Children's Christmas Musical

Just want to share that we had a great practice tonight as we get ready for the Children's Christmas Musical!

Photo of first practice show the children that have already got a head start.

We will have practice every Wednesday from now until Dec 5th, except Thanksgiving week, from 6:30-7:30pm and Saturday Dec. 4th from 9-11am.

We need as many kids as possible. Parents and grandparents, please encourage your kids to come and bring a friend. I promise you won't regret it once you see the performance on the 5th!

Reason #1: He loves Jesus

Initially, this appears cliche and "spiritual". Yet, for those who know Mike, this simple acknowledgement most accurately sums up why we have such a deep love for our pastor. Above all qualities and virtues that Mike may possess, his love for our Lord stands above them all. Whereas his love for his family, friends, and church body is great, his love for our Jesus is greater. 

If ever there was a verse that so befittingly described Mike, it is John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit...."

The fruit that God's bears through his servant Mike is unquestionable. He's tender to those who are hurting, firm to the prideful, inclusive to the rejected, edifying to the downcast, honest to the disillusioned, steadfast in his convictions, and unapologetic to those offended by the name of Jesus. Mike's abiding relationship with Jesus bears abundant fruit in his marriage, family, occupation, friends, and the church he's been entrusted to pastor.

So we thank you Mike. We thank you for putting God before us. We thank you for your unwavering love for Jesus Christ.

Finally, we thank you for being our pastor. We appreciate you so very much and are immeasurably blessed to have you in our lives.

Reason #2: His eagerness to cause mischief!

As a curious, courageous and fearless child of the king, Mike Brady gets into the middle of trouble at times.

Mike is creative about how he goes about mischief, but it is often with a purpose.  Observing Mike with some of his pastor friends is a wonder to behold.   It is tough to determine if they are picking on people or probing them.

At a moments notice, they will turn their playful banter into an opportunity to share the gospel with a stranger.   Most people know that mischief is fun, but leave it to Mike to use it as a tool to break the ice and establish a common understanding to enhance communication in just about any relationship.

Life is all about change and you experience more of it with Mike.

Reason #3: Hearty "Hey Boy!"

If you have ever called Mike on his cell phone, or had Mike call you on his cell phone, or have been praying with Mike when someone calls Mike on his cell phone, you know that Mike loves to greet you with a hearty "Hey Boy!".

He takes his phone and his relationships seriously.  If you call him, he will drop everything he is doing and focus on you.

He is a constant source of encouragement when he is always happy to see you or hear from you.

For those accustomed to prayer without interruptions, you might think that Mike is breaking some kind of religious protocol when he bolts noisily out of prayer ( a conversation with the Father ) in order to belt "Hey Boy!" to a mere mortal.  After it has occurred a few times, and you process the temporal versus eternal qualities of the two conversations, you start to understand, appreciate and support our beloved pastor in his continuous pursuit of the next conversation.

Reason #4: He's less than six degrees of separation from any stranger

If you have ever traveled with our pastor, you know that no matter what state you are in, you will bump into someone that knows Mike Brady.

While traveling to any conference or retreat, you know that if you see a person with a Kentucky shirt, Mike can usually ask that person where he is from and have that "stranger" knowing someone who knows someone that was his best friend or relative in less than 5 minutes.

Kevin Bacon has got nothing on Mike Brady.

Mike Brady has truly never met a stranger because of this uncanny ability for him to remember someone that is related to some piece of everyone.   This again, is a gift of God, because he seems to keep losing his keys, his wallet, his clicker and his glasses in any given sermon.

As much as Mike emphasizes relationships at Tatesbrook, it is hard to describe how significant of an impact that relationships have had on the pastor we love.

Reason #5: Like our savior, they call him "Teacher"

Our church is blessed with many teachers.  As each of us seeks to be like-minded with Christ, we should consider one another more highly than ourselves and teach each other.  What better compliment to our pastor than to be called "Teacher".

Jesus Christ may not have been a teacher by profession, but they called Him Rabbi because he did it so well and he never turned a child away.

Mike may not be a patient person by nature but it takes patience to be a teacher.  It takes extreme patience to be a middle school teacher, and that is where God has placed him to confound us and those around him.

Mike has always been more of a teacher than a preacher, and that is only one of the reasons we appreciate him.  Not that there is anything wrong with preaching..

Reason #6: At all times, he radiates the love of Christ.

You can just see it on his face.  His emotions, his heart, his beliefs and values are all worn on his sleeves.  He hides nothing, his life is an open book.  Publicly on display for all to see.  All the time.

As one member said, "He remains sooo calm when UK whips Louisville".

There are many things in this world that can get people excited and Mike enjoys many of them.  The fact that he doesn't get shaken by the results of any game no matter who is playing is a good reason to love our pastor.

Personally, I love it when when people try to shake the unshakable..  the love of Christ.

An unshakable foundation is something to build on for the top five reasons still to come.

Reason #7: He married Lisa

Lisa Dorris married Mike Brady, and raised a beautiful family that was willing to sacrifice a wonderful life to move to Lexington when her husband was called.

This sacrifice represented a very special quality that we love about our pastor.

"He never tries to put himself above the rest of us"

Many times, it has been said that behind every great man, there is a great woman.  In Mike's case, that great woman had the help of three great daughters in the forming of the pastor we love.

Reason #8: He has never ceased being a Student

Most pastors pursue a degree from a religious organization of some kind when they are called to the ministry.  That is a very sound and reasonable path for some, but not our curious and creative pastor.

At first glance, you might think Mike Brady is a very simple man from a rural part of the country because of his Western Kentucky slang and twang.  As you get to know him, you learn that his depth of knowledge and understanding comes from his desire to be a student that learns from a master.

• When Mike looks to study history, he looks to a professor or a book or a college or a veteran or a public servant.
• When Mike looks to study God, he looks to God and to writers and speakers that inspire us to look to God in prayer.

A personal and prayerful relationship with the Father and a knowledge of history are a powerful combination.  We love that about our pastor.

Reason #9: He calls himself a sheep dog

Mike knows the heart of the Father and the voice of the Shepherd.

He does not let his status as a brother get in the way of his calling to gather the sheep and keep them moving all in the direction of the Shepherd's choosing.  His brotherly relationship with the sheep and the shepherd is a much stronger motivator than his bark or his bite.

He is rarely tired and possesses the capacity to sheep dog other sheep dogs in a similar manner as he sheep dogs the sheep.

Simplicity vs Symbolism

I’m having some curious thoughts about my faith that I don’t know how to sort out.

A couple weeks ago I went to visit Sacré Coeur with Ashlyn and my family. Inside the massive church building is a wealth of artwork on the walls: in the stained glass, in statues, painted on the domed ceiling. But as I looked at it, I saw symbols, symbols, and more symbols. A lot of the art seemed weird to me. Less like depictions of Bible stories and more like scenes from movies such as National Treasure, Indiana Jones, The Skulls, and The DaVinci Code. The stuff I saw reminded me a lot more of secret societies than of any kind of a relationship with our Creator and Savior. I mean, a kneeling Pope holding a globe up to a massive and well-dressed Jesus, while a dude holding his head in his hands nearby watches and boats are filled with people and keys and shields and birds and robes and hats. And then all over the place there’s keys keys and more keys in different positions and combinations...

A relationship with God is simple right? It has to be. That’s a cornerstone of my faith.

Jesus showed up and told us to stop with all the religious junk and instead listen to Him, accept His Spirit, and simply follow it. That’s all there is to it, right?

Then I open my Bible up and read Exodus 25, 26, and 40. It’s where God gives instructions to Moses regarding the building of the early temple, and the ark of the covenant, and its place within the temple. I realize that Jesus brought a new covenant which rendered the old one, well, old and outdated. But these instructions that God gave are incredibly intricate, and somewhat cryptic. Things like the type of wood, exact sizes, gold all over everything in specific places. Where to put rings and tables and bread and curtains. Who can go where and do what. How to decorate the table, the lampstand, and the dishes. Exactly which rooms they should go in and when and how. It just seems a little weird. And very not simple.

But then later, Jesus comes along and lives an impossible life, does impossible things, and suddenly some old cryptic symbolism starts to pop up. What happens to the curtain that blocks off the holy of holies room in the temple when Jesus dies on the cross? We’ve all heard that sermon before. It’s torn in two and opened up. This signifies that with the death of Jesus we can finally approach God directly. There need not be an intermediary. That’s good news! And a fabulous picture provided by the fact that for centuries, man had to stay separated from God by this room, this curtain, which He very vividly tore at a very opportune moment. But back to Exodus (and many more places in the OT), the instructions are incredibly meticulous. I have to ask myself, why did God insist that ”Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand” (Ex 25:33)? A super-theologian could probably tell me. Or just a regular one who pays attention better than I in seminary class.

So here’s where I am: do I dive into all this symbolism, this stuff, this intricately woven story of epic proportions that God put down in the Old Testament, all of which points to the coming of Christ and all of which He reveals in His time to make sense (which is what I believe happened/happens, I can’t tell you with experiential confidence yet that every weird little thing God said in the OT has a future reason)? Do I jump in and consume myself with turning over every rock and figuring out every symbol? Or do I keep my life and my relationship with Him simple, “I listen, You lead, I follow”? Did God put all that stuff in there because He wants us to figure it all out? Or did He put it in there to wow us a little bit along the way?

I tend to fall back on a hiking analogy that raises a similar question. I love backpacking, hiking and exploring forests, gorges, mountains, and wilderness. The woods are so rugged, organic, and wild, aren’t they? Have you ever been deep into them, far removed from anything man-made, perhaps trudging along on trails wishing you could have a recliner with a cold drink and some pop-corn on hand, and then you look up and see something truly majestic? A vividly bright flower, a perfectly placed waterfall, an impossibly balanced boulder. Do you think sometimes that God puts stuff like that out there so that we’ll stumble upon it and say, “wow God, that’s just incredible”? Or do you think He puts it there and wants us to tear down the forest to find it? Of course, my wife reminds me, “if we’re not at least looking up, we may never see what God’s put out there.”

So what do you think? Do we keep it simple and focus on one thing (ps 27:4)? Do we wander along and stumble on God’s intricate puzzle pieces? Or do we do all we can to figure it all out, right now?

Reason #10: He has a little red ranger and he knows how to use it

In this month of Pastor Appreciation, Tatesbrook wishes to honor our beloved Mike Brady by sharing the top ten reasons that we love our pastor.

Many people have wondered what Jesus would drive. Tatesbrook knows that a pastor must live simply such that others may simply live and that little red rangers are mighty in the tearing down of strong sheds.

They are also useful in teaching and correction if you are in the passenger seat while Mike is driving. Most of the teaching comes in the demonstration of over correction when he is not paying attention to what is immediately in front of him while he talks to you, but it is still very useful in establishing a healthy fear of life threatening experiences.

In Mike's 18 years as our pastor, he has moved many members earthly possessions from house to house and centrifugal force has hurled many of those possessions back to the earth in pieces. He makes quick work of a move.