Why Women Live Longer Than Men

Romania Report

Scott Brown, David Brown, Paul Negrut, Andy Davis, Nathaniel Davis

We were invited to Romania by Dr. Paul Negrut, President of Emmanuel University in Oradea Romania. He is one of the happiest men you will ever meet.

He asked us to come and to speak of the biblical roles of fathers and mothers and how the church should be reformed accordingly to facilitate the biblical pattern of family life.


Emmanuel University

My work was to bring the message of returning to biblical order in the home and the church, first by establishing the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture and to ask the question, “if you lived on a desert island, and all you had was the Bible, how would you think and how would you live.”

After establishing the doctrine of sufficiency of scripture, I preached on some major passages of scripture which define church and family life – particularly those which are under attack. I used Deuteronomy 6 which speaks of the role of fathers in education; Psalm 78 which is a call to break the ungodly patterns of our forefathers; Ephesians 6:1-4 and the role of parents in securing honor in their children; I Peter 3 on the importance of the family life of a church leader and “Seven Pillars of Biblical Womanhood. Andy Davis spoke on the Role of Fatherhood in the Plan of Redemption, Psalm 2 which speaks of the role of the man in protecting his family and several other passages which demonstrate the sufficiency of scripture in the life of the believer.


Titi Bulzan was our constant companion and guide, making our ways straight and keeping us laughing.

We had the opportunity to present a week of classroom instruction at Emmanuel University
David and I spent the week with a class of students developing the themes above and gave them an exam at the end of the week. It was a “for credit” class. Andy had a class of theology students.















Emmanuel Baptist Church, Oradea Romania

We had the opportunity to preach in a large metropolitan church in the main Sunday service at Emmanuel Baptist Church with approximately 2700 people in attendance. I preached from Deuteronomy chapter six and the implications for the role of fathers in the home, the biblical view of education and the biblical view of fertility. I also spoke on the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture using Psalm 19 as my text in their Thursday evening service.


The Three year old boy on the far right gave a perfect recitation of the whole of Psalm 23 in front of 2700 people... notice the proud father on the left. He is training his children by helping them memorize scripture. Notice me and Andy and Paul Negrut beaming with joy...

Preaching in a country churches
Andy and split up and preached on Sunday morning in churches nearby. At the one I went to, the men sat on the left and the women on the right. We ate two wonderful lunches in the homes of two church family members.

Father/Son meetings at Emmanuel
Fathers and sons were invited to Friday and Saturday evening sessions in which we defined the father/son relationship.


Showing the film, “League of Grateful Sons” On Saturday night


Went on the Radio for the Sufficiency of Scripture and Uniting Church and Family
We taped a 90 minute radio program in a very modern studio on the subject of Uniting of Church and Family. It will be translated and aired all over Romania. We spoke of the need for reforming the church in this area, gave the Trinity Baptist and Vision Forum web sites for more information. We spoke of all of the major categories of the message of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches.

Pastors Meeting on expository Preaching
On our last day, we met with around 25 Baptist pastors from Arad Romania. We were given the platform for two sessions that included the argument for the practice, which I gave and an example of what it looks like which Andy Davis gave. It was a joy for Andy and me to stand together and be completely in one accord as we spoke of the wonder of the Word of God and the sacred responsibility to trustfully deliver the words to the hearers.



David getting a quick Jet Lag Sleep in an airport



Modern food store... thousands more products than in the communist days. Let freedom ring.

Why Does the Pope Kiss the Ground?

Here we are (David Brown, Andy Davis, Nathaniel Davis) in the foggy Milano airport without our luggage.

On the way to Romania, the deft baggage handlers of Alitalia Airlines lost our bags for a few days leaving us without much apparel.

This begs the question, "why does the Pope kiss the ground?

Paul Negrut's Answer: "He flies Alitalia."

Kelly's Book - Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer

My daughter Kelly’s book, “Coming In on a Wing and a Prayer” has hit the shelves and here is the Vision Forum display at the film festival. It is a story of a grandmother communicating to her great grandchildren about the kind providential acts of God at work in the history of their family. http://www.visionforum.com/booksandmedia/productdetail.aspx?productid=55860

Film Festival Fun

Pat Walsh on the accordion, Doug Phillips on the harmonica and Charlie Zham on the guitar, serenade the guests in the Phillips home the before the film festival



Bill and Scott Brown... Father and Son in Bomber Jackets getting ready to see the final version of ”The League of Grateful Sons” for the first time. This was an evening of rejoicing for the Brown family.



Jim Zes and Scott Brown’s last stand with Col Travis in the Menger Hotel. We are not turning back. The line has been drawn. To all of you we say, “come with us even if we perish.”



George Sarris gave dramatic word for word recitations of the book of Esther and the story in Daniel of Nebuchadnezzar throwing the Hebrew children to the lions.


The Browns record a segment for the Jonathan Park radio show for an upcoming story that uses our trip to Iwo Jima as a backdrop for the Jonathan Park creation science adventure. It could air in Spring 2006.



RC Sproul Jr speaks about beauty and the kingdom of God. You gotta get the CD.

Doug Phillips, Hero Maker

Doug Phillips is a hero maker

He takes ordinary men and praises them for things not ordinarily praised. My father is a good example. Bill Brown is an ordinary father who lived an ordinary and steady life. So, what makes a man worthy of the title hero? Doug Phillips praises my father for things that the world does not value as heroic. He is a hero because he has spent his senior years telling his children of the providence of God; because he has loved his wife for fifty seven years; because he gives priority to spending time with his children and grandchildren; because he smiles at adversity knowing that God is in control. He is not a business hero or a war hero or a sports hero. But he is an ordinary man who did the things that are truly heroic.

The world will write about you and make films about you and call you a hero if you make lots of money or have an unusual gift. But Doug Phillips will write about you and make films about you and call you a hero if you do the simple, enduring, right things even though you are unnoticed by the worldly hero makers.

While the world ignores the stories of thousands of true heroes, you can count on Doug Phillips to tell the stories rarely appreciated and never told. He is an encouragement to every ordinary man out there, who is living beyond the limelight, doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with his God.

A Film by Families for Families

One of the truly inspiring moments at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival was seeing the Geoff Botkin family on stage for the world premier of “The League of Grateful Sons.”

I’ll wager that you have never seen a family film quite like “League of Grateful Sons.”

Goeff Botkin’s entire family worked together to make the film “League of Grateful Sons”. They filmed, choreographed, produced, acted, narrarated, wrote the score and did the computer graphics for the entire film. Everyone in the Botkin family rallied to provide some valuable investment in the project. This is a living picture of how a family can work together for the glory of God, using each individual talent that God has placed in the home to explain the goodness of God.

The Phillips family provided overall vision, directing, graphic design and script writing talent. They conceived and executed every aspect of the film content, editing, promotion and marketing. Their superior communication skills were always working toward particular theological philosophical and creative objectives. They provided the network of financial resources and personnel and administrative horsepower that was necessary to make everything happen and tie everyone together for a successful effort.

The Brown, Henderson and Chancey families furnished the time investment of characters with stories to tell which provided the structure of the message.

The League of Grateful Sons is truly a “family film’ in the most complete sense of the term. It is a film conceived by families, produced by families and provided for families.

Fathers should look carefully at this example of home life and see how they too can unify and energize their families to be a blessing to all the nations.