Brown's Daily Word 10/2/15

Praise the Lord for this first Friday of October.  Those who live in the region please join us for our weekly television broadcast on Time Warner cable channel 4 at 7:.00 PM this evening.  It has been raining off and on, washing all the dirt away.  It looks clean all around.  Our daughter Laureen, along with some her friends, is in Florida attending a conference. We are getting reading for Sunday worship.  We will meet for Sunday School at 10:00 AM and for worship at 11:00.  Plan to be in the in the House of the Lord wherever you might be.  May the Lord of the Sabbath and the Lord of the Church grant us festive and celebrative days throughout October. We have so much to celebrate, so much to thankful for.

 

    I was reading Psalm 23 once again and I was reminded that no matter how carefully the shepherd prepares the way, the sheep still get bruised and wounded by the thorns and thistles.  At the end of each day, the shepherd gently rubs the healing oil onto the wounds of the sheep.  The psalmist squarely faces the reality of evil and suffering in this world.  Even those who follow the shepherd endure the pain of living in a world such as ours.  Sometimes we are wounded by the effects of our own sin, but often we are hurt by being a part of a world where suffering is a reality and where it rains on the just and the unjust.  
 

    Though the sheep may wander from the path the shepherd does not scold the sheep for their wounds.  He tends to the wounds.  This is a portrait of a forgiving, gracious God who really does care for His children.   No wonder the psalmist lives with a sense of a life overflowing with blessing.  His gratitude is not dependent on what happens to him, but rather on the God Who in Jesus Christ is our Eternal Companion, who makes all things beautiful in His time.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalms 23:6)  We are people on a journey growing in our relationship with the God who makes Himself supremely known through Christ Jesus.

    Though we may wander or even try to hide, God is actively pursuing us with His grace and His loving kindness.  What a God!  He's not in hiding.  He is always seeking out His children.

    Some people believe in God as being distant, reluctant, and uninvolved.  J.B. Phillips has reminded us in his provocative little book that often Your God Is Too Small.  The problem for many is not atheism.  It's that our God  is too limited.
To have a life worth living we need a God Who is worth serving.  When Paul wrote his second letter to young Timothy, he shared a God that was big enough for the storms and stresses of life: "For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (2 Timothy 1:12).  The promise of God's presence is for now and forever.  "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

    Nothing brought more joy to the Israelites than to worship in God's House, but imagine the joy of those of us with faith in Jesus Christ.  For us the end is only the beginning!  "We shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

In Christ the Winsome Shepherd.

   Brown

https://youtu.be/IaYycKwVxQU

Brown's Daily Word 10/1/15

Praise the Lord for the first day of October.  Wow!  It is going to be a great month  to be alive and to serve the Lord and live under His care and authority. The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday gathering.  The fellowship was sweet .  The time of study and sharing was a great blessing.  

    One of my friends is an avid cyclist.  He was born and raised on a farm and, best of all, he was raised in a Christian home.  His life was shaped and molded through the ministry of the church.  He loves the  Lord.  He loves the church.  He and his wife are deeply involved in the ministry of the church. He has retired from his career as a banker.  He rode his bike from the west coast to the east coast of America the Beautiful.  He has ridden around the finger lakes several times.  At present he is riding on  the Pacific Coast of the USA, and he posts some of  beautiful pictures.  He praises the Lord for the ability the Lord has given him that in his retirement he can ride bike across America.  He also has traveled by bike across Europe.  He has passion and determination.  In his travels he praises the Lord who gives him strength.  He witnesses to friends about Jesus who makes all things possible.

    During our Wednesday Evening Bible study we have been studying the Gospel  according to John.  One of my friends led a study on this book a few years ago.  It took him many weeks, even months to finish the study.  Yesterday we focused on one of the most pivotal and salient verses in John.  "The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father....and from His fullness we have received grace upon grace... blessings upon blessings."  Jesus our Lord is with us. We  are never alone.

I love the story of Robinson Crusoe.  Robinson Crusoe was in that shipwreck. Robinson Crusoe was all alone, stranded on that island. He wandered all around the island and there was no one there. He wandered around that island for days, weeks, months and he knew he was alone on that island. But one day, he noticed a footprint in the sand and that footprint was not his own.  Immediately, Robinson Crusoe knew instantly that he was not alone. Someone else was on that island. The story of Robinson Crusoe is the discovery that he was not alone on that island but that someone else was with him.

Similarly  Good News of Christ is a story of how God left a sign that we are not alone on this island called Earth, that God has left his footprint in the sands of time.   He is invisible yet He is with us every moment of  our lives with power, love and mercy.  Life is worth living , because we are not alone.   Jesus makes all things colourful and beautiful in His time.

 In Christ,

 Brown

https://youtu.be/X_2qG22SPwU

Brown's Daily Word 9/30/15

Praise the Lord for this last Wednesday of September.  We will gather for our mid-week fellowship and study at 6:00 PM.  Special foods are prepared for this evening.  We are studying the Gospel according to John. We are excited.  Over the past few weeks the weather has been quite dry but now the Lord has blessed us with some very heavy rains.  The rains have soaked the ground afresh and anew.  The fields, dales, and rivers and the rivulets  look revived, replenished, and refreshed.  That is how the Lord of lives revives and refreshes us time after time.  

    

    We talked to our daughters yesterday.  They are well.  Our grand children are growing up in Jesus's love and above all, and best of all, in His Amazing grace. 

    

    One of my friends from Orissa posted a picture of the rice fields from the area where I was born and raised.  The rice fields are looking luscious green and serine.  These  rice fields are greener, much greener, than that of the Links of Scotland and Ireland.  One of our friends from Southern England even commented on this photograph.  The Lord surrounds us with His matchless beauty around the corner and around the globe. 

 

    I attended a burial service that was held on the "High Lands" yesterday.  A layman in his 90's, conducted the service.  He spoke of the "Sure and Certain Hope", that we have in Christ.

 

    I also visited a family who has gone through some personal tragedy and trials  and has experienced massive grief.   We shared in the blessed assurance we have in Jesus and because of Jesus.

  

    When our daughters were young we made an annual pilgrimage to one particular Apple orchard to pick our autumn supply of apples.  This Orchard is  located near Ithaca and was run by some "earthy" people.  I found out that there is an Apple orchard not far from us.  We can pick apples this season.  We are excited.  

 

    As Christians, we wage war each day against our spiritual enemy.  Although our Lord has defeated this enemy on Calvary's cross, Satan still wreaks havoc in our lives.  He knows that his time is short.  He knows that one day, perhaps soon, he will be fully and finally destroyed.  He knows that he is a defeated foe.  Yet, despite knowing of his coming defeat, in these days Satan cunningly executes his evil in order to tempt us and trap us in sin.  He wants us to deny and dishonor the Lord. He is the father of lies.  Our Lord spoke to Peter saying, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat."

 

    James Montgomery Boice, commenting on this  verse, imagines Jesus' response to Satan, saying that there was indeed a great deal of chaff in Peter, but Satan was wrong in thinking that Peter was only chaff.  Boice imagines that our Lord may have said, "My grain is in Peter.  Consequently, I will let you blow on him, but when you are done all you will have succeeded in doing is blowing away some of the chaff.  Peter will be stronger than before" (The Gospel of John, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981, p. 88).

    We know that the adversary and his troops tempt and trap people in sin continually.  However, at least occasionally, Satan slithers before the Lord to make his case to tempt, test, and try some of God's most faithful followers.  That is what this ancient enemy did several millennia ago when he sought permission to bring suffering on God's servant Job (Job 1:6-12).

    Whether the subject of testing is Job, Peter, or any other disciple, it is always the Lord who sets the terms and the boundaries under which such testing takes place. Satan may beg and badger, but God is sovereign and supreme.  Satan may whine and wheedle, but God is merciful and mighty.  God is immeasurably wiser and infinitely stronger than Satan.  God has the final word.  Yes, the Lord may allow us to endure various trials and testings which come to us from the adversary, but God has a greater purpose in mind.   These tests come so that we will learn to lean on the Lord.

    We know that we have an evil adversary.  We know that we face adversity from our sin, but we have the Son of God, the Savior of the world, praying for us!  Jesus is our Advocate before our Heavenly Father.  Therefore, no matter what Satan does, no matter how far we might fall, our faith will not fail completely and God will again make us useful for His purposes.  When we are committed to Christ, when we learn to lean upon Him, He will be faithful to us, though we are so often disloyal to Him, as Peter discovered that firsthand.  He fell into Satan's trap and was unfaithful to Jesus.  Even so, Jesus was faithful to Peter, and Peter went on to be a great leader in the early church. 

 

    What a gracious God and loving Lord we have been invited to serve!  As with Peter, Jesus comes to us again and again, a fifth time, a tenth time, a hundredth and thousandth time, if necessary, that we might learn from Him and lean on Him anew.  We do not deserve another chance, much less new adventures in serving the Lord, but God's grace gives us another opportunity anyway.  As Charles Swindoll puts it, "The files of heaven are filled with stories of redeemed, refitted renegades and rebels.... When God forgives.  He is not only willing but pleased to use any vessel -- . It may be cracked or chipped.  It may be worn, or it may have never been used before.  You can count on this -- the past ended one second ago. From this point onward, you can be clean, filled with His Spirit, and used in many different ways for His honor" (Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, Portland: Multnomah, 1983, p. 253).

    Thanks be to God for this Good News!  New adventures and new opportunities to serve Christ await us.

In Christ who makes our lives colourful.

   Brown.

https://youtu.be/8x4GC0-Z0ZI

Brown's Daily Word 9/29/15

Thanks be to Jesus, the giver of life for this new day.  It appears that the colors of the fall season are approaching fast furious, yet with fullness of the promises of the Lord.  The Lord blessed us with a marvelous Monday.   I  visited some beautiful people along my way.  I drove around the countryside gazing at the beauty of the Lord.  I came by a beautiful apple orchard, full of apples with divergent colors and shapes.   In the evening Alice and I walked on the side walks of the town.  It is getting dark before 7:30 PM.  Praise the Lord for the lights that illumine the sidewalks.  We often walk down the riverside.  We heard many flocks of Canadian geese making melodious sonnets, praising the Lord and getting ready for the Southern migration for the winter days.  I am amazed how the Lord has created them with a built-in GPS so they can travel thousands of miles without ever being  lost.  Jesus is our GPS in the world in which we live.  He declares to us, "I am the way the truth and the life".

 

   One of my favorite authors ,  F. Scott Peck began his best selling book "The Road Less Traveled" by writing, "Life is difficult.".   Another Christian author said with humor, "Life is hard and then we die".  Some sales persons convince to buy something they are marketing  by saying:"Life is not a dress rehearsal, you only get to live it once."  Others have described our existence by filling in the blank with: a rat race, a bowl of cherries, amino acids, a series of choices, a paycheck, the weekend, a party.  Why is that we always want to reduce life in size?

    For many, life is nothing more than the time spent between birth and death, the drudgery of existence, the boring monotony of the routine, or the hope of having enough to take them through until the end.  These  people have bought a lie.  Their lives been stolen from them.  There are many avenues down which we can travel that lead not to life but to destruction.  While we would never call these pursuits thieves and robbers they are just that.  In their diabolical and methodical ways, they attempt to destroy our attempts at life.  Many people try to find life to only discover despair.

    True life is not found in mere pleasure.  "No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied; no matter how much we hear, we are never content" (Ecclesiastes 1:8, LB).  In the pursuit of pleasure eventually the law of diminishing returns takes hold.  It takes a bigger thrill, or a bigger event to bring another high.  But it never lasts.

    Life is not found through performance.  One Wimbledon tennis champion thought all his life that winning at Wimbledon would result in life has such as he had never known.  He said following his championship, "The thrill of victory lasts about fifteen minutes."  Many believe the myth that says success produces life. The truth of Scripture states, "Man is always working, never satisfied".  (Ecclesiastes 4:8, GN).

    True life is not found in possessions.  In fact, life is not found in pleasure, performance, possessions, position, or pursuits; it is found in the person of Jesus Christ.  Time after time Jesus said that He is the Giver of life, the Author of life. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25).  Later in John's gospel He stated, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).  Yet, the most powerful statement he made regarding life was: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).  The "I" is emphatic, meaning that life is found in none other than Him.  Life is entered by none other than Jesus himself.

    For us to understand how this life is entered we must understand that a special relationship exists between a shepherd and his sheep.  For example, Jesus said, "I am the gate for the sheep" (John 10:7).  That's just what a shepherd is to his sheep, particularly one who is devoted to his sheep.

    I read about  George Adam Smith, an Englishman who traveled extensively in the Middle East, who came across a sheepfold and said to the shepherd, "That is where they go at night?"
"Yes," said the shepherd, "and when they are in there, they are perfectly safe."
"But there is no door," said the Englishman.
"I am the door," replied the shepherd.
Sir George looked at him and asked, "What do you mean by the door?"
The shepherd answered, "When the light has gone out, and all the sheep are inside, I lie in that open space, and no sheep ever goes out but across my body, and no wolf comes in unless he crosses my body; I am the door."
When Jesus said he is the door of the sheep, he meant that the fold has only one entrance; life has one source; spiritual nourishment is obtained one way; Heaven can be entered through one entrance.  The single means of access to all which is life is Jesus.

 In Jesus our LIFE,

    Brown

https://youtu.be/tkr9p09k01I

Brown's Daily Word 9/28/15

    Praise the Lord for this last Monday of September.  We are less than three months away from Christmas.  Some of the department stores have already started displaying Christmas merchandise.  I trust you all had a wonderful weekend.  The Lord blessed us with his grace and love in His house yesterday in our time of worship and witness.  We had some friends join us for Sunday dinner.  I watched some football and fell asleep for a few brief moments.  I woke up to watch the pope celebrate the mass in Philadelphia.  They were estimating that over 1.5 million people were attending this outdoor event but, despite the enormity of the crowd, it was orderly.  The Lord blessed the Papal visit with spectacular weather in Washington, New York, and Philadelphia.  We praise the Lord for the Good News of Jesus Christ our Lord.  We praise the Lord for the Church.  The Lord of the church is fermenting His church around the corner and around the globe.  I have been part of the church of our Lord Jesus from my infancy days.  I have been blessed beyond belief. 

 

    In the evening Alice and I had a dinner reception for the youth in the parsonage. Alice made all homemade pizza including desserts.  It was awesome. The youth we had are smart and athletic.  All of them are students where Alice teaches.  It was a treat.  In the night we watched the brilliant moon just before it was eclipsed, and caught glimpses of it while it was eclipsed.  Our daughter Janice, the photographer of the family, posted a spectacular shot the moon  from her residence in Boston.

 

    Those of us who have grown up in the church have been taught lots of good things.  Many of us have been blessed by nurturing families who have instilled within us a deep love for the Lord  and the truth of His Word.  We know some things are right and good.  Some things aren’t.  We need godly stubbornness, not skepticism, about the good.  We should let nothing pry the good from our gasp.

    It is written, “Test everything.  Hold on to what is good.  Avoid every kind of evil.” 1  Thess 5 :21-22  That last phrase probably is not strong enough.  The King James Version rendered that line, “Abstain from the very appearance of evil.”  We ought to be so repulsed by evil that the very sight of it turns us away.  Romans 12:9 puts the same idea in even stronger terms.  “Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”

    Our world offers a lot of cultural garbage.  We can debate what constitutes garbage and what doesn’t, but that doesn’t alter the fact that the garbage exists.  Most of us know it when we see it.  Too often, we can smell it.  We also can see the damage it does.  We should abhor it.  We should do everything within our power to avoid filling our lives with it.

    When we fill our lives with garbage,  pretty soon we can’t tell the jewels from the junk.  Bad memories,  bad habits, bad thinking, and misplaced priorities are all garbage that can mess up a life.

     I read the story that during World War II, an Air Force a B-29 had completed a bombing run over Tokyo when the plane lost two engines.  Home base was more than 1,000 miles away.  Conventional wisdom advised the dumping of fuel, ditching the plane, and hoping for a rescue.  The pilot, however, was far from conventional.  He told his crew, "I never have believed in crashing a perfectly good plane.  Let's see if we can make it home."  The crew then proceeded to throw out everything that wasn’t bolted down (and some things that were).  They tossed ammunition, armor and all of their supplies.  Eventually, the much lighter plane limped home.  The pilot and crew were decorated for their daring.  This is the happy ending we all want for ourselves.: “Test everything; hold on to what is good; and avoid every kind of evil.”

   In Christ,

   Brown

https://youtu.be/N-hN740J6qA