Brown's Daily Word 2-14-14

    Happy and a joyful Valentine's day to you, all my family and friends.  I received my first Valentine's day card 40 years ago this month.  I was a student in Bangalore, India.  My wife was a student at Hartwick College, New York.  She sent the card and explained about Valentine's day.  I had no clue about Valentine's day.  I like the origins, the reason, and the sentiments of this special day.  Valentine's day is ever so popular in India now. 

    To know Jesus Christ is to be loved and to love.  I have been listening a song by Jesus Culture called, "His Love Never Fails".   In 1 Corinthians 13 the Lord of love and life is declaring that,  life without love is zero.  We  can pile up all the good deeds, all the education, all the spiritual gifts, and all the noble works that we  like. Without love, it still equals zero.  We  can be smart, beautiful, strong, wealthy, educated, multi-lingual, rich, and famous but without love it still equals zero.

    When William Barclay, a great Christian scholar and believer, came to the end of his comments on this passage, he noted that it calls for a searching personal self-examination.  These verses challenge us to evaluate what we do and what we say in the light of agape love.  If we are honest with ourselves (which is not easy in the best of circumstances), we must eventually admit that we all have a long way to go in this area.  Many of us struggle with difficult people and painful circumstances.  In those moments when we have been deeply hurt by those closest to us, the temptation is often overwhelming to respond with anger and bitterness.  We may want to get even with those who have treated us so cruelly.  We may even resort to threats of violence.  In our desperation it is easy to sink to the level of those who have attacked us.

    There is a better way.  Jesus calls us to love our enemies and, life being what it is, our “enemies” will almost always be those closest to us.  Love means doing things the Lord's way.  It means responding in kindness when we have been repeatedly mistreated.  It means refusing to nurse our grievances against those who are truly guilty of sin against us.  Love finds a way to reach out to heal the breach if possible.  This kind of life is not easy.

    Jesus embodied this Special Kind of Love.  Love isn't about us; love is about Jesus.  Since He is love, all true love starts with him and comes down to us. If we want to be more loving, we must get to know Him, better.  As we come to know the Love of Jesus in a personal way, his love will supernaturally flow through us as our hearts are transformed.  John 3:16 : “For God so loved the world that he gave his one-and-only-Son.”  Jesus is the proof of God’s love.  Run to the cross.  Behold the bleeding form of the Son of God.  “See from his hands, his head, his feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down.”

    During the 17th Century Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, sentenced a soldier to be shot for his crimes.  The execution was to take place at the ringing of the evening curfew bell.  At the appointed hour the bell did not sound.  Upon investigation it was discovered that the soldier’s fiance had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from striking.  When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands.  Cromwell’s heart was touched and he said, “Your lover shall live because of your sacrifice.  Curfew shall not ring tonight!”

    Through his sacrifice, Christ has stayed our execution.  The judgment bell will never toll for us.  The proof of his love is in his bruised body and bloody hands. Because of his love we live.

    I am blessed and challenged by the words  of the late Dr. Karl Meninger,  M.D., a great Psychiatrist,  " Love is the medicine for the sickness of the world.”  He summarized his therapeutic approach this way: “Love cures. It cures those who give it and it cures those who receive it.”  The love of Christ is powerful medicine for the terminal disease inside every heart.

    "Lord I want to be more loving in my heart: 

  In His Love,

    Brown

http://youtu.be/6_KXsMCJgBQ

Brown's Daily Word 2-13-14

  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday gathering.  The food was fabulous, the fellowship was sweet, and the Study was provocative.  We looked at John 2, a wedding story.  It was a Jewish wedding.  Jewish weddings during the time of Christ were gala occasions, festive events, and grand parties.  In the story  Jesus came to such a wedding party that lasted for seven days.  During this party, unfortunately and embarrassingly, the host ran out of wine.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, intervened.  Mary said to Jesus, “They have no wine.”  Our Lord said to the servants , “Fill those big jugs out there with water.”  They were really big jugs, holding thirty gallons each, and they were used for the rite of purification.  The servants obediently filled those six jugs right up to the brim, then Jesus said to the waiter, “I want you to take some wine over to the steward, to see what it tastes like.”  The servant took some wine over to the steward He sipped it and said, “That tastes fine.  The groom has saved the best wine until last.”  The steward looked at the six vats of wine and said, “That is a lot of wine.  There is enough wine here for a whole city, maybe for the whole country.”  Then comes a key line in the story that says, “This was the first of the signs that Jesus did in Galilee.  By this sign, Jesus revealed his glory, the glorious presence of the Son of God, and the disciples believed the sign.”

    Immediately, my mind flashed to the previous chapter, John 1, where the Bible says, “We beheld his glory, the glorious presence of the Son of God, and from his fullness, (the fullness of six large vats of wine), we all have received grace upon grace upon grace.”  The law was given through the purification rituals of Moses but grace and truth were given through Jesus Christ.  From His fullness, we all have received grace upon grace upon grace.

    The message is not so much about Jesus turning the water into wine.  It is about the abundance of the Lord toward us.  It is about His extreme generosity in every way.  Six stone jars containing 180 gallons of water were transformed into the best wine.  The wine stands of the blood of Jesus that shed for the remissions of sin of the whole world, that takes away the sin of the whole world.  It is 180 gallons of grace.  There is enough grace  for for the whole wide world.  From God’s fullness of grace, right up to the brim, we all have received grace upon grace upon grace.  I love that line in the text where the vats are filled up right to the brim.  In a very real way there were now 180 gallons of grace, 180 gallons of forgiveness from Jesus.  This awareness is also found in Hebrews chapter ten, where Jesus says that he is the perfect sacrifice for all sins forever.

    The Good News  of Jesus is the Good News of great joy. . .  180 gallons of joy. Being a Christian is like going to a party.  Being a Christian is like going to a Jewish wedding.  The bridegroom is with us, and the bridegroom brings JOY to our lives.

    Jesus told other parables that indicated that being a Christian is like being invited to a party.  One time he told a story about inviting several people to a wedding feast, but they couldn’t come.  They had numerous excuses why they couldn’t come.  For instance, they had to fix a new house or take care of their livestock. Although people had excuses of why they couldn’t’ come to the party,    the point is that they were invited to a banquet, to a party, to a Jewish wedding. Being a Christian is like going to a banquet. 

    In another parable, Jesus talked about ten girls waiting for the groom to come to a Jewish wedding.  Five ladies were prepared for the party and five were not, so five went to the party and five did not.  Being a Christian is like going to a party. The Good News of Jesus makes us free to love, and to be forgiven, loved, and celebrated.  Jesus has prepared 180 gallons of grace for you and 180 gallons of grace for me.  We can, on our own,  never be kind enough, good enough, loving enough, or prayerful enough.  We are always too selfish.  Yet, in spite of it all, there is 180 gallons of grace for you and me.  Jesus is the Host, and He is the Bridegroom.  The party has begun.  Come, Share, Rejoice.

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtu.be/GoYgi0sdOqc

Brown's Daily Word 2-12-14

Praise the Lord for this Wednesday.  We will meert for our midweek gathering at 6 PM with a very special meal followed by Bible Study at 6:30 PM and then by Choir practice at 7:30 PM.  One of my daughters reminded me yesterday that  Spring is not far away.  She also shared with me that one of her close friends, who is a  real estate agent, sold  her first home yesterday.  We rejoice and praise the Lord.  

    Sunita  flew to Bosnia last night with her work.  She will be meeting some of her colleagues from  Cyprus.  Sunita is crazy about serving Christ.  She inspires me to press on.  One of our  friends just returned back from a short term mission in India.  She came blessed and changed.  I had a lunch with one of my colleagues yesterday.  I prepared an Indian dish.  He loved chicken curry.  I said the hotter the better.  In my book those who love hot curry are a breed apart.  He shared about ministry of compassion and ministry dealing with justice issues.  

    Praise the Lord that the the ministry of Jesus deals with life in high places and in low places.  To the watching world that has gone insane and is spinning out of control, the ministry of Jesus does appear foolish.  We read in 1 Corinthians 1, “The word of the cross is foolishness to those whose lives are falling apart, but to those who are being saved, the cross is the very power of God.”  Other statements echo the same refrain: “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  Has God not destroyed the wisdom of the wise?”  “God chose what is foolish in this world to shame the wise.  God chose what is weak in this world to shame the strong.  God chose what is low and despised to accomplish his will.”  To sum up this theme, we are called to be fools for Christ.

    Throughout the New Testament, we discover this divine madness about God.  One of my pastor colleague says, "We discover that God acts like a clown, that the Lord of the Universe acts like a fool.  Unreasonable.  Not responsible.  Not sensible.  Not practical but downright foolish. "

    Our Lord declared “If someone hits you on one cheek, offer the other cheek for them to hit.”  Dumb.  Or, “If someone takes your coat, give them all your clothing as well.”  Not smart.  Or, “If someone asks you to do a favor and go a mile for them, go the second mile for that person.”  Ridiculous.  Or, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  This divine madness of God gets into his followers and his followers start to act like clowns.  In fact, to the world followers of Christ act crazy; they are wild and mad for Jesus.  There is a power to this way of living and loving. 

    I read about Ray and Lillian, committed Christians who have raised 26 foster children.  They must have been out of their mind to raise 26 foster kids.  I also read about another childless couple that  raised 84 foster children.  They must have been nuts to do that.  We see that there is this divine madness in God, in Jesus, and in the people of Jesus who do these foolish things.  There is power to their living and power to their loving.

Here come the clowns!  Here come the clowns! Are we  part of them? Are we part of their parade? Let us join the parade.

In Christ,

  Brown

http://youtu.be/6_KXsMCJgBQ

Brown's Daily Word 2-11-14

    Praise the Lord for this new day.  It is going to be brilliant and sunny.  The gripping power of snowy and Icy winter is slowly caving in to the dawning of sweet spring.  It is spring time in Orissa, India, where they are experiencing summer like days, warm and very warm, and the mango trees are in full bloom.  My new found friend Carol, who lives in Florida, has a luxuriant mango tree in her yard.  This mango tree is in bloom now.  Praise the Lord for flowering trees and fruit trees. 

 

    I read a very heart warming story about William and the life of a local church.  William had recently moved into town. Sadly, William's elderly mother had died the very day his family moved into the community.  William, knowing his mother loved sacred music, began coming to a church composed of people from 40 different nations, people who embodied diversity.  Initially, he sat near the front of the congregation, not far from Miss Ida, who sat straight-backed and still near the front of the congregation, lips pursed, hands folded neatly in her lap.  William was clicking his recorder on and off, rewinding, fast-forwarding, sometimes mumbling, and all the while rocking back and forth, back and forth.  After a few Sundays, someone told William he was making too much noise.  If he insisted on bringing the recorder and pushing the buttons, he would need to sit in the lobby and listen to the service via the speakers.  That is what William did…for three Sundays.

    On the fourth Sunday, Miss Ida arrived uncharacteristically late and asked William why he was sitting in the lobby instead of the sanctuary.  William said, "The people in there said I was making too much noise.  I have to sit out here."  In a quiet act of compassionate dissent, she sat with him.  He rocked, and she was still. The next Sunday, five others joined them.  On the following Sunday, 30 people sat in the lobby.

    Today, William sits with the choir.  He is the "assistant sound man."  Every Sunday, he records the service, clicking his buttons, mumbling and rocking.  After each service, William walks several miles to the cemetery and leaves the cassette on his mother's grave with these simple words, "Here's church, Mama."  William understood communion.  His ministry was to help others understand.

    Miss Ida proved to be a person who was listening, watching, and waiting.  She responded to God's call, able to offer new life to a very barren situation.  An act of faith that shone God's light, His Presence…burst forth in new life for William and this congregation!  Miss Ida responded in obedience, which made all the difference.

    How might God be speaking to us today, calling us to faithful obedience?  What new thing is Jesus doing that might make our ears tingle?  The Lord has come and is standing, calling each of us by name.  Let us respond by saying, "Speak, Lord, for Your servants are listening!"

In Christ,

  Brown

http://youtu.be/9B9HsLCgcq4

Brown's Daily Word 2-10-14

The Lord blessed us with a " WOW" weekend.  The banquet that was held Saturday was brilliant.  The food was superb.  Our young chef Dan and his entire family prepared the menu, cooked the food, and served with so much love.  It was a treat.  The fellowship was sweet.  The banquet room was full and every chair was taken. There was ample food and more.  The testimony and music time was inspiring and touching.  Wherever Christ is there is celebration. There is joy indeed.  

    The Lord blessed us yesterday during morning worship.  Being Boy Scout Sunday yesterday Chris, one of the leaders and a professor at Davis College, preached.  We were all challenged and blessed. 

    C.S. Lewis faced the death of his beloved mom at the age of nine.  He struggled with his faith in the loving Lord and almighty God.  Years later, when as an Oxford professor he began to rationally think through the possibility of Christian belief, Lewis finally understood what was going on in his mother’s painful illness.  He came to see that this world is a battlefield between the kingdom of God and the powers of evil, and that Christianity was true precisely because it took this conflict seriously.

     Lewis’ mother died not because God didn’t grant a child’s wish, but because the evil one had twisted God’s good world in such a way that even the very cells of her body no longer worked as they should.  Though healing did not come in that instant of boyish spiritual lisping, the prayers did not go unheard, and his mother was not lost forever or forgotten.

     Our Lord Jesus told several parables which are recorded in Mathew 13.  Jesus’ stories in this chapter remind us that we are on the winning side in the battles of life.  When Jesus told the Parables of the Seed and the Yeast (Matthew 13:31-35), He presented a picture of the kingdom of heaven that grows and dominates until it is the primary factor shaping the world.  The tiny mustard seed morphs into a tree that provides a home for the birds, and the bit of yeast transforms the entire loaf until it is utterly and completely changed.  It is important to note that these things happen rather automatically, with the change taking place from within the seed, and from within the grain of yeast.

    In other words, the kingdom of heaven has the winning power within itself, and invites us along on the journey.  We do not create the kingdom, but the kingdom creates us.  Even though it appears to be insignificant at the start, the essence of greatness and the confidence of success lies within.  Scripture is filled with testimonies to this.  One in particular from the Old Testament is the scene in Jeremiah 32 where the prophet buys a field.  Normally this would seem like an ordinary transaction, but Jeremiah and the salesperson were both holed up inside the walls of Jerusalem, while battering rams of Babylon’s armies were pounding the gates and walls to rubble.  What is more, in the prolonged siege of Jerusalem, the invading armies killed and burned every living thing for miles, and made waste of whatever farmland there might have been in the region.  Added to that is the sure promise of God, spoken through Jeremiah himself, that this time Babylon would be successful and the city, along with the Temple, would be destroyed.

    If there was ever a bad time to invest in real estate, this was it.  The land itself was worthless, the currency inflated, the threat of destruction obvious and the future about as grim as any could be.  Yet Jeremiah bought the field because he knew the power of the seed of the kingdom of God.  He knew that God would have his way, even beyond the threat of Babylon.  He knew that in spite of the waywardness of the people, God’s kingdom would rise again and thrust itself to the heavens until even the Babylonian vulture would nest in its branches.

    When we read the account as Jesus told us about the kingdom of heaven, we recover our sense of values and outcomes.  We see past the current hopeless, all-encompassing mess of daily events.  We carry the passport of heaven.  We live as those who are under orders to be, to do, and to make a difference.  Best of all, we know Who writes the last chapter.

In Christ,

  Brown

http://youtu.be/eLqTZ07ja7g