Good morning,
This is the day the Lord has made. We had some wet snow fall in our area yesterday. A few of the Autumn colors are still looking resilient and vibrant. Please pray for our Friday evening television outreach this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Cable channel 4. We will gather for an evening of great music and worship this Saturday at 6:30 PM at the First United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott. Those who live in the area join us. This will be a great treat and a big blessing. Our daughter Sunita returned from Israel yesterday. She called me and shared that it was great trip. She was able to visit Hebron along with many other sites. Our grand daughter Micah also called me yesterday and reminded me that she will have a birthday next week. I had posted some photographs of the Beautiful Autumn in New York, and had so many comments on them. Our Lord makes all things colorful and glorious in His time.
The Lord blessed us with a beautiful Wednesday Evening gathering. We looked at Hosea chapters 3 and 4. After reading the passages some of the group members commented on the nature of our God as revealed in the Word of the Lord and in the Person of Jesus Christ. Our Lord is forgiving. He is faithful and trustworthy. Faithfulness speaks of the solid trustworthiness and reliability of the person of integrity. It’s one of those characteristics that used to be highly prized. These days, unfortunately, it’s fallen by the wayside to a large degree as people in general become more and more self-centered, as they become people of the moment rather than people of the future and eternity.
Loyalty, or kindness, is that characteristic of God that is often translated ’steadfast love’ or ’loving kindness’. It is the sort of kindness and love that we have seen from God in this book of Hosea so far. It should also be found in his followers. It is a love that seeks the good of the other and results in good deeds done for the other. Knowledge of God, of course, is the key. There’s a cognitive element to godliness that forms the basis for its practical outworking. This is a knowledge of God that implies a grasp of just how great God is. If we truly know God, in all his power, glory, and awesome wonder could we possibly turn away from him to false gods? When we truly know God in his faithfulness and loving kindness, we become more like Him. The failure of faithfulness and loyalty to God and knowledge of Him results in such behaviors as swearing, lying, murder, stealing, adultery, and bloodshed which follows bloodshed. When people turn away from godliness the result is social breakdown.
Just as it was with the nation of Israel at the time of Hosea, faithfulness, loyalty, and knowledge of God are rare characteristics in our world. This not only affects relationships between people, but it also affects the land itself. "3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing." We rarely connect the ecological troubles of the world with the moral failings of our culture, but here we see a close connection. "Therefore the land mourns." When people are more interested in their own prosperity and well-being than anyone else’s, this is what happens. The earth is pillaged. Damage is done to the environment.
The Word of the Lord always offers grace and an invitation. 1. With these ironically prophetic words the people call one another to worship God again: "Come, let us return to the LORD; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth."
If only the people had understood the reality of what Hosea foretold, of Jesus Christ who would die and in three days rise again.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/HsCp5LG_zNE
Saturday OCT. 29,2011 at 6:30 PM at First United Methodist Church, Endicott, there will be a special evening of musical praise and worship. Various Christian musicians will participate in this special evening as they offer their gifts and talents to the Lord. A love offering will be received to benefit needy families in the community. Some of the musicians are Aric Phinney, Grant DeGaramo, Vin Rosenbarker, Dianne Glann, Laureen Naik, Yancey Moore, Emma Bronson and others.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 10-26-11
Good morning,
Thanks be to Jesus our Lord for this new day. We will gather for our mid-week fellowship and Bible study followed by choir practice this evening. We are studying the Book of Hosea.
Our God does strange things at times, things we don’t always understand, things we can’t categorize, things that don’t fit into what we think we know of him.
It is a mistake to think that everything God asks us to do will be easy. It is also a mistake to think that we will always understand what God is up to. At times, it even may appear that God has acted in a way contrary to His character. But God is in the business of speaking to us in ways that are beyond our comprehension. It was a strange thing when He asked Abraham to slay his son, Isaac. It was strange when God told Moses to stretch out his rod over the Red Sea to part the waters. It was a strange thing when God spoke through the mouth of a donkey to save a prophet’s life. It was a strange thing for God to ask Noah to build a boat three-football field length when it never had rained before. It was a strange thing when God asked the Jews to slaughter animals so that blood can be shed for the atonement of sins. It was a strange thing that the walls of Jericho fell down from marching and shouting.
God asked His prophets to do many strange things. For instance, our God asked Ezekiel to eat a scroll, a book which would represent Him eating the Word of God and to then go to Israel to deliver a message. He also asked him to lie on his left side for 390 days and on his right side for 40 more days to represent the number years Israel and Judah will be punished. Ezekiel was also asked to preach to a valley of dry bones so that they would come to life.
Jeremiah was asked to construct a yoke complete with straps to wear around his neck to demonstrate the yoke of bondage around the necks of Israel. Isaiah 20:3 - Then the LORD said, "My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign – a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.
God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach, although Ninevah was one of Israel’s greatest known enemies. Ninevah was so brutal that they would leave the carcasses of their enemies in the middle of the street piled up.
God asks Hosea to something strange, but powerful as God brought together in marriage this prophet and a prostitute in order to send a nation a message they could not ignore. This prophet represented faithfulness. He represented unfailing love for an unfaithful woman. What a man Hosea was in having more love than hatred, more blessing than bitterness, more patience than pity. He demonstrated obedience to the nth degree. Submission to God he wore like a mantle. He also demonstrated dedication and commitment to a woman he knew was going to do him wrong. He knew she was going to cheat. He knew she was going to leave him. He knew she was going to go downtown. He knew when he saw the kids that they didn’t have his eyes or his ears. He knew she would eventually marry another man. Yet he married her and loved her anyway! Hosea would provide for her, protect her, clothe her, and care for her, but in spite of all of that she still cheated on him. In spite of what he offered her, she still wasn’t satisfied.
The prophet Hosea represents our God who is eternally Faithful and Forgiving and always mercful. (Lamentations 3:22-25) "It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him."
On the cross the Lord Jesus paid the price, the full price for our freedom, and bought us back. This is the story of God’s love and God’s heart -- his loving desire to make of his people the full persons he intended them to be.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/iPeVIuRjUi4
An Evening of Music Festival, sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church :
Saturday OCT. 29,2011 6:30 PM at First United Methodist Church, Endicott, Special evening of musical praise and worship. Various Christian musicians will be participating in this special evening as they offer their gifts and talents to the Lord. A love offering will be received that will benefit needy families in
the community. Some of the musicians are Aric Phinney, Grant DeGaramo, Vin Rosenbarker, Dianne Glann, Laureen Naik, Yancey Moore, Emma Bronson and others.
Thanks be to Jesus our Lord for this new day. We will gather for our mid-week fellowship and Bible study followed by choir practice this evening. We are studying the Book of Hosea.
Our God does strange things at times, things we don’t always understand, things we can’t categorize, things that don’t fit into what we think we know of him.
It is a mistake to think that everything God asks us to do will be easy. It is also a mistake to think that we will always understand what God is up to. At times, it even may appear that God has acted in a way contrary to His character. But God is in the business of speaking to us in ways that are beyond our comprehension. It was a strange thing when He asked Abraham to slay his son, Isaac. It was strange when God told Moses to stretch out his rod over the Red Sea to part the waters. It was a strange thing when God spoke through the mouth of a donkey to save a prophet’s life. It was a strange thing for God to ask Noah to build a boat three-football field length when it never had rained before. It was a strange thing when God asked the Jews to slaughter animals so that blood can be shed for the atonement of sins. It was a strange thing that the walls of Jericho fell down from marching and shouting.
God asked His prophets to do many strange things. For instance, our God asked Ezekiel to eat a scroll, a book which would represent Him eating the Word of God and to then go to Israel to deliver a message. He also asked him to lie on his left side for 390 days and on his right side for 40 more days to represent the number years Israel and Judah will be punished. Ezekiel was also asked to preach to a valley of dry bones so that they would come to life.
Jeremiah was asked to construct a yoke complete with straps to wear around his neck to demonstrate the yoke of bondage around the necks of Israel. Isaiah 20:3 - Then the LORD said, "My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign – a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.
God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach, although Ninevah was one of Israel’s greatest known enemies. Ninevah was so brutal that they would leave the carcasses of their enemies in the middle of the street piled up.
God asks Hosea to something strange, but powerful as God brought together in marriage this prophet and a prostitute in order to send a nation a message they could not ignore. This prophet represented faithfulness. He represented unfailing love for an unfaithful woman. What a man Hosea was in having more love than hatred, more blessing than bitterness, more patience than pity. He demonstrated obedience to the nth degree. Submission to God he wore like a mantle. He also demonstrated dedication and commitment to a woman he knew was going to do him wrong. He knew she was going to cheat. He knew she was going to leave him. He knew she was going to go downtown. He knew when he saw the kids that they didn’t have his eyes or his ears. He knew she would eventually marry another man. Yet he married her and loved her anyway! Hosea would provide for her, protect her, clothe her, and care for her, but in spite of all of that she still cheated on him. In spite of what he offered her, she still wasn’t satisfied.
The prophet Hosea represents our God who is eternally Faithful and Forgiving and always mercful. (Lamentations 3:22-25) "It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him."
On the cross the Lord Jesus paid the price, the full price for our freedom, and bought us back. This is the story of God’s love and God’s heart -- his loving desire to make of his people the full persons he intended them to be.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/iPeVIuRjUi4
An Evening of Music Festival, sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church :
Saturday OCT. 29,2011 6:30 PM at First United Methodist Church, Endicott, Special evening of musical praise and worship. Various Christian musicians will be participating in this special evening as they offer their gifts and talents to the Lord. A love offering will be received that will benefit needy families in
the community. Some of the musicians are Aric Phinney, Grant DeGaramo, Vin Rosenbarker, Dianne Glann, Laureen Naik, Yancey Moore, Emma Bronson and others.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 10-25-11
Praise the Lord for this new day full of His promises and grace. May He be glorified in our lives , in our witness and in our work today. We are just two months away from Christmas Day. WOW! My wife has already started planning for decorating her Christmas trees. The Old Testament readings for last Sunday were taken from Deuteronomy 34, where it records the death of Moses, the servant of God. Moses died well though the life of Moses also was marred by failures. We preachers like to call it the sacrament of failure. Someone once spoke of, "the blessings of failure".
In the late seventies, firefighters in England went on strike. Thus, the British army was required to take over emergency fire fighting. One day, a squad of soldiers received a call from an elderly woman in London to come and rescue her cat, Bittsy. Poor Bittsy had gotten stuck in a tree. They arrived quickly and without much trouble saved Bittsy from her high perch. As they were getting ready to leave, the woman invited her heroes in for a victory spot of tea. (Very British of her) After the tea break, and many fond farewells and waving of hands, the soldiers hopped on the fire truck. But, as they drove away, they ran over sweet little Bittsy and killed her.
That’s embarrassing but we can all relate. We all have those moments when we fail. Despite our best efforts, things come crashing down on us. The Bible is full of people who have, at times, made a mess out of their lives. Yet, these people have seen their lives reconstructed by God for His purposes and for His glory.
For instance, Moses was a big, capital “F” failure. He had left Egypt a failure and a disgrace. While still a Prince of Egypt, he had witnessed an Egyptian beating a Jew. Moses had, as we would say today, anger management issues. He murdered the Egyptian, put him in a car, and dumped both in the Nile. No one saw him. It was the perfect crime, or so he thought, but the next day Moses came upon two Jews having a major disagreement. Taking the role of the "mighty Prince Moses” he tried to break it up. One of the men stared him down and said, “what are you going to do, Moses, kill one of us.” Moses thought he had gotten away with it, but he hadn’t, so he fled to the desert of Midian. There he got a job as a sheepherder and married the boss’ daughter. Whoever coined the phrase, “How the mighty have fallen”, might have been thinking of Moses.
We can learn from Moses that even a lifetime of failure can be turned into something beautiful. After forty years of tending sheep he came upon a bush on fire; it was burning, yet not consumed. He encountered God’s presence there. There Moses discovered that God is Holy. “Take off your shoes for this is a holy place.” It was holy because God is holy. This is the most important quality of God.
In a survey, people were asked to list God’s qualities in order of importance. Most started with love, then wisdom, power, mercy, and, finally, truth. At the bottom of the list was holiness. Yet, in examining the Bible, we would discover that of all of God’s qualities, Holiness gets mentioned the most - 900 times. James Boice said, “The Bible does not refer to God as Loving, Loving, Loving! Or Wise, Wise, Wise! Or Merciful, Merciful, Merciful. But, again and again, we hear and the angels sing that God is “Holy, Holy, Holy.” In Hebrew poetry, in order to emphasize something, the Hebrew writers didn’t use words like “very” or “extremely.” They would repeat the word to emphasize the point. To say God is “holy, holy, holy” is to say God is ‘really, really, really Holy.”
Because God is holy He wants to make us holy. We are to be a holy people. In the New Testament, Christians living on earth were people like you and me. We are the saints. Saint comes from the Greek word “hagios” which means “holy one.” We become holy because God makes us Holy.
When we first encounter the holiness of God, we feel inadequate, dirty, sinful. When Peter realized Jesus was indeed the Son of God, he fell to his knees and cried, “Lord, keep away from me, for I am a sinful man.” He was in the presence of the Holy. Moses has the same kind of reaction. God had a job for Moses, “You will go to Egypt and rescue My children.” Moses' reaction was, however, “Who am I? I’m a nobody.” Yet, it is in this emotional state where we can truly encounter God.
Jesus said, “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.’ It is only when we are poor in spirit that we are willing to give up control of our lives and turn to Christ. This is what happened with Moses. He had a heart transplant in the truest sense. Moses’ first approach had been independent approach. As a Prince of Egypt, everything was done under his own authority, his own understanding, and his own power. He set out to be the savior of his people and ended up really making a muck of things, killing an Egyptian in the process. At the burning bush we find a humble man who had a changed heart. He had finally become teachable, and God can use a person like that.
If we are honest with ourselves, whenever we fail it is most likely that we also have taken the independent approach. We do things under our own power and in our own understanding. In fact, one biblical definition of sin is “to go your own way.” Only in humility, confessing our sins to God, to we find new life and new direction.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/EduKNYVBKH8
An Evening of Music Festival, sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church :
Saturday OCT. 29,2011 6:30 PM at First United Methodist Church, Endicott, Special evening of musical praise and worship. Various Christian musicians will be participating in this special evening as they offer their gifts and talents to the Lord. A love offering will be received that will benefit needy families in
the community. Some of the musicians are Aric Phinney, Grant DeGaramo, Vin Rosenbarker, Dianne Glann, Laureen Naik, Yancey Moore, Emma Bronson and others.
In the late seventies, firefighters in England went on strike. Thus, the British army was required to take over emergency fire fighting. One day, a squad of soldiers received a call from an elderly woman in London to come and rescue her cat, Bittsy. Poor Bittsy had gotten stuck in a tree. They arrived quickly and without much trouble saved Bittsy from her high perch. As they were getting ready to leave, the woman invited her heroes in for a victory spot of tea. (Very British of her) After the tea break, and many fond farewells and waving of hands, the soldiers hopped on the fire truck. But, as they drove away, they ran over sweet little Bittsy and killed her.
That’s embarrassing but we can all relate. We all have those moments when we fail. Despite our best efforts, things come crashing down on us. The Bible is full of people who have, at times, made a mess out of their lives. Yet, these people have seen their lives reconstructed by God for His purposes and for His glory.
For instance, Moses was a big, capital “F” failure. He had left Egypt a failure and a disgrace. While still a Prince of Egypt, he had witnessed an Egyptian beating a Jew. Moses had, as we would say today, anger management issues. He murdered the Egyptian, put him in a car, and dumped both in the Nile. No one saw him. It was the perfect crime, or so he thought, but the next day Moses came upon two Jews having a major disagreement. Taking the role of the "mighty Prince Moses” he tried to break it up. One of the men stared him down and said, “what are you going to do, Moses, kill one of us.” Moses thought he had gotten away with it, but he hadn’t, so he fled to the desert of Midian. There he got a job as a sheepherder and married the boss’ daughter. Whoever coined the phrase, “How the mighty have fallen”, might have been thinking of Moses.
We can learn from Moses that even a lifetime of failure can be turned into something beautiful. After forty years of tending sheep he came upon a bush on fire; it was burning, yet not consumed. He encountered God’s presence there. There Moses discovered that God is Holy. “Take off your shoes for this is a holy place.” It was holy because God is holy. This is the most important quality of God.
In a survey, people were asked to list God’s qualities in order of importance. Most started with love, then wisdom, power, mercy, and, finally, truth. At the bottom of the list was holiness. Yet, in examining the Bible, we would discover that of all of God’s qualities, Holiness gets mentioned the most - 900 times. James Boice said, “The Bible does not refer to God as Loving, Loving, Loving! Or Wise, Wise, Wise! Or Merciful, Merciful, Merciful. But, again and again, we hear and the angels sing that God is “Holy, Holy, Holy.” In Hebrew poetry, in order to emphasize something, the Hebrew writers didn’t use words like “very” or “extremely.” They would repeat the word to emphasize the point. To say God is “holy, holy, holy” is to say God is ‘really, really, really Holy.”
Because God is holy He wants to make us holy. We are to be a holy people. In the New Testament, Christians living on earth were people like you and me. We are the saints. Saint comes from the Greek word “hagios” which means “holy one.” We become holy because God makes us Holy.
When we first encounter the holiness of God, we feel inadequate, dirty, sinful. When Peter realized Jesus was indeed the Son of God, he fell to his knees and cried, “Lord, keep away from me, for I am a sinful man.” He was in the presence of the Holy. Moses has the same kind of reaction. God had a job for Moses, “You will go to Egypt and rescue My children.” Moses' reaction was, however, “Who am I? I’m a nobody.” Yet, it is in this emotional state where we can truly encounter God.
Jesus said, “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.’ It is only when we are poor in spirit that we are willing to give up control of our lives and turn to Christ. This is what happened with Moses. He had a heart transplant in the truest sense. Moses’ first approach had been independent approach. As a Prince of Egypt, everything was done under his own authority, his own understanding, and his own power. He set out to be the savior of his people and ended up really making a muck of things, killing an Egyptian in the process. At the burning bush we find a humble man who had a changed heart. He had finally become teachable, and God can use a person like that.
If we are honest with ourselves, whenever we fail it is most likely that we also have taken the independent approach. We do things under our own power and in our own understanding. In fact, one biblical definition of sin is “to go your own way.” Only in humility, confessing our sins to God, to we find new life and new direction.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/EduKNYVBKH8
An Evening of Music Festival, sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church :
Saturday OCT. 29,2011 6:30 PM at First United Methodist Church, Endicott, Special evening of musical praise and worship. Various Christian musicians will be participating in this special evening as they offer their gifts and talents to the Lord. A love offering will be received that will benefit needy families in
the community. Some of the musicians are Aric Phinney, Grant DeGaramo, Vin Rosenbarker, Dianne Glann, Laureen Naik, Yancey Moore, Emma Bronson and others.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 10-24-11
Good morning,
Praise be to Jesus our Lord. He is the Lord of time and eternity. He blessed us with a full weekend of work and worship. It was a great thrill to be in the House of the Lord yesterday joining the redeemed of the Lord all over the world in worship and praise. One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Psalm 90. It focuses on God our Father who is Eternal, Holy, Faithful, and Merciful. It also sheds on light on the nature of man, who is frail, and bound by time. The Psalm, which was composed by Moses, is the oldest of the Psalms that are recorded in the Word of God. It invites us to number our days on earth.
Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. If that were the case you would certainly draw out every cent, every day! Each of us has such a bank; its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost everything we have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account. Each
night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is ours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". We must live in the present on today’s deposits, and invest it in such a way as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.
Many frustrated people seem to fight the clock habitually, as a way of life. They stay up late, then they sleep as late as they can and then rush frantically to school or work, gulping down an unhealthy breakfast in the car, talking on their cell phone at the same time. By contrast, Jesus never seemed to be in a hurry. Although He was doing the most important job in history (redeeming the world), and although He knew He only had a few years in which to do it, He never ran. He made time to consider the flowers and the birds of the air. He had time to put his hands on the little children and bless them.
The Bible gives us some great insight into how time can become our friend rather than our enemy. Basically, God exists in a realm that is not bound by time or space. He is the Creator of time, and He is greater than time. So, the first step in making time your friend is to totally immerse your life in God. In Psalm 90, we read:
Psalm 90:1-4, 10, 12, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
Psalm 90:10 continues to observe the nature of time, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
Psalm 90:12 "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
God says we should treat time as a valuable commodity. We number our years, but God says every day is so precious, we should treasure each one and number it, as well. To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. How valuable is an hour? Ask the businessman whose flight was delayed an hour and he missed an important business deal. How valuable is one minute? Ask the man who had the heart attack in the restaurant and an EMT happened to be sitting at the next table and CPR saved his life. How valuable is a second? Ask the person who barely missed a head-on collisions with an oncoming car. How valuable is a millisecond? Ask the Olympic swimmer who missed qualifying by six-tenths. Time really is valuable.
Time is much more valuable than money. It may be hard to make more money, but it can be done. However, it is totally impossible to create more time. Indeed, TIME is more valuable than money. A.W. Tozer wrote: “Time is a resource that is nonrenewable and nontransferable. You cannot store it, slow it up, hold it up, divide it up or give it up. You can’t hoard it up or save it for a rainy day–when it’s lost it’s unrecoverable. When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.”
There is an entire field of study called “time management.” In almost every business in America, consultants are hired to teach busy executives how to better manage their time. Time management is a hot topic. In his book, "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", Stephen Covey wrote, “Time management is a misleading concept. You can’t really manage time. You can’t delay it, speed it up, save it or lose it. No matter what you do time keeps moving forward at the same rate. The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.”
The Bible uses another description. Instead of managing our time, it speaks of “redeeming” the time, which is an even better idea. Paul wrote, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:14- 15) The phrase “walk circumspectly,” means to be constantly looking around to make the most of every opportunity.
In Christ , who is Eternal King.
Brown
http://youtu.be/asrwlIxLeko
An Evening of Music Festival, sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church :
Saturday OCT. 29,2011 6:30 PM at First United Methodist Church, Endicott, Special evening of musical praise and worship. Various Christian musicians will be participating in this special evening as they offer their gifts and talents to the Lord. A love offering will be received that will benefit needy families in
the community. Some of the musicians are Aric Phinney, Grant DeGaramo, Vin Rosenbarker, Dianne Glann, Laureen Naik, Yancey Moore, others.
Praise be to Jesus our Lord. He is the Lord of time and eternity. He blessed us with a full weekend of work and worship. It was a great thrill to be in the House of the Lord yesterday joining the redeemed of the Lord all over the world in worship and praise. One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Psalm 90. It focuses on God our Father who is Eternal, Holy, Faithful, and Merciful. It also sheds on light on the nature of man, who is frail, and bound by time. The Psalm, which was composed by Moses, is the oldest of the Psalms that are recorded in the Word of God. It invites us to number our days on earth.
Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. If that were the case you would certainly draw out every cent, every day! Each of us has such a bank; its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost everything we have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account. Each
night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is ours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". We must live in the present on today’s deposits, and invest it in such a way as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.
Many frustrated people seem to fight the clock habitually, as a way of life. They stay up late, then they sleep as late as they can and then rush frantically to school or work, gulping down an unhealthy breakfast in the car, talking on their cell phone at the same time. By contrast, Jesus never seemed to be in a hurry. Although He was doing the most important job in history (redeeming the world), and although He knew He only had a few years in which to do it, He never ran. He made time to consider the flowers and the birds of the air. He had time to put his hands on the little children and bless them.
The Bible gives us some great insight into how time can become our friend rather than our enemy. Basically, God exists in a realm that is not bound by time or space. He is the Creator of time, and He is greater than time. So, the first step in making time your friend is to totally immerse your life in God. In Psalm 90, we read:
Psalm 90:1-4, 10, 12, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
Psalm 90:10 continues to observe the nature of time, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
Psalm 90:12 "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
God says we should treat time as a valuable commodity. We number our years, but God says every day is so precious, we should treasure each one and number it, as well. To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. How valuable is an hour? Ask the businessman whose flight was delayed an hour and he missed an important business deal. How valuable is one minute? Ask the man who had the heart attack in the restaurant and an EMT happened to be sitting at the next table and CPR saved his life. How valuable is a second? Ask the person who barely missed a head-on collisions with an oncoming car. How valuable is a millisecond? Ask the Olympic swimmer who missed qualifying by six-tenths. Time really is valuable.
Time is much more valuable than money. It may be hard to make more money, but it can be done. However, it is totally impossible to create more time. Indeed, TIME is more valuable than money. A.W. Tozer wrote: “Time is a resource that is nonrenewable and nontransferable. You cannot store it, slow it up, hold it up, divide it up or give it up. You can’t hoard it up or save it for a rainy day–when it’s lost it’s unrecoverable. When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.”
There is an entire field of study called “time management.” In almost every business in America, consultants are hired to teach busy executives how to better manage their time. Time management is a hot topic. In his book, "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", Stephen Covey wrote, “Time management is a misleading concept. You can’t really manage time. You can’t delay it, speed it up, save it or lose it. No matter what you do time keeps moving forward at the same rate. The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.”
The Bible uses another description. Instead of managing our time, it speaks of “redeeming” the time, which is an even better idea. Paul wrote, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:14- 15) The phrase “walk circumspectly,” means to be constantly looking around to make the most of every opportunity.
In Christ , who is Eternal King.
Brown
http://youtu.be/asrwlIxLeko
An Evening of Music Festival, sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church :
Saturday OCT. 29,2011 6:30 PM at First United Methodist Church, Endicott, Special evening of musical praise and worship. Various Christian musicians will be participating in this special evening as they offer their gifts and talents to the Lord. A love offering will be received that will benefit needy families in
the community. Some of the musicians are Aric Phinney, Grant DeGaramo, Vin Rosenbarker, Dianne Glann, Laureen Naik, Yancey Moore, others.
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