Good morning,
Praise the Lord for Friday, the 13th day of March, 2009. It is going to be a blessed and beautiful day in our Lord's kingdom. Glory and honor belong to Jesus our Lord who is upon the throne. He came to seek and to save the lost, the least, and the last. Praise the Lord for the liberty He offers us. We read about the religious oppression and bondage around the world. Globally, many live under religious persecution and political tyranny. Billions of people live without basic human rights. More and more people around the globe losing their basic freedoms. Many live under religious atheistic tyranny.
Jim Cymbala preaches at the Brooklyn Tabernacle in Brooklyn, New York. He tells the following story. "It was Easter Sunday and I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went to the edge of the platform, pulled down my tie, sat down and draped my feet over the edge. It was a wonderful service with many people coming forward. The counselors were talking with these people. As I was sitting I looked up the middle aisle, and there in about the third row was a man who looked about fifty, disheveled, filthy. He looked up at me rather sheepishly, as if saying, “Could I talk to you?” We have homeless people coming in all the time, asking for money or whatever. So as I sat there, I said to myself, though I am ashamed of it, “What a way to end a Sunday. I’ve had such a good time, preaching and ministering, and here’s a fellow probably wanting some money for more wine.” He walked up. When he got within about five feet of me, I smelled a horrible smell like I’d never smelled in my life. It was so awful that when he got close, I would inhale by looking away, and then I’d talk to him, and then look away to inhale, because I couldn’t inhale facing him. I asked him, 'What’s your name?' 'David.' 'How long have you been on the street?' 'Six years.' 'How old are you?' 'Thirty-two.' He looked fifty - hair matted; front teeth missing; wino; eyes slightly glazed. 'Where did you sleep last night, David?' 'Abandoned truck.' I keep in my back pocket a money clip that also holds some credit cards. I fumbled to pick one out thinking; I’ll give him some money. I won’t even get a volunteer. They are all busy talking with others. Usually we don’t give money to people. We take them to get something to eat. I took the money out. David pushed his finger in front of me. He said, 'I don’t want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die on the street.' I completely forgot about David, and I started to weep for myself. I was going to give a couple of dollars to someone God had sent to me. See how easy it is? I could make the excuse I was tired. There is no excuse. I was not seeing him the way God sees him. I was not feeling what God feels. But oh, did that change! David just stood there. He didn’t know what was happening. I pleaded with God, 'God, forgive me! Forgive me! Please forgive me. I am so sorry to represent You this way. I’m so sorry. Here I am with my message and my points, and You send somebody and I am not ready for it. Oh, God!' Something came over me. Suddenly I started to weep deeper, and David began to weep. He fell against my chest as I was sitting there. He fell against my white shirt and tie, and I put my arms around him, and there we wept on each other. The smell of His person became a beautiful aroma. Here is what I thought the Lord made real to me: If you don’t love this smell, I can’t use you, because this is why I called you where you are. This is what you are about. You are about this smell. Christ changed David’s life. He started memorizing portions of Scripture that were incredible. We got him a place to live. We hired him in the church to do maintenance, and we got his teeth fixed. He was a handsome man when he came out of the hospital. They detoxed him in 6 days. He spent that Thanksgiving at my house. He also spent Christmas at my house. When we were exchanging presents, he pulled out a little thing and he said, 'This is for you.' It was a little white hanky. It was the only thing he could afford. A year later David got up and talked about his conversion to Christ. The minute he took the mic and began to speak, I said, 'The man is a preacher.' This past Easter we ordained David. He is an associate minister of a church over in New Jersey. And I was so close to saying, 'Here, take this; I’m a busy preacher.' We can get so full of ourselves." What needs to change is our attitude. Selfishness within keeps us from achieving our objective. We can move mountains if we pray to our God and believe that He will accomplish it. When we move out of the way, God moves in, and He can do immeasurably more than we could ever dream about or ask for. It is, simply put, a matter of whether or not we are willing to step outside our little comfort zone. The church is designed for one reason only, to glorify God by seeking and saving the lost. Are we ready, willing, and able to be a part of this mission?
Help us Jesus,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goNmgwCJs-w
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-12-09
Good Morning,
One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 30. I love to read it from time to time. After my grave illness in April 2003, the first Sunday I was back in the Pulpit I preached from this Psalm. This Psalm is beautiful and explosive. This Psalm thunders with the sounds and the triumphs of Resurrection. Many of us are dealing with the trials, tribulations and the tears of human existence today. Our Savior and Lord has the power transform our mourning in to dancing. He is the Lord of dance. He dances over sin, and shame. He dances over injustice and darkness, He dances over the powers and the principalities of Satan the adversary.
1 I will extol thee, O LORD, for thou hast drawn me up, and hast not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried to thee for help, and thou hast healed me. 3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. 4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." 7 By thy favor, O LORD, thou hadst established me as a strong mountain; thou didst hide thy face, I was dismayed. 8 To thee, O LORD, I cried; and to the LORD I made supplication: 9 "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise thee? Will it tell of thy faithfulness? 10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be thou my helper!" 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, 12 that my soul may praise thee and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever.
A pastor was leaving his church one Sunday morning and passed the flower lady, an older lady who sold flowers to make her living. She stood at the same spot with her wares every day. And as was his custom, he stopped, gave her a dollar, got a flower and put it in his lapel. He sometimes had a conversation with her, and on this day he said, "How are you doing?" She replied, "I’m doing wonderful." He prodded, "Now, tell me truthfully. It couldn’t always be good. Don’t you have troubles?" She said, "Oh, sure. I have trouble. But you can’t get to the age I am without having troubles. I’ve learned how to handle them." He then said, "Well, tell me. How have you learned how to do this?" She replied gently to him, "You’re a pastor; you ought to know." She said, "Just think of Jesus on Good Friday. You know, Pastor, that was a terrible day. But three days later came the resurrection. I have a lot of Good Fridays in my life. I have a lot of setbacks and dark times and difficulties. But you know, every time I get hit and have a Good Friday, I just wait three days, and I start to see the light and I start to hope, and I start to have the resurrection."
In Christ the Hope of Glory.
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RItaDaAB0MA
One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 30. I love to read it from time to time. After my grave illness in April 2003, the first Sunday I was back in the Pulpit I preached from this Psalm. This Psalm is beautiful and explosive. This Psalm thunders with the sounds and the triumphs of Resurrection. Many of us are dealing with the trials, tribulations and the tears of human existence today. Our Savior and Lord has the power transform our mourning in to dancing. He is the Lord of dance. He dances over sin, and shame. He dances over injustice and darkness, He dances over the powers and the principalities of Satan the adversary.
1 I will extol thee, O LORD, for thou hast drawn me up, and hast not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried to thee for help, and thou hast healed me. 3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. 4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." 7 By thy favor, O LORD, thou hadst established me as a strong mountain; thou didst hide thy face, I was dismayed. 8 To thee, O LORD, I cried; and to the LORD I made supplication: 9 "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise thee? Will it tell of thy faithfulness? 10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be thou my helper!" 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, 12 that my soul may praise thee and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever.
A pastor was leaving his church one Sunday morning and passed the flower lady, an older lady who sold flowers to make her living. She stood at the same spot with her wares every day. And as was his custom, he stopped, gave her a dollar, got a flower and put it in his lapel. He sometimes had a conversation with her, and on this day he said, "How are you doing?" She replied, "I’m doing wonderful." He prodded, "Now, tell me truthfully. It couldn’t always be good. Don’t you have troubles?" She said, "Oh, sure. I have trouble. But you can’t get to the age I am without having troubles. I’ve learned how to handle them." He then said, "Well, tell me. How have you learned how to do this?" She replied gently to him, "You’re a pastor; you ought to know." She said, "Just think of Jesus on Good Friday. You know, Pastor, that was a terrible day. But three days later came the resurrection. I have a lot of Good Fridays in my life. I have a lot of setbacks and dark times and difficulties. But you know, every time I get hit and have a Good Friday, I just wait three days, and I start to see the light and I start to hope, and I start to have the resurrection."
In Christ the Hope of Glory.
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RItaDaAB0MA
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-11-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for beauty of the morning. Praise the Lord for the creatures of God, both big and small. This past Sunday I came across another red fox. Today I saw a flock turkeys. The other day I saw a big herd of deer. When I was growing up in India I saw lots of wild animals, including many snakes. I have even killed a few deadly snakes.
If somebody mentions snake stories in the Bible, the first one that pops into most people’s minds is that of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, getting tricked by a clever snake into disobeying God. There are also those who might remember another story from Numbers about poisonous snakes and the bronze snake on a pole. Many might put it quickly out of their minds, however, because it seems so odd. But it pops up again in the Gospel of John, where Jesus compared himself, lifted up on the Cross, to the snake lifted up in the wilderness. If Jesus is comparing himself to a snake on a pole, maybe this story deserves a bit more attention. The people of Israel were wandering in the wilderness during the 40 years between leaving Egypt and entering the Promised Land of Canaan. These folks had seen God’s finest hour to this point in history. They remembered being slaves in Egypt. They also remembered all the miracles that were performed to help win their release out of Egypt -- all the plagues that touched Egypt but not them, including the first Passover where the Angel of Death took the firstborn of every home in Egypt, but passed over the Hebrew homes and left them alive. They had watched the waters of the Red Sea part and then crossed over on dry land, only to see the Egyptians drown behind them. These were also the people who stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai, saw the mountain smoke and shake, and received God’s law. They heard God promise to be their God and to make them God’s people, and they promised to obey God’s commandments. The Israelitessaw God’s care for them visibly every day as God led them through the wilderness, by a great cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night. And these are the people who saw God provide for them whenever they complained (which was a lot). When they griped over their hunger, God sent manna, a miracle food that appeared every morning for them to gather. They complained of their thirst, so God miraculously gave them water from a rock. They got bored with the manna and complained again, so God gave them quail. God did all of these things, and yet there was no gratitude. There were only complaints. They never acknowledged that God had already done so much for them. They didn't express gratitude. There was no humility in their asking, and it wasn’t even really asking. They were whining, groaning, and complaining, “Why did we ever leave Egypt! At least there we had food and water. Why did you ever bring us out of there! Did you just want to see us starve in the wilderness?” God put up with that sort of complaining time after time from His people, Israel, and now it started up once more. This time God responded with a plague of poisonous snakes. God as we see Him in Numbers 21 plainly had enough. The infestation of poisonous snakes woke them up, and they realized this was a punishment from God. They went to Moses and admitted that they were wrong to complain about him and about God, and they ask Moses to pray for forgiveness. This is the appropriate and faithful response to God’s wrath. Their repentence showed that they knew that God is just and that He would not give them a punishment they did not deserve. To ask for forgiveness showed their faith that God is not only just, but merciful. They understood that it is in God’s nature to forgive.
When the people asked Moses to pray for them that God might take away the snakes, Moses did as they asked. God’s answer was perfect. He did not take away the snakes, but instead provided a way for people bitten by the snakes to be healed. Moses was instructed to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. From that moment onward, whoever was bitten was to look at that bronze snake in order to be healed and to live.
The snakes stayed and the snakes continued to bite people. If God had chosen to do so, He could have just rendered all the snakes harmless or He could have sent them away. Instead the poisonous snakes stayed, and God provided a way for people to survive the snake bite and live. This is evidence of God's mercy. The bronze serpent is a symbol of mercy...a gift...a way out. Beyond being a gift of mercy, it was also a way out that teaches. In order for someone who was bitten to live, they had to be willing to look square in the face of their trouble. They had to look at that bronze serpent and remember everything about it. In looking at that bronze serpent, they would remember that God sent those serpents as punishment for their sin. If they were willing to look at the serpent and be reminded of all of that, they would be healed. John Chapter 3 verse 14. “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” With these words, this strange snake story from the book of Numbers, is tied into the saving work of Jesus Christ. John compared the snake on a pole to Jesus on the Cross. In order to enter the Kingdom of God, we have got to be able to face the crucifixion. We have got to be able to look at Christ on the Cross, to be willing to remember both our sin and God’s mercy. The Cross, like the bronze snake, is a symbol of both.
The empty Cross symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus and therefore our own resurrection. But the Crucifix, the Cross with Jesus dying on it, is the one that John says we must look to. That’s the one that reminds us of our sin. It reminds us that, as a result of our sin, death came among us. It is also the one that will let us avoid that death and live. We can never come to repentance if we refuse to acknowledge and repent of our own guilt. But the Cross, like the bronze serpent, not only reminds us of our guilt, but also of God’s forgiveness and mercy. While we are reminded of our sin and its penalty, we are also reminded that God has provided a way out, so that we may live. Just as the bronze serpent provided physical healing and life, so the Cross provides us with spiritual healing and eternal life. Before we can have either healing or life, we must recognize the extent of our sin, the justness of God’s punishment, and the wideness of God’s mercy. It was all there in the bronze serpent, it is all there still in the Cross. If we are willing to look at it, spend some time with it, let it speak to us, we will be ready to hear the next verse of the Gospel of John, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The serpent and the Cross are ultimately about life, mercy, forgiveness, and love. Verse 17, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” Lent is that uncomfortable time of the year when we remember that God’s forgiveness comes in response to our sin, and that our sin has real consequences. We have no chance of understanding what Easter is all about if we aren’t first willing to admit that there are times when we actually do things that are not pleasing to God. We sin. We have to first look at the snake on the pole...Jesus on the Cross...and realize that He is up there because of sins we have done. Then the poison can leave our system. Then our healing can begin. Then we can see the wideness of God’s mercy and understand the extraordinary message of the empty tomb. As you prepare your hearts for Easter, spend some time at the Cross.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2lhR2aBpo0
Praise the Lord for beauty of the morning. Praise the Lord for the creatures of God, both big and small. This past Sunday I came across another red fox. Today I saw a flock turkeys. The other day I saw a big herd of deer. When I was growing up in India I saw lots of wild animals, including many snakes. I have even killed a few deadly snakes.
If somebody mentions snake stories in the Bible, the first one that pops into most people’s minds is that of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, getting tricked by a clever snake into disobeying God. There are also those who might remember another story from Numbers about poisonous snakes and the bronze snake on a pole. Many might put it quickly out of their minds, however, because it seems so odd. But it pops up again in the Gospel of John, where Jesus compared himself, lifted up on the Cross, to the snake lifted up in the wilderness. If Jesus is comparing himself to a snake on a pole, maybe this story deserves a bit more attention. The people of Israel were wandering in the wilderness during the 40 years between leaving Egypt and entering the Promised Land of Canaan. These folks had seen God’s finest hour to this point in history. They remembered being slaves in Egypt. They also remembered all the miracles that were performed to help win their release out of Egypt -- all the plagues that touched Egypt but not them, including the first Passover where the Angel of Death took the firstborn of every home in Egypt, but passed over the Hebrew homes and left them alive. They had watched the waters of the Red Sea part and then crossed over on dry land, only to see the Egyptians drown behind them. These were also the people who stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai, saw the mountain smoke and shake, and received God’s law. They heard God promise to be their God and to make them God’s people, and they promised to obey God’s commandments. The Israelitessaw God’s care for them visibly every day as God led them through the wilderness, by a great cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night. And these are the people who saw God provide for them whenever they complained (which was a lot). When they griped over their hunger, God sent manna, a miracle food that appeared every morning for them to gather. They complained of their thirst, so God miraculously gave them water from a rock. They got bored with the manna and complained again, so God gave them quail. God did all of these things, and yet there was no gratitude. There were only complaints. They never acknowledged that God had already done so much for them. They didn't express gratitude. There was no humility in their asking, and it wasn’t even really asking. They were whining, groaning, and complaining, “Why did we ever leave Egypt! At least there we had food and water. Why did you ever bring us out of there! Did you just want to see us starve in the wilderness?” God put up with that sort of complaining time after time from His people, Israel, and now it started up once more. This time God responded with a plague of poisonous snakes. God as we see Him in Numbers 21 plainly had enough. The infestation of poisonous snakes woke them up, and they realized this was a punishment from God. They went to Moses and admitted that they were wrong to complain about him and about God, and they ask Moses to pray for forgiveness. This is the appropriate and faithful response to God’s wrath. Their repentence showed that they knew that God is just and that He would not give them a punishment they did not deserve. To ask for forgiveness showed their faith that God is not only just, but merciful. They understood that it is in God’s nature to forgive.
When the people asked Moses to pray for them that God might take away the snakes, Moses did as they asked. God’s answer was perfect. He did not take away the snakes, but instead provided a way for people bitten by the snakes to be healed. Moses was instructed to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. From that moment onward, whoever was bitten was to look at that bronze snake in order to be healed and to live.
The snakes stayed and the snakes continued to bite people. If God had chosen to do so, He could have just rendered all the snakes harmless or He could have sent them away. Instead the poisonous snakes stayed, and God provided a way for people to survive the snake bite and live. This is evidence of God's mercy. The bronze serpent is a symbol of mercy...a gift...a way out. Beyond being a gift of mercy, it was also a way out that teaches. In order for someone who was bitten to live, they had to be willing to look square in the face of their trouble. They had to look at that bronze serpent and remember everything about it. In looking at that bronze serpent, they would remember that God sent those serpents as punishment for their sin. If they were willing to look at the serpent and be reminded of all of that, they would be healed. John Chapter 3 verse 14. “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” With these words, this strange snake story from the book of Numbers, is tied into the saving work of Jesus Christ. John compared the snake on a pole to Jesus on the Cross. In order to enter the Kingdom of God, we have got to be able to face the crucifixion. We have got to be able to look at Christ on the Cross, to be willing to remember both our sin and God’s mercy. The Cross, like the bronze snake, is a symbol of both.
The empty Cross symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus and therefore our own resurrection. But the Crucifix, the Cross with Jesus dying on it, is the one that John says we must look to. That’s the one that reminds us of our sin. It reminds us that, as a result of our sin, death came among us. It is also the one that will let us avoid that death and live. We can never come to repentance if we refuse to acknowledge and repent of our own guilt. But the Cross, like the bronze serpent, not only reminds us of our guilt, but also of God’s forgiveness and mercy. While we are reminded of our sin and its penalty, we are also reminded that God has provided a way out, so that we may live. Just as the bronze serpent provided physical healing and life, so the Cross provides us with spiritual healing and eternal life. Before we can have either healing or life, we must recognize the extent of our sin, the justness of God’s punishment, and the wideness of God’s mercy. It was all there in the bronze serpent, it is all there still in the Cross. If we are willing to look at it, spend some time with it, let it speak to us, we will be ready to hear the next verse of the Gospel of John, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The serpent and the Cross are ultimately about life, mercy, forgiveness, and love. Verse 17, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” Lent is that uncomfortable time of the year when we remember that God’s forgiveness comes in response to our sin, and that our sin has real consequences. We have no chance of understanding what Easter is all about if we aren’t first willing to admit that there are times when we actually do things that are not pleasing to God. We sin. We have to first look at the snake on the pole...Jesus on the Cross...and realize that He is up there because of sins we have done. Then the poison can leave our system. Then our healing can begin. Then we can see the wideness of God’s mercy and understand the extraordinary message of the empty tomb. As you prepare your hearts for Easter, spend some time at the Cross.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2lhR2aBpo0
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-10-09
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the season of Lent, when we focus on Christ and the Cross where the Prince of Glory died. We are invited to deny self and to confess Christ with joy and zeal. Last Sunday a pastor was gunned down in the sanctuary of his church. The widow of the pastor said that her husband died doing what he loved to do. Following Christ is the way of the cross. There is no crown without the cross. In recent days over hundred Christians in Orissa, India have said "no" to themselves and "yes" to Jesus in the face of death, and have been martyred for the sake of the Gospel. When I read about these men I get excited about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a great thrill to serve Christ and follow Him.
"Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself (that is, who God made you to be), your life will count for plenty." - Matthew 23:11-12 (The Message).
Church history is paved with the blood of the martyrs. Indeed, "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church". One of the martyrs of the early church was Polycarp. Polycarp was Bishop of the church at Smyrna (present day Turkey). Persecution broke out in Smyrna and many Christians were fed to wild beasts in the arena. The godless and bloodthirsty crowd called for the carcass of the leader, Polycarp. The authorities sent a search party to find him. He had been taken into hiding by some Christians, but the Romans tortured two young believers until they finally disclosed his location. When the arrival of the authorities was announced there was still time in which Polycarp could have been whisked away, but he refused to go saying, “God’s will be done.” In one of the most touching instances of Christian grace imaginable, Polycarp welcomed his captors as if they were friends. He talked with them and insisted they eat a meal. He made only one request before being taken away – he asked for one hour to pray. He prayed aloud and the Roman soldiers listened to his prayer. Their hearts melted as they listened, and so they gave him 2 hours to pray. They had second thoughts about their assignment. They were overheard asking each other why they were sent to arrest him. Other authorities also experienced warmed hearts upon the arrival of Polycarp. The Proconsul sought a way to release him, too, and he instructed, “Curse God and I will let you go!”. Polycarp’s reply was classic, and completely true to Christ, “For eighty-six years I have served him. He has never done me wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King was has saved me?” The Proconsul again looked for a way out. “Just do this, old man, just swear by the spirit of the emperor and that will be sufficient.’ Polycarp’s replied, “If you imagine for a moment that I would do that, then I think you pretend that you don’t know who I am. Hear it plainly. I am a Christian.” There were further entreaties by the Proconsul, but Polycarp stood firm. The proconsul threatened him with wild beasts, but Polycarp’s reply was, “Bring them forth. I would change my mind if it meant going from worst to best, but not to change from right to wrong.” The Proconsul then threatened, “I will burn you alive!” Polycarp replied, “You threaten with fire that burns for an hour and is over but the judgment on the ungodly is forever.” So it was that the fires engulfed him. Despite the flames all around, the witnesses noticed his faith and joy. It seemed that the flames refused to kill him, so he was finished off with a dagger. He was buried for the cause of Christ on February 22, 155 A.D. It was as much a day of victory as it was a day of tragedy. Polycarp illustrated the power of knowing Jesus intimately. He knew Him well enough, followed Him closely enough, and loved Him dearly enough to follow Him into the flames. As Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlAYiQetZoQ
Monday, March 9, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-9-09
Good morning,
Praise the Lord. He is our life. He is our peace. He is our eternal reward. Praise the Lord for those who proclaim the Good News of Jesus in season and out of season. Praise the Lord for those who dare to follow Christ unafraid. Praise the Lord for the pastor in Illinois, who died in the sanctuary at the hands of a man who entered the sanctuary, spoke briefly to the pastor, and then opened fire at close range. The pastor had held up his Bible as the shots began, showering paper, like confetti, through the air, making the whole scene seem surreal.
Although it is atrocious and barbaric that one should enter a church and kill a servant of Christ, we praise the Lord for the wonderful assurance we have in Jesus. In Him we live, move, and have our being. All of us are just breath away from eternity. May we all live fully every day in Christ praising Him, worshipping Him, and serving Him.
I read a story a few years ago that in London, England, every day at noon a man by the name of Jim went to the church, sat down in the front row for 5 minutes, then slipped out. One day his pastor asked why he did this. Jim answered, “The world wears me down, and so I sit here in church and bow my head and say, ‘Jesus, this is Jim. I need your help today.’ And He always pours new strength into me.” One day Jim’s pastor was called to the hospital. Jim was dying. When the pastor went into the room, Jim asked everyone else to go out. Then he said, “Pastor, when they brought me here, they thought I was unconscious, but I heard them say that I was going to die. They left me alone for a few minutes but I felt the presence of Someone else in the room. I looked around but didn’t see anyone. Then I heard a sweet voice saying, ‘Jim, this is Jesus. I have come to take you home with Me. Don’t be afraid. I’ll go through the dark valley with you.’" Then Jim said to his pastor, “I’m not afraid. I’m ready to go", and within minutes his soul departed. Wouldn’t you like to live like that? Wouldn’t you like to have that same sense of Christ’s presence and be able to say along with the apostle Paul, “Whether I live, I am the Lord’s; whether I die, I am the Lord’s; so, whether I live or die, I am the Lord’s.”
This is the assurance reserved for those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt0WluTpFTg
Praise the Lord. He is our life. He is our peace. He is our eternal reward. Praise the Lord for those who proclaim the Good News of Jesus in season and out of season. Praise the Lord for those who dare to follow Christ unafraid. Praise the Lord for the pastor in Illinois, who died in the sanctuary at the hands of a man who entered the sanctuary, spoke briefly to the pastor, and then opened fire at close range. The pastor had held up his Bible as the shots began, showering paper, like confetti, through the air, making the whole scene seem surreal.
Although it is atrocious and barbaric that one should enter a church and kill a servant of Christ, we praise the Lord for the wonderful assurance we have in Jesus. In Him we live, move, and have our being. All of us are just breath away from eternity. May we all live fully every day in Christ praising Him, worshipping Him, and serving Him.
I read a story a few years ago that in London, England, every day at noon a man by the name of Jim went to the church, sat down in the front row for 5 minutes, then slipped out. One day his pastor asked why he did this. Jim answered, “The world wears me down, and so I sit here in church and bow my head and say, ‘Jesus, this is Jim. I need your help today.’ And He always pours new strength into me.” One day Jim’s pastor was called to the hospital. Jim was dying. When the pastor went into the room, Jim asked everyone else to go out. Then he said, “Pastor, when they brought me here, they thought I was unconscious, but I heard them say that I was going to die. They left me alone for a few minutes but I felt the presence of Someone else in the room. I looked around but didn’t see anyone. Then I heard a sweet voice saying, ‘Jim, this is Jesus. I have come to take you home with Me. Don’t be afraid. I’ll go through the dark valley with you.’" Then Jim said to his pastor, “I’m not afraid. I’m ready to go", and within minutes his soul departed. Wouldn’t you like to live like that? Wouldn’t you like to have that same sense of Christ’s presence and be able to say along with the apostle Paul, “Whether I live, I am the Lord’s; whether I die, I am the Lord’s; so, whether I live or die, I am the Lord’s.”
This is the assurance reserved for those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt0WluTpFTg
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