Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this Friday before Memorial Day. Janice, Jeremy, Micah, and Simeon are traveling to Vermont today to spend the weekend with our friends, Warren and Linda Ayer. Alice and Laureen are also driving up there this afternoon. I am planning to join them in Vermont this Sunday after the worship services.
Praise the Lord for America, the Beautiful. May our Lord, who alone is the King of all the nations, shed His grace upon this great land, a great nation. It's interesting to ponder what American's actually think of Memorial Day. It is, in part, a generational thing, but most American's nowadays more look at Memorial Day as the day when summer begins, the weekend when the swimming pool opens, or a weekend of major sales events. Or, perhaps, it's just great to have a three-day weekend with a paid day off, and time to spend time with your family and friends around a barbecue. All of those things are certainly true in our generation, but obviously the real reason why we celebrate Memorial Day is to remember.
Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember those who have given their lives in service to this country, that we might enjoy the life that we now do. More than simple remembrance, however, it is also meant to promote healing. Memorial Day came to be after the Civil War, when healing was needed between the North and South. Memorial Day is designed to be a day of remembrance and of healing, but as we think about remembering and healing on Memorial Day, it occurred to me that we need to remember more than just those who lost their lives. We also need to remember those who were left behind, the families of those who died. Husbands and wives were left alone, children were fatherless or motherless, and parents lost sons and daughters. Even on September 11, 2001, when over 3,000 were killed as the twin towers disintegrated, tens of thousands more lost an immediate family member; they lost a mother or father, sister or brother, aunt, uncle, or grandparent. We should not forget.
Neither does God our Heavenly Father, revealed in Jesus Christ, our Lord,not forget those who are lost or those who were left behind. God cares for both and through Him, so should we. Psalms 10:12-18 addresses this. It is not only a Psalm, but a prayer of remembrance and of help for the helpless.
Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God., Do not forget the helpless. Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"? But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out. The Lord is King forever and ever; The nations will perish from his land. You hear, O Lord the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,defending the fatherless in the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
Sometime ago I read a testimony of man named Norm Burkey, which follows. "I would like to take a few minutes to share about a wonderful work the Lord has been doing in my life over the last four years, and I am really thankful for the opportunity to do it this particular weekend. Two things you need to know about me, is that on my next birthday I will be 62 years old, and I am a war orphan, is the second thing. My dad was killed in March 1945 in Italy, just a few months before the end of WWII. And even though my mom never remarried, she raised the three of us. We knew things about my dad, but we didn't know my dad. We didn't know who he was, what he was about. It just wasn't discussed and I have learned in the last four years, that that is a very common thing for whatever the reason after the war was over, people just didn't want to talk about it, and to the point where the word "dad" wasn't even in the vocabulary of my brother and sister and myself. And in fact, I guess up until four years ago, I would have argued that this wasn't even an issue in my life. I had a good life.
"But one night I was home alone, my wife Mary was at work and over dinner I was reading my issue of Newsweek and there was an article in Newsweek that week about a support group formed by two ladies, two ladies who didn't know anything about their dads either and wanted to know more about them. They have since expanded that group to several hundred people. That particular article triggered several things in me. First was really an immense sadness and it was very similar to the reaction when my sister called a few years ago and told us that our mother had died and that's the reason I said I am 62 years old. We are talking 40 to 45 years ago. And the other thing that triggered was a great desire to get to know my dad. I don't really have a good place to do this, so I will do it now and I just felt a need to do it. I would like to introduce you to my dad, Private First Class Norman Burkey of the 10th Mountain Division. Since then, I have been on a wonderful journey. I have become an active participant in a group called WON, which is the WWII orphans network. It's our support group. I have been able to talk to WON on the telephone and to have received letters from several of my dad's buddies, who were with him in his outfit and in fact were right there when he was killed. I have also been assembling materials, so that my kids and my grandchildren can also get to know him. Most important, I have been able to mourn for my dad. One thing I have learned is that children go through a mourning process, but most of us anyway we need to go through another process when we become adults and I have been able to do that in my life. The Lord has been very involved intimately in this process. I could have missed that Newsweek article, I could have missed the whole thing and one of the things we have learned as orphans, is that there was no list. The government has thousands and thousands of lists, but there was no list of the war orphans, so we have had to find each other. He was also involved in the timing, frankly up until a few years ago I was too busy with my life.
"Like many of you my wife and I started with nothing, started our married life with in fact we put everything we own in the back of a '55 Pontiac after we got married and went off to New York City to start our life. So I was busy with a career, with raising my children and the other thing is I think if I had started before that it would have really been hurtful to my mom while she was alive. Looking back on it now, I can see that she really never recovered from the death of my dad. I think it would have been too sad for her to deal with. But I see it as a great illustration of how the Lord is active in our lives from the very beginning to the very end. It doesn't matter if we are 2, 62 or 82. This particular journey didn't start until I was almost 60 years old. We are never too old or too young and I can contrast that with my work life. I am a few years from retirement and I have a great job and I work with great people, but they are not about to invest thousands of dollars in my career. In fact, my development plan for this year is one sentence. The boss kind of said, "well if you see something interesting, go ahead and do it." That's my development plan. But that is not how the Lord treats us. And another aspect is that I tend very much to the glass is half empty and so I need constant reminders that God is much more interested in healing and blessing me, than He is in punishing me. I would like to finish with just a small bit of my favorite scripture in the Bible from Psalm 139. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Thank you".
" Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted".
In Christ, the Prince of Peace,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WDrbbtaO0E
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Brown's Daily Word 5-27-10
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. The Lord blessed us with beautiful and joyful evening yesterday during our Mid-week gathering. The food was delicious and the fellowship was sweet. It was one of the warmest days of May, tying a record for the date around much of the state. It was just like it is in Orissa, India at this time of year.
As we get ready for the Memorial Day weekend I was doing some reading about this day of remembrance. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. It was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York, in 1873. By 1890 Memorial Day was recognized by all of the northern states. It is now celebrated in almost every state on the last Monday of May.
Since the late 50’s, on the Thursday before Memorial Day the 1,200 soldiers of the Third U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during that weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. I was reading about the number of men who gave their lives during the wars fought in or by our nation. The losses in World War I numbered 116, 500 brave men, in World War ll 405,400 lost their lives, and the number of men lost in our bloodiest war, the Civil War, far exceeded that. At least 618,000 Americans died in the Civil War, and some experts say the toll reached 700,000. These casualties exceed the nation's loss in all its other wars, from the Revolution through Vietnam. Whenever I read about the valor and bravery of those who have given their lives I am humbled and deeply grateful.
"They will remember young soldiers like Captain Joshua Byers, a West Point man born in South Carolina who died in Iraq. When this son of missionaries was given command of a 120-man combat unit, he wrote this to his parents: ’I will give the men everything I have to give. I love them already, just because they’re mine. I pray, with all my heart, that I will be able to take every single one of them home safe when we finish our mission here.’"
God, who called us to Christ, sent His Holy Spirit to have the Apostle Paul write, “I urge, then first of all, that request, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone…” (1 Timothy 2:1) Ephesians 6:18 tells us that Christians are to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers…” Prayer is mightier than a king’s power of authority and more effective than a warrior’s sword. Wars are going to come and it is the responsibility of Christians to hold up their generation of soldiers in prayer which the Apostle Paul understood to be a weapon that has divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4)
The Holy Spirit moved the church to pray for Peter when he was in harms way before King Herod. (Acts 12:5) The goal for every Christian should be to say with the Apostle Paul, “God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times…” (Romans 1:9-10)
History records powerful truths of God’s intervention for armed forces as people take time to prayer for those in harm’s way. In May of 1940, Germany was on the move and it was unbelievable how much control Hitler took over Europe in just a few short weeks. Hitler had backed up nearly all the remaining Allied troops to the beach at Dunkirk, France. The Allied troops were surrounded. Ten miles to their rear was the German army. In front of them the English channel. An evacuation by water was their only hope however, it would not be easy. The English Channel was known for terrible tides and treacherous winds. The Channel was also full of German mines and down the beach was Nazi artillery. The only other direction to go held German U-boats.
400,000 Allied troops were at Dunkirk and one English General said, “Nothing but a miracle could save them.” It was at this time the Holy Spirit of God moved upon Reece Howell and a group of 100 students in a Welsh Bible College to become intercessors for those who were in harm’s way at the mercy of Hitler’s armed forces. For some time they prayed from 7:00 P.M. to 12:00 Midnight. While those Welsh Bible students prayed, the British Royal Navy rounded up practically everything that floated in England to go to rescue the troops.
During the rescue attempt there were several miracles. First Hitler, for some mysterious reason, stopped the Panzer tanks just 10 miles away. If he had kept them moving he could have done great damage to the Allied Forces or destroyed them completely. Second, for an unheard of 9 days, the English Channel was perfectly calm and as smooth as glass. Old-timers said, “We have never seen it like this before.” Then heavy fog sometimes moved in and at other times smoke from burning oil fields drifted calmly towards the beach, keeping the German air-force from seeing anything from the air during the evacuation. When the evacuation off the beach was finished, 338,000 Allied troops had been rescued. The other 62,000 soldiers gave their lives so their fellow soldiers could get off the beach. They fought the oncoming Nazi Armed Forces when they finally made their move to attack again.
It is because such sacrifices that we take time to observe Memorial Day. It should be on the heart of everyone to spend some time this Memorial Day remembering the lives of those who stayed in harm’s way so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTv9QgPrXCU
Praise the Lord for this new day. The Lord blessed us with beautiful and joyful evening yesterday during our Mid-week gathering. The food was delicious and the fellowship was sweet. It was one of the warmest days of May, tying a record for the date around much of the state. It was just like it is in Orissa, India at this time of year.
As we get ready for the Memorial Day weekend I was doing some reading about this day of remembrance. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. It was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York, in 1873. By 1890 Memorial Day was recognized by all of the northern states. It is now celebrated in almost every state on the last Monday of May.
Since the late 50’s, on the Thursday before Memorial Day the 1,200 soldiers of the Third U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during that weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. I was reading about the number of men who gave their lives during the wars fought in or by our nation. The losses in World War I numbered 116, 500 brave men, in World War ll 405,400 lost their lives, and the number of men lost in our bloodiest war, the Civil War, far exceeded that. At least 618,000 Americans died in the Civil War, and some experts say the toll reached 700,000. These casualties exceed the nation's loss in all its other wars, from the Revolution through Vietnam. Whenever I read about the valor and bravery of those who have given their lives I am humbled and deeply grateful.
"They will remember young soldiers like Captain Joshua Byers, a West Point man born in South Carolina who died in Iraq. When this son of missionaries was given command of a 120-man combat unit, he wrote this to his parents: ’I will give the men everything I have to give. I love them already, just because they’re mine. I pray, with all my heart, that I will be able to take every single one of them home safe when we finish our mission here.’"
God, who called us to Christ, sent His Holy Spirit to have the Apostle Paul write, “I urge, then first of all, that request, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone…” (1 Timothy 2:1) Ephesians 6:18 tells us that Christians are to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers…” Prayer is mightier than a king’s power of authority and more effective than a warrior’s sword. Wars are going to come and it is the responsibility of Christians to hold up their generation of soldiers in prayer which the Apostle Paul understood to be a weapon that has divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4)
The Holy Spirit moved the church to pray for Peter when he was in harms way before King Herod. (Acts 12:5) The goal for every Christian should be to say with the Apostle Paul, “God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times…” (Romans 1:9-10)
History records powerful truths of God’s intervention for armed forces as people take time to prayer for those in harm’s way. In May of 1940, Germany was on the move and it was unbelievable how much control Hitler took over Europe in just a few short weeks. Hitler had backed up nearly all the remaining Allied troops to the beach at Dunkirk, France. The Allied troops were surrounded. Ten miles to their rear was the German army. In front of them the English channel. An evacuation by water was their only hope however, it would not be easy. The English Channel was known for terrible tides and treacherous winds. The Channel was also full of German mines and down the beach was Nazi artillery. The only other direction to go held German U-boats.
400,000 Allied troops were at Dunkirk and one English General said, “Nothing but a miracle could save them.” It was at this time the Holy Spirit of God moved upon Reece Howell and a group of 100 students in a Welsh Bible College to become intercessors for those who were in harm’s way at the mercy of Hitler’s armed forces. For some time they prayed from 7:00 P.M. to 12:00 Midnight. While those Welsh Bible students prayed, the British Royal Navy rounded up practically everything that floated in England to go to rescue the troops.
During the rescue attempt there were several miracles. First Hitler, for some mysterious reason, stopped the Panzer tanks just 10 miles away. If he had kept them moving he could have done great damage to the Allied Forces or destroyed them completely. Second, for an unheard of 9 days, the English Channel was perfectly calm and as smooth as glass. Old-timers said, “We have never seen it like this before.” Then heavy fog sometimes moved in and at other times smoke from burning oil fields drifted calmly towards the beach, keeping the German air-force from seeing anything from the air during the evacuation. When the evacuation off the beach was finished, 338,000 Allied troops had been rescued. The other 62,000 soldiers gave their lives so their fellow soldiers could get off the beach. They fought the oncoming Nazi Armed Forces when they finally made their move to attack again.
It is because such sacrifices that we take time to observe Memorial Day. It should be on the heart of everyone to spend some time this Memorial Day remembering the lives of those who stayed in harm’s way so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTv9QgPrXCU
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Brown's Daily Word 5-26-10
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is going to be in the upper 80's to low 90's today -- either way a record breaking temperature. We will gather for our mid-week service at 6 PM with a special meal followed by Bible study.
I had a call from a missionary and evangelist named Alex, a Russian brother in Christ. He and his team are working in Russia and other parts of Europe, spreading the Gospel. They use these daily devotions as their team's group devotions. Alex said that they had been having difficulty locating these devotions on the web, because my homepage was down. The devotions are now posted on my home page brownnaik.blogpost.com. We are so blessed to share the Word of the Lord together. Our dear friend Julie in Oklahoma posts these devotions on a daily basis.
God’s will is not to make our lives miserable, but to make our lives blessed. In the story recorded in 1 Samuel 9, Israel made a choice that was less than God’s best for their lives. We are free to obey or disobey God. Though God has a perfect will for each life, God gives us a great deal of freedom to make our own choices in life. When we choose less than God’s best he still does not abandon us. It grieved God and his prophet Samuel that Israel had demanded a king. Samuel was sent to reason with Israel but Israel replied, “No, we want a king like all the other nations.” Thinking that they knew what was best, they took counsel of their own hearts and, having chosen a course independent of God, they proceeded at once to follow it.
Sometimes the most severe judgment God can exercise upon us is to let us have our own way. The Prodigal son in Luke 15 had the freedom to make his choice. As a result he ended up withe pigs. Yet, even when we reject God’s best he does not forsake his people. Most of us are painfully aware that things would be far better in our lives if we made wiser decisions. I believe that it is especially frustrating to realize whatever we go through now is the result of poor past decisions in our lives, times when we settled for less than God’s best.
Saul lived only five miles from Samuel but he had never even heard of the famous prophet. Perhaps he was like so many in our day, against church and the Lord. Perhaps he did not make knowing the Lord a vital part of his life. All of Saul’s good qualities did not guarantee success. Saul had so much going for him. What a pity he turned away from God and failed! Saul’s career as king began as the sun was coming up. His career ended with the sun going down when, at night, Saul disguised himself and went and consulted a witch. In his fear and lack of direction, he was more willing to call on an evil soothsayer than to trust in and follow the Word of the Lord.
In Jesus the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGbuz8QuhmE
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is going to be in the upper 80's to low 90's today -- either way a record breaking temperature. We will gather for our mid-week service at 6 PM with a special meal followed by Bible study.
I had a call from a missionary and evangelist named Alex, a Russian brother in Christ. He and his team are working in Russia and other parts of Europe, spreading the Gospel. They use these daily devotions as their team's group devotions. Alex said that they had been having difficulty locating these devotions on the web, because my homepage was down. The devotions are now posted on my home page brownnaik.blogpost.com. We are so blessed to share the Word of the Lord together. Our dear friend Julie in Oklahoma posts these devotions on a daily basis.
God’s will is not to make our lives miserable, but to make our lives blessed. In the story recorded in 1 Samuel 9, Israel made a choice that was less than God’s best for their lives. We are free to obey or disobey God. Though God has a perfect will for each life, God gives us a great deal of freedom to make our own choices in life. When we choose less than God’s best he still does not abandon us. It grieved God and his prophet Samuel that Israel had demanded a king. Samuel was sent to reason with Israel but Israel replied, “No, we want a king like all the other nations.” Thinking that they knew what was best, they took counsel of their own hearts and, having chosen a course independent of God, they proceeded at once to follow it.
Sometimes the most severe judgment God can exercise upon us is to let us have our own way. The Prodigal son in Luke 15 had the freedom to make his choice. As a result he ended up withe pigs. Yet, even when we reject God’s best he does not forsake his people. Most of us are painfully aware that things would be far better in our lives if we made wiser decisions. I believe that it is especially frustrating to realize whatever we go through now is the result of poor past decisions in our lives, times when we settled for less than God’s best.
Saul lived only five miles from Samuel but he had never even heard of the famous prophet. Perhaps he was like so many in our day, against church and the Lord. Perhaps he did not make knowing the Lord a vital part of his life. All of Saul’s good qualities did not guarantee success. Saul had so much going for him. What a pity he turned away from God and failed! Saul’s career as king began as the sun was coming up. His career ended with the sun going down when, at night, Saul disguised himself and went and consulted a witch. In his fear and lack of direction, he was more willing to call on an evil soothsayer than to trust in and follow the Word of the Lord.
In Jesus the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGbuz8QuhmE
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Brown's Daily Word 5-25-10
Praise the Lord. It is going to balmy and brilliant today. The Rhododendrons in front the Parsonage are in full bloom. They are colorful, brilliant, and beautiful. I saw two deer frolicking around the back yard of parsonage yesterday. They looked carefree and unhurried, jubilant, and welcoming summer-like days.
I have been reading From Joel. Here we read about locusts, which are destroyers and a delicacy. God sent them as the eighth plague of Egypt, but they were the mainstay of John the Baptist’s diet, for they are an excellent source of protein. Locusts are destructive creatures. A swarm may have a population numbering in the billions. Wherever they go they devour and destroy all vegetation. We remember the account of the Plague of Locusts in Exodus 10: “And the LORD said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.'”
Locusts are also speedy creatures, which appear suddenly and disappear just as quickly. A swarm can travel over long distances and have found as far as 1,200 miles out to sea. One swarm of desert locusts that crossed the Red Sea in 1899 was said to cover an area of over 1,930 square miles. As the Biblical account in Exodus 10 relates, swarms are usually brought in by the wind. When the locusts come they literally block out the sun, giving the appearance of darkness.
Egypt has not been the only nation to experience the painful results of locusts that “devoured everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees so that nothing green remained in all the land of Egypt.” Even America has experienced the blight of locusts from time to time. Crops in New England were destroyed in 1797 and in Minnesota’s Red River Valley in 1818. In 1848 the Mormon pilgrims in Utah were plagued by locusts. Our daughters loved to read the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. In her book, On the Banks of Plum Creek she titled one chapter “The Glittering Cloud”, in which she revealed what it was like to have the swarms of grasshoppers or locusts devour their homestead.
Often our lives, both as individuals and as families, seem to be devastated from years of destruction the locusts have consumed. What have locusts consumed, eaten, or otherwise destroyed in your life over the years? What hurts and pains have you continued to carry over a long period of time? We all have experienced disappointments; we all have regrets; we all have made mistakes and experienced neglected opportunities; each of us has made wrong decisions that can not be reversed; and perhaps there is even sin that has remained un-confessed. Whatever the locusts have destroyed, God is able to restore. The past cannot be reversed, but in Christ we all can have a new beginning. None of us can “turn back the clock” and reverse the errors of our past.
I appreciate Nicky Gumbel’s observation in one of his awesome Alpha talks. He reminds us that we all wish we could have a dress rehearsal for life. In a dress rehearsal you can make all the mistakes possible, but you then have the opportunity to “get it all right” in the actual performance. Nicky says, “Unfortunately that is not possible; from the moment we are born, we are all on stage.” We cannot reverse the mistakes of our past, but Jesus promises us a new beginning, “I will restore the years the locust have devoured.”
Oswald Chambers once said, “Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ. Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.”
That is our Lord's invitation to each one of us this day. Let us “leave our broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.” He is able to “restore our years the locusts have eaten.”
Thank you Jesus.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8lO8c7fypM
I have been reading From Joel. Here we read about locusts, which are destroyers and a delicacy. God sent them as the eighth plague of Egypt, but they were the mainstay of John the Baptist’s diet, for they are an excellent source of protein. Locusts are destructive creatures. A swarm may have a population numbering in the billions. Wherever they go they devour and destroy all vegetation. We remember the account of the Plague of Locusts in Exodus 10: “And the LORD said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.'”
Locusts are also speedy creatures, which appear suddenly and disappear just as quickly. A swarm can travel over long distances and have found as far as 1,200 miles out to sea. One swarm of desert locusts that crossed the Red Sea in 1899 was said to cover an area of over 1,930 square miles. As the Biblical account in Exodus 10 relates, swarms are usually brought in by the wind. When the locusts come they literally block out the sun, giving the appearance of darkness.
Egypt has not been the only nation to experience the painful results of locusts that “devoured everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees so that nothing green remained in all the land of Egypt.” Even America has experienced the blight of locusts from time to time. Crops in New England were destroyed in 1797 and in Minnesota’s Red River Valley in 1818. In 1848 the Mormon pilgrims in Utah were plagued by locusts. Our daughters loved to read the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. In her book, On the Banks of Plum Creek she titled one chapter “The Glittering Cloud”, in which she revealed what it was like to have the swarms of grasshoppers or locusts devour their homestead.
Often our lives, both as individuals and as families, seem to be devastated from years of destruction the locusts have consumed. What have locusts consumed, eaten, or otherwise destroyed in your life over the years? What hurts and pains have you continued to carry over a long period of time? We all have experienced disappointments; we all have regrets; we all have made mistakes and experienced neglected opportunities; each of us has made wrong decisions that can not be reversed; and perhaps there is even sin that has remained un-confessed. Whatever the locusts have destroyed, God is able to restore. The past cannot be reversed, but in Christ we all can have a new beginning. None of us can “turn back the clock” and reverse the errors of our past.
I appreciate Nicky Gumbel’s observation in one of his awesome Alpha talks. He reminds us that we all wish we could have a dress rehearsal for life. In a dress rehearsal you can make all the mistakes possible, but you then have the opportunity to “get it all right” in the actual performance. Nicky says, “Unfortunately that is not possible; from the moment we are born, we are all on stage.” We cannot reverse the mistakes of our past, but Jesus promises us a new beginning, “I will restore the years the locust have devoured.”
Oswald Chambers once said, “Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ. Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.”
That is our Lord's invitation to each one of us this day. Let us “leave our broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.” He is able to “restore our years the locusts have eaten.”
Thank you Jesus.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8lO8c7fypM
Monday, May 24, 2010
Brown's Daily Word 5-24-10
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord for His Church. Praise the Lord for the gift of the Holy Spirit that Lord sent upon His waiting disciples on the Day of Pentecost. Yesterday was the Day of Pentecost. The Lord blessed us with His presence in His House with His people.
Pentecost was a Jewish festival which was celebrated 50 days after the Passover. Originally it was the celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest but by the time of Christ it had come to celebrate the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. So, for the Jews, it was the celebration of the Law and the renewal of the Mosaic covenant. It was no accident of history that this was the day that God chose to send the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, and subsequently upon His church. The coming of the Holy Spirit in the Bible is often accompanied by physical signs and on the day of Pentecost it was no different. In each of the three verses there is an accompanying sign or manifestation of the presence of God. We read the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost in Acts 2.
Acts 2:2 – ‘SOUND LIKE THE BLOWING OF A MIGHTY WIND.’ It was a violent wind from heaven and it filled the whole house. It came from God, engulfing the whole place, like in the Tabernacle when the presence of God came. The people in the wilderness knew God’s presence because the earth shook and the place was filled with His presence. The disciples knew this wind was from God because it came with power from heaven and filled the entire house. When God comes in power He fills the place with His presence and no one is left in any doubt that He is present.
Acts 2:3 – ‘TONGUES OF FIRE.’ ‘it appeared like flames’. This was the only way they could describe the manifestation of the Holy Spirit upon them. Fire in the Scriptures often signified the holy presence of God. The burning bush, the pillar of fire, the consuming fire at Mount Sinai and the hovering fire over the tabernacle in the wilderness. The wind filled the whole house but the ‘tongues of fire’ rested upon individuals. The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and He also comes upon us, to purify us. That is why, when you become a Christian, you found that things were brought to the surface which needed to be dealt with. It appears, initially at least, that becoming a Christian has in fact turned your world and your life upside down. All sorts of past issues seem to come to the surface to be dealt with. The reason is the Spirit's purification of your life. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost upon individuals to purify them for service.
Acts 2:4 – ‘OTHER TONGUES’ It is written, that these ‘tongues’ were immediately understood by the crowd who had gathered at the hearing of the sound of the mighty wind. It is clear that the disciples' speech is clearly understood by a variety of people (verses 9-11). In fact, 15 countries are listed, depicting the nations of the world, who understood what the disciples were saying.
In Genesis 11 is recorded the story of the tower of Babel, when man in his arrogance and sin thought he could build a tower into heaven. In fact, when you read the passage closely, you see that God has to come down to the tower, so feeble is its height in relation to where God is. The lack of understanding that God is not physical and cannot be reached by physical means is only compounded by the arrogance of the human race at Babel. So, God confused the language of men at Babel, which resulted in the separation of nations.
Here, on the day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit brought the nations together again as each man understood the message of the Gospel in his own language. The lesson here is simply that the Holy Spirit comes to unite men from all nations under the truth of the gospel of Christ. Rick Kirchoff says, “When God sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen: barriers are broken, communities are formed, opposites are reconciled, unity is established, disease is cured, addiction is broken, cities are renewed, races are reconciled, hope is established, people are blessed, and church happens. Today the Spirit of God is present and we’re gonna’ have church. So be ready, get ready. . . God is up to something. . . discouraged folks cheer up, dishonest folks ‘fess up, sour folks sweeten up, closed folk, open up, gossipers shut up, conflicted folks make up, sleeping folks wake up, lukewarm folk, fire up, dry bones shake up, and pew potatoes stand up! But most of all, Christ the Savior of all the world is lifted up.”
The poet William Blake wrote a poem about Pentecost. Part of the poem says:
Unless the eye catches fire, God will not be seen.
Unless the ear catches fire, God will not be heard.
Unless the tongue catches fire, God will not be named.
Unless the heart catches fire, God will not be loved.
Unless the mind catches fire, God will not be known.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmWVY4n_-wY
Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord for His Church. Praise the Lord for the gift of the Holy Spirit that Lord sent upon His waiting disciples on the Day of Pentecost. Yesterday was the Day of Pentecost. The Lord blessed us with His presence in His House with His people.
Pentecost was a Jewish festival which was celebrated 50 days after the Passover. Originally it was the celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest but by the time of Christ it had come to celebrate the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. So, for the Jews, it was the celebration of the Law and the renewal of the Mosaic covenant. It was no accident of history that this was the day that God chose to send the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, and subsequently upon His church. The coming of the Holy Spirit in the Bible is often accompanied by physical signs and on the day of Pentecost it was no different. In each of the three verses there is an accompanying sign or manifestation of the presence of God. We read the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost in Acts 2.
Acts 2:2 – ‘SOUND LIKE THE BLOWING OF A MIGHTY WIND.’ It was a violent wind from heaven and it filled the whole house. It came from God, engulfing the whole place, like in the Tabernacle when the presence of God came. The people in the wilderness knew God’s presence because the earth shook and the place was filled with His presence. The disciples knew this wind was from God because it came with power from heaven and filled the entire house. When God comes in power He fills the place with His presence and no one is left in any doubt that He is present.
Acts 2:3 – ‘TONGUES OF FIRE.’ ‘it appeared like flames’. This was the only way they could describe the manifestation of the Holy Spirit upon them. Fire in the Scriptures often signified the holy presence of God. The burning bush, the pillar of fire, the consuming fire at Mount Sinai and the hovering fire over the tabernacle in the wilderness. The wind filled the whole house but the ‘tongues of fire’ rested upon individuals. The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and He also comes upon us, to purify us. That is why, when you become a Christian, you found that things were brought to the surface which needed to be dealt with. It appears, initially at least, that becoming a Christian has in fact turned your world and your life upside down. All sorts of past issues seem to come to the surface to be dealt with. The reason is the Spirit's purification of your life. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost upon individuals to purify them for service.
Acts 2:4 – ‘OTHER TONGUES’ It is written, that these ‘tongues’ were immediately understood by the crowd who had gathered at the hearing of the sound of the mighty wind. It is clear that the disciples' speech is clearly understood by a variety of people (verses 9-11). In fact, 15 countries are listed, depicting the nations of the world, who understood what the disciples were saying.
In Genesis 11 is recorded the story of the tower of Babel, when man in his arrogance and sin thought he could build a tower into heaven. In fact, when you read the passage closely, you see that God has to come down to the tower, so feeble is its height in relation to where God is. The lack of understanding that God is not physical and cannot be reached by physical means is only compounded by the arrogance of the human race at Babel. So, God confused the language of men at Babel, which resulted in the separation of nations.
Here, on the day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit brought the nations together again as each man understood the message of the Gospel in his own language. The lesson here is simply that the Holy Spirit comes to unite men from all nations under the truth of the gospel of Christ. Rick Kirchoff says, “When God sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen: barriers are broken, communities are formed, opposites are reconciled, unity is established, disease is cured, addiction is broken, cities are renewed, races are reconciled, hope is established, people are blessed, and church happens. Today the Spirit of God is present and we’re gonna’ have church. So be ready, get ready. . . God is up to something. . . discouraged folks cheer up, dishonest folks ‘fess up, sour folks sweeten up, closed folk, open up, gossipers shut up, conflicted folks make up, sleeping folks wake up, lukewarm folk, fire up, dry bones shake up, and pew potatoes stand up! But most of all, Christ the Savior of all the world is lifted up.”
The poet William Blake wrote a poem about Pentecost. Part of the poem says:
Unless the eye catches fire, God will not be seen.
Unless the ear catches fire, God will not be heard.
Unless the tongue catches fire, God will not be named.
Unless the heart catches fire, God will not be loved.
Unless the mind catches fire, God will not be known.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmWVY4n_-wY
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