A bright and beautiful, very good, morning to one and all,
Praise the Lord for this fabulous Friday. They say in England it is fantastic Friday. It is going to be one of the ten best days of May. This coming Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. Upon this day , the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. The church was born. The church has been under the same management for over 2000 years. The CEO is alive and well. His truth is marching on.
Those of you live in the area join us for our weekly Television outreach this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Cable channel 4.
Both my wife and I have been part of the church since our birth. I learned about Jesus in my Mother's arms. I have been so blessed by the Lord and by life in the Church. Praise the Lord for His Church. Our Children grew up in the church and are now involved serving Christ. Our grandchildren love Jesus and love His Church. Micah and Simeon love to attend Sunday School. May Jesus, who is the Lord and Head of the Church, pour upon His Church His anointing afresh and anew this Pentecost Sunday. Plan to be in the Lord's house this Pentecost Sunday.
Some time ago I read about Jean Nidetch, because I need to lose some weight. Jean Nidetch, a 214-pound homemaker desperate to lose weight, went to the New York City Department of Health where she was given a diet devised by Dr. Norman Jolliffe. Two months later, discouraged about the 50 plus pounds still to go, she invited six overweight friends into her home to share the diet and talk about how to stay on it. Today, 28 years later, one million members attend 25,000 Weight Watchers meetings in 24 countries every week. Why was Nidetch able to help people take control of their lives? When she was a teenager, she used to cross a park where she saw mothers gossiping while their toddlers sat on their swings, with no one to push them. "I’d give them a push," says Nidetch. "And you know what happens when you push a kid on a swing? Pretty soon he’s pumping, doing it himself. That’s what my role in life is--I’m there to give others a push."
Change rarely happens alone. We have various support groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, for that very reason. The main factor that produces success in these groups is accountability to the group. In view of this, why do we think we can effect change in our spiritual lives by ourselves? Jesus, the Risen Lord, created the Church because he knew we couldn’t make it by ourselves. The Church was designed by the Lord to incorporate spiritual accountability into our lives. We need others to call us to account. God uses other people to confront sin in the lives of his people. God had the prophet Nathan confront King David for his sins of adultery and murder (2 Samuel 12). God had Samuel confront Saul for offering a sacrifice that only a priest was supposed to offer (1 Samuel 13). Later Samuel confronted Saul for failing kill everything in a battle with the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15). In the New Testament God used Paul to confront Peter for yielding to peer pressure (Galatians 2). Proverbs 13:10 says, "Wisdom is found in those who take advice." Also Proverbs 13:18 says, "He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored." Therefore, we need to be open to correction. The writer of Proverbs says, "Better is an open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses."
John Wesley, the founder of our movement, was known for organizing bands or small groups of six people, of the same sex, for pastoral care. Each group was asked four questions at every meeting: What known sins have you committed since our last meeting? What temptations have you met with? How were you delivered? What have you thought, said or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not?
These questions would probably horrify many churchgoers if they were asked them today. However, Chuck Swindoll has seven questions that a group of fellow pastors challenge each other with periodically:
1. Have you been with a woman anywhere this past week that might be seen as compromising?
2. Has any of your financial dealing lacked integrity?
3. Have you exposed yourself to any sexually explicit material?
4. Have you spent adequate time in Bible study and prayer?
5. Have you given priority time to your family?
6. Have you fulfilled the mandates of your calling?
7. Have you just lied to me?
(From Chuck Colson, The Body)
We need to open our spiritual lives to someone we trust and admire. James 5:16 says, "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed." In our reaction against the Roman Catholic church we have abandoned the admonition in this verse. God, however, did not do away with this verse. I have been wondering why God said to do this difficult thing, and I have come up with some possible answers. I believe Satan wins most often when we try to battle him alone in our private thoughts.
In Christ ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXiL4TVGAy4
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Brown's Daily Word 5-20-10
,
Praise the Lord for this beautiful day. It is going to brilliant and balmy. The trees in the church and the parsonage grounds are green and the leaves are plentiful. The birds are singing and making a joyful noise unto the Lord. There are so many spring birds back in the area, having returned from their winter feeding grounds. I see from my study, a couple of Canadian geese grazing in the fields, appearing non-hasty and unhurried. The Lord blessed us with beautiful Wednesday evening gathering.
The Wednesday gathering often becomes a time feasting, with lots home made foods and desserts and, best of all, the Word of the Lord. Sunita called yesterday and shared with us that flight was delayed on the tarmac for hours on Tuesday. The delay would cause her to miss her connecting flight in Amsterdam, so she postponed her trip to the Republic of Georgia. Her next trip is to Ethiopia in a couple of weeks.
As part of the daily readings I am reading from 1 Samuel. My mom told me about Hannah and baby Samuel when I was 3 years old. The story of Hannah and Samuel has been imbedded in my heart ever since that time.
There are life challenges that cause us to feel barren. To be unemployed with no solid prospects of employment, and you have no money, will certainly make you feel barren. In the ministry we, at times, feel barren. Whether we experience childlessness, loneliness, joblessness, or anything else that we desperately seek, it is true that if we live long enough we all experience barrenness. To be barren is to be put on hold by God while everyone around you is being blessed by that which you desire with all your heart.
In 1 Samuel 1 we encounter barrenness, a common motif in biblical tradition. Hannah, the wife whom Elkanah, loved was barren. Barrenness is a problem frequently encountered by the matriarchs in the book of Genesis. This is kind of ironic when you consider the fact that God promised Abraham that his seed would multiply and be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. Abraham loved his wife Sarah but she was barren until God finally opened her womb and blessed them with Isaac. Isaac loved his wife Rebekah. She comforted him after the death of his mother and he loved her with all his heart but she was barren until God finally opened her womb and blessed them with twins, Esau and Jacob. Jacob loved his wife Rachel, so much that he served her father Laban for seven years to earn her hand in marriage, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. When the seven years were up Jacob demanded Rachel be given to him in marriage but Laban tricked him into marrying her older sister Leah. Jacob loved Rachel so much he worked for Laban for another seven years so that he could marry her. That’s a lot of love to work fourteen years just to be able to marry someone but Rachel’s womb was closed. Leah gave birth time after time but Rachel remained childless. Leah bore Jacob six sons and one daughter before God remembered Rachel and opened her womb.
Samson’s mother was barren before the LORD opened her womb and blessed her with a son. So, when we encounter Hannah, and understand that she was barren, we come to expect a couple of things, based upon the barren women who proceed her in Biblical history: (1) We can expect her to get pregnant, which she did and (2) We can expect her to give birth to a significant biblical character which she did.
Hannah was a remarkable woman. She lived in a dysfunctional family situation but never allowed her dark circumstances to determine her conclusion. As was typical in Israelite culture during the times of the judges, because his wife, Hannah, was barren, Elkanah, her husband, took a second wife named Peninnah.
Hannah reacted with bitter anguish to her barrenness and the constant teasing from Peninnah. No amount of comforting offered by her husband could relieve her pain. Elkanah gave Hannah a double portion of meat but that was no comfort – she wanted a child. Elkanah would say to Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons? But, that was no comfort – she wanted a child.
Her heart broke with longing, so, in desperation on a yearly pilgrimage to the Tabernacle, Hannah silently poured out her grief to God. Eli the priest saw her moving her lips as she prayed silently and he thought she was drunk. Eli may have thought Hannah was drunk because it was not customary to pray silently in the temple in that day and age or I don't know maybe he thought she was drunk because it was common for drunen people to enter the sanctuary in those days. (If you read the book of Judges you will discover just how immoral the people were of that day and if you open your eyes you will discover how close our current day society resembles the society Hannah lived in).
Hannah, however, was not drunk and after convincing Eli that she had been praying out of her great anguish and tremendous grief Eli responded as any good priest or pastor should respond when they encounter someone who is petitioning God to remove their barrenness. Eli responded by saying, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” Hannah embraced Eli’s response as affirmation of her petition to God. She got up wiped the tears from her eyes and went home with a new attitude. She was no longer downcast because she knew in her heart that God was going to turn her barrenness to blessedness and He did!
The LORD remembered Hannah and opened her womb and she conceived and gave birth to a son. She named Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.”
I don't know why and perhaps I will never fully understand in this lifetime why God never seems to do things the easy way. God could have just blessed Hannah with a child the first time she prayed for one years earlier. Yet, God reminds me if there is no barrenness there can be no blessedness!
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qp11X6LKYY
Today in History.
1530 German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: 'God's friendship is a bigger comfort than that of the whole world.'
1690 Death of John Eliot, 86, colonial missionary to the American Indians of Maryland. Eliot arrived in America from England in 1631; by 1663 he had translated the entire Bible into the Algonquin Indian language.
1754 Columbia University in New York City was chartered as King's College, under sponsorship of the Episcopal Church. The institution adopted its present name in 1896.
1878 William R. Featherstone died at the age of 32. A Canadian Methodist who spent his life in Montreal, it was Featherstone who authored the hymn, "My Jesus, I Love Thee."
1937 Following a lifelong call to establish a worldwide evangelistic ministry to children, missions pioneer Jesse Overholtzer, 59, founded Child Evangelism Fellowship, in Chicago.
Praise the Lord for this beautiful day. It is going to brilliant and balmy. The trees in the church and the parsonage grounds are green and the leaves are plentiful. The birds are singing and making a joyful noise unto the Lord. There are so many spring birds back in the area, having returned from their winter feeding grounds. I see from my study, a couple of Canadian geese grazing in the fields, appearing non-hasty and unhurried. The Lord blessed us with beautiful Wednesday evening gathering.
The Wednesday gathering often becomes a time feasting, with lots home made foods and desserts and, best of all, the Word of the Lord. Sunita called yesterday and shared with us that flight was delayed on the tarmac for hours on Tuesday. The delay would cause her to miss her connecting flight in Amsterdam, so she postponed her trip to the Republic of Georgia. Her next trip is to Ethiopia in a couple of weeks.
As part of the daily readings I am reading from 1 Samuel. My mom told me about Hannah and baby Samuel when I was 3 years old. The story of Hannah and Samuel has been imbedded in my heart ever since that time.
There are life challenges that cause us to feel barren. To be unemployed with no solid prospects of employment, and you have no money, will certainly make you feel barren. In the ministry we, at times, feel barren. Whether we experience childlessness, loneliness, joblessness, or anything else that we desperately seek, it is true that if we live long enough we all experience barrenness. To be barren is to be put on hold by God while everyone around you is being blessed by that which you desire with all your heart.
In 1 Samuel 1 we encounter barrenness, a common motif in biblical tradition. Hannah, the wife whom Elkanah, loved was barren. Barrenness is a problem frequently encountered by the matriarchs in the book of Genesis. This is kind of ironic when you consider the fact that God promised Abraham that his seed would multiply and be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. Abraham loved his wife Sarah but she was barren until God finally opened her womb and blessed them with Isaac. Isaac loved his wife Rebekah. She comforted him after the death of his mother and he loved her with all his heart but she was barren until God finally opened her womb and blessed them with twins, Esau and Jacob. Jacob loved his wife Rachel, so much that he served her father Laban for seven years to earn her hand in marriage, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. When the seven years were up Jacob demanded Rachel be given to him in marriage but Laban tricked him into marrying her older sister Leah. Jacob loved Rachel so much he worked for Laban for another seven years so that he could marry her. That’s a lot of love to work fourteen years just to be able to marry someone but Rachel’s womb was closed. Leah gave birth time after time but Rachel remained childless. Leah bore Jacob six sons and one daughter before God remembered Rachel and opened her womb.
Samson’s mother was barren before the LORD opened her womb and blessed her with a son. So, when we encounter Hannah, and understand that she was barren, we come to expect a couple of things, based upon the barren women who proceed her in Biblical history: (1) We can expect her to get pregnant, which she did and (2) We can expect her to give birth to a significant biblical character which she did.
Hannah was a remarkable woman. She lived in a dysfunctional family situation but never allowed her dark circumstances to determine her conclusion. As was typical in Israelite culture during the times of the judges, because his wife, Hannah, was barren, Elkanah, her husband, took a second wife named Peninnah.
Hannah reacted with bitter anguish to her barrenness and the constant teasing from Peninnah. No amount of comforting offered by her husband could relieve her pain. Elkanah gave Hannah a double portion of meat but that was no comfort – she wanted a child. Elkanah would say to Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons? But, that was no comfort – she wanted a child.
Her heart broke with longing, so, in desperation on a yearly pilgrimage to the Tabernacle, Hannah silently poured out her grief to God. Eli the priest saw her moving her lips as she prayed silently and he thought she was drunk. Eli may have thought Hannah was drunk because it was not customary to pray silently in the temple in that day and age or I don't know maybe he thought she was drunk because it was common for drunen people to enter the sanctuary in those days. (If you read the book of Judges you will discover just how immoral the people were of that day and if you open your eyes you will discover how close our current day society resembles the society Hannah lived in).
Hannah, however, was not drunk and after convincing Eli that she had been praying out of her great anguish and tremendous grief Eli responded as any good priest or pastor should respond when they encounter someone who is petitioning God to remove their barrenness. Eli responded by saying, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” Hannah embraced Eli’s response as affirmation of her petition to God. She got up wiped the tears from her eyes and went home with a new attitude. She was no longer downcast because she knew in her heart that God was going to turn her barrenness to blessedness and He did!
The LORD remembered Hannah and opened her womb and she conceived and gave birth to a son. She named Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.”
I don't know why and perhaps I will never fully understand in this lifetime why God never seems to do things the easy way. God could have just blessed Hannah with a child the first time she prayed for one years earlier. Yet, God reminds me if there is no barrenness there can be no blessedness!
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qp11X6LKYY
Today in History.
1530 German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: 'God's friendship is a bigger comfort than that of the whole world.'
1690 Death of John Eliot, 86, colonial missionary to the American Indians of Maryland. Eliot arrived in America from England in 1631; by 1663 he had translated the entire Bible into the Algonquin Indian language.
1754 Columbia University in New York City was chartered as King's College, under sponsorship of the Episcopal Church. The institution adopted its present name in 1896.
1878 William R. Featherstone died at the age of 32. A Canadian Methodist who spent his life in Montreal, it was Featherstone who authored the hymn, "My Jesus, I Love Thee."
1937 Following a lifelong call to establish a worldwide evangelistic ministry to children, missions pioneer Jesse Overholtzer, 59, founded Child Evangelism Fellowship, in Chicago.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Brown's Daily Word 5-19-10
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. This is the day the Lord has made. We will gather for our mid-week meeting today at 6 PM. Sunita flew to the Republic of Georgia on assignment yesterday. Georgia, an exquisitely beautiful country of 5.5 million people, is ringed by the Caucasus Mountains and set at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. It lies between the Black and Caspian Seas and borders on Turkey, Russia, and Armenia. Since recorded time, Georgians have been famous for their hospitality to strangers. The ancient Greeks knew Georgia as the land of the Golden Fleece. It was a woman, St. Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia in 330. The Bible depicts how the Lord uses both men and women in His plan for His divine purposes.
I watched the election returns last night... I love a good comeback.
Those of you who are reading the Bible in one year, the Book of Ruth is part of the reading for today. I love it when the underdog wins. It does our hearts good to see someone get back up after they've been knocked down by the tragedies of life. That’s the story of the book of Ruth.
The story begins when Ruth was a young woman. Her life seemed to hold a bright future. She married a husband with strong family ties. They began building a life together. But in a few short years her family was demolished by death. Ruth’s husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law all died over a short span of time. Ruth and two women with whom she had no blood relation were forced to start over.
Psychologists have noticed five stages grieving people go through: denial and isolation; anger; bargaining; depression; and acceptance. We don’t know what stage Ruth was going through when her mother-in-law announced she was returning to Bethlehem in Judah. I imagine, however, that she had not yet had enough time to feel like starting over.
The story of Ruth then is not just about the redemption of one Moabite woman named Ruth. IT IS THE STORY OF THE REDEMPTION OF US ALL! The story of Ruth contains a very powerful principle for STARTING OVER WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT. That is, what your heart desires won’t come from looking only after yourself; it comes from looking after the needs of others. I know the Bible repeats this truth often but it is necessary because we are constantly being bombarded with the world's message, "look out for #1". The problem with that philosophy is that it never provides spiritual fulfillment. How ironic that fulfillment is found in looking out for others first. We must love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mt. 22:39)
Somewhere beneath the surface of this story there’s a motivation for Ruth staying with her mother-in-law, and I think the first clue is that, surely, her mother-in-law must have treated her like she was her own daughter. There must have been quite a bond of love between them for Ruth to go back with Naomi to a land she didn’t know anything about. I don’t think it’s hard to see that, between people who love each other, COMMITMENTS are made. Ruth made a commitment. In verses 16 and 17 of chapter one again:
"And Ruth said, ’Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go: and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.’" (That’s commitment!)
It is remarkable and even amazing! What would cause someone to make a commitment like that? True godly commitments are made when we’re also thinking about the wellness and needs of others! That’s a powerful piece of information! It is also one of the reasons God blessed Ruth in the end of this story. God USES and BLESSES people who don’t get all wrapped up in themselves all the time! When we focus on ourselves, we tend to see all the gloom and doom, but when we focus on meeting the needs of someone else, we ourselves are ministered to. God made it that way on purpose. He wants us to be like Him, and He is always giving, always unselfish, and always ministering to the needs of others. That’s where our joy in life comes from.
When you DON’T FEEL LIKE STARTING OVER, when you can’t get motivated, look for a hurt and heal it. Find a need and meet it. Find a fellow pilgrim who is discouraged and try to give him or her comfort.
Adoniram Judson was one of America’s first Missionaries. He was a living example of someone who made a commitment to live by faith and risk all in serving the risen Lord Jesus. He fell in love with the daughter of a wealthy aristocrat. He approached Nancy Hazeltine’s father seeking to ask his permission to marry her. He asked Mr. Hazeltine if he was prepared to never see his daughter again because of the risks associated with missionary service abroad. Hazeltine appreciated the candor of Judson, but said the decision was entirely up to his daughter.
Nancy Hazeltine responded to her family, “I have made my decision to walk away from all the comforts of family and friends to go to a land I have never been and where I may never return…to die there alone and maybe lose all. I have made my decision. As God is my witness, I will not decline the offer and privilege to give my life to rescue the perishing.”
Nancy Hazeltine Judson never did see her father again. She died on the mission field a young wife and mother, with no regrets. She was willing to risk all for the sake of the Kingdom of God. And because she did history records that many people came to Faith in the Lord.
In Christ the Light of the world,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtIIFJIxdUw
Today in Christian History
1662 England's King Charles II approved a bill requiring all ministers to assent publicly to the Anglican "Book of Common Prayer."
1740 English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'True faith is not merely in the head, but in the heart.'
1885 The complete Old and New Testament English Revised Version (EV or ERV) of the Bible was first published in England. After a promised 20-year wait, U.S. scholars on the ERV committee published an "Americanized" edition in 1905, known afterward as the American Standard Version (ASV) of the Bible.
Praise the Lord for this new day. This is the day the Lord has made. We will gather for our mid-week meeting today at 6 PM. Sunita flew to the Republic of Georgia on assignment yesterday. Georgia, an exquisitely beautiful country of 5.5 million people, is ringed by the Caucasus Mountains and set at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. It lies between the Black and Caspian Seas and borders on Turkey, Russia, and Armenia. Since recorded time, Georgians have been famous for their hospitality to strangers. The ancient Greeks knew Georgia as the land of the Golden Fleece. It was a woman, St. Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia in 330. The Bible depicts how the Lord uses both men and women in His plan for His divine purposes.
I watched the election returns last night... I love a good comeback.
Those of you who are reading the Bible in one year, the Book of Ruth is part of the reading for today. I love it when the underdog wins. It does our hearts good to see someone get back up after they've been knocked down by the tragedies of life. That’s the story of the book of Ruth.
The story begins when Ruth was a young woman. Her life seemed to hold a bright future. She married a husband with strong family ties. They began building a life together. But in a few short years her family was demolished by death. Ruth’s husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law all died over a short span of time. Ruth and two women with whom she had no blood relation were forced to start over.
Psychologists have noticed five stages grieving people go through: denial and isolation; anger; bargaining; depression; and acceptance. We don’t know what stage Ruth was going through when her mother-in-law announced she was returning to Bethlehem in Judah. I imagine, however, that she had not yet had enough time to feel like starting over.
The story of Ruth then is not just about the redemption of one Moabite woman named Ruth. IT IS THE STORY OF THE REDEMPTION OF US ALL! The story of Ruth contains a very powerful principle for STARTING OVER WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT. That is, what your heart desires won’t come from looking only after yourself; it comes from looking after the needs of others. I know the Bible repeats this truth often but it is necessary because we are constantly being bombarded with the world's message, "look out for #1". The problem with that philosophy is that it never provides spiritual fulfillment. How ironic that fulfillment is found in looking out for others first. We must love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mt. 22:39)
Somewhere beneath the surface of this story there’s a motivation for Ruth staying with her mother-in-law, and I think the first clue is that, surely, her mother-in-law must have treated her like she was her own daughter. There must have been quite a bond of love between them for Ruth to go back with Naomi to a land she didn’t know anything about. I don’t think it’s hard to see that, between people who love each other, COMMITMENTS are made. Ruth made a commitment. In verses 16 and 17 of chapter one again:
"And Ruth said, ’Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go: and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.’" (That’s commitment!)
It is remarkable and even amazing! What would cause someone to make a commitment like that? True godly commitments are made when we’re also thinking about the wellness and needs of others! That’s a powerful piece of information! It is also one of the reasons God blessed Ruth in the end of this story. God USES and BLESSES people who don’t get all wrapped up in themselves all the time! When we focus on ourselves, we tend to see all the gloom and doom, but when we focus on meeting the needs of someone else, we ourselves are ministered to. God made it that way on purpose. He wants us to be like Him, and He is always giving, always unselfish, and always ministering to the needs of others. That’s where our joy in life comes from.
When you DON’T FEEL LIKE STARTING OVER, when you can’t get motivated, look for a hurt and heal it. Find a need and meet it. Find a fellow pilgrim who is discouraged and try to give him or her comfort.
Adoniram Judson was one of America’s first Missionaries. He was a living example of someone who made a commitment to live by faith and risk all in serving the risen Lord Jesus. He fell in love with the daughter of a wealthy aristocrat. He approached Nancy Hazeltine’s father seeking to ask his permission to marry her. He asked Mr. Hazeltine if he was prepared to never see his daughter again because of the risks associated with missionary service abroad. Hazeltine appreciated the candor of Judson, but said the decision was entirely up to his daughter.
Nancy Hazeltine responded to her family, “I have made my decision to walk away from all the comforts of family and friends to go to a land I have never been and where I may never return…to die there alone and maybe lose all. I have made my decision. As God is my witness, I will not decline the offer and privilege to give my life to rescue the perishing.”
Nancy Hazeltine Judson never did see her father again. She died on the mission field a young wife and mother, with no regrets. She was willing to risk all for the sake of the Kingdom of God. And because she did history records that many people came to Faith in the Lord.
In Christ the Light of the world,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtIIFJIxdUw
Today in Christian History
1662 England's King Charles II approved a bill requiring all ministers to assent publicly to the Anglican "Book of Common Prayer."
1740 English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'True faith is not merely in the head, but in the heart.'
1885 The complete Old and New Testament English Revised Version (EV or ERV) of the Bible was first published in England. After a promised 20-year wait, U.S. scholars on the ERV committee published an "Americanized" edition in 1905, known afterward as the American Standard Version (ASV) of the Bible.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Brown's Daily Word 5-18-10
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the hymns and songs of Christian faith. The best, most beautiful, most powerful music comes from the heart that has been redeemed and transformed. I love all kinds music that honors Christ. Charles Wesley composed over 6000 hymns. Those hymns are Christ-centered and they exalt the Name of the Lord.
George Croly wrote a marvelous hymn that embodies a prayer that the Holy Spirit would enrich, empower, and enable us with a new and improved altitude. He wrote:
"Spirit of God descend upon my heart. Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move. Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou Art. And make me love Thee as I ought to love.
"Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King? All, all Thine own - soul, heart, and strength, and mind! I see Thy cross - there teach my heart to cling; O let me seek Thee, and O let me find!
"Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh. Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear. To check the rising doubt the rebel sigh. Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
"Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love. One holy passion filling all my frame. The baptism of the heaven descended Dove. My heart an altar and Thy love the flame."
He penned these words during a time when he was suffering great physical pain. Instead of sinking into the trough of depression, discouragement, despair, and bitterness, he asked the Spirit of God to lift up His heart and eyes to the hill from whence came his help. His help was in the Lord who made heaven and earth.
In Jesus,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU
Praise the Lord for the hymns and songs of Christian faith. The best, most beautiful, most powerful music comes from the heart that has been redeemed and transformed. I love all kinds music that honors Christ. Charles Wesley composed over 6000 hymns. Those hymns are Christ-centered and they exalt the Name of the Lord.
George Croly wrote a marvelous hymn that embodies a prayer that the Holy Spirit would enrich, empower, and enable us with a new and improved altitude. He wrote:
"Spirit of God descend upon my heart. Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move. Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou Art. And make me love Thee as I ought to love.
"Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King? All, all Thine own - soul, heart, and strength, and mind! I see Thy cross - there teach my heart to cling; O let me seek Thee, and O let me find!
"Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh. Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear. To check the rising doubt the rebel sigh. Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
"Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love. One holy passion filling all my frame. The baptism of the heaven descended Dove. My heart an altar and Thy love the flame."
He penned these words during a time when he was suffering great physical pain. Instead of sinking into the trough of depression, discouragement, despair, and bitterness, he asked the Spirit of God to lift up His heart and eyes to the hill from whence came his help. His help was in the Lord who made heaven and earth.
In Jesus,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU
Monday, May 17, 2010
Brown's Daily Word 5-17-10
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. I trust that you had a very blessed weekend. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful weekend. We gathered Saturday Evening for a great time of fellowship and witness at Wesley. The food was delicious and the fellowship was sweet. Jeff Vansyckle spoke from his heart about his walk with Christ, and how the prevenient grace of Jesus follows us all the days of our lives. The Lord bless us yesterday in His House with His presence and love.
I preached on the Ascension of Lord and Savior. In our affirmation of our faith, in the words of the Apostles' creed, "He ascended into Heaven". The gospel writer Luke is renowned as a careful historian. When he recorded the birth of Jesus he rooted the event in its historical setting within the Roman Empire. He continued that same preciseness at the end of our Lord’s earthly ministry by recalling the place of the Ascension at Bethany. He dates the event as occurring 40 days after the resurrection on Easter Day. He emphasizes the presence of eyewitnesses, reminding us that the Ascension took place "before their very eyes" (Acts 1:9). Yes, the Ascension was a real event of history.
Some people are puzzled as to why Jesus waited around on Earth 40 days after his resurrection, but that time period is no accident. Jesus had endured the Devil’s temptation for 40 days in the wilderness at the beginning of his public ministry, but now the tables were turned. In the post-ascension period Jesus triumphantly paraded his victory over the Devil and all his works. During this time, the conqueror of death displayed his supremacy before his faithful followers so that they might share in the joy of his victory. There was also another reason. Those 40 days of his appearing after the resurrection were of immense value to the believers for they established the reality of his lordship. A single sighting of the risen Christ may have been open to question, but his continuous encounters with the disciples would remove the doubts of the most skeptical among them and assure them of his power and authority.
The Ascension must always remain a mystery in the sense that it’s beyond the scope of human experience. It takes us into the realm of the supernatural. Jesus' ascension happened very simply and quickly. The Master and his followers were gathered on the slopes of Olivet. As Jesus had delivered his farewell message to the disciples he lifted up his nail-scarred hands in blessing. Then his body commenced to rise supernaturally, and a cloud bore him out of their sight. What a fitting end to his earthly ministry!
The resurrection of Jesus signaled the end of a chapter in his earthly life. Things could never be the same again and it was essential that there should be a clear-cut event to bring the chapter to a close. It’s true that Jesus made a series of appearances to his followers, but they could not go on forever, as the disciples were to step out in ministry. It would have been odd if His appearances should gradually grow fewer and finally peter out - that would only cause confusion and even loss of faith. Thus, there had to be a day when the Jesus of Earth would become the Christ of heaven. The Ascension was the only fitting conclusion to the life of Jesus on Earth. God isn’t the author of confusion.
Luke’s account of the Ascension places us in the disciples' shoes. There they stood with eyes uplifted, "gazing into heaven as he went" and suddenly the ascending Savior disappeared from their sight. Mark's account takes up the story. Mark wrote from the viewpoint of our Lord’s destination. Through the inspiration given to him we are allowed to share the secrets of heaven itself. Only the Holy Spirit could have revealed the scene to Mark: "Jesus was received into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19). Psalm 24 is a foretelling of the grandeur of the spectacle associated with the homecoming of the Son of God. The scene defies adequate description. As the conqueror neared the celestial city the heavenly heralds cried out in preparation for his arrival. "Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in." The proclamation prompts the enquiry, "Who is the Lord of glory?" The reply declares Christ’s right to the title, "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle" (7-10). Yes, Jesus had triumphed over Satan, the world, death and hell. His resurrection and Ascension proved he is the victor. "He is the Lord of glory." The apostle Peter confirmed this, "Jesus Christ … has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand - with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him" (1 Peter 3:22). This proves that Jesus had finished the work of redemption that the Father had given him to do.
Charles Wesley wrote in one of his hymns, "He ever lives above, for me to intercede; his all-redeeming love, his precious blood to plead; his blood atones for all our race, and sprinkles now the throne of grace." Hallelujah! What a Savior! Yet we have a responsibility to live holy lives, but if we sin we have a means of cleansing and forgiveness. The Ascension of Jesus makes it possible for him to be close to each and every one of us if only we allow him in every part of our lives.
The Ascension testifies to the fact of our Lord’s return, "He will come." The disciples were not told that they themselves would see the coming again of Christ. The time is left open and it’s futile and unprofitable to speculate as to when it will happen. We have to ask ourselves the question, "Are we redeeming the time until Jesus returns? Are we fulfilling the ministries he had given to the church?" We have been placed where we are for a purpose. The angelic beings asked the disciples "Why do you stand here looking into the sky?" It was the Earth, not the sky, with which they should be occupied - to be witnesses not stargazers! Our calling is not upwards in nostalgia, but outwards in compassion to a lost world that needs Jesus.
In Jesus our Lord
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdK4lzg8gsU
Praise the Lord for this new day. I trust that you had a very blessed weekend. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful weekend. We gathered Saturday Evening for a great time of fellowship and witness at Wesley. The food was delicious and the fellowship was sweet. Jeff Vansyckle spoke from his heart about his walk with Christ, and how the prevenient grace of Jesus follows us all the days of our lives. The Lord bless us yesterday in His House with His presence and love.
I preached on the Ascension of Lord and Savior. In our affirmation of our faith, in the words of the Apostles' creed, "He ascended into Heaven". The gospel writer Luke is renowned as a careful historian. When he recorded the birth of Jesus he rooted the event in its historical setting within the Roman Empire. He continued that same preciseness at the end of our Lord’s earthly ministry by recalling the place of the Ascension at Bethany. He dates the event as occurring 40 days after the resurrection on Easter Day. He emphasizes the presence of eyewitnesses, reminding us that the Ascension took place "before their very eyes" (Acts 1:9). Yes, the Ascension was a real event of history.
Some people are puzzled as to why Jesus waited around on Earth 40 days after his resurrection, but that time period is no accident. Jesus had endured the Devil’s temptation for 40 days in the wilderness at the beginning of his public ministry, but now the tables were turned. In the post-ascension period Jesus triumphantly paraded his victory over the Devil and all his works. During this time, the conqueror of death displayed his supremacy before his faithful followers so that they might share in the joy of his victory. There was also another reason. Those 40 days of his appearing after the resurrection were of immense value to the believers for they established the reality of his lordship. A single sighting of the risen Christ may have been open to question, but his continuous encounters with the disciples would remove the doubts of the most skeptical among them and assure them of his power and authority.
The Ascension must always remain a mystery in the sense that it’s beyond the scope of human experience. It takes us into the realm of the supernatural. Jesus' ascension happened very simply and quickly. The Master and his followers were gathered on the slopes of Olivet. As Jesus had delivered his farewell message to the disciples he lifted up his nail-scarred hands in blessing. Then his body commenced to rise supernaturally, and a cloud bore him out of their sight. What a fitting end to his earthly ministry!
The resurrection of Jesus signaled the end of a chapter in his earthly life. Things could never be the same again and it was essential that there should be a clear-cut event to bring the chapter to a close. It’s true that Jesus made a series of appearances to his followers, but they could not go on forever, as the disciples were to step out in ministry. It would have been odd if His appearances should gradually grow fewer and finally peter out - that would only cause confusion and even loss of faith. Thus, there had to be a day when the Jesus of Earth would become the Christ of heaven. The Ascension was the only fitting conclusion to the life of Jesus on Earth. God isn’t the author of confusion.
Luke’s account of the Ascension places us in the disciples' shoes. There they stood with eyes uplifted, "gazing into heaven as he went" and suddenly the ascending Savior disappeared from their sight. Mark's account takes up the story. Mark wrote from the viewpoint of our Lord’s destination. Through the inspiration given to him we are allowed to share the secrets of heaven itself. Only the Holy Spirit could have revealed the scene to Mark: "Jesus was received into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19). Psalm 24 is a foretelling of the grandeur of the spectacle associated with the homecoming of the Son of God. The scene defies adequate description. As the conqueror neared the celestial city the heavenly heralds cried out in preparation for his arrival. "Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in." The proclamation prompts the enquiry, "Who is the Lord of glory?" The reply declares Christ’s right to the title, "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle" (7-10). Yes, Jesus had triumphed over Satan, the world, death and hell. His resurrection and Ascension proved he is the victor. "He is the Lord of glory." The apostle Peter confirmed this, "Jesus Christ … has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand - with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him" (1 Peter 3:22). This proves that Jesus had finished the work of redemption that the Father had given him to do.
Charles Wesley wrote in one of his hymns, "He ever lives above, for me to intercede; his all-redeeming love, his precious blood to plead; his blood atones for all our race, and sprinkles now the throne of grace." Hallelujah! What a Savior! Yet we have a responsibility to live holy lives, but if we sin we have a means of cleansing and forgiveness. The Ascension of Jesus makes it possible for him to be close to each and every one of us if only we allow him in every part of our lives.
The Ascension testifies to the fact of our Lord’s return, "He will come." The disciples were not told that they themselves would see the coming again of Christ. The time is left open and it’s futile and unprofitable to speculate as to when it will happen. We have to ask ourselves the question, "Are we redeeming the time until Jesus returns? Are we fulfilling the ministries he had given to the church?" We have been placed where we are for a purpose. The angelic beings asked the disciples "Why do you stand here looking into the sky?" It was the Earth, not the sky, with which they should be occupied - to be witnesses not stargazers! Our calling is not upwards in nostalgia, but outwards in compassion to a lost world that needs Jesus.
In Jesus our Lord
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdK4lzg8gsU
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