Posted in Logistics by Braedon Tabor on 7/25/2011
Over the past year of working in the Logistics Dept., I have had the privilege of getting to know several ministries around the world. Their stories inspire me, their perseverance moves me, and their hearts humble me. It is for these men and women, sisters and brothers, that I do the work I do. These are the hands and feet that go for me, that raise the shelters of the homeless when I cannot, that place food on the tongues of the hungry on behalf of me.
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Posted in General Articles by Braedon Tabor on 5/12/2011
As my latest blog implies, I have a lot of different things going on in my life right now and it is incredible to see how God is moving and shifting me into new places, new responsibilities, and new positions. He is revealing more and more everyday of Who He is, who I am, and how He is continually growing and refining my life. One of my tattoos, and a verse I have preached on several times before, is Matthew 6:33, which says this: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." 
There is a huge amount of faith and trust that comes with reading this verse. Jesus is saying that if we wake up everyday asking God where He wants us, what glorifies Him, and how we can bless His Kingdom, then God will give us direction and we can be a part of what He is doing- today, here, now. And we know from Jesus' teaching that God will speak, move, and guide us by the Holy Spirit in how to further the Kingdom of God. Jesus says if we join with God in what He is doing, God will make sure that we have what we need to accomplish what He asks. ... To read the rest of this blog click HERE to go to my NEW BLOG!
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Posted in Thoughts by Braedon Tabor on 3/17/2011
"After about 10 minutes of seeming chaos, one of them turned to me and said, "So we're all just asking a bunch of questions, but you never asked any, Braedon." I did ask questions, but not what they were expecting. So I turned to him and said, "That's the point. I'm not going to give you guys answers because I have just as many questions as you do. And you guys have just as many answers as I have." Now, I could have told them about how we need to dive into God's Word as a lifestyle so that we know what God has said in the past. And I could have gone deeper into how God continues to speak today through His Holy Spirit and reveals some of the "answers." But I don't think it's what God wanted then." I am moving my blog location to a new site, so that I have more freedom and opportunity to speak what I feel the need to speak. You can read the rest of this blog here: http://braedontabor.wordpress.com/. Be sure to click the Subscribe button on the right side to receive an update whenever I post a blog. Thanks! | |
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Posted in Thoughts by Braedon Tabor on 2/18/2011
Don't get me wrong. Jesus is great and all. I love Him and He loves me. I just don't think He's the point of this thing. Remember back in John 14:6-7 when Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Jesus just summed up exactly why He came in the first place: So that we may dwell and abide in the Father. The writer of Hebrews talks about how in the Temple, it takes all of the Law to get into the Holy of Holies, and a perfect sacrifice to be placed there. The writer talks about how Jesus was the fulfillment of that Law, and how He was the perfect sacrifice needed. Therefore, all men may enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the good news Jesus told us to preach to the nations. Unfortunately... too many people get stuck at the door...
Though I still work for Adventures in Missions and am still connected to The World Race, I am transitioning into a new season that is bigger than The World Race. So to help further what it is God's bringing to, I am moving to a new blog site. This will give me more freedom in how I write, as well as give me a venue to present my music as I grow in that area. I will post links like this in the next few blogs so that there is a lengthened, smooth transition, but I would love for all of you to follow me as I make this move.
Thanks for reading.
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Posted in References by Braedon Tabor on 12/16/2010
Take a look at this video. Really listen to the things Bleasdale is talking about. This is not a Hollywood movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio or Don Cheadle. This is happening throughout Africa- in Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sudan, Somalia -and we (you and me) need to do something about it.
Think about it. Pray about it. Talk about it.
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Posted in Thoughts by Braedon Tabor on 12/13/2010
This is probably not as in depth as my last "lessons," but I wanted to
bring up this really intriguing thing God showed me as I have been reading
through the book of Exodus. If you have not read my other "lessons" about
Exodus, check out God 101 and Exodus 101. Then come on back here. Or you could
read this one, then jump back to the others. Up to you. I am not in control of
your blog-reading tactics. And I am definitely not one for sports analogies,
but here we go...
In junior high school I tried to
play basketball. There is a huge emphasis on that "tried," as it simply was not
what I was called to do in my life. I never really watched basketball on TV,
and even when my friend Jacob Hoyer is talking about the NBA nowadays, I make
jokes about Shaquille O'Neal still playing for the Orlando Magic, and "Muggsy"
Bogues still playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Needless to say, my basketball
career was on its way downhill fast.
One thing I noticed quickly on my
community-education basketball team was a pretty simple lesson: If you play
well, you get to play a lot, and you might even become a "captain." If you do
not play well, most likely you will have a real nice view of the game from the
bench. If you do not rise up to what it takes to be a great basketball player,
Coach is quick to pull you out so that a better player can win the game.
Moses was not very good at
basketball. And I am not sure he had his dreams set on being a leader, either.
In Exodus 3-4, God is basically saying that Moses is going to rise up to be a
leader in liberating the Israelites from the Egyptians. God speaks a bunch of
encouragement and life into Moses, assuring him that everything will work out
great, because God has the whole thing under control.
Moses does not believe this and
is very quick to vocalize his doubts about the whole thing. He complains that
he is bad at speaking and would be a terrible leader. God says, "It's all good,
Moses. I will give you words to speak." But Moses asks that God pick someone
else. He is not ready for something this big. So God finally gets annoyed with
Moses enough and says Moses can use his brother Aaron to get this stuff done.
But here is when things get a
little crazy. Instead of taking Moses out of the "captains" position, or even
kicking him off the team, God says this in Exodus 4:16:
"[Aaron] will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were
your mouth and as if you were God to
him."
What? God just gave the worst kid
on the team the position of Head Coach (like God)! How does that work? It is a good thing no one was in that
cave with God and Moses, because the rest of the team would have been pissed.
But it turns out to be an amazing plan (as most plans are with God). You notice at first that God
speaks about the plagues with Moses, and then Moses tells Aaron to "tell
Pharoah." Moses uses Aaron as his spokesman from Exodus 4:29 all the way to the
plague of gnats in chapter 8. God keeps telling Moses, "Tell Aaron," and Moses
is kind of the support for Aaron. But then starting at 8:20 Moses starts
speaking on his own behalf and begins to own his position of leader for the
Israelites. From then on Moses is doing the stuff, speaking the stuff, living
the stuff. He rises up into who God intended him to be. It is awesome!
So God did not kick Moses off the
team for not believing in himself (Grace). God actually increased the
responsibility for Moses, and because he experienced leadership over Aaron,
Moses rose up into what he was originally called to do. As my dear friend Jimmy
McCarty would say, "Brilliant!" God did not baby Moses into his leadership
position; he pushed Moses harder until he realized his true potential.
This is the God I call, "Father."
This is the God who created me. This is the God who calls me closer to Him and into
deeper places of responsibility and leadership. Even when I feel like I do not
have what it takes, God is going to continue calling me, and He will continue
trusting me with greater things until I finally just start walking in Him.
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Posted in Thoughts by Braedon Tabor on 12/2/2010
Everyone has hit that point in
their lives where they are not sure how they will make it to tomorrow, based on
the resources they have. Maybe it is school loans, car payments, a mortgage or
rent, children, or even food that seem impossible to afford. And in our world
today, when you cannot pay for those things, it may seem like the world is
against you, or that it is crashing down around you.
I have been in Africa twice so
far, for total of 4 months, and I  have met countless beautiful, intelligent, and loving children and youth that deservean education much more than I do.
One of the most devastating things I have seen in Africa is that there are many
families who cannot afford to send their children to school due to the school
fees per semester. What is more surprising and heartbreaking is that, in some
cases, it only costs about $15 per child PER SEMESTER! This is not a daily
payment, but it pays for an entire semester. I feel like if my family were in
this situation, I would feel like the world is against me. I would even be
tempted to feel like God is against me.
There seems to have been a wall
that I recently ran into regarding finances. Let us say my student loans and
rent are not agreeing with my very small, non-profit paycheck. And while I am
still working on raising support with help from amazing and wonderful people,
truthfully it is a struggle to get by right now. It is very easy to become
bitter and angry in times like these. I even recently posted something on
facebook expressing my discouragement and regret of going to college at all.
Fortunately, I have friends and family who are as honest as they are caring,
who helped confirm a perspective that God is also showing me right now.
In Exodus 14, the Israelites have
left Egypt and are on their way to the "Promised Land," when Pharoah, who is not
at all a man of his word, decides he is going to chase after the Israelites and
destroy them for leaving Egypt. This causes a panic among the Israelites and
they point their fingers at God (well, at Moses, but we know they are actually
blaming God):
"Was
it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to
die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you
in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians?' It would have been
better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
Wait, God just brought you out of
Egypt because you were complaining about being slaves there under Pharoah. He
heard your cries, folks! (Exod. 2:23-24) Now you are going to turn around and
blame Him for the whole thing? Absurd!
Even after God crushes Pharoah
and his Egyptian army under the Red Sea, the Israelites sing praises to God for
His faithfulness, power, and grace (Exod. 15). But soon after, which seems like
a bad hangover from a great party, the Israelites are once again grumbling about God not providing water
for them. God simply replies with faithfulness, giving them sweet water, and
soon after, manna and quail (Exod. 16).
 I read these chapters the morning
after I bitterly posted my discouraged statement about college. And it seemed
God was reminding, "Son, you are blaming Me
for not providing for you the things that are needed. Do you not remember the
dangerous prayers you have prayed? Do you not remember what I have brought you through? Do you not
remember the paths I have walked you
down? I love you. I have got you. Do not worry, for I have great things in store for you.
Trust Me."
It can be hard sometimes for us
to trust God with provision when things are not easy, when things do not go
quite as planned. We may even subconsciously blame Him for getting us into the
situation. But we need to humbly remind ourselves of the things we have asked
for, the things God has done for us in the past, and the promises God has
spoken over us time and time again.
"In Your unfailing love You will lead the people You have redeemed. In
Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling." (Exod. 15:13)
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Posted in Thoughts by Braedon Tabor on 11/19/2010
In my last blog, "Websters Dictionary Defines," I talked about how I am
trying to unlearn what I know about God and myself, and how I am starting to
redefine my relationship with Him by listening to the things He is telling me,
not what others are telling me. I want to talk about one of the things I have
been learning.
I have been sitting in the book of Exodus for a while. After getting
through it once, I feel like I already have a good idea of Who God is. And I
think that lesson stretches beyond this one book into the entirety of the
scriptures. I have a new perspective of myself because I have been trying to
see things from God's perspective. Here is one of the things that have shaken
me to the core over the past several weeks...
In the beginning of Exodus
[2:23-25], it says, "...The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried
out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. He heard their
groaning, and God remembered His covenant... He took notice of the Israelites." First
of all, we know that God listens to His people. Awesome. That, in itself, tells
us that God cares about us on a much deeper level than, "I AM GOD, BOW TO ME!,"
but more, "I AM YOUR CREATOR, AND I LOVE YOU." This could be a huge lesson all
by itself. But I will continue.
I will be so bold as to say that
God did not care if the Israelites were in captivity or not. It seems that it
was only because the Israelites were asking for freedom that God intervened and
brought them out of Egypt. It was not that He wanted them to be tormented in
slavery, but it is almost as if He was telling them, "Hey kids, I AM here with
you, in Egypt, in your captivity, in your slavery. You do not need to be out of
Egypt to be in relationship with Me." But they cried and cried and cried about
wanting out of Egypt. So God looked at them and said, "Alright. You think you
need to be freed from Egypt to really dwell with Me, to receive your
inheritance? If you really think that is what covenant with Me looks like, then
I will lead you out of Egypt." He raises up Moses to be the leader of the whole
shindig and brings them out from under the tyranny of Pharoah (after all the
plagues and stuff...).
So the Israelites get out into
the wilderness, out into freedom. They no longer have an oppressive gov't telling
them how to live and worship. Awesome! They have complete freedom to be with
God. They can dwell in Him as He dwells among them. They can worship Him in
complete freedom. And God gets so excited that He comes down among them in a
thick fog and with fire and trumpets sounding, just so He can be with them [16:10,
19:16]! This is great! There is nothing to get in the way between God and His
children! But then the Israelites start to question and fight it. They start
whining about how they do not want to experience God like that. In fact, they
tell Moses to tell God for them that they would rather God talk to Moses, and
then Moses can talk to the Israelites [20:18-19]. Haha! I cannot help but laugh when I
read this. It is like in middle school when two friends get in a fight. One
friend gives the other the silent treatment, but if they want to say something
to the other, they tell Moses, the middle-man, to relay the message. "Hey
Moses, can you tell God to chill out
with the dwelling stuff. He is just way to crazy to be hanging around us. Tell
Him if He wants to tell us something to go through you. Thanks!"
God gets the idea. And as many
before me have said, "God is a gentleman." So He is not going to be pushy and
demand that they receive Him in this way. What I hear throughout this story is
God saying, "Alright. If you think that by Me speaking through one person
instead of to you directly is going to make our relationship more holy, Fine!
It does not matter. I just want to be Emmanuel- WITH YOU!"
Now Moses is the middle man. It
seems the Israelites would rather hear God speak through a stuttering man than
directly out of His own Mouth. God is okay with this, as long as He can be with
His people. But the people push it even further. They even think that God is
the kind of god that demands gold and silver and sacrifices and boxes and rules
and regulations and laws and traditions [ch. 20-40]. I hear God saying, "No,
guys, really! This does not have to be how it is between us! I AM here with
you! There is no need for the gold, the silver, the sacrifices, blah, blah,
blah. Just dwell in Me." But the Israelites insist that gold and silver is what
defines God as "Holy." "Alright, fine. If you think that dwelling in a box
covered with gold and angels is what makes me God [25:10-22], and this will
make you think that I AM here with you, then so be it. Make your boxes and your
temple and your rules and laws. Do what you want. As long as you call Me your
God and I can still call you My Children."
And as we now know, this is not
what it takes to be with God. Gold and silver has nothing to do with it! God's
house is not a building, but it is in us. We are His Body. And I think this was
truth from the beginning, only, man turned it around and told God to get in the
box. So instead of being the fire-breathing dragon a lot of people think He is,
He did what He had to do in order to be among His people. He loves us too much
to lock Himself in a room. But He knows we are stupid enough to believe the
religion and rules we put on the whole relationship. He will let us put as many
rules as we want on it, think the stupid things we think, just so that we will
know that He loves us, is here, now, among us.
Long story short (or not), I have
learned that God just wants to be with me. He longs to dwell in me and for me
to dwell in Him. That is it! There are no rules that bind us, no law to keep us
in line, no boxes that keep us in the right place with God. It is just us and
God. And knowing this about God helps me to see the world, and myself, in a new
light. I am no longer worried about finding validation from other people,
because God desires to be with me.
It is that easy.
What sort of things do you guys
hear when you read through Exodus? Other Scripture?
Thanks for reading.
In
my blog titled, Quarter Century!, I talked
about my upcoming birthday (TOMORROW) and my need for financial support in
order to continue working for The World Race. I need to raise $800 a month to
take care of my physical and financial needs. Please consider, as a birthday gift, giving online (Support Me! link to the left) or
through mail at this address, appealed to me:
Adventures
In Missions, PO Box 534470, Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
[Adventures In Missions is
registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization. Donors will receive receipts for their gifts with the
understanding that the disbursement of those gifts lies completely at the
discretion of Adventures In Missions and that the gifts are non-refundable and
non-transferable, per IRS regulations. Gifts may be tax deductible;
please consult a tax advisor.]
Thank you all for your love and
support!
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Posted in Thoughts by Braedon Tabor on 11/11/2010
I'm taking a step back in my
relationship with God. That's right. It's not a breakup; don't get me wrong. I
have no desire to end my relationship with Him. It's just to get better
perspective. No, this isn't like one of those "let's see other gods" things either.
That's just stupid. But I'm realizing that what I have been basing my
relationship with God on is not necessarily what I, personally, have learned
about God, or what He has told me about Himself. I would say that a very large
part of my understanding of God is based on the teachings and words of wisdom
from many people in my life that I hold dear. I have had incredible people
speak incredible truth into me over the years, and I cannot express my
gratitude enough. I value their words and their opinions, and I value the
things they have told me about God. But the problem is that I value those
things too much sometimes.
People have told me things that
they have learned about God and I have taken those things into my relationship
with Him, as if I was the one to discover it. People have told me things they
have learned about me and I have
taken those things onto myself as if I
had discovered them. I am covered in cloth that is not my own. When I am
clothed like someone else, it is very difficult to be myself.
Now I am working hard to de-robe
(if you will allow me the analogy), to loose myself of the words of others, so
that I may receive the robe God desires for me. I seek to unlearn the things I have been taught, to un-define the meanings of words that describe God and me, to newly discover truths that cannot be
written or expressed, but can only be believed.
See, my identity is completely
and solely based on Who God is. I agree that it is an impossible task to
understand God. However, I know that to know myself, I must first know God. And
I want to know Him because of the things He has shown me, the things I've seen
with my own eyes, not because I learned it in a classroom, textbook, or
sanctuary. As my dear friend and brother, Jimmy McCarty, puts it, I am owning
my faith. It does not belong to anyone else (I could go into the importance of
fellowship and interdependence, but that's for another day).
Looking at this blog, even, from
this perspective, I want to make sure that what I say is expressed as something
I have learned myself, and using the blog as a medium to express and process
what I am learning. Read every word on here with the perspective that you need
to go out and learn your own lessons with God. You need to discover The Lord
with an intimacy only you have with Him. I hope to write more blogs in the near
future as I process through my relationship with Him, expressing what I have
learned as best I can. Please write comments, questions, or concerns as you see
fit. I would love to hear your thoughts throughout this whole thing.
I am already learning new things
about God and it is incredibly exciting. Try it.
Thanks for reading.
In my last blog, Quarter Century!, I talked about my upcoming birthday and my need for financial support in order to continue working for The World Race. I need to raise $800 a month to take care of my physical and financial needs. Please consider giving online (Support Me! link to the left) or through mail at this address, appealed to me: Adventures In Missions, PO Box 534470, Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
[Adventures In Missions is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donors will receive receipts for their gifts with the understanding that the disbursement of those gifts lies completely at the discretion of Adventures In Missions and that the gifts are non-refundable and non-transferable, per IRS regulations. Gifts may be tax deductible; please consult a tax advisor.] Thank you all for your your love and support!
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