Pastor Brandon's Blog

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God is faithful and He knows exactly what He is doing! Humble yourselves under His mighty hand and casting your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. And, you will not be disappointed!

We can learn much from James’s teaching. As Christians, we can face great difficulty for our faith, and we face all the difficulties which are common to man. God does not take us out of this world when He saves us and He does not guard us from difficulties. He uses them to give us endurance and to grow us in godliness. Therefore, we must heed these mandates as we traverse the minefields of life on this side of Heaven.

I have just embarked upon what I hope is a life of pastoral ministry. And by God’s providence, I am now a church planting bi

God is the only real source of the wisdom needed to respond in a godly way to the trials of life, and we must approach Him for this wisdom. We must go to Him in prayer and by His word knowing that these are the only true sources for the answers we need to steer through our troubles. James shows that God wants us to confidently and repeatedly come to Him for the answers we desperately require; therefore, we must ask Him in faith without any doubting knowing that He has all the answers.

We are thankful for your support as we continue this endeavor. We stand amazed at all that God has done in readying us for this adventure. We also are thankful for all you who have supported us in prayer from the start. We are asking that you continue to pray and continue to follow us as we do God’s will here in Gainesville. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions about our ministry, or if you would like to send someone our way!

I believe God is sovereign in all the circumstances which led me to TMS and to Gainesville. I am confident that the Lord called me to TMS, and I am certain that He placed me in Gainesville for His purposes and His glory. He has hemmed me in, behind and before, and has laid His hand upon me (Psalm 139:5). I tried to say no many times, but to no avail. Truly, God has shown me that this is not about me, but about what He is doing with His people in this city.

This is the second entry in a series which chronicles my call to ministry and The Master’s Seminary, and subsequent journey to Grace Bible Church Gainesville.

We learned that we need to submit to God’s will in our trials, because He uses them to conform us to the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). Our trials are not merely cold circumstances of this cruel world which come upon us by chance. They come from the hand of our sovereign God who loves us deeply and desires our growth in godliness. As we endure suffering, we find our joy in, “fixing our eyes upon Jesus the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joyset before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

Today, we learned the first imperative in facing trials. We must develop the right attitude toward our trials. The right attitude begins with cultivating joy in the midst of our struggles. This is a settled contentment in every situation, and it starts at the level of our thought life. Trials are inevitable, but finding joy in them is a choice. James says to choose joy when we face unavoidable trials—a joy that can only come from trusting Christ with all our hearts.

If you have not come to saving faith