Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this wonderful Wednesday. They are predicting this to be one of the hottest days of June. We will meet for our mid-week gathering for food, fellowship, and study at 6 PM.
I get excited about the Lord and about His faithfulness to His own, when I study the faith and commitment of His servants to Him. The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the burning, fiery furnace is a favorite in the Old Testament and it has enjoyed its popularity since the earliest days in the Christian church when the first generation of Christians in Rome were being persecuted for their faith. We first encounter Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 1 where, as colleagues of Daniel, they refused to defile themselves with the tainted royal food and wine. They rose to positions of esteem in the kingdom, but their commitment was again to be challenged. Perhaps this tells us that one spiritual victory is not the end; in fact, each day sees us at the foot of a different mountain to climb. Every day we face temptations, even to deny the Lord whom we love and serve.
A poet (James Russell Lowell) put it like this, "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide; Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight; Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right; And the choice goes by for ever, ’twixt that darkness and that light."
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow down to the gigantic idol that was placed upon the Plain of Dura. Though they were in the hardest crisis they had ever faced, they refused to renounce God and his commands. They refused to follow the crowd. They were determined to stand out against this evil thing and to be faithful to the Lord at any cost. They embodied courage of the highest order, for they were prepared to face a fearful death rather than dishonor their God. The Biblical account tells us that Nebuchadnezzar even offered them a second chance (he rather admired the pluck of those young men, whom he had recently honored and was prepared to give them the benefit of a doubt in his mind that they had made a mistake).
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would have none of it. With great courage and dignity they told the king that they were not going to argue with him. The three young men made no attempt to excuse themselves. They refused to save their situation at the expense of their consciences; they were prepared to defy their king rather than offend their God. They made a classic reply, "The God we serve is able to deliver us from the fire, and will rescue us from your hand, O king" (17). God was their God. He was theirs and they were his. They felt secure for their hope was based on a deep covenant and personal relationship. The faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was unquestioning; their God was omnipotent. Flames and kings meant nothing to God. He could deliver. Their confidence was based upon their trust in God. The young men also had confidence in the purposes of God. "Our God can deliver, but if not..." (18). What they said is that "God can deliver, and if it is his will, he will deliver us - but he may not! It may be his will to let us suffer and die. We do not know what his will is, and we do not mind, for his will is best." What a statement to make. They felt that loyalty to God was of greater importance than life itself.
We know that God is able to save. He is able to heal. He is able to deliver from temptation. He is able ... but we have a God who may not choose to save in a particular circumstance. This is a hard saying, and yet faith in God is more important than faith in his works. Ultimately, faith must rest in the character of God irrespective of what he does or does not do.
This story from the book of Daniel is an important reminder that faithfulness to God may result in problems. Refusal to conform to this world’s pattern may well involve trouble and loss. Yet, surely it is better to accept the narrow way that leads to eternal gain rather than follow the way of the world which will result in eternal loss? True faith is a readiness to trust God to fulfil his purposes whatever that might be, and to say, as Job did, "though he slay me, yet I will trust him" (13:15). The steadfast refusal of the young men made the king furious, so he commanded the furnace to be heated again and again, and they were thrown into the fire. What a terrible experience. Yet, what a wonderful experience it turned out to be, as we notice. The three young men were in the fire, but they were not alone, for the Lord was there with them. Nebuchadnezzar was filled with amazement. He could hardly believe what he saw - he had expected their bound bodies to be incinerated within seconds. But to his astonishment, in the middle of the blazing flames men were walking up and down, unhurt by the fire and quite unaffected by their fearful surroundings.
It is little wonder that he could hardly believe his eyes and had to seek confirmation from his ministers that it was only three men that had been cast into the fire. He looked again - "no, it wasn’t three," he said, "Look, I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." One thing is perfectly clear; if God had not delivered his servants from the fire, he had delivered them in the fire. God had gone even further than that, because in the hour of his people’s trial, he had strengthened their commitment by his presence in a physical form. Was it an angel or was it even an appearance of Jesus, a "theophany"? The important point to remember is that the Lord was with them in their fiery trial. If God is omnipresent, he must also be the God in the midst of our burning fiery furnace, whatever form that might take. God is omnipresent in pain and his presence makes faith possible. C S Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences but shouts in our pains."
Nebuchadnezzar openly acknowledged that the three young Jews were "servants of the Most High God" and he called on them to come out of the furnace. They emerged from the fire completely unscathed. Not a hair had been singed and there was not even a smell of fire on their clothes. The king and his courtiers were amazed, to say the least. Nebuchadnezzar realized he was up against a supernatural God.
The message is clear. Believers need to grow in the grace of God so that when face to face with a challenge to faith, there will be no compromise on Christian principles. But when the fire of pain, disappointment or disillusionment comes God will be with us for the God of deliverance is also the Lord of the furnace.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/3qEjRLlL9iE
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, June 11, 2011
6 PM Dinner (at First UMC Endicott)
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Emma Brunson
Speaker: Rev. Bill Turner
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6-7-11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for His victory. Praise the Lord for the way He grants His victory to those belong to Him, and who are called by Him, with His prior claim upon their lives. It is written "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us ."
I love the phrase, "the sacrament of failure". Paul, like all of us, experienced failure in his life. Failures become blessings when they push us toward higher goals. Paul stated in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have arrived. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
The Apostle Paul could say, “I am forgetting past hurts, past rejections, humiliations, suffering for righteousness, and I am forgetting that for years my life was on the wrong road.”
Someone has written concerning what they prayed for and how God answered:
I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked God for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn to obey.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power and the praise of men;
I was given weakness to sense my need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for;
In spite of myself, my prayers were answered—
I am among all men most richly blessed.
The Apostle Paul lived in the light of eternity. When you and I can begin to see the big picture - life in the light of eternity - we then know how to handle failures and change.
Charles Colson in his book, “Loving God” told about his experience in prison. While in prison he remembered his life before prison, honors he earned, court cases he won, and prestige in government positions. His life had been the perfect success story, the great American dream fulfilled. But while in prison he had time to think and pray. He realized all his achievements meant nothing in God’s economy.
His greatest victory was his biggest failure, being sent to prison was his greatest humiliation – but prison was the beginning of God’s greatest work in his life. God chose the one experience in which he could not glory for His glory.
The Apostle Paul could say, “In my weaknesses God is glorified. When I am weak then I am strong.” We all need to see failures from God’s perspective. If failure and change causes us to look up and make new commitments and surrender to the Lord – then we can praise His Holy name. Toward the end of Paul’s life he was in Rome under house arrest. As some people come to the end of their life’s journey they become bitter and angry at life, but this was not true of Paul. Paul understood his future was not long on earth. Cruel Nero was emperor of Rome and Paul knew he was about to face death for his commitment to Christ.
He could say to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day---and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
A common truth is that everyone experiences some kind of failure and change at some time in their lives. To God, however, the important truth is how we respond to failure and change. Failure is a blessing if it pushes us to humble ourselves, before the Lord and begin to live in the light of eternity.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/34yPZiD8OMs
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 28, 2011
6 PM Dinner (at First UMC Endicott)
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Emma Brunson
Speaker: Rev. Bill Turner
Praise the Lord for His victory. Praise the Lord for the way He grants His victory to those belong to Him, and who are called by Him, with His prior claim upon their lives. It is written "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us ."
I love the phrase, "the sacrament of failure". Paul, like all of us, experienced failure in his life. Failures become blessings when they push us toward higher goals. Paul stated in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have arrived. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
The Apostle Paul could say, “I am forgetting past hurts, past rejections, humiliations, suffering for righteousness, and I am forgetting that for years my life was on the wrong road.”
Someone has written concerning what they prayed for and how God answered:
I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked God for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn to obey.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power and the praise of men;
I was given weakness to sense my need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for;
In spite of myself, my prayers were answered—
I am among all men most richly blessed.
The Apostle Paul lived in the light of eternity. When you and I can begin to see the big picture - life in the light of eternity - we then know how to handle failures and change.
Charles Colson in his book, “Loving God” told about his experience in prison. While in prison he remembered his life before prison, honors he earned, court cases he won, and prestige in government positions. His life had been the perfect success story, the great American dream fulfilled. But while in prison he had time to think and pray. He realized all his achievements meant nothing in God’s economy.
His greatest victory was his biggest failure, being sent to prison was his greatest humiliation – but prison was the beginning of God’s greatest work in his life. God chose the one experience in which he could not glory for His glory.
The Apostle Paul could say, “In my weaknesses God is glorified. When I am weak then I am strong.” We all need to see failures from God’s perspective. If failure and change causes us to look up and make new commitments and surrender to the Lord – then we can praise His Holy name. Toward the end of Paul’s life he was in Rome under house arrest. As some people come to the end of their life’s journey they become bitter and angry at life, but this was not true of Paul. Paul understood his future was not long on earth. Cruel Nero was emperor of Rome and Paul knew he was about to face death for his commitment to Christ.
He could say to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day---and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
A common truth is that everyone experiences some kind of failure and change at some time in their lives. To God, however, the important truth is how we respond to failure and change. Failure is a blessing if it pushes us to humble ourselves, before the Lord and begin to live in the light of eternity.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/34yPZiD8OMs
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 28, 2011
6 PM Dinner (at First UMC Endicott)
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Emma Brunson
Speaker: Rev. Bill Turner
Monday, June 6, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6-6-11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is going to be brilliant and beautiful. My wife tells me that she has only 4 days of teaching left for this year. I am planning to make a mega chicken BBQ this evening on wood fire (no gas no charcoal, just new York grown hard wood). We are having some friends from Kansas joining us for some authentic New York Style Barbeque.
The Lord blessed us with a full weekend of fellowship, worship, and witness. Our friend Terry Steenburg spoke during our Saturday Evening worship. He spoke on prayer, making reference to the prayer of Jabez, "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ’Oh, that You would bless me indeed’"( 1 Chronicles 4).
Our Lord Jesus declared to us, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" -- Matthew 7:9-11 Our Lord invites us to ask Him for good things, and He rejoices in granting those requests. Nothing pleases a loving father more than being able to give joy to his children. Just as we take pleasure in blessing our children and giving them good things, so also our Lord takes pleasure in blessing us and giving us good things.
Still, some people seem to think that when God gives us good things, He does so grudgingly. They suspect that deep down, He’d prefer that we suffer, or at least that we not be too happy. The natural tendency of mankind is to seek pleasure and possessions as ends in themselves, apart from God, but that violates the whole purpose for God’s gifts. Ultimately, what God is doing with His blessings is drawing us to Himself. He wants us to look beyond the gift to the Giver. The gifts are just the appetizer. The main course is the Lord Himself, and his desire is that we find our greatest JOY in Him. That’s what we were made for, and we shouldn’t be willing to settle for anything less.
I love the words of C.S. Lewis as he wrote, "Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." Those who seek the gifts without the Giver are far too easily pleased, and they inevitably end up degrading and polluting whatever they get.
I love the way Jabez prayed with such brevity, "Oh, that you would bless me indeed." Note that Jabez did not give a lot of specifics. There’s nothing wrong with asking for specific things, but sometimes it’s good to leave the details up to God, to say, "Lord, please just bless me as you see fit." If we do that, then He will come up with blessings, gifts, and good things that never would have crossed our minds. It is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’" -- 1 Corinthians 2:9
"[God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" -- Ephesians 3:20
Let us note the words, "that you would bless me indeed". He did not ask for anything ordinary or mundane. Jabez was requesting something extraordinary, something big, something special. He would not be satisfied with something mediocre; he wanted something great! I think God loves that kind of prayer because it shows two things. It shows that you believe He’s a great God, powerful and mighty, and that you believe in his love and goodness toward you, enough to be bold and courageous in prayer.
God is no fan of timidity, hyper-caution, or people who never commit because they are afraid of making a mistake. God loves people who step out in faith and take a risk, who are not afraid of looking foolish. God loves people who take Him up on His promises, who dream big, and ask for big things, and attempt big things.
Jacob was such a man. "Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. . .Then [the man] said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’’ But [Jacob] said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me.’’ So he said to him, "What is your name?’’ And he said, "Jacob.’’ He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.’’ . . . And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’’ -- Genesis 32:24-30
This story, emphasizes that too often we approach God with timidity and fear, when we should be approaching Him with confidence and boldness, wrestling with Him for a blessing. We ask for small, relatively insignificant things, things that don’t stretch our faith, when all the time God is waiting for us to ask Him for something tremendous. Let us not miss out on the amazing blessings God wants to give us, just because we’re too timid to ask. Let us be as bold as Jabez and ask God to bless us indeed.
William Carey who sailed to India in 1793 made this audacious statement, "Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God".
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/RAyKmYD2Zg8
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 28, 2011
6 PM Dinner (at First UMC Endicott)
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Emma Brunson
Speaker: Rev. Bill Turner
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is going to be brilliant and beautiful. My wife tells me that she has only 4 days of teaching left for this year. I am planning to make a mega chicken BBQ this evening on wood fire (no gas no charcoal, just new York grown hard wood). We are having some friends from Kansas joining us for some authentic New York Style Barbeque.
The Lord blessed us with a full weekend of fellowship, worship, and witness. Our friend Terry Steenburg spoke during our Saturday Evening worship. He spoke on prayer, making reference to the prayer of Jabez, "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ’Oh, that You would bless me indeed’"( 1 Chronicles 4).
Our Lord Jesus declared to us, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" -- Matthew 7:9-11 Our Lord invites us to ask Him for good things, and He rejoices in granting those requests. Nothing pleases a loving father more than being able to give joy to his children. Just as we take pleasure in blessing our children and giving them good things, so also our Lord takes pleasure in blessing us and giving us good things.
Still, some people seem to think that when God gives us good things, He does so grudgingly. They suspect that deep down, He’d prefer that we suffer, or at least that we not be too happy. The natural tendency of mankind is to seek pleasure and possessions as ends in themselves, apart from God, but that violates the whole purpose for God’s gifts. Ultimately, what God is doing with His blessings is drawing us to Himself. He wants us to look beyond the gift to the Giver. The gifts are just the appetizer. The main course is the Lord Himself, and his desire is that we find our greatest JOY in Him. That’s what we were made for, and we shouldn’t be willing to settle for anything less.
I love the words of C.S. Lewis as he wrote, "Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." Those who seek the gifts without the Giver are far too easily pleased, and they inevitably end up degrading and polluting whatever they get.
I love the way Jabez prayed with such brevity, "Oh, that you would bless me indeed." Note that Jabez did not give a lot of specifics. There’s nothing wrong with asking for specific things, but sometimes it’s good to leave the details up to God, to say, "Lord, please just bless me as you see fit." If we do that, then He will come up with blessings, gifts, and good things that never would have crossed our minds. It is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’" -- 1 Corinthians 2:9
"[God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" -- Ephesians 3:20
Let us note the words, "that you would bless me indeed". He did not ask for anything ordinary or mundane. Jabez was requesting something extraordinary, something big, something special. He would not be satisfied with something mediocre; he wanted something great! I think God loves that kind of prayer because it shows two things. It shows that you believe He’s a great God, powerful and mighty, and that you believe in his love and goodness toward you, enough to be bold and courageous in prayer.
God is no fan of timidity, hyper-caution, or people who never commit because they are afraid of making a mistake. God loves people who step out in faith and take a risk, who are not afraid of looking foolish. God loves people who take Him up on His promises, who dream big, and ask for big things, and attempt big things.
Jacob was such a man. "Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. . .Then [the man] said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’’ But [Jacob] said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me.’’ So he said to him, "What is your name?’’ And he said, "Jacob.’’ He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.’’ . . . And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’’ -- Genesis 32:24-30
This story, emphasizes that too often we approach God with timidity and fear, when we should be approaching Him with confidence and boldness, wrestling with Him for a blessing. We ask for small, relatively insignificant things, things that don’t stretch our faith, when all the time God is waiting for us to ask Him for something tremendous. Let us not miss out on the amazing blessings God wants to give us, just because we’re too timid to ask. Let us be as bold as Jabez and ask God to bless us indeed.
William Carey who sailed to India in 1793 made this audacious statement, "Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God".
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/RAyKmYD2Zg8
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 28, 2011
6 PM Dinner (at First UMC Endicott)
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Emma Brunson
Speaker: Rev. Bill Turner
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