A Christmas Story...
Have you ever wanted to give your kids a special Christmas? My goal this year was to save enough after the Lord paid the bills for November and December to be able and buy Christmas. However, it did not work out for me to do this. Let me tell you a Christmas story. The story of how God brought Christmas to the Browning’s home.
It all began when a man, named Rene, who had made himself available to unload the U-Haul when my family arrived from Tennessee decided one night to bring us a Christmas tree. We did not have a Christmas tree this year. Last year our tree fell down and was not going to brighten another Christmas season. We could not replace it. So we went about decorating our home for Christmas without a tree. Then one night, this wonderful man and his family who have reached out with friendship, brought us a new 7 foot Douglas fur artificial tree with all the trimmings. It has made our home beautiful as we celebrate the Christmas season! The tail of the Christmas star above the manager scene is how my family views the Christmas tree. Beautiful!
Then I found the gift my wife has been wanting for about a year. Sometime ago our stereo went on the blink. In other words it no longer produced music. So I spent the money I had saved on my wife. The Lord showed me the perfect stereo and I bought it for her and had that oversized box wrapped and then I took it home to place beside the tree for it would not fit under it.
Then I began to wonder what I was going to get our children.... and how. I did not have any more money. So I began to pray. On the Monday before Christmas my cousin called and asked if I would like a chocolate lab puppy. At first I said no. But as we continued our conversation on other subjects I began to change my mind. I had denied the kids a dog or cat all year long. But I began to think that such a thing might be the perfect Christmas gift for them. So I said ‘yes’. Then the next day the friend of my cousin had changed their mind about getting rid of the dog. Actually, they never wanted to get rid of the dog anyway but they had to. Then circumstances changed. So the gift was no longer available. I spent the next 5 days in search of the perfect dog. And the organization I asked to help denied me the adoption of a dog because of our handicaps. I was mad. I never understood how handicaps are so often misunderstood. I worked hard to meet all the requirements but to no avail! Finally, the dog I had chosen, a one year old Alaskan Husky was adopted by another family.
But still I continued to look but I could not find another dog in any shelter to adopt. We really admire and are partial to German Shepherds, Labradors, or Huskies. Nothing else will do. Before we went on the road as missionaries to share the truths of the POWERFUL Life of Purity we had to get rid of a half Shepherd, half wolf. Do you know how difficult it is to find someone to dog sit for a wolf? Impossible! But we finally found someone that would love her and take her home to be his dog for good. We were sad but glad that Ladywolf had a home of love.
It seems that this will not be a problem in the future when we return to tours and the POWER of Purity Conferences. We have an eight foot fenced in backyard and others who will take the dog or come and care for the dog while we are gone. But I still could not find the right dog or a shelter that would allow us to adopt a dog.
Then on Christmas Eve a neighbor’s daughter called and told me that her husband’s brother had 9 half Labrador Retriever and half German Shepherd pups. I went and looked and at 4 o’clock the afternoon of Christmas Eve I brought home two girl pups in a box for the kids at no cost to me. God is a good provider! He even cares about a family’s desire to have a dog so He provided us with two. Isn’t it just like our God to provide beyond our request or imagination!
Above the pups and all the trimmings of the Christmas season we also received our Colorado State Medicaid Insurance. Gin, I, and all the kids qualified and we received the medical cards in the mail. Praise the Lord! Gin and I have our first appointment with our new physiatrist on January 12th. We do not know just how the coverage works on Gins medication as of yet. We are learning. Ginger’s meds cost right at $2000.00 per month so we are asking the Lord to allow Gin’s medication to be covered under the plan we are on.
We hope to have all in our family who needs to be in rehab back in therapy full time. This would include Ginger, Bruce, and me, as well as our daughter Andrea possibly, as soon as she is seen by a bone, nerve, and spine specialist. We would appreciate your prayers as we reengage our family in rehab once again.
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| Greetings!
Happy New Year! Thank you for your many gifts through 2005, your cards, letters, calls, and financial support. Thank you for your encouragement and cheer. Thank you!
I hope you will take the time to read this newsletter. It is quite lengthy but it is full of important information about my family, NHE, POWER of Purity, and upcoming events. So please take a moment out of your busy schedule and read this newsletter.
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| A Happy New Year's!!! |
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On New Years Eve the Lord blessed our family once again. We were able to entertain 8 guests in our home. As we met together to bring in the New Year we shared stories, prayed, and fellowshipped over lots of food and found the bound of friendship extended and the hope of Christ centered and growing relationships.
I finally found a day planner on January 1st after looking for three weeks. It really is a necessity. Before the accident it helped me keep my schedule from getting overbooked. It was not uncommon for me to schedule two or three appointments at the same time. Such a ‘catastrophe’ really made me look like an idiot. But now I have learned to use the daily planner just to remember how to navigate a given day. I also use it to record my emotions and thoughts which is really helpful when a therapists how I am feeling. I just ask when and I look it up and am able to share the details. Sounds like fun – RIGHT?
The biggest problem has been there is not a Staples to be found in all of the Denver metro area, unlike Tennessee. Office Max did not have what I have been using now for a decade. I could not find it online. But finally I found it one and a half miles from home at an Office Depot. I even went for a walk to go and fetch it with some Christmas money I had received. Walking the two mile round trip was exhausting but it really felt good!
So many do not understand the miracle that it is when we just get through a day with our minds intact and our hearts unhurt. Most just think I should be back to work and everyone else should be recovered. But this is not a realistic view. I have another two or three months in the brain injury program this year alone, then two months next year to be followed by a month or two each year for an undetermined number of years to come. I should be able to return to work gradually as I complete the program this year and hopefully with the skill to drive again.
A Happy New Year to you and yours. May God’s abundant life be a real expression of your new heart this year!
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| A Profound Truth! |
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There is a profound truth that gets me through each day right now. I believe it has been God’s Christmas and New Year’s gift to me this year. The Scriptures reads that “He (God) does all things well” (Mark 7:36- 38 NKJV). He does this astonishment even when life is tough and we wonder how things will turn out tomorrow; or even today. Combined with this awesome treasure is Colossians 3:4(NLT), which reads: “When Christ who is our real life...” I have written it, spoken it, and communicated it in different forms that this is not my life any longer. It is a life surrender to being an expression of Christ’s life every moment of everyday. I hope and pray that you too find this abundance in Christ!
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| NEW Next Month... |
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Please visit our website every 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of the month for the new NHE weekly devotional beginning in February. It will be linked from our homepage and then added to our Articles link as a new devotional is added each week. So stay tuned! The first several months will be a discourse on Christ Jesus presented as our Lord, Life, Liberator, and Leader.
There are several empty pages on the site that were supposed to fill up over 2005. The accident has placed many of these on hold. We hope to restructure the site as we reconstruct the NHE Board of Trustees and our staff.
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| NHE Board of Trustees and Staff... |
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Rick and Sarah Apperson have served as founding Board Members of NHE since November 2002 when NHE was incorporated. Rick and Sarah believe God is returning them to another ministry that they have served with for many years in the Balkans in Europe, Youth With a Mission (YWAM). As of January 1, 2006 Rick and Sarah have resigned their staff positions with NHE Canada. To remind everyone that Rick and Sarah Apperson also resigned their positions on the Board of Trustees back in September; Rick finished out the year with NHE but his resignation has been recorded as of December 17, 2005. NHE, along with Gin and I wish the Apperson’s God’s grace and blessing as they embark upon new ministry efforts in Canada.
NHE also wishes to express to Ezra Watnik our deepest gratitude for a job well done as the NHE Financial Review Officer for 2005. Ezra will no longer continue with NHE. He is looking at other ministry potential elsewhere, possibly overseas. Gin and I want to say, “thank you Ezra, for being there when things got tough”. Everyone should take notice that it was Ezra who flew to Wyoming within a few short days of our accident to sit and pray with my wife when I was in a coma not expected to wake up. Ezra has been a good friend. We hope for and desire many long years of friendship with Ezra as he is about God’s call on his life.
The new NHE Board of Trustees welcomes its newest member Barbara Camp to the fold. We are excited that Barbra has joined the NHE team. Barbara has over two decades of ministry experience. She and her husband David have been missionaries a longtime and Barbara brings a lot of skill to the NHE table. Barbara is NHE’s new Financial Review Officer. Barbara has worked in their own ministry in finance, tax, and 501C policy and fiscal records.
Along with Barbara, David comes to the NHE team as a member of the Advisory Team with Dr. John Woodward. David brings many years of ministry to our table to advise us in all our decisions. Welcome Barb and Dave!
NHE is ruled first by Jesus Christ and His written Word. NHE also believes in and is supported by the counsel of many; a Board of Trustees, an Advisory Committee, and several Church Leaderships. It seems, at this time of reconstruction, the Lord is providing many to serve NHE in an advisory position. In the months to come these members will be posted on the ‘About Us’ page at www.newheartexpressions.org along with a detailed description of NHE’s ruling government. For now we are receiving counsel from Grace Fellowship International, The Navigators, Christ Chapel, our home Church in Knoxville Tennessee, and Berean Bible Church in Denver Colorado. We are interviewing other individuals, Churches, and ministry groups to develop both the NHE Board, Advisory Committee, and the NHE Executive Staff, as well as the Missionary and Pastoral Staff. This process will continue until the Lord has placed on each team the most effectual men, women, and Churches.
One of our newest relationships is with Dynamic Churches in Alberta Canada and their Executive Director Al Middleton. This ministry helped us last year when we were in Alberta and will play even more of a mentoring role in my visit back to Alberta in the Spring. I am excited to see how this relationship will develop.
Another ministry group that we are interested in seeing how God wants to develop is with Exchange Life Ministries of Colorado and the Association of Exchanged Life Ministries both of which have senior leadership here in Denver.
If you or you know of someone who is interested in serving on the NHE Board of Trustees or the NHE Advisory Committee please contact me at 303.731.4850 or email me at ron@newheartexpressions.org. We are looking for men, women, and Churches who can skillfully provide two of the following: wisdom, work, and wealth. The following are the requirements to serve on the NHE Board or Committee.
The following are the terms and conditions of service
1) A Believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 2) A Believer willing to share your personal testimony with and through but not limited to NewHeart Expressions; and in support of the personal and professional testimony of Ron and Ginger Browning. 3) A Believer living free of habitual sin, evidenced by the
- a. Radical Amputation of all avenues of sin
- b. Radical Appropriation of the death and life of Jesus Christ
- c. Radical Accountability to the Board of NewHeart Expressions and within the scope of your local Fellowship
- d. Constant Attachment to Christ
- e. Passionate Adoration of Christ
- f. Accurate Affirmation of Who Christ is within you.
- g. Compelling Articulation of the work of Christ in your life
4) A Believer willing to share the financial partnership of NewHeart Expressions with a minimum gift of --but not limited to -- $50.00 per month while serving on the Board. 5) A Believer willing to serve NewHeart Expressions with wisdom, work, and wealth as God’s Spirit prompts. 6) A Believer of like faith and in agreement with NewHeart Expressions Doctrinal Statement and Vision, in compliance with the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, willing to offer support, advise, and direction to NHE Inc. and the Browning Family, recognizing that Ron and Ginger Browning hold the primary vision and direction NHE is following as the Holy Spirit gives guidance all the while recognizing that individual members of NHE hears our Shepherd’s voice. 7) A Believer in agreement with the confidentiality of all clients and issues in relationship to NewHeart Expressions.
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| Are You Drawn To Be On The NHE Staff ??? |
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NHE Staff is brought on as a man or woman is moved by God the Holy Spirit to join NHE by becoming a Strategic Biblical Counselor through NHE’s four phase teaching strategy. Please know Gin and my heart is to share NewHeart Expressions with others who are of like minded ministry thought and efforts. It is our joy to licenses evangelists and pastor/teachers and to equip other men and women as Biblical Strategists to help many discover the powerful truth that will set them free to run in our real Life, Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life...”
Come join us as we teach others about the expressions of the new heart God places in each of us at rebirth that acknowledge Him as Lord, Life, Liberator, and Leader.
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| POWER of Purity congerence coming up... |
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NHE will begin our POWER of Purity Conferences February 6-10, 2006 in Colorado. NHE is negotiating one of two locations; Glen Eyrie Resort in Colorado Springs or a facility in Aurora Colorado.
The POWER of Purity Conference will begin at 8:30am, Monday morning, February 6th and will end around noon on Friday, February 10th. I will be hosting the conference as well as serving as the primary speaker. Yes, this will be the first conference I have participated in for almost a year. So it will be a time for learning how the new “me” functions and how POP will be conducted in 2006.
Those of you who live in the Denver/Aurora area, who would like to help, please contact me at 303.731.4850. I will need plenty of volunteers as I go back into conference ministry. The men who attend deserve me to be at my best. This means rested and everything in order. Of course, God is the only real teacher and heart changer but He chooses to use “little ole me”. I will be working on a rewrite for the POP Conference Notebook, “The Expressions of the New Heart”, in January to familiarize myself with the material again and to work out a few glitches. 2005 has been an enlightening year and we have and continue to learn what works and doesn’t. So keep this time of review and rewrite in prayer.
There are a few of you who have the means and the desire to financially support this ministry as we reach out to men in need. It seems that every letter asks you for money. This goes against my grain. I spent so many years of life as a thief and I feel as though I have no right to ask. Then I remember I am not a thief but a partaker and sharer of God’s truth and I believe this is God’s ministry and His bills. Therefore I know He will pay the costs. All He asks of me is to share. So this is what I am doing, my heart to yours.
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| Ministry |
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You may never know the joy and fulfillment of this work. On the second day of every conference I ask God with some doubt – “Are You going to set men free this time?” Beyond my own doubt, God is faithful and on the second and third nights I get to witness God’s light shine through the men’s faces. I can see it start. The eyeballs are first. Then there is the smile (sometimes even joyous laughter) because the mind and the heart connect with the Truth that sets men free. You may never know the joy that fills my heart as I witness God use this old liar, thief, and homosexual share Christ as Lord, Life, and Liberator and men like me discover the power of a pure heart and life each and every time. God is AWESOME!!!
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| A Solemn Request for Prayer |
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A questioning New Year... A couple to be wed named Richard and Cindy, who attend the Berean Bible Church in Denver, has met with a tragic turn of events. Richard was on his way home from work Friday night; he and his truck have been missing ever since. Cindy and her son are devastated. Christmas has been marred for them. Christmas is to be a time of celebration for the birth of our Lord and Savior and now the Enemy has once again tried to steal the joy of the season. Please pray with us for Cindy, her son, and Richard’s mom ... and for Richard as well for no one knows neither his whereabouts nor his condition. We are thankful to our Lord that Richard is one of His, so wherever Richard is He is cradled in the arms of the Almighty!
As the days have passed Richard has been located. He is alive. Yet it appears to those who are close to him that he may have fallen back into drug use and habitual fears. I believe it is a time to reach out not with weapons to hurt Richard but with arms of love that can bring him once again to the cross and to Jesus unconditional love that transforms our hearts and lives. Yes, it is true that Richard may have burned many bridges of trust but we must present him an opportunity to rebuild broken trust and mend shredded hearts; all because we ourselves have been given new hearts that are to express love and not judgment.
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| Prayer Needs Requested From this Awesome God |
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I have already mentioned Richard and Cindy’s need. Now I would mention their home Church, Berean Bible Church and ask that you remember all those within the body who are affected by this tragic event.
We also have some friends here in Aurora Colorado that serve in a local ministry that has connections with the district attorneys office to teach teens character that opens the gospel into their lives. These friends are having a very difficult time financially. The husband has been involved in missions and church planting for longer than a decade and he is tired... and fundraising does wear a man out. So please keep this family of five children in prayer as they are having so difficult a time.
Please pray for a student of mine. He has a drug problem and getting high seems to remove his mental inhibitors. The result is gay sex. The courts have ordered him to find a drug rehab or return to prison. So tomorrow he will visit a rehab center and we are praying the Lord’s hand in their acceptance of him as a patient. He has burned most of the bridges in his life so the Lord may choose to teach him some hard lessons. So I am continuing to encourage him that the Lord does not have harm planned for him but that God does all things well, even if he is returned to prison.
There are several men (7 to 10) interested in attending the POP Conference February 6-10. Lift these men before the throne of our worthy Lord to work out the obstacles in their path. Some are having trouble financially and can not afford the conference and material costs. Others are having a difficulty with airfare to fly into Colorado. Some are having difficulty with the hotel costs. It is important that we keep all the men in the same resort or facility and that these men are kept safe from falling during this time of renewal. The Enemy would delight in having POP and NHE become an impure and sinful opportunity. So stand with us in prayer and support... as we submit our hearts and choices to Almighty and resist the Enemy (James 4: 4-10). We know that the devil must flee such a place where Christ is acknowledged as Lord and the Enemy is resisted in the Lord’s powerful name.
Fear is also a major obstacle for men who choose to attend. I remember our first conference of three men. Two of them got off the plane and saw this Amish looking, scrawny white boy and wondered what I could ever do to help and they almost got back on the plane. Fear is a great big obstacle! So consider in your prayer time praying for each one to walk in the spirit of power, love, and Christ’s sound mind; including me because I am afraid that the new me might not be up to it anymore.
I know such a feeling is a lie. God does not intend me to be who I was but to be all He has destined me to be. This is His life not mine. He can live it anyway He chooses. He can use this life, my life as an expression of Himself however He wants. So pray my friends! We all need to be lifted up to the Lord.
Praying For You Gin and I are praying for you. Feel free to call in your prayer requests or email them into ron@newheartexpressions.org. We would like to start a prayer wall in 2006 but we need someone led by God to volunteer to help in this area. You may be thinking that the Browning’s must be to busy, with rehab, therapy, family, and ministry to pray for your needs. But every request that comes to us we take to the Lord. So please feel free to send them in. When we have a volunteer to help with this we will set up a prayer page on the NHE website.
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