Good Morning,
It has been said that we dream every night – we just don’t always remember dreaming. Dreams can be a powerful thing. Many people have made great discoveries in their dreams; Joseph was such a person. He was a shepherd turned slave turned convict turned ruler. Joseph’s story can be divided up into 3 parts: His 17 years at home, his years of captivity in Egypt, and his years of ruling in Egypt. It is a fascinating and intricate story that goes from Genesis 37 to Genesis 46, (5) "And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. (6) And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: (7) for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. "
Joseph gave them more reason to hate him. The brothers had enough and they sought to rid themselves of this brother they had become extremely jealous of. They were going to kill him but, instead they sold him as a slave. Joseph was taken to Egypt, while the brothers went home to lie about Joseph’s ‘disappearance.’
Joseph then began a life in Egypt, first as a household servant, where he performed his duties so well that he rose to the top of the servant hierarchy, but he was sexually harassed and then wrongly accused of rape by his master’s wife which causes him to be unjustly thrown into prison.
Then, in prison, God was with him and he also flourished amazingly until he practically ran the prison. Then he met two of Pharaoh’s, servants, the cupbearer and the chief baker, both of whom had dreams and which they shared with Joseph. He correctly interpreted both dreams and asked to be remembered by the men when they were released back to the King. But he was forgotten for two years, until Pharaoh had a couple of dreams that no one could interpret.
At that time the cupbearer remembered Joseph, and Joseph was brought before Pharaoh, where he correctly interpreted Pharaoh's dreams as a forewarning about a coming famine and the need to stockpile food before the famine hit. Joseph became Pharaoh’s number two man in the entire nation and the head of the national Egyptian food bank. Then, when the famine hit,7 years later, Joseph found himself face to face with his brothers, over whom he then had the power to provide food (or not), and therefore he held power of life or death over them. He and his brothers were reconciled and his family was spared starvation.
This was the time in which Joseph’s dreams came true and where God’s purpose for his life came to fruition. It took many years and many trials and tribulations. Joseph’s dreams did not JUST come true; they come true through much persistence. Suffering, faith and tremendous determination and great righteousness and through the supernatural intervention of God.
I think that is the way God-given dreams come true – not instantaneously – not like the winning of the lottery – but there is refining, preparation, submitting, and transformation that precedes it.
Joseph’s dreams shaped him and propelled him. Dreams have a way of adding a special dimension to our lives. We eat, we drink, we work, we play, we sleep. The answer to that fundamental question, “is this all there is?” is NO! God often uses dreams to give us a picture of something we are unable to see, a picture of how God sees us and where God sees us . And so dreams can be like a beautiful prophetic picture that speaks to us from the future in the past and from the past about the future.
In Jesus,
Brown
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 1-16-08
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for the way He dispenses Joy to those who came to Him in humility and obedience. He bestows His Joy on those who seek to worship Him and serve Him, with their lives. The shepherds received Joy at the presence of Jesus. The Wise men received Joy at the sight of Jesus. In Nehemiah 8, we read, "The Joy of the Lord is my strength". Jesus is gives His Joy to those abide in Him.
Joy and happiness are not synonymous. Happiness is temporal; it is lasts only for a short moment in time. Joy is eternal. Happiness is fleeting; it passes swiftly. Joy is enduring. Happiness depends on circumstances. It usually revolves around luck or good fortune. Joy is rooted and grounded in Jesus and our personal, continuous relationship with Him. Joy is victorious over all circumstances; it is strengthened through trials. Happiness turns to depression, sadness, and sorrow when things do not go our way.
It was because His joy was rooted in Jesus that the Apostle Paul could testify in II Corinthians 7:4-7, “I am overjoyed in all our affliction. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way—disputes without and fears within. But God, Who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was consoled about you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.” Paul repeatedly suffered afflictions. Despite sleepless, restless nights, a worn out body, disputes with others, fears, and anxieties, he was filled with joy because his trust and confidence were grounded in His Lord who “consoles the downcast.”
That’s the joy the coming of Jesus brought to the shepherds; that same joy rooted and grounded in Jesus sustained Paul, and it is that same joy rooted and grounded in Jesus that will console you and me no matter what affliction we may face. This is the same joy that Paul witnessed in the lives of the Christians at Thessalonica when he commended them in I Thessalonians 1:6-7 by saying, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” The Thessalonian Christians remained joyful in the midst of persecution because they imitated the Lord Jesus. They looked to Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith who, as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, “. . .for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Then this same writer to the Hebrews reminds his readers in chapter ten, verses 32-34 to “recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.” In times of suffering, abuse, persecution, and plundering of our worldly possessions, we live in joy because in looking to Jesus we know that we “possess something better and more lasting.” The Holy Spirit focuses our hearts beyond our crosses to remember the glory that awaits us in heaven. He sets eternal joy before us, and we realize that all our sufferings are only momentary and fleeting; “they too shall pass.”
Tim Hansel is a Christian author who suffered a severe climbing accident in 1974. Many times since then doctors have given up hope for his continued survival, but Tim has kept looking to Jesus. He confidently asserts, “Happiness is a feeling. Joy is an attitude.” As we continue to look to Jesus, we do live not by the feeling of happiness but in the attitude of joy.
Dwight L. Moody also says it well, “Happiness is caused by things that happen around me, and circumstances will mar it; but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring the world can’t see and doesn’t know anything about. The Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to Him.” [SOURCE: Dwight Lyman Moody as quoted by Edythe Draper, Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 6529.] This is our key. Continuous joy is the result of our constant obedience to Jesus as Lord of our lives.
In Luke 2:20 we are reminded,, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” In Matthew 2:10 the similar joy the Magi experienced: “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” The shepherds returned to their daily routine “glorifying and praising God,” because they had found their source of joy, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“Glorifying and praising God” because we are “overjoyed” is the way God wants you and me to live each day in 2008 regardless of our situations, problems, circumstances, or trials that may come our way. Let the Holy Spirit conceive and nurture in you the attitude of joy. May the One Who left His throne in glory to be born in a humble stable and endured the cross, despising its shame strengthen you to live in His joy through times of persecution and opposition. As you keep looking to Him, the Holy Spirit will empower you to glorify and praise God regardless of the circumstances that may come your way, for “the joy of the Lord will always be your strength.”
In His Joy,
Brown
Prayer Needs:
Hi Pastor,
Once again I come asking to put Harvey on your prayer list. As you know he has been successfully treated for Bipolar Disorder for over a year how. However, its possible those meds that have managed this disorder have caused him to have seizures. It's going to take a while to sort all this out. He was in the hospital after collapsing at church Sunday but came home last night. He has to see a neurologist for an EEG and his doctors will be working to change his meds in an effort to manage this new issue.
I ask for prayer that God will guide the doctors as they go through this very tricky process.
God bless, Nancy
Pray For:
Jean W. recovering from knee surgery, Jack B, severe back pain , Jack H.,
Judy P. going in for surgery on Feb. 5. ( This is her 10th surgery). Kim S., mother of 4 young children - Scheduled mastectomy; Kristie , in Rehab; Allison B., in Attending University in Spain; Vin and Sherri R, who lost their house to the fire a few days ago; the family of Richard Babcock. ( Richard went to be with the Lord on the tenth of this month. He entered the Joy of His Master.
Continue to pray for the Christians who are facing severe persecution and violence in Orissa, India
Dear Friends,
Tomorrow at 5:30 am I will be setting out for Windhoek with two volunteers and seven children for medical work and school. We will be returning Muny and Milinga back to the school on the 16th or 17th where they attend the hearing impaired and we ask that this year they will be able to pick up more sign language so they will be more equip to excel in their academics.
Elisa is temporarily set-up for surgery for her eyes, Engela has had severe problems with her vision which includes that she is seeing things "through plastic or they get dark". Simeon has a cyst that is painful in his jaw and most probably will need to be removed. Lisedi has a very unusual tooth coming in and it will require an x-ray before deciding what to pull. Anna has some other problems which she needs to see a specialist about.
So, we could possibly have two surgeries four different doctors and take the boys to school as well as pick up many items while we are in the capital. Please pray for driving safety and wisdom for all the doctors and myself, Nancy and Jessica who will be helping out in this large endeavor.
In His Hands,
Rebecca ( Africa)
When was the last time you laughed for the sheer joy of your salvation? People are not attracted to somber doctrines. There is no persuasive power in a gloomy and morbid religion. Let the world see your joy and you won't be able to keep them away. To be filled with God is to be filled with joy.
Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's nothing more contradictory than an unenthusiastic Christian. The Bible tells us that God loves us so much, in fact, that God gave his only son so that all who believe in him will have everlasting life. Nothing not even death can separate us from God's love! If we really believe that, we can't help but overflow with joy!
Ronald Newhouse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the great blessings of church, for all of its imperfections, is the gift of a genuine laughter - a laughter shared and bequeathed to us by our perfect Father. This is a laughter that we will share in even greater measure when all the sorrow is gone and every tear is wiped from our eyes. One day, like the captives many years ago said, we too will sing, "We are like those who dream. Our mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. It is said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them.' Yes, the LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:2-3 - Phillip Ware
"The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance." Reflections on the Psalms
(Clive Staples) C. S. Lewis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is the consciousness of the threefold joy of the Lord, His joy in ransoming us, His joy in dwelling within us as our Saviour and Power for fruitbearing and His joy in possessing us, as His Bride and His delight; it is the consciousness of this joy which is our real strength. Our joy in Him may be a fluctuating thing: His joy in us knows no change.
James Hudson Taylor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where others see but the dawn coming over the hill, I see the soul of God shouting for joy.
William Blake
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love Thee for Thine own sake, whose joy Thou Thyself art. And this is the happy life, to rejoice to Thee, of Thee, for Thee; this it is, and there is no other.
Augustine
Praise the Lord for the way He dispenses Joy to those who came to Him in humility and obedience. He bestows His Joy on those who seek to worship Him and serve Him, with their lives. The shepherds received Joy at the presence of Jesus. The Wise men received Joy at the sight of Jesus. In Nehemiah 8, we read, "The Joy of the Lord is my strength". Jesus is gives His Joy to those abide in Him.
Joy and happiness are not synonymous. Happiness is temporal; it is lasts only for a short moment in time. Joy is eternal. Happiness is fleeting; it passes swiftly. Joy is enduring. Happiness depends on circumstances. It usually revolves around luck or good fortune. Joy is rooted and grounded in Jesus and our personal, continuous relationship with Him. Joy is victorious over all circumstances; it is strengthened through trials. Happiness turns to depression, sadness, and sorrow when things do not go our way.
It was because His joy was rooted in Jesus that the Apostle Paul could testify in II Corinthians 7:4-7, “I am overjoyed in all our affliction. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way—disputes without and fears within. But God, Who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was consoled about you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.” Paul repeatedly suffered afflictions. Despite sleepless, restless nights, a worn out body, disputes with others, fears, and anxieties, he was filled with joy because his trust and confidence were grounded in His Lord who “consoles the downcast.”
That’s the joy the coming of Jesus brought to the shepherds; that same joy rooted and grounded in Jesus sustained Paul, and it is that same joy rooted and grounded in Jesus that will console you and me no matter what affliction we may face. This is the same joy that Paul witnessed in the lives of the Christians at Thessalonica when he commended them in I Thessalonians 1:6-7 by saying, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” The Thessalonian Christians remained joyful in the midst of persecution because they imitated the Lord Jesus. They looked to Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith who, as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, “. . .for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Then this same writer to the Hebrews reminds his readers in chapter ten, verses 32-34 to “recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.” In times of suffering, abuse, persecution, and plundering of our worldly possessions, we live in joy because in looking to Jesus we know that we “possess something better and more lasting.” The Holy Spirit focuses our hearts beyond our crosses to remember the glory that awaits us in heaven. He sets eternal joy before us, and we realize that all our sufferings are only momentary and fleeting; “they too shall pass.”
Tim Hansel is a Christian author who suffered a severe climbing accident in 1974. Many times since then doctors have given up hope for his continued survival, but Tim has kept looking to Jesus. He confidently asserts, “Happiness is a feeling. Joy is an attitude.” As we continue to look to Jesus, we do live not by the feeling of happiness but in the attitude of joy.
Dwight L. Moody also says it well, “Happiness is caused by things that happen around me, and circumstances will mar it; but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring the world can’t see and doesn’t know anything about. The Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to Him.” [SOURCE: Dwight Lyman Moody as quoted by Edythe Draper, Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 6529.] This is our key. Continuous joy is the result of our constant obedience to Jesus as Lord of our lives.
In Luke 2:20 we are reminded,, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” In Matthew 2:10 the similar joy the Magi experienced: “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” The shepherds returned to their daily routine “glorifying and praising God,” because they had found their source of joy, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“Glorifying and praising God” because we are “overjoyed” is the way God wants you and me to live each day in 2008 regardless of our situations, problems, circumstances, or trials that may come our way. Let the Holy Spirit conceive and nurture in you the attitude of joy. May the One Who left His throne in glory to be born in a humble stable and endured the cross, despising its shame strengthen you to live in His joy through times of persecution and opposition. As you keep looking to Him, the Holy Spirit will empower you to glorify and praise God regardless of the circumstances that may come your way, for “the joy of the Lord will always be your strength.”
In His Joy,
Brown
Prayer Needs:
Hi Pastor,
Once again I come asking to put Harvey on your prayer list. As you know he has been successfully treated for Bipolar Disorder for over a year how. However, its possible those meds that have managed this disorder have caused him to have seizures. It's going to take a while to sort all this out. He was in the hospital after collapsing at church Sunday but came home last night. He has to see a neurologist for an EEG and his doctors will be working to change his meds in an effort to manage this new issue.
I ask for prayer that God will guide the doctors as they go through this very tricky process.
God bless, Nancy
Pray For:
Jean W. recovering from knee surgery, Jack B, severe back pain , Jack H.,
Judy P. going in for surgery on Feb. 5. ( This is her 10th surgery). Kim S., mother of 4 young children - Scheduled mastectomy; Kristie , in Rehab; Allison B., in Attending University in Spain; Vin and Sherri R, who lost their house to the fire a few days ago; the family of Richard Babcock. ( Richard went to be with the Lord on the tenth of this month. He entered the Joy of His Master.
Continue to pray for the Christians who are facing severe persecution and violence in Orissa, India
Dear Friends,
Tomorrow at 5:30 am I will be setting out for Windhoek with two volunteers and seven children for medical work and school. We will be returning Muny and Milinga back to the school on the 16th or 17th where they attend the hearing impaired and we ask that this year they will be able to pick up more sign language so they will be more equip to excel in their academics.
Elisa is temporarily set-up for surgery for her eyes, Engela has had severe problems with her vision which includes that she is seeing things "through plastic or they get dark". Simeon has a cyst that is painful in his jaw and most probably will need to be removed. Lisedi has a very unusual tooth coming in and it will require an x-ray before deciding what to pull. Anna has some other problems which she needs to see a specialist about.
So, we could possibly have two surgeries four different doctors and take the boys to school as well as pick up many items while we are in the capital. Please pray for driving safety and wisdom for all the doctors and myself, Nancy and Jessica who will be helping out in this large endeavor.
In His Hands,
Rebecca ( Africa)
When was the last time you laughed for the sheer joy of your salvation? People are not attracted to somber doctrines. There is no persuasive power in a gloomy and morbid religion. Let the world see your joy and you won't be able to keep them away. To be filled with God is to be filled with joy.
Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's nothing more contradictory than an unenthusiastic Christian. The Bible tells us that God loves us so much, in fact, that God gave his only son so that all who believe in him will have everlasting life. Nothing not even death can separate us from God's love! If we really believe that, we can't help but overflow with joy!
Ronald Newhouse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the great blessings of church, for all of its imperfections, is the gift of a genuine laughter - a laughter shared and bequeathed to us by our perfect Father. This is a laughter that we will share in even greater measure when all the sorrow is gone and every tear is wiped from our eyes. One day, like the captives many years ago said, we too will sing, "We are like those who dream. Our mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. It is said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them.' Yes, the LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:2-3 - Phillip Ware
"The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance." Reflections on the Psalms
(Clive Staples) C. S. Lewis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is the consciousness of the threefold joy of the Lord, His joy in ransoming us, His joy in dwelling within us as our Saviour and Power for fruitbearing and His joy in possessing us, as His Bride and His delight; it is the consciousness of this joy which is our real strength. Our joy in Him may be a fluctuating thing: His joy in us knows no change.
James Hudson Taylor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where others see but the dawn coming over the hill, I see the soul of God shouting for joy.
William Blake
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love Thee for Thine own sake, whose joy Thou Thyself art. And this is the happy life, to rejoice to Thee, of Thee, for Thee; this it is, and there is no other.
Augustine
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 1-15-08
Good Morning,
One of my favorite hymns is, “How Great Thou Art.” In it we sing about some of the sublime features of God’s creation. We sing of worlds, of stars, and of rolling thunder; of woods and forest glades and the sweet singing of birds; of lofty mountains grandeur, of the sound of the brook, and the feel of gentle breezes. We praise and adore God because of the greatness of God implied in these things.
The theme of this hymn is a biblical theme. There is a theme in Scripture, that the natural world displays the majesty and glory of God who created it.
In Psalm 29 we see the majesty of God in his natural works, and we exclaim, “How Great Thou Art!”. This Psalm focuses on the Storm -- the “rolling thunder” of the beloved hymn. Seven times the Psalm speaks of “the voice of the Lord.” The Psalmist hears the voice of his God in the thunder and lightning of a mighty storm.
This is not the only place in the Old Testament where thunder is called “the voice of the Lord.” In Exodus 9:28, where Pharaoh says, “Enough of God’s thunder and hail,” what is translated “God’s thunder” literally says, “Voices of God.” “No more Voices of God!” Pharaoh says. The Psalmist is well-aware of how the heathen view the storm. So he takes the storm away from their gods, and gives it back to the One who truly made it. It is not Baal but it is the voice of Yahweh the Lord of Israel, the one and only God, that sounds forth in the storm.
In our day and age we do not tend to see any natural event as directly caused by God. We emphasize the natural causes of things. Some people draw the conclusion that to understand the workings of nature is to rule God out. It is better, however, to see the dual cause of these things -- the natural causes, but also the spiritual, divine cause, which is the ultimate cause explaining how things began and how they continue to exist. God remains the ultimate cause of all things.
In Psalm 29 we are moved to hear God’s voice in the thunder. If we will do that, we will be able to appreciate something about God that tends to be de-emphasized in popular religion. We will appreciate the majesty of God, or, as the Psalm says, God’s Glory. When we speak of the majesty of God, we mean the greatness of God. We mean the yawning gulf that lies between his greatness and our smallness. The voice of a human compared with the voice of thunder, gives us an illustration of the difference between human beings and their Creator. The tendency of popular religion, however, is to de-emphasize God’s majesty, and emphasize God’s closeness. People like to think of God as a friend always at their side, with whom they can talk in a familiar way, but the danger is that of forgetting the majesty of God, and making him too much like ourselves. The danger is that God becomes something too small to solve our problems, and unworthy of the time spent in praise and adoration. Our faith becomes weak, and our worship lifeless.
This Psalm reminds us that, however available God has made himself to us because of the work of Jesus his Son, God is not like us. He is eternal, infinite, and almighty. He is to us like thunder. What happens when we are in the presence of thunder? There is an awe that comes over us, before this terrible display of nature’s power.
If you think about it, there are two sides to our response to the voice of thunder. First, there is fear. We sense the power to destroy that is there. In the Psalm, he speaks of the lightning splintering the great cedars of Lebanon, snapping them like toothpicks, but there is something else besides fear and trembling. There is also a fascination, even a joy, that we have been in the presence of something so rare and terrible and beautiful. In the Psalm he speaks of the mountains being made to skip about like colts in a pasture.
The Psalm praises the voice of God. Surely, it is easy for us to feel the majesty of God’s voice, when we hear it in a great clap of thunder. The scriptures speak, however, of a time when, once again, we will hear the voice of God, directly and without mediation. We will hear the voice of Christ calling to the dead, “Come forth,” and they will all come. We will hear his voice from the throne of judgment, saying to us either, “Depart from me,” or, “Enter in to the joys of your Lord.” The book of Revelation says that we will hear a voice from God’s throne, which proclaims the dawn of the new eternal day: “Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” (Rev 21:1-4). If it is an experience to hear the voice of God in a thunder clap, what kind of experience will it be to hear his voice, welcoming us to eternity. These are the ways God’s voice has come in the past, comes in the present, and will come in the future.
Sometimes it comes to us in a gentle, didactic tone. It reasons with gentle persuasion. It pleads with loving interest. It gently guides us, as a father might speak to his daughter or son. Sometimes, it comes in a sweet, consoling tone. God is called, “The God of all comfort,” and his voice can comfort us when we need it most. He encourages, he consoles, and he promises. He says what we need to hear to help us through the hour of trial. Then again, at other times, the voice is heavy and hard, reproving us when we are stubborn, commanding us when we are disobedient.
God’s voice might be soft or hard, gentle or jarring, consoling or commanding. But whatever the tone of his voice, we cannot help but be grabbed by it, even as thunder might grab us. When thunder comes, everything else falls silent in comparison. There is no other thought in our minds but of this majestic outburst of nature that we have witnessed. When God speaks, in whatever tone, everything in us must fall silent, every objection, every rationalization. We tremble in fear, we rejoice in amazement, but we also listen and obey.
Psalm 29, moves us to listen to the thunder of a storm, and hear the voice of God. It moves us to appreciate the majesty of God, the wide gulf that lies between his greatness and our smallness. It also focuses our attention on the majesty of his voice, which remains just as majestic wherever and however it may speak.
Jesus Christ, as the Word, is the very voice of God embodied. It is clear, then, how this Psalm of the voice of God preaches Christ to us. We are moved to put the words "Jesus Christ" in the Psalm, wherever it says "the Voice of the Lord."
There was a sound from heaven like the rushing mighty wind of a storm. There were flames of fire, shining like lighting, on the heads of men. In this way the reign of God’s Messiah was announced and the gospel was first preached. The words of the Psalm were proclaimed, “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as a king forever.”
Christ Jesus thunders from heaven still, in greater ways even than he did while on earth. The Voice of the Lord, Jesus Christ, still sweeps over the earth. It spoke to Saul of Tarsus, and struck him down. He was hit by God’s lightning, and he was changed forever. John heard the voice too, speaking with the sound of mighty waters, exhorting the churches to be faithful in their tribulations.
So, then, let’s hear this too from the Psalm. Let’s appreciate the voice of thunder, the reality of the glory of our living Lord Jesus. Here is a thunder that still rumbles and flames in the earth, striking everywhere, even in our own lives, changing forever the hearts of men and women. When we see and hear a great storm, with its mighty clouds, its terrible thundering and lightning, its sweeping rain and hail, we are naturally terrified and amazed. When a great bolt of lightning strikes nearby, followed closely by an explosion of thunder, we are struck dumb before it. If this is how we are before thunder, how should we before God?
These majestic forces of nature are symbols of the majesty of God. If we cower in fear or rejoice in fascination at the thunder, how much more should we do so when the voice of God speaks!
In His Grace,
Brown
Click here to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcF75h4BHk8
One of my favorite hymns is, “How Great Thou Art.” In it we sing about some of the sublime features of God’s creation. We sing of worlds, of stars, and of rolling thunder; of woods and forest glades and the sweet singing of birds; of lofty mountains grandeur, of the sound of the brook, and the feel of gentle breezes. We praise and adore God because of the greatness of God implied in these things.
The theme of this hymn is a biblical theme. There is a theme in Scripture, that the natural world displays the majesty and glory of God who created it.
In Psalm 29 we see the majesty of God in his natural works, and we exclaim, “How Great Thou Art!”. This Psalm focuses on the Storm -- the “rolling thunder” of the beloved hymn. Seven times the Psalm speaks of “the voice of the Lord.” The Psalmist hears the voice of his God in the thunder and lightning of a mighty storm.
This is not the only place in the Old Testament where thunder is called “the voice of the Lord.” In Exodus 9:28, where Pharaoh says, “Enough of God’s thunder and hail,” what is translated “God’s thunder” literally says, “Voices of God.” “No more Voices of God!” Pharaoh says. The Psalmist is well-aware of how the heathen view the storm. So he takes the storm away from their gods, and gives it back to the One who truly made it. It is not Baal but it is the voice of Yahweh the Lord of Israel, the one and only God, that sounds forth in the storm.
In our day and age we do not tend to see any natural event as directly caused by God. We emphasize the natural causes of things. Some people draw the conclusion that to understand the workings of nature is to rule God out. It is better, however, to see the dual cause of these things -- the natural causes, but also the spiritual, divine cause, which is the ultimate cause explaining how things began and how they continue to exist. God remains the ultimate cause of all things.
In Psalm 29 we are moved to hear God’s voice in the thunder. If we will do that, we will be able to appreciate something about God that tends to be de-emphasized in popular religion. We will appreciate the majesty of God, or, as the Psalm says, God’s Glory. When we speak of the majesty of God, we mean the greatness of God. We mean the yawning gulf that lies between his greatness and our smallness. The voice of a human compared with the voice of thunder, gives us an illustration of the difference between human beings and their Creator. The tendency of popular religion, however, is to de-emphasize God’s majesty, and emphasize God’s closeness. People like to think of God as a friend always at their side, with whom they can talk in a familiar way, but the danger is that of forgetting the majesty of God, and making him too much like ourselves. The danger is that God becomes something too small to solve our problems, and unworthy of the time spent in praise and adoration. Our faith becomes weak, and our worship lifeless.
This Psalm reminds us that, however available God has made himself to us because of the work of Jesus his Son, God is not like us. He is eternal, infinite, and almighty. He is to us like thunder. What happens when we are in the presence of thunder? There is an awe that comes over us, before this terrible display of nature’s power.
If you think about it, there are two sides to our response to the voice of thunder. First, there is fear. We sense the power to destroy that is there. In the Psalm, he speaks of the lightning splintering the great cedars of Lebanon, snapping them like toothpicks, but there is something else besides fear and trembling. There is also a fascination, even a joy, that we have been in the presence of something so rare and terrible and beautiful. In the Psalm he speaks of the mountains being made to skip about like colts in a pasture.
The Psalm praises the voice of God. Surely, it is easy for us to feel the majesty of God’s voice, when we hear it in a great clap of thunder. The scriptures speak, however, of a time when, once again, we will hear the voice of God, directly and without mediation. We will hear the voice of Christ calling to the dead, “Come forth,” and they will all come. We will hear his voice from the throne of judgment, saying to us either, “Depart from me,” or, “Enter in to the joys of your Lord.” The book of Revelation says that we will hear a voice from God’s throne, which proclaims the dawn of the new eternal day: “Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” (Rev 21:1-4). If it is an experience to hear the voice of God in a thunder clap, what kind of experience will it be to hear his voice, welcoming us to eternity. These are the ways God’s voice has come in the past, comes in the present, and will come in the future.
Sometimes it comes to us in a gentle, didactic tone. It reasons with gentle persuasion. It pleads with loving interest. It gently guides us, as a father might speak to his daughter or son. Sometimes, it comes in a sweet, consoling tone. God is called, “The God of all comfort,” and his voice can comfort us when we need it most. He encourages, he consoles, and he promises. He says what we need to hear to help us through the hour of trial. Then again, at other times, the voice is heavy and hard, reproving us when we are stubborn, commanding us when we are disobedient.
God’s voice might be soft or hard, gentle or jarring, consoling or commanding. But whatever the tone of his voice, we cannot help but be grabbed by it, even as thunder might grab us. When thunder comes, everything else falls silent in comparison. There is no other thought in our minds but of this majestic outburst of nature that we have witnessed. When God speaks, in whatever tone, everything in us must fall silent, every objection, every rationalization. We tremble in fear, we rejoice in amazement, but we also listen and obey.
Psalm 29, moves us to listen to the thunder of a storm, and hear the voice of God. It moves us to appreciate the majesty of God, the wide gulf that lies between his greatness and our smallness. It also focuses our attention on the majesty of his voice, which remains just as majestic wherever and however it may speak.
Jesus Christ, as the Word, is the very voice of God embodied. It is clear, then, how this Psalm of the voice of God preaches Christ to us. We are moved to put the words "Jesus Christ" in the Psalm, wherever it says "the Voice of the Lord."
There was a sound from heaven like the rushing mighty wind of a storm. There were flames of fire, shining like lighting, on the heads of men. In this way the reign of God’s Messiah was announced and the gospel was first preached. The words of the Psalm were proclaimed, “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as a king forever.”
Christ Jesus thunders from heaven still, in greater ways even than he did while on earth. The Voice of the Lord, Jesus Christ, still sweeps over the earth. It spoke to Saul of Tarsus, and struck him down. He was hit by God’s lightning, and he was changed forever. John heard the voice too, speaking with the sound of mighty waters, exhorting the churches to be faithful in their tribulations.
So, then, let’s hear this too from the Psalm. Let’s appreciate the voice of thunder, the reality of the glory of our living Lord Jesus. Here is a thunder that still rumbles and flames in the earth, striking everywhere, even in our own lives, changing forever the hearts of men and women. When we see and hear a great storm, with its mighty clouds, its terrible thundering and lightning, its sweeping rain and hail, we are naturally terrified and amazed. When a great bolt of lightning strikes nearby, followed closely by an explosion of thunder, we are struck dumb before it. If this is how we are before thunder, how should we before God?
These majestic forces of nature are symbols of the majesty of God. If we cower in fear or rejoice in fascination at the thunder, how much more should we do so when the voice of God speaks!
In His Grace,
Brown
Click here to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcF75h4BHk8
Brown's Special Request
Dear Friends,
Greetings to you all in our Savior's name. We have been receiving tragic news about the persecution of Christians by militant Hindus in the State of Orissa, India. It all started on Christmas Eve, and has continued beyond Christmas, causing widespread damage, destruction, and death. I am enclosing once again a report on the damage and destruction to churches, Christian institutions, and homes belonging to Christians.
We would like to invite you to share in caring for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted and who are in need of our prayerful support. We would like to send some monetary support to Orissa that could help rebuild churches and homes. Please consider prayerfully participating in caring and sharing. If you are led by the Lord to participate in this ministry of sharing, caring, and rebuilding, you can send any amount. Make your checks payable to the Union Center UMC, Memo - Orissa Project.
You can send your checks to: Union Center Unite Methodist Church.
128 Maple Drive
Endicott, NY 13760
From
Bishop B.N. Nayak
Vill:- Kumbharkupa
P/o:- Mallikapodi
Via:- G.Udayagiri
Dist:- Kandhamal, ORISSA , INDIA, 762100
Sub:- Prayer request for recent persecution in Kandhamal District.
Dear Prayer partners,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who came to save us. With great burden and heavy heart and tears I am writing this letter. When whole world was planning to celebrate Christmas. We were in Kandhamal also planned to celebrate birth of our Lord. But on 24 December 2007 thousand of forces of evil came to our Church and burnt, damaged Church Buildings, broken the crosses, burnt chair, pulpits, sound equipment, computer, motorcycles and beaten the people and two people are killed, some pastors evangelists are terrorized and saved their heads and asked them deny Jesus or face death at the point of sword and gun point they have burnt the houses. Christian have left their houses and hiding in jungles with one single clothe on their bodies. Man and women, children with out food, shelter spend Christmas in bitter cold. I personal visited the villages and found the Churches were set on fire completely destroyed and we are living in state of fear. I can not afride to type and send this email in now Christian people facilities. We donot feel safe to travel hiring vehicle of non-Christian people. I cannot describe our state mind. Please pray for us. Prayer can change persons, change things. If you have moved with compassion, prayerfully you can help us.
Our needs-
1- 50 Churches are damaged- to be rebuilt.
2- Nearly 5000 people have lost their houses, need clothing,cooking, utensils, warm clothes. Adopt some families
3- Computer to send email to different places.
4- Vehicle for transporting relief materials.
First and last prayer, prayer and prayer.
With loving Christian greetings
Bishop B.N. Nayak
Churches Continue to Burn in Orissa
Churches continue to burn in Orissa inspite of curfew being imposed in different places, we receive many phone calls about the violence which is given below:
• Situation in Barkhama village of Baliguda block is alarming. The fundamentalist group ransacked the village, broke two churches and looted the properties of the poor villagers and torched the houses of the new believers. The force was so tremendous that all the villages including women and children had to flee from the village to save their lives and now hiding themselves in the forest. Latest information received from the Bishop of Phulbani reveals that three dead bodies of Christians are lying un-attended. This has not been carried in any of the newspapers so far.
• Many Christian NGOs, Institutions including the homes and hostels have been attacked and looted. Mostly these institutions are Catholic run institutions. Due to blockage of road by the activists, neither the media person, nor the Church leaders are able to reach at the spot. There could be much more information from rural churches, which has not reached us so far, due to communication obstructions.
• So far 23 churches have been damaged as per the report received till 12 Noon. The damage caused on 26 th December' 07 are to the following 9 churches:
A) Barkhuma Area of Baliguda Block – 2 Churches
B) Rutungia Area of Baliguda Block - 4 Churches
C) Dolgaon Area of Baliguda Block – 1 Church
D) Irpiguda Area of Baliguda Block – 1 Church
E) Kalinga Area of Udayagiri Block – 1 Church
The Arch Bishop of Catholic Dioceses of Orissa, Bishop of Diocese of Cuttack, and all other Church leaders have been trying frantically to take an appointment from the Chief Minister to discuss about the situation. However the CM's office have deliberately failed so far to fix up a date and time with the CM for a discussion of Orissa Church leaders.
However the situation in Udaygiri is coming towards normalcy.
All Church leaders of Orissa, had a meeting in the office of the Arch Bishop of Catholic Dioceses of Orissa at Bhubaneswar, today at 10:00 a.m. It has been decided that steps be taken to meet the C.M to ventilate the grievances. A fresh memorandum has been drafted with the following demands:
A) Initiation of a C.B.I enquiry into the incident.
B) Central Police Forces must be deployed immediately as the local police has failed to prevent the communal riot inspite of getting early information.
C) Proper assessments be made for the loss of property and lives of the victims of the Christian community in the affected area and proper compensation be paid to them as early as possible.
D) Exemplary action to be taken against the Government officials, for their lapses, negligence and in action to prevent and control such situation.
E) A fact finding committee consisting of Church leaders will visit the violence sites in order to bring peace in the locality and also to take a stack of the situation.
We request all of you to uphold the situation in your prayer and especially for the women and children, who are taking shelter in Jungles without food.
In Delhi a Peace Dharna is organised from 4 to 6 p.m at Orissa Bhavan.
Please pray for Orissa and intervene to bring normalcy.
Please write or fax to the below mentioned addresses to express your concern:
HON'BLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA
SMT. PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL
President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi - 110 004
Fax : +91-011-23017290/ 011-23017824
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Room No 152, South Block,
New Delhi - 110 001
Ph: +91-011-23012312/ 011-23013149/ 011-23019545
Fax: +91-011-23018939
Shri Navin Patnaik
Chief Minister of Orissa
Naveen Nivas, Aerodrome Road,
P.O. Bhubaneswar
Distt. Khurda, Pin - 751 001 (Orissa)
E-mail cmo@ori.nic.in
Office Phone 0674-2531100/2535100/2531500
Office Fax: 0674-2400100
Rev. Dr. Richard Howell
General Secretary
Evangelical Fellowship of India
New Delhi, India
Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical Alliance, an accredited NGO with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
EFI Press Release
Memorandum Submitted to the Chief Minister of Orissa
Shri Naveen Patnaik
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Orissa
Bhubaneswar
Dear Sir,
We, the leaders and representatives of different Churches of Orissa would like to bring to your kind notice, the atrocities committed against the Christians in Kandhamal District and other places of the state of Orissa.
The trouble began on 24th December at 8.00 a.m. at Bamunigam village, close to the police station under Daringibadi Block of Kandhamal District. Some Hindu Fundamentalists forcefully removed the Christmas decoration, which the Ambedkar Baniko Sangho comprising the local Christian entrepreneurs, had put up as a preparation for Christmas, with the due permission of the administration. This was followed by exchange of hot words between two groups, as the Fundamentalists insisted to stop Christmas celebrations. Within a few minutes a group of people who were stationed close by pounced on the members of Ambedkar Baniko Sangho with sticks, knives and other lethal weapons like guns.
Seeing the crowd coming to attack the people dispersed out of fear. The Fundamentalists began to destroy the shops of Christians. About fifteen shops have been destroyed and looted. They also shot at by guns Christian community badly injuring two of them. They also destroyed about fifteen shops belonging to the Christians and looted the property available. Six seven members of Ambedkar Boniko Sango were beaten up by the mob.
On the second day, 25th December, the crowd came back and destroyed the Churches in Bamunigam area. Then they entered the Christian villages and burnt their houses and property. They were also threatened to leave their places.
The parish church and the Christians are under threat without any police security.
Attack on Balliguda Parish
On the same day, 24th December evening much larger crowd (400to 500) marched into Balliguda town parish and damaged and ransacked the Church building, residence of priest, convents and institutions and looted the property. By 10.00 p.m. the following institutions were destroyed and burned (some fully, others partly). The large parish church, presbytery, convent, computer room, dispensary plus +2 student’s hostel, etc.
The same crowd moved into the town and completely burned down the church belonged to the Baptist Christians. They also attacked another church belonging to the Pentecostal Christians.
On 25th December they were moving around menacingly threatening the priests and Christians so that they were not even able to file an FIR. The situation is desperate and there is total fear and anxiety among Christians.
Two constables asked the priests of Phulbani parish to have no celebration otherwise there will be more troubles. On 25th December, the convent in Phulbani was also attacked by a group of Fundamentalists. They destroyed everything possible from outside of the convent (door, window glasses, etc.) They also destroyed a new school bus.
On 25th December the priests and sisters in Pobingia parish were advised to move out to a safer place which they did. And thereafter at 12.00 noon a group of Bajrandal people attacked the church of Pobingia parish and destroyed it. There after they destroyed the priest’s residence in the afternoon. All these happened in the presence of police with impunity. More than half of 24 parishes in Kandhamal District could not celebrate Christmas mass because of fear of attack
In Bhubaneswar
During midnight Mass on 24th December, someone threw a bomb on Archbishop’s House, Bhubaneswar. Though it exploded fortunately no damage took place.
Our Fears
1. Even though the Government have been assuring us all protection the fundamentalists are moving about with lethal weapons threatening the Christians.
2. The fundamentalists go on their destructive activities even in the presence of the police force who often say that they are not enough to face such a crowd. The destruction goes on unabated.
3. The Christians who are already attacked and those who are in great fear of being attacked feel with sufficient reason that they are left to the mercy of the fundamentalists.
4. We don’t see any where sufficient number of police force, the senior police officers who deputed to the Kandhamal District for maintenance of law and order have expressed their inability to contain the situation in absence of adequate force.
5. The Fundamentalists are forcing the Christians to leave their homes and take refuge in the forest.
INSTITUTIONS ATTACKED SO FAR
PARISH CHURCH VILLAGE CHURCHES
Balliguda Bodagan-Balliguda
Balliguda town
Kamapada – Balliuda
Pobingia Mandipanka- Godapur
Baminigam Jhinjirguda- Bamunigam
Ulipadaro – Bamunigam
Goborkutty-Kattingia
Kulpakia- Nuagam
Dohapanga-Balliguda
4 village Churches - Nuagam
3 more village church
Bakingia ( Raikia )
Boriguda ( Padangi )
CONVENTS PRESBYTERY
Balliguda Balliguda
Pobingia Pobingia
Phulbani Bamunigam
Sankharkhole Padangi
Bamunigam
HOSTELS
Pobingia 2
Balliguda 2
Bamunigam 2
Minor Seminary (Balliguda)
Vocational Training Centre (Balliguda)
Sarshnanda (Pobingia)
Barakhama, 400 houses are gutted, five people murdered, property looted, one tractor burnt. Sirtiguda ( Balliguda) 7 Churches, 4 Churches in Phiringia, Phulbani Block 7 Churches, Ruthungia 4 Churches, Kallingia 3 chruches, Dalagam one church, Irpiguda one, Tikabali two IA Churches.
Kui Janakalyan Samiti
This organization had declared bandh on 25th and 26th December 2007 in order to press for their alleged demands. But it was only a ploy to prevent the celebration and attack the Christians and their churches and institutions. But their real purpose was to:
a) Disturb their Christmas celebration, the important feast of Christians; it is even a National holiday.
b) Instead of conducting bandh they have unleashed a reign of terror, destroying institutions, intimidating Christians and forcing them to go out of their homes.
c) Their entire attention is on driving away Christians from the region. It is evident from the slogan they are shouting at Christians.
Most of the priests, pastors and religious sisters in Kandhamal District have taken shelter in the forest. In fact the fundamentalists are in search of finding their hide-outs.
All these happened during last three days. We are in receipt of information from various churches and institutions that the miscreants are still active and the destruction of property is still going on and Christians are under attack. On the other hand the innocent Christians are apprehended and Christian officials are victimized in order to appease the Fundamentalists.
In view of the facts stated above we demand the followings:
1. That a CBI inquiry may be ordered for proper and impartial investigation for justice.
2. That Central Para Military forces be deployed in adequate strength at all the affected and sensitive places to prevent any further recurrences as the local police has not been able to control the situation.
3. That impartial and proper assessment of the property damaged, caused to various Churches, Christian institutions and other establishments may be made and adequate compensation be provided as early as possible to restore confidence of the people in the administration.
4. That proper compensation be given to the deceased family and injured persons.
5. That the culprits responsible for creating communal disharmony and caused damage to people and properties should be severely dealt with and the Govt. officials be given exemplary punishments for their gross negligence, inaction, apathy amounting to connivance with the perpetrators
6. A Fact Finding Committee consisting of various Church leaders and representatives proposed to visit various affected sites and personnel of the Kandhamal District and other affected places of the state to take stock of the situation and to console the victims and families. Therefore, we request to provide police protection to the team during their visit.
Yours sincerely,
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath,
SVD Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak
Bishop Samsan Das
Rev. Dr. Richard Howell
General Secretary
Evangelical Fellowship of India
New Delhi, India
Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical Alliance, an accredited NGO with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
Greetings to you all in our Savior's name. We have been receiving tragic news about the persecution of Christians by militant Hindus in the State of Orissa, India. It all started on Christmas Eve, and has continued beyond Christmas, causing widespread damage, destruction, and death. I am enclosing once again a report on the damage and destruction to churches, Christian institutions, and homes belonging to Christians.
We would like to invite you to share in caring for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted and who are in need of our prayerful support. We would like to send some monetary support to Orissa that could help rebuild churches and homes. Please consider prayerfully participating in caring and sharing. If you are led by the Lord to participate in this ministry of sharing, caring, and rebuilding, you can send any amount. Make your checks payable to the Union Center UMC, Memo - Orissa Project.
You can send your checks to: Union Center Unite Methodist Church.
128 Maple Drive
Endicott, NY 13760
From
Bishop B.N. Nayak
Vill:- Kumbharkupa
P/o:- Mallikapodi
Via:- G.Udayagiri
Dist:- Kandhamal, ORISSA , INDIA, 762100
Sub:- Prayer request for recent persecution in Kandhamal District.
Dear Prayer partners,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who came to save us. With great burden and heavy heart and tears I am writing this letter. When whole world was planning to celebrate Christmas. We were in Kandhamal also planned to celebrate birth of our Lord. But on 24 December 2007 thousand of forces of evil came to our Church and burnt, damaged Church Buildings, broken the crosses, burnt chair, pulpits, sound equipment, computer, motorcycles and beaten the people and two people are killed, some pastors evangelists are terrorized and saved their heads and asked them deny Jesus or face death at the point of sword and gun point they have burnt the houses. Christian have left their houses and hiding in jungles with one single clothe on their bodies. Man and women, children with out food, shelter spend Christmas in bitter cold. I personal visited the villages and found the Churches were set on fire completely destroyed and we are living in state of fear. I can not afride to type and send this email in now Christian people facilities. We donot feel safe to travel hiring vehicle of non-Christian people. I cannot describe our state mind. Please pray for us. Prayer can change persons, change things. If you have moved with compassion, prayerfully you can help us.
Our needs-
1- 50 Churches are damaged- to be rebuilt.
2- Nearly 5000 people have lost their houses, need clothing,cooking, utensils, warm clothes. Adopt some families
3- Computer to send email to different places.
4- Vehicle for transporting relief materials.
First and last prayer, prayer and prayer.
With loving Christian greetings
Bishop B.N. Nayak
Churches Continue to Burn in Orissa
Churches continue to burn in Orissa inspite of curfew being imposed in different places, we receive many phone calls about the violence which is given below:
• Situation in Barkhama village of Baliguda block is alarming. The fundamentalist group ransacked the village, broke two churches and looted the properties of the poor villagers and torched the houses of the new believers. The force was so tremendous that all the villages including women and children had to flee from the village to save their lives and now hiding themselves in the forest. Latest information received from the Bishop of Phulbani reveals that three dead bodies of Christians are lying un-attended. This has not been carried in any of the newspapers so far.
• Many Christian NGOs, Institutions including the homes and hostels have been attacked and looted. Mostly these institutions are Catholic run institutions. Due to blockage of road by the activists, neither the media person, nor the Church leaders are able to reach at the spot. There could be much more information from rural churches, which has not reached us so far, due to communication obstructions.
• So far 23 churches have been damaged as per the report received till 12 Noon. The damage caused on 26 th December' 07 are to the following 9 churches:
A) Barkhuma Area of Baliguda Block – 2 Churches
B) Rutungia Area of Baliguda Block - 4 Churches
C) Dolgaon Area of Baliguda Block – 1 Church
D) Irpiguda Area of Baliguda Block – 1 Church
E) Kalinga Area of Udayagiri Block – 1 Church
The Arch Bishop of Catholic Dioceses of Orissa, Bishop of Diocese of Cuttack, and all other Church leaders have been trying frantically to take an appointment from the Chief Minister to discuss about the situation. However the CM's office have deliberately failed so far to fix up a date and time with the CM for a discussion of Orissa Church leaders.
However the situation in Udaygiri is coming towards normalcy.
All Church leaders of Orissa, had a meeting in the office of the Arch Bishop of Catholic Dioceses of Orissa at Bhubaneswar, today at 10:00 a.m. It has been decided that steps be taken to meet the C.M to ventilate the grievances. A fresh memorandum has been drafted with the following demands:
A) Initiation of a C.B.I enquiry into the incident.
B) Central Police Forces must be deployed immediately as the local police has failed to prevent the communal riot inspite of getting early information.
C) Proper assessments be made for the loss of property and lives of the victims of the Christian community in the affected area and proper compensation be paid to them as early as possible.
D) Exemplary action to be taken against the Government officials, for their lapses, negligence and in action to prevent and control such situation.
E) A fact finding committee consisting of Church leaders will visit the violence sites in order to bring peace in the locality and also to take a stack of the situation.
We request all of you to uphold the situation in your prayer and especially for the women and children, who are taking shelter in Jungles without food.
In Delhi a Peace Dharna is organised from 4 to 6 p.m at Orissa Bhavan.
Please pray for Orissa and intervene to bring normalcy.
Please write or fax to the below mentioned addresses to express your concern:
HON'BLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA
SMT. PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL
President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi - 110 004
Fax : +91-011-23017290/ 011-23017824
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Room No 152, South Block,
New Delhi - 110 001
Ph: +91-011-23012312/ 011-23013149/ 011-23019545
Fax: +91-011-23018939
Shri Navin Patnaik
Chief Minister of Orissa
Naveen Nivas, Aerodrome Road,
P.O. Bhubaneswar
Distt. Khurda, Pin - 751 001 (Orissa)
E-mail cmo@ori.nic.in
Office Phone 0674-2531100/2535100/2531500
Office Fax: 0674-2400100
Rev. Dr. Richard Howell
General Secretary
Evangelical Fellowship of India
New Delhi, India
Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical Alliance, an accredited NGO with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
EFI Press Release
Memorandum Submitted to the Chief Minister of Orissa
Shri Naveen Patnaik
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Orissa
Bhubaneswar
Dear Sir,
We, the leaders and representatives of different Churches of Orissa would like to bring to your kind notice, the atrocities committed against the Christians in Kandhamal District and other places of the state of Orissa.
The trouble began on 24th December at 8.00 a.m. at Bamunigam village, close to the police station under Daringibadi Block of Kandhamal District. Some Hindu Fundamentalists forcefully removed the Christmas decoration, which the Ambedkar Baniko Sangho comprising the local Christian entrepreneurs, had put up as a preparation for Christmas, with the due permission of the administration. This was followed by exchange of hot words between two groups, as the Fundamentalists insisted to stop Christmas celebrations. Within a few minutes a group of people who were stationed close by pounced on the members of Ambedkar Baniko Sangho with sticks, knives and other lethal weapons like guns.
Seeing the crowd coming to attack the people dispersed out of fear. The Fundamentalists began to destroy the shops of Christians. About fifteen shops have been destroyed and looted. They also shot at by guns Christian community badly injuring two of them. They also destroyed about fifteen shops belonging to the Christians and looted the property available. Six seven members of Ambedkar Boniko Sango were beaten up by the mob.
On the second day, 25th December, the crowd came back and destroyed the Churches in Bamunigam area. Then they entered the Christian villages and burnt their houses and property. They were also threatened to leave their places.
The parish church and the Christians are under threat without any police security.
Attack on Balliguda Parish
On the same day, 24th December evening much larger crowd (400to 500) marched into Balliguda town parish and damaged and ransacked the Church building, residence of priest, convents and institutions and looted the property. By 10.00 p.m. the following institutions were destroyed and burned (some fully, others partly). The large parish church, presbytery, convent, computer room, dispensary plus +2 student’s hostel, etc.
The same crowd moved into the town and completely burned down the church belonged to the Baptist Christians. They also attacked another church belonging to the Pentecostal Christians.
On 25th December they were moving around menacingly threatening the priests and Christians so that they were not even able to file an FIR. The situation is desperate and there is total fear and anxiety among Christians.
Two constables asked the priests of Phulbani parish to have no celebration otherwise there will be more troubles. On 25th December, the convent in Phulbani was also attacked by a group of Fundamentalists. They destroyed everything possible from outside of the convent (door, window glasses, etc.) They also destroyed a new school bus.
On 25th December the priests and sisters in Pobingia parish were advised to move out to a safer place which they did. And thereafter at 12.00 noon a group of Bajrandal people attacked the church of Pobingia parish and destroyed it. There after they destroyed the priest’s residence in the afternoon. All these happened in the presence of police with impunity. More than half of 24 parishes in Kandhamal District could not celebrate Christmas mass because of fear of attack
In Bhubaneswar
During midnight Mass on 24th December, someone threw a bomb on Archbishop’s House, Bhubaneswar. Though it exploded fortunately no damage took place.
Our Fears
1. Even though the Government have been assuring us all protection the fundamentalists are moving about with lethal weapons threatening the Christians.
2. The fundamentalists go on their destructive activities even in the presence of the police force who often say that they are not enough to face such a crowd. The destruction goes on unabated.
3. The Christians who are already attacked and those who are in great fear of being attacked feel with sufficient reason that they are left to the mercy of the fundamentalists.
4. We don’t see any where sufficient number of police force, the senior police officers who deputed to the Kandhamal District for maintenance of law and order have expressed their inability to contain the situation in absence of adequate force.
5. The Fundamentalists are forcing the Christians to leave their homes and take refuge in the forest.
INSTITUTIONS ATTACKED SO FAR
PARISH CHURCH VILLAGE CHURCHES
Balliguda Bodagan-Balliguda
Balliguda town
Kamapada – Balliuda
Pobingia Mandipanka- Godapur
Baminigam Jhinjirguda- Bamunigam
Ulipadaro – Bamunigam
Goborkutty-Kattingia
Kulpakia- Nuagam
Dohapanga-Balliguda
4 village Churches - Nuagam
3 more village church
Bakingia ( Raikia )
Boriguda ( Padangi )
CONVENTS PRESBYTERY
Balliguda Balliguda
Pobingia Pobingia
Phulbani Bamunigam
Sankharkhole Padangi
Bamunigam
HOSTELS
Pobingia 2
Balliguda 2
Bamunigam 2
Minor Seminary (Balliguda)
Vocational Training Centre (Balliguda)
Sarshnanda (Pobingia)
Barakhama, 400 houses are gutted, five people murdered, property looted, one tractor burnt. Sirtiguda ( Balliguda) 7 Churches, 4 Churches in Phiringia, Phulbani Block 7 Churches, Ruthungia 4 Churches, Kallingia 3 chruches, Dalagam one church, Irpiguda one, Tikabali two IA Churches.
Kui Janakalyan Samiti
This organization had declared bandh on 25th and 26th December 2007 in order to press for their alleged demands. But it was only a ploy to prevent the celebration and attack the Christians and their churches and institutions. But their real purpose was to:
a) Disturb their Christmas celebration, the important feast of Christians; it is even a National holiday.
b) Instead of conducting bandh they have unleashed a reign of terror, destroying institutions, intimidating Christians and forcing them to go out of their homes.
c) Their entire attention is on driving away Christians from the region. It is evident from the slogan they are shouting at Christians.
Most of the priests, pastors and religious sisters in Kandhamal District have taken shelter in the forest. In fact the fundamentalists are in search of finding their hide-outs.
All these happened during last three days. We are in receipt of information from various churches and institutions that the miscreants are still active and the destruction of property is still going on and Christians are under attack. On the other hand the innocent Christians are apprehended and Christian officials are victimized in order to appease the Fundamentalists.
In view of the facts stated above we demand the followings:
1. That a CBI inquiry may be ordered for proper and impartial investigation for justice.
2. That Central Para Military forces be deployed in adequate strength at all the affected and sensitive places to prevent any further recurrences as the local police has not been able to control the situation.
3. That impartial and proper assessment of the property damaged, caused to various Churches, Christian institutions and other establishments may be made and adequate compensation be provided as early as possible to restore confidence of the people in the administration.
4. That proper compensation be given to the deceased family and injured persons.
5. That the culprits responsible for creating communal disharmony and caused damage to people and properties should be severely dealt with and the Govt. officials be given exemplary punishments for their gross negligence, inaction, apathy amounting to connivance with the perpetrators
6. A Fact Finding Committee consisting of various Church leaders and representatives proposed to visit various affected sites and personnel of the Kandhamal District and other affected places of the state to take stock of the situation and to console the victims and families. Therefore, we request to provide police protection to the team during their visit.
Yours sincerely,
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath,
SVD Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak
Bishop Samsan Das
Rev. Dr. Richard Howell
General Secretary
Evangelical Fellowship of India
New Delhi, India
Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical Alliance, an accredited NGO with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
Monday, January 14, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 1-14-08
Good Morning.
We are bracing for another Noreaster in the North East of the USA, especially through New England. Praise the Lord that Spring is not far away. Easter comes early this year as we will celebrate Resurrection of our Lord Jesus on March 23.
The Lord blessed us with a wonderful weekend. We had our first Men's breakfast of the year on Saturday morning. It was full breakfast buffet prepared and served by the Marthas of the church. Our friend Dr. Doug Kerr, M.D. was the speaker. He has been to Kenya twice in the past year with a medical team. His family joined him on the mission. His life has been changed radically. He shared his testimony and the story of Jesus's love going out to touch lives and change them in Kenya.
The Lord blessed us during our worship services on Sunday. We had our first (for the year) area wide youth rally, held at the First Baptist church, Owego. Pastors Marlene Steenburg and Terry Steenburg hosted the event. The band Chosen provided the music. Jeremy Finn and the team from the First Presbyterian Church led some silly games - as ice breakers. Close to 200 were in attendance, coming from 13 churches of different denominations. Chris Seavey , distinguished professor at the Davis college brought the message. His message was profound and anointed. The Lord moved among us. We were provoked to love the Lord afresh and anew . We were challenged to commit our lives to Jesus at a deeper level, so the He can have His way in us to transform and change our lives. I am excited about Jesus and about His church and about serving Him with zeal and vigor. We are planning for a Mega Youth event on Friday April 11, 2008. It is called 545( Five for Five). Five national Christian Bands will be in concert ,ministering to the young people. This event will be held at the First United Methodist Church, Endicott.
There’s a saying that ‘There’s none as blind as those who won't see!’ It’s certainly true in the encounter that Jesus had with the Pharisees on the occasion when He healed a man who had been born blind (John 9). The setting is Jerusalem. Jesus had just left the temple after a confrontation with the Pharisees over what they thought was an outrageous claim by Jesus. He had said, ‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!’ (8:58). They were so infuriated at what would have been gross heresy had it not been true, that they ‘picked up stones to stone him’. Our Lord was aware that His time had not yet come for His Passion, so He ‘hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.’ From then on, the Pharisees would watch Jesus like a hawk to see if somehow they could find some pretext to bring an official charge.
As Jesus walked away, we are told, "He saw a man blind from birth." This unfortunate person was what we would call, in our day, congenitally blind, and what’s more, he was reduced to begging. Like ourselves, the disciples were always anxious to ask questions to which there are no final answers on this side of eternity. They posed the query to Jesus, "… who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?"
This has been the topic of speculation down the ages. Job wrestled with this ancient problem; the psalmists and prophets also agonized over it, so it’s no wonder the mystery of illness is a theological puzzle. "Who is responsible?", asked the disciples, "the man himself or his parents?" The Jewish rabbis had the idea that if a pregnant woman sinned, there might be some deformity in the child.
C. S. Lewis wrote that God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. Sickness can be God’s megaphone to draw our attention back to Him. But while the Bible allows a general relationship between suffering and sin, due to the fall of man depicted in the Garden of Eden, it refuses to permit the principle to be set in stone for each individual. Yes, sin has produced a suffering world, but a given person’s suffering is not necessarily attributable to his or her personal sin. Jesus dismissed this simplistic theory of suffering as He answered the disciples’ question. "No" he said, "it wasn’t the sin of this man or his parents, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."
Jesus was not interested in the ‘whys and wherefores’ of the past but rather how a person’s predicament can be resolved in the present. All things, even afflictions and calamities, can work to the glory of God. He can turn suffering into good. Jesus made it clear that He was not here to explain the mystery of evil, but to remove the cause of it and break its power. When Jesus made His first "‘proclaim freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind and to release the oppressed" (Luke 4:18). This tells us that the Almighty is sovereign and has a purpose in all He does. Jesus knew that giving sight to the blind beggar would be one of the signs by which He would validate His claim as the Son of God. "I am the light of the world", he said, and He would prove it by changing the darkness of this man to light, symbolic of His greater work of releasing mankind from the power of sin's darkness through His atoning work on the Cross.
We might be tempted to think it would be so much simpler if the gift of healing could be received on request, like reaching out for a bottle of medicine. But that is not so. It simply is not God’s way. A balanced view of Scripture indicates that God has plans for us. He has the best in mind for us and, in His permissive will, may allow health and strength, or weakness and suffering, long life or short life. It’s not for us to question His decision. Ultimately, we are at the mercy of God.
Whether we are healed or not, we are to proclaim the faithfulness of a God who is alongside us in Christ. He suffered, died and rose again for us. I read the testimony of a young woman who was not healed of her infirmity. She said that God was glorified even more because, in spite of her continuing disability, she loved Him. That’s the ultimate test of our faith, as we walk by faith and not by sight.
When suffering is submitted to God, then God’s work is displayed, by healing or deliverance, perhaps miraculously or with gifted medical assistance, or alternatively by a courageous acceptance of the suffering. It is then that we are enabled to discover God’s strength in our weakness. This was the experience of the apostle Paul when he wrote of his "thorn in the flesh". The Lord assured him with the words, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Jesus proceeded to heal the blind beggar, using a mudpack made from saliva. The gospel doesn’t tell us why Jesus should use this means when a word had sufficed in previous acts of healing. Perhaps the man needed to be involved in the healing process by some simple act of obedience or it may have been to tell those who would read the story over the generations that sometimes God uses ‘props’ when it suits His purposes. The stories of Scripture are often to be interpreted as giving principles rather than strict precedents or formulas to be slavishly followed.
The healing of the beggar’s blindness was clearly a miracle. The mudpack of clay may have been used to symbolize the defilement of sin that needed to be cleansed away and to demonstrate that healing could only come from the Lord Himself. But there was more to it than that, as it was followed by a word from Jesus. "Go", He said, "wash in the Pool of Siloam." To achieve the cure, the beggar had to co-operate with Jesus. He had to show faith in our Lord’s words by obedience to the command.
The Lord alone could perform the miracle and open the blind eyes, but He chose to do it through the obedience of faith in Him. The definition of ‘faith’ is simply taking Him at His word. The very people who should have been the first to rejoice showed a very sour spirit! First of all some of the now sighted-man’s neighbors were full of unbelief. "Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him." It was a tragedy that these men who revered the Scriptures and were zealots for good works would not humble themselves to see that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. And so these theologians of Israel were out to get Jesus ‘by hook or by crook’. The neighbors brought the man to them, perhaps to get some help in understanding this astonishing miracle. The Pharisees must have rubbed their hands with glee; this was just what they were waiting for. The miracle had taken place on the Sabbath! From their standpoint, Jesus had infringed the Sabbath tradition of their man-made regulations, although certainly not in breach of Scripture.
In the first place, Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, which was permissible only when life was in danger; and secondly, in making mud, he had ‘worked’ in a manner strictly forbidden. Both the man’s neighbors and the Pharisees grilled him as to what took place but he held his ground. He insisted, “It was me that Jesus healed and it happened as you were told … I did what Jesus told me to do … and then I could see.” This clear testimony was not to the liking of the Pharisees.
The question must always be asked, "What would we have done in similar circumstances? Choices have to be made by all of us at some time. A poet (James Russell Lowell) put it like this: "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide; Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight; Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right; And the choice goes by for ever, ’twixt that darkness and that light."
The now sighted-beggar made that vital decision. The former beggar was cross-examined by the Pharisees as to what Jesus had done. The facts were indisputable so they resorted to cast aspersions on the integrity of Jesus as a man of God. They asked him frankly, "What do you say about him?" The man’s knowledge of Jesus grew as the encounter developed through the miraculous touch of his eyes and then the further meeting with the Lord, so his testimony to Jesus progressed. He first speaks of Jesus as a ‘man’, then as ‘a prophet’. When he became thoroughly disillusioned with the Pharisees at their irrational argument over the credibility of Jesus, he was provoked, tongue in cheek, into asking them, "Do you want to become his disciples, too?" to which they angrily retort, "We are disciples of Moses!", overlooking the fact that a greater prophet than Moses had appeared (Heb 3:3-6).
Jesus found him and asked if he would make his final commitment, "do you believe in the Son of Man?" The man whose eyes had been opened received spiritual eyesight as he confessed, ”Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped Jesus. His journey of faith was complete. He had lost his position in the religious community but he was assured of a home in heaven. The former beggar found his discipleship costly, and we, like him, have to decide whether we are willing to count the cost of following our Lord.
This is something that we need to embrace, but whatever comes our way, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus.
In Christ,
Brown
Click here to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQZnaD9hXr8
Indian Christians protest violence in Orissa, state indifference
Buhbaneswar, Jan. 10, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Nearly 10,000 people from different religious communities and social action groups held a protest rally on January 10 in Bhubaneswar, the capital of India's eastern Orissa state, protest the recent orgy of violence against Christians.
The orchestrated anti-Christian violence that began on Christmas Eve saw churches, Christian institutions and hundreds of Christian family homes destroyed and looted by Hindu fundamentalists in the Kandhamal district. Police officers who had been posted around the churches fled from the armed mobs.
The speakers at the January 10 protest assailed the state government of Orissa for refusing to let outside groups assess the damage caused by the mobs. (Even Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Bhubaneswar has been advised by government officials not to visit the troubled regions.) They also urged the government to allow access for relief agencies-- including Church-related agencies-- to bring assistance to the families displaced by the violence.
The Catholic Church that accounts about half of the 100,000 Christians living in Kandhamal, and Catholic bore the brunt of the attack. Five large churches, 48 village chapels, 2 seminaries, 4 convents, and several hostels were destroyed.
We are bracing for another Noreaster in the North East of the USA, especially through New England. Praise the Lord that Spring is not far away. Easter comes early this year as we will celebrate Resurrection of our Lord Jesus on March 23.
The Lord blessed us with a wonderful weekend. We had our first Men's breakfast of the year on Saturday morning. It was full breakfast buffet prepared and served by the Marthas of the church. Our friend Dr. Doug Kerr, M.D. was the speaker. He has been to Kenya twice in the past year with a medical team. His family joined him on the mission. His life has been changed radically. He shared his testimony and the story of Jesus's love going out to touch lives and change them in Kenya.
The Lord blessed us during our worship services on Sunday. We had our first (for the year) area wide youth rally, held at the First Baptist church, Owego. Pastors Marlene Steenburg and Terry Steenburg hosted the event. The band Chosen provided the music. Jeremy Finn and the team from the First Presbyterian Church led some silly games - as ice breakers. Close to 200 were in attendance, coming from 13 churches of different denominations. Chris Seavey , distinguished professor at the Davis college brought the message. His message was profound and anointed. The Lord moved among us. We were provoked to love the Lord afresh and anew . We were challenged to commit our lives to Jesus at a deeper level, so the He can have His way in us to transform and change our lives. I am excited about Jesus and about His church and about serving Him with zeal and vigor. We are planning for a Mega Youth event on Friday April 11, 2008. It is called 545( Five for Five). Five national Christian Bands will be in concert ,ministering to the young people. This event will be held at the First United Methodist Church, Endicott.
There’s a saying that ‘There’s none as blind as those who won't see!’ It’s certainly true in the encounter that Jesus had with the Pharisees on the occasion when He healed a man who had been born blind (John 9). The setting is Jerusalem. Jesus had just left the temple after a confrontation with the Pharisees over what they thought was an outrageous claim by Jesus. He had said, ‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!’ (8:58). They were so infuriated at what would have been gross heresy had it not been true, that they ‘picked up stones to stone him’. Our Lord was aware that His time had not yet come for His Passion, so He ‘hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.’ From then on, the Pharisees would watch Jesus like a hawk to see if somehow they could find some pretext to bring an official charge.
As Jesus walked away, we are told, "He saw a man blind from birth." This unfortunate person was what we would call, in our day, congenitally blind, and what’s more, he was reduced to begging. Like ourselves, the disciples were always anxious to ask questions to which there are no final answers on this side of eternity. They posed the query to Jesus, "… who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?"
This has been the topic of speculation down the ages. Job wrestled with this ancient problem; the psalmists and prophets also agonized over it, so it’s no wonder the mystery of illness is a theological puzzle. "Who is responsible?", asked the disciples, "the man himself or his parents?" The Jewish rabbis had the idea that if a pregnant woman sinned, there might be some deformity in the child.
C. S. Lewis wrote that God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. Sickness can be God’s megaphone to draw our attention back to Him. But while the Bible allows a general relationship between suffering and sin, due to the fall of man depicted in the Garden of Eden, it refuses to permit the principle to be set in stone for each individual. Yes, sin has produced a suffering world, but a given person’s suffering is not necessarily attributable to his or her personal sin. Jesus dismissed this simplistic theory of suffering as He answered the disciples’ question. "No" he said, "it wasn’t the sin of this man or his parents, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."
Jesus was not interested in the ‘whys and wherefores’ of the past but rather how a person’s predicament can be resolved in the present. All things, even afflictions and calamities, can work to the glory of God. He can turn suffering into good. Jesus made it clear that He was not here to explain the mystery of evil, but to remove the cause of it and break its power. When Jesus made His first "‘proclaim freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind and to release the oppressed" (Luke 4:18). This tells us that the Almighty is sovereign and has a purpose in all He does. Jesus knew that giving sight to the blind beggar would be one of the signs by which He would validate His claim as the Son of God. "I am the light of the world", he said, and He would prove it by changing the darkness of this man to light, symbolic of His greater work of releasing mankind from the power of sin's darkness through His atoning work on the Cross.
We might be tempted to think it would be so much simpler if the gift of healing could be received on request, like reaching out for a bottle of medicine. But that is not so. It simply is not God’s way. A balanced view of Scripture indicates that God has plans for us. He has the best in mind for us and, in His permissive will, may allow health and strength, or weakness and suffering, long life or short life. It’s not for us to question His decision. Ultimately, we are at the mercy of God.
Whether we are healed or not, we are to proclaim the faithfulness of a God who is alongside us in Christ. He suffered, died and rose again for us. I read the testimony of a young woman who was not healed of her infirmity. She said that God was glorified even more because, in spite of her continuing disability, she loved Him. That’s the ultimate test of our faith, as we walk by faith and not by sight.
When suffering is submitted to God, then God’s work is displayed, by healing or deliverance, perhaps miraculously or with gifted medical assistance, or alternatively by a courageous acceptance of the suffering. It is then that we are enabled to discover God’s strength in our weakness. This was the experience of the apostle Paul when he wrote of his "thorn in the flesh". The Lord assured him with the words, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Jesus proceeded to heal the blind beggar, using a mudpack made from saliva. The gospel doesn’t tell us why Jesus should use this means when a word had sufficed in previous acts of healing. Perhaps the man needed to be involved in the healing process by some simple act of obedience or it may have been to tell those who would read the story over the generations that sometimes God uses ‘props’ when it suits His purposes. The stories of Scripture are often to be interpreted as giving principles rather than strict precedents or formulas to be slavishly followed.
The healing of the beggar’s blindness was clearly a miracle. The mudpack of clay may have been used to symbolize the defilement of sin that needed to be cleansed away and to demonstrate that healing could only come from the Lord Himself. But there was more to it than that, as it was followed by a word from Jesus. "Go", He said, "wash in the Pool of Siloam." To achieve the cure, the beggar had to co-operate with Jesus. He had to show faith in our Lord’s words by obedience to the command.
The Lord alone could perform the miracle and open the blind eyes, but He chose to do it through the obedience of faith in Him. The definition of ‘faith’ is simply taking Him at His word. The very people who should have been the first to rejoice showed a very sour spirit! First of all some of the now sighted-man’s neighbors were full of unbelief. "Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him." It was a tragedy that these men who revered the Scriptures and were zealots for good works would not humble themselves to see that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. And so these theologians of Israel were out to get Jesus ‘by hook or by crook’. The neighbors brought the man to them, perhaps to get some help in understanding this astonishing miracle. The Pharisees must have rubbed their hands with glee; this was just what they were waiting for. The miracle had taken place on the Sabbath! From their standpoint, Jesus had infringed the Sabbath tradition of their man-made regulations, although certainly not in breach of Scripture.
In the first place, Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, which was permissible only when life was in danger; and secondly, in making mud, he had ‘worked’ in a manner strictly forbidden. Both the man’s neighbors and the Pharisees grilled him as to what took place but he held his ground. He insisted, “It was me that Jesus healed and it happened as you were told … I did what Jesus told me to do … and then I could see.” This clear testimony was not to the liking of the Pharisees.
The question must always be asked, "What would we have done in similar circumstances? Choices have to be made by all of us at some time. A poet (James Russell Lowell) put it like this: "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide; Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight; Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right; And the choice goes by for ever, ’twixt that darkness and that light."
The now sighted-beggar made that vital decision. The former beggar was cross-examined by the Pharisees as to what Jesus had done. The facts were indisputable so they resorted to cast aspersions on the integrity of Jesus as a man of God. They asked him frankly, "What do you say about him?" The man’s knowledge of Jesus grew as the encounter developed through the miraculous touch of his eyes and then the further meeting with the Lord, so his testimony to Jesus progressed. He first speaks of Jesus as a ‘man’, then as ‘a prophet’. When he became thoroughly disillusioned with the Pharisees at their irrational argument over the credibility of Jesus, he was provoked, tongue in cheek, into asking them, "Do you want to become his disciples, too?" to which they angrily retort, "We are disciples of Moses!", overlooking the fact that a greater prophet than Moses had appeared (Heb 3:3-6).
Jesus found him and asked if he would make his final commitment, "do you believe in the Son of Man?" The man whose eyes had been opened received spiritual eyesight as he confessed, ”Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped Jesus. His journey of faith was complete. He had lost his position in the religious community but he was assured of a home in heaven. The former beggar found his discipleship costly, and we, like him, have to decide whether we are willing to count the cost of following our Lord.
This is something that we need to embrace, but whatever comes our way, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus.
In Christ,
Brown
Click here to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQZnaD9hXr8
Indian Christians protest violence in Orissa, state indifference
Buhbaneswar, Jan. 10, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Nearly 10,000 people from different religious communities and social action groups held a protest rally on January 10 in Bhubaneswar, the capital of India's eastern Orissa state, protest the recent orgy of violence against Christians.
The orchestrated anti-Christian violence that began on Christmas Eve saw churches, Christian institutions and hundreds of Christian family homes destroyed and looted by Hindu fundamentalists in the Kandhamal district. Police officers who had been posted around the churches fled from the armed mobs.
The speakers at the January 10 protest assailed the state government of Orissa for refusing to let outside groups assess the damage caused by the mobs. (Even Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Bhubaneswar has been advised by government officials not to visit the troubled regions.) They also urged the government to allow access for relief agencies-- including Church-related agencies-- to bring assistance to the families displaced by the violence.
The Catholic Church that accounts about half of the 100,000 Christians living in Kandhamal, and Catholic bore the brunt of the attack. Five large churches, 48 village chapels, 2 seminaries, 4 convents, and several hostels were destroyed.
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