Brown's Daily Word

Brown's Daily Word 7-3-09

2009-07-03T13:22:00.002-05:00

Praise the Lord for the freedom we have in Christ. Praise the Lord for the great land He has given us to live and to serve.
I was reading about Terry Waite some time ago. Terry Waite CBE (born May 31, 1939 in Styal, Cheshire, England) is a British Quaker and Anglican, humanitarian and author. In the 1980s he was Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie's Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs. As an envoy for the Church of England, he traveled to Lebanon to try to secure the release of four hostages including journalist John McCarthy. He was himself held captive between 1987 and 1991. Terry Waite in his book ‘Taken on Trust’ describes being chained to the wall and only allowed to go to the bathroom once a day. He was shackled to that radiator for 1763 days, almost four years. We can only imagine the sense of freedom he has now. But imagine that after he was released he was walking past the building where he had been held and one of his captors calls him over. The man says ‘Mr Waite won’t you come back into captivity again? We will give you a new set of handcuffs, a new chain, a new room and a new radiator to be chained to.’ Would Terry Waite go back? No of course he wouldn’t. Paul says in Galatians 5 verse 1 ‘It is for freedom Christ has set you free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again with the yoke of slavery.’ When we look around us and observe the lives of many people we see slavery and not freedom. I see people burdened with guilt, bound by fear, enslaved to habits which are sinful, shackled with an attitude that is far from Christlike. Yet here Paul says Jesus has set them free. In John 8 verse 32 Jesus says the truth shall set you free and four verses later in verse 36 he says ‘if the Son sets you free you shall be free indeed.’
In Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress there is a point at which Christian’s burden, which he has been carrying all his life, falls off his back and rolls away. Do you remember where this happens? It falls off at the foot of the cross and it rolls into an empty tomb. He never again carries that burden on his back – the burden by the way is sin. Friends Christ has set you free from the burden of sin. Paul tells the Galatians, and us, we are made right with God by grace through faith in Christ – our justification. That frees us from the burden of sin, from a guilty conscience, from the fear of death. We also have freedom of access to God and freedom of acceptance by God – all because of Christ. Therefore ‘stand firm’ in the freedom which Christ brings, and Christ alone brings. I have freedom to serve my neighbour. Paul says in verses 13-15 that I have been freed to serve others, not exploit them. You see the mark of freedom is service. Sounds strange but as we are told we are no longer our own but have been bought with the blood of Christ. We are freed from the slavery of sin and become servants of Christ. I display my freedom in Christ by serving others in the name of Christ. It is out of my freedom that I serve. It is an expression of my love towards Christ who has set me free that I serve others in his name.
The Son shall set you free and you shall be free indeed. Amen.

Micah called this morning and said grandpa I am coming to your house today. Simeon turned 2yrs. old today, they are all coming here for a few days. Alice has gone to Boston to drive them back here. Tom and Jessica will be coming home for the weekend too. Sunita will be coming from Washington. We will all be together for a few days, praising God and celebrating His grace and love.

May the Lord bless all of you as you travel and celebrate.

In Christ,

Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5gDTwi4YJk

Brown's Daily Word 7/2/09

2009-07-02T12:45:00.000-05:00

I love to read the biographies of those who have followed Christ and served Him faithfully to the end. Reading about them I get excited about Christ and His claims on our lives.. Jim Elliot was converted as a teenager. He gave himself entirely to Jesus.. Eventually, he believed that the best way to serve Christ, was in taking the gospel to the Waodani Indians in South America. On January 8, 1956, at the tender age of 28, he was killed, along with four other young missionaries, who were trying to make contact with the Indians. Several years earlier Jim wrote a statement that summarized what Paul is saying in Romans 12:1, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim gave his life to Jesus in what he judged to be the most reasonable service, and he gained a spiritual inheritance forever. Another missionary, William Borden, came from a wealthy, privileged family, was a graduate of Yale University, and had the promise of a wonderful and lucrative career before him. But he felt a call to serve the Lord, as a missionary in China and left for the field even though his family and friends thought him a fool for going. After a short time away and even before he reached China, Borden contracted a fatal disease and died. He had given up everything to follow Jesus. He died possessing nothing in this world. But Borden of Yale did not regret it. We know this because he left a note as he lay dying that said, “No reserve, no retreat, and no regrets.” Like so many others, he found the service of Christ to be eminently reasonable, and he gained a lasting reward.
What a way to live and what a way to serve.
In Christ,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxH2Ow3ep88
Bumper Stickers for Women
Here are some of the latest in bumper stickers for women!
So Many Men, So Few Who Can Afford Me.
My Mother Is A Travel Agent For Guilt Trips.
Princess, Having Had Sufficient Experience With Princes, Seeks Frog.
Coffee, Chocolate, Men ... Some Things Are Just Better Rich.
Don't Treat Me Any Differently Than You Would The Queen
If You Want Breakfast In Bed, Sleep In The Kitchen.
Dinner Is Ready When The Smoke Alarm Goes Off.
Warning: 6 Minutes Until Next Mood Swing.
And Your Point Is?
I resemble that comment!
Warning: I Have An Attitude And I Know How To Use It.
Of Course I Don't Look Busy...I Did It Right The First Time.
Do Not Start With Me. You Will Not Win.
You Have The Right To Remain Silent, So Please Shut Up.
All Stressed Out And No One To Choke.
I'm One Of Those Bad Things That Happen To Good People
How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?
(Hey!, some of these work for men too!)

Brown's Daily Word 7-1-09

2009-07-01T06:57:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It has been raining almost every day. It is very much like Monsoon of India. Somebody has stated that the summer will skip the North East USA this year. Our youngest daughter Jessica was born very early in the morning on this day in 1984. She was born at Robert Packer Hospital, in Pennsylvania. Jessica has been a great source of Joy from the Lord to us. We praise the Lord for her life.
I love to read the letter of Paul to the Philippians, which is Paul’s ode to joy. He has used the term “joy” or “rejoice” several times before, but now he shouts out the essence of all that he has said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (4:4). Some people equate joy with happiness, but it is much deeper than happiness and more enduring. Happiness depends on what is happening around you; joy is constant and sure. Joy is always possible, which is why Paul says we should rejoice “always.” To rejoice requires an action, not merely a feeling, and we choose how we are going to react to our situations.
When Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians, he was sitting in a Roman prison, his back sore and tender, his wrists chafing from the chains, perhaps a little bloody with a soldier connected to the other end of that chain. Despite his circumstances, he’s telling the Philippians to rejoice. He himself was rejoicing in his circumstances, as we have seen throughout this letter.
This sounds like a foreign concept. Our brains are not wired to think like this. How do you get to a place of joy like this?
About ten years ago CNN’s Larry King interviewed Billy Graham. For some time Graham already had several health issues including his struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. When Larry King asked him how he felt about having Parkinson’s Disease, Dr. Graham replied, “I feel great about it. It’s been a wonderful experience. I believe the Lord has many lessons to teach me through this disease.” Dr. Graham was rejoicing in the Lord.
One would wonder how a person could be able to do this. The answer is twofold. First, it is supernatural. It must be from God. Second, in cooperation with the Spirit of God, Dr. Graham must have made it a habit to daily rejoice in the Lord. Even a disease like that, which would bring anyone’s spirits down, was a cause for Billy Graham to praise God. The Lord gives the gift of joy but it is up to us to put it into practice. This response goes completely against our natural mind-set. When we face tragedy we are more likely to blame God and ask “why?”. Joy does the opposite. When we practice rejoicing in all circumstances, our minds are better prepared for any circumstance. If we can learn to rejoice even when things go wrong a change of attitude is going to be evident.
Paul followed the challenge to rejoice with a natural result of rejoicing, “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near” (4:5). This word is translated variously as “forbearance,” “mildness,” “moderation,” “large-heartedness,” and “inner calmness.” Charles Swindoll described it this way, “In our rough-and-rugged individualism, we think of gentleness as weakness, being soft, and virtually spineless. Not so! ... Gentleness includes such enviable qualities as having strength under control, being calm and peaceful when surrounded by a heated atmosphere, emitting a soothing effect on those who may be angry or otherwise beside themselves, and possessing tact and gracious courtesy that causes others to retain their self-esteem and dignity.... Instead of losing, the gentle gain. Instead of being ripped off and taken advantage of, they come out ahead!”
Paul could have been frustrated with the Corinthians, who thought they had it all as Christians but the Apostle could see glaring immorality in their midst. He could have been really angry with them. Instead he wrote, “By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you…” (2 Cor 10:1). He took a sensitive, parental approach to their stubbornness.
Paul always remembered that “the Lord is near.” There are two meanings we could take from this phrase; both give us reason to rejoice and remain calm. One is that Jesus is literally near. “The LORD is near to all who call on him” (Ps 145:18). The second is that Jesus is coming back soon. “…be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” (Js 5:8-9).
Either way we have reason to be calm. If we are facing trouble or frustration we can be calm because the Lord is near. Our attitude is based on the faith that God is in control.
The attitudes of joy and gentleness will help lay a foundation for growing a beautiful mind and allaying our fears and anxiety. Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God” (4:6). The KJV says it even better, “Be anxious for nothing.” The word “anxious” means “to be divided” or “to de drawn in different directions.” If that sounds bad consider that the word “anxiety” comes from an old English word that means “to strangle.” It was used to refer to the practices of wolves killing sheep by biting them around the neck, strangling their prey to death. That’s anxiety.
R. H. Mounce once said, “Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God.” We can worry or we can worship. It’s impossible to do both. Let us worship. Also,
rather than worry, Paul calls us to prayer. To pray is to worship God, to focus on his character and adore his attributes and his names. It continues to amaze me that we pray as a last resort when the peace that comes from prayer is so profound.
When we pray we also put before God those problems and needs, no matter how small, and we can get real specific about the troubles we are facing. Always pray with thanksgiving. This is the practice of a beautiful mind.
The result is this very real truth, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (4:7). When God’s peace floods our souls it protects our hearts from wrong feelings and thoughts. The word “guard” means “to garrison” and it is a picture of soldiers protecting a camp or castle. The enemy is unable to get in when God’s peace protects us.
A beautiful mind is a mind that has learned to cast our worries onto Jesus our Lord,and receive his peace. This is a mind that views life differently than the pattern of this world.
In Christ,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA4narr2wyEGive
Him A Strong Warning
On a street, where the speed is limited to 30 mph the police stop a driver.

"Not only have you been driving too fast, you've been passing cars where it is not allowed. Your lights don't work, your tires all completely worn out. This is surely going to cost you a lot. What's your name?"

"Schtrathewisizeski Vocgefastilongchinic."

"Well, I'll let you go this time but don't do it again."

Brown's Daily Word 6-30-09

2009-06-30T15:27:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this bright and beautiful, rain-washed morning. Alice arrived safely yesterday from Washington, DC. She had spent a few days there with our nieces, visiting Sunita and Andy.
We are happy to announce the engagement of our daughter, Jessica, to Tom Ross. They became engaged on Saturday. Jessica and Tom are both graduates of Grove City College, where they met and were friends. Jessica lives in an apartment in Philadelphia, which she shared with her cousin, Jovita, until recently. Tom shares a house with one of his buddies from college. Tom is a financial consultant with Vanguard Financial Services and Jessica is a special programs coordinator with Teach America, Inc. Both attend the Vineyard Church in Philadelphia. Jessica will be celebrating her 25th birthday tomorrow.
Janice and Jeremy celebrated their 9th wedding anniversary on June 25. Their little boy, Simeon, will be turning 2 one week from tomorrow. Janice and the kids are planning to join us this weekend to help celebrate Jess and Tom's engagement. We will also be having a little party to celebrate Simeon's birthday.
The reading for last Sunday was taken from Mark 5. This chapter contains the record of three miracles Jesus performed. One was in the gentile territory and the other two were in the Jewish region. Jesus cast out demons from a man who was possessed and tormented by many demons and who lived in the tombs. Jesus drove the demons away, into the sea, by His word of command. Later Jesus, our Lord, had returned to Capernaum, where a great crowd gathered around Him. A Jewish leader came and fell at the feet Jesus and begged Him to come to place His hands on his daughter who lay on her death bed.
Jesus was on the move, but He was interrupted by the touch of a woman who had suffered for 12 years. Suffering for 12 years she was probably very discouraged, very isolated, and bankrupt, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. As a last resort she came to Jesus . She touched the hem of His garment. According the Jewish ceremonial laws she was unclean and untouchable, yet she reached out and touched Jesus. In a deeper way Jesus, the great and winsome physician, touched her and made her whole again. He restored her. Jesus, the Christ, is still in the business of touching the untouchable! We may feel like we are too dirty or too wicked for Jesus, the Christ. May He touch us with His forgiveness today and cleansing today.
I read about a man living in London during the 19th Century, Joseph Carey Merrick, (1862 - 1890) who was terribly disfigured by neurofibromatosis. His own family rejected him because of his hideous appearance! Sir Frederick Treves (1853 - 1923), a prominent British surgeon found Joseph working in a circus as a sideshow freak! Dr. Treves, in August 1866, brought Joseph Carey Merrick to a London hospital and began to treat him as a person instead of some sideshow oddity! He provided books for Joseph and soon discovered that he was a kind, intelligent person. Joseph Carey Merrick lived in that London hospital until his death!
After a newspaper reported on Joseph’s progress, Dame Madge Kendal came to visit him. Dame Kendal (1848 - 1935), born Margaret Shafto Robinson, was a talented English actress and theater manage, a beautiful woman of high society, and a committed Christian. On one visit she presented Joseph Carey Merrick with a copy of William Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet." He felt like an ugly beast cowering before a fairy princess. He was at such a loss for words that he opened the book and began to read. His voice was squeaky and broken as he read the words from the Second Act: "See! How she leaned her cheek upon her hand that I might touch her cheek." As he read that line, Dame Madge Kendal slipped quietly into the seat beside him! She responded with the words of Juliet that she had memorized from her years in the theater. Joseph read and she recited the rest of the act together! When it was done, Dame Madge Kendal leaned over and kissed the swollen, leathery cheek of Joseph Carey Merrick! Dr. Frederick Treves later recorded that from that moment on, Joseph Carey Merrick was a changed man!
Though we may not have a physically disfiguring disease, sin has disfigured each and every one of us until even our righteousness is as filthy rags! Compared to the perfect holiness of Almighty God, our sinful lives are hideous and grotesque. However, the Lord Jesus Christ leaned over at Calvary and gifted us with the mercies of Heaven and since that day none of us have ever been the same!

Blessed be His Name.
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef9jKHwHueQ

This for those who live in our vicinity:Mark your calendars for a couple of very special events.
On Saturday, July 18, 2009 there will be a free and informative workshop called, "Heaven Now, A Marriage Seminar". The seminar will be from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM, and will be held at the First United Methodist Church at 53 McKinley Avenue in Endicott and sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church. The speaker for the event is Richard P. Larson, the Executive Pastor of the Sierra Bible Church in Sonora, California. Lunch will be provided, and there will be daycare for infants and children up to 12 years of age. Your are encouraged to pre-register by calling 748-6329.

On Thursday, July 23 at 7 PM the Continental Singers will be in concert at the First United Methodist Church at 53 McKinley Avenue in Endicott. The program will be an energized, uplifting program bringing glory and honor to our Lord. Be there and be blessed.

Lost
A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." The woman below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."
"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is, technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The woman below responded, "You must be in Management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

Brown's Daily Word 6-29-09

2009-06-29T06:05:00.000-05:00

Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord for the Good News that Jesus our Lord came to seek and save the least, the lost and the last. He came to rescue both rich and poor. In Mark 2:17 we read On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (NIV). Jesus befriended the despicable. In his book, The Kingdom of God Is a Party, Tony Campolo talks about an experience he had late one night in Hawaii. He was in one of those sleazy places that deserves the name “greasy spoon.” The fat guy behind the counter, came over and asked him, “What d’ya want?”
Tony Campolo ordered some coffee and a donut, and while he was sitting there at 3:30 in the morning, to his discomfort, in marched 8 or 9 rowdy prostitutes. Their talk was loud and crude, and he felt completely out of place. He was just about to make his exit when he overheard the woman beside him say, “Tomorrow’s my birthday. I’m going to be 39.”
When Tony heard that, he made a decision. Instead of leaving, he sat and waited until the women had left. Then he called over the fat guy behind the counter, and asked him, “Do they come in here every night?”
“Yeah!” he answered.
“The one right next to me, does she come here every night?”
“Yeah!” he said. “That’s Agnes. Yeah, she comes in here every night. Why d’ya wanta know?”
And then Tony Campolo told him, “I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday,” and he suggested that they throw a birthday party for her. He promised to return at 2:30 the next morning and decorate the place. The man and his wife, the cook, liked the idea and decided to bake a birthday cake.
So at 2:30 the next morning, Tony Campolo was back at the diner. He had picked up some crepe-paper and had made a sign out of big pieces of cardboard that read, “Happy Birthday, Agnes!” Word must have gotten out on the street, because by 3:15 every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place.
At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open, and in came Agnes and her friend, and they all screamed, “Happy birthday!” Agnes was stunned. Her mouth fell open. Her legs began to buckle, and her friend grabbed her arm to steady her. As she was led to sit on one of the stools along the counter, they all sang “Happy Birthday” to her. Then they brought out the birthday cake, and that’s when Agnes just lost it and openly cried.
Unable to compose herself, she excused herself and went home with the cake. When the door closed, there was a stunned silence in the place, and Tony Campolo, not knowing what else to do, broke the silence by saying, “What do you say we pray?”
So he prayed for Agnes, and when he was finished, Harry, the fat man behind the counter, leaned over and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said, “Hey! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?”
Tony replied, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning.”
Harry waited a moment and then almost sneered as he answered, “No you don’t. There’s no church like that. If there was, I’d join it. I’d join a church like that!” Well, that’s the kind of church Jesus came to create – a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning? (Tony Campolo, The Kingdom of God Is a Party, Word, 1990)

Jesus calls us to touch the untouchable, forgive the unforgivable, and befriend the despicable.

As the song-writer (Charles F. Brown) put it…

Reach out and touch a soul that is hungry;
Reach out and touch a spirit in despair;
Reach out and touch a life torn and dirty,
A man who is lonely – if you care!

Reach out and touch that neighbor who hates you;
Reach out and touch that stranger who meets you;
Reach out and touch the brother who needs you;
Reach out and let the smile of God touch through you.
Jesus help us,
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhoZYci-_ro

Doctor, take a look at me . .
This woman rushes to see her doctor, looking very much worried and all strung out. She rattles off, "Doctor, take a look at me. When I woke up this morning, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my hair all wiry and frazzled up, my skin was all wrinkled and pasty, my eyes were bloodshot and bugging out, and I had this corpse-like look on my face! What's wrong with me, Doctor?"

The doctor looks her over for a couple of moments, then calmly says, "Well, I can tell you one thing...there ain't nothing wrong with your eyesight."

Brown's Daily Word 6-26-09

2009-06-26T07:08:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this last Friday of June. Praise the Lord for His amazing grace. I have to conduct a funeral service this morning and a wedding celebration tomorrow. Those of you who live in the area, join us for our weekly television outreach this evening at 7 p.m. on Time Warner cable channel 4. Thank you for praying for me. I feel blessed and strengthened. Alice is going down to Washington, DC this morning, taking our for nieces to visit with Sunita and Andy. Micah and Simeon called a couple of times this week; they are doing well. They are planning to be here as the Fresh Air Kids towards the first part of July, Lord willing. Praise the Lord for His amazing love and everlasting grace.
Philip Yancey, in his book "What’s So Amazing About Grace?", tells the following story: “A vagrant lives near the Fulton Fish Market on the lower east side of Manhattan. The slimy smell of fish carcasses and entrails nearly overpowers him, and he hates the trucks that noisily arrive before sunrise. But midtown gets crowded, and the cops harass him there. Down by the wharves nobody bothers with a grizzled man who keeps to himself and sleeps on a loading dock behind a Dumpster.
“Early one morning when the workers are slinging eel and halibut off the trucks, yelling to each other in Italian, the vagrant rouses himself and pokes through the dumpsters behind the tourist restaurants. An early start guarantees good pickings: last night’s uneaten garlic bread and French fries, nibbled pizza, a wedge of cheesecake. He eats what he can stomach and stuffs the rest in a brown paper sack. The bottles and cans he stashes in plastic bags in his rusty shopping cart.
“The morning sun, pale through harbor fog, finally makes it over the buildings by the wharf. When he sees the ticket from last week’s lottery lying in a pile of wilted lettuce, he almost lets it go. But by force of habit he picks it up and jams it in his pocket. In the old days, when luck was better, he used to buy one ticket a week, never more. It’s past noon when he remembers the ticket stub and holds it up to the newspaper box to compare the numbers. Three numbers match, the fourth, the fifth_all seven! It can’t be true. Things like that don’t happen to him. Bums don’t win the New York Lottery.
“But it is true. Later that day he is squinting into the bright lights as television crews present the newest media darling, the unshaven, baggy pants vagrant who will receive $243,000 per year for the next twenty years. A chic-looking woman wearing a leather miniskirt shoves a microphone in his face and asks, “How do you feel?” He stares back dazed, and catches a whiff of her perfume. It has been a long time, a very long time, since anyone has asked him that question.
“He feels like a man who has been to the edge of starvation and back, and is beginning to fathom that he’ll never feel hunger again.”
What did that beggar to do deserve receiving several million dollars? Absolutely nothing! He had not even bought the winning ticket. All he did was pick it up and cash it in to receive his prize. Someone else had thrown it away as though it was useless, but he saw its potential worth. He had not worked for a long time. He did not earn the money. The check was given to him as a free gift, without conditions. He did not have a job or an education. He did not have to do anything but accept the check.
Having a relationship with God does not depend on how well we do or how perfect we are. It is based solely on the mercy and grace of God. This is good news for us failures. We read in the book of Titus: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5). Here is the unique message of the Christian faith. As it says in 2 Corinthians: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This frees us from guilt and legalistic perfectionism. We understand that we can never be perfect and that our relationship with God is based solely on grace. The Bible says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
Phil Yancey writes, “Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more.... And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less.” The guilt and condemnation is gone and a settled peace comes upon our hearts as we realize we don’t have to do anything to gain God’s acceptance — we already have it. Our relationship with God is not based on how good we are, but on the character of a gracious and forgiving God who loves us more than we can ever understand.

In Christ,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXV6HJxUebg

How do we know that Job went to a chiropractor?
Q. How do we know that Job went to a chiropractor?
A. Because in Job 16:12 we read, "I had come to be at ease, but he proceeded to shake me up and he grabbed me by the back of the neck and proceeded to smash me."

Brown's Daily Word 6-25-09

2009-06-25T07:09:00.000-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the way He calls us to be partners in His miracles. There is a very fascinating story in the Bible about an unnamed widow of Zarephath, (1 Samuel 17) who was so poor that she did not even have a name in the story. It was the author’s way of saying she had no social standing whatever in her community. If you read the story in context you will discover that everyone in the region was suffering, as there had been a famine for the last three years. The famine, by the way, came because of the prayer of Elijah.
By this time in the course of the famine, only the very wealthy had reserves of food and water. One must wonder why God did not send Elijah to one of the wealthy families in the region. What could have been the purpose of sending him to this poor widow who had nothing? Widows were always the first to run out of bread during a famine. Why would Elijah ask her for the last scrap of food she has when she and her son are dying from starvation? Why send Elijah to a Gentile in Sidon (now Lebanon), and not a Jewish person who was a part of the people of promise? Why go to one who is supposed to be the enemy of Israel, and who had Israel as her enemy? Elijah and the widow were utter strangers to each other and their nations are in conflict with each other. They worshiped different Gods. They must have eyed each other suspiciously when they first saw each other. I wonder if she knew Elijah and that it was his prayer which brought on the famine, a judgment brought abou, not because of Sidon’s sin, but because Israel had turned to worship Baal, the storm god? Elijah had been living down by the brook Kerith, and the ravens had been feeding him there, but the brook dried up because of the drought. In order to survive he had to seek another resource. As he enters the city gate, he noticed a widow gathering a few sticks, and called out to her. He asked for some water, the very thing that was in shortest supply throughout the land and, without a word, she proceeded to get him some. She obviously was a person of compassion rather than judgment. Perhaps she recognized him as a man of God, but as she was going for his water, he called to her and said, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” She informed him that she was gathering sticks because she had only a little bit of flour and she was going to build a small fire to bake the last bit of bread for her son and herself, and then they would probably soon die of starvation. Elijah told her that the Lord promised that she would not run out of bread or oil until rain began again, if she would only do as he asked. Amazingly, she took him at his word. When she did so she found that her little, when blessed by God, went a very long way. This story is reminiscent of Jesus multiplying the loaves, a story that aligns Him with Elijah, the prophet. We find, through the woman's response in trusting faith, the answers to many of our questions. God chose a poverty-stricken widow because the rich can get along on their own and she needed what only God can give. God chose a desperately poor widow because the rich, trusting in their riches, might not have shared with Elijah, but a poor person would and did. God chose a poor Gentile widow who was near death because the politics and conflict of government meant nothing to her. She had come to the place where she had nothing to lose and not much to give, but she chose to give. The poor are often that way. Tony Compolo tells a story about meeting a man on an inner city street. The manwas extremely dirty, perhaps psychotic. He was one of those people you might think to be dangerous. He offered Tony a drink of his coffee from a grimy cup held in his filthy hand. Though Compolo suspected that he would be asked for money for the coffee, and he certainly had no desire to taste the coffee, he decided to accept the man’s offer as an act of grace. Tony thanked the man for the coffee and offered him something, but he refused and said, “Naw, I don’t want nothin’. It is a cold night and the coffee is just so good; I just wanted to share it with somebody. If you want to give me something, give me a hug.” So Tony and a dirty homeless man stood hugging each other on a cold, dark winter night. It is that kind of experience where we often encounter God. Those with the least to offer are often the most willing to give and actually have the most to offer. Only those who trust can dare to give like that. Trusting God results in God's blessing. For the widow of Zeraphath, trusting God meant receiving the blessing and provision of God. Without trust there would have been no blessing. Without the blessing she would not have survived. She gave the last of her flour and oil, and found that she couldn’t give it all, because she couldn’t use it up. The flour jar could not be emptied, and the oil would not stop flowing. There was not only enough for her and her son, but enough for others as well. People who trust God discover that God's supply never runs out. There is not only enough for them, there is enough for others as well.
In His grace,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrBYbjSg3kA
HOLY HUMOR – Satan goes to Church
A few minutes before the services started, the townspeople were sitting in their pews and talking. Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church. Everyone started screaming and running for the front entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from evil incarnate.
Soon everyone had exited the church except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew without moving, seeming oblivious to the fact that God’s ultimate enemy was in his presence. So Satan walked up to the old man and said, “Don’t you know who I am?”
The man replied, “Yep, sure do.”
“Aren’t you afraid of me?” Satan asked.
“Nope, sure ain’t,” said the man.
“Don’t you realize I can kill you with a word?” asked Satan.
“Don’t doubt it for a minute,” returned the old man, in an even tone.
“Did you know that I could cause you profound, horrifying, physical AGONY… for all eternity?” persisted Satan.
“Yep,” was the calm reply.
“And you’re still not afraid?” asked Satan.
“Nope.” More than a little perturbed, Satan asked, “Well, why aren’t you afraid of me?”
The man calmly replied, “Been married to your sister for over 48 years.”

Brown's Daily Word 6-24-09

2009-06-24T06:50:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
" Morning has broken like the first morning". It is going to be a brilliant and glorious day. Praise the Lord for the morning, and praise the Lord for the sun that heats the earth and dispels the darkness. We will meet for our mid-week study and prayer meeting this evening at 6 PM, starting with full meal. Praise the Lord for all His simple gifts. I praise the Lord for the life and witness of Melda Dudley, who was 97 years old when she slipped into the presence of Jesus with a smile. Her daughter and son in law Rosa and Byron visited her almost every day. She lived in her own house until recently. Rosa and Byron had visited her Sunday. Monday she was sitting on a chair, and gently she went to be with Jesus. John Wesley said" Christians die well".
Lord Kenneth Clark was internationally known for his TV series "Civilization". While he lived and died without faith in Christ, he admitted an overwhelming religious experience in his autobiography. While visiting a beautiful church, he wrote, “My whole being was irradiated by a kind of heavenly joy far more intense than anything I had known before.” But what he called the “gloom of grace” created a problem for him. If he allowed it to influence him, he knew that he would have to change. He was sure his family would think he had lost his mind. Further, he was fearful that such intense joy would prove to be an illusion. His conclusion was, in his own words, “I was too deeply embedded in the world to change course.” We read about a financier and tax collector named Zacchaeus in John 19. He was deeply embedded in the world. It is clear from his story that there was probably a time in his life when he loved his money, but when he met Jesus, Zacchaeus knew that it wasn’t an illusion. Yes, he also knew that God’s grace would require him to change, but he didn’t care if people thought he’d lost his mind. Whatever he did from that moment on was for the sake of Christ. He was ready to let go. God’s grace requires a new way of life. If we keep hanging on to the branch, because we want to be able to climb back to safety, we will never know what true safety is in the arms of Christ. Zacchaeus knew that and he did not hesitate to show that he was sold out for the Kingdom of God. He let go of that branch because he had discovered what Jesus was offering. According to the Law as written in Leviticus (6:2-7), if a man cheats another, he is to return the amount he stole plus a fifth and bring a ram to the priest for a guilt offering. Zacchaeus went far above and beyond the call of the Law, offering a fourfold restitution, and beyond that he gave half of his possessions to the poor. By his actions, there is no doubt that his heart was repentant concerning his sin. Though he used to count his money and act like Scrooge and take all that he could get, his joy in meeting the Master led him to far exceed the required amount. For Zacchaeus it was not just about a guilt offering, but a freewill offering – a spontaneous and voluntary sacrifice. So many of the offerings in the Old Testament were about restitution for sin – but the freewill offering was about joy in the Lord, and that is what we see evidenced in Zacchaeus' action. Grace requires a new way of life. Jesus loves us just as much as He loved Zacchaeus, and He wants to come to our house today too. If we are waiting for Him in that tree, in our car, beside our bed, or wherever we are, we must be prepared not only to be blown away by His grace – if we can ever really be prepared for that – but also to let go of the things that take us away from Him and His service. God’s grace is free, but when we accept it in faith, we simply cannot keep our old life. When we try to serve our old master too, we quickly find that it doesn’t work. The joy and peace we have been promised evade us because we haven’t really accepted the grace. You have to trade one for the other to get all the benefits. How many Christians do we know who carry around heavy hearts, saddened faces, and burdens on their shoulders? For many this is the way of their lives. The rich young ruler did not know how to let go of his worldly burdens – or didn’t want to – and he walked away in sadness and sorrow. Zacchaeus carelessly and joyfully threw it away for the greatest treasure of all. For all that God has done for us, should it not be with joy that we rise up and call Him Lord?
In Christ,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x2IpLSfqp8
A minister waited in line to have his car filled with petrol just before a long holiday weekend. The attendant worked quickly, but there were many cars ahead of him in front of the service station. Finally, the attendant motioned him toward a vacant pump. "Reverend," said the young man, "sorry about the delay. It seems as if everyone waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip." The minister chuckled, "I know what you mean.It's the same in my business,"

Brown's Daily Word 6-23-09

2009-06-23T06:51:00.000-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord for the summer season. It is going to be sunny and brilliant today. It is the Monsoon season in Orissa, India, where the summer season is over. The Schools will re-open on the 25th of June after the Summer break. Micah and Simeon, our grandchildren, took their mommy and daddy to the beach last Sunday for Father's Day. Last evening some friends installed a barbecue pit for me behind the parsonage, and a few days ago another friend delivered a cord of fire wood to use for barbecue. Alice is planning to take our nieces to Washington, DC this Friday, to visit Sunita and Andy. Janice, Micah, and Simeon might be coming down to New York towards the July 4 - exact days yet to be determined. We are excited.
Praise the Lord for The Church. Praise the Lord for the testimony and witness of John and Charles's Wesley. When England was in the midst of the decadence and darkness of the 18th century, the Lord raised people like John and Charles Wesley to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, unafraid, and with boldness, fresh fire, and passion. They were fully sold out for Jesus. They shook the gates of hell, by proclaiming the unchanging gospel in a changing world. They are a part of the company of the committed, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. I want to be counted in that company.

There’s a prayer written by Charles Wesley, which is a covenant prayer:
" I am no longer my own but Thine. Put me to what thou wilt. Rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by Thee, or laid aside for Thee, exalted for Thee and brought low for Thee. Le me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Thou art mine and I am Thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen." It's a beautiful prayer, and I believe we mean it when we say the words. But in truth we really have being exalted, being full, having all things more in mind than being brought low, being empty, and having nothing in the name of the Lord. Though we say yes, when those times come, we struggle, even complain. When we can readily and willingly respond to that kind of call from God, then I believe we have truly submitted our the authority of Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34yPZiD8OMs

A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block 10 times.If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES."When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note. "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION,"===========================There is the story of a pastor who got up one Sunday and announced to his congregation: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we have enough money to pay for our new building program. The bad news is, it's still out there in your pockets," =========================== While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish carriage.The owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humour, because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign"Energy efficient vehicle: Runs on oats and grass. Caution: Do not step in exhaust "

Brown's Daily Word 6-22-09

2009-06-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord for the summer season of sowing and tending. Praise the Lord for seasons of sowing and the seasons of reaping. "Those who sow with tears shall reap withe songs of harvest, bringing in the sheaves." Our Lord God is our great provider and faithful supplier. Our Lord Jesus talked about the sower, the seeds, and the soil. It is written:“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every ways so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. The service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of god’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of tanks to God.” Some time ago I read the story about Amedeo Obici: Amedeo Obici was born in 1876 in a small village near Venice, Italy. His widowed mother read him letters from his uncle in America, and Amedeo told everyone he was going to America one day. By the time he was 11 years old, his family had helped him save enough money for an immigrant’s ticket to America, and he set sail by himself. In one account of his story it says Amedeo had no money for food, so his mother gave him a bag of peanuts which was all he had to eat for the 10 day trip across the ocean. When he reached America, this land of opportunity, Amedeo, at 11 years of age, went to work as a bellhop and also as a helper at a fruit stand. He worked hard and saved his money as he had promised his mother. Amedeo soon learned that Americans liked the peanuts he shared with them, but few, if any, were growing them here. Thus, he found a place to plant the handful of peanuts he had left. While his peanuts were growing, he saved enough money to buy a horse and wagon. When his peanut crop came in, he drove around calling himself “The Peanut Specialist” selling roasted peanuts. By 1906 he had developed his own method of blanching and roasting peanuts and founded Planters Peanuts headquartered in Suffolk, VA. He became wealthy enough to send money to his family in Italy, and, years later, he gave to the city of Suffolk theLouise Obici Hospital named after his wife. Though Amedeo had only a handful of peanuts, he had the choice of what he could do with them. He could have eaten them or sold them, but he wisely chose to plant what he had so that, in time, he would have enough to eat, give away, and sell so that he could send money to his family. What will we do with the resources with which the Lord has entrusted us? Will we consume them, or will we plant them? If we plant them, will we plant sparingly, or will we plant generously? It is written in Scripture the words of our Lord concerning sowing and harvesting, "The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. " God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
In Jesus name, Amen.
In Him,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU

Brown's Daily Word 6-19-09

2009-06-19T07:04:00.000-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this fabulous Friday. Praise the Lord for the advent of the summer season.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY2Ugpst9VY Praise the Lord for all the seasons. Praise the Lord for the way He makes all seasons beautiful. We can say it again: How great is our God! He is more than wonderful. He is upon the throne.
I was reading a little bit about Sigmund Freud this week. He died at the age of 83, a bitter and disillusioned man. Freud was one of the most influential thinkers of last century but had little compassion for the common person. In 1918, Freud wrote, "I have found little that is good about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all.” Freud died friendless. Even his famous pupils, Carl Jung & Alfred Adler, were expelled from his life, because they chose to disagree with him. Freud died a bitter and lonely man. (Unfinished Business, Charles Sell, Multnomah, 1989,page 121 ff.) Paul wrote the letter to the Romans to tell people that God’s kingdom has come, that the Old Testament has been fulfilled, and that the Messiah, whose real name is Jesus, is the anointed one. He also said in this letter that this Jesus is Lord, He is Savior, He is the true Son of God, He is the prince of peace, and His death and resurrection bring true peace to this world. "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:13) It is not (nor ever was it) any Caesar who is god and worthy of worship. King Jesus alone, who reigns from His throne in heaven forever is worthy of our worship, adoration, and praise! It is not the Roman Empire or any empire of man to whom we should give allegiance, but to Jesus, and His eternal kingdom. The Caesars died, Rome burned, nation will continue to rise against nation, and heaven and earth will pass away, but King Jesus will build his kingdom and the gates of Hades will never conquer it. One day all of the world will bow to King Jesus and confess that He is Savior and Lord, not Caesar or any other worldly leader. Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. This is the gospel. The world is not the dominion of Caesar; it belongs to Jesus. This gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful. The gospel of King Jesus is a radical, revolutionary message that often flies in the face of the establishment. About 200,000 Christians a year around the world are killed because of their commitment to Christ and His Gospel. Why? It is because the Gospel is revolutionary. The gospel is also for revolutionaries and it will always cost something. The message of Jesus is disturbing and radical, and it calls for a complete and unconditional commitment. Praise the Lord for those who have become the Company of the Committed, who are constantly surrounded by "a great cloud of witnesses".
May Christ continue to baptize His church with a fresh fire and the fresh wind of His Holy Spirit. May we be propelled to shake Satan's foundations, and to "dance upon injustice." May we all be committed to finish it well. He is Lord.

In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Q5vVa0q8Q

Brown's Daily Word 6-18-09

2009-06-18T06:40:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It rained torrentially last night. The Lord heats the earth; He also waters it abundantly. We had a great mid-week service of sweet fellowship and provoking Bible study and prayer last evening. I came home blessed and inspired.
This morning I am looking at Chapter 16 of Romans. In Romans 16, the Apostle Paul is concluding a letter to the Christians in Rome. The first 15 chapters of Romans provide a theological discussion of what it means to live for God as a devoted disciple of Jesus. Chapter 16, however, is completely different. Using words, Paul created snapshots of more than thirty of his brothers and sisters in Christ. He did so by sending greetings to the Christians he knew in that city or by telling them hello from the Christians who were with him. Through those greetings we see snapshots of people who help us understand what it means to be a contagious Christians.
We read in Revelation chapter 3 that the Risen Lord is not pleased with lukewarm Christians, though He still loves them. He calls Christians to be full of fire and zeal, and to be contagious and fermenting with the power of the Holy Spirit. In the first portrait offered by Paul in Romans 16, Paul showed us “Our sister Phoebe, a deacon in the church.” Paul told the Roman Christians that Phoebe would be visiting them soon and that they should, “ receive her in the Lord, as one who is worthy of high honor. Help her in every way you can, for she has helped many in their needs, including me.” Form a picture in your mind of mother Teresa of Calcutta and you'll see Phoebe. She did not clothe herself in fine clothes or expensive jewelry. Further, she was as tough looking as Paul and as tenderhearted as Jesus. In Paul’s economy, Phoebe was worthy of high honor because she had suffered for Jesus, and even in the midst of her suffering had continued to serve her brothers and sisters in Christ. She was a portrait, according to Paul, of contagious enthusiasm for Jesus and his church. Then Paul gave a portrait of ‘Priscilla and Aquila’. They were obviously deeply in love, yet are not with each other; they were gazing out upon a hurting and fallen world. “They risked their lives for me,” Paul tells us. Then he continued, “I am not the only one who is thankful to them; so are all the Gentile churches.” What does it tell you about the heart and soul of someone who would risk his or her life for you? What does that tell you about what it means to have a contagious enthusiasm for Jesus? Third, Paul revealed to us a picture of his dear friend Epenetus. He did not say much about Epenetus, but simply that he “was the very first person to become a Christian in the province of Asia.” Isn’t it incredible to know the name of the very first person that accepted Christ in the area now known as Turkey? That takes us back to the very beginning of the Christian faith. Paul went on to show us a portrait of Andronicus and Junia, who were like a family to him when they were in prison together for being Christians. “They are respected among the apostles and became Christians before I did,” said Paul. In prison with Paul for being Christians means that they stood strong in the face of religious persecution and went to jail rather than denying their faith.
Paul listed name after name, description after description, and sent greeting after greeting. He closed the book as of to say, “that’s what it means to be a contagious congregation where disciples exude a contagious enthusiasm for Jesus. That’s what it means to be Christian.” In Romans 16 we see verbal portraits of the contagious enthusiasm for Jesus. A bigger picture begins to form of people who love Jesus and each other so deeply that they would risk their lives for one another and who would rather go to jail than deny their faith in Jesus. We get a picture of women working alongside men as equals in the gospel, in a culture that saw women as property. We get a picture of a people like Tryphena and Tryphosa, who saw themselves as the Lord’s workers. In fact, we see very clearly that these early contagious Christians were anything but passive recipients of Paul’s ministry. We get the picture that the church was an enthusiastic group of people who did everything for the glory of God because they had themselves experienced the saving love of Jesus Christ. Here were contagious Christians who enthusiastically loved Jesus and one another so much that they would work side by side for the glory of God and risk their lives for the good news of Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngw3jUt5v60

Brown's Daily Word 6-17-09

2009-06-17T07:06:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day, paved with His amazing grace and glorious splendor. We will gather for our mid-week service at 6 PM, with a hot and home- made delicious dinner( Italian cuisine) followed by Bible Study and prayer meeting. We will be studying from Revelation 3:14-22.
In a work entitled “The Wonders of the Deep,” M. Schele deVere tells us the following story. A dusky fisherman in the far-off seas of India once found a pearl in an oyster. He had heard of such costly gems, and sold it to an Arab for a gold coin which maintained him for a whole year in luxury and idleness. The Arab exchanged the pearl for powder and shot furnished him by a Russian merchant on board a trading vessel, who even yet did not recognize the dirty, dust-covered little ball as a precious jewel. He brought it home as a present for his children on the banks of the Neva, where a brother merchant saw it and bought it for a trifle. The pearl had at last found one who could appreciate its priceless value. The great man — for it was a merchant of the first class, the owner of a great fortune — rejoiced at the silent fraud by which he had obtained the one pearl of great price, without selling all and buying it fairly, and cherished it as the pride of his heart.
Visitors came from all parts of the world to see the wonder. He received them in his merchant’s costume in a palace plain on the outside, but resplendent inside, with all that human art can do to embellish a dwelling, and led them silently through room after room, filled with rare collections and dazzling by the splendor of their ornaments. At last, he opened with his own key the carved folding-doors of an inner room which surprised the visitor by its apparent simplicity. The floor, to be sure, was inlaid with malachite and costly marble, the ceiling carved in rare woods, and the walls hung with silk tapestry; but there was no furniture, no gilding, nothing but a round table of dark Egyptian marble in the center. Under it stood a strong box of apparently wonderful ingenuity, for even the cautious owner had to go through various readings of alphabets, and to unlock one door after another, before he reached an inner cavity, in which a plain square box of Russia leather was standing alone. With an air akin to reverence, the happy merchant would take the box and press it for a moment to his bosom, then devoutly crossing himself and murmuring an invocation to some saint, he would draw a tiny gold key, which he wore next his person, from his bosom, unlock the casket, and hold up his precious pet to the light that fell from a large grated window above. “It was a glorious sight for the lover of such things; a pearl as large as a small egg, of unsurpassed beauty and marvelous luster. The sphere was perfect, the play of colors, as he would let it reluctantly roll from his hands over his long white fingers down on the dark table, was only equaled by the flaming opal, and yet there was a soft, subdued light about the lifeless thing which endowed it with an almost irresistible charm. It was not only the pleasure its perfect form and matchless beauty gave to the eye, nor the overwhelming thought of the fact that the little ball was worth any thing an emperor or a millionaire might choose to give for it — there was a magic in its playful ever-changing sheen as it rolled to-and-fro — a contagion in the rapt fervor with which the grim old merchant watched its every flash and flare, which left few hearts cold as they saw the marvel of St. Petersburg. For such it was, and the Emperor himself, who loved pearls dearly, had in vain offered rank and titles and honors for the priceless gem. “A few years afterwards a conspiracy was discovered, and several great men were arrested. Among the suspected was the merchant. Taking his one great treasure with him, he fled to Paris. Jewelers and amateurs, Frenchmen and foreigners, flocked around him, for the fame of his jewel had long since reached France. He refused to show it for a time. At last he appointed a day when his great rival in pearls, the famous Dutch banker, the Duke of Brunswick, and other men well known for their love of precious stones and pearls, were to behold the wonder. He drew forth the golden key, he opened the casket, but his face turned deadly pale, his eyes started from their sockets, his whole frame began to tremble, and his palsied hand let the casket drop. The pearl was discolored! A sickly blue color had spread over it, and dimmed its matchless luster. His gem was diseased of some unknown ailment which maligned its beauty. In a short time it turned into a white powder, and the rich merchant of St. Petersburg, the owner of the finest pearl known to the world was a pauper! The pearl had avenged the poor Indian of the East, the Arab, and the poor traveler, and administered silent justice to the purchaser who paid not its price. There is another pearl of great price for which men seek; it is of immeasurably more value than any pearl of oyster making or any treasure of human wealth. We read in Matthew 13:44-46, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it."
Pearls were the costliest of gems. If the kingdom of heaven is more valuable than anything on earth, what is it like? It is incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, and eternal. For today’s world, it is wholly sufficient and worth more than any golden treasure or costly pearl.
Jim Elliot, a martyred missionary to the Ecuadorian jungle Indians, wrote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
The body of David Livingston is buried in England, at Westminster Abbey, near the Tomb of the unknown soldier, but his heart is buried in Africa, the place he loved. At the foot of a tall tree in a small African village the natives dug a hole and placed in it the heart of this man who they loved and respected. If your heart were to be buried in the place you loved most during life, where would it be? Would it be in your wallet, in your places of leisure, or in your places of worldly pleasures? Where is your heart? What do you strive for?
The Lord's invitation comes to us afresh and anew every day, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness".
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVUVNqWus0
No Hidding the Facts
Taking advantage of a balmy day in New York, a priest and three other men of the cloth swapped their clerical garb for polos and khakis and time out on the golf course. After several really horrible shots, their caddy asked, "You guys wouldn't be priests by any chance?"
"Actually, yes, we are," one cleric replied. "How did you know?"
"Easy," said the caddy, "I've never seen such bad golf and such clean language!"

Brown's Daily Word 6-16-09

2009-06-16T06:59:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord for His Kingdom, eternal and triumphant. Praise the Lord that the Good News of Jesus Christ, our Lord, turns the world right side up and upside down.
I read an extraordinary story of self sacrifice. In Ernest Gordon’s true account of life in a World War II Japanese prison camp, "Through the Valley of the Kwai". It is about a man who through giving it all away literally transformed a whole camp of soldiers. The man’s name was Angus McGillivray, a Scottish prisoner in one of the camps filled with Americans, Australians, and Britons who had helped build the infamous bridge over the River Kwai. The camp had become an ugly place where a dog-eat-dog mentality had set in. Allies would literally steal from each other and cheat each other; men would sleep on their packs and yet have them stolen from under their heads. Survival was everything. The law of the jungle prevailed...until the news of Angus McGillivray’s death spread throughout the camp.
Rumors spread in the wake of his death. No one could believe big Angus had succumbed. He was strong, one of those whom they had expected to be the last to die. Actually, it wasn’t the fact of his death that shocked the men, but the reason he died. Finally they pieced together the true story. The Argylls (Scottish soldiers) took their buddy system very seriously. Their buddy was called their "mucker," and they believed that is was literally up to each of them to make sure their "mucker" survived. Angus’s buddy, though, was dying, and everyone had given up on him, everyone, of course, but Angus. He had made up his mind that his friend would not die. Someone had stolen his mucker’s blanket. So Angus gave him his own, telling his mucker that he had "just come across an extra one." Likewise, every mealtime, Angus would get his rations and take them to his friend, stand over him and force him to eat them, again stating that he was able to get "extra food."
Angus was going to do anything and everything to see that his buddy got what he needed to recover. But as Angus’s mucker began to recover, Angus collapsed, slumped over, and died. The doctors discovered that he had died of starvation complicated by exhaustion. He had been giving of his own food and shelter. He had given everything he had -- even his very life.
The ramifications of his acts of love and unselfishness had a startling impact on the compound. As word circulated of the reason for Angus McGillivray’s death, the feel of the camp began to change. Suddenly, men began to focus on their mates, their friends, and humanity of living beyond survival, of giving oneself away. They began to pool their talents -- one was a violin maker, another an orchestra leader, another a cabinet maker, another a professor. Soon the camp had an orchestra full of homemade instruments and a church called the "Church Without Walls" that was so powerful, so compelling, that even the Japanese guards attended. The men began a university, a hospital, and a library system. The place was transformed because one man gave all he had for his friend. (From Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, Page 146-147) Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:12). Paul says it this way, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 The early church was a thriving, growing, vibrant community because they had learned the secret of self-sacrifice. But then they were just following the example of their Master, who gave up all. Again, it is written in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVoajZSDdAw

Brown's Daily Word 6-15-09

2009-06-16T06:18:00.000-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. The Lord blessed us with a glorious day in His House yesterday. " Better is one day in your house, O Lord, than thousands elsewhere."
I started my treatment last week. The Lord has given me strength. I was able to tape for the Friday evening Television outreach, to lead the mid-week Bible study on Wednesday, and to conduct a large wedding for young friends John and Megan. . . Megan had 8 bridesmaids. Then, yesterday I preached during 3 worship services. Thank you for praying for me. Our dear friends Sandy and Gail joined us for worship, and Laureen's friends Emily and Jesse also joined us for worship. After the service we all joined together for Sunday dinner, praising the Lord for His goodness and grace.
The Scripture reading yesterday was taken from 1 Samuel 16. The people of the Lord had asked for a king, and the Lord gave them what they asked for - a king. Saul was appointed to be king over Israel, and he made a royal mess of things. As a result of Saul's continued disobedience, the Lord ultimately rejected him as king, and took His guiding spirit from him. In a very real sense, Saul is became dead in the eyes of the Lord. Samuel mourned the loss of Saul, though Saul was not actually dead physically; He was still alive, and still on the throne, though he had abandoned the Lord God. In response to Saul's radical departure from following after the one true God, the Lord decided to anoint a new king, using Samuel as his instrument. Samuel was chosen to go on a rather covert mission, to anoint the new king. Samuel knew the purpose of his mission and when he saw Eliab, standing tall and proud, Samuel though that he was looking on the one God had chosen. Not true. So the Lord spelled it out for him, making His point of view abundantly clear, "I chose who I chose. Don't judge by an outward appearance. I don't see things the way you see them." God doesn't see things the way we do. He looks at people's hearts, rather than their physical appearance. The Lord made it clear that Eliab was not the man for the job. Jesse presented all of his sons whom he thought to be viable candidates, and all were rejected. Not one was acceptable to be the new king of Israel. How could this be? Jesse thought that he knew which ones would be best suited to be king; there was no one left. That is, only the youngest brother remained, but he was still a youth, playing with slingshots and tending the sheep. When Samuel asked, "Are these all the sons you have?", Jesse responded,"There is still the youngest, but he's out in the fields watching the sheep and goats." "Send for him at once," Samuel commanded. "We will not sit down to eat until he arrives." So Jesse sent for him. He was a dark and handsome youth, with beautiful eyes. And the Lord said, "This is the one; anoint him." God does not see things the way we do. Even though David was the last in long line of brothers, considered by his father to be the least of all of them, in God's plan, he was worthy to be anointed as king. As David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then, after Samuel completed his special assignment, he returned to Ramah. " Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit* that filled him with depression and fear," but the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. David became God's new chosen and anointed king. David could have become arrogant and puffed-up by God's appointment, thinking, "I am the greatest, greater than my brothers, and greater than King Saul. Yet, that's not what David did. He did not step up to demand his place at the top. Instead, he took on the role of servant. He showed himself greater than Saul, by making himself. Though David knew he had been anointed as king, there is no indication at this point that Saul did. He summoned David to come and serve him as a court musician and healer, to soothe his nerves and calm the tormenting Spirits. Had God abandoned Saul? No, he hadn't. As a matter of fact, He sent David to minister healing to him. If He had abandoned Saul, He could have just left him there to suffer. Physically, Saul had all the qualifications to be a great king. The Bible says he stood "head and shoulders" above the rest of the people. Yet, in the end, he was made small. David was relatively small. He was a young shepherd and skillful musician who might never have dreamed of being anything more. Yet, among all his larger and more qualified brothers, he was chosen by God for greatness. David did not achieve his greatness by walking right up and demanding it. For many years, he works faithfully and loyally for King Saul, training under the current King of Israel, even though he knew that he himself had received God's anointing. He suffered abuse and even attempts on his life, yet he remained a servant and an instrument for God's purposes. So the least became the greatest, and the greatest humbled himself as a servant, and the Lord was always with Him. From the line of Jesse, from the house of David, another child came, born in a lowly stable, and laid in a manger in a manger for His bed, born anointed to be king, he lived his life as a servant. He is, He was, and He shall always be the greatest, Christ the Lord. Jesus was victorious in life, and victorious over death. He is sitting at the right hand of God in the most favored place. Right now. Always and forever. Amen.
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Q5vVa0q8Q

Brown's Daily Word 6-12-09

2009-06-16T06:17:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Our Lord is upon the throne. He is mighty to save. He is able to redeem and to restore. He is able to shelter His own to the uttermost. His watchful eyes are on the sparrows and also upon those who seek refuge in Him.
I read one time about how shipbuilders of sailboats used to prepare the masts for their ships. They would go to the forest and find an appropriate tree, then they would clear out all the surrounding trees and leave that one standing all alone, leaving it exposed to strong winds and storms. Every time the wind blew the tree, it would make that tree bend a little. This flexibility actually made the tree stronger and more resilient to the stresses the wind put on it. Trees that never have to bend as they mature become brittle and break apart at the first sing of strong winds. The strength found in the storms caused them to be so strong that they could easily withstand the winds at sea.
I believe that if we build our lives on the solid rock of Jesus and His words, then when the storms come, we will not only survive, but we will gain strength just as those trees did. We read about the miracle in Luke 8, when Jesus calmed the storms in the sea of Galilee. I think Jesus used the strong winds of this storm to strengthen the disciples’ faith. Their first reaction was to doubt, "Master, Master, we are going to drown; don’t you care?" Jesus, however, did not jump to His feet in shock. He arose and commanded the storm to stop – and it obeyed! His words had an immediate effect on the storm, but a different kind of storm was taking place in the disciples’ hearts.
Jesus then asked them if they had any faith, But they did not answer His question. They shot back a question of their own, "Who is this that can command the wind and water and have them obey?" In their question lay problems that continue to hinder us today. They did not fully understand who Jesus really was, and sometimes we don’t either. We have storms come into our lives, and we ask the same thing that did, "Lord, don’t you care?" Jesus still responds by saying, "Don’t you have any faith?" The following is a true story about childlike faith. In April 1998, several tornadoes ripped through the southern part of the United States. One of them completely tore a church apart. The next day, National Public Radio aired a story about that church. As the storm approached the church, children were at a choir rehearsal. When the pastor saw the storm coming, he quickly gathered all the children in the main hallway. They huddled together and held tightly to others as the winds ripped the church apart. In an effort to calm the children, the pastor led them in singing, ’Jesus loves the little children.’ Although some of the children were hurt, none of the injuries were serious, and there were no deaths. It was a bona fide miracle. The only part of the church left standing was the main hallway! The most penetrating part of the broadcast was when one little girl reported, "While we were singing, I saw some angels holding up the hallway. But the winds were so strong that the angels started shouting, ‘We need help!’ And then I saw more angels coming to help." That little girl will never forget what she saw, and she knows that angels are watching over the little children, and that they are precious in Jesus sight. Do we at times catch ourselves in the middle of a raging storm, and see no evidence whatsoever of Jesus being with us? Maybe the problem is not that Jesus is not there, but that we don’t have eyes to see Him. Our faith does not lie in the wind or the things in our lives. Our faith only lies in the Risen Lord, the Lord of the storm, and in His ability to command all things to do His will. If we realize this, we will not fill ourselves with worry, fear, or doubt. Our faith is found in the One who came to live among us. Our faith is found in the One who gave up His live for us. Our faith is found in Jesus Christ, the anointed One. He is mighty to save.
In Him,
Brown

Join us on Time Warner Cable channel 4 tonight at 7:00 PM. My message is on Isaiah 6.
Tomorrow afternoon our young friends John and Meghan are getting married. They invited friends and members of the church family to join them at their wedding ceremony at 2:30 PM.
We will gather for worship on Sunday at 8:30 and 11:00, with Sunday School meeting at 9:50, and Wesley's worship at 9:30. I will be preaching from I Samuel 16.
There will be a road rally next Saturday. A sign-up sheet is located in the Narthex. Please join in the fun, fellowship, and adventure.
We will be gathering for the Father-Son breakfast on Sunday, June 21 at 7AM. Dave Hettinger will be the speaker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-08YZF87OBQ

Doctor Quotes
The following quotes were allegedly taken from actual medical records as dictated by physicians: (maybe even your's?)
~ By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped and he was feeling better.
~ On the second day, the knee was better and on the third day it had completely disappeared.
~ The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1983.
~ Patient was released to outpatient department without dressing.
~ Discharge status: Alive but without permission.
~ The patient refused an autopsy.
~ The patient expired on the floor uneventfully.
~ The patient's medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.
~ She slipped on the ice and apparently her legs went in separate directions in early December.
~ The patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
~ She is numb from the toes down.
~ The skin was moist and dry.
~ When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the floor.

Brown's Daily Word 6-11-09

2009-06-11T07:11:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this glorious day. He blessed us with a wonderful evening of great fellowship, study, and prayer last night. When we come before Him, He infuses us with His grace and power, so that we can press on, no turning back, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. I was looking at the Book of Habakkuk this morning for my devotion. In the Book of Habakkuk the prophet asks the question that all of us have asked at times, “Oh Lord, if you are good, why is life sometimes so bad?”. We, like Habakkuk, sometimes wonder why God does the things He does. At times life doesn’t seem fair. We cannot understand why things turn out the way they do. If life was meant to be good, why do bad things happen? Why does God allow this to go on? Why do really good people sometimes have so many struggles, while some people who are really bad appear to have all the benefits of life? Habakkuk was posing the very same questions that we do. All of us have been in Habakkuk's mind-set. We have all been knocked off our feet by the circumstances of life, staggered by things which have occurred, and our minds have been sent reeling. Many of the Psalms were written because of unresolved questions in the psalmist’s life. He did not hold back his language and expression about how he felt, whether angry, sad, or joyful. The prophets also grappled with God over what He revealed to them. Yet, He honors those who seek to know him and to find the answers to life's deepest and most perplexing questions. Jeremiah said to God, “You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” (Jeremiah 12:1). Habakkuk had very much the same questions, and he was not afraid to come before the Lord with his questions and struggles. Through all of his questions, he did not abandon his faith. In spite of his questions, he was able to say, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18). In fact, the invading armies were going to destroy the crops of Judah, slaughter any animals they could not carry off, and cut down all the fruit trees. However, Habakkuk’s faith and security were not in the things in which other people placed their hope. Habakkuk knew that, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Because of his faith he knew that God was there and that God knew what he was doing. He understood that God was not punishing him personally. Most of all, he was strengthened by the knowledge of God’s love for him.
In Jesus who does all things well,

Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je-wFV4M9MU

Brown's Daily Word 6-10-09

2009-06-10T06:53:00.000-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Morning has broken; I heard the birds sing so sweetly starting around 4.35 AM. The moon was waning, making room for the brilliant sun, chasing away the darkness. Praise Jesus who is the author and the maker of this day. We will meet for our mid-week service starting at 6 PM, with a hot and happy meal followed by the Bible study and prayer meeting at 6:30. We will studying Revelation 3 this evening. Those of you living in the vicinity, please join us. It will be a great treat to feast on the Word of the Lord.
In his book, "In the Eye of the Storm", author Max Lucado described the following scene.. "An old man walks down a Florida beach. The sun sets like an orange ball on the horizon. The waves slap the sand. The smell of salt water stings the air. The beach is vacant. No sun to entice the sunbathers. Not enough light for the fisherman. So, aside from a few joggers and strollers, this gentleman is alone. "He carries a bucket in his bony hand. A bucket of shrimp. It's not for him. It's not for the fish. It's for the sea gulls. "He walks to an isolated pier cast in gold by the setting sun. He steps to the end of the pier. The time has come for the weekly ritual. "He stands and waits. "Soon the sky becomes a mass of dancing dots. The evening silence gives way to the screeching of birds. They fill the sky and then cover the moorings. They are on a pilgrimage to meet the old man. "For a half hour or so, the bushy- browed, shoulder-bent gentleman will stand on the pier, surrounded by the birds of the sea, until the bucket is empty. "But even after the food is gone, his feathered friends still linger. They linger as if they're attracted to more than just food. They perch on his hat. They walk on the pier. And they all share a moment together." This elderly gentleman is committed to the task of feeding the seagulls, though the task seems very mundane. We live in a society that both fears and avoids commitment. Nobody wants to be committed to anything these days. In fact, the operational attitude today appears to be, "I want to keep my options open. I don’t want to be tied down. I don’t want to commit to anything because life is a buffet, and I don’t want to get to the end and say, `Oh, I filled my plate up with the wrong stuff!’" This philosophy of life is tragic because the fact is that we cannot live without making commitments. Nothing truly great ever happens without the making of commitments. Lack of commitment leads to lack of focus, and lack of focus leads to a life of drifting along with the tide. "If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters; yes, more than your own life. Otherwise you CANNOT be my disciple. And you CANNOT be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me; No one can become my disciple without giving up EVERYTHING for me." (Luke 14:25,26,33 ) Jesus teaches us that we have to love Him more than our parents, more than our husband or wife, more than our kids, and more than our own lives. It calls for a strong commitment. Jesus Christ has a right to make such a call for commitment in our lives. He made us. He created us. He loves us. He has a plan for each of our lives. He died on the cross for us and fought the powers of death and hell for us. Nobody else has ever done that. Nobody else can claim those three things -- that you were made by them, that you were planned for a purpose by them, and that they died for you. Jesus, in essence, says, "I gave My life for you. I expect your life." He deserves first place in our lives.
Some people imagine that Jesus is just a piece of their lives. Their lives are compartmentalized, with a section labeled "career", a section labeled "relationships", a section labeled "family", etc. Jesus does not desire to be just a small part of our lives. He wants to be our life. When a pilot taxi’s a 747 down the runway, there’s a point of no return, a point in which that plane has to commit to the air, because if it doesn’t commit to the air after that point it’s going to crash; there’s not enough runway for it to slow down. There is that point at which it has to make the commitment to go airborne or face destruction. "You call me 'Teacher’ and 'Lord’, and you are right, because it is true. And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them. You know these things--now do them! That is the path of blessing." John 13:12-17 (NLT) In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR8rlTIU8_Y
Actual Sentences Found In Patients' Hospital Charts
Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.
The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.
The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
Discharge status: Alive but without my permission.
Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year-old male, mentally alert but forgetful.
The patient refused autopsy.
The patient has no previous history of suicides.
Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.
Patient's medical history has been remarkably with only a 40-pound weight gain in the past three days.
She is numb from her toes down.
While in ER, she was examined, X-rated, and sent home.
The skin was moist and dry.
Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.
Patient was alert and unresponsive.
Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.
She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.
I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.
The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stockbroker instead.
Skin: somewhat pale but present.
The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.
Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Blank, who felt we should sit on the abdomen and I agree.
Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

Brown's Daily Word 6-9-09

2009-06-09T06:20:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for His Majesty. He is upon the Throne. His grace is sufficient for every need we have. Today I will begin my treatment, which I will receive at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton. Thank you for praying for me fervently and faithfully. Our Lord forgives us all our sins and He heals all our diseases. He redeems our lives from destruction. He crowns us with His tender mercies and loving kindness. Blessed be His glorious Name. In Psalm 139 David writes, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast” (verses 7-10). Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and His trustworthiness. CS Lewis wrote that in spite of God’s silences we have a marked advantage over non-believers in that we know that we live in a fallen world. Many things fit into place when we understand how Paradise became polluted. This world is not as God originally made it. A truck driver expressed it best: “Man, the world ain’t supposed to work like this!” The world has been corrupted by sin and death. God is not hidden; people have simply forgotten and forsaken Him. The ancient Greek philosophers viewed God as impersonal, remote and indifferent. The Bible paints a different picture, revealing God as intimately involved…yet at times He is distinctly silent and seemingly absent. Pope Benedict has written that “God’s silence is part of His revelation.” When we are leaning on God’s promises we can bear His silences. God has not abandoned us. Even though we cannot understand His ways, we trust Him. It has been said that “the direct presence of God would overwhelm our freedom, with sight replacing faith” (Phillip Yancy). God wants us to find Him with the eye of faith. The irony is that He is with us always; He is our Emmanuel, God with us. To search for Him is like hunting for our eyeglasses while wearing them. Oswald Chambers wrote, “Has God trusted you with His silence, a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself." God is never really silent--we just are deaf to what He has to say to us. Like Job, but we sometimes judge God before the final sentence is completed. On a wall in a cellar in Köln, Germany, where Jews had hidden from the Nazis, an inscription was written by an anonymous author, stating, "I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when not feeling it. I believe in God even when he is silent." We must prepare ourselves for times when God seems absent. Eugene Peterson has written, “The story in which God does His saving work arises among a people whose primary experience of God is His absence.” Jeremiah 32:17, 26-27 (King James Version): 17Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: 26Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, 27Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o1wEevo2Y0

Brown's Daily Word 6-8-09

2009-06-08T06:56:00.000-05:00

Good morning,
The Old Testament reading for yesterday was taken from Isaiah 6:1-8. The prophet Isaiah was given a vision of God and of His holiness. When we come in contact with the Holy, one thing is for certain…we will never forget it. Look at verses 1-4. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.” In this passage we see that God was on the throne. Though King Uzziah had died God was still on the throne. The fact that the throne was high and exalted meant that it was greater than and exceeded all other thrones. The train (just the train) of His robe filled the entire temple. His royalty far surpasses anything we have known or can imagine. The angels praised the Lord with "three times holy". They declared that He is supremely holy. As they spoke, the words "holy" reverberated against the walls, getting stronger with each echo until their voices were shaking the doorposts, adding to the sense of awesomeness and power. All of these images are designed to point us to God's majesty, which should provoke reverence and awe. They point us to His holiness. It is Holiness which most defines God. [Originating in God’s nature, holiness is a unique quality of His character. The Bible emphasizes this divine attribute. “Who is like you, O LORD?” (Ex. 15:11). “There is none holy like the LORD” (1 Sam. 2:2). “Who shall not fear You, O Lord . . . For You alone are holy” (Rev. 15:4). God’s high expectations of His people flow out of His own holy nature: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6); “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).] There is no one like God. He is so far above mankind that we cannot even comprehend His vastness or greatness. A.W. Tozer says, “We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible, and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God’s power and admire his wisdom, but his holiness we cannot even imagine. He is unique in His power, and also in His purity. " God is untainted by sin and He despises evil. The burning angels of Isaiah's vision and the smoke, a symbol of the judgment of God, must have sent shivers down Isaiah’s spine. The holiness of God caused Adam and Eve to hide from God in the Garden of Eden. When confronted with the holiness of God, Moses covered his face and the children of Israel kept at a safe distance. When confronted with the holiness of God Job’s accusations turned into adoration. When confronted with the holiness of God the Apostle John “fell at his feet as though dead”. The response of an unholy person to the holiness of God is an acute awareness of personal sin. When the unholy confronts the holy we become very conscious of our own sinfulness. It is as if we live most of our lives with the lights turned off, and we feel as if we are able to hide some of our wickedness in the dark.Then, in God’s light, we begin to see ourselves as we are. When we realize the awful reality that we are sinners and that God is a holy God who punishes sin, and when we know that we are guilty, we tremble in fear and in horror we cry out like Isaiah, “Woe is Me!” However, something amazing happened to Isaiah. When he trembled before the Lord, and saw his own sinfulness, God gave Isaiah grace. In Verse 6-7, “Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." How can mankind stand before a righteous and just God?, except by the grace of God. Isaiah did nothing to deserve this grace. It was all God’s doing. There is nothing that any human being can do to earn God’s grace. You can’t do it and neither can I. Isaiah, stained and covered in sin, was unable to cleanse himself, but God in His grace took the initiative and made Isaiah clean.
True worship always begins with an awareness of God’s holiness. We have lost something of that awareness in our worship services. There was a time when people were so aware of this aspect of worship that the very churches themselves were being constructed in ways that emphasized the awesomeness of God. It is difficult to walk into one of the cathedrals of Europe built centuries ago without feeling awe and wonder. The quiet, the slight aroma of incense or candles, the artistry of stained glass windows, and the classical music moves one to stand in awe and wonder. In recent years, we have emphasized the personal nature of God, the love God, and joy of God to such a degree that many have forgotten that our God is an awesome God. He is not a “little buddy” or someone to pal around with. God is such an awesome and holy God that to be in His presence is to be filled with wonder. God is powerful, holy, and just. He will not stand for evil, but He is patient and kind. He is the God of love and compassion. What His justice demands of us, His grace provides.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWnLnZsrvnA

Brown's Daily Word 6-5-09

2009-06-05T07:00:00.002-05:00

Good morning,
I have a special request this morning. My recent blood tests were abnormal, so my surgeon in Boston recommended that I should go for radiation treatment. I have gone for initial CT scan and Cat Scan. They were all clean. I will start radiation treatment soon, probably on Monday June 15,2009. My brother Patel is still in jail in Orissa, India. as a result of religious persecution and political conspiracy. He is going into his eleventh month of imprisonment. Several thousand Christians who have been made homeless because of Anti-Christian persecution by Hindu -Extremists since last August are still living in refugee camps. Thank you for praying for the above needs.
Dr Tony Campollo was the commencement speaker for Sunita's Graduation from Undergraduate College in Boston. He concluded his address by saying, "It is Friday now, but Sunday's coming". Praise the Lord for Friday. Praise the Lord for Sunday, the Day of the Lord, when we can come apart to be with the Lord and with His people to worship His Majesty, to celebrate His grace, and to declare that our Lord reigns. He is upon the throne.
Philip Yancy has written, “Christianity is not a purely intellectual, internal faith. It can only be lived in community.” So the question is not, “Am I going to be part of a community of faith” but “How am I going to live in this community of faith?” We can pretend that we’re on our own, but eventually we realize how much we need each other. When believers come together, something supernatural happens; Jesus promises, “Where two or three come together in My Name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). The author of Hebrews urges, “Let us consider how we can spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (10:25). We are not solitary saints. We are incomplete until we find fellowship with others who share our faith.David is the author of psalm 133, and the best one to appreciate the blessing of unity.
Why do we resist the call to community? Sin isolates us; it causes us to find ways of separating ourselves from others. Sociologist Philip Slater wrote a probing analysis of the American way of life entitled, "The Pursuit of Loneliness", in which he claims that we tend to circumvent and deny our needed interdependence. We crave privacy to the point where we become cut off, isolated, from others. This causes any contact we can’t avoid to seem abrasive. Rather than communicate with others, we see others as a nuisance. Slater writes as an observer of the American condition. He describes our secluded self-sufficiency, our self-absorption, and our isolated individualism. Psalm 133 is a brief psalm which contains two poetic images, oil and dew. The first image has always struck me as kind of messy! When I anoint the sick with oil, I usually apply a small amount; here the biblical image is of a large quantity, running down on Aaron’s beard and robes. You wonder whether it would come out in the wash! When Moses’ brother Aaron was consecrated as the high priest in Exodus 29, he was clothed in vestments and anointed with oil. The holy fragrance of the oil would cling to him. Paul writes that “through us Christ spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him” (II Corinthians 2:14). We are a sweet perfume in a decaying world.
Oil softens the skin, and is used as a salve to heal wounds. Throughout Scripture oil is a symbol of God’s presence and Spirit. Oil was used when individuals were set apart for service as prophets, priests, and kings. Christ (who was all three) is a both name and a title; the word Christ means “anointed one". He was anointed to provide us salvation. The earliest Christians were appointed the major challenge to break down the barriers between Jews and Gentiles, and to welcome men and women alike. Paul describes this obstacle as a wall that needs to come down. To do so meant stepping out of one’s comfort zone. The Protestant Reformation emphasized the priesthood of all believers. Pastors provide spiritual leadership, but we are all priests, with access to God, called to ministry, and set apart for service. When we realize that our fellow Christians are priests this changes our relationship. There are many wonderful social and civic organizations, but what the church offers is unique—the unity of the Spirit. The late Dr. James Montgomery Boice explained, “The church is not an organization but an organism; it’s symbol for this age is a body, not a business.” The bond uniting us is also like dew. In high elevations the dew fall is heavy. Every dawn the mountain-tops are drenched, and the feeling is one of freshness and fertility. Israel is an arid country, so the morning dew is very important if plants are to grow. The dew fell on the loftiest peak, Mount Hermon, in the land of the northern tribes, as well as on Mount Zion, one of the smaller peaks, in the southern tribes. Travelers in the desert have been known to drink dew to stay alive. We need the dew of fellowship if we are to flourish in our faith. Unity cannot be manufactured by human effort; it is a gift produced by the Spirit. Unity is ours in Christ. Jesus prayed beneath the shadow of the cross that we “may all be one” (Jn 17:22). The unity we have is based on harmony within God Himself. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Dew is a symbol of blessing. When Isaac blessed his son Jacob, he stated, “May God give you of heaven’s dew” (Gen 27:28), meaning the resource of prosperity. In contrast, Isaac told Esau that his “dwelling will be away from the dew of heaven” (vs 39). Moses prayed that his teachings would “descend like dew” (Deut 32:2). Proverbs describes the favor of a king “like dew on the grass” (19:12). Isaiah compares dew to the resurrection of our bodies (26:19). God declared in Hosea, “I will be like the dew to Israel, which will blossom like a lily” (14:5). Blessings descend to us, but we ought to receive them together. We are blessed individually and collectively. What dew and oil have in common is that they are both flowing down. David focuses on the source and direction of these blessings. They come down from above upon God’s people. “Unity” is a gift of grace, and “Life forevermore” is the ultimate blessing, salvation. When we live together in harmony as God’s people, we get a foretaste of eternal life. We are part of a “forever family”. As we look around our church we see people with whom we are going to spend eternity in heaven. Why not get to know them better now? If we want a bit of heaven on earth, we can start now by uniting with fellow believers every way we can.
" See you in church"
Brown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je-wFV4M9MU

Brown's Daily Word 6-4-09

2009-06-04T07:04:00.000-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the gift of another day, filled with His promises, and paved with His grace. Sunita returned from Rwanda yesterday, back to Washington safe and sound. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful time during our mid-week service of study and fellowship. When we come before Him, seeking Him, He infuses us with His joy.
In the Gospel according to John, Jesus said that he is not only the shepherd, but He is also the gate for the sheep. At first this sounds confusing, until you understand that in biblical times the shepherd would take the sheep to a cave, or lead them into a sheepfold that was created by thick briars on all sides. Both the cave and the briars had an opening where the sheep could go in and out. The only problem was that predators could go in as well, so the shepherd would lay down in the opening at night and literally become the gate. Nothing could go in or out without going through him. It could be a dangerous position to be in. He would literally lay down his life for the sheep, and many shepherds lost their lives in this way from an attack of predators. The whole life of the shepherd is lived to do good to the sheep. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Jesus, the good Shepherd, has come to give us life. The Christian life is a relationship. It means loving our Shepherd, following Him, listening to His voice, staying near Him, and trusting Him. Jesus never gave an altar call, or asked for a show of hands of those who believed in Him. That would have been too easy. What he did say was, “Follow me.” Those are some of the simplest and yet most difficult words ever spoken in the history of the world. Becoming a Christian is not just a crisis event, it is an ongoing relationship with Jesus, that results in a new way of living.
Donald Miller, in his excellent book, "Searching for God Knows What", tells about going to a Bible college where he taught a class. Speaking to this group of Bible students, he told them he was going to present the plan of salvation, but he was going to leave out one key element, and they were to listen carefully so that at the end they could tell him what it was. He began by saying that mankind is sinful and separated from God, and he pointed out many of the sins of the culture — euthanasia, abortion, homosexuality, drug use, etc. He talked about the need to repent, and backed it up with several scriptures. He used a real life example of a bridge being out, and how a man shot flares just over the top of cars to get them to stop and not drive over the bridge to their death. He again quoted Scripture that talked about the wages of sin being death, and how we were to avoid spiritual death at any cost. He talked about the beauty of morality, and told the story of a man who avoided being unfaithful to his wife when faced with the opportunity, and how his marriage blossomed after that and became better than ever. He talked about heaven and how wonderful it would be — streets of gold and gates of pearl with a beautiful river running through it. He said all this could be theirs if they only believed, repented and honored God. Not only would heaven be theirs, but real meaning and fulfillment would be realized in their lives right here and now. He then asked the students what was left out of the story. There was absolute silence in the room. Now these were students who had grown up in evangelical churches. They attended a Bible college where they had studied theology. They had read the Bible and taken classes in both Old and New Testament, and only weeks before they had taken an evangelism class and knocked on hundreds of doors in an attempt to lead people to Christ. Miller said that the students sat there for several uncomfortable minutes. Finally he wrote, “None of the forty-five students in the class realized I had presented a gospel without once mentioning the name of Jesus.” If there is anything the story of the Shepherd and the sheep tells us, it is that the Christian life is not about going through a few steps so we can avoid hell and get to heaven; it is about a relationship that takes place between the Shepherd and His sheep. It is not about getting into the fold, for that is never mentioned. It is about following the Shepherd. Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). In Jesus the Winsome Shepherd,
Brownhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jEXDPzqo2g

Brown's Daily Word 6-3-09

2009-06-03T07:40:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this beautiful day in His Kingdom. Keep our daughter, Sunita, in prayer. She and her team are flying back today to Washington. They laid over in Amsterdam, and will be flying from there shortly.
We will meet at 6 PM for a fellowship meal, followed by Bible study at 6:30 PM and choir practice at 7:30 PM. In our study we will be looking at Revelation 2. It has been a wonderful blessing to come together for midweek fellowship, study, and prayer.
Congratulations to George and Marion Cameron, who celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary last week.
Ruth Bell Graham, who has entered the Church Triumphant, was the wife of Billy Graham. Some time back she wrote a story which she called “The Mender.” She wrote, “He had built for himself a great house on one of the Caribbean islands. It is a thing to behold. Tall rusty iron columns, collected and resurrected with an ingenious homemade device. This Great House is a masterpiece of salvaged materials. A collector and seller of scrap metal as well as antiques, he was also fascinated with broken bits and pieces of china dug from his front yard. His friends, John and June Cash, laughingly remarked it was the first time they had heard of a yard sale where the man had sold the yard itself. Carefully he fitted and glued the pieces together. Few ever came out whole. They remained simply a collection of one who cared. When I expressed interest, he gave me a blue-and-white plate, carefully glued together — pieces missing. ‘You remind me of God,’ I said. By the look on his face, I knew I shocked him, and I hurriedly explained. ‘God pieces back broken lives lovingly. Sometimes a piece is irretrievably lost. But still He gathers what He can and restores us.’” Ruth Graham’s story is a parable of the church. We are an unusual collection of broken people, but God has taken us and collected the pieces of our lives and lovingly glued them back together. As we experience his grace, He transforms our lives.
Pamela Reeve has written, “Faith is remembering I am God’s priceless treasure when I feel utterly worthless.” How wonderful it is to know that kind of Grace, experienced at the loving hand of God! It helps us to know that we are loved, no matter what. He offers forgiveness for the past and encouragement for the days ahead. In the New Testament, John wrote, “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:19-21). When we love each other it is the sign that we are in love with God. Paul’s message to the early church is a message we still need for today. He said, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3). We are urged, according to Scripture, to “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:312-32). We forgive because we have been forgiven. We are patient with others because God in his mercy has been patient with us. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
Let us live out our lives in such a way that we demonstrate love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and grace towards those around us. Let us love with the love of Christ, with patience and attentiveness to those around us.
In His Love,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Q5vVa0q8Q

Brown's Daily Word 6-2-09

2009-06-02T06:55:00.001-05:00

Good morning,
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. One of the problems we wrestle with in the life of the church is indifference. Our Lord is concerned about the indifference of His people towards the things of the Kingdom. The Word of God declares that the Lord of the church detests a spirit of unconcern and luke-warmness. He calls for passion and zeal.
In Joel 2 there is a command to “blow the trumpet and sound the alarm”. Again, this is written in the imperative and it is written with urgency. To blow the trumpet was to announce to the people that something important was occurring. The Lord said the reason you are to do this is that the “Day of the Lord” is coming. God will judge unconcerned lifestyles. We have the responsibility to let people know that God still judges indifference. In Joel 2:8 we are commanded to return back to the Lord. The Lord instructs us to give Him all of your heart. How many times are we guilty of being half-hearted in our partial obedience to God? The Lord must be Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. It is not enough to just give God control over part of your life; that will certainly lead to indifference. He must have control over all. He is calling, “Turn to Me with all your heart”. Joel 2:9 commands to “rend their hearts, and not their garments”. Among the Jews, a sign of extreme sorrow was to take the outer garment, and tear it as a sign of mourning and sorrow. God was telling them to do more than just go through the motions of being sorry for their sins. Truly look at your heart and rend it. Be broken-hearted for your sins. In Psalm 34:18 it is written, "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Joel 2:10 goes on to say that for those who rend (break) their hearts, God is close to them. God gives words of special comfort to those who are broken. Once we deal with our indifference toward the things of God, and follow His commands as Joel gave them, God promises special words of comfort. God invites us to see His Nature. (Joel 2:13) "And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." Note that God is full of grace and mercy. If we will but turn to Him, He will be gracious to us. Psalm 86:15, "But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." God is also slow to anger. If we were to receive what we so really deserve every time that we fail God, we would be in serious trouble indeed. Yet, we do not need to fear that God will turn us away. God assures us that if we turn to Him, God will truly give an abundance. God desires for His church to be involved in the harvest, but because we have become indifferent, and intoxicated with worldly cares, we no longer have the abundance of a good harvest. When we return back to Him, when we follow the commands that He has given, He promises an abundant harvest. Joel also mentions the vats being filled with wine and oil. Wine, throughout the Old Testament, is a symbol for joy. The Lord's promise to us is that, if we return completely unto Him, He will restore the fullness of joy. Verse 25 promises restoration of what has been lost because of the judgment of God. Satan may steal from us when we are intoxicated and not aware, but when we return back to Him, He will restore all that has been stolen away. God invites us to see His Nearness. God promises in verse 27 that He will be near. He will be in the midst of His people. His people will experience His closeness. In verse 28 the prophet went on to say that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. That is, God will be near, for His Spirit will be upon His people. When we return to Him, when we get hungry for our God, He will pour out His Spirit so that we can experience the nearness of God.
In His Grace,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhOJW4Uwy3c

Brown's Daily Word 6-1-09

2009-06-01T06:59:00.000-05:00

Good morning,
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. It was Pentecost Sunday yesterday. Praise the Lord for the way He sent the Holy Spirit upon on His people on the day of Pentecost. We read in Acts 2:1-4, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
John Wimber was a product of the Jesus movement in the 60’s. He met Christ in a dramatic way, and began reading the New Testament, beginning with the Gospels and then he went on to read the book of Acts. He was excited about what he was reading, but when he went to a church he was disillusioned. The polite and tidy service was over exactly on time. Wimber looked at some of the people around him and said, “When are you gonna do the stuff?” “What stuff?” they wanted to know. He said, “You know. . . the stuff!” He had been reading about the conversions, healings, deliverance and other miracles that took place in the early church recorded the book of Acts. But instead of signs and wonders, he saw no sign of anything that would make him wonder, except the deadness of the ritual he had just sat through. Rick Kirchoff has said, “When God sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen: barriers are broken, communities are formed, opposites are reconciled, unity is established, disease is cured, addiction is broken, cities are renewed, races are reconciled, hope is established, people are blessed, and church happens. Today the Spirit of God is present and we’re gonna’ have church. So be ready, get ready. . . God is up to something. . . discouraged folks cheer up, dishonest folks ‘fess up, sour folks sweeten up, closed folk, open up, gossipers shut up, conflicted folks make up, sleeping folks wake up, lukewarm folk, fire up, dry bones shake up, and pew potatoes stand up! But most of all, Christ the Savior of all the world is lifted up.” Chuck Colson reported that columnist Jonathan Rauch believes that America has made “a major civilizational advance” in recent years. Colson says, “Rauch, a longtime atheist, is thrilled about a phenomenon he calls ‘apatheism’ [apathetic theism]. It’s not that people don’t believe in God anymore, Rauch writes in the Atlantic Monthly — the majority will still say they believe. . . . On the whole, the people Rauch describes haven’t been putting much thought or effort into their faith. They’re looking for comfort and reassurance, not for a God who asks anything of them. Hence the rise of ‘apatheism,’ which Rauch defines as ‘a disinclination to care all that much about one’s own religion, and an even stronger disinclination to care about other people’s.’” Colson went on to talk about writer David Brooks, who noticed a trend a few years ago and coined the term flexidoxy [flexible beliefs]. Flexidoxy describes the form of religion practiced by many educated young Americans as opposed to orthodoxy. Basically, it means that people have become flexible in their belief system and look at religion as a giant smorgasbord from which they can pick and choose the beliefs that most suit them. They become the center of their own faith and adapt it to what they see as important. Some time ago, I read about 27-year-old Aron Ralston who had his right arm pinned by an 800-pound boulder in a climbing accident. He had gone hiking in Bluejohn Canyon, adjacent to Utah’s Canyonlands National Park. He was an experienced climber, who had already climbed 49 other peaks in Colorado which were each over 14,000 feet in height. He thought about what it would be like to die on the mountain and have his family find his body, or perhaps never know his fate. Ralston, a former engineer for Intel and an avid outdoorsman, thought about his options. After five days of being pinned, and having run out of food and water, he decided to apply a tourniquet and amputate his arm below the elbow with his pocket knife. He then rigged anchors and rappelled to the canyon floor with his one good arm. He walked downstream until he was spotted by a Utah Public Safety Helicopter. What the news did not say much about was that this Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Carnegie Mellon University credits his faith in God for ability to do what he had to do. He is a deeply committed Christian who often plays the piano in the United Methodist Church in Greenwood Village near Denver, Colorado. Because Aron wanted to live, he was willing to cut away everything that was holding him back. It is that kind of commitment and zeal that will enable us to experience Pentecostal power. When you are willing to cut away everything that is holding you back and walk out of the canyon of bondage, then the Holy Spirit will come to you in new ways and you know a life that you did not know was possible.
The Bible says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1, New Living). The apostle Paul did this, for he wrote, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
In Christ, Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFaIGSyENsY