The Church at Brook Hills

Brook Hills College – Blog

1. Take the 5 Minute Challenge

   February 9, 2012 by rachelmnewman

   What can you do in 5 minutes?  What if we all took 5 minutes a week committed in prayer for the persecuted church?

   The 5 Minute Challenge

   This website is a great resource for small groups and individuals to focus in prayer for a specific country each week.  You are able to explore information and learn about the people in the country.  Let us all commit to prayer once a week for the persecuted church.

   Category: MissionTags: 5 Minute Challenge, persecuted church | Comments (0)

2. Shh…Tell Everyone!

   January 13, 2012 by rachelmnewman

   

   The next Secret Church will be on Good Friday, April 6, 2012, at 6:00 pm.  This session’s topic will be on “The Cross and Suffering.”  You can read a summary of the topic below.

   Tickets: How do I get them?  Click here to purchase tickets on Monday, January 23, at 9:00 am (Central Time).  That morning, you will see a link on that page to purchase tickets.  Come to church on Sunday, January 22, for a special hint in ordering!

   Simulcast: Will you be at home for Easter?  If you want to do a simulcast at your house with some friends, click here to find out more information about registration.  You can begin the simulcast process on Tuesday, January 24.

   “The Cross and Suffering”
   Suffering is a sobering reality in a fallen world. Followers of Christ are not immune to adversity and affliction. On the contrary, there is a real sense in which following Christ means that trials and tribulations are more likely to come our way. As a result, whether walking through sickness, sorrow, pain, or persecution, the questions abound: Why am I suffering? Where is God when I suffer? How can I suffer well? When will my suffering end? How can God be good and allow such evil in the world? How can God be gracious and ordain such suffering in my life? During this Secret Church on Good Friday, we will explore these extremely profound yet deeply personal questions through the lens of Christ’s sufferings on the cross. In the process, we will come to a surprising discovery of how the gospel strengthens, sustains, supports, and ultimately satisfies us in the middle of suffering.

   Category: Church, GospelTags: Secret Church, suffering | Comments (0)

3. Tebow Mic’d Up

   December 19, 2011 by Britten Taylor

   Am I on the Tebow bandwagon? Easy answer, YES!

   But, I must say that I am on any bandwagon of an individual who is seeking to glorify God through their vocation.

   I am on the “college student” bandwagon that is seeking to extend the grace of God on their campus.  I am on the “stay-at-home mom” bandwagon that is seeking to platform the Gospel in her God-given role.  I am on the “church planter among the unreached” and the “local business man” bandwagon, as well as the “retired professional” bandwagon, as long as they looking to make disciples of all nations right where God in his sovereign will has placed them.

   However, rarely do we get a local business man or a college student on campus “mic’d up”!

   From the Gospel Coalition Blog entitled, “Tebow, Calvin, and the Hand of God in Sports“…

   Every Christian exists for the praise of God. Every Christian draws breath because God gives it. Every Christian serves God as a priest, offering acceptable service in the kingdom of his gospel through the power of his Spirit (1 Pet. 2:9). As with every other believer, God’s hand is leading Tebow’s life, blessing him as he applies Christian character to the task before him. God moves in mysterious ways. As previously stated, I do not have biblical grounds for seeing Tebow’s fourth-quarter heroics as an outworking of God’s direct causation. But I do know that God often delights to spurn the wisdom of the world by the efforts of his people (1 Cor. 1:20).

   Category: Mission Comments (0)

4. 10 Reasons to Consider Mid-Term Missions

   December 14, 2011 by Britten Taylor

   Mid-Term is an assignment of 2 months – 2 years in cross cultural ministry.  Mid-Term Missions through Brook Hills is for people who want to give up a summer, a semester, a year or two and serve the Lord in a cross-cultural context. Ramsey, a junior at Samford, spent last summer in Central Asia making disciples among one of the most difficult people on this planet. Below are 10 reasons he gave as to why you should consider doing this same in the near future…

   

   10 Reasons you should go Mid-Term:

   1. Call: We have been called by Christ for a purpose, His glory is to be made known among all nations.

   2. Urgency: Billions of people are born, live, and die without ever hearing the gospel.

   3.  Timing: Don’t wait for writing in the clouds, we have His writing through His Word.

   4. Adventure: You never know where the Lord will take you, be open to his direction.

   5. Oportunity: We have more than enough resources and partnerships to send students out mid-term.

   6. Advancement: The gospel must go forth!

   7. Gift: God’s grace is to be poured out through our lives to others.

   8. Ability: You have been qualified by Christ, He is your ability.

   9. Obedience: The Great Commission is a command. Obedience is not legalism. Jesus said if we love him, we will obey his commandments.

   10. Gospel: Referred to in Acts as “The Way” which is singular. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and all who trust in his sacrifice and ressurrection will be reconciled to God forever.

   For more information on Mid-Term Missions through Brook Hills, contact Paul A, director of Mid-Term Missions via email,  paula@brookhills.org.

   Category: Uncategorized Comments (0)

5. Why Church Membership Matters

   December 7, 2011 by Britten Taylor

   One drum that we try to beat quite often is the vital role of local church for college students. Many college students hop from one church to another, never planting their life into a local body of believers while in college. As we have seen time and time again, this is a difficult but necessary issue to confront.

   Below you  can read Jonathan Leeman’s 12 compelling reasons why church membership matters.  The list was taken from a recent 9Marks eJournal focused on “Church Membership” and is also an excerpt from his forthcoming book “What is Church Membership?”

   1. It’s biblical. Jesus established the local church and all the apostles did their ministry through it. The Christian life in the New Testament is church life. Christians today should expect and desire the same.

   2. The church is its members. To be ―a church‖ in the New Testament is to be one of its members (read through Acts). And you want to be part of the church because that’s who Jesus came to rescue and reconcile to himself.

   3. It’s a pre-requisite for the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a meal for the gathered church, that is, for members (see 1 Cor. 11:20, 33). And you want to take the Lord’s Supper. It’s the team ―jersey‖ which makes the church team visible to the nations.

   4. It’s how to officially represent Jesus. Membership is the church’s affirmation that you are a citizen of Christ’s kingdom and therefore a card-carrying Jesus Representative before the nations. And you want to be an official Jesus Representative. Closely related to this…

   5. It’s how to declare one’s highest allegiance. Your membership on the team, which becomes visible when you wear the ―jersey,‖ is a public testimony that your highest allegiance belongs to Jesus. Trials and persecution may come, but your only words are, ―I am with Jesus.‖

   6. It’s how to embody and experience biblical images. It’s within the accountability structures of the local church that Christians live out or embody what it means to be the ―body of Christ,‖ the ―temple of the Spirit,‖ the ―family of God,‖ and so on for all the biblical metaphors (see 1 Cor. 12). And you want to experience the interconnectivity of his body, the spiritual fullness of his temple, and the safety and intimacy and shared identity of his family.

   7. It’s how to serve other Christians. Membership helps you to know which Christians on Planet Earth you are specifically responsible to love, serve, warn, and encourage. It enables you to fulfill your biblical responsibilities to Christ’s body (for example, see Eph. 4:11-16; 25-32).

   8. It’s how to follow Christian leaders. Membership helps you to know which Christian leaders on Planet Earth you are called to obey and follow. Again, it allows you to fulfill your biblical responsibility to them (see Heb. 13:7; 17).

   9. It helps Christian leaders lead. Membership lets Christian leaders know which Christians on Planet Earth they will ―give an account‖ for (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).

   10. It enables church discipline. It gives you the biblically prescribed place to participate in the work of church discipline responsibly, wisely, and lovingly (1 Cor. 5).

   11. It gives structure to the Christian life. It places an individual Christian’s claim to ―obey‖ and ―follow‖ Jesus into a real-life setting where authority is actually exercised over us (see John 14:15; 1 John 2:19; 4:20-21).

   12. It builds a witness and invites the nations. Membership puts the alternative rule of Christ on display for the watching universe (see Matt. 5:13; John 13:34-35; Eph. 3:10; 1 Peter 2:9-12). The very boundaries which are drawn around the membership of a church yields a society of people which invites the nations to something better.

   Impact: New Membership Workshop: 

   The New Member’s Workshop at Brook Hills is offered several times per year in a four week series. The purpose of the workshop is to fully educate potential members about the vision, mission, and goal of this local body of believers called The Church at Brook Hills, and to develop the faith family as leaders to impact the nations for God’s glory.

   We encourage all…every…the entire number of college students regularly attending Brook Hills to commit to going through Impact. You are welcome to attend the workshop for informational purposes only; there is no requirement to commit to membership.

   Registration is available online, or by contacting the Assimilation Ministry Office at 205-313-7782 or membership@brookhills.org.

   The first IMPACT classes of 2012 will be Sundays, January 8, 15, 22, and 29 from 4:00 – 6:00pm. Register here.

   Category: Church Comments (0)

6. The City, the Nations, and the Best Four (Well, Maybe a Few More) Years of Your Life

   December 6, 2011 by Britten Taylor

   This blog post is written by Josh Stahley who is launching out from Brook Hills to be a church planter in New York City. Below is a post offering compelling reasons why you, a Christ-following college student, should prayerfully consider joining him, his wife and the team in planting churches in NYC.

   Many people look back over their time in college and think, “Those were four of the best years of my life.”  I undoubtedly share those sentiments.  And yet, I sometimes regret not taking full advantage of the opportunities that I had to maximize those years for the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom.  In this blog, I want to put forward one suggestion of how you might use your college experience to make disciples of all nations while furthering your education.  I’m going to give you three reasons to at least consider spending a semester, a year, or longer, studying in New York City.  Let me say at the outset, this course of action is not for everyone.  I simply put it out there for your prayerful consideration.

   

   Reason #1: Engage the Nations

   NYC is one of the most diverse cities on the planet.  Within the five boroughs of the city of New York, you will find residents from every geopolitical nation on earth.  To date, missiologists have identified over five hundred people groups living in the New York metro area.  Many of these New Yorkers come from unreached people groups, people groups with less than 2% evangelical population.

   College and university students have an especially strategic opportunity to engage the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The statistics on international students in NYC colleges and universities are nothing short of staggering.  Of course there are the well-known universities like New York University (NYU) and Columbia.  While both of these schools receive high accolades for their academic merits, they are also magnets for students from all over the world.  Columbia boasts students from 57 countries, while the student body of NYU is comprised of students from 134 different countries.

   And then there are the lesser-known schools.  The student body at Saint John’s University in Queens County is made up of students from 115 different countries.  Or consider LaGuardia Community College, a two-year community college in western Queens.  At this school of roughly 17,500 students, you will find students from over 160 countries, speaking 127 languages…and all of them are residents of New York.

   Reason #2: Study in the World’s Leading City

   The second reason you should consider studying in NYC is the doors that it will open for long-term effectiveness in the Kingdom.

   

   According to Foreign Policy Magazine, New York City is the world’s most influential city.  It is the leading global center for business, politics, journalism, art, fashion, media, ideas, and culture in general.  In other words, what happens in NYC does not stay in NYC.  It flows out to the rest of the world.

   Whatever your field of study, whatever your vocational objectives, chances are that NYC is at the center or near the center of your field.  With over 130 colleges and universities in the five boroughs, it is highly likely that you will be able to find a school that is a good fit for you.  And when you do, you will have not only a school, but the world’s leading megacity as your classroom.

   For decades, Christians have fled the great cities.  But the great cities are the centers of influence in human society.  NYC is at the nexus of a global network of megacities.  If we can plant the gospel there, we can see the gospel advance throughout the earth.  So, think about this: What would it look like if you decided to steward the talents, the mental abilities, and the educational opportunity that God has given you to work for the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel in the most influential city on the planet?  Are you willing to prayerfully consider whether God wants to use you in this way?

   Reason #3: Help Plant a Church

   Alright, this is where you get to see through to my ulterior motive.  In a little over two weeks, my wife Traci and I will load up all of our earthly belongings and move to the neighborhood of Astoria, in the northwest corner of Queens.  Astoria is considered one of the most diverse neighborhoods in all of metro New York.  It is estimated that there are people from over 120 different nations living in this one neighborhood of 170,000 people.  The neighborhood is popular with businesspeople, artists, actors, musicians, film-makers, and a whole host of other professionals who have moved to the city.  It is also a popular neighborhood for students.  The reason is that living in Astoria is a lot less expensive than living in Manhattan, but you are still only a fifteen minute subway ride away from Times Square.

   But here’s the deal.  We need gospel-saturated, Kingdom-minded students to help us reach these students in NYC, and we would love to work with you to make that happen.  In fact, if you are a member of Brook Hills or another Southern Baptist church, there might be some possibility of financial assistance through the North American Mission Board.

   The opportunity is absolutely staggering, and the mission field is ripe, but we need laborers to go out into the harvest.  So please pray about whether God wants you to spend this strategic time in your life in this strategic city, for the glory of His great Name among all nations.

   Brook Hills NYC Church Plant from Josh Stahley on Vimeo.

   If you are interested in exploring the possibility of advancing the gospel in NYC, please contact Josh Stahley at jstahley@brookhills.org or Britten Taylor at btaylor@brookhills.org.  You can learn more about The Church at Brook Hills’ church planting efforts in NYC at www.brookhills.org/nyc.

    

   Category: Church, College Life Comments (0)

7. Hard Lessons From Herman Cain

   December 5, 2011 by Britten Taylor

   I was recently sent a blog post written by Al Mohler entitled “For Christian Men: The Lessons of Herman Cain.” I am sure most of you have heard by now that the accusations of sexual misconduct brought the Cain Train to an end.  These types of epic moral blowouts always leave me asking the difficult questions of my own life, ensuring that I have done everything I can to keep my life above reproach.  I praise God that at an early stage in my walk with Christ wise counsel insisted that I set boundaries in my own life to ensure my witness is never marred by these types of allegations or, worse, that I fall into these types of sins.

   Whether it is a pastor or a political figure, a friend or someone I have never met, a moral meltdown always leaves me asking myself the question, “Could this ever happen to me?” Thankfully, by God’s grace, I have set up necessary boundaries/safeguards for my life and ministry to stay above reproach, and I have set in place necessary accountability through my local church (i.e., small group and fellow pastors) that continually press me on these commitments.

   I really do encourage each of you to consider these “lessons,” prayerfully ask yourself how to implement Mohler’s wise counsel and, above all, abide in Christ each and every day of your life. I am confident He is able to keep us Christian men (and ladies for that matter) from stumbling (or, in this case, falling headlong into a moral disaster)….

   1. The Christian man must realize that credible accusations of sexual misconduct or immorality are fatal to credibility and ruinous to Christian witness.

   The Church does not consist of those who have never sinned, but of those who have come out of any number of sinful patterns into obedience to Christ. When a credible accusation of sexual immorality is made against a Christian man, nothing less than his faithfulness to Christ is called into question. Nothing is then more important than to refute the charge with honor and credibility, or to make a clean confession and accept the consequences.

   2. The Christian man cannot dismiss any charge of sexual immorality as being a private matter of no public concern.

   We know better. One hard lesson from the experience of Herman Cain is this: A Christian man accused of sexual immorality cannot make the argument that moral concerns “end outside of one’s bedroom door.”

   3. The Christian man must plan his life in order to assure moral accountability and protections.

   The Christian man must plan his life, including his business life and his professional career, in such a way that he does not allow himself to be in a situation in which he can be credibly accused of such misconduct. A Christian man does not socialize alone with a woman who is not his wife — period. Though this can sometimes add complication and cost, a Christian man should not travel or conduct business in a way that exposes himself to sexual temptation or opportunity.

   4. The Christian man must depend upon his church, the congregation that is so essential to his Christian vitality and faithfulness, as a bulwark against sin.

   Christianity is not to be lived in isolation. We are called together into congregations of fellow believers, living together in submission to Christ and growing together by the ministry of the Word. Christian men desperately need the strength and accountability that comes through faithful membership in a Gospel church.

   The congregation must provide moral protections as well as moral instruction. The men of the congregation, old and young together, must be a band of brothers ready to pray for one another, to encourage one another, to confront one another, to admonish one another, to protect one another, and to stand together in faithfulness to Christ.

   Do your Christian brothers know of your practices, patterns of life, and principles of conduct? Are they ready to defend you should an accusation come? Do you regularly seek the counsel of your brothers in deciding how to conduct your marriage, your business life, and your professional practices? If not, you are in trouble already.

   5. A Christian man knows that his wife is his best defense against sexual immorality and sexual vulnerability – and his most important witness to character.

   Herman Cain’s situation would have been radically different had he responded by denying the charges, documenting his moral protections, demonstrating the untruthfulness of the charges, allowing his wife to attest to those protections, and then challenging anyone with evidence to the contrary to come forward and present such evidence in public.

   Please stop and read this, especially you Christian young men. This is a lesson you and your family will want you to learn before a moral meltdown.

   It is too late for Herman Cain to restart his presidential campaign and start again. But it is not too late for many Christian men to act in order to prevent the day when they are caught in their own moment of trial in the face of such accusations. For Christians, the lessons of Herman Cain are too important to leave in the history books of the 2012 presidential campaign.

   Let’s pray for Herman Cain, as well as our own lives. Sin is too deceptive, our flesh is too weak, and Christ is too glorious for us not to learn these valuable lessons.

   Category: College LifeTags: accountability, Al Mohler, boundaries, Herman Cain, morality, sexual immorality, sexual temptation, witness | Comments (0)

8. Multiply Small Groups – “Why”: Part 1

   December 1, 2011 by Britten Taylor

   Patric Brasher, the author of this series of blog posts, is a senior at UAB and has led a college disciple-making small group through Brook Hills for the past 2+yrs. He and his crew have, in many ways, led an exemplary small group that is both inwardly focused (growing in the gospel together) as well as outwardly focused (extending the gospel to others).  This is the second post in a series entitled, “Multiply Small Groups.”

   So I have a confession to make. The hypothetical situation I laid out in the last post was actually not so hypothetical. As a small group leader I was actually thrust into an eerily similar situation. So I, along with 5 other influencers/ leaders from the small group, decided that the best option was for us to multiply from one massive 25 person co-ed community group into 3 gender specific small groups of 6-10 people. But why?

   Well I think 3 big reasons come to mind, the first of which I will divulge in this post.

   Reason number 1:

    We want people to know and be known.

   With massive amounts of people coming in and out of a gathering its so easy for them to come in, participate in some worship, hear a bible study, and leave without ever showing their hearts or seeking out people to help bear their burdens. They could be going through the most unbelievable struggle of their life but because the group is so big they may never be put in a situation where they would be comfortable with sharing such intimate information.

   Unfortunately, in big groups it’s very easy to be and remain virtually anonymous.

   This hit me hard during a particular night when the Lord brought 30 people together for one of our “small” group gatherings. It hit me so hard because I realized that in the midst of this huge gathering that there were some guys who had been coming for 2 or 3 weeks now and I didn’t really know who they were. Because there were so many people, I hadn’t had an opportunity to talk to them about their lives and what led to this moment. Even though these people were apart of our group they were still, as I like to call it, functionally alone. They were falling through the cracks and that had to stop.

   A text that helped us form this conviction was in Hebrews 10:24-25. It says:

   And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

   Basically, this text is not encouraging us to show up somewhere so that we can hear worship and a guy talk.  But instead it is to encourage and to stir up individuals to love and good works. And it is my belief that it’s hard to stir someone up if you have a hard time remembering their name.

   Even within the Gospel, personal acknowledgement is a major theme. The God of the universe doesn’t just have us on a corporate payroll but instead He calls us by our names, and these names are written in His Kingdom. And for this fact Jesus tells us to rejoice.

   Luke 10:20 “Rejoice not that the demons are under your authority but instead rejoice that your names are written in Heaven”

   How beautiful the reality that we worship a God who cares for individuals with real problems, real cares, and real names. We worship one who took on complete loneliness on the Cross so that we may never have to be truly lonely.

   Therefore we should model this beautiful reality by setting up life-giving small groups of people that meet with one another for the purposes of encouragement and spurring on in the mission of  the Church. This vision of knowing and being known must be set because that is what it truly means to be the body to one another.

   (If you still need some convincing, reason number 2 for the why of small group multiplication is needed will follow shortly.)

   Category: Church, MissionTags: Community, Discipleship, Multiplication, Patric Brasher, Small Groups | Comments (0)