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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Brown's Daily Word 9-11-13

Praise the Lord for this new day.  Alice and I drove down to Johns Hopkins yesterday and came home with a good report.  It was a very sunny and sultry day in Baltimore.  The temperature reached 94 degrees.  Summer is still lingering with much sweetness.  Our oldest daughter, Janice, who will celebrate her birthday the day after tomorrow, competed in a Triathlon last week near Boston.  Laureen, with her team from Binghamton House of Prayer, is organizing our annual prayer conference to be held from October 18-20, 2013.  Jessica and Tom are practicing for their 70 mile fund-raiser bike ride at the end of September. 

    Sunita is planning to fly to Jerusalem this coming Saturday with her work and ministry.  She shared with me that she recently had a conference with Christians from Egypt.  The conference was held in  Washington, DC.  She was moved when the Christians from Egypt, where Moses was raised and trained and who stood up to Pharaoh and said "  Let my people Go", sang joyfully "How Great Thou Art" in Arabic.  These Christians, who are under  intense fear and  persecution in their on land see the sovereign power of the living Lord at work.  They shared with Sunita how the Lord's power and might is dismantling the power and tyranny of the "Moslem Brotherhood " in Egypt.  The Christians from Egypt shared with Sunita how the Church of Jesus Christ is vibrant and victorious in the midst of suffering and chaos. 

    We are facing a crisis in Syria, another country that the Lord used in the Redemption History and Salvation story of the world.  Pope Francis had asked for a day of prayer for peaceful resolution in Syria.  The Lord is at work around the corner and around the globe.  

    Today is the 12th anniversary of 9/11.  This anniversary of the 9/11 attacks conjures up many memories and emotions in the hearts of every American and those around the world.  It was a day where we saw unprecedented attacks on our homeland and time seemed to stand still in the enormity of its impact upon our lives.  It reminds us to stand on the scripture, 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' Psalm 46:1

    In the wake of 9/11/2001, many in our nation turned to God for comfort and solace.  It was an "awakening" of sorts for many people.  Therefore it is appropriate that after we pause to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in those attacks, that we turn to our family, friends and neighbors and offer encouragement for the future.

    "So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

    "And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." Hebrews 10:25

    As we reflect on the events of 9/11/2001 and everything that has happened as a result of those attacks, we need not tremble in fear or be anxious about the future when our trust is in the Lord God.  "The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Savior; thou savest me from violence." 2 Samuel 22:3 KJV

    "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Psalm 33:12.

    Let this Day of Remembrance, followed by the National Day of Encouragement, be a renewed call to prayer for our nation, our state, our city, and our neighbors. Let it also be a call to prayer for our troops serving both at home and around the world. ,May God bless each one of you, and may God Bless America!   We are called and sent by the Lord to be the church in the world.. to be the salt of the earth  . to be the light of the world.
 We are called to be the Body Of Christ to the broken world.binding wounds, comforting the grieving, offering food to the hungry
Gordon MacDonald had written this in his journal:
And more than once I asked myself—as everyone asks—is God here?  And I decided that He is closer to this place than any other place I’ve ever visited.  The strange irony is that, amidst this absolute catastrophe of unspeakable proportions, there is a beauty in the way human beings are acting that defines the imagination.  Everyone—underscore, everyone—is everyone else’s brother or sister.  There are no strangers among the thousands at the work site.  Everyone talks; everyone cooperates; everyone does the next thing that has to be done.  No job is too small, too humble, or, on the other hand, too large.  Tears ran freely, affection was exchanged openly, exhaustion was defied.  We all stopped caring about ourselves.  The words ‘it’s not about me’ were never more true.
No church service; no church sanctuary; no religiously inspiring service has spoken so deeply into my soul and witnessed to the presence of God as those hours last night at the crash site.
In all my years of Christian ministry, I never felt more alive than I felt last night.  The only other time I can remember a similar feeling was the week that Gail & I worked on a Habitat for Humanity project in Hungary.  As much as I love preaching the Bible and all the other things that I have been privileged to do over the years, being on that street, giving cold water to workmen, praying and weeping with them, listening to their stories was the closest I have ever felt to God.  Even though it sounds melodramatic, I kept finding myself saying, “This is the place where Jesus most wants to  be.”
  Praise the Lord that He called us to be in the world and not of the world.
 In Christ,
  Brown 
   Wednesday Gathering at 6 PM  Bible Study a 6.30 PM , Choir Practice at 7.30PM

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