Metropolitan Missionaries

CBM June e-Prayer Letter

Scott Brinson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:58:43 +0000

Click the Link to Read the June e-Prayer Letter! Click Here

CBM Ministries of the Great Southwest April e-Newsletter

Scott Brinson — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:14:14 +0000

April 2008
Dear Family and Friends,

Few happenings in life elicit as much joy as the birth of a child. I vividly remember the births of each of my children, seeing and holding those precious gifts for the first time, overflowing with joy, praise and thanksgiving to the Lord as I admired His handiwork, and thinking to myself, “This is the most beautiful little sin-sick wretch I’ve ever laid eyes on!”

All of the above confession is true except for the last part. As I cradled my newborn sons and daughter in my arms, I have to say that David’s biographical birth record in Ps. 51:5 was the farthest thing from my mind: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. The iniquitous sinner of whom David speaks here is not his mother, but himself, as reflected in the NIV translation: Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. In confessing his sins of adultery and murder (2 Sam. 11), David not only acknowledges his culpability for those sinful crimes, he professes himself to be a sinful creature; in fact, he says, there was never a time in his mortal existence, not even during his gestation within the safe and “innocent” confines of his mother’s womb, when he was not a sinner. As Charles Spurgeon notes in his commentary on this verse, “It is as if [David] said, not only have I sinned this once, but I am in my very nature a sinner. The fountain of my life is polluted as well as its streams. My birth-tendencies are out of the square of equity; I naturally lean to forbidden things. Mine is a constitutional disease, rendering my very person obnoxious to Thy wrath.”

Such painful words cause me to want to jump to my feet and shout, “Objection!” Yet no matter how impassioned or persuasive my arguments, the ruling from the bar of divine justice prevails: “Objection overruled.” I have no defense, neither for myself, nor my children, nor anyone. We are, all of us, charged with high treason against the One Who formed our inward parts, knit us together in our mother’s wombs, and fearfully and wonderfully fashioned our frames in secret (Ps. 139:13-15). All of us, like sheep, have strayed from our Shepherd through no fault or lack of care or provision on His part, but as a result of our own wayward tendencies inherited from our original progenitor, Adam (Isa. 53:6a 1 Pet. 2:25a; cf. Rom. 3:10-12; 5:12, 19a). Thus, every man, woman, and child is a sinner by nature as well as by choice. Not even infants, as Spurgeon said, are innocents.

This truth is slowly but surely making its way beyond the walls of the church. Secular behavioral experts used to think that the human brain was not sufficiently developed to formulate lies until the age of four; however, Dr. Vasudevi Reddy of the University of Portsmouth has discovered through her research that babies actually start practicing deception as early as six months, and that by the age of two they have virtually perfected the art of deceiving their parents in order to avoid punishment. A study on juvenile delinquency conducted by the Minnesota Crime Commission several years ago revealed these findings:

Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered: he wants what he wants – his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toys, his uncle’s watch, or whatever. Deny him these things and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He is dirty; he has no morals, no knowledge, and no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy every want, every child would grow up to be a criminal, a killer, a thief, and a rapist.

Nightly newscasts routinely bear witness to these harsh realities. Earlier this month, police in the southern Georgia community of Waycross uncovered a plot by a group of students to execute a violent attack against their teacher. Among the items discovered were a steak knife, handcuffs, and duct tape. Detailed job descriptions such as covering the classroom windows and cleaning up afterwards were assigned to each of the nine students said to be involved in the plot, which the police chief described as “a serious threat.” The conspirators? A group of 8- and 9-year-old third-graders who apparently were mad at their teacher for scolding one of them.

In my work with children I see firsthand the bitter fruits of their depraved natures – anger, jealousy, rebellion, pride, deceit, selfishness, violence. A poor home environment and other external issues often are contributing factors, but the ultimate cause of these and other ills is a heart that “is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick” (Jer. 17:9). Inherent in the Hebrew word for “sick” is the idea that a heart in such a diseased and deplorable state is, from a human standpoint, incurable. Self-esteem, anger management, behavior modification, psychotherapy, even character training, provides no effective remedy in healing a sin-sick heart. Such a serious malady demands a radical cure that only the Great Physician can provide: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). If a child’s sins could be dismissed with a simple, “Kids will be kids,” or “Oh well, nobody’s perfect,” it would not have been necessary for Jesus to die. But it was necessary, for only the blood of the spotless Lamb of God is sufficient to cover sin and cleanse the sinner (John 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:19).

Our schools are filled with little sinners whose only hope is Jesus. Through Released Time Bible classes, boys are girls are hearing and, by God’s grace, responding to the life-changing message of “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Delaynee, a fifth-grader in Watson, OK, says Released Time provides her with an opportunity to “praise the Lord, thank Him, and let Him wash my sins away. And,” she adds, “We get to learn more about Him every time we go and know how much He loves us, even putting His own Son on the cross for our sins.” Matthew, a fourth-grader in Ponca City Released Time, has learned that “Jesus died on the cross for me, for everyone.” Delaynee and Matthew are two of nearly 1,600 children we’ve had the privilege of ministering to this year through Released Time; of these, 92 have expressed a desire to trust Christ as their personal Savior!

Nearly 70 friends and supporters of the ministry attended our annual banquet on April 4^th. Our national director, Jerry Traister, shared with us how God is blessing and expanding the outreach of CBM, most notably through the provision of land and funding for two new camps in Virginia and Pennsylvania. State Rep. Sally Kern’s message on the biblical roots of our educational system served as a fitting reminder of the importance of reaching children for Christ at an early age. According to research studies cited by Child Evangelism Fellowship, 85% of Christians profess to having received Christ between the ages of four and fourteen. Life in this fallen world has a hardening effect on the human heart over time. For children, especially, “now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2)!

As the summer months approach, I will be seeking opportunities to share the ministry of CBM and Released Time through a variety of means including print media, radio, and church presentations. The goal is to broaden our borders by seeking to establish new Released Time programs in communities and schools throughout Oklahoma. If you know of a particular group or church that might be interested in learning more about our work, please let me know.

Through your faithful prayers and gifts God is graciously meeting our needs. We will soon be purchasing a computer and projector for use in ministry presentations; Bibles and teaching materials for our RT students and volunteers; and training materials for our teachers. Support for CBM staff, including George and Donna Warrington and myself, is an on-going need, and many of you give generously and faithfully so that we can continue to serve as the Lord desires to use us. Thank you so much! Please pray for open doors of ministry and that God will direct us to those communities and schools where the fields are “ripe for harvest” (John 4:35).

In the Savior’s Love,

Scott

CBM Ministries March ePrayerLetter

Scott Brinson — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:45:47 +0000

March 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Hope springs eternal . . . in politics, anyway. During his acceptance speech at the ’92 Democrat National Convention, Bill Clinton said he “still believe[d] in a place called Hope” (his Arkansas birthplace). More recently, Barack Obama has written about, and continues to speak about, “the audacity of hope.” Here’s how a 20-year-old woman in Seattle reacted to Obama’s messianic-like aura of optimism: “When he was talking about hope, it actually made me cry. Like it really made sense, like, for the first, like, whoa . . .” Like, huh?

According to Wikipedia, hope is “a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. [It] implies a certain amount of despair, wanting, wishing, suffering, or perseverance – i.e., believing that a better or positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary.” This is the hope of the world, the sort of wishful thinking that inspires Orphan Annie to sing of a brighter day, a better future, in the hope that “the sun’ll come out tomorrow.” And yet for most people, such hope is nothing more than an elusive dream. In Greek mythology, hope was personified as Elpis (the Greek word for hope, not to be confused with Elvis). When Pandora opened her legendary box, she released the evils of greed, vanity, slander, envy, and pining into the world, slamming the lid shut before Elpis could escape. Thus, evil was allowed to roam unrestrained among mankind, while the one potentially mitigating force, Hope, remained securely locked away inside Pandora’s Box.
Hope is an integral part of man’s emotional, psychological, and spiritual fabric. Towns with names such as Hope, New Hope, Good Hope, Spring Hope, and Pleasant Hope dot our country’s landscape. Organizations like The Hope Institute, Project HOPE, and HOPE Worldwide offer a variety of social services to people in need. There’s even a “Hope Channel” on cable and satellite TV. People desperately want hope, need hope, and, in many cases, die without hope. So who is Elpis, and where is he when you need him?

Those who have entered into a relationship with God “live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). As Christians, we’re to live our lives according to what we believe to be true as revealed by God in His Word, both written (Scripture) and living (Jesus Christ). There’s a direct link between faith and hope, as the writer of Hebrews defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for . . .” (11:1). This tells us two things about faith: (1) It assumes the existence of hope as something real and not merely possible; and (2) It is the “assurance” or the guarantee that the object of one’s hope will most certainly be realized. In other words, we who live by faith (and only we) have an Elpis that is real and that cannot and will not disappoint, unlike the one in Pandora’s Box; in fact, we can claim the object of our hope as if it were already ours, as we “see” it with “eyes of faith,” even though we won’t actually possess it until we go to be with the Lord. That in which we hope and for which we hope is as real as the God in Whom we trust, and it is ours now just as surely as it will be then.

This hope is what sustained the Apostle Paul throughout his ministry. On three separate occasions, once before the Jewish Sanhedrin (Acts 23:6), once before the Roman governor Felix (Acts 24:15), and once before the Jewish king Agrippa (Acts 26:6-8), he boldly declared his “hope in God” for which all Israel longed, specifically, hope in “the resurrection of the dead.” This hope of life after death is promised to all those who believe on Him Who “died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and . . . was buried, and . . . was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). By virtue of the fact that “Christ has been raised from the dead,” He serves as “the first fruits,” thereby guaranteeing a much larger resurrection harvest in the future consisting of “those who are asleep” [believers who die in Christ] and “those [living believers] who are Christ’s at His coming “(1 Cor. 15:20-23). This is the hope of “the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23-25), a hope that “does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:5).

In addition to resurrection hope (as if that weren’t enough!), God has given us “the hope of His calling” (Eph. 1:18), resulting in our justification and, ultimately, our glorification (Rom. 8:29-30); “the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8); “the hope of eternal life” (Tit. 1:2; 3:7); and “the hope of glory . . . which is Christ in you” (Rom. 5:2; Col. 1:27). Of all the marvelous riches of God’s grace that comprise our hope, this is our true Elpis – “Christ Jesus, who is our hope” (1 Tim. 1:1), and our “blessed hope,” which is “the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13). This is why, as Peter says in 1 Pet. 1:3, we have “a living hope,” because our ultimate hope resides not in the power of positive thinking nor in some mythical Pandora’s Box, but in the Person of our crucified, resurrected, ascended, and soon-coming Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a Hope no “messiah” on earth, political or otherwise, can ever provide!

It is this Hope we proclaim each month to hundreds of boys and girls through Released Time Bible classes. In Nowata, OK, a portion of The Jesus Film was shown during March Released Time as part of the Easter lesson on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Loetta Landers, who is our RT coordinator in Nowata, noted, “The children were very attentive and responsive. There were some very good questions, and they left knowing that Easter is about more than the bunny and egg hunts.” Six girls from the second- and third-grade RT class expressed a desire to trust Christ as their personal Savior and are receiving follow-up visits and instruction. Pray for their growth in their newfound faith . . . and Hope!

In the small southeastern Oklahoma community of Hodgen, 145 children in the first through sixth grades are enrolled in Released Time. “We have seven faithful volunteers, and two babies!” according to coordinator Laura Krupa. “Released Time is a huge blessing in the lives of our volunteers. The children are beginning to know us and trust us. They are becoming comfortable in our building. Last week, we got to sign their yearbooks (‘Jesus loves you, and we do too!’). We are witnessing answered prayer in their lives. They are so excited to see God work! One of our volunteers is a grandma who gives lots of hugs. It’s gotten so that the children go looking for their hugs if she forgets to give them! It seems we are learning as much, if not more, than the children. At Christmas, one little boy who was abandoned by his parents and is being raised by his grandparents shared how thrilled he was with his Christmas gift – one five-dollar bill. How humbling, and what an eye-opener! It’s such a privilege to serve and minister to the Lord’s little ones. Released Time is the highlight of our month!”

These are reports from just two of the 16 communities in Oklahoma and southwest Missouri in which CBM of the Great Southwest sponsors Released Time. Loetta and some of her volunteers from Nowata will be joining us for our spring banquet at Faith Bible Church in Edmond on Friday, April 4^th and will be sharing some of God’s blessings this year. Harold Ball will also share on the happenings in Ponca City. In addition, our national CBM director, Jerry Traister, will provide us with an update from some of our other areas. Rep. Sally Kern, our keynote speaker and sponsor of our Released Time legislation this year, will share with us what God’s Word says about the importance of education and what is needed today to improve it. All this plus a delicious catered meal – on us! We still have space available if you’d like to join us. Call (201-6445) or e-mail (cbmgsw@juno.com) today to reserve your spot. The serving line will open at 6:15 p.m.

Last week I attended CBM’s Directors Conference in Townsend, TN. The committee to which I was assigned added some finishing touches to the Released Time Start-up Manual we’ve been working on for nearly a year. This comprehensive manual will serve as a blueprint for planning and implementing new RT classes nationwide. We are also nearing completion of the first three volumes of our character-based (and gospel-saturated) curriculum. This material has been available, in “rough draft” form, to our teachers for a while, but we’re just about ready to have the final version published and made available for sale. Pray that the remaining details will be completed quickly, and that the grant funding we’re seeking to pay the printing costs will be approved.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.
My hope is in the Lord Who gave Himself for me and paid the price of all my sin on Calvary. For me He died; for me He lives, and everlasting life and light He freely gives.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and gifts that enable us to share this living Hope through the ministry of Released Time!
                                                                                                                                Grace and Peace,
                                                                                                                                                Scott