Brown's Daily Word 7-6-07

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this Friday. Sunday is coming. Praise the Lord for the way He is the answer for our questions. Praise the Lord for the way He answers when we call on Him. He knows our names.
In Connecting with God, Herb Miller tells the story of a nightclub opening on Main Street in a small town America. Upon hearing the news, the only church in that town organized an all-night prayer meeting. The members asked God to burn down the club. Within a few minutes, lightning struck the club, and it burned to the ground. The club owner sued the church, which denied responsibility for the destruction of the club.
After hearing both sides, the judge said, “It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the nightclub owner believes in prayer, while the church doesn’t.” Do we believe in prayer? When the early church prayed together, they saw results! The lame walked, the blind saw, the dead were brought back to life, rooms were shaken, prison doors were open, chains were loosed, and boldness was given when the early church prayed! We read in James,“you do not have because you do not ask.” “Heaven is full of answers for which no one ever bothered to ask.” Said Billy Graham.
In an article in Christianity Today magazine there was an articled titled, "Doctors Who Pray," in which several medical doctors expounded upon the medical benefits of prayer for their patients. Dr. Dale Matthews, an internist and associate professor of medicine at the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is one of a growing number of medical professionals who are discovering the medical benefits of faith and prayer. Dr. Matthews and other doctors are beginning to scientifically study the effects of prayer on illnesses and injuries. In the article, Dr. Matthews says, "Scientific knowledge has demonstrated the positive benefits of religion. I can say, as a physician and scientist--not just as a Christian--that, scientifically, prayer is good for you. The medical effects of faith on health are not a matter of faith, but of science."
Christians in early Church who prayed fervently for Simon Peter, but then when God answered their prayers they couldn't believe that He really acted on their behalf. Let us look at Acts 12:1-19.
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. {2} He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. {3} When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
This is a tragic comedy at its best. It is tragic from the standpoint that the Church had been praying "fervently," they were focused on praying for Peter because they understood the gravity of the situation.
You need to understand as we get into this story that Herod was a ruthless leader who wanted nothing more than to win popular approval. He was willing to pull up next to those who could give him more power and he was willing to exterminate all of his allies enemies to gain a few more votes. Herod Agrippa had already had John the brother of James put to death by the sword. He then had ordered the arrest of Simon Peter to try and gain further approval of the Jewish leaders. There was a very good reason why Herod Agrippa chose the week of celebration following the Passover -- there were lots of Jewish people present to see his act of defiance towards the Christians, an act of alliance with the Jews! There is little doubt that Herod was planning on having Peter executed as soon as the celebration ended. Herod wanted to make sure that Peter did not escape as he had once before (Acts 5:18), so he had Peter guarded by four squads of soldiers. The four squads of guards consisted of four guards each and they would rotate on their watch every four hours around the clock. Herod had to rest well at night knowing that there was no possible way that Peter was going to escape this time. At any given time there were two men chained to Peter as he sat in his locked cell. At the same time there were two other guards stationed outside the cell just in case he got by the two guards chained to him. I think we could say that it was a hopeless situation for Peter. The executioner's sword wouldn't need to be put away for another day. The crowds weren't going to show up only to be turned away because of another Harry Houdini-like escape by Peter. The end was near and the guards would assure that Herod's bloodthirsty appetite would be quenched. Let's switch venues and move from the locked tight cell holding Peter to the little house of John Mark's mother where there are followers of Jesus praying for Peter. These folks weren't just remembering Peter at their bedtime prayers -- they were praying fervently for him! We can easily see that the Christians weren't playing with prayer, they were praying!
When was the last time we prayed in such a way about a situation? When was the last time we were stretched to the breaking point in our prayer life? When the last time we passionately and with such great commitment gave yourselves to the labor of prayer? From studying the story of the great escape of Peter from Herod's prison I have come to the conclusion that those who were praying for Peter didn't really anticipate Peter avoiding the executioner's sword. Locked in a jail cell with two burly linebacker types locked to his wrists an angel enter Peter's locked-tight doom and brings deliverance. After Peter is outside and down the road, the angel disappears. Sounds like scene scripted for "Touched By An Angel" doesn't it?! What a great story! It is not the craftiness of Peter that got him out of jail -- Peter was asleep when the angel came. It wasn't the sympathy of the jailers that enabled Peter to find deliverance -- they would later lose their lives over Peter's escape! There was no explanation for Peter's escape except for the power of God! It was the power of God that sent the angel! It was the power of God that loosed the chains! It was the power of God that opened the iron gate! It was the power of God! Once free Peter came to his senses and arrived at the same conclusion. In verse 11 we read, {11} Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating." It was the power of God!
Peter made his way to the house of John Mark's mother, Mary. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door.When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!" "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel." But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. When Peter arrived at Mary's house the followers of Jesus were still praying. They had been up all night long praying for Peter. I don't know what they were praying about. I haven't a clue if they were praying for Peter to be comfortable, for the living conditions to be amicable, or for Herod not to kill Peter. I could take a wild guess and say that I don't think they were praying for Peter's release because when he showed up at the door they didn't believe the young lady who said, "He's here!" Quite the opposite is true. They said, "You are out of your mind!"
The more we get to know the Lord then better we will be prepared to pray with His desires in mind. In Alexander Solzhenitsyn's, "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he is praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him and says with ridicule, "Prayers won't help you get out of here any faster." Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, "I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God."
Isn't that great! I am not praying for a life of ease, but I am praying for the will of God to be done through my life. Once we come to know God's desires, how we can best be used by God to bring Him the glory and honor He so deserves, then we must pray with expectation.
Do we pray and then when the Lord shows up in our situation we respond like the early Christians by saying, "You are out of your mind." When we pray we need to say, "Lord I don't know how, I don't know how long, I don't know who You will use to accomplish Your will, but I know that You will act and I will wait with expectation for Your mighty hand to move!"
In His power,
Brown

The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty works of Divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."
... Hudson Taylor



The Continentals are coming! They will be performing on Saturday, July 7, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. They'll be live in concert at Maine Endwell high school auditorium, Farm to Market Rd, Endwell. Those of you who live around here please join us with your family and friends for a great evening of worship and inspiration. They will be also in concert on Sunday, July 8 at 11:00 a.m. at the Union Center United Methodist Church located at 128 Maple Dr. Endicott.


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A Sunday school teacher asked the children just before she dismissed them to go to church, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" Annie replied, "Because people are sleeping."
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A Sunday School teacher asked her class why Joseph and Mary took Jesus with them to Jerusalem. A small child replied: "They couldn't get a baby-sitter."
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A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor thy father and
thy mother," she asked "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" Without missing a beat one little boy answered, "Thou shall not kill."
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A very dirty little fellow came in from playing in the yard and asked his mother, "Who am I? " Ready to play the game she said, "I don't know! Who are you?" "WOW!" cried the child. "Mrs. Johnson was right! She said I was so dirty, my own mother wouldn't recognize me!"
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A wise schoolteacher sends this note to all parents on the first day of school: "If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I'll promise not to believe everything he says happens at home.

Brown's Daily Word 7-5-07

Good day to all.
We (Alice and Brown) traveled to Boston very early on Monday morning to
see Janice, Jeremy, and Micah. We were hoping to get to know Simeon
too, but he apparently is ignoring his "eviction notice" to leave his
home of almost the last 9 months. He is snug, warm, and contented, and
he is not at all concerned about everyone's eagerness to meet and greet
him. Anyway, that is my poor way of saying NO BABY YET!
This morning Brown left Jamaica Plain to drive back to NY. He has a
wedding to perform tomorrow night (July 6), a Continentals Concert to
host (July 7), and plenty of Sunday business to attend to (July 8).
This is his first really long drive alone since his surgery, so he has
been making plenty of stops along the way.
Brown and I came to Boston early (5 a.m.) on Monday morning. We came
hoping to be in town for the "eviction" of little Simeon from the only
home he has ever known up until this point. We have had a wonderful
time with Janice, Jeremy, and Micah, "Micah-sitting", and soaking up
the local sunshine and culture. It has been a nice break for both of
us, but Brown left early this morning to return to New York. In fact,
he should be reaching there very soon.
Brown and I have had a wonderful time since Monday, soaking up
the attention of little Micah and basking in the sunshine and warmth
along the way. On Tuesday evening Brown and I went to Boston to hear
the Boston Pops "live and in concert". It was the dress rehearsal for
the 4th of July Fireworks Extravaganza which was to be aired on CBS. We
were among many many thousands of people who were eager to hear such
classics as the "1812 Overture", the "America" singalong medley, and
"The Stars and Stripes Forever" (What a fabulous piccolo on that one!).
Though we stationed ourselves on the island portion of the Esplanade at
first (because we couldn't really see the band shell and went there by
mistake) we were only about 100 yards or less from the cannons. Thus,
the 1812 Overture took us the the battle front, quite literally. It was
awesome! After that we were able to approach the "oval", where we could
both hear and see more clearly the rest of the concert. WOW! As a full
dress rehearsal it was almost like being at the actual performance -
but slightly smaller crowds, no fireworks, and no rain. However, the
show was being taped and the emcee performed all of his lines, just as
if it was the real thing.
Yesterday, July 4th, Janice, Jeremy, Micah, Alice, and I walked, and
walked, and walked some more (or so it seemed. Actually, it was only 4
to 5 miles. We took a T to town, where we picked up the Freedom Trail
to make our way over to the North Side, where the Italian Quarter is
located, along with Old North Church, Copp's Hill Cemetery, etc. After
dining al fresco we crossed the Charles River to go over to the Bunker
Hill Monument on Breed's Hill (where the American Revolution began) and
through Charlestown before taking the T back to Jamaica Plain. It was a
fabulous way to spend Independence Day - in the birthplace of our
Independence.
While we were celebrating here, Jessica and Tom went to a 4th of July
Barbeque, Laureen went with a friend, Tiffany, to DC, planning to see
the fireworks there (we hear that there were "natural fireworks"
there instead, and Sunita spent the day in Rwanda. Sunita is supposed
to return from Africa on July 11,
according to her sister. Though we generally spend the 4th at the
Maynard Family Reunion in Preston, NY, we had a delightful day, and
were able to check in with each of our daughters.
Alice remains in Boston, hopefully to be of help when Simeon arrives.


In Christ,
Brown and Alice

Jesus is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song of gladness in the heart.
... Bernard of Clairvaux



And what might this noble Lord do of more worship and joy to me than to show me (that am so simple) this marvelous homeliness [i.e., naturalness and simplicity]? Thus it fareth with our Lord Jesus and with us. For truly it is the most joy that may be that He that is highest and mightiest, noblest and worthiest, is lowest and meekest, homeliest and most courteous: and truly this marvelous joy shall be shewn us all when we see Him.
... Juliana of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love

The Anesthesiologist Bill
Margie received a bill from the hospital for her recent surgery, and was astonished to see a $900 fee for the anesthesiologist. She called his office to demand an explanation.

"Is this some kind of mistake?" Margie asked when she got the doctor on the phone.

"No, not at all," the doctor said calmly.

"Well," said Margie, "that's awfully costly for knocking someone out."

"Not at all," replied the doctor. "I knock you out for free. The $900 is for bringing you back around."

Brown's Daily Word 7-2-07

Good Morning,

Atop the hill in Washington, D.C. stands the Capitol Building of the United States of America. The cornerstone was laid in 1793 but the crowning touch is the statue on top of the rotunda, known as the “Freedom Lady”, that was placed there in 1863. The Freedom Lady stands proudly nearly 20 feet tall atop the dome. A crest of stars frames her face.

A shield of Stars and Stripes is in her left hand. The Latin phrase “E Pluribus Unum,” meaning out of many one, is inscribed on her base. Sculpted in Rome, “the Lady” was brought to America aboard a sailing ship. During the trip across the Atlantic Ocean, a fierce storm developed. The Captain ordered cargo thrown overboard to lighten the load. The sailors wanted to throw the heavy statue overboard, but the captain refused, shouting over the wind, “No! Never! We’ll flounder before we throw ‘Freedom’ away.” And so, “Freedom” was saved, and the statue stands above the dome today, because one man stood for “Freedom.”

Just as our nation celebrates political independence and freedom on the fourth of July, we also celebrate religious independence in a land which was born largely out of a desire to worship God freely and according to one’s own conscious and convictions.

Several years ago, a pastor was asked to read a prayer before the state House in Kansas. His name is Pastor Joe Wright, the pastor at Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas. He has been severely criticized and maligned for his prayer.
"Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ’Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
"We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism; We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism; We have endorsed perversions and called it alternative lifestyles; We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery; We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation;We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare; We have killed our unborn and called it choice; We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
"We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem; We have abused power and called it political savvy; We have coveted our neighbors’ possessions and called it ambition; We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression; We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. I ask it in the name of Your Son, the Living Savior; Jesus Christ. Amen."

Let us remember once again to "proclaim liberty throughout the land", the liberty that comes from a walking, talking, living, breathing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Keep us in prayer today as Alice and I are driving out to Boston, leaving in just a few minutes. Keep praying for Janice, who will be having her baby "any day now", and for Sunita, who is in Rwanda for 10 days.

In Christ,
Brown