I conducted a service of death and resurrection for Mary, yesterday. Mary died in her sleep. She was 93 years old, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. She lived in her own home and she was driving her own car until the day before her death. She never used an I-pod, never sent an e-mail. Yet, she lived a very rich life, using the simple gifts the Lord gave her. She loved the Lord, she loved her family, and she loved life. Her children rose up and thanked the Lord for her life of sacrifice and grace. Her children spoke about how their mom demonstrated and exemplified the grace of Jesus.
Saint Paul, writing the letters to the churches used this powerful sentence, "Grace be un to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ". We don’t mean to, but we often make Christianity more complicated than it really is—and sometimes we make Christ less glorious, less majestic than He really is.
I read I story a few years ago that in Savannah, GA, Baby Grace, a newborn girl, was discovered in a dumpster by a garbage worker. Amidst the refuse of a ghetto area of Savannah, lying in pornography, in the green broken glass of discarded cheap wine bottles, in coffee grounds and rotting food, was a tiny little girl not over a week old. The garbage collector named her "Baby Grace." The story of Grace changed the hearts of that neighborhood as nothing ever had before. There was no problem finding parents for Baby Grace; couples lined up to claim Grace as their own.
The Lord God is telling me lately, afresh and anew about the message of Grace. God’s Grace in Christ Jesus is equally surprising and even disturbing. For on a garbage dump outside of a two-bit occupied country, on a Roman cross, Grace could be found. Grace is not found in the pretty religion of men, but in the garbage dump of our own lives. Those who find Grace and tell it best are not professional clergymen and theologians, but people who have lived close to the dumpster themselves. Fellow refuse workers, if you will, discover Grace. That is all I am. That is all you are. We're just a bunch of sinners saved by grace. Jesus, the Savior, who is the epitome of Amazing Grace, calls you and me to admit our weakness and reach out for His Power—His Grace—which was demonstrated when Jesus died for us on the Cross. Michael Card wrote about this when he wrote a song using the Greek word Scandalon as the title:
"Along the path of life there lies this stubborn Scandalon And all who come this way must be offended. To some He is a barrier; to others He’s the way, For all should know the scandal of believing."
The scandal of believing is yielding your life to the Christ of Scriptures, not to a god of your own making. The scandal is that nothing you can do counts. He has done it all. The scandal is that we are most healed, not when we do religious devotions, but when we let go of our pride and fall down and take hold of the hem of His garment. The scandal of our faith is that our Messiah, our Christ, is a Savior who comes and makes His home not among the smug self-righteous, but among ragamuffins, lepers, poor, blind, lame, captives, demon possessed, and brokenhearted and transforms them into sons and daughters of the Most High.
He is mighty to save,
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qNOMLS6weE
US body puts India under 'Watch List' on religious freedom
13 Aug 2009, 1157 hrs IST, PTI
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WASHINGTON: The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has placed India on its "Watch List" for New Delhi's largely
inadequate response in protecting its religious minorities.
In a statement, USCIRF said India earned the "Watch List" designation due to the "disturbing increase" in communal violence against religious minorities -- specifically Christians in Orissa in 2008 and Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 -- and the largely inadequate response from the Indian government to protect the rights of religious minorities.
"It is extremely disappointing that India, which has a multitude of religious communities, has done so little to protect and bring justice to its religious minorities under siege," said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair.
USCIRF's India chapter was released this week to mark the first anniversary of the start of the anti-Christian violence in Orissa.
Any country that is designated on the USCIRF "Watch List" requires "close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the government."
Other countries currently on the commission's Watch List are Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Laos, the Russian Federation, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Venezuela.
USCIRF, which released its annual report early this year had delayed the publication of its India chapter due to the general elections.
USCIRF members wanted to visit India for their first hand assessment of the situation but they did not get the visa.
The organisation observed that last year in Orissa, the murder of Swami Saraswati by Maoist rebels in Kandhamal sparked a prolonged and destructive campaign targeting Christians, resulting in attacks against churches and individuals.
These attacks largely were carried out by individuals associated with Hindu nationalist groups, and resulted in at least 40 deaths and the destruction of hundreds of homes and dozens of churches. Tens of thousands were displaced and today many still remain in refugee camps, afraid to return home, it said.
"India's democratic institutions charged with upholding the rule of law, most notably state and central judiciaries and police, have emerged as unwilling or unable to seek redress for victims of the violence. More must be done to ensure future violence does not occur and that perpetrators are held accountable," Leo said.
Similarly, during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, India's National Human Rights Commission found that the government not only failed to prevent the attacks against religious minorities, but that state and local officials aided and participated in the violence.
In both Orissa and Gujarat, court convictions have been infrequent, perpetrators rarely brought to justice and thousands of people remain displaced, USCIRF alleged.
The India chapter of the annual USCIRF notes that the deficiencies in investigating and prosecuting cases have resulted in a culture of impunity that gives members of vulnerable minority communities few assurances of their safety, particularly in areas with a history of communal violence, and little hope of perpetrator accountability.
The report recommends that the Obama administration must urge Indian government to take new measures to promote communal harmony, protect religious minorities, and prevent communal violence by calling on all political parties and religious or social organisations to denounce violence against and harassment of religious minorities, women, and low-caste members, and to acknowledge that such violence constitutes a crime under Indian law.
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government commission. Its commissioners are appointed by the US president and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Its principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state and Congress.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 8-13-09
A good Thursday afternoon to you,
Summer has finally arrived here in New York, the Empire State. It will be in the mid-eighties over the next few days. We are planning to visit Janice and her family in Boston, Sunita and Andy in Washington, DC, and Jessica and Tom in Philadelphia.
Laureen has felt the Lord's calling to go on a short term missions trip with the Continentals this fall. She is excited about the opportunity to go as an Assistant Director with the Continentals Worship Team. She will be leaving in approximately five weeks. Her team will be in our area for a concert of worship and praise on October 12, prior to heading northward into Canada, and then westward to Thailand. Keep her in your prayers as she prepared for this adventure for Christ.
While visiting Washington, DC, our Nation's capitol, in a previous trip we have been to the center of Arlington Cemetery to a monument that is beloved by all Americans. It is the Tomb of the Unknowns, which is guarded 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by the Old Guard of the United States Army. The members of this group live in a barracks below the monument, and pledge to never swear nor to drink alcohol (even after this duty is over for them), or they will be stripped of the badge of honor that they wear.
The monument to the unknowns has engraved upon it the words,
"Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God"
It’s hard to view that sight and not be moved. The truth is that the majority of the heroes throughout all our wars were people just like us, and that hits home. They were plumbers and mechanics, bankers and nurses, housewives, sons, and fathers - basically the fellow next door. Their lives seemed to be “unworthy” of the honor of being called American heroes. But we know that they are.
Hebrews 11 is a passage of Scripture which has been visited by many believers. Here the Lord has honored and memorialized them in His Word. Some of these people (unnamed) are known only to God, but in His Word He has erected a monument to the story of His grace in their lives so that we, too, may view that sight and be moved, be strengthened, and encouraged. Thus it is with faith. In Hebrews 11:38 the Bible speaks about those “of whom the world is not worthy.” The phrase “of whom the world is not worthy” is a condemnation of the world and its inability to grasp the power of God at work in the most common of lives. It is reminiscent of Paul’s analysis of God’s glorious ways.
Those whom the world would count as unworthy of honor, God honors. Hebrews 11 is a veritable hall of heroes of faith. Those memorialized in Hebrews 11 include names like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, and Moses. But in Hebrews 11:30, the author made a shift. He included people whose names are almost hidden in the pages of Scripture, people whose names would be unfamiliar to many Christians and certainly unfamiliar to those who know little of their Bibles. Yet these people are special to us. The aim of this section of God’s Word is to encourage us in our faith. Heroes of faith are just people like us. In Hebrews 11:30-32 we see the utterly unknown names of Barak and Jephthah mingled with the names of spiritual giants like Gideon and David. Remarkably, it all starts in Hebrews 11:31 with a woman named Rahab the prostitute.
"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27).
God has elevated what man has despised. God has commended to us as examples those whom the world would throw on the ash heaps of history. In the Book of Hebrews, Rahab is said to be, in the Greek, a porne. In Joshua 2.1 she is called, in the Hebrew, a zonah. In English, those words reveal that her identity was the epitome of sin and shame for a woman; she was a harlot. She was a woman who operated a sort of inn at the very wall of the city. The passage is clear; she was a woman living in sin, a woman with a past, a woman living off the sins of others. She was a woman on the edge, living a throw-away life, unable to be redeemed — or you might have thought. Rahab was not only condemned by the Law of God, but no doubt was also abhorred by her own pagan people. But the Lord had his heart set on this prostitute, and as Christ stood for the woman caught in sin in John 8, God also stood for this woman. Her past in no way could indicate the glorious future God had for her.
The dramatic real-life tale of Rahab and the Hebrew spies surpasses any stories of military espionage. The two spies, sent out by Joshua with a mission to conduct covert operations inside enemy territory for no explained reason, found shelter inside a harlot’s home. They did not go there as other unscrupulous men went, but went there, no doubt, to discover what was really going on from a woman who probably knew the high and the low alike. For whatever reason, as they took cover there, their covert plan was compromised. They were discovered. And in an amazing scene in Joshua 2:3, the very king of Jericho found his life and nation now subject to negotiation with a prostitute. He ordered her to hand over the men. Troops were sent out to seize the men, but Rahab, in a wartime act, covered the truth of the matter, concealed the spies under stalks of flax drying on her roof, and sent the the soldiers of Jericho,on a wild goose chase. A deal was then made with the Hebrews. Because of her aid to the spies, if a scarlet cord was hanging in her window (the sign of her covenant with the spies) when Israel came into the land, her home and her family would be saved from harm.
The spies and the plan were secured, and God’s promises were carried out all because of this woman’s plot. When Joshua “fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came a tumbling” down, Rahab and her family were saved. That is what the writer indicates in Hebrews 11:30-31. First, by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. Then he shows that it was the faith of Rahab that allowed that great event to take place. In the end, what others saw as a red cord in a harlot’s house, was seen by Israel as a sign very much like the blood of a lamb on the doorposts. This was a sort of Passover experience for this woman.
I am amazed and provoked by Rahab’s profession of faith. “…I know that the Lord has given you the land….For the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on earth beneath (Joshua 2:9, 11).
This passage is amazing. Rahab believed in her heart that there is a God and that He is the only way to be saved. Her faith led her to works of righteousness out of worship for this God and a heart’s cry for her own salvation. She entered into a covenant with the Lord through God’s people, turning her back on her old ways and turning to the living Lord. In it all there was a scarlet cord, the sign in her window that became the token of her faith, a sort of sacrament by which she was identified with Israel. By faith are ye saved. Her faith saved her life and saved her soul. Make no mistake about it. This woman was trusting in all of the promises. She was trusting in a God who could cover her sins, could cover her past, and could secure her future and that of her family. No longer would she be a woman of sin. She would become a woman of faith.
We hear the words of the Apostle Paul echoing through this story. The promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring. It is not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Romans 4:16, NIV). If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29, NIV).
Not only Rahab mentioned in Hebrews and in James, but she also ends up in a remarkable section of Scripture, memorialized in Matthew 1. There her name is listed as the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth, and as the grandmother of King David, and is in the direct lineage of the Savior of the World, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The world that would have accused her for her sins, would not be worthy of her, says the Lord.
John Calvin, the Pastor of Geneva who did so much to liberate the life of the common man, wrote, “Although the world may reject the servants of God as rubbish, the fact that it cannot bear them is to be thought of as its penalty because along with them goes some blessing from God.”
By faith in Jesus Christ, human beings are valued. Whoever they are, whatever they have done, there is value in human beings. Like Rahab, behind every broken, sinful person is also a very real human being in need of the love of God. No one can claim moral superiority over another. We are all level before the Lord, all human beings in need of Christ’s righteousness. The church is filled with such people. So Paul would chronicle a list of sins of the worst kind and then say, “And such were some of you.”
By faith in Jesus Christ, human pain and sorrow may become transmuted into godly gain. Rahab’s story would not be there if it were not for her pain. In Christ, our broken past becomes the fuel for a testimony of grace. The very things which seem to destroy us become the instruments God uses to transform us. Paul taught us that “when I am weak then I am strong.” By faith in Jesus Christ, the worst sinner may become the greatest saint. Rahab was a great sinner, but Christ was a great Savior. So it is with all of us. Christ taught us that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
By faith in Jesus Christ, our painful past is no indicator of a painful future. In fact, God will redeem our painful past and use it to send us into a glorious future. The prophet Joel spoke to a people recovering from the judgment of God against their sin, a people who had been ravaged by the locusts, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…” (Joel 2:25).
The story of Rahab is here for each of us. Let this story be a giant memorial engraved with the words, “Of whom the world is not worthy.” Then we will begin to understand the glory of this passage and of this story of grace. For Christ Jesus, who redeemed her and put her in the royal line of the Savior, will redeem us and make us heirs of the kingdom of Christ.
We are all as Rahab. We are not only born sinners as sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, but we have all prostituted ourselves—sold ourselves into sin by our malicious hearts towards others, our pride before God, the lusts of the eyes and lusts of the flesh. "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned." (Romans 5:12).
Thank God a Savior has come into our camp. A free offer of salvation is here. And all who will call upon the name of Jesus Christ will be saved. Though it rage all over the universe, no fiery judgment will touch you. A righteous God shall surely bring down the walls of this world, but the destruction shall not touch you if you are in Christ. Not even death can destroy you, for there is a scarlet cord hanging in the window of every harlot who professes faith in Jesus Christ. That cord is the blood of a Savior sealing that house. That cord is a sign that you, an unworthy sinner in the eyes of the world, have come into the covenant of grace, and God now calls you His own.
Look at Hebrews 12:1-2 and see how the writer makes the transition from chapter 11 and the hall of heroes of faith to showing the reader how we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses in order to run the race of faith. We see them around us—Abraham and Sarah, Rahab and David, all of them—great sinners who called on a great Savior and who became great people of faith. All of this is given that we might be free from the accusations of self, the accusations of Satan, and the accusations of the world. What God has called clean, let not man call unclean. You are saved. Do not let sin have dominion over you. Do not let your past sins accuse you as you run the race of faith. How do you do that? We are told, "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2, NKJV).
He is mighty to save,
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ghKwGEQRA
Summer has finally arrived here in New York, the Empire State. It will be in the mid-eighties over the next few days. We are planning to visit Janice and her family in Boston, Sunita and Andy in Washington, DC, and Jessica and Tom in Philadelphia.
Laureen has felt the Lord's calling to go on a short term missions trip with the Continentals this fall. She is excited about the opportunity to go as an Assistant Director with the Continentals Worship Team. She will be leaving in approximately five weeks. Her team will be in our area for a concert of worship and praise on October 12, prior to heading northward into Canada, and then westward to Thailand. Keep her in your prayers as she prepared for this adventure for Christ.
While visiting Washington, DC, our Nation's capitol, in a previous trip we have been to the center of Arlington Cemetery to a monument that is beloved by all Americans. It is the Tomb of the Unknowns, which is guarded 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by the Old Guard of the United States Army. The members of this group live in a barracks below the monument, and pledge to never swear nor to drink alcohol (even after this duty is over for them), or they will be stripped of the badge of honor that they wear.
The monument to the unknowns has engraved upon it the words,
"Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God"
It’s hard to view that sight and not be moved. The truth is that the majority of the heroes throughout all our wars were people just like us, and that hits home. They were plumbers and mechanics, bankers and nurses, housewives, sons, and fathers - basically the fellow next door. Their lives seemed to be “unworthy” of the honor of being called American heroes. But we know that they are.
Hebrews 11 is a passage of Scripture which has been visited by many believers. Here the Lord has honored and memorialized them in His Word. Some of these people (unnamed) are known only to God, but in His Word He has erected a monument to the story of His grace in their lives so that we, too, may view that sight and be moved, be strengthened, and encouraged. Thus it is with faith. In Hebrews 11:38 the Bible speaks about those “of whom the world is not worthy.” The phrase “of whom the world is not worthy” is a condemnation of the world and its inability to grasp the power of God at work in the most common of lives. It is reminiscent of Paul’s analysis of God’s glorious ways.
Those whom the world would count as unworthy of honor, God honors. Hebrews 11 is a veritable hall of heroes of faith. Those memorialized in Hebrews 11 include names like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, and Moses. But in Hebrews 11:30, the author made a shift. He included people whose names are almost hidden in the pages of Scripture, people whose names would be unfamiliar to many Christians and certainly unfamiliar to those who know little of their Bibles. Yet these people are special to us. The aim of this section of God’s Word is to encourage us in our faith. Heroes of faith are just people like us. In Hebrews 11:30-32 we see the utterly unknown names of Barak and Jephthah mingled with the names of spiritual giants like Gideon and David. Remarkably, it all starts in Hebrews 11:31 with a woman named Rahab the prostitute.
"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27).
God has elevated what man has despised. God has commended to us as examples those whom the world would throw on the ash heaps of history. In the Book of Hebrews, Rahab is said to be, in the Greek, a porne. In Joshua 2.1 she is called, in the Hebrew, a zonah. In English, those words reveal that her identity was the epitome of sin and shame for a woman; she was a harlot. She was a woman who operated a sort of inn at the very wall of the city. The passage is clear; she was a woman living in sin, a woman with a past, a woman living off the sins of others. She was a woman on the edge, living a throw-away life, unable to be redeemed — or you might have thought. Rahab was not only condemned by the Law of God, but no doubt was also abhorred by her own pagan people. But the Lord had his heart set on this prostitute, and as Christ stood for the woman caught in sin in John 8, God also stood for this woman. Her past in no way could indicate the glorious future God had for her.
The dramatic real-life tale of Rahab and the Hebrew spies surpasses any stories of military espionage. The two spies, sent out by Joshua with a mission to conduct covert operations inside enemy territory for no explained reason, found shelter inside a harlot’s home. They did not go there as other unscrupulous men went, but went there, no doubt, to discover what was really going on from a woman who probably knew the high and the low alike. For whatever reason, as they took cover there, their covert plan was compromised. They were discovered. And in an amazing scene in Joshua 2:3, the very king of Jericho found his life and nation now subject to negotiation with a prostitute. He ordered her to hand over the men. Troops were sent out to seize the men, but Rahab, in a wartime act, covered the truth of the matter, concealed the spies under stalks of flax drying on her roof, and sent the the soldiers of Jericho,on a wild goose chase. A deal was then made with the Hebrews. Because of her aid to the spies, if a scarlet cord was hanging in her window (the sign of her covenant with the spies) when Israel came into the land, her home and her family would be saved from harm.
The spies and the plan were secured, and God’s promises were carried out all because of this woman’s plot. When Joshua “fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came a tumbling” down, Rahab and her family were saved. That is what the writer indicates in Hebrews 11:30-31. First, by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. Then he shows that it was the faith of Rahab that allowed that great event to take place. In the end, what others saw as a red cord in a harlot’s house, was seen by Israel as a sign very much like the blood of a lamb on the doorposts. This was a sort of Passover experience for this woman.
I am amazed and provoked by Rahab’s profession of faith. “…I know that the Lord has given you the land….For the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on earth beneath (Joshua 2:9, 11).
This passage is amazing. Rahab believed in her heart that there is a God and that He is the only way to be saved. Her faith led her to works of righteousness out of worship for this God and a heart’s cry for her own salvation. She entered into a covenant with the Lord through God’s people, turning her back on her old ways and turning to the living Lord. In it all there was a scarlet cord, the sign in her window that became the token of her faith, a sort of sacrament by which she was identified with Israel. By faith are ye saved. Her faith saved her life and saved her soul. Make no mistake about it. This woman was trusting in all of the promises. She was trusting in a God who could cover her sins, could cover her past, and could secure her future and that of her family. No longer would she be a woman of sin. She would become a woman of faith.
We hear the words of the Apostle Paul echoing through this story. The promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring. It is not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Romans 4:16, NIV). If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29, NIV).
Not only Rahab mentioned in Hebrews and in James, but she also ends up in a remarkable section of Scripture, memorialized in Matthew 1. There her name is listed as the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth, and as the grandmother of King David, and is in the direct lineage of the Savior of the World, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The world that would have accused her for her sins, would not be worthy of her, says the Lord.
John Calvin, the Pastor of Geneva who did so much to liberate the life of the common man, wrote, “Although the world may reject the servants of God as rubbish, the fact that it cannot bear them is to be thought of as its penalty because along with them goes some blessing from God.”
By faith in Jesus Christ, human beings are valued. Whoever they are, whatever they have done, there is value in human beings. Like Rahab, behind every broken, sinful person is also a very real human being in need of the love of God. No one can claim moral superiority over another. We are all level before the Lord, all human beings in need of Christ’s righteousness. The church is filled with such people. So Paul would chronicle a list of sins of the worst kind and then say, “And such were some of you.”
By faith in Jesus Christ, human pain and sorrow may become transmuted into godly gain. Rahab’s story would not be there if it were not for her pain. In Christ, our broken past becomes the fuel for a testimony of grace. The very things which seem to destroy us become the instruments God uses to transform us. Paul taught us that “when I am weak then I am strong.” By faith in Jesus Christ, the worst sinner may become the greatest saint. Rahab was a great sinner, but Christ was a great Savior. So it is with all of us. Christ taught us that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
By faith in Jesus Christ, our painful past is no indicator of a painful future. In fact, God will redeem our painful past and use it to send us into a glorious future. The prophet Joel spoke to a people recovering from the judgment of God against their sin, a people who had been ravaged by the locusts, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…” (Joel 2:25).
The story of Rahab is here for each of us. Let this story be a giant memorial engraved with the words, “Of whom the world is not worthy.” Then we will begin to understand the glory of this passage and of this story of grace. For Christ Jesus, who redeemed her and put her in the royal line of the Savior, will redeem us and make us heirs of the kingdom of Christ.
We are all as Rahab. We are not only born sinners as sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, but we have all prostituted ourselves—sold ourselves into sin by our malicious hearts towards others, our pride before God, the lusts of the eyes and lusts of the flesh. "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned." (Romans 5:12).
Thank God a Savior has come into our camp. A free offer of salvation is here. And all who will call upon the name of Jesus Christ will be saved. Though it rage all over the universe, no fiery judgment will touch you. A righteous God shall surely bring down the walls of this world, but the destruction shall not touch you if you are in Christ. Not even death can destroy you, for there is a scarlet cord hanging in the window of every harlot who professes faith in Jesus Christ. That cord is the blood of a Savior sealing that house. That cord is a sign that you, an unworthy sinner in the eyes of the world, have come into the covenant of grace, and God now calls you His own.
Look at Hebrews 12:1-2 and see how the writer makes the transition from chapter 11 and the hall of heroes of faith to showing the reader how we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses in order to run the race of faith. We see them around us—Abraham and Sarah, Rahab and David, all of them—great sinners who called on a great Savior and who became great people of faith. All of this is given that we might be free from the accusations of self, the accusations of Satan, and the accusations of the world. What God has called clean, let not man call unclean. You are saved. Do not let sin have dominion over you. Do not let your past sins accuse you as you run the race of faith. How do you do that? We are told, "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2, NKJV).
He is mighty to save,
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ghKwGEQRA
Monday, August 10, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 8-10-09
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for His mercy which endures forever. His love never fails. John Wesley said, "Christians die well." I attended a service of death and resurrection last week for George Nickels, who was 89 years old when he went home to be with his Lord. He loved the Lord and he loved his family. He and his wife were married for 66 years. The service was filled with thanksgiving, praise, and testimonies to his rich life and legacy.
We also heard about the death of our friend Olga Mair McLaren, from England. She was 86 years old, and was married for 60 years. She and her husband, Dr. Don McClaren, were medical missionaries to Orissa, India. Dr. McLaren was a world renown physician and professor of medicine, who taught at the University of Edinburgh, at Cornell University, and in Beirut. Every time we visited England, we were offered warm hospitality by the McLarens. Olga was a sweet servant of Jesus. She was lively, vivacious, and full of fun.
Mary Nichols, mother of Nancy Henson, died Sunday morning in her sleep, at the age of 93. She lived by herself, in her own house, and she drove her own car. She loved the Lord and loved her family. I will be conducting the service for her this week on Thursday.
"For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!"
Our niece Jovita celebrates her birthday today. She lives and works in sunny, southern California.
Life is tied together by the great landmark events - birth, marriage, death. On Saturday I had the privilege of joining two young couples in marriage. They are Christopher and Jill Arnold, and Dekan and Laura Rosenbarker. Because Jesus is Lord, we do life well. Because Christ, who blesses marriage between one man and one woman, is alive and well we can celebrate the gift of marriage. We reaffirm and declare, "Whom the Lord has joined together, let no man put asunder."
As summer wanes towards fall, sports fans get ready for the NFL season. In our day thousands of athletes spend years training and sacrificing so that they could wear a crown or medal, that will not last. The flame will go out, the games will be over, the cheering crowds will go home. A few will be remembered and the wreath will fade away to dust. Can you believe the effort they put into it, for only a chance of receiving a crown that will not last? Can you believe the efforts that many of us put into training for some sport, to achieve a small piece of fading glory?
We who are in the church of Jesus Christ, are not in a race to win a crown that will fade away. The crown we run for is everlasting, it’s a crown of life eternal. That is what Paul focused on and that is how he stayed on the track as he endured great hardships. That’s how he finished his race, despite being beaten with rods 3 times, flogged at least 5 times, stoned, and persecuted by enemies and brothers. Many times he was cold, naked, and hungry and was about to make the ultimate sacrifice, to have his earthy life ended at the edge of an axe. YET THROUGH IT ALL HE HAD HIS EYES ON THE PRIZE. [II Tim. 4:6-8]
We must never lose sight of our prize; we must stay on the track and keep running. I know that sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes you may feel like you can’t even breathe, your legs are weak, you're tired, and it may seem easier to quit. BUT WE MUST NOT GIVE UP OR GIVE IN, but rather keep living the Christian life, keep carrying the Gospel torch, keep training even though our muscles ache. We must keep our eyes on the prize the crown of life, and not stop running until we cross the finish line. We must never quit. The Christian race is not a sprint or 100 hundred yard dash. But rather it is a life long marathon. We must continue to run; we cannot coast to the finish based on past glories and accomplishments. When we stop running we have quit the race. When we stop spreading his Gospel and running the race of faith we have forfeited the prize.
Satan and his demons will try to tempt us to quit, and try to get us to leave the track. Paul tells us that God will not allow them to tempt us, His children, beyond what we can handle. God protects the Christian and limits Satan’s power over them.
Some time ago I read the story of Bill Broadhurst. Bill Broadhurst was a great runner who entered a 10k race in Owahu, a race that Bill Rodgers would win in less than 30 minutes. Bill Broadhurst had a handicap; he was paralyzed on his entire left side from an aneurism early in life. But he still loved to run and for him to be in the same race as his hero Bill Rodgers was the greatest thing he could imagine.
The banners had been taken down, the traffic had begun to flow on the roads, and there was nothing left that would tell you that a race had been run, except one man Bill Broadhurst who was still running the race. 2 hours ago Bill Rodgers had finished the race and now Bill Broadhurst was nearing the place where the finish line was. A couple of kids on bikes road beside him and said, "hey mister are you still running the race, it’s been over for hours, someone’s already finished first and won, why don’t you quit, the race is over!"
Broadhurst replied, "I can’t, I have to make it to my hero at the end of the line". And he kept on running. As he approached the place where he knew the finish line would be, Bill Rodgers and about 30 people stepped out from an alley and they placed a banner up and strung a ribbon across the road. And Bill Broadhurst stumbled across the finish line. There stood his hero, Bill Rodgers, who took off the ribbon form his neck and placed it around the neck of Broadhurst, and he said, "you a winner because you never quit".
Jesus is at the finish line waiting for us. He wants to place the golden crown of life on our heads.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je-wFV4M9MU
Praise the Lord for His mercy which endures forever. His love never fails. John Wesley said, "Christians die well." I attended a service of death and resurrection last week for George Nickels, who was 89 years old when he went home to be with his Lord. He loved the Lord and he loved his family. He and his wife were married for 66 years. The service was filled with thanksgiving, praise, and testimonies to his rich life and legacy.
We also heard about the death of our friend Olga Mair McLaren, from England. She was 86 years old, and was married for 60 years. She and her husband, Dr. Don McClaren, were medical missionaries to Orissa, India. Dr. McLaren was a world renown physician and professor of medicine, who taught at the University of Edinburgh, at Cornell University, and in Beirut. Every time we visited England, we were offered warm hospitality by the McLarens. Olga was a sweet servant of Jesus. She was lively, vivacious, and full of fun.
Mary Nichols, mother of Nancy Henson, died Sunday morning in her sleep, at the age of 93. She lived by herself, in her own house, and she drove her own car. She loved the Lord and loved her family. I will be conducting the service for her this week on Thursday.
"For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!"
Our niece Jovita celebrates her birthday today. She lives and works in sunny, southern California.
Life is tied together by the great landmark events - birth, marriage, death. On Saturday I had the privilege of joining two young couples in marriage. They are Christopher and Jill Arnold, and Dekan and Laura Rosenbarker. Because Jesus is Lord, we do life well. Because Christ, who blesses marriage between one man and one woman, is alive and well we can celebrate the gift of marriage. We reaffirm and declare, "Whom the Lord has joined together, let no man put asunder."
As summer wanes towards fall, sports fans get ready for the NFL season. In our day thousands of athletes spend years training and sacrificing so that they could wear a crown or medal, that will not last. The flame will go out, the games will be over, the cheering crowds will go home. A few will be remembered and the wreath will fade away to dust. Can you believe the effort they put into it, for only a chance of receiving a crown that will not last? Can you believe the efforts that many of us put into training for some sport, to achieve a small piece of fading glory?
We who are in the church of Jesus Christ, are not in a race to win a crown that will fade away. The crown we run for is everlasting, it’s a crown of life eternal. That is what Paul focused on and that is how he stayed on the track as he endured great hardships. That’s how he finished his race, despite being beaten with rods 3 times, flogged at least 5 times, stoned, and persecuted by enemies and brothers. Many times he was cold, naked, and hungry and was about to make the ultimate sacrifice, to have his earthy life ended at the edge of an axe. YET THROUGH IT ALL HE HAD HIS EYES ON THE PRIZE. [II Tim. 4:6-8]
We must never lose sight of our prize; we must stay on the track and keep running. I know that sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes you may feel like you can’t even breathe, your legs are weak, you're tired, and it may seem easier to quit. BUT WE MUST NOT GIVE UP OR GIVE IN, but rather keep living the Christian life, keep carrying the Gospel torch, keep training even though our muscles ache. We must keep our eyes on the prize the crown of life, and not stop running until we cross the finish line. We must never quit. The Christian race is not a sprint or 100 hundred yard dash. But rather it is a life long marathon. We must continue to run; we cannot coast to the finish based on past glories and accomplishments. When we stop running we have quit the race. When we stop spreading his Gospel and running the race of faith we have forfeited the prize.
Satan and his demons will try to tempt us to quit, and try to get us to leave the track. Paul tells us that God will not allow them to tempt us, His children, beyond what we can handle. God protects the Christian and limits Satan’s power over them.
Some time ago I read the story of Bill Broadhurst. Bill Broadhurst was a great runner who entered a 10k race in Owahu, a race that Bill Rodgers would win in less than 30 minutes. Bill Broadhurst had a handicap; he was paralyzed on his entire left side from an aneurism early in life. But he still loved to run and for him to be in the same race as his hero Bill Rodgers was the greatest thing he could imagine.
The banners had been taken down, the traffic had begun to flow on the roads, and there was nothing left that would tell you that a race had been run, except one man Bill Broadhurst who was still running the race. 2 hours ago Bill Rodgers had finished the race and now Bill Broadhurst was nearing the place where the finish line was. A couple of kids on bikes road beside him and said, "hey mister are you still running the race, it’s been over for hours, someone’s already finished first and won, why don’t you quit, the race is over!"
Broadhurst replied, "I can’t, I have to make it to my hero at the end of the line". And he kept on running. As he approached the place where he knew the finish line would be, Bill Rodgers and about 30 people stepped out from an alley and they placed a banner up and strung a ribbon across the road. And Bill Broadhurst stumbled across the finish line. There stood his hero, Bill Rodgers, who took off the ribbon form his neck and placed it around the neck of Broadhurst, and he said, "you a winner because you never quit".
Jesus is at the finish line waiting for us. He wants to place the golden crown of life on our heads.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je-wFV4M9MU
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