Thanks BJ - For Being My Man in the Mirror

Truth be told, it could have been any one of us.

Any one of us could have been the person with the blowout. Any one of us could have been the people living close by that came out to help. Any one of us could have been the man that stopped his truck to help. And any one of us could have been the reckless teens that ran into them all.

In the blink of a moment, on a Saturday night, evil had its moment - 4 dead, many injured and hundreds of lives changed forever.

Brian Jennings, aka BJ, was an old college friend of mine that died that night. He was the one that stopped to help. He was hilarious, fun loving and a white version of Michael Jackson. He had moves like Jaggar – and now he is gone.

At one time, BJ was a crazy young man like the teens that killed him. He lived it up and was the life of the party. The center of attention and always putting on a show for anyone and everyone that dared to watch.  I remember that BJ too. He was cool – even taught me a few moves I’ve long forgot.

Then he got real with Christ and years later he was dedicated to a life that was centered on loving teens just like him. They were his man in the mirror.

This has weighed heavy on me. Any number of times I could have been those teens that night. I’ve done my share of real dumb, selfish things. Yet other times I’ve just “been standing there” to watch my life flash before my eyes only to be spared in the end. Happened to me the very day this happened to him.

There by the grace of God go I.

Still. In the wake of such a loss our humanness cries out for justice. We are angry. We are hurt. We mourn. Yet, we all know too well, that if Brian had lived through it all, he would have likely been the first to forgive them and find a way to help those kids “get right with Christ”.  

Every one reading this has been “those kids” at one time or another. Now we get the chance to be like BJ for BJ’s sake.

BJ died at the hands of the very type of people he lived to love on.  

So did Jesus…

Talk about the man in the mirror.

"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." I Corinthians 13:12

 

© 2013, J. Brady Speers

“I say it how I see it and I make no bones about it."

 

for details on this tragedy - click here.

 

One Question Everyone Will Answer

There’s just one question every human on the planet, regardless of beliefs, backgrounds, lifestyle or upbringing will have to answer.

What will you do with Jesus?

Every one of us will either have to reject or deny him. He is either a Savior or he was merely a fool. He is either the truth or he is a lie. He was raised from the dead on Easter Sunday morning and seen by more than 500 historical witnesses or neither of those occurred and billions have falsely believed this for 2000 years.  

But everyone will answer the question. What will you do with Jesus?

A “no answer” means you have in fact answered. An “I don’t believe in God” response means you too have given an answer as well. There is no way around it and God designed it to work just like this, way before your cells came together and formed your being.

This is the central key to our celebration of Easter. Every 12 months all of man is once again faced with this age old question. It is God’s way to remind each of us that we will answer this question and he designed it that way on purpose.

See Jesus wasn’t crucified on Good Friday to force us into lives based on various do’s and don’ts. Going to church on Sundays, not drinking, avoiding sexual immorality, or being a good person, have nothing to do with being a Christian. True Christianity demands first that we decide what we are to do with Jesus. Once we believe God, will work on the rest and show us who he wants us to be and that’s where the Bible comes into play.

But first we must believe.

I have chatted with many who have made the decision to reject him and that saddens me. They truly have no idea the eternal path they have laid out for themselves as a result. But what bothers me even more is when a parent has basically made their own children answer in the same way by keeping them away from and keeping them unexposed to God.  These same people are usually the ones that also say they want their child to make their own decisions about such things and want them to be exposed to a variety of aspects of life. Yet, they refuse to even take them to a church service here and there. Even if it is just once a year, take your family to an Easter service and let them make their own decision to believe or not. Your disbelief should not be a default answer for everyone around you. Your answer very well could be wrong and if it is, you will be responsible for their eternal fate.

My own Easter story is a great example. My journey of belief started when I was 11 years old and my family attended a small Baptist church in south Houston.  I walked up front one Sunday morning and told our pastor that I wanted to get baptised and I did. A few years later at a camp called Super Summer my personal answer to this question became real.

Since then I have done my best to center my life on this belief. I do my best to be a giver, work hard, love others around me, help anyone I can, be a great friend, father and spouse and stand up for what’s right. Yet those that really know me know that I can still be mean, hard headed, indulgent, lustful, doubtful, worrisome, and selfish. In many ways I’m the same failure many that reject him are.

But I believe and for that simple belief I get the security of knowing God is always with me, I will spend eternity with those I love who also believe, and there is nothing I will face in life that I won’t have the strength to handle.

God’s love doesn’t make sense to the human mind. I wonder every day how it is he loves me because I can do so many stupid things and be so selfish. Yet he does. It’s called grace and underserved mercy.

Now all we have to do is decide our answer to the question he has put before us.

I know mine.

You?


“It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.'” Romans 14:11


© 2013, J. Brady Speers

“I say it how I see it and I make no bones about it."

I Know You Don’t Have a Grandma Like Mine

Grandma Kat. My grandma. One amazing lady.

At 90 years old now, the running joke in the family is she is likely to outlive all of us. She is unreal. Sometimes I wonder if there is a machine under that skin.

In her lifetime she has been through the Great Depression, WWII, watched the world evolve with cars and planes, lived through a Presidential assassination, and see TVs become an everyday fixture in the home. She has been entertained by Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, and many, many others. She has experienced the civil rights movement, Israel becoming a nation, the space race, the very first Dallas Cowboys game, the cold war, the Vietnam, Korean and Gulf Wars, 9/11, the invention and rise of the Internet, cell phones, microwaves, rock and roll, Cabbage Patch dolls, the Atari, Sesame Street, Walt Disney, the first black President, and many, many, NFL Thanksgiving Day games. She is a time vault.

And she isn’t done yet.

My grandma is our family hero. She is stronger than us all combined. Her resolve and tenacity is unmatched. Her faith is resolute and her joy is full. She knows Jesus like the back of her hand, and certainly He knows her the same. She keeps all on our toes.

Her homemade “traditional” rolls can’t be copied (my dad and I have tried). Her chocolate cake is to die for. Her homemade quilts deserve a Smithsonian home. Her ability to put together super complex puzzles is unreal and she will defeat you in most games - especially “Sorry”.

My kids love their great grandma too. They love coming over to her home and playing with her 30 year old make-believe kitchen set. Their imaginations take over as they ride down her driveway on a 4 wheel cart she made out of an old plastic tool box. And nothing tops playing “annie over” at her house - a game in which we divide into two teams and take turns throwing random balls over the roof in an attempt to hit each other.

I’m blessed beyond measure to have Kathrine Barton Speers as my grandmother. I am even more blessed that my wife and kids know her and now love her as I do.

There aren’t many grandmas out there at 90 that still try to mow their own yard, climb up ladders, drive around the city and serve in their church every week.

She is one of a kind and I know one thing is for sure…

You don’t have a grandma like mine.


“Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” Proverbs 16:13



© 2013, J. Brady Speers (grandson)

“I say it how I see it and I make no bones about it."