Praise the Lord for the first Friday of June, 2007. We are just a week away from the NYPENN Franklin Graham Festival to be held at the Binghamton University Event Center from Friday, June 8 through Sunday, June 10. We are all wired up and ready for a great moving of the Lord's Spirit through the entire region. The Festival services will be held on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m.
The Billy Graham Museum was opened yesterday in Charlotte, NC, just four miles from the farm house where Billy Graham was born and raised. All the (living) former US presidents were present at the opening ceremony, which was telecast live. The Lord has used one man, Billy Graham, to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to millions around the world.
My life as a young college student was challenged and changed through the ministry of Billy Graham. My ministry was blessed later through the Ministry of Dr. Graham. I have been privileged to attend 7 Billy Graham Crusades and eight Billy Graham Schools of Evangelism. The first Billy Graham School of Evangelism I attended was in 1972, which was held in New Delhi, India. I was a graduate student in Bangalore at the time. This event was led by Dr. Akbar Haque, one of Billy Graham's associates. Dr Akbar Haque was a Moslem Convert. He was a scholar and an evangelist. It is wonderful to know that Lord Jesus can use one person that is fully dedicated to Him. The Lord used Billy Graham in the 20th century to bring the Gospel to millions.
The Lord used John Wesley in the 18th century to bring the Gospel to the millions. John Wesley was born in a parsonage. His parents were Samuel and Susanna Wesley. Samuel Wesley was a clergyman in the Church of England. John Wesley, one of the 19 children, was rescued from a burning house. He felt deeply and strongly that the reason he was saved from the burning house was that the Lord had an eternal purpose for him. John Wesley himself had a Pentecost experience on May 24, 1738 . (3 days after Whitsunday/Pentecost)Well discipled in his upbringing, thoroughly converted in his convictions, commitment, mind, double professor of Greek & logic at Lincoln College, Oxford,he had been an ordained Anglican clergyman for many years. He went as a missionary to America to work with the Indians but stirred up all kinds of trouble, lawsuits. These, together with a complete lack of fruitfulness, made him so despondent that he was forced to return to England. He wrote, "I went to America to convert the Indians; but, oh, who shall convert me?¡¨ One good thing was- he met Moravian Missionaries. People with the Holy Spirit power in their lives. Wesley's story continues (round about Pentecost) He writes in his journal,"In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Alders gate Street, where one was reading Luther¡¦s preface to the epistle of the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith- I felt my heart strangely warmed. I FELT I DID trust Christ, Christ alone, for my salvation- and an assurance was given me that He HAD taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.¡¨Overnight his preaching and effectiveness changed. He was baptised and anointed afresh with the Holy Spirit. He was propelled and was galvanized. He entered in journal:-April 17th 1739 we called on God to confirm His word¡¨- and people sank to their knees as they found Christ!Traveled 250,000 miles. 40,000 sermons. Hundreds of thousands saved. The Methodist Movement moved to America. The Circuit Rider preachers proclaimed the Gospel of Holiness throu out the land. The Gospel did spread like a wild fire. The nation was transformed. The lives were changed.George Whitfield's diary,: ’Mon 1st Jan 1739. Had a love-feast with our brethren and spent the whole night in close prayer, psalms and thanksgiving. God supported me without sleep.’ About 3 in the morning it seemed like the day of Pentecost had come again. Wesley recorded in his journal ’ the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from awe and amazement at the presence of His majesty, we broke out with one voice "we praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord"’Listen to Wesley's journal: while I was preaching at New gate on these words." He that believeth has everlasting life". I was insensibly led, without any previous design, to declare strongly and explicitly, that God willeth all men to be saved¡¦ (1 tim 2:4)¡K and that if this were true He would bear witness to His word¡¦. Immediately one, then another, and another sunk to the earth; they dropped on every side as thunderstruck¡¨Wesley's journal: Today our Lord answered for Himself. For while I was enforcing these words, ¡¥be still and know that I am God. He began to bare His arm- not in a close room, neither in private, but in the open air before more than 2000 witnesses. In less than an hour seven persons, wholly unknown to me till that time, were rejoicing and singing and with all their might giving thanks to the God of their salvation¡K later¡K we met at Fetter Lane to humble ourselves before God. In that hour we found God with us as at the first. Some fell prostrate upon the ground. Others burst out as with one consent, into loud praise and thanksgiving.Phil 2:2 if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Friends- we need the Holy Spirit.- YOU need the Holy Spirit. I need Him. We all need Him.The poet William Blake wrote a poem about Pentecost. Part of the poem says: Unless the eye catch fire, God will not be seen. Unless the ear catch fire, God will not be heard. Unless the tongue catch fire, God will not be named. Unless the Heart catch fire, God will not be loved. Unless the mind catch fire, God will not be known.
In Christ,
Brown
Pray for Sunita, who is traveling to Capetown, South Africa and Congo. She is flying from Washington DC tomorrow on a work assignment. She will be there for a week, returning on June 9. She has to make two more trips in addition to this one before her wedding on the First of September. Please pray that the Lord would keep her safe and strong in His care and bless her ministry in Africa, bringing forth much fruit.
Please pray for our television outreach tonight at 7 p.m. on Channel 4. I am sharing about how the Lord is at work in my life as He is healing me and restoring me. I have seen another BIG MIRACLE in my life. A BIG THANK YOU TO JESUS OUR LORD.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Brown's Daily Word 5-31-07
Good morning,
It is going to be very warm and even hot here in the southern tier of New York. It is going to be 88 F today. It is 88 F in Moscow Russia and 107 F in New Delhi, India today. You think it is Hot here?
We are getting thrilled and propelled about the NYPENN Franklin Graham Festival with Hot Live concerts with bands like Third Day, Point Of Grace, Sonic Flood, Tree 63, and Building 429. (All seats are free.) It all begins Next Friday, June 8 at 7 p.m. It will be held at the Event center of the epicenter of Binghamton University. We are trusting and praying that the Lord of the harvest is going to bring about a great harvest for His Kingdom, which is eternal and celestial.
I read with great interest about the recent building boom of sky scrapers all over the world. The tallest building is found in Kuala Lumpur. The other tallest buildings are found in Taipei, Shanghai, New York and Chicago. The first skyscraper ever to be built was called the Tower of Babel, and that is recorded in the Bible. It is also a story of gross stupidity brought about by pride. This was early in the history of the world when the population of the world was relatively low, and the people of earth had learned a new technology: the making of bricks. Using bricks instead of rocks they could build a much larger structure. They found a great plain called Shinar where they could live, and decided to build a tower there. They believed they could build a tower that would reach to the heavens, perhaps to prove there was no God watching over them after all. With biting irony the Scripture says, “But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building” (Genesis 11:5). Their tower hadn’t reached heaven at all, in fact, God had to “come down” to “see the city.” The whole purpose of the building of the tower was that they would be unified by one grand achievement. They had one language, and the plan was to gather everyone to live in the same place to accomplish great things. They did not want to be scattered, they needed everyone to work together. But in the end, God reversed their plan and scattered them over “all the earth.” He confused them, giving them different languages so they could not understand each other. They wanted to be independent of God, but God reminded them that was not possible. The tower, intended to bring people together, was the tower that scattered people and drove them from each other. Alienation from God results in being alienated from others. Now their language, instead of being the same, all sounded like babbling — thus the name Babel. The place became known as Babylon — a city associated with evil throughout Scripture. Even text messaging is no match for trying to communicate with someone with whom you have a misunderstanding. Words and language become almost incomprehensible, since what you mean by a word is not what the other person means by the same word, and every word is filtered through one’s own emotions. Never have we had more means of communication, and never has communication been more difficult. The curse of the tower of babel is still with us. However, the day of Pentecost began the reversal of this process. The tower of Babel had seen the proliferation of languages, with the resulting confusion and the division of the human family. Pentecost, with its many languages, began to see people united through a common understanding. At Babel God drove people apart to thwart evil, at Pentecost he brought people together to inaugurate righteousness. The tower was a symbol of our rebellion against God; Pentecost united people who were seeking God, and the Holy Spirit actually came to live in them. “The God up there” became “The God in me.” The people at the tower of Babel wanted to “make a name for themselves.” The people at Pentecost wanted to glorify the name of God. After the tower of Babel people could no longer work together to create a kingdom for themselves. At Pentecost people began to work together to establish God’s kingdom on earth. Babel was the imposition of human will; Pentecost was the acceptance of God’s divine will. Babel was bad news; Pentecost was good news. After Babel, people spread out over the earth in mutual hostility and alienation. It was every person for themselves. After Pentecost the people spread through the inhabited world to serve God and to live in love and fellowship. Pentecost is Babel reversed and undone. Babel was God’s judgment on the people who tried to unite against Him. Pentecost was God’s blessing in bringing people together people from every race, nation and language to live as one under God. Pentecost is God ending the chaos and confusion of Babel and bringing about new understanding. The message of people of Babel was: “We are gods!” The message of the people of Pentecost was: “We are God’s.” What Pentecost is saying is that God is not far away. We do not have to build a tower to get to him. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He is our eternal contemporary.Pentecost reverses Babel. One of the most dramatic examples of this is the life of William J. Murray. Murray is the son of Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the famous atheist who was responsible for the Supreme Court ruling which removed prayer and Bible reading from public schools in the United States. He tells in his book, My Life Without God, about living in a home where there was constant rage and violence. His mother could not keep a job because of her frequent angry outbursts. She never married either man who fathered her children, and lived with her parents and brother in a small row house in Baltimore. Murray’s grandmother read Tarot cards, his grandfather was engaged in illegal activities, and his uncle kept stacks of pornography in his room. William Murray was told by his famous mother that since there was no God, nothing was really right or wrong. She taught him that the most important things in life were food, drink and sex, and he took her advice and fully indulged himself. But in 1980 he sought help for his drinking problem through a Twelve Step program. It was his first encounter with anyone who talked about a loving God. Yet, this loving God had no name. He read a novel that told the story of Luke in the New Testament. It talked about Luke’s relationship with God and finding God’s love. There began to be a stirring and yearning in his heart for that kind of experience, but he had no idea how to come into contact with this God. Then one evening, on January 25, 1980, as he was sleeping in his apartment in San Francisco, he says that the Holy Spirit came upon him and told him to seek the truth in the Bible. That was the one place he had never looked before, for that was the very book his mother had removed from our nation’s schools by her lawsuit in 1963. Murray states that the true reason for his mother filing the suit was her deep personal hatred for followers of Christianity. He told how his mother’s zeal against Christianity was so great that it had “taken over her life and rendered her incapable of seeing other people (himself included) as anything but either enemies or people who agreed with her every ideal.” But Murray committed his life to Christ and has never looked back. O’Hair called her son a traitor and cut off all communication with him. Murray experienced the love of God he was longing for and now goes all over the world telling his story. He is the chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition in Washington, D.C. Pentecost reversed the Babel in his life. That is the purpose of Pentecost: To give new purpose. To change chaos and confusion into understanding. To turn us from rebellion to love and obedience through the power of the Holy Spirit. To turn despair into hope. To bring a new love into our hearts that wants to reach out to God and others. This Pentecost Sunday brings the invitation to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. In Christ,
Brown
It is going to be very warm and even hot here in the southern tier of New York. It is going to be 88 F today. It is 88 F in Moscow Russia and 107 F in New Delhi, India today. You think it is Hot here?
We are getting thrilled and propelled about the NYPENN Franklin Graham Festival with Hot Live concerts with bands like Third Day, Point Of Grace, Sonic Flood, Tree 63, and Building 429. (All seats are free.) It all begins Next Friday, June 8 at 7 p.m. It will be held at the Event center of the epicenter of Binghamton University. We are trusting and praying that the Lord of the harvest is going to bring about a great harvest for His Kingdom, which is eternal and celestial.
I read with great interest about the recent building boom of sky scrapers all over the world. The tallest building is found in Kuala Lumpur. The other tallest buildings are found in Taipei, Shanghai, New York and Chicago. The first skyscraper ever to be built was called the Tower of Babel, and that is recorded in the Bible. It is also a story of gross stupidity brought about by pride. This was early in the history of the world when the population of the world was relatively low, and the people of earth had learned a new technology: the making of bricks. Using bricks instead of rocks they could build a much larger structure. They found a great plain called Shinar where they could live, and decided to build a tower there. They believed they could build a tower that would reach to the heavens, perhaps to prove there was no God watching over them after all. With biting irony the Scripture says, “But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building” (Genesis 11:5). Their tower hadn’t reached heaven at all, in fact, God had to “come down” to “see the city.” The whole purpose of the building of the tower was that they would be unified by one grand achievement. They had one language, and the plan was to gather everyone to live in the same place to accomplish great things. They did not want to be scattered, they needed everyone to work together. But in the end, God reversed their plan and scattered them over “all the earth.” He confused them, giving them different languages so they could not understand each other. They wanted to be independent of God, but God reminded them that was not possible. The tower, intended to bring people together, was the tower that scattered people and drove them from each other. Alienation from God results in being alienated from others. Now their language, instead of being the same, all sounded like babbling — thus the name Babel. The place became known as Babylon — a city associated with evil throughout Scripture. Even text messaging is no match for trying to communicate with someone with whom you have a misunderstanding. Words and language become almost incomprehensible, since what you mean by a word is not what the other person means by the same word, and every word is filtered through one’s own emotions. Never have we had more means of communication, and never has communication been more difficult. The curse of the tower of babel is still with us. However, the day of Pentecost began the reversal of this process. The tower of Babel had seen the proliferation of languages, with the resulting confusion and the division of the human family. Pentecost, with its many languages, began to see people united through a common understanding. At Babel God drove people apart to thwart evil, at Pentecost he brought people together to inaugurate righteousness. The tower was a symbol of our rebellion against God; Pentecost united people who were seeking God, and the Holy Spirit actually came to live in them. “The God up there” became “The God in me.” The people at the tower of Babel wanted to “make a name for themselves.” The people at Pentecost wanted to glorify the name of God. After the tower of Babel people could no longer work together to create a kingdom for themselves. At Pentecost people began to work together to establish God’s kingdom on earth. Babel was the imposition of human will; Pentecost was the acceptance of God’s divine will. Babel was bad news; Pentecost was good news. After Babel, people spread out over the earth in mutual hostility and alienation. It was every person for themselves. After Pentecost the people spread through the inhabited world to serve God and to live in love and fellowship. Pentecost is Babel reversed and undone. Babel was God’s judgment on the people who tried to unite against Him. Pentecost was God’s blessing in bringing people together people from every race, nation and language to live as one under God. Pentecost is God ending the chaos and confusion of Babel and bringing about new understanding. The message of people of Babel was: “We are gods!” The message of the people of Pentecost was: “We are God’s.” What Pentecost is saying is that God is not far away. We do not have to build a tower to get to him. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He is our eternal contemporary.Pentecost reverses Babel. One of the most dramatic examples of this is the life of William J. Murray. Murray is the son of Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the famous atheist who was responsible for the Supreme Court ruling which removed prayer and Bible reading from public schools in the United States. He tells in his book, My Life Without God, about living in a home where there was constant rage and violence. His mother could not keep a job because of her frequent angry outbursts. She never married either man who fathered her children, and lived with her parents and brother in a small row house in Baltimore. Murray’s grandmother read Tarot cards, his grandfather was engaged in illegal activities, and his uncle kept stacks of pornography in his room. William Murray was told by his famous mother that since there was no God, nothing was really right or wrong. She taught him that the most important things in life were food, drink and sex, and he took her advice and fully indulged himself. But in 1980 he sought help for his drinking problem through a Twelve Step program. It was his first encounter with anyone who talked about a loving God. Yet, this loving God had no name. He read a novel that told the story of Luke in the New Testament. It talked about Luke’s relationship with God and finding God’s love. There began to be a stirring and yearning in his heart for that kind of experience, but he had no idea how to come into contact with this God. Then one evening, on January 25, 1980, as he was sleeping in his apartment in San Francisco, he says that the Holy Spirit came upon him and told him to seek the truth in the Bible. That was the one place he had never looked before, for that was the very book his mother had removed from our nation’s schools by her lawsuit in 1963. Murray states that the true reason for his mother filing the suit was her deep personal hatred for followers of Christianity. He told how his mother’s zeal against Christianity was so great that it had “taken over her life and rendered her incapable of seeing other people (himself included) as anything but either enemies or people who agreed with her every ideal.” But Murray committed his life to Christ and has never looked back. O’Hair called her son a traitor and cut off all communication with him. Murray experienced the love of God he was longing for and now goes all over the world telling his story. He is the chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition in Washington, D.C. Pentecost reversed the Babel in his life. That is the purpose of Pentecost: To give new purpose. To change chaos and confusion into understanding. To turn us from rebellion to love and obedience through the power of the Holy Spirit. To turn despair into hope. To bring a new love into our hearts that wants to reach out to God and others. This Pentecost Sunday brings the invitation to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. In Christ,
Brown
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Brown's Daily Word 5-30-07
It is the season of fire and wind. It is the season of tornadoes and storms. It is the season of Pentecost. Today is one of the ten best days here in the Southern tier of New York. It is going to be in the high 80's with blazing sun. (It is 104 F in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa, India. It is mango season there.)
In Acts 2:2 we read, “Suddenly”— The Lord of fire and wind, can intervene at any moment He chooses. Your world can look one way at one moment and completely different the next. All you need is for the Lord to show up in power. The walls of Jericho looked exactly the same after Israel had obediently circled them thirteen times. But when everything was in place and everything God told them to do was done “suddenly” the walls fell. Let us never forget the possibility of a “suddenly” from the Lord in our lives. “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” Understand that it was not an actual wind. It was a supernatural sound; it was not the sound of a gentle breeze but the sound of a violent wind (Like the roar of the stormy sea or of a tornado). People often report that a tornado sounds like a freight train. That is something like what they heard. It got people’s attention.
When God wanted to get Job’s attention He did something similar. Job 38:1 says that God answered Job out of a whirlwind. Elijah was taken into heaven in a whirlwind. And, of course, wind is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Jesus indicated that fact when He said to Nicodemus in John 3:8, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." Acts 2:3 “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” It was a manifestation of the glory of God. They saw something that looked like a mass of flames appears over the whole group. Then it broke up and a single tongue that looked like a flame of fire settled on the head of each one of them. [8] The symbolism suggests that they were not only empowered as a group but as individuals as well. [9] One thing we know about fire is this—you can take one flame and start a forest fire with it. Phillip got on fire for God and went to Samaria and got the whole city on fire. Fire will spread. Each one is empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a witness. Fire is a common evidence of God’s presence in the OT. God met with Moses at the burning bush. He led Israel with a pillar of fire. Elijah went to heaven with a chariot of fire. There were manifestations of fire at Mt. Sinai when the law was given.[10] Listen to the description of what it was like when the law was given at Mt. Sinai, Ex 19:17-19, “Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, 19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.” At Sinai God was signifying that something very important was taking place. On the Day of Pentecost these signs of fire and wind were doing the same thing. They were powerful attention getters. Acts 2:4 “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” The fact that all of them were filled with the Spirit is significant. In the Old Testament the Spirit of God came upon leaders to enable them to fulfill an office. Elisha received a double portion of the Spirit from Elijah. Aaron was anointed by the Spirit for his priestly duties. David was anointed by the Spirit as king.
In the past special people have received the Spirit but at this time all are receiving. In fact, Peter brings this out in his sermon. Quoting Joel 2 he says in Acts 2:17-18, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” Regardless of age, regardless of social status God promises in these last days to pour out His Spirit upon them. Toward the end of this sermon he talks about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and says, Acts 2:39, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call." The promise of the Holy Spirit baptism is not just for that generation but for their children and for generations to come.[13] Significantly, in the book of Acts the Lord is anointing all His people. They are becoming a prophetic community. The whole church is to be charismatic. The church is to be a prophetic community that proclaims the good news of Jesus Christ to the world.[14] Tongues of fire are symbolic of the passionate, zealous witness that God’s people are to give to the world.
There are two reactions from the crowd. Some are receptive. They recognize that God is doing something. They don’t fully understand what it all means but they are curious and open to God. Verse 12, “Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
When God does something we don’t fully understand let’s take that approach. Let’s inquire as to what it means. Let’s hear Peter out and respond to the Holy Spirit. It is very limiting to reject something God is doing simply because we’ve never seen it before. I fully expect God to do some things during this next decade that we’ve never seen Him do before. It will be consistent with Scripture. It will be consistent with the purposes of God and the nature of God. But it may look very different that what we’ve seen before. Be teachable. When Peter gave Scriptural support for what was happening 3000 of these people received it. Others were resistant. They pridefully ridiculed what they saw. Acts 2:13 “Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine.” The Greek indicates they were mocking with gestures as well as with words.[23] Galileans were considered hillbillies by Hebrew Jews.[24] The fact that God was using uneducated people, people less esteemed in society, may have influenced their attitude. When God chooses a person He is not looking on outward appearances. He measures a person from the heart.[25] Man looks upon outward things and draws his conclusions. Sometimes he draws the wrong conclusions.I don’t know how many of these mockers repented and became a part of the 3000 that day. One thing I do know is that every person in that crowd got an opportunity to respond. Every person in that crowd made his or her own decision as to what he or she would do with the opportunity God had placed before them that day.
God has designed opportunities for you and me. He manifests Himself in our lives and then calls upon us to respond. I want to be the kind of person who opens up to God and takes advantage of those opportunities. Don’t you? It’s amazing to me that people in that crowd could be witnessing one of the greatest events in human history and not even realize it. God was there but part of the crowd discounted it as insignificant; they even ridiculed it. Outwardly the whole crowd saw the same thing, but some did not appreciate the value of what was before them. Are we open to what the Lord wants to do next in our lives? What if it is different from what we expect—different from what we have seen before? May the Lord set our hearts on fire. In the words of Graham Kendrik of England, one of the anointed musicians and composers of modern Christian worship songs:
" Blaze Spirit Blaze Set our hearts on Fire".
Amen and amen.
In Jesus,
Brown
In Acts 2:2 we read, “Suddenly”— The Lord of fire and wind, can intervene at any moment He chooses. Your world can look one way at one moment and completely different the next. All you need is for the Lord to show up in power. The walls of Jericho looked exactly the same after Israel had obediently circled them thirteen times. But when everything was in place and everything God told them to do was done “suddenly” the walls fell. Let us never forget the possibility of a “suddenly” from the Lord in our lives. “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” Understand that it was not an actual wind. It was a supernatural sound; it was not the sound of a gentle breeze but the sound of a violent wind (Like the roar of the stormy sea or of a tornado). People often report that a tornado sounds like a freight train. That is something like what they heard. It got people’s attention.
When God wanted to get Job’s attention He did something similar. Job 38:1 says that God answered Job out of a whirlwind. Elijah was taken into heaven in a whirlwind. And, of course, wind is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Jesus indicated that fact when He said to Nicodemus in John 3:8, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." Acts 2:3 “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” It was a manifestation of the glory of God. They saw something that looked like a mass of flames appears over the whole group. Then it broke up and a single tongue that looked like a flame of fire settled on the head of each one of them. [8] The symbolism suggests that they were not only empowered as a group but as individuals as well. [9] One thing we know about fire is this—you can take one flame and start a forest fire with it. Phillip got on fire for God and went to Samaria and got the whole city on fire. Fire will spread. Each one is empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a witness. Fire is a common evidence of God’s presence in the OT. God met with Moses at the burning bush. He led Israel with a pillar of fire. Elijah went to heaven with a chariot of fire. There were manifestations of fire at Mt. Sinai when the law was given.[10] Listen to the description of what it was like when the law was given at Mt. Sinai, Ex 19:17-19, “Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, 19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.” At Sinai God was signifying that something very important was taking place. On the Day of Pentecost these signs of fire and wind were doing the same thing. They were powerful attention getters. Acts 2:4 “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” The fact that all of them were filled with the Spirit is significant. In the Old Testament the Spirit of God came upon leaders to enable them to fulfill an office. Elisha received a double portion of the Spirit from Elijah. Aaron was anointed by the Spirit for his priestly duties. David was anointed by the Spirit as king.
In the past special people have received the Spirit but at this time all are receiving. In fact, Peter brings this out in his sermon. Quoting Joel 2 he says in Acts 2:17-18, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” Regardless of age, regardless of social status God promises in these last days to pour out His Spirit upon them. Toward the end of this sermon he talks about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and says, Acts 2:39, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call." The promise of the Holy Spirit baptism is not just for that generation but for their children and for generations to come.[13] Significantly, in the book of Acts the Lord is anointing all His people. They are becoming a prophetic community. The whole church is to be charismatic. The church is to be a prophetic community that proclaims the good news of Jesus Christ to the world.[14] Tongues of fire are symbolic of the passionate, zealous witness that God’s people are to give to the world.
There are two reactions from the crowd. Some are receptive. They recognize that God is doing something. They don’t fully understand what it all means but they are curious and open to God. Verse 12, “Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
When God does something we don’t fully understand let’s take that approach. Let’s inquire as to what it means. Let’s hear Peter out and respond to the Holy Spirit. It is very limiting to reject something God is doing simply because we’ve never seen it before. I fully expect God to do some things during this next decade that we’ve never seen Him do before. It will be consistent with Scripture. It will be consistent with the purposes of God and the nature of God. But it may look very different that what we’ve seen before. Be teachable. When Peter gave Scriptural support for what was happening 3000 of these people received it. Others were resistant. They pridefully ridiculed what they saw. Acts 2:13 “Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine.” The Greek indicates they were mocking with gestures as well as with words.[23] Galileans were considered hillbillies by Hebrew Jews.[24] The fact that God was using uneducated people, people less esteemed in society, may have influenced their attitude. When God chooses a person He is not looking on outward appearances. He measures a person from the heart.[25] Man looks upon outward things and draws his conclusions. Sometimes he draws the wrong conclusions.I don’t know how many of these mockers repented and became a part of the 3000 that day. One thing I do know is that every person in that crowd got an opportunity to respond. Every person in that crowd made his or her own decision as to what he or she would do with the opportunity God had placed before them that day.
God has designed opportunities for you and me. He manifests Himself in our lives and then calls upon us to respond. I want to be the kind of person who opens up to God and takes advantage of those opportunities. Don’t you? It’s amazing to me that people in that crowd could be witnessing one of the greatest events in human history and not even realize it. God was there but part of the crowd discounted it as insignificant; they even ridiculed it. Outwardly the whole crowd saw the same thing, but some did not appreciate the value of what was before them. Are we open to what the Lord wants to do next in our lives? What if it is different from what we expect—different from what we have seen before? May the Lord set our hearts on fire. In the words of Graham Kendrik of England, one of the anointed musicians and composers of modern Christian worship songs:
" Blaze Spirit Blaze Set our hearts on Fire".
Amen and amen.
In Jesus,
Brown
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Brown's Daily Word 5-29-07
This is the day the Lord has made. This is His day. He is the Lord of the day and He is the Lord of History. He is the King of angels. Sunday was the Day Pentecost in the life of the church. It was wonderful to be back at home in our Church family. Alice and I both shared about the miracle the Lord performed in my life during the past few days. It is a miracle of grace.
To perform the surgery earlier this month, the surgeon made five holes in my stomach. The number five in the Bible stands for grace, like the five loaves of bread, the five porticos on the pool at Bethesda, etc.
Sunday we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, who were disheartened, dismayed, depressed. They were gathered in the upper Room. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues as of fire that sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The Spirit propelled them into the temple courtyard. The were bold and galvanized. They began to declare, boldly and lucidly,about the Mighty Deeds of the Lord. Peter, standing along withe eleven, filled and anointed with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed about Jesus Christ the risen one. People heard the Good news, saw the signs and wonders, were convicted in their hearts, and asked the question, "What shall we do"? Peter said unto them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2.
The Holy Spirit came upon a group of men who were defeated, disillusioned and disheartened. The Holy spirit transformed them wonderfully. Being filled and anointed by the Holy Spirit, they went out in to the world with the GOOD NEWS of JESUS Christ the Lord and Savior and they turned the world upside down and right side up.
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 on to 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. I have been re-reading the book of Acts recently myself. I have seen again that signs and wonders were not the exceptions; they were the norm of the early church. Healings and supernatural happenings were expected and they occurred regularly. I have witnessed the signs and wonders and miracles in the life of sinners like me and all around the world who turn to Jesus in full surrender and joyful abandonment to Him. . Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). We need to discover once again that we have an unchanging Lord, and an unchanging kingdom. We need once again to discover the power of Pentecost. We need to be filled with the Spirit. We need to be operating in the gifts of the Spirit. We need to see people’s lives turned around. We need to see people healed physically, emotionally, relationally, socially and spiritually. We need to experience the unity of the Spirit as the early church did. We need to be living in genuine love for each other and when we fail at that then we need to seek reconciliation. We need to have the fire fall and the people of God to rise up. Rick Kirchoff says, “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.” The Christian life is not about keeping rules, but about knowing Christ. As long as we think that Christianity is something that WE do, we are missing the point. It is not about what we do, but what God does in us. Being a Christian is not doing the right thing or believing the right doctrines, it is knowing the right person. It is about surrendering my life, my body, my mind and my heart to Jesus Christ and asking him to take up residence in me. It is about confessing my sin and turning from it. It is about banking everything I have and am on God and loving him with my whole heart. The Christian faith is not a feeling. It is a reality. It is a real relationship with a real person — Jesus Christ. Christianity is about the most powerful and wonderful person in the universe who desires to know us intimately. This experience is not tame; it is wild and powerful. Paul said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). We are to grow in holiness, and be salt and light in a tasteless and dark world. We are to become transformed on a daily basis, through the spiritual disciplines, and then become agents of transformation in the world. The more you know Jesus, the more you will love him, and the more excited you will be about his kingdom. The more you love him, the more you will want others to know him. The more you experience his presence and power, the more of it you want. This is the way to live. We have been forgiven. We have inherited eternal life. We have experienced eternal love. We are holding nothing back because we have discovered life. We have found the pearl of great price, and it is worth more than everything else we have seen or possessed. Because of this we are excited about life and we are excited about the wonderful God we serve. We are willing to do whatever it takes to have more of him. Chuck Colson reports 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 goes 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. Many of you heard or 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, for he had already climbed 49 other peaks in Colorado which were over 14,000 feet. 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 played 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).
With deep gratitude to Jesus our Lord,
BrownHappy Birthday to: Evvie Binder, Rhonda Emmons, Linda Barton, Don Phillips.
Happy 61st wedding anniversary to Irving and Orpha Rosenbarker.
They all are sweet servants of Jesus and the salt of the earth.We are excited about and eagerly anticipating the Franklin Graham Festival, which is to be held at the Binghamton University Events Center on June 8,9, &10. BU is to be the epicenter of this great event, which is expected to draw many thousands into the Binghamton area to hear the Message of the Gospel in word and song. A 600 member choir will be presenting some of the music on Friday and Sunday evenings. Invite all of your friends to come and participate, share, and rejoice.
Please note: this article and future articles will be posted on my web page: brownnaik.com
To perform the surgery earlier this month, the surgeon made five holes in my stomach. The number five in the Bible stands for grace, like the five loaves of bread, the five porticos on the pool at Bethesda, etc.
Sunday we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, who were disheartened, dismayed, depressed. They were gathered in the upper Room. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues as of fire that sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The Spirit propelled them into the temple courtyard. The were bold and galvanized. They began to declare, boldly and lucidly,about the Mighty Deeds of the Lord. Peter, standing along withe eleven, filled and anointed with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed about Jesus Christ the risen one. People heard the Good news, saw the signs and wonders, were convicted in their hearts, and asked the question, "What shall we do"? Peter said unto them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2.
The Holy Spirit came upon a group of men who were defeated, disillusioned and disheartened. The Holy spirit transformed them wonderfully. Being filled and anointed by the Holy Spirit, they went out in to the world with the GOOD NEWS of JESUS Christ the Lord and Savior and they turned the world upside down and right side up.
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 on to 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. I have been re-reading the book of Acts recently myself. I have seen again that signs and wonders were not the exceptions; they were the norm of the early church. Healings and supernatural happenings were expected and they occurred regularly. I have witnessed the signs and wonders and miracles in the life of sinners like me and all around the world who turn to Jesus in full surrender and joyful abandonment to Him. . Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). We need to discover once again that we have an unchanging Lord, and an unchanging kingdom. We need once again to discover the power of Pentecost. We need to be filled with the Spirit. We need to be operating in the gifts of the Spirit. We need to see people’s lives turned around. We need to see people healed physically, emotionally, relationally, socially and spiritually. We need to experience the unity of the Spirit as the early church did. We need to be living in genuine love for each other and when we fail at that then we need to seek reconciliation. We need to have the fire fall and the people of God to rise up. Rick Kirchoff says, “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.” The Christian life is not about keeping rules, but about knowing Christ. As long as we think that Christianity is something that WE do, we are missing the point. It is not about what we do, but what God does in us. Being a Christian is not doing the right thing or believing the right doctrines, it is knowing the right person. It is about surrendering my life, my body, my mind and my heart to Jesus Christ and asking him to take up residence in me. It is about confessing my sin and turning from it. It is about banking everything I have and am on God and loving him with my whole heart. The Christian faith is not a feeling. It is a reality. It is a real relationship with a real person — Jesus Christ. Christianity is about the most powerful and wonderful person in the universe who desires to know us intimately. This experience is not tame; it is wild and powerful. Paul said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). We are to grow in holiness, and be salt and light in a tasteless and dark world. We are to become transformed on a daily basis, through the spiritual disciplines, and then become agents of transformation in the world. The more you know Jesus, the more you will love him, and the more excited you will be about his kingdom. The more you love him, the more you will want others to know him. The more you experience his presence and power, the more of it you want. This is the way to live. We have been forgiven. We have inherited eternal life. We have experienced eternal love. We are holding nothing back because we have discovered life. We have found the pearl of great price, and it is worth more than everything else we have seen or possessed. Because of this we are excited about life and we are excited about the wonderful God we serve. We are willing to do whatever it takes to have more of him. Chuck Colson reports 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 goes 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. Many of you heard or 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, for he had already climbed 49 other peaks in Colorado which were over 14,000 feet. 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 played 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).
With deep gratitude to Jesus our Lord,
BrownHappy Birthday to: Evvie Binder, Rhonda Emmons, Linda Barton, Don Phillips.
Happy 61st wedding anniversary to Irving and Orpha Rosenbarker.
They all are sweet servants of Jesus and the salt of the earth.We are excited about and eagerly anticipating the Franklin Graham Festival, which is to be held at the Binghamton University Events Center on June 8,9, &10. BU is to be the epicenter of this great event, which is expected to draw many thousands into the Binghamton area to hear the Message of the Gospel in word and song. A 600 member choir will be presenting some of the music on Friday and Sunday evenings. Invite all of your friends to come and participate, share, and rejoice.
Please note: this article and future articles will be posted on my web page: brownnaik.com
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