Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this fabulous day, one of the fabulous Fridays of October. Praise the Lord for the way He makes all things beautiful in His season and in His time. Praise the Lord that He is the Lord of all seasons and the Lord in every season.
Pray for Sunita, who is flying out to Israel tomorrow. Pray that the Lord will prepare the way before her, that she might enter the country easily. Continue to pray for Laureen and her team as they move westward. They will be in Ohio tonight, spending some time with our friends, Allen and Sande Jones in Cincinnati.
I had a very pleasant phone call from Atlanta the other day -about a young man by the name of Brandon. He went to Orissa, India with us,with a team from Ohio some time back on a short term mission. He and his team stayed at my mom's house. While there, the Lord touched deeply and dearly, and he was moved. I hadn't heard from him since his return to the States, years ago to finish college. He has since then finished his studies at Asbury Seminary, married, has a child, and is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. He felt the call of Christ to go back to Orissa as a full-time missionary, and he has been approved to follow Christ's call to Orissa. He will be working primarily among the Christians who have been persecuted and tortured there. Brandon is one among three couples who have been to my mom's house in Orissa and have been called to full-time missions. They have all followed through on the call. Praise the Lord for the way He works to supply for the need. When I hear the stories and the testimonies of those who love the Lord with great abandon I get excited about Jesus and His Kingdom. Praise the Lord for those who seek after Christ with a great passion. I did read the following story sometime ago:
April 17, 1964 something unique and noteworthy took place in America… That event was the introduction of the Ford Mustang. On that day the following events took place:
1. A Mustang had been chosen as the pace car for a stock car race in Huntsville, Alabama. When it drove onto the track, thousands of people scaled the retaining wall to get a better look at it and the race was delayed for over an hour.
2. A cement truck crashed through the plate-glass window of a Seattle Ford dealer when the driver lost control of his vehicle. The reason: He was staring at the new Mustangs on display there.
3. A Chicago Ford dealer was forced to lock the doors of his show-room models because too many people were trying to get into them at the same time.
4. A Texas dealer put a new Mustang on a lift to show a prospective customer the underside of the vehicle. By the time his demonstration was over, the showroom was filled with people, and he had to leave the Mustang up in the air for the rest of the day.
5. A New Jersey Ford dealer had only one Mustang and 15 eager buyers, so he auctioned it off. The winner of the auction insisted on sleeping in the car to be sure the dealer didn’t sell it to someone else before his check cleared.
Why did they do all this?
Why did people behave in such bizarre ways over a simple car? I mean they...
* crammed into showrooms and scaled retaining walls at races just to get a look at it
* One man slept in their newly purchased car
* And another man lost control of his vehicles because of the sight.
They did all of this because of a Ford mustang!
BUT it was THE car they wanted to see.
It was THE car they wanted to have.
It stood for everything they ever wanted in a vehicle .
Once We find Christ in a deeper way , He becomes the desire our hearts. He satisfies our deepest desires. He grants us the thrill of knowing Him and serving Him. In Psalm 84 it is written:
1How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
2My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
3Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
4Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
5Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
6Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
7They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
8O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.
9Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
10For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je-wFV4M9MU
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 10-22-09
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this beautiful and bountiful day. We are having a day or two of Indian Summer. It is going to be brilliant. We still have a few scattered spots where the Autumn colors still magnificent and breath taking.
Someone once wrote, “If you have money, people want to give you more. If you’re rich and famous, people love to give things to you. If you’re rich and influential, corporate boards invite you to join them." There you can make lots of money just by attending meetings and giving your opinion on the direction of the company you know nothing about.
“While CEOs take home millions of dollars even when their companies perform poorly, the lowest-paid workers are the first to be laid off in bad economic times. The average CEO still earns 728 times the salary of the average worker." The real problem here is that our society has convinced us that wealth equals success. We value people on the basis of their bank accounts, regardless of how they made their money. Americans tend to believe that rich people are better, smarter, more attractive, and more successful than everyone else. We idolize the rich and despise the poor.
When we pause and ponder these things, they plainly don’t make sense. That’s the way of the world. However, our Lord's has a plan and purpose for each one of us. His plans are different than the world's plans, and if we want to find any joy in life we must follow His will and His ways.
Philippians 4:8 states, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." We are called to be Kingdom minded, and to keep our thoughts set on things of the Lord. We are invited to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. Then, as we seek Him and serve Him, He bestows His rich blessings upon us. Our Lord is awesome and intriguing in His ways, in His divine purposes, and in His plans. It is a great thrill to know Him and serve Him. It is a great adventure to allow ourselves to be propelled by His power and mercy. He is the daily bread for our journey. He is the delight of every pilgrim.
Max Lucado tells the story about flying on a plane one time with a certain lady. He said, "She sat in 14E and I sat in 14D. She was rural and I was urban. She was homey and I was professional. But she could see and I was blind.
"I groaned. I had a bad attitude. My week had been hectic. The plane was late and overbooked. I had a toothache and had left the tooth medicine at the hotel. I wanted to sleep, but I had work to do. And now I was sitting next to Gomer Pyle’s mother.
"‘Oooh, boy, look at that one!’ She pointed at the plane ahead of us on the runway. ‘Is this one that big?’ ‘Yes,’ I hoped my brief response would show her that I wasn’t up for chitchat. It didn’t. ‘I’m hoping to see my boy in Dallas. Do you ever go to Dallas? I hope he’s OK. He had a stomach flu last week. He’s got a new dog. I can’t want to see it. It’s a Labrador. Do you know what that is? They are big and lovable...’
"She was uncanny. Not only could she add a syllable to every word, she could answer her own questions. As we were taking off, however, she got quiet. For several moments she said nothing. Then she suddenly let out a sound that would have called the pigs for dinner. ‘Oooooeeee, those trees down there look like peat moss!’ People around us stared like I was E. F. Hutton.
"’What river is that?’ I told her I didn’t know, so she flagged down a stewardess.
"When the drinks came around, I asked for a Coke; she asked for the list. ‘Tell me again?’ So the stewardess told her again, ‘Oh, it’s so hard to choose,’ she giggled. But she finally chose.
"When they brought her the drink, she exclaimed that she didn’t know apple juice came in cans. And when they brought her a sandwich, she opened the box and proclaimed loud enough for the pilot to hear, ‘Why, they even put mayonnaise in here.’
"When I pulled out my laptop computer, she was enthralled. ‘Now isn’t that clever.’ And that went on the whole flight. She didn’t miss a thing. If she wasn’t staring out the window, she was amazed by a magazine.
"If she wasn’t talking, she was ‘ooohing.’ She played with her fan. She turned her light on and off. She toyed with her seat belt. She savored her lunch. When we went through turbulence, I looked over at her to be sure she was all right, and she was grinning. You’d have thought she was riding the Ferris Wheel at the county fair!
"It occurred to me, about mid-journey, that she was the only person enjoying the trip. The rest of us, the ‘sophisticated,’ were too mature to have fun. And as I was staring at a computer screen -- eyes tired, mouth hurting, stressed-out, trying to find a message for stress-filled people and never noticing that the message was sitting beside me.
"And I might never have noticed had she not leaned over and said to me at the end of the flight. ‘Son, I may be out of place in saying this, but you’ve worked the entire trip. You need to relax, boy. You need to put that machine up and enjoy the journey.’ GULP."
"I smiled weakly and mumbled some excuse about needing to get the work done before tomorrow. But she wasn’t listening. She was squeezing her hands together in excitement as we landed. ‘Wasn’t that a fu-un trip?’ she asked as we were leaving the plane.
"I didn’t say anything. I just nodded and smiled. Off she walked, bouncing down the concourse as curious as a six-year-old. I watched her as long as I could, then turned to go to my next flight with a lesson learned. I resolved to keep my eyes open." Lucado concluded, "It does little good, I decided, to make the trip and miss the journey."
Most of us are so caught up with the negatives of life that we fail to see the good, the positive, the blessings, the excitement, and the enchantment of life. No wonder we are not as happy as we could be. We need to align ourselves with Jesus, our Risen Lord, and focus on all the blessings that He bestows upon us.
Philippians 2:14-15, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”
In Jesus our Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qp11X6LKYY
Praise the Lord for this beautiful and bountiful day. We are having a day or two of Indian Summer. It is going to be brilliant. We still have a few scattered spots where the Autumn colors still magnificent and breath taking.
Someone once wrote, “If you have money, people want to give you more. If you’re rich and famous, people love to give things to you. If you’re rich and influential, corporate boards invite you to join them." There you can make lots of money just by attending meetings and giving your opinion on the direction of the company you know nothing about.
“While CEOs take home millions of dollars even when their companies perform poorly, the lowest-paid workers are the first to be laid off in bad economic times. The average CEO still earns 728 times the salary of the average worker." The real problem here is that our society has convinced us that wealth equals success. We value people on the basis of their bank accounts, regardless of how they made their money. Americans tend to believe that rich people are better, smarter, more attractive, and more successful than everyone else. We idolize the rich and despise the poor.
When we pause and ponder these things, they plainly don’t make sense. That’s the way of the world. However, our Lord's has a plan and purpose for each one of us. His plans are different than the world's plans, and if we want to find any joy in life we must follow His will and His ways.
Philippians 4:8 states, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." We are called to be Kingdom minded, and to keep our thoughts set on things of the Lord. We are invited to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. Then, as we seek Him and serve Him, He bestows His rich blessings upon us. Our Lord is awesome and intriguing in His ways, in His divine purposes, and in His plans. It is a great thrill to know Him and serve Him. It is a great adventure to allow ourselves to be propelled by His power and mercy. He is the daily bread for our journey. He is the delight of every pilgrim.
Max Lucado tells the story about flying on a plane one time with a certain lady. He said, "She sat in 14E and I sat in 14D. She was rural and I was urban. She was homey and I was professional. But she could see and I was blind.
"I groaned. I had a bad attitude. My week had been hectic. The plane was late and overbooked. I had a toothache and had left the tooth medicine at the hotel. I wanted to sleep, but I had work to do. And now I was sitting next to Gomer Pyle’s mother.
"‘Oooh, boy, look at that one!’ She pointed at the plane ahead of us on the runway. ‘Is this one that big?’ ‘Yes,’ I hoped my brief response would show her that I wasn’t up for chitchat. It didn’t. ‘I’m hoping to see my boy in Dallas. Do you ever go to Dallas? I hope he’s OK. He had a stomach flu last week. He’s got a new dog. I can’t want to see it. It’s a Labrador. Do you know what that is? They are big and lovable...’
"She was uncanny. Not only could she add a syllable to every word, she could answer her own questions. As we were taking off, however, she got quiet. For several moments she said nothing. Then she suddenly let out a sound that would have called the pigs for dinner. ‘Oooooeeee, those trees down there look like peat moss!’ People around us stared like I was E. F. Hutton.
"’What river is that?’ I told her I didn’t know, so she flagged down a stewardess.
"When the drinks came around, I asked for a Coke; she asked for the list. ‘Tell me again?’ So the stewardess told her again, ‘Oh, it’s so hard to choose,’ she giggled. But she finally chose.
"When they brought her the drink, she exclaimed that she didn’t know apple juice came in cans. And when they brought her a sandwich, she opened the box and proclaimed loud enough for the pilot to hear, ‘Why, they even put mayonnaise in here.’
"When I pulled out my laptop computer, she was enthralled. ‘Now isn’t that clever.’ And that went on the whole flight. She didn’t miss a thing. If she wasn’t staring out the window, she was amazed by a magazine.
"If she wasn’t talking, she was ‘ooohing.’ She played with her fan. She turned her light on and off. She toyed with her seat belt. She savored her lunch. When we went through turbulence, I looked over at her to be sure she was all right, and she was grinning. You’d have thought she was riding the Ferris Wheel at the county fair!
"It occurred to me, about mid-journey, that she was the only person enjoying the trip. The rest of us, the ‘sophisticated,’ were too mature to have fun. And as I was staring at a computer screen -- eyes tired, mouth hurting, stressed-out, trying to find a message for stress-filled people and never noticing that the message was sitting beside me.
"And I might never have noticed had she not leaned over and said to me at the end of the flight. ‘Son, I may be out of place in saying this, but you’ve worked the entire trip. You need to relax, boy. You need to put that machine up and enjoy the journey.’ GULP."
"I smiled weakly and mumbled some excuse about needing to get the work done before tomorrow. But she wasn’t listening. She was squeezing her hands together in excitement as we landed. ‘Wasn’t that a fu-un trip?’ she asked as we were leaving the plane.
"I didn’t say anything. I just nodded and smiled. Off she walked, bouncing down the concourse as curious as a six-year-old. I watched her as long as I could, then turned to go to my next flight with a lesson learned. I resolved to keep my eyes open." Lucado concluded, "It does little good, I decided, to make the trip and miss the journey."
Most of us are so caught up with the negatives of life that we fail to see the good, the positive, the blessings, the excitement, and the enchantment of life. No wonder we are not as happy as we could be. We need to align ourselves with Jesus, our Risen Lord, and focus on all the blessings that He bestows upon us.
Philippians 2:14-15, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”
In Jesus our Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qp11X6LKYY
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 10-21-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord, for He is the Lord of the earth and He is the King of nations. Praise the Lord for the Church, the body of Christ, that is is both militant and triumphant. Our God omnipotent reigneth.
Thank you for praying for Laureen and her team. After spending a week in Canada they are back in the States. Laureen called yesterday, and told us that the Lord blessed their ministry in Canada wonderfully. He gave them His favor with the people of God in Canada. On their way back into the States the group spent part of the day yesterday in Beautiful downtown Boston. The whole group was able to spend some time with Jeremy, Janice, Micah, and Simeon. Micah wanted to wear a very special dress to see her Auntie Laureen, so apparently she spent a lot of time picking it out. (Micah is beginning to notice what other people wear and likes to dress like her favorite people - her mommy, her cousin Sharon, etc.) Laureen and her team will be in Williamsport, Pennsylvania today and then traveling westward tomorrow.
Sunita called yesterday and shared that she is likely to be going to Israel this comingSunday for ten days on assignment. She will be staying in Jerusalem. The last time she was in Israel was in 2000.
When I was in far East Russia in 2003, I had privilege visiting people who live in the countryside. Many live in very small houses. Those who live in the city live in the apartment complexes. I read about “A Russian woman lived with her husband and two children in a very small hut. Her husband’s parents lost their home and she had to take them in. Unbearable. In desperation, she went to the village wise man, whom she knew had solved many, many problems. "What should I do?" she begged. "Do you have a COW?" asked the wise man. "Yes," she replied. Then bring her into the hut too. And come back and see me in a week," said the wise man. A week later she was back. "This is utterly unbearable" she said. "Do you have any CHICKENS?" asked wise man. "Yes," she replied. "What about them?" ‘Bring them into the hut too, and come back and see me in another week." "Now you’re utterly out of your mind," she said. Nevertheless, still awed by his reputation, she did as he asked. A week later she returned. "This is absolutely impossible," she said. "Our home is a mess." "All right," said the wise man, "take out the chickens." The next week she reported that without the chickens it was definitely better, but still a miserable situation. "All right," said the wise man, "now take out the cow. That will settle your problem." And it did. Without the chickens and cow, the woman, her husband, the children, and his two parents got along quite peacefully. Everything is relative! Sometimes we don’t know how well off we really are!”
In Philippians 4:10-13 it is written, “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Every-where and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (NKJV)
In verse ten, Paul speaks from a heart full of gratitude for the financial support he has received from the church at Philippi. Paul tells us about the secret of being content.” The idea expressed at the end of verse eleven and in verse twelve, literally means “I have learned the secret.” Paul tells us the he has learned the true secret to life and he wants to share it with the Philippians.
First, Paul said that contentment is a learned state. Contentment is not something that comes naturally. For Paul, contentment was not instantaneous; it was the fruit of many years of faithful fellowship, learning from the experience that he could trust the Lord to provide what he needed.
True contentment comes from living life understanding that everything pales in comparison to knowing Christ. When we understand what we deserve and compare it with what we have received in Jesus Christ we can truly be content, because God has supplied every need infinitely beyond what we deserve!
Paul looked to the Lord in every circumstance to help him to be content. He looked to the Lord to strengthen him against the temptation to be self-sufficient and complacent when times were good, and he looked to the Lord for strength when times were rough and he faced the temptation to feel sorry for himself. Through it all and in every circumstance, he found that the Lord’s strength was sufficient.
In Jesus our Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVUVNqWus0
Praise the Lord, for He is the Lord of the earth and He is the King of nations. Praise the Lord for the Church, the body of Christ, that is is both militant and triumphant. Our God omnipotent reigneth.
Thank you for praying for Laureen and her team. After spending a week in Canada they are back in the States. Laureen called yesterday, and told us that the Lord blessed their ministry in Canada wonderfully. He gave them His favor with the people of God in Canada. On their way back into the States the group spent part of the day yesterday in Beautiful downtown Boston. The whole group was able to spend some time with Jeremy, Janice, Micah, and Simeon. Micah wanted to wear a very special dress to see her Auntie Laureen, so apparently she spent a lot of time picking it out. (Micah is beginning to notice what other people wear and likes to dress like her favorite people - her mommy, her cousin Sharon, etc.) Laureen and her team will be in Williamsport, Pennsylvania today and then traveling westward tomorrow.
Sunita called yesterday and shared that she is likely to be going to Israel this comingSunday for ten days on assignment. She will be staying in Jerusalem. The last time she was in Israel was in 2000.
When I was in far East Russia in 2003, I had privilege visiting people who live in the countryside. Many live in very small houses. Those who live in the city live in the apartment complexes. I read about “A Russian woman lived with her husband and two children in a very small hut. Her husband’s parents lost their home and she had to take them in. Unbearable. In desperation, she went to the village wise man, whom she knew had solved many, many problems. "What should I do?" she begged. "Do you have a COW?" asked the wise man. "Yes," she replied. Then bring her into the hut too. And come back and see me in a week," said the wise man. A week later she was back. "This is utterly unbearable" she said. "Do you have any CHICKENS?" asked wise man. "Yes," she replied. "What about them?" ‘Bring them into the hut too, and come back and see me in another week." "Now you’re utterly out of your mind," she said. Nevertheless, still awed by his reputation, she did as he asked. A week later she returned. "This is absolutely impossible," she said. "Our home is a mess." "All right," said the wise man, "take out the chickens." The next week she reported that without the chickens it was definitely better, but still a miserable situation. "All right," said the wise man, "now take out the cow. That will settle your problem." And it did. Without the chickens and cow, the woman, her husband, the children, and his two parents got along quite peacefully. Everything is relative! Sometimes we don’t know how well off we really are!”
In Philippians 4:10-13 it is written, “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Every-where and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (NKJV)
In verse ten, Paul speaks from a heart full of gratitude for the financial support he has received from the church at Philippi. Paul tells us about the secret of being content.” The idea expressed at the end of verse eleven and in verse twelve, literally means “I have learned the secret.” Paul tells us the he has learned the true secret to life and he wants to share it with the Philippians.
First, Paul said that contentment is a learned state. Contentment is not something that comes naturally. For Paul, contentment was not instantaneous; it was the fruit of many years of faithful fellowship, learning from the experience that he could trust the Lord to provide what he needed.
True contentment comes from living life understanding that everything pales in comparison to knowing Christ. When we understand what we deserve and compare it with what we have received in Jesus Christ we can truly be content, because God has supplied every need infinitely beyond what we deserve!
Paul looked to the Lord in every circumstance to help him to be content. He looked to the Lord to strengthen him against the temptation to be self-sufficient and complacent when times were good, and he looked to the Lord for strength when times were rough and he faced the temptation to feel sorry for himself. Through it all and in every circumstance, he found that the Lord’s strength was sufficient.
In Jesus our Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVUVNqWus0
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 10-20-09
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the way He is our dwelling place. He is our shelter and our refuge. We have been blessed to live in a beautiful parsonage here in Endicott, New York. The Union Center Unite Methodist Church, which loves its pastors and cares for them very dearly, built the parsonage in 1967. We have been very blessed and privileged to have been able to live in one house for almost twenty years. My wife loves to watch the TV program, "Extreme, Makeover Home Edition", which uses volunteers and a team of professionals to build homes for families in need. She also loves to watch this Old House.
Whenever we are in Europe we love to tour castles and cathedrals. They are amazing and intriguing. One of my favorite things to do is to stop and examine each church or cathedral.
One of the tourist sights in San Jose, California is the Winchester Mystery House, a 160-room mansion built by an eccentric wealthy widow who just couldn’t stop building--she kept on for 38 years. The house goes on and on, a maze of rooms with doors that open to blank walls. It also contains 40 staircases, some of which go nowhere. The house is a monument to compulsive meaninglessness.
While visiting Bavaria, Germany for the Passion Play in 2000, we visited Neuschwanstein, a magnificent castle built by King Ludwig II. It is, hands down, the most popular castle in Germany. It sits atop a mountain overlooking the countryside filled with lakes, trees, and sometimes valley fog, and looks like something out of a fairy tale (it’s the castle that was copied for Disneyland). Ludwig died under mysterious circumstances just a few months after Neuschwanstein was completed. He allegedly drowned-- but was it an accident, suicide, or murder? No one knows. He barely got to enjoy his castle, which became for him a tragic a monument to futility.
The next time you go to a local bookstore, you should walk by the philosophy section, where you will see scores of volumes trying to explain life. The word “philosophy” means, “love of wisdom.” Colossians 2:8 warns, “do not be taken captive through empty and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Christ.” Paul states in I Timothy 6:17, “Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly provides us with everything we need for our enjoyment.” The “Great life” is found in In Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE.
Our US Constitution guarantees us the right to pursue happiness, but only God can enable us to achieve this elusive ambition. Jesus is the real Joy giver. The Christian life, which is a journey, is found through an invitation by the Lord to come to Him with full surrender and enter into a life of joy, in the midst of trials and tribulations. Jesus, our Lord, declared, "In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
In Jesus our Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MJ4VqfCRZI
Praise the Lord for the way He is our dwelling place. He is our shelter and our refuge. We have been blessed to live in a beautiful parsonage here in Endicott, New York. The Union Center Unite Methodist Church, which loves its pastors and cares for them very dearly, built the parsonage in 1967. We have been very blessed and privileged to have been able to live in one house for almost twenty years. My wife loves to watch the TV program, "Extreme, Makeover Home Edition", which uses volunteers and a team of professionals to build homes for families in need. She also loves to watch this Old House.
Whenever we are in Europe we love to tour castles and cathedrals. They are amazing and intriguing. One of my favorite things to do is to stop and examine each church or cathedral.
One of the tourist sights in San Jose, California is the Winchester Mystery House, a 160-room mansion built by an eccentric wealthy widow who just couldn’t stop building--she kept on for 38 years. The house goes on and on, a maze of rooms with doors that open to blank walls. It also contains 40 staircases, some of which go nowhere. The house is a monument to compulsive meaninglessness.
While visiting Bavaria, Germany for the Passion Play in 2000, we visited Neuschwanstein, a magnificent castle built by King Ludwig II. It is, hands down, the most popular castle in Germany. It sits atop a mountain overlooking the countryside filled with lakes, trees, and sometimes valley fog, and looks like something out of a fairy tale (it’s the castle that was copied for Disneyland). Ludwig died under mysterious circumstances just a few months after Neuschwanstein was completed. He allegedly drowned-- but was it an accident, suicide, or murder? No one knows. He barely got to enjoy his castle, which became for him a tragic a monument to futility.
The next time you go to a local bookstore, you should walk by the philosophy section, where you will see scores of volumes trying to explain life. The word “philosophy” means, “love of wisdom.” Colossians 2:8 warns, “do not be taken captive through empty and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Christ.” Paul states in I Timothy 6:17, “Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly provides us with everything we need for our enjoyment.” The “Great life” is found in In Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE.
Our US Constitution guarantees us the right to pursue happiness, but only God can enable us to achieve this elusive ambition. Jesus is the real Joy giver. The Christian life, which is a journey, is found through an invitation by the Lord to come to Him with full surrender and enter into a life of joy, in the midst of trials and tribulations. Jesus, our Lord, declared, "In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
In Jesus our Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MJ4VqfCRZI
Monday, October 19, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 10-19-09
Good morning,
Praise the Lord or the way He brings change in our lives, that we may grow in Him and become brave believers and fervent servants in His Kingdom. May we be drawn and driven, and best of all propelled, by the Holy Spirit seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. It is a great blessing to grow in the Lord and become steadfast in our confession and profession and possession.
Tim Hansel tells the story in his book, “Holy Sweat” of a close friend of his who was asked back to his forty-year high school reunion. “For months he saved to take his wife back to the place and the people he’d left four decades before. The closer the time came for the reunion, the more excited he became, thinking of all the wonderful stories he would hear about the changes and the accomplishments these old friends would tell him... He wondered if any others had encountered this Christ who had changed him so profoundly. He even tried to guess what some of his friends would look like, and what kind of jobs and families some of these special friends had.
"The day came to leave and I drove them to the airport. Their energy was almost contagious. 'I’ll pick you up on Sunday evening, and you can tell me all about it,' I said. “Have a great time.”
"Sunday evening arrived. As I watched them get off the plane, my friend seemed almost despondent. I almost didn’t want to ask, but finally I said, 'Well, how was the reunion?' 'Tim,' the man said, 'it was one of the saddest experiences of my life.' 'Good grief,' I said, more than a little surprised. 'What happened?' 'It wasn’t what happened but what didn’t happen. It has been forty years, forty years—and they haven’t changed. They had simply gained weight, changed clothes, gotten jobs…but they hadn’t really changed. And what I experienced was maybe one of the most tragic things I could ever imagine about life. For reasons I can’t fully understand, it seems as though some people choose not to change.'
"There was a long silence as we walked back to the car. On the drive home, he turned to me and said, 'I never, never want that to be said of me, Tim. Life is too precious, too sacred, too important. If you ever see me go stagnant like that, I hope you give me a quick, swift kick where I need it—… I hope you’ll love me enough to challenge me to keep growing.'" [Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat. (Chicago: Word Books, 1987) pp. 54-55]
The author Hebrews, having begun a discussion of Christ as our “great” High Priest in the fourteenth verse of Chapter four, suddenly broke off the topic to confront his listeners with the problem of their spiritual immaturity. Growth is so important to us that arrested development is universally regarded as a tragedy, whether it is physical or mental or emotional. Dallas Willard in his book, “The Divine Conspiracy” commented on the greatest danger facing Christians who have the attitude of consumer Christianity. He wrote that today’s “Christians are treated as consumer/customers when they come to church. They thought they could pick and choose. They thought they were always right. They thought once they make the cut, they will be saved and are safe. They thought if they don’t like what they see, it is OK to take a break and come back later. They thought it is OK to take the word of God lightly and to treat the grace of God cheaply.” [Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (New York: HarperCollins, 1998)]
May the Lord grant us hunger for Him and for His righteousness. May He provoke us to run the race that is set before us, onward, forward, and upward. May He deliver us from lukewarm-ness, sluggishness and slothfulness. May we grow day by day to become more like Jesus, in our hearts and in our attitudes.
We spent this past weekend in Boston, with Micah, Simeon , Janice, and Jeremy. We attended the worship service at Historic Park Street Church in Boston yesterday morning. It was great blessing to worship Jesus with those who love Him. Micah will be 4 years old on the 3rd of November 2009. Simoen is two years old. They are growing like weeds (beautiful weeds). Micah talks fluently now. She loves to read stories with us, and to have Grandmom tell stories, like the 3 little pigs (with names of her choice). Simeon is 100% boy, always up, down, on the go, and discovering. Praise the Lord for our grandchildren. They are full of life. Micah loves to go to church, especially to her church on the North Shore, in Ipswich. She loves Jesus.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82_bhD0_Trw
Praise the Lord or the way He brings change in our lives, that we may grow in Him and become brave believers and fervent servants in His Kingdom. May we be drawn and driven, and best of all propelled, by the Holy Spirit seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. It is a great blessing to grow in the Lord and become steadfast in our confession and profession and possession.
Tim Hansel tells the story in his book, “Holy Sweat” of a close friend of his who was asked back to his forty-year high school reunion. “For months he saved to take his wife back to the place and the people he’d left four decades before. The closer the time came for the reunion, the more excited he became, thinking of all the wonderful stories he would hear about the changes and the accomplishments these old friends would tell him... He wondered if any others had encountered this Christ who had changed him so profoundly. He even tried to guess what some of his friends would look like, and what kind of jobs and families some of these special friends had.
"The day came to leave and I drove them to the airport. Their energy was almost contagious. 'I’ll pick you up on Sunday evening, and you can tell me all about it,' I said. “Have a great time.”
"Sunday evening arrived. As I watched them get off the plane, my friend seemed almost despondent. I almost didn’t want to ask, but finally I said, 'Well, how was the reunion?' 'Tim,' the man said, 'it was one of the saddest experiences of my life.' 'Good grief,' I said, more than a little surprised. 'What happened?' 'It wasn’t what happened but what didn’t happen. It has been forty years, forty years—and they haven’t changed. They had simply gained weight, changed clothes, gotten jobs…but they hadn’t really changed. And what I experienced was maybe one of the most tragic things I could ever imagine about life. For reasons I can’t fully understand, it seems as though some people choose not to change.'
"There was a long silence as we walked back to the car. On the drive home, he turned to me and said, 'I never, never want that to be said of me, Tim. Life is too precious, too sacred, too important. If you ever see me go stagnant like that, I hope you give me a quick, swift kick where I need it—… I hope you’ll love me enough to challenge me to keep growing.'" [Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat. (Chicago: Word Books, 1987) pp. 54-55]
The author Hebrews, having begun a discussion of Christ as our “great” High Priest in the fourteenth verse of Chapter four, suddenly broke off the topic to confront his listeners with the problem of their spiritual immaturity. Growth is so important to us that arrested development is universally regarded as a tragedy, whether it is physical or mental or emotional. Dallas Willard in his book, “The Divine Conspiracy” commented on the greatest danger facing Christians who have the attitude of consumer Christianity. He wrote that today’s “Christians are treated as consumer/customers when they come to church. They thought they could pick and choose. They thought they were always right. They thought once they make the cut, they will be saved and are safe. They thought if they don’t like what they see, it is OK to take a break and come back later. They thought it is OK to take the word of God lightly and to treat the grace of God cheaply.” [Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (New York: HarperCollins, 1998)]
May the Lord grant us hunger for Him and for His righteousness. May He provoke us to run the race that is set before us, onward, forward, and upward. May He deliver us from lukewarm-ness, sluggishness and slothfulness. May we grow day by day to become more like Jesus, in our hearts and in our attitudes.
We spent this past weekend in Boston, with Micah, Simeon , Janice, and Jeremy. We attended the worship service at Historic Park Street Church in Boston yesterday morning. It was great blessing to worship Jesus with those who love Him. Micah will be 4 years old on the 3rd of November 2009. Simoen is two years old. They are growing like weeds (beautiful weeds). Micah talks fluently now. She loves to read stories with us, and to have Grandmom tell stories, like the 3 little pigs (with names of her choice). Simeon is 100% boy, always up, down, on the go, and discovering. Praise the Lord for our grandchildren. They are full of life. Micah loves to go to church, especially to her church on the North Shore, in Ipswich. She loves Jesus.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82_bhD0_Trw
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