Through Wednesday we were having hot
and sultry weather. Yesterday the clouds began to gather and thicken,
portending the coming of the storm. It rained very heavily here yesterday, but
the air has been refreshed by it.
Yesterday I was watching News
Conference by President Jimmy Carter. He shared about his health concern. He
also shared that it has been a life filled all blessings all the days of his
life. He will be 91 years this year. He talked about his family, his faith in
the Lord Jesus, and his family farm. He talked about being a husband, father,
grandfather and great-grandfather. He testified about the mission and ministry
of the Carter Center, which blesses millions of people around the world. It was
a heart warming news conference.
Soon after that I read an article
by Ann Graham Lotz, the daughter of Dr. Billy Graham. She wrote about the death
of her husband of 49 years. She said that her husband loved the Lord and served
Him. What a way to live and what a way to serve the Lord in the world today.
The people who love the Lord and serve Him with a passion and dedication make a
mega-difference in the world.
We are preparing for the upcoming
Sunday morning worship, witness, and celebration, beginning at 11:00 AM. We are
excited about it. Alice and I will be celebrating our fortieth wedding
anniversary on Sunday, so we are planning for a time of fellowship and
celebration after worship, with a dinner reception with our church family and
friends. There will be lots of foods, many with an international flavor, which
may include some "bizarre foods America". We praise the Lord for His
faithfulness, His grace, and His tender mercies. Forty years ago we were joined
in marriage on a Saturday evening in the little church in Smyrna, New York where
Alice was raised and nurtured in Jesus' love. In retrospect, we marvel at how
the Lord has kept us in the grip of His grace and in the hollow of His hand.
Indeed, we can truly say, "(our) cup runneth over".
Looking back to the early days of
the Christian movement, G. Campbell Morgan a British Clregyman, remarked that
“the church did the most for the world when the church was the least like the
world.” When Paul wrote to
the young church in Ephesus, he knew they were an island of light in a city
filled with darkness. How could that tiny band of believers make a difference
in the cosmopolitan metropolis that was home to the world-famous Temple of
Artemis? In Ephesians 5:8-14, Paul gave his answer: "For you were once darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (v. 8). This
is a beautiful picture
of conversion.
Coming to Christ is like
walking from the darkness into a room filled with blazing light. Once we
come out of the darkness, we see things we never saw before. When we lived in
the darkness, we did whatever we wanted to do, but in the light, we must put off
the deeds of darkness and put on a lifestyle befitting the children of the
light.
Verse 9 spells this out: “For the
fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.”
Goodness touches on how we deal with others. Righteousness
involves a new commitment to obey God’s commands. Truth demands a
deep commitment to live with integrity. When we walk in the light
we are no longer free
agents, making our own moral choices as we go along. As Christians we believe
something stupendous that the world does not understand at all. We believe
there is a God in heaven who has spoken, that His Word is authoritative, and
that He has the absolute right to determine our moral choices, how we conduct
our business affairs, how we spend our money, and all the other choices we make
in life. Obviously the world finds this strange, somewhat mysterious, possibly
antisocial and borderline dangerous. Plan to be in the Lords House coming
Sunday, to Him singing and shouting praises . When saints sing and praise Satan
trembles.
"They triumphed over him by the blood of
the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so
much as to shrink from death."
Rev 12:11
Rev 12:11
In Christ,
Brown
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