I have a brother, his name Brian Cain. He is a husband, father, police officer and a pastor. Brian joined the Marine Corp shortly after he graduated highschool and became an MP while he served his country. After he finished serving his 4 years as a Marine, he went straight into law enforcement because he wanted to continue to make a difference in the community by serving the people. He went from serving a huge country, to serving a small community . He has been a police officer for several departments, but his love for serving people has never changed. As he's grown through different ranks (he is now a Seargent), he's also grown in his faith with God. He started a ministry directed towards law enforcement and started teaching cops about Jesus.
He started Code 4 Ministries a little over a year ago. The people in law enforcement are one of the largest groups in the country who don't attend church on a regular basis, he wanted to change that. Brian has been a cop for a number of years and has built relationships with other police officers with whom he has served with (let's just say he knows their biggest hurts, hangups and habits in life). He knows what their going through, that is why he started this police ministry, to show they can change their lifestyles by knowing and loving Jesus. He has created a relaxing "non church" environment for cops to come and hear how they can look to God to help them through their troubling times.
I'm not a cop, but I've attended and supported every meeting he has had to date. I'll never forget his first sermon - Ephesians 6:10-20 The Whole Armor of God. Wow. Brian used several pieces of equipment that a police officer uses on an every day basis to illustrate how each piece directly relates to The Whole Armor of God in the Bible. I think every cop in there was stunned after hearing that message. That got the ball rolling for Code 4.
But starting a police ministry was not enough for Brian, meeting once a month was awesome, but he knew it was not enough to reach lost cops. He set out on a mission to collect and distribute 500 Police Officer Bibles to the law enforcement community in Cherokee County by Christmas. That is a huge task. He doesn't have the money to buy all of them, so he has been reaching out to the community to help him reach this goal. Brian has had several donated already, but he is a long way from reaching that monumental task.
I'm proud of my brother. His walk with Christ is inspiring. The sacrafices he makes each month to share the Gospel with his fellow police officers just simply blows me away.
Christmas is almost here and I'm sure that every person who reads this has a family member or friend who knows a cop or someone in some type of law enforcement. If you or someone you know would like to make a difference in the life of a cop by sharing the Gospel, please check out his website with all of the information http://www.biblesforcops.info/
Just to get an idea of what Code 4 Ministries is about, go to code4ministries.com. When you visit the website, check out the logo, I personally know the guy who designed it (me).
Thank you for having a servant's heart Brian, I love doing life with you. Love ya bro.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
How Do You Grow People?
Even before I had a relationship with Jesus, he was using other people to invest in and grow me, I had no idea that He would use me to grow others around me. I'm the last person in the world that He could use to advance His Kingdom.
I accepted Christ and was baptized in '09 and since then He has used me to invest in others, for example, my son Brandon and my friend Chase. Why? I don't deserve it. I'm a sinner.
Being the father of my son Brandon, it is a little easier to make that heartfelt impact on him because he lives with me (and, he has no choice). I volunteer every Sunday at Revolution Church, over the past few months he has been serving inside in the RevKids area (proud of him) but then he switched area's and wanted to serve outside in the parking lot with me (like I'm gonna cut him some slack, whatever). My wife and I tithe. He has also started to tithe, unselfishly he tithed out of his birthday money and recently he gave all of his allowance money to the Advance Initiative to help build the new building. While this has all been happening , he accepted Christ into his life and wanted to be baptized. He asked me if I would help baptize him, I will never forget that moment or that feeling. How many dad's get to baptize their son's? Thank you Jesus. I helped baptize him October 6th.
And then there is my friend Chase. He started working with me a few months ago, he didn't go to church, so I started telling him about Revolution and how it has made an impact in my life and how it might change his. He didn't have a relationship with God, deep down I knew he desperatly needed to have one. He needed to hear the Gospel and build his relationship with Christ, but how? He had no car to get to church. So I started to pick him up from his grandfather's house every Sunday morning to set up with us. I introduced him to new people and he started building relationships throughout our church. Since then he has accepted Christ into his life and was baptised. I had the privelage to help baptize him November 3rd, I'll never forget that day either. How many people get to baptise their friends? He started bringing his parents to church with him a couple of months ago and they were all baptized the same night. He grew people in his life also.
I can't wait to see how Brandon and Chase share the Gospel and grow people throughout their lives, I'm pround of how far both of them have come in such a short time and I pray that one day, by sharing their faith, each of them will get to baptize their son and friends.
How do you grow people? Make an investment in people's lives the way others have invested in yours.
I accepted Christ and was baptized in '09 and since then He has used me to invest in others, for example, my son Brandon and my friend Chase. Why? I don't deserve it. I'm a sinner.
Being the father of my son Brandon, it is a little easier to make that heartfelt impact on him because he lives with me (and, he has no choice). I volunteer every Sunday at Revolution Church, over the past few months he has been serving inside in the RevKids area (proud of him) but then he switched area's and wanted to serve outside in the parking lot with me (like I'm gonna cut him some slack, whatever). My wife and I tithe. He has also started to tithe, unselfishly he tithed out of his birthday money and recently he gave all of his allowance money to the Advance Initiative to help build the new building. While this has all been happening , he accepted Christ into his life and wanted to be baptized. He asked me if I would help baptize him, I will never forget that moment or that feeling. How many dad's get to baptize their son's? Thank you Jesus. I helped baptize him October 6th.
And then there is my friend Chase. He started working with me a few months ago, he didn't go to church, so I started telling him about Revolution and how it has made an impact in my life and how it might change his. He didn't have a relationship with God, deep down I knew he desperatly needed to have one. He needed to hear the Gospel and build his relationship with Christ, but how? He had no car to get to church. So I started to pick him up from his grandfather's house every Sunday morning to set up with us. I introduced him to new people and he started building relationships throughout our church. Since then he has accepted Christ into his life and was baptised. I had the privelage to help baptize him November 3rd, I'll never forget that day either. How many people get to baptise their friends? He started bringing his parents to church with him a couple of months ago and they were all baptized the same night. He grew people in his life also.
I can't wait to see how Brandon and Chase share the Gospel and grow people throughout their lives, I'm pround of how far both of them have come in such a short time and I pray that one day, by sharing their faith, each of them will get to baptize their son and friends.
How do you grow people? Make an investment in people's lives the way others have invested in yours.
Friday, October 8, 2010
In the meantime
Well, here goes my first attempt at a blog.
My life has been filled with ups and downs just like everyone else, but everyone carries their own past on their back and hold out there arms welcoming their future.
The title of my blog really holds dear to my heart. I was at the Newspring Leadership Conference a couple of weeks ago with my friends from Revolution Church when I heard a man talking about that he wasn't the man he was and he is not the man he's going to be, it's what he did in the meantime that really counted. I sat there in my seat and went, Wow! How true is that for everyone? Everyone changes. It's what they do in the meantime that can affect how their lives will influence other people that they meet.
"The man I was". I was a man who wanted to hang out with the guys as much as possible. We would go to ball games, fishing, golfing or just out of town camping, all the time. I didn't want to be home. Not once did I ever notice the impact that was making on my family, especially my wife and son. My family and friends were concerened about me, but I wouldn't stop to listen. It was all about me. While all of this was taking place, my father was diagnosed with cancer. He battled the disease for a couple of years. My brothers and I knew we had to take him on a trip before he got worse. We took him fishing on Fathers Day to North Carolina, we didn't know that was going to be our last trip with him. While he was battling, he started going to church regularly, accepted Christ into his life and was baptized. He eventually was overcome by brain cancer and died October 4, 2008.
My wife Angie and my brother Brian went to this church called "Revolution" and they would ask me to go to check it out. I went and I hated it. I wanted nothing to do with God or a church. They never gave up on me though, they kept trying and trying to get me to come, so I started going about every 4 or 5 months just to listen to the band. But I kept doing the things I was doing and was going full speed into a brick wall. Then BAM! In May of 2009 I attended Revolution and heard a message that would change my life forever. It was Luke 15:1-7 Parable of the lost sheep. I sat in my chair and it felt like God was talking directly to me. I was sitting between my wife and brother that day when I asked God to come into my life. I was saved. We all sat there in our chairs and wept together. They knew I was coming home.
"In the meantime". Since that day, I was baptized (by Tim May) and I have worked harder on my relationship with God, my marriage and my family. But I don't think my wife and brother knew what was about to happen next. From the day I was saved until now, I attend Revolution Church every Sunday and volunteer all day, I get there about 4:00 am and stay until about 2:30 pm. It started by taking out the trash and doing odds and ends. As I was doing these things, I had the privelage of meeting a lot of new people and builing new relationships. Let me tell ya, this church is full of amazing people. But now I am the leader of our parking team. We have 14 guys on the crew now and we get to greet every single person that comes to our church. Some people would think it was crazy to have people park cars at a church, but let me tell ya, if you could see how fast Revolution Church is growing and see how many parking spots were actually available, you wouldn't think it was that crazy.
My wife Angie, my son Brandon and I get along better now than we ever have. I actually had the privilege to witness and be apart of one of the most amazing things thats happened in my life. We had our 1st Wednesday service October 6 at Revolution, Brandon was baptized! The cool thing was I helped baptize him with the same pastor that baptized me, Tim May. Brandon was also presented with a Bible. It was the same Bible that my dad received when he was baptized, how crazy is that!
"The man I'm going to be". I have no idea how the man I'm going to be will turn out. All I can do is keep learning from my mistakes. My pastor, Jason Gerdes said it best "It's ok not to be ok, it's just not ok to stay there". He also said "everyone leaves a wake", I want to make sure my wake leaves a positve effect on people, so what I do in the "meantime" is what will reflect the man that I'm going to be.
My life has been filled with ups and downs just like everyone else, but everyone carries their own past on their back and hold out there arms welcoming their future.
The title of my blog really holds dear to my heart. I was at the Newspring Leadership Conference a couple of weeks ago with my friends from Revolution Church when I heard a man talking about that he wasn't the man he was and he is not the man he's going to be, it's what he did in the meantime that really counted. I sat there in my seat and went, Wow! How true is that for everyone? Everyone changes. It's what they do in the meantime that can affect how their lives will influence other people that they meet.
"The man I was". I was a man who wanted to hang out with the guys as much as possible. We would go to ball games, fishing, golfing or just out of town camping, all the time. I didn't want to be home. Not once did I ever notice the impact that was making on my family, especially my wife and son. My family and friends were concerened about me, but I wouldn't stop to listen. It was all about me. While all of this was taking place, my father was diagnosed with cancer. He battled the disease for a couple of years. My brothers and I knew we had to take him on a trip before he got worse. We took him fishing on Fathers Day to North Carolina, we didn't know that was going to be our last trip with him. While he was battling, he started going to church regularly, accepted Christ into his life and was baptized. He eventually was overcome by brain cancer and died October 4, 2008.
My wife Angie and my brother Brian went to this church called "Revolution" and they would ask me to go to check it out. I went and I hated it. I wanted nothing to do with God or a church. They never gave up on me though, they kept trying and trying to get me to come, so I started going about every 4 or 5 months just to listen to the band. But I kept doing the things I was doing and was going full speed into a brick wall. Then BAM! In May of 2009 I attended Revolution and heard a message that would change my life forever. It was Luke 15:1-7 Parable of the lost sheep. I sat in my chair and it felt like God was talking directly to me. I was sitting between my wife and brother that day when I asked God to come into my life. I was saved. We all sat there in our chairs and wept together. They knew I was coming home.
"In the meantime". Since that day, I was baptized (by Tim May) and I have worked harder on my relationship with God, my marriage and my family. But I don't think my wife and brother knew what was about to happen next. From the day I was saved until now, I attend Revolution Church every Sunday and volunteer all day, I get there about 4:00 am and stay until about 2:30 pm. It started by taking out the trash and doing odds and ends. As I was doing these things, I had the privelage of meeting a lot of new people and builing new relationships. Let me tell ya, this church is full of amazing people. But now I am the leader of our parking team. We have 14 guys on the crew now and we get to greet every single person that comes to our church. Some people would think it was crazy to have people park cars at a church, but let me tell ya, if you could see how fast Revolution Church is growing and see how many parking spots were actually available, you wouldn't think it was that crazy.
My wife Angie, my son Brandon and I get along better now than we ever have. I actually had the privilege to witness and be apart of one of the most amazing things thats happened in my life. We had our 1st Wednesday service October 6 at Revolution, Brandon was baptized! The cool thing was I helped baptize him with the same pastor that baptized me, Tim May. Brandon was also presented with a Bible. It was the same Bible that my dad received when he was baptized, how crazy is that!
"The man I'm going to be". I have no idea how the man I'm going to be will turn out. All I can do is keep learning from my mistakes. My pastor, Jason Gerdes said it best "It's ok not to be ok, it's just not ok to stay there". He also said "everyone leaves a wake", I want to make sure my wake leaves a positve effect on people, so what I do in the "meantime" is what will reflect the man that I'm going to be.
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