Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for the last Friday of March. We are just a week away from Palm Sunday. Praise the Lord for the way He offers us holy occasions for corporate worship. Something awesome and wonderful occurs when we come together to worship the Living Lord. He loves to dwell in the praise of His people. When the Lord wants to have great time, He shows up where His redeemed are gathered in worship, adoration, and praise.
In July 1993 I had dinner with Jack Hayford, the one who composed the worship chorus, "Majesty". He shared during dinner that he and his were driving in the country side of Ireland some years ago when, surrounded by beauty and splendor, the Holy Spirit inspired Hayford to pen down the words for "Majesty". When we read the words we discover that when we worship His majesty and ascribe to Him all the glory, honor and praise due His name something wonderful happens to those who worship Him in truth and spirit. As the song goes, "Majesty, kingdom authority, flow from His Throne un to His own". In our worship the Lord pours upon His own His kingdom authority so that we can live with authority and under His authority.
I am corrected by Jeffery Meyers’ writing, “We have been told by well-meaning teachers, even otherwise orthodox Reformed theologians, that it is downright wrong to come to church on order to get something…. First, and above all, we are called together in order to get, to receive. This is crucial. The Lord gives; we receive. Faith will never reach that degree of maturity where it could live without receiving. A grateful reception of God’s gracious gifts will always remain the task of Christian worship…. Then, second, only in reciprocal exchange do we give back what is appropriate as grateful praise and adoration…. Everything we are and have we received from him (1Corinthians 4.7). He stands in no need of our service or praise. He has not created us primarily to get glory for himself, but to distribute and share the fullness of his glory with his creatures…. If the church’s worship is the place where God glorifies his saints by distributing his life-giving Word and Sacraments, if it is the occasion for God to serve the congregation, then we can, to some degree, transcend the rigid dichotomy regarding the purpose of the Sunday service—is it for evangelism or worship? Why do we have to choose between one or the other? If unbelievers are present they may be served as well.” Every religion teaches that people must serve their god. The very definition of “religion” is “people’s beliefs about how they must worship and serve their god.” Jesus alone among gods serves his people. He declared that He came "not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many". The story is told of an orphan boy who was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother try to climb upstairs to rescue the boy, but perished in the flames. Fortunately, his cries for help were answered by a man who climbed an iron drainpipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck. Several weeks later there was a public hearing to determine who would receive custody of the child. A farmer, a teacher, and the town’s wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. But as they talked, the lad’s eyes remained focused on the floor. Then a stranger walked to the front and slowly took his hands from his pockets, revealing severe scars on them. As the crowd gasped, the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had saved his life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe. With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man’s neck and held on for dear life. The other men walked away, leaving the boy and his rescuer alone. The marred hands settled the issue. Our Redeemer kneels to wash our sinful , dirty feet, with marred hands. Do not turn away with pride, offended by your inability to cleanse yourself and by your dependence on God’s mercy. Look at His love and allow “self” to be broken by this Savior.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF9ibH6EPz4
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-26-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. I trust that you rested well, and that you are ready for this Spring day, complete with the showers that are transforming our landscape from drab to green. Crocuses are in full bloom, and daffodils are popping up all over, ready to color the landscape in their perky yellow. As we go out into the world, bent on our daily tasks and daily living, may we find open doors for mission and ministry. The places where we work daily may become places of trials and great challenges. May the Lord infuse us with the power of the Cross to demonstrate His grace and His love.
We read in Matthew 5 that the Lord declared, "You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men that they may glorify your Father, which is in Heaven." As we journey through the season of Lent, let us ponder anew that which Jesus, our Lord, has demonstrated at the Cross.
Praise the Lord for the way He transformed the Cross from a symbol of sorrow, disgrace, suffering, and shame into a symbol of victory and grace. One of the most powerful books ever written is "The Pilgrim's Progress ", by John Bunyan. This is a vivid account of a Christian's pilgrimage from this world to the celestial city, new Jerusalem. Along his way, Christian sees a highway fenced by a wall called Salvation. He runs towards it with some trouble due to the burden on his back, and finally comes to a cross and sepulcher. Upon his arrival there, his burden miraculously falls off his back. Upon this, Christian cries with relief and joy that "He hath given me... life by his death". Three "Shining Ones" approach and give him new clothes and a roll with a seal which is his pass to enter the Celestial City. The Three inform him that his sins are forgiven, and urge him to continue his journey.
John Bunyan writes, "Now I saw in my dream, that ... He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a Cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulchre. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more." When God releases us of our guilt and burden we are as those that leap for joy.Then was Christian glad and lightsome, he said, with a merry heart, "He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death." Then he stood still awhile to look and wonder, for it was very surprising to him that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden.
Praise the Lord for the mystery and wonder that surround the Cross where the Prince of Glory died.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-KrIK0s1AQ
Praise the Lord for this new day. I trust that you rested well, and that you are ready for this Spring day, complete with the showers that are transforming our landscape from drab to green. Crocuses are in full bloom, and daffodils are popping up all over, ready to color the landscape in their perky yellow. As we go out into the world, bent on our daily tasks and daily living, may we find open doors for mission and ministry. The places where we work daily may become places of trials and great challenges. May the Lord infuse us with the power of the Cross to demonstrate His grace and His love.
We read in Matthew 5 that the Lord declared, "You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men that they may glorify your Father, which is in Heaven." As we journey through the season of Lent, let us ponder anew that which Jesus, our Lord, has demonstrated at the Cross.
Praise the Lord for the way He transformed the Cross from a symbol of sorrow, disgrace, suffering, and shame into a symbol of victory and grace. One of the most powerful books ever written is "The Pilgrim's Progress ", by John Bunyan. This is a vivid account of a Christian's pilgrimage from this world to the celestial city, new Jerusalem. Along his way, Christian sees a highway fenced by a wall called Salvation. He runs towards it with some trouble due to the burden on his back, and finally comes to a cross and sepulcher. Upon his arrival there, his burden miraculously falls off his back. Upon this, Christian cries with relief and joy that "He hath given me... life by his death". Three "Shining Ones" approach and give him new clothes and a roll with a seal which is his pass to enter the Celestial City. The Three inform him that his sins are forgiven, and urge him to continue his journey.
John Bunyan writes, "Now I saw in my dream, that ... He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a Cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulchre. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more." When God releases us of our guilt and burden we are as those that leap for joy.Then was Christian glad and lightsome, he said, with a merry heart, "He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death." Then he stood still awhile to look and wonder, for it was very surprising to him that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden.
Praise the Lord for the mystery and wonder that surround the Cross where the Prince of Glory died.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-KrIK0s1AQ
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-25-09
Good Morning,
It is going to be another glorious day. Praise the Lord for Spring. We will meet this evening for our mid-week fellowship and Bible study, beginning with a very special meal at 6 p.m., followed by study hour at 6.30 p.m. Our choir will meet at 7.30 p.m. to rehearse for the Easter Cantata.
In a world filled with deceit and deception, Jesus our Lord declares that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We do not need to live in darkness and in deceit. In Christ we can live in freedom.
In the physical world, what you believe is critical. For instance, a lawyer once was trying to demonstrate to a group of law students that the windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper were unbreakable. He sincerely believed he could slam his body full force into the window on the 24th floor without breaking it. He was so sincere that he backed his belief up with an actual demonstration and, as a result, he plunged twenty-four floors to his death. He was dead wrong! In another instance, several years ago a nurse in a large hospital changed an oxygen tank for one of her patients. She sincerely believed that there was oxygen in that tank, but the next nurse to check on the patient found him dead. The tank had been wrongly labeled at the warehouse and contained nitrogen, not oxygen. This nurse was sincere and had a lot of faith in that tank, but the tank still contained nitrogen her patient was still dead. In the physical world, what we believe is critical. The same God who created the physical world also made the spiritual realm. All of the sincerity in the world will not turn a lie into a truth and all the insincerity in the world will not make a truth become a lie. A thing is true or false simply because it is true or false! In I John 2 we read, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” It Does Matter What we Believe. The popular kind of sentimental theology that says, “It does not matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere” is utter nonsense. You can drink poison, sincerely believing it to be medicine, but you will be dead just the same. Knowing the Truth in the Person of Jesus Christ makes all the difference.
In His Truth,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlAYiQetZoQ
Good morning prayer warriors!
I have another prayer request. I work with Robin Pearce, and her Dad is having major issues with his heart. He is going in for surgery on Friday 3/27, and she said his heart is so bad that this surgery will do one of two things, heal him or kill him. She was totally beside herself. Will you join with me to pray for Robin’s Dad, that our Healer, Jesus would be on the scene, blessing the hands of the surgeons and nurses? Psalm 107:20 He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave!
Please include Robin and her family that our Lord would comfort them, and give them hope!
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Thanks so much!!
Love,
Julie
It is going to be another glorious day. Praise the Lord for Spring. We will meet this evening for our mid-week fellowship and Bible study, beginning with a very special meal at 6 p.m., followed by study hour at 6.30 p.m. Our choir will meet at 7.30 p.m. to rehearse for the Easter Cantata.
In a world filled with deceit and deception, Jesus our Lord declares that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We do not need to live in darkness and in deceit. In Christ we can live in freedom.
In the physical world, what you believe is critical. For instance, a lawyer once was trying to demonstrate to a group of law students that the windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper were unbreakable. He sincerely believed he could slam his body full force into the window on the 24th floor without breaking it. He was so sincere that he backed his belief up with an actual demonstration and, as a result, he plunged twenty-four floors to his death. He was dead wrong! In another instance, several years ago a nurse in a large hospital changed an oxygen tank for one of her patients. She sincerely believed that there was oxygen in that tank, but the next nurse to check on the patient found him dead. The tank had been wrongly labeled at the warehouse and contained nitrogen, not oxygen. This nurse was sincere and had a lot of faith in that tank, but the tank still contained nitrogen her patient was still dead. In the physical world, what we believe is critical. The same God who created the physical world also made the spiritual realm. All of the sincerity in the world will not turn a lie into a truth and all the insincerity in the world will not make a truth become a lie. A thing is true or false simply because it is true or false! In I John 2 we read, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” It Does Matter What we Believe. The popular kind of sentimental theology that says, “It does not matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere” is utter nonsense. You can drink poison, sincerely believing it to be medicine, but you will be dead just the same. Knowing the Truth in the Person of Jesus Christ makes all the difference.
In His Truth,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlAYiQetZoQ
Good morning prayer warriors!
I have another prayer request. I work with Robin Pearce, and her Dad is having major issues with his heart. He is going in for surgery on Friday 3/27, and she said his heart is so bad that this surgery will do one of two things, heal him or kill him. She was totally beside herself. Will you join with me to pray for Robin’s Dad, that our Healer, Jesus would be on the scene, blessing the hands of the surgeons and nurses? Psalm 107:20 He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave!
Please include Robin and her family that our Lord would comfort them, and give them hope!
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Thanks so much!!
Love,
Julie
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-24-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for another day in His Kingdom. Praise the Lord for the way He decorates His earth with beauty and grandeur. His Name be praised for ever and ever. The reading from the Old Testament for last Sunday was taken from Numbers 21:4 ff. The people of the Lord, redeemed from the slavery, were marching on to the Promised Land. The Lord demonstrated His faithfulness and miraculous providential care all the way every day.
The People of God become impatient at the divine delays. We are reminded that divine delays are not divine denials. The Lord sends divine judgement upon His people. People need help from beyond themselves.
The reading from Numbers 21 is all about this human need for help outside of ourselves – to use the biblical word, our need for salvation. Our track record of pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps is not very good. Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible does not say ‘God helps those who help themselves’. Rather, the Bible says that we are all past the point where we can help ourselves, and if God did not help us, we would have no chance. Numbers 21 is a real snake bite story from the time when Israel was wandering around in the desert. They had already been led through the Red Sea. They had received the Ten Commandments on the mountain, but then they had pulled back from entering the Promised Land out of lack of trust in God. Even as Moses was receiving the commandments, they were wandering and wavering in their faith, preferring to put their faith in a golden calf. For their lack of faith enough to enter into the Promised Land, they were condemned to wandering in the desert for forty years. Not surprisingly, they often grumbled about this, though it was their own fault. In Numbers 21:4-9, the people grumbled against God and against Moses, complaining about the conditions they have to put up with in the desert. In response, God sends a plague of snakes, and many people are bitten and die. The people then came to Moses, confessed their sin and asked him to pray for them. Moses did so, but instead of just forgiving them and removing the plague, God instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and set it on a pole. Anyone who was bitten was to look at that snake and they would live. Moses did as he was told, and everything worked out the way that God said it would, according to God's plan. In fact, the image of the thing the people loathed turned out to be the thing that saved them from death. Several things about this story make it very unusual. One is that the Ten Commandments expressly forbid the making of graven images, but this snake on a pole seems very much like a graven image. Though in the biblical stories the snake was often seen as a symbol for the Evil One, starting in Genesis and going right through to Revelation where he is called ‘the dragon, Moses was commanded by God to make an image of something that was hateful and fearful to the Israelites, to lift it up on a pole in plain sight, so that they could look to it and be healed. By hanging on the Cross Jesus took the curse on our behalf, so that we could be healed and forgiven. Just as anyone who looked at the serpent on the pole was healed, so Jesus says that all who look to him in faith receive forgiveness and eternal life; in other words, their relationship with God is restored. Jesus claimed that we are all like the Israelites in the desert; we’ve been bitten by the snake, the Evil one, and his poison is in our system. The effects are already far gone, and the end is death. If we put our faith in Jesus, he will be the antidote that will eventually drive the effects of the toxin out of our system. But if we refuse to put our faith in Jesus, we condemn ourselves, because there is no other cure. This is the key to understanding John 3:17-21, which at first glance sounds like a very harsh text. Verse 18 says that those who believe in Jesus are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. The passage goes on to say that God’s light has come into the world, but these folk have preferred the darkness to the light, and so they have refused to come to the light. John was talking about Jesus, who is the light of the world. Some of us find this to be very harsh indeed, but it goes along with the whole illustration of the snake on the pole in the desert. God, in his grace and mercy, gave a way for the people of Israel to be saved from the poison of the snakebites. All they had to do was look to the snake on the pole, and they would be healed. On the other hand, if they refused to look to the snake on the pole, they would die from the poison. We would never think of blaming God for their deaths; God had given a way for them to be healed, and they had refused that way. In the same way, we read in the Gospel according to John, that God has given a way for us to be saved from the poison that infects the whole human family. The most famous verse in our gospel today says, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 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’ (John 3:16-17). The verse says that God gave his son in order that we ‘may not perish but may have eternal life’. ‘Perishing’ is the natural result of the snakebite of sin; it destroys our relationships and ends up destroying our whole lives. God does not want this to happen, and in fact God has given us a way to be rescued from this fate. We need to face our sin and repent of it, and then look to the Savior, who alone can save us from death. We need to appropriate that way for ourselves. The Israelites appropriated it by looking to the snake on the pole; we appropriate it by looking to the man on the cross, and putting our faith in him; ‘everyone who believes in him’, John says, ‘may not perish but may have eternal life’. What does it mean to ‘believe in Jesus’? It means a lot more than just believing that he existed two thousand years ago, or even just accepting the idea that he is the Son of God. It means putting our trust in him, asking him to heal us from the snakebite of sin, turning our wills over to him and following him in our daily lives. It means admitting that by ourselves we don’t have the resources to be the kind of people that we should be, or even the kind of people we wish we were. It means asking for his help day by day to live a new kind of life, a life in fellowship with the living God.
In His Grace,
Brownhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyFxArMeRDI
Praise the Lord for another day in His Kingdom. Praise the Lord for the way He decorates His earth with beauty and grandeur. His Name be praised for ever and ever. The reading from the Old Testament for last Sunday was taken from Numbers 21:4 ff. The people of the Lord, redeemed from the slavery, were marching on to the Promised Land. The Lord demonstrated His faithfulness and miraculous providential care all the way every day.
The People of God become impatient at the divine delays. We are reminded that divine delays are not divine denials. The Lord sends divine judgement upon His people. People need help from beyond themselves.
The reading from Numbers 21 is all about this human need for help outside of ourselves – to use the biblical word, our need for salvation. Our track record of pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps is not very good. Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible does not say ‘God helps those who help themselves’. Rather, the Bible says that we are all past the point where we can help ourselves, and if God did not help us, we would have no chance. Numbers 21 is a real snake bite story from the time when Israel was wandering around in the desert. They had already been led through the Red Sea. They had received the Ten Commandments on the mountain, but then they had pulled back from entering the Promised Land out of lack of trust in God. Even as Moses was receiving the commandments, they were wandering and wavering in their faith, preferring to put their faith in a golden calf. For their lack of faith enough to enter into the Promised Land, they were condemned to wandering in the desert for forty years. Not surprisingly, they often grumbled about this, though it was their own fault. In Numbers 21:4-9, the people grumbled against God and against Moses, complaining about the conditions they have to put up with in the desert. In response, God sends a plague of snakes, and many people are bitten and die. The people then came to Moses, confessed their sin and asked him to pray for them. Moses did so, but instead of just forgiving them and removing the plague, God instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and set it on a pole. Anyone who was bitten was to look at that snake and they would live. Moses did as he was told, and everything worked out the way that God said it would, according to God's plan. In fact, the image of the thing the people loathed turned out to be the thing that saved them from death. Several things about this story make it very unusual. One is that the Ten Commandments expressly forbid the making of graven images, but this snake on a pole seems very much like a graven image. Though in the biblical stories the snake was often seen as a symbol for the Evil One, starting in Genesis and going right through to Revelation where he is called ‘the dragon, Moses was commanded by God to make an image of something that was hateful and fearful to the Israelites, to lift it up on a pole in plain sight, so that they could look to it and be healed. By hanging on the Cross Jesus took the curse on our behalf, so that we could be healed and forgiven. Just as anyone who looked at the serpent on the pole was healed, so Jesus says that all who look to him in faith receive forgiveness and eternal life; in other words, their relationship with God is restored. Jesus claimed that we are all like the Israelites in the desert; we’ve been bitten by the snake, the Evil one, and his poison is in our system. The effects are already far gone, and the end is death. If we put our faith in Jesus, he will be the antidote that will eventually drive the effects of the toxin out of our system. But if we refuse to put our faith in Jesus, we condemn ourselves, because there is no other cure. This is the key to understanding John 3:17-21, which at first glance sounds like a very harsh text. Verse 18 says that those who believe in Jesus are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. The passage goes on to say that God’s light has come into the world, but these folk have preferred the darkness to the light, and so they have refused to come to the light. John was talking about Jesus, who is the light of the world. Some of us find this to be very harsh indeed, but it goes along with the whole illustration of the snake on the pole in the desert. God, in his grace and mercy, gave a way for the people of Israel to be saved from the poison of the snakebites. All they had to do was look to the snake on the pole, and they would be healed. On the other hand, if they refused to look to the snake on the pole, they would die from the poison. We would never think of blaming God for their deaths; God had given a way for them to be healed, and they had refused that way. In the same way, we read in the Gospel according to John, that God has given a way for us to be saved from the poison that infects the whole human family. The most famous verse in our gospel today says, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 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’ (John 3:16-17). The verse says that God gave his son in order that we ‘may not perish but may have eternal life’. ‘Perishing’ is the natural result of the snakebite of sin; it destroys our relationships and ends up destroying our whole lives. God does not want this to happen, and in fact God has given us a way to be rescued from this fate. We need to face our sin and repent of it, and then look to the Savior, who alone can save us from death. We need to appropriate that way for ourselves. The Israelites appropriated it by looking to the snake on the pole; we appropriate it by looking to the man on the cross, and putting our faith in him; ‘everyone who believes in him’, John says, ‘may not perish but may have eternal life’. What does it mean to ‘believe in Jesus’? It means a lot more than just believing that he existed two thousand years ago, or even just accepting the idea that he is the Son of God. It means putting our trust in him, asking him to heal us from the snakebite of sin, turning our wills over to him and following him in our daily lives. It means admitting that by ourselves we don’t have the resources to be the kind of people that we should be, or even the kind of people we wish we were. It means asking for his help day by day to live a new kind of life, a life in fellowship with the living God.
In His Grace,
Brownhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyFxArMeRDI
Monday, March 23, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-23-09
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this beautiful day. The Lord is blessing us with abundant sunshine. Praise the Lord for the way He shines on us with His love and grace. I trust you had a wonderful and worshipful weekend. The Lord blessed us with His great love and grace in our worship yesterday, followed by an Easter banquet for the families and an Easter egg hunt with the children. Praise the Lord that we can serve Him with our hands ,our hearts and our minds. Laureen and I and some of her friends attended the Avalon concert yesterday in Binghamton. It was a huge blessing. Alice spent a long weekend in Boston with Janice & Jeremy, Micah & Simeon. Micah ate some good tasting toothpaste, she had a hangover for four days. Alice stayed with her and took care of her the whole time. One of the passages from yesterday was taken from John 3. Where we find the Gospel in a nutshell in Vs. 3:16. This is a familiar passage where Nicodemus, a religious leader comes to Jesus, by night. I call it the first Nick at Night. He comes to Jesus and enters into a religious conversation. Jesus, before whom all of our secrets are open, declares to Nicodemus what he needed to do, Jesus told him, he must be “born again.” This is one of the mustness of the Gospel. Nicodemus comes to Jesus, “out of the dark night of his soul” and Jesus shines brightly on him. Jesus transforms the religious conversation into a deep and spiritual conversation. Nicodemus finds himself, totally exposed before Jesus.
We Americans have a veritable mania for privacy. We like to erect and ensure that there is a clear barrier between the selves we project to the world, and what we do in private. It is part of our individualism; hence, one of the things we tend to fear is exposure. If people find out who we really are, what kind of movies we really like, the way we really behave when we’re not in public, what we really think... then we fear that will reveal our hypocrisy and contradictions, our fakeness and the fact that we are impostors.
At the same time, our privacy is under constant attack by the marketing industry and the government. It is alarming what you can find out about someone from a simple Google search. They seem to know what we buy, what we want, what we like, what we feel, and what our political opinions are, in great detail. And as these technologies get more sophisticated, this is only going to get more intense.
On the other hand, one of the most corrosive things that can happen in any relationship is the keeping of secrets. I’ve seen families where some were deliberately kept in the dark about some issues. Maybe they convince themselves they are trying to be protective. Most families still keep some secrets from the children, and sometimes this is for their own protection. But secrets are absolutely devastating in a relationship which is supposed to be based on trust.
So, we crave our privacy. We don’t want to be answerable to anyone else for what we do. We would rather exercise complete control over our own lmage.Jesus , who is the Truth, The Way and the Life, has no secrets. He is always making big statements beginning with the words, "I Am." It is a conscious reference to the very Name of God. When Moses asks God what God’s Name is, God says: I Am Who I Am. When the Samaritan woman in John 4, starts talking about the Messiah, Jesus states, "I am He, I who am speaking to you." John’s gospel is full of memories of Jesus using I am statements: "I am the true vine." "I am the bread of life." "I am the gate." "I am the resurrection and the life." "I am the way and the truth and the life."
Jesus pulls no punches. He has nothing to hide. You could place listening devices near Him, you could place hidden cameras around Him, you could photograph Him from a satellite, you could hire a detective to tail Him around, it wouldn’t have mattered. He couldn’t have said in private anything more offensive and outrageous than what He says for all to hear. Things like, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day."
The culmination of Jesus’ work would be when He is "lifted up." For He would fulfill and prove His true identity by dying on a Cross. This is what Jesus means when He talks about being "lifted up." He means being nailed to the Cross and literally raised up into the air. He also means being lifted up in resurrection and finally being lifted up as He ascends into heaven. The gospel is very clear in understanding that this is all one coherent, integrated, continuous movement, one great lifting up of God’s life for the life of the world. And in this lifting up, Jesus says that God’s love will be fully and finally revealed for all to see. In this act we will perceive the depth and breadth of God’s love, as if God’s nature will no longer be a secret. It will no longer be the domain of theologians, scholars, and priests. Now He will be lifted up for all to see and believe. What they will see is a broken, humiliated, dying man, convicted of blasphemy and sedition. What they will believe is that this is God’s only-begotten Son, the Light of the world, by whose death the whole world is saved from destruction.
Jesus says that when He is lifted up it will be like Moses during the sojourn of God’s people in the wilderness. At one point He lifted up the bronze image of a snake, and all who looked at it were miraculously healed of snakebite. So now all who look at the crucified Christ and believe and trust in His saving work will be healed of their mortality. They will be healed and set free of the power of death. They "will not perish but have eternal life."
When we gaze at Jesus the Crucified One and see both our own broken self and at the same time the self-offering in love of the God who created all things, then we have grasped the heart of Christianity. God identifies with us in our broken places, and our broken places are where we become identified with God. Far from being the ignoble termination of our life, death is just the beginning of our being lifted up. Death is the beginning of our resurrection. Frankly, God calls upon us all to "take up our cross and follow" Christ. God calls upon us all to be "lifted up." God calls upon us all to live without secrets a life of honesty and directness. Because whether we like it or not we will be lifted up. Our lives will be subject to examination and evaluation. We will have no secrets, in the end. Our lives will also be examined and judged by God at the end. And from God we have absolutely no secrets. Not even the imaginations of our hearts are exempt. With God there is no such thing as privacy. God knows things about us that we don’t even know. We will all be lifted up to the light and have our true selves exposed.
But the good news is that God is not looking for dirt. God is not giving us the white glove treatment here. God is not concerned with cataloging the sordid details of our secret sins. The good news is that when God looks at us, God sees only Christ. When God looks at us, God sees the beloved, only-begotten, Son. "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all;" God doesn’t know or want to know our shadow side. God sees us like a lover who only knows and accepts and embraces the best in us.
God’s true nature as self-giving, sacrificial, infinite love is revealed on the Cross, when Christ is lifted up. And when we trust in Him our true nature is also revealed... in the same person, Christ, in whom we see our true humanity. God searches our hearts and knows us in full, in every detail. And what God sees in us is not the mangled, broken, sinful, corrupt, lost beings we think we are. But God sees in us Christ, the true image of the people God made us to be.
"God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." God promises us that "Those who believe in Him are not condemned." No one who trusts in the Son is lost. Because in trusting the Son we become one with the Son. In trusting Him we conform to His image. Then God sees Christ and loves us for His sake, just as we see Christ and love God for what He does for our sake.
Let us not fear the light. Let us not try to maintain secrets in the dark. Because "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life."
In His Light,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjhOHs5CdkY
Praise the Lord for this beautiful day. The Lord is blessing us with abundant sunshine. Praise the Lord for the way He shines on us with His love and grace. I trust you had a wonderful and worshipful weekend. The Lord blessed us with His great love and grace in our worship yesterday, followed by an Easter banquet for the families and an Easter egg hunt with the children. Praise the Lord that we can serve Him with our hands ,our hearts and our minds. Laureen and I and some of her friends attended the Avalon concert yesterday in Binghamton. It was a huge blessing. Alice spent a long weekend in Boston with Janice & Jeremy, Micah & Simeon. Micah ate some good tasting toothpaste, she had a hangover for four days. Alice stayed with her and took care of her the whole time. One of the passages from yesterday was taken from John 3. Where we find the Gospel in a nutshell in Vs. 3:16. This is a familiar passage where Nicodemus, a religious leader comes to Jesus, by night. I call it the first Nick at Night. He comes to Jesus and enters into a religious conversation. Jesus, before whom all of our secrets are open, declares to Nicodemus what he needed to do, Jesus told him, he must be “born again.” This is one of the mustness of the Gospel. Nicodemus comes to Jesus, “out of the dark night of his soul” and Jesus shines brightly on him. Jesus transforms the religious conversation into a deep and spiritual conversation. Nicodemus finds himself, totally exposed before Jesus.
We Americans have a veritable mania for privacy. We like to erect and ensure that there is a clear barrier between the selves we project to the world, and what we do in private. It is part of our individualism; hence, one of the things we tend to fear is exposure. If people find out who we really are, what kind of movies we really like, the way we really behave when we’re not in public, what we really think... then we fear that will reveal our hypocrisy and contradictions, our fakeness and the fact that we are impostors.
At the same time, our privacy is under constant attack by the marketing industry and the government. It is alarming what you can find out about someone from a simple Google search. They seem to know what we buy, what we want, what we like, what we feel, and what our political opinions are, in great detail. And as these technologies get more sophisticated, this is only going to get more intense.
On the other hand, one of the most corrosive things that can happen in any relationship is the keeping of secrets. I’ve seen families where some were deliberately kept in the dark about some issues. Maybe they convince themselves they are trying to be protective. Most families still keep some secrets from the children, and sometimes this is for their own protection. But secrets are absolutely devastating in a relationship which is supposed to be based on trust.
So, we crave our privacy. We don’t want to be answerable to anyone else for what we do. We would rather exercise complete control over our own lmage.Jesus , who is the Truth, The Way and the Life, has no secrets. He is always making big statements beginning with the words, "I Am." It is a conscious reference to the very Name of God. When Moses asks God what God’s Name is, God says: I Am Who I Am. When the Samaritan woman in John 4, starts talking about the Messiah, Jesus states, "I am He, I who am speaking to you." John’s gospel is full of memories of Jesus using I am statements: "I am the true vine." "I am the bread of life." "I am the gate." "I am the resurrection and the life." "I am the way and the truth and the life."
Jesus pulls no punches. He has nothing to hide. You could place listening devices near Him, you could place hidden cameras around Him, you could photograph Him from a satellite, you could hire a detective to tail Him around, it wouldn’t have mattered. He couldn’t have said in private anything more offensive and outrageous than what He says for all to hear. Things like, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day."
The culmination of Jesus’ work would be when He is "lifted up." For He would fulfill and prove His true identity by dying on a Cross. This is what Jesus means when He talks about being "lifted up." He means being nailed to the Cross and literally raised up into the air. He also means being lifted up in resurrection and finally being lifted up as He ascends into heaven. The gospel is very clear in understanding that this is all one coherent, integrated, continuous movement, one great lifting up of God’s life for the life of the world. And in this lifting up, Jesus says that God’s love will be fully and finally revealed for all to see. In this act we will perceive the depth and breadth of God’s love, as if God’s nature will no longer be a secret. It will no longer be the domain of theologians, scholars, and priests. Now He will be lifted up for all to see and believe. What they will see is a broken, humiliated, dying man, convicted of blasphemy and sedition. What they will believe is that this is God’s only-begotten Son, the Light of the world, by whose death the whole world is saved from destruction.
Jesus says that when He is lifted up it will be like Moses during the sojourn of God’s people in the wilderness. At one point He lifted up the bronze image of a snake, and all who looked at it were miraculously healed of snakebite. So now all who look at the crucified Christ and believe and trust in His saving work will be healed of their mortality. They will be healed and set free of the power of death. They "will not perish but have eternal life."
When we gaze at Jesus the Crucified One and see both our own broken self and at the same time the self-offering in love of the God who created all things, then we have grasped the heart of Christianity. God identifies with us in our broken places, and our broken places are where we become identified with God. Far from being the ignoble termination of our life, death is just the beginning of our being lifted up. Death is the beginning of our resurrection. Frankly, God calls upon us all to "take up our cross and follow" Christ. God calls upon us all to be "lifted up." God calls upon us all to live without secrets a life of honesty and directness. Because whether we like it or not we will be lifted up. Our lives will be subject to examination and evaluation. We will have no secrets, in the end. Our lives will also be examined and judged by God at the end. And from God we have absolutely no secrets. Not even the imaginations of our hearts are exempt. With God there is no such thing as privacy. God knows things about us that we don’t even know. We will all be lifted up to the light and have our true selves exposed.
But the good news is that God is not looking for dirt. God is not giving us the white glove treatment here. God is not concerned with cataloging the sordid details of our secret sins. The good news is that when God looks at us, God sees only Christ. When God looks at us, God sees the beloved, only-begotten, Son. "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all;" God doesn’t know or want to know our shadow side. God sees us like a lover who only knows and accepts and embraces the best in us.
God’s true nature as self-giving, sacrificial, infinite love is revealed on the Cross, when Christ is lifted up. And when we trust in Him our true nature is also revealed... in the same person, Christ, in whom we see our true humanity. God searches our hearts and knows us in full, in every detail. And what God sees in us is not the mangled, broken, sinful, corrupt, lost beings we think we are. But God sees in us Christ, the true image of the people God made us to be.
"God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." God promises us that "Those who believe in Him are not condemned." No one who trusts in the Son is lost. Because in trusting the Son we become one with the Son. In trusting Him we conform to His image. Then God sees Christ and loves us for His sake, just as we see Christ and love God for what He does for our sake.
Let us not fear the light. Let us not try to maintain secrets in the dark. Because "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life."
In His Light,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjhOHs5CdkY
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