Brown's Daily Word 12-11-09

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the way He has created us, redeemed us, and set us in this world as people of purpose. He has also provided every blessing we need to fulfill our purpose and enjoy Him all of the days of our lives. Every aspect of our lives is a gift from God, from life itself to the air we breathe to the relationships we enjoy to the health we are experiencing to the beauty of His creation. God’s grace is truly amazing! God’s grace is a constant reminder of His love for you and for me.
As we prepare to celebrate Advent, and Christmas, I would like to bring before you in prayer the need of suffering Christians in Orissa, India. It has been over year since violence and persecution broke out against defenseless and innocent Christians in Phulbani, Orissa, India. Over 100 Christians were murdered. 70,000 Christians were made homeless and refugees. My mom, my brother Patel (who was jailed for 13 months), and his two children lost the house and everything that they owned. The house and the farm had been in the family for generations, but after they were forced out, they could not cultivate the fields. Remarkably, there are still 15 girls living in the children's home.
Sunita visited the area during her recent visit to Orissa, India. She also visited the village. There are currently two refugee camps where thousands of people are still living in tents. Sunita visited one of the camps. We would like to bless the people who are still living in the tents. They will be celebrating their second Christmas in the tents. I would like to invite to share in the ministry of sharing and caring. If you are being led by the Lord please make a check payable to Union Center United Methodist Church, making a note on the memo line, for the Orissa Project, and mail to:
Union Center United Methodist Church
128 Maple Drive
Endicott, New York 13760

Whatever the amount you give will be a huge blessing to the our brothers and sisters in Orissa, India.
We will send the gifts in their entirety to bless the children in the Children's home, to bless some pastors who are serving the Lord under a great threat, and also to 175 nursing students and the staff ay the Moorshead Memorial Christian Hospital, and also give food and some winter clothing to the people who are still living in the refugee centers. Thank you for sharing and caring and participating in making a difference and bringing joy to many.
As we ponder the joy of giving, let us reflect on 2 Corinthians 8:1 ff.
"And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us - see that you also excel in this grace of giving. (2 Corinthians 8:1-7 NIV)
Paul said that it was God’s grace shed upon the church in Macedonia that enabled them to give, joyfully give, even in an extremely difficult situation. What set the Macedonian church apart from so many other churches in Paul’s day and ours is that they were willing to allow God’s grace to flow through them and be turned into action.
There is something that jumps out at me as I study 2 Corinthians 8:1-2. In the midst of the Macedonians extreme poverty and severe trial you find that they possessed overflowing joy.
In Jesus the diffuser of His Joy,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO_bKR2Wzhk


Praise the Lord for the season of miracles and wonders. I have been reading the prophecies regarding the birth of our Lord and Savior. I have also been reading the record of our Lord's birth and the wonder and marvel that surround His birth. My wife loves Christmas and everything about it, including shopping. She shops carefully for our children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, as well as for the needy in our family circle and beyond. She also makes many hand-made gifts and presents. She loves to decorate the house with multitude Christmas trees. The trees are numbering in to 30's by the time of Christmas Eve (only if you count all the little ones 1' or shorter - and those in the village house scene). She loves to listen Christmas carols and sings along like Karaoke. Our Granddaughter, who is 4, is also very excited about Christmas. I strive to gaze at Christmas through her eyes.
My wife also loves the Narnia stories. She repeatedly reads the books, reacquainting herself with the characters in much the same way that you and I rekindle old friendships. She also repeatedly watches the Narnia movies and listens to the audio theater stories on CD. As you know, Narnia stories are told as children’s tales, because children still have a capacity for wonder and imagination - a capacity to get to the real truth about things by a different route than the logic of the adult world. Yet, the books also capture the minds of adults, and draw them into the deeper truths contained therein.
"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" points us to deeper truths and more important realities than merely the magic of a wardrobe that tumbles us into fairyland. Narnia represents the Kingdom of God, just on the other side of our ordinary world. The battle between the White Witch and Aslan is the primeval battle between good and evil, between God and the devil, in which we all – represented here by Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Susan – are involved. Peter becomes the rock in battle. Edmund, although redeemed, is the Judas figure. Aslan’s self-offering and death to redeem a fallen race refers us to Christ's redemptive sacrifice. The rising of Aslan, the battle, and the conquest of the White Witch are a retelling of the story of Jesus.
The story is told in this Narnia way for children because adults have squeezed all the imagination out of it and made the story of Jesus into a series of formulae and creeds and dos and don’ts. In the Gospel according to John, Twice the phrase, “Come and see”occurs, once used by Jesus himself and once by Philip, one of his disciples. "Come and see" is one of the golden threads of John’s gospel. It recurs time and again as Jesus desperately tries to stimulate the imagination and the wonder and the insight of people who cannot see beyond the end of their nose, beyond this week’s agenda, beyond personal ambition and self-interest. “Come and see” and “follow me” are not invitations to be prosaically Christian in a kind of conventional, boring, middle-class way. It is a call to adventure, to risk, and to new possibility. It’s an invitation, as it were, to "climb into a wardrobe" and see the kingdom of heaven opening up before us.
" Come and See".

In Jesus ,
Brown