Brown's Daily Word 5/18/11

This is the day the Lord has made we; will rejoice and be glad in it. We will come together for our mid-week gathering for fellowship and celebration today at 6 PM. The Spring season is at it's peak here in New York. The flowering trees and bushes are aflame with multicolor flowers. We have two crabapple trees in front of the parsonage which are in full bloom. There are several lilacs trees and bushes around the church and parsonage grounds which are in full and luxuriant bloom. They look more colorful and more beautiful his year than ever before. Praise the Lord, for He is the author of the Eternal Spring.
I am looking at Philippians 1, "If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far" (Philippians 1:22-23).
Some people want to die because they hate this life. Paul was ready and willing to die because he looked forward to life with Christ in heaven. For him death would be like a ship pulling up anchor and sailing out of the harbor toward a new destination. It would be like an army breaking camp, striking the tents, and moving to a new location. Paul understood that for the Christian death is nothing more than a change of address.
In the meantime he was willing to remain if he could make a difference in the lives of other people. It was Henry James who declared that “the best use for your life is to invest it in something that will outlast it.” Too many people invest their time and energy in things that won’t last two weeks or two years, much less outlast their earthly life.
I am provoked to serve the Lord with deep devotion whenever I think about the five young men who gave their lives reaching the Auca Indians in 1956. At the time it seemed to be a tragedy with no redeeming purpose. What has happened as a result? Within a few years over 1000 new missionaries went to the field as a result of their martyrdom. Soon the Indian Bible schools in Ecuador were filled to overflowing with native believers desiring to learn God’s Word. Rachel Saint and Elizabeth Elliot (widows of Nate Saint and Jim Elliot) moved into an Auca village to begin the process of Bible translation. Nine years later two of the Aucas who helped kill the five missionaries had come to Christ and baptized Kathy and Steve Saint—daughter and son of Nate Saint. A flourishing church was established among the Aucas and other neighboring tribes. In 1995 Steve Saint moved back among the Aucas to live with them—at their request.
The story goes on and on. This is no doubt part of the “fruit” Paul speaks about . Truly the “blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Those men had no idea of the thousands of lives they would touch by their death on a sandy beach in a remote jungle. They only knew that God had called them to the Aucas, and they must obey.
When all is said and done, there are only two philosophies of life. You can say with the Apostle Paul “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain” or you can say with the world “To me to live is self and to die is loss.”
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/0VdUiKagWjU

Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenue
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott

Saturday, May 14, 2011

12 Noon Women's Banquet
Location: Union Center UMC , 128 Maple Drive Endicott,
Speaker: Linda Ayer
6 PM Coffee Fellowship( First UMC Enicott, )

6:30 PM Worship Service Worship Music:
Speaker: Rev Marshall Sorber