you who are not singers, but to me it not only applied to my voice, but to everything God was trying to teach me. You see, for so long I was doing what I thought was my gift. I was controlling and guiding, but now it seemed God was desiring something very different from me. He wasn’t desiring for me to do anything for Him, but instead He wanted me give Him control and stop trying to hold on….even to the things I held most dear, even my voice.

I would say, “Lord, you know all I want to do is worship you with my voice, why would take this away!! God, I would rather have my right arm completely cut off than lose my ability to worship You!” But…

“It’s still raining…”  

“Lord, why me? Why now?” And then through my tears I would hear my Lord whisper through His Word, “Michael I want your heart, all of your heart”…He told me that I had been trying to doing all these things for Him, as if I had something good to bring to the altar, when in actuality the things I thought I had to bring to the altar to please Him were simply from Him in the first place. All my righteousness was seen as filthy rags…And it didn’t matter to God, He simply wants to know me. Really?

“I barely hear…You whisper through the rain…I’m with you”

Through spring and on into mid-summer I continued to go to the vocal therapy sessions down at U of M, and then cry at least part if not all the way home during the hour and fifteen minute drive…I was progressing, so they said, but the problem was still there. But, you know what? As little as I could sing, I was learning to wait at the throne of grace and talk with God, worship God and find joy in His presence no matter how I felt physically.

I then remember quite distinctly driving home from a business meeting and attempting to break into a song of joy for the Lord’s blessing and finding my voice still not there…

I banged my hands against the steering wheel in frustration more with myself than anything else, tears began to roll down my face. I again asked Jesus the “why” question, but this time something maybe me stop short. With my eyelids wiping back and forth the rain in my eyes…I whimpered, “Lord, I love you, and if I am never able to sing the way I used to ever again…Praise to You. And, if you do restore my voice, it is yours…Praise to You. I will only look to glorify You in everything that I say, sing, and do from now on….

“I’ll raise my hands, and praise the God who gives, and takes away…”

It was late August or early September when I noticed that I could once again seem to be able to do a little bit more with my voice here and there. My voice teacher also commented on it and said that he felt I could begin working on some real songs again, not just vocal exercises. Boy, was that a relief… However, I still knew that my singing ability was still limited, so I simply kept trusting. It was this matter of trusting that allowed me to release all the tension, worry and anxiety to the Lord.

God once again starting opening doors through which I could minister in music, and as I prepared, I again found my voice feeling a little stronger. It was as though God was giving me just enough grace for each opportunity…the first solo I sang coming back was “His strength is Perfect”…But, I really shouldn’t say “coming back,” I still feel that this voice that I do have is not what it used to be, it is what God wants it to be, and I am totally dependent on Christ for each situation.

I knew that according to the doctor my “paresis” was not too much different than it was in May, but as the Christmas season rolled around I felt the Lord giving me direction to be involved in whatever God-glorifying music opportunities that might arise. So trusting Him, I ended up participating in a whole myriad of events over the holiday season…Praise to Him.

And that was when I noticed it wasn’t raining anymore. The Lord had taken my heart and I had no desire of retrieving it. He was not only my Savior, but now my Lord, my God and my King. He was gracious to restore my voice in the way in which He chose and I can honestly say that God did something in my heart and life that could only be done through such an experience as this. Just a couple of weeks ago when I returned home for spring break, I went to the last scheduled session at U of M for a final check by the doctor and to my pleasant and truly complete surprise he said, “You know what Michael? If I had not known of your previous condition and had not been looking really hard for the asymmetry of your vocal mechanism, I would not have even noticed that you still have just a slight problem. It’s barely even there now Michael” ….Praise to God! Oh, Praise to You my King. And this time I didn’t hold my feelings inside…

I hope and pray that this little yet sort of long story from my life has made known to you in a more evident way the true character of our loving, holy and sovereign God. Whatever you are going through right now…it may be raining and thundering, but know that He is with you and He will never leave you or forsake you. He is working in your life for His glory to be known and His power to be shown to not only you, but to as many as will listen to you share.

“But I am afflicted and in pain; May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high. I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs. The humble have seen it and are glad; You who seek God, let your heart revive. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise His who are prisoners.” – Psalm 69:29-33

“O God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come, For your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? You who have shown me many troubles and distresses will revive me again, and will bring me up again from the depths of the earth. May You increase my greatness and turn to comfort me.” – Psalm 71:17-24

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6)     

Lyrics from headings borrowed from Mark Hall’s song “Praise You In this Storm” (Casting Crowns):

In Christ Alone,

Michael Breznau

…It stopped raining.

God’s Not Changing (even though our clocks are)

Posted by Michael Breznau on 10:52 am in Devotionals, Story Time, Worship | 0 comments

Our great and almighty God is unchanging in character, power, and authority (cf. Mal. 3:6). He is steadfast in His loyal, covenant-love (Psa. 100:5; 117:2; Lam. 3:22-24). Our Lord is immovable in His precepts. What He has established will not be shaken. His Word will endure forever (Isa. 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25). His sovereign plan for His Church will never be thwarted.

And we, the adopted heirs according to the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus, can trust Him today. When everything is being shaken around us in our culture, country, and world economics, you and I can step forward with hope and courage because we know the almighty, unchangeable God is with us – surrounding us wherever we go.

In Psalm 125:1-2, a song of ascents, we find beautiful imagery from ancient Jerusalem that captures this idea:

“Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, from this time forth and forever.”

A historical view of Jerusalem…

So when the news media inundates us with uncertainties, when family issues don’t resolve, when job struggles continue, when financial needs don’t disappear, when fear starts to rise: trust in the Lord who is always with you, surrounding you with His unstoppable love and care and truth.

As I was writing this morning, my 3-year-old daughter, Everlynn, crawled up on my lap, looked up into my eyes with a curious smile, and asked, “What is surrounding?…what does surrounding mean, Papa?” (She had apparently heard me reading aloud to Hudson a few moments before). Rather than launch into an etymological refrain from Webster’s dictionary, I simply gave her a big hug and said, “This is what surrounding means, Everlynn, my arms are surrounding you.” Her eyes sparkled with understanding. She knew what Papa’s arms around her meant: protection, care, love, and provision.

Maybe you need to remember today that God is – right now – surrounding you. He is holding you with arms of love that will never grow tired. His opinion of you will never change because His opinion about His Son will never change, and you are in the Son (see Ephesians 1:3-14). Comfort and refuge are found in the One who is always with His people, from today and on into eternity. He will never change. You can count on it.

Yet the irony of this weekend is that our clocks have to change. Well, I suppose we could rebel against whoever makes these Daylight Savings decisions, but what’s one person against 300 million? Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. So I’ll remember that God and His divine agenda will never change. I’ll remember there will one day be no longer any need for Daylight Savings clock changes, because:

 “…there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; they [we] will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5).

Alas, I will spring my clocks forward before I hit the sack tonight. Ha! I’m certain that our ABFs and other classes at North Park Baptist Church will have gallons of hot coffee available “bright and early” to help soften the internal adjustment. See you tomorrow morning!

Mission: Love One Another

Posted by Michael Breznau on 11:33 pm in Mission, Podcast, Sermons, Uncategorized | 0 comments

I will never forget being ushered to the bedside of my great-grandfather Alvin Feldbusch. He placed his large, worn, and calloused hand on top of my head and prayed for me with a gravitas that gripped my attention. Even though I was a rambunctious, skinny little runt of about 8 years old, I will always remember some of the final words he spoke to me and the prayer he lifted up to the Lord as I felt the weight of his hand on my tiny “patch of fur.”

The man who had always given me more ice cream than my mother allowed and eagerly shown me all his snow-blowing and gardening gadgets, was now just days away from leaving us. I will never forget that he prayed I would be “a farmer in God’s harvest,” on God’s farm field. I wasn’t fully sure what he meant back then, but now I’m beginning to know…

You may have a similar story of final moments with a parent, grand-parent, or sibling… We lean in to hear what our loved ones will say during their final days on earth. We don’t want to miss anything or hurry over any detail or forget their parting wishes…

Final Hours with Christ

In my current preaching series through the Gospel according to John, we’ve arrived at the final hours before Christ goes to the cross. His disciples – these Twelve men – aren’t exactly sure what is going to happen but they’re beginning to get a glimpse of understanding.

Death and darkness are approaching. Uncertainty is beginning to set-in.

In the Upper Room, they celebrate a Passover meal with Jesus, the Last Supper. Of course, you and I know this is not the end, yet this is the last major recorded teaching of Christ to His disciples. Short pieces of commission instruction will be recorded following the resurrection, but Christ’s teaching in John 13-16 are the final riveting words for the disciples and for us on how we are to live and love, and have comfort and hope without Jesus Christ physically present and leading us down the path of life.

The Setting: Christ’s final teaching started with a radical object lesson: laying aside the rabbinic robes of title, position, and cultural sensibilities, He takes the position of a non-Jewish slave – a household servant – and washes his disciples feet. But after explaining the shocking implication about the object lesson, Jesus turns to preparing them for His departure.

Everything is going to be thrown upside-down; the crowds have already reached mass defection (see John 12:37, 42-43). But now it’s even closer; defection – betrayal – will come from within their closest circle. So Jesus wants them to know two vital truths so that they will continue in faith and on mission after He’s gone, and when the storm of public opinion smacks them in the face.

And here’s the central issue for them and us: What do we need to believe and do when everything around us seems like it’s breaking loose? What we believe always impacts how we behave. So let’s lean into these riveting words of Jesus in the Upper Room, just hours away from the cross…where we will hear we must believe about Christ’s mission and how that links direct to our behavior as Christ followers. Let’s turn to John 13:18-35…

A Prayer for Today…

Lord of all of heaven and earth, God of all grace and mercy,

Help me to love as Christ loved His disciples, in serving, in taking the lowest rank, in laying down His life for their sake,

And as Christ still loves, in saving the lost, in cleansing me from daily sins, in interceding for me, in healing me deepest needs, in filling up my emptiness, in granting me joy in pain, in giving me hope in place of fear.

So, by the power of the Holy Spirit, work in and through my life to display Christ’s love,

…when I am tired and feel unable

…when I serve without the praise of others

…when I go unnoticed

…when I can’t expect anything in return

…when I’d rather serve myself

…when I think another is less-than-deserving

…when I face opposition or even hatred

…when my strength is gone may Christ’s strength be made perfect in my weakness, so that I may keep loving and serving and thereby displaying the grace of God I have received in Jesus Christ. So as I have received may I, therefore, be transformed within for the spread of your Gospel across the earth, through You, in me, to the praise of Your glory. To You, my Father, through Christ my Savior, and by the Holy Spirit my Comforter, I pray, Amen.

Listen to the full audio message below entitled “Mission: Love One Another” (John 13:18-35) by clicking on the play button below or by subscribing to our iTunes podcast. This message was originally delivered at North Park Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI, on Sunday morning, February 22, 2015.

Church = Family?

Posted by Michael Breznau on 4:13 pm in Church & Praxis, Devotionals, Marriage & Family, Theology | 0 comments

Family. I love the sound of that word. Why? Because I believe the word family embodies the picture of God’s plan for His people. Are we perfect? No. Do we always get along? Sadly, no. Do we have occasional squabbles and disagreements? Sure.

Yet these things are a natural part of family life, aren’t they? I’ve never run into a family that never had a moment of tension. Yet in our imperfections, as we progressively grow in the character of Jesus Christ, we know that the things which unite us are far more important than the things which may occasionally divide us.

Here is what God’s Word says about us: we’ve received “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” we were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world,” and “in love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:3-6). The many gifts and blessings poured down on us through God’s mercy are not just what we’ve received individually, but collectively as a part of God’s household (Eph. 2:19-22).

So a local church is not a restaurant, where individual Christians show up for a good meal and quickly return to living in separation from life together on mission with other believers. A Christ-follower in sincere covenant with other believers in a local church will also not loosely hop from “restaurant” to “restaurant” looking for a more appealing meal. No, the local church is not a restaurant; it’s a family. A family stays together, loves each other, and works together toward a central goal because they know the value of the whole is more than the sum of each individual part. And dare I say, the value of a local church is not in the sum of its pastor or pastors – it’s in Christ who is the Head of the Church, and this is seen through His love displayed in all the members together as one family in Him.

This is precisely why the apostle Paul exhorted the local church in Ephesus to…

“…walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1b-6)

So in a culture filled with discordant and ruptured families, Christ’s saving grace has brought us into the one family of God. By the Spirit’s power, we can now live on His mission together in the harmonic notes of the Gospel. As individual people who’ve received God’s love in Christ, we can now collectively show God’s love to each other and display it to those who, perhaps, have never seen His love.

By the Spirit’s power, we can now live on His mission together in the harmonic notes of the Gospel.

Each local church membership directory does not merely represent a collection of names, faces, and job assignments – it displays a portrait of a family of believers living and worshiping together for God’s glory.

My prayer this year is that we will grow together in Jesus as we love one another and go reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord.

If you want to know a little more about our local church family, North Park Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, here’s a short video that explains our core mission as followers of Jesus:

Gather Grow Go from North Park Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Hypocritical Piety and Sincere Worship

Posted by Michael Breznau on 10:53 pm in Devotionals, Podcast, Sermons, Videos, Worship | 0 comments

Hypocrisy always hides behind a guise of piety, but sincere worshipers hide and hold back nothing – because they know Jesus Christ knows everything about them and yet He still loves them.

God’s great and grand story captures not only my heart but also my imagination. So on occasion, I pull away from splicing and dicing beautiful narratives from God’s Word into 3 and 4 point sermons and instead utilize a dramatic first-person form of communication. Why color outside of the normal lines like this? Because I long for God’s people to be radically captured by the beauty and power of His Word, so that their hearts and lives are changed for His glory.

In the video below I walk through a re-cap of the first half of the Gospel of John, and then dive into the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with perfumed oil and Judas’ hypocritical response (12:1-11), from the perspective of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary.

Here’s the manuscript for those interested in the details of this exposition: 

[SCENE 1] Christ’s Story begins to Unfold…(John 1-10)

Jesus. Man. God. The God-Man.

Word. The Word became flesh and moved-in to live among us.

Life. Light. In Him was Life and the Life was the Light of men.

John the Baptist took the witness stand and testified to the identity of Jesus.

Lamb. Lamb of God. The One who would take away the sin of the world. And the story began to unfold…

Jesus inaugurated his public ministry at a wedding celebration and turned water into the best wine. (Ch. 2)

Jesus walked the super-religious Nicodemus out of the darkness of spiritual ignorance and into the light of God’s Good News. (Ch. 3)

Jesus turned the sex-addict from Samaria into a Gospel-telling worshiper of God. (Ch. 4)

Jesus healed a royal official’s son, saving him from death’s door. (Ch. 4)

Jesus restored a man by the Pool of Bethesda who had been disabled for 38 years. (Ch. 5)

Jesus fed 5,000+ people near the Sea of Galilee with a supply of just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. (Ch. 6)

Jesus walked on top of the water of the Sea of Galilee, showing His disciples His power over the elements of creation. (Ch. 6)

Through all of this, Jesus taught with authority and wisdom that amazed everyone – including the Pharisees and Chief Priests! (6-8)

Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth. (Ch. 9)

And in all of this, everything that Jesus SAID and DID was pointing us toward who Jesus IS.

We were coming to know and see the grace and truth of God. He taught my sisters, Martha and Mary, and I. But more than what He taught us, He loved us. He knew everything about everyone – He knew what was in the heart and mind of every person (Jn. 2:24-25) – but He still loved us.

[SCENE 2] Lazarus’s Death and Resurrection (John 11)

But then a severe illness fell upon me like a giant iron weight. I grew so sick that I was unable to move or eat. The pain was so deep I couldn’t sleep and then suddenly…I was gone.

The last thing I saw were the faces of my dear sisters. Sobbing and tears overwhelmed them as they saw me slip from their grasp.

Their crying suddenly was drowned out by silence.

But then, after my body lie rotting in the tomb for four days – I heard a voice breakthrough – I heard HIS voice, the voice that could calm the seas and speak the world into existence:

“Lazarus, come out!”

Then I saw His face, the deep, true kindness of His eyes – I could see tears still in His eyes – but they sparkled brighter than the sun that shone on my face. A smile broke across His face – the purest of joys – when He said to the crowd gathered all around, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

In all of this, everything that Jesus SAID and DID was pointing us toward who He was and IS.

But after all of this, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Chief Priests (Ha! You never saw those three groups all working together)[1] but this time…they threw up their arms and shouted in unison, “What are WE doing?” Jesus was doing many amazing miracles. The people were flocking to Jesus in droves! But what were they doing? Sitting on their hands? No more.

They planned together to finally arrest Jesus and put Him to death. Period. It is said that Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, shouted (amidst the scheming and bickering), “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” (11:50).

Little did Caiaphas know that his words were ordained by God and went far beyond what he could see. Jesus would die for the nation, “and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” (John 11:51b-52)

You see, God’s sovereignty overrules human conspiracy every time. God’s sovereignty overruled the Jewish Leaders’ plans for self-protection with His plan of redemption (John 11:47-57) And God’s sovereignty overrules human conspiracy… every time (cf. John 11:51-53).

God is turning tragedy into glory…

[SCENE 3] The Passover is Coming

Jesus and His twelve disciples then left for a town called Ephraim, 12-15 miles northeast of Jerusalem near the wilderness. We would learn that everything Jesus did was on His specific timetable ordained by the Father, to fulfill all prophecy…[2]

Passover was coming now, the great celebration of God’s night of deliverance for the people of Israel out of Egypt. The Passover lambs would be slain, pointing to the Lamb of God who would come and die so that our sins would be passed over, erased, forgiven.

Crowds of faithful Jews were pressing into Jerusalem. The sounds animals baaing and bleating, children scurrying, parents shouting, they were all passing through little villages like ours, Bethany, just 2 miles from the great city, Jerusalem. But through all the din, there was a whisper among the people, “Is Jesus coming? What do you think? Will He come to the Passover feast at all?

Word had spread all over that the religious authorities had posted a death wish for Jesus. If anyone knew anything about where Jesus was, they were to immediately tell the chief priests and the Pharisees, so that they could send soldiers to arrest Him (John 11:55-57).

Jesus was going to die.

I was wondering, too, with the crowds. Would I see Jesus again? Would I be able to thank Him again? Oh to see His face and hear that voice again…

[SCENE 4] Jesus Comes to Bethany!

Then the news came! People were running ahead to let us know! Jesus was returning! Jesus was coming to Bethany!

6 days before the Passover celebration,[3] the day when the lambs would be slain and we would not only celebrate God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, but also pray with anticipation for the promised Messiah, the Lamb who would rescue us and deliver us… and now here was Jesus and His twelve followers!

Our tiny village burst into celebration! I threw my arms around Jesus. Tears of joy welled up into my eyes. I could see tears in His eyes, too. Tears of joy… but a hint of sorrow, too. At the time I wasn’t quite sure why.

We, together with Simon, the leper, (whom Jesus had healed) decided to throw Jesus a big banquet – in thanks and praise for bringing me back to life again and teaching us the Good News of God’s kingdom!

My sister Martha, immediately gathered other people together to prepare for the big feast![4] She loves that sort of thing – she always loved to work and serve but now that Jesus had given us grace and truth – her service was a beautiful, joyful act of worship. She flurried around making sure everything was just so.[5]

I, Lazarus, was able to sit down at the head table with Jesus. We laughed and talked and ate and rejoiced…

[SCENE 5] Mary’s act of sincere worship and Judas Iscariot’s words of fake piety

But then my sister, Mary, did something totally unexpected. It was as if she knew something was to come that nearly all of us didn’t see. We missed it…

I was just about to bit into a piece of bread when she came in – full of tears in her eyes. I wondered what was wrong.

She hurried over to where Jesus sat at the table and knelt down at his feet.

All the talking and laughing immediately ceased.

Suddenly she broke open one of our family treasures, a sealed alabaster box filled with the purest perfume oil one could buy – a Roman pound, nearly 12 ounces as you might say here.[6] The fragrance was of pure nard, prepared from the roots and stems of an aromatic herb from northern India. It was worth as much as what most men could earn in an entire year of labor!

This pure oil was only used by the wealthiest of our society. It was kept to anoint Kings or rabbis or to perfume the bodies of our deceased upon burial.

And Mary poured it all out upon the feet of Jesus, anointing Him…

But then she knelt down and wiped his feet with her hair. Only the lowliest servants would clean the feet of guests. The strong, sweet fragrance filled the entire house where everyone was gathered.

It smelled like a thousand roses on a warm spring day… The pungent sweetness hung in the air.

Mary wept as she wiped the oils and cleaned the feet of Jesus… and she knew something that nearly all of us missed that night.

Suddenly, a cutting voice broke the silence, “Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor!???” I felt a pit in my throat as I whirled around to see who had said the words.

It was Judas Iscariot. He was right, so it seemed. This perfumed oil was incredibly expensive and it could have been sold to give money to the poor. Soon some of the other disciples started to agree with Judas (see Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-8). His words appeared pious, righteous. Jesus had taught us to feed and care for the poor, the sick, and the outcast.

Mary’s spirit broke. I saw her crumple down to the floor… she hid her face from the men.

But then Jesus spoke with a calm but firm voice, “Leave her alone. She has kept it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” (John 12:7-8)

You see, Mary knew that every step Jesus took was one step closer to the cross, to His death, and His burial. In her sincere worship she was preparing him for death and burial. She was worshiping the Lamb who would be slain the very next week for the sins of the world.

My sin.

Her sin.

Your sin.

Jesus in our place.

We would find out that Judas Iscariot had walked with Jesus for three years but completely missed what Mary knew: Jesus was the Messiah, who would suffer as the Servant of all, in order that we might be brought to God.

The disciples discovered that Judas’ seemingly pious and righteous statement was actually a guise for his greed, for he was a thief. As the keeper of their moneybox, he would help himself to what was put into it. He certainly would have helped himself to the 300 denarii gained from selling the perfume.

Judas would sell off his association with Jesus for 30 shekels of silver, not even worth half the value of the oil that Mary lovingly and worshipfully poured down on Jesus’ feet.

She knew Jesus was just days away from the cross. He was just days away from burial and from the ultimate sacrifice – out of love for you and me.

[SCENE 6] The IMPLICATION 

Hypocrisy hides behind a guise of piety but sincere worshipers hide and hold back nothing because they know Jesus knows everything about them… yet He still loves them.

Write those words on the tablet of your heart today.

God’s Word says:

“Christ died for sins, the just for the unjust so that He might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18)

“But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

What Jesus SAID and what Jesus DID points toward who Jesus IS.

And today, for you and for me, He is calling us to sincere, true faith expressed in humble and devoted worship.

Judas sounded incredibly righteous but He completely missed what was really going on! Was all that perfume wasted? Vaporized?

The content of our worship may seem like a waste of time to the world, but it’s like a beautiful aroma to Christ. He is not looking for efficiency and productivity and a high-octane performance in our worship. No, God is looking for our all to be lovingly placed at His feet. Our time, our possessions, our schedules, our ambitions – all at His feet in worship.

Do you find yourself hiding behind pious and righteous sounding words? What religious masks are you hiding behind in order to protect your reputation or sound pious?

You see, the gathering of God’s people is not a charade where we parade around in our costumes and masks inspecting everyone else’s façade of holiness. No, God’s people, the Church, is a family brought together by a God who knows everything about you – about all of us – yet still loves us, and died and rose again to rescue us.

So remove your mask today. Drop the hypocrisy and the fake piety.

Respond to Jesus the Messiah in sincere worship today.

Footnotes

______________________________________

[1] The Sadducees and the Pharisees were fierce enemies in almost every respect. The Sadducees were the liberals of the day, denying the resurrection and the divine authorship of all the OT books besides the Torah. They were also cozy with the Romans through financial kickbacks and extortion. However, the Pharisees were the ultra-conservative legalists of the day who barely tolerated the Roman occupation and followed umpteen regulations to seemingly maintain their righteous standing before God. However, the Sanhedrin was comprised of mostly Sadducees (including the high priest and chief priest’s family), with a small but influential minority of Pharisees.

[2] Carson notes: “A large council […] is unlikely to be secure, especially if there are sympathizers in it. So it is not surprising that Jesus found out about the Sanhedrin’s decision and therefore . . . no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. To those with eyes to see he was making a theological statement: no human court could force him to the cross. Both the fact and the timing were simultaneously the Father’s determination and his own willed act (10:17, 18; cf. notes on 12:23ff).” Carson, D.A., The Gospel According to John, PNTC, pg. 423.

[3] Kostenberger remarks, “If John, as is likely, thinks of Passover as beginning Thursday evening (as do the Synoptics), “six days before the Passover” refers to the preceding Saturday, which began Friday evening.” (John, Backgrounds, pg. 119).

[4] The dinner was most likely in their home or in the home of Simon the Leper, but it may have been in a larger public setting. Remember, the last time Jesus was in Bethany he raised Lazarus from the dead. This shocking event would certainly bring the small village together in a grand welcome to the One who gave their brother and friend life again. The noun deipnon refers more the central meal of the day, similar (but not the same as our “dinner”). This may very well have been a festival type banquet in honor of Jesus’ return.

[5] Just think, the last time Jesus was in Bethany, Lazarus was rotting in a tomb and Martha and Mary were sobbing with grief. Then the Life broke through death and brought Lazarus back to life again. Jesus has been temporarily in Ephraim, but now returns to Bethany – now doubt with great fanfare. Can you imagine the greeting between Jesus and Lazarus? Can you hear the buzz humming across the village? “Jesus is returning, Jesus is coming back! We must give him a great dinner…” Kostenberger writes, “It is probably that Lazarus, Mary, and Martha provide the meal, though a large dinner in this small village, celebrated in honor of a noted guest, may well have drawn in several other families to help with the work.” (Backgrounds, pg. 119)

[6] The manner by which Mary expressed loving worship to Jesus was by using an extremely expensive bottle of spikenard perfumed oil from northern India, a litra (11-12 fluid ounces) to anoint the feet of Jesus, (v. 3a).

Sun on Snow

Posted by Michael Breznau on 1:36 pm in Devotionals, Worship | 0 comments

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who alone does great wonders, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who made the heavens with skill, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who made the great lights, for His lovingkindness is everlasting:
The sun to rule by day, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,
The moon and stars to rule by night, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. 

The Blind Man and the Seeing Blind

Posted by Michael Breznau on 10:55 pm in Podcast, Sermons, Videos | 0 comments

Did you come to Jesus as a blind beggar or as a religious do-gooder? You have to come to Him as a blind-beggar – empty-handed – to receive sight and life in Him. We must see we are blind to receive true sight and life through Jesus the Christ…

God’s great and grand story captures not only my heart but also my imagination. So on occasion, I pull away from splicing and dicing beautiful narratives from God’s Word into 3 and 4 point sermons and instead utilize a dramatic first-person form of communication. Why color outside of the normal lines like this? Because I long for God’s people to be radically captured by the beauty and power of His Word, so that their hearts and lives are changed for His glory. In the video below I’m retelling the story of the man born blind…from his perspective.

The Blind Man and the Seeing Blind: John 9.1-41 from North Park Baptist Church on Vimeo.

The Christ Candle

Posted by Michael Breznau on 2:28 pm in Devotionals, Story Time, Worship | 0 comments

Christmas Eve – the night of anticipation. Every child awaits Christmas morning with eager, can-barely-hold-it-in excitement because of what is to come. Young children will scarcely sleep as they lightly doze off with dreams of cars, dolls, games, and various toys dancing in their heads. Parents will rest with smiles of anticipation as they think of the bright giggles and laughs they’ll hear from their children as they open all the surprises around the Christmas tree.

But all our hopes for tomorrow’s Christmas celebration can’t hold a candle to the white-hot fire of anticipation that consumed God’s prophets in the Old Testament era. They longed with every fiber of their being for the great day when God would send the chosen Rescuer, to save His people from their sins. The prophet Micah spoke as God’s mouthpiece about One who would come to shepherd God’s people:

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be a ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. …And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth. This One will be our peace.” (Micah 5:2-5a; cf. Matt. 2:6; NASB)

Yet this great Shepherd, the Good Shepherd would come first as a Suffering-Servant-Rescuer destined to die so that we, as sinners, could have peace with the perfect, righteous God… and live. Only the perfect One who is both fully God and fully man could offer the once-for-all payment for sins and seal it as completely sufficient for the sins of all mankind. This meant God Himself had to come. God foretold this Great Arrival through His prophet Isaiah:

“Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

In Matthew’s Gospel, we discover that the title “Immanuel” means, “God with us” (1:23). And that is exactly what Jesus, the God-Man, did. God came down. He came to live among us. He came to die among us… as one of us, but also for us. He came so that through His death, we might receive new, eternal life.

When an angel appeared in a dream to Joseph, Jesus’ adoptive earthly-father, he said,

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20b-21)

The white candle of Advent, the “Christ Candle,” reminds us that Jesus Christ is the pure, spotless, sinless Savior sent by the God the Father to take away our sins. Men, women, and children everywhere are offered rescue through the Rescuer who came down to us, to die for us, so that we could be brought to God. On this Christmas Eve, I invite you to place full trust in Jesus Christ’s finished mission of rescue, if you’ve never done so. If already you have, let’s rejoice together in Him, remember what He did, and anticipate the dawn of final redemption at His Second Coming!

By Michael J. Breznau. December 2014.

Light Breaks Through

Posted by Michael Breznau on 2:04 pm in Devotionals, Story Time, Worship | 0 comments

The darkness of sin enveloped our souls

Only faint shadows remained of Eden’s land void of toils

Once dwelling in the light of Eden’s oasis

Now sent from the presence of the Creator’s kind graces

We stumbled along the torn path of life

Groping and feeling our way through the strife

The anger, the hate, the pride rooted deep down in all places…

Kept its tentacles reaching across all time and spaces

Born in the rebellion of old Grandfather Adam,

we prove we’re his kin with each shake of the fist,

every sharp word,

and slit of the wrist…

The people of old knew their sad state…

And longed for the day when Someone might turn all the bad into good and change their wretched fate

But darkness clouded the minds of the masses

We rejected God’s prophets and love-letter messages

We threw them aside for the will of our flesh

And fashioned our own prophets who said, “Amen! Go have fun with the rest!”

God’s people foretold One would bring light to the darkness

But we went our own way, crafting gods in the form of our likeness

In the pool of reflection we claimed our own perfection

We preached the idea we had no need for redemption

But stumble, fall, falter we must

For the darkness overwhelmed us with lust

Lust for power, position, possessions, and pleasures…

We sunk down deep in the trash of our treasures…

The trail led us down into the muck of our pride,

…the stench of our sin

…the abuse of our bodies

…the hate of our hearts

…all proving again – we’re Adam’s next-of-kin

We were hurt so we turned to hurt others

Regardless that they were our brothers

Dog-eat-dog is the way of the beast and the way of the man

So fist-over-fist we fought our way through darkest abyss

Screams in the dark and longing for light

But our pride refuses to turn to what’s right…

Would we ever see with true sight?

Then without lightning, without fanfare,

With no trumpets or any rocket’s red glare…

To the outskirts of a dusty, little settlement on the edge of town…

There was born a Baby without any human renown

His parents were poor, His mother accused,

His country was treated by the Romans like refuse…

But there over the cattle and straw and dung

God ordained for a signal star to be hung…

Light was here! Light had come!

Prisoners in the dark dungeon of sin,

Now were offered salvation full and free in Him!

His messengers proclaimed to lonely shepherds:

“The Messiah is here! The Rescuer has come!”

To the Magi of the East, God was pointing people from the star to His Son

To all those walking in darkness, they were invited to come…

Jesus the Christ born in Bethlehem…

Offers forgiveness for all your pride and hate and sin:

He is the Way that brings us to peace

He is the Truth that sets us free

He is the Life that gives us light

God came for you and me.

Most princes, kings, and religious elite…

Had no need for this Jesus born off the beaten street

But the invitation remains for you and for me

Will you come to Jesus, the Light, and begin to truly see?

______________________________

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” (Isaiah 9:2; cf. Matthew 4:14-16)

 

“…And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.” (Isaiah 42:6b-7)

 

“Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)

 

By Michael J. Breznau. all rights reserved. December 2014.