Brown's Daily Word 8-19-16

 

    It is Friday.  Praise the Lord.  Sunday is coming.  Early this morning I was watching the worship service at the iconic Duke Chapel at Duke University.  The hymns played on the grand pipe organ of the chapel were powerful and majestic.  Praise the Lord for the way the church of Jesus Christ gathers faithfully and joyfully every Lord's day in chapels, in cathedrals, in abbeys, in villages, in city churches, even underground, in refugee centers, and in prisons.  In such diverse locations the faithful gather to  worship the Lord of the church who was crucified, buried, and is Risen victorious.  Every time we gather in the Church to worship the Lord we declare that He is Risen and He is alive."  We will gather for worship this coming Sunday at 11.00AM" I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."  Romans 12:1-2  .

    I have been reflecting  on (Ephesians 5:16), “Making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil”.  The King James Version uses the word “redeem,” as in “redeeming the time.”  To us redeem is a salvation word, but originally it comes from the marketplace and means to “buy back” or to “purchase” something.  You “redeem” something when you buy it for your own use. 

    “These are desperate times!”  The   NIV uses the word “opportunity” instead of time.  The Greek language has two basic words for time.  One word refers to the passage of time in the sense that we talk about hours, minutes and seconds.  The other Greek word refers not to the strict passage of time but to the moment of opportunity that requires action.  Paul says there is a particular reason we must “redeem the time” and grasp “the fierce urgency of now” (verse 16), “Because the days are evil.”  Here’s another translation: “These are desperate times!” (The Message) 

    Paul wrote these words while chained to the guards in a Roman jail.  The emperor was a man by the name of Nero, a perverted excuse for a king.  Before long he would set fire to Rome and blame Christians.  Later he would order Paul beheaded.  Ephesus (the recipient of Paul's letter) was a city wholly given over to heathenism.  In Paul’s day it was the most important city in the Roman province of Asia.  Located near the coast, Ephesus served as a center for international commerce.  It was a prosperous, bustling, booming city.  Located there was the famous Temple of Artemis, the glory of ancient Ephesus.  The goddess Artemis was called Diana by the Romans.  Artemis was the goddess of sex.  Her temple was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  People worked themselves up into a religious frenzy and then followed their lustful desires.  One ancient writer said of the Ephesians, “Their morals were lower than animals.” Astrology, black magic, and sorcery joined with sexual perversion to produce a degraded form of idolatry that held ancient Ephesus in its grip. 

    As the gospel spread, it encountered opposition in the form of entrenched interests that saw Jesus and his followers as  a threat. Romans 12:1-2  Persecution of Christians was becoming very real.  The crosscurrents of heresy threatened to undermine the purity of the gospel.  That’s what Paul meant when he said, “These are desperate times!”  G Campbell Morgan aptly noted,  “Days of moral corruption offer special opportunities for the prosecution of great enterprises for the kingdom of God”

    Evil days tempt us to despair, encourage us to give up, to say, “We can’t do it” because the day is dark, the hearts of men have grown cold, and it seems that there is nothing to be done.  We are those who have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus are called to reject that mindset..  Sometimes we give up too soon.  “

However, the good news is that the things that make it difficult for us for live as Christians are the things that make us shine.  Hard times are blessings in disguise.

Days of moral compromise offer incredible opportunities for the gospel.

    When the world around us seems to be going haywire, we have an incredible opportunity to display the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.  The darker the night, the brighter the light shines.  “The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (Exodus 15:2).  “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).  “There is no rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2).  “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). 

 In Christ the Lion of Judah,

   Brown

https://youtu.be/C9ujBoud26k

Brown's Daily Word 8/18/16

Summer season is moving onward forward, making way for the Autumn season which is both colorful and brilliant.  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful and sweet evening in His House yesterday.  Our Church hosted an evening of food, fellowship, and sharing.  Men of the church grilled hamburgers and hot dogs outside the church, which produced a sweet aroma.  Women of the church served with much joy and love.  They served all kinds of summer comfort foods.  The Church Fellowshp Hall was filled with families, friends, and neighbors, along  with youth and children, reverberating with joyful sounds of sweet conversations, smiles, and laughter.  Alice  and I harvested another batch of fresh produce from our garden this morning.  This is the real "garden Fresh".  Alice made 11 pint jars of relish, and canned six quart jars of fresh tomatoes.  I had a friend of mine join us for lunch today.  He is a US veteran who served in the US Air Force.  He is also a  cancer survivor.  He has a winning and victorious spirit, and he loves the Lord and serves Him faithfully.  Praise the Lord again for a great cloud of witnesses.

    The Christian life is an invitation to an undisturbed joy and it also is accompanied by unending battles.  We may face sudden new challenges in life that come to us uninvited.  Often our extremities  become the Lord's opportunities in our lives.  Our disappointments become the Lord's appointments with us.  In the Book of James we are reminded that standing strong in hard times brings its own reward.  We will be “approved” by God.  We will “pass the test.”  We will “gain the prize.”  Jesus told His disciples what would happen to those who follow Him: “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  Many Christians in the West don’t take verses like that very seriously.  We hear about mounting atrocities against Christians in the Middle East, and we think, “That could never happen here.”  Don’t be so sure about that.

    “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will even rise up against their parents.

    Many of you remember the 21 Coptic Christians who were beheaded by ISIS on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in Libya.  They were marched out in orange jumpsuits, each one standing in front of a man dressed in black.  One by one their throats were slit, all of it captured on video and shared with the world by the terrorists.  Many of the men died with the name of Jesus on their lips.  No one recanted.  A few months ago Tom Doyle, author of Killing Christians: Living the Faith Where It’s Not Safe to Believe, visited the Christian villages south of Cairo where most of the men came from.  It was not easy to get there and not entirely safe to go there.  He met with the families of the men who had been beheaded.  That very day we interviewed him on the radio.  When we asked him what the families had said, he replied they spoke of their deep pride in their men.  They repeated the Scripture promises of heaven.  Then they said of the martyred men, “They were like lions.  Did you see how brave they were?  They walked without fear.”

    They were like lions!  They were like lions!  Like lions who follow the Lamb who is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

In Christ,

Brown

https://youtu.be/5s4hkcZhfqQ

Brown's Daily Word 8/17/16

    Praise the Lord for this beautiful and very blessed day filled with the promises of our Lord whose mercies are new every morning.  I love the summer season - the longer days and shorter nights.  I love the hot and humid days accompanied by torrential rains stunning thunders and spectacular rainbows.  The Lord of all creation displays His splendor and majesty.  We have had some wonderful and life-giving rains here in Central New York.  The Lord has drenched the earth.  The farms, pastures, gardens, and fields look jubilant and exotic, all a luscious green. We see a foretaste of Fall here an there, displaying its many colors.  

    I spent some time yesterday at the Local Civic Center hanging around with people who assemble there on a daily basis.  We laugh, we tell stories, and we pray.  I was talking to one gentleman who was reading a magazine published by World War 2 veterans.  He shared with me that when turned 17 he hitchhiked to Syracuse from Cortland to enlist in the US Navy.  He was accepted and he hitchhiked back home that afternoon to share about his enlistment.  Then he hitchhiked back to Syracuse the next day to join the Navy.  This event was in 1944. He deployed in the Atlantic Fleet.  He shared how served in the Navy with a great patriotic spirit.  He returned home after the war and got married, started his family, and started his own business that he ran successfully for 40 years.  His wife died 10 years ago.  He lives in his own house.  He drives his own car, He is 90 years old.  He is a committed Christian who loves the Lord, loves the church, loves this great country, and loves people.  He comes to the Civic center faithfully every weekday.  

    Alice and I walked in the city center and around the town in the evening until the gathering clouds showed streaks of lightning.  The Evening wind was gentle, cool, and invigorating.

    Our church is hosting a community wide dinner this evening starting at 4:30 PM . We will be serving seasonal comfort foods.  The dinner will continues to 6:00 PM.

    Praise the Lord for the Olympic Games.  The best and the most gifted athletes of the world congregate once every four years to demonstrate and display their talents and gifts.  My family has been watching the Olympics between other family  commitments and events.  It is impressive to watch the endurance, tenacity,   courage, devotion, dedication, and sacrifice of the athletes.  In the words of Paul, the Christian life is depicted as running the race.

    Gordon McDonald writes about an experience in high school.  He says, “Running track in my prep school days taught me a valuable lesson.  I was at the Pennsylvania Relays, a famous Eastern track meet, and our relay team was going to run in the championship race.  I was the lead-off man and in the second lane. The man in the first lane held the 100-meter dash record for prep school runners. He also held a record for arrogance. . . . When I got to the line and we were putting our starting blocks down, he said, ‘May the best man win.  I’ll be waiting for you at the finish line.’  We went into the blocks.  The gun sounded.  He took off, and the other seven of us settled in behind him.  We went around the first turn and down the back stretch.  About 180 meters into the race, I suddenly saw the record holder in front of me, holding his side, bent over, and groaning as he jogged along.  We all passed him like he was standing still.  Because I’m such a gentleman, I waited for him at the finish line.  At the end of the race my coach took me aside.  ‘I hope you’ve learned a lesson today.  It makes little difference whether you hold the record for the 100-meter dash if the race is 400-meters long.’”

    The race we are in is a long one, and it calls for endurance not speed.  It’s not how you begin the race, but how you finish that counts.  As the Bible says, “This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints” (Revelation 13:10).  When McDonald was running that race, he could have given up.  He could have said, “This is useless, I’m not going to win the race anyway.”  He could have let what others said discourage him, but he ran the race with his whole heart.  He did not give up.  He did not quit.  He did not run half-heartedly.  He gave it all he had.  His coach commended him for it, and reminded him at the end that it was because he was a long distance runner that he finished the race well.  The Bible says, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). The race is to those who have learned to endure.  They wait with patience.  They wait expectantly.  They live in faithfulness to God whether their faithfulness seems to be noticed and rewarded or not.  Hear the Word of God that says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, KJV).

 In Christ,

   Brown

https://youtu.be/WrSwSG65ggY

Brown's Daily Word 8/16/16

    Praise the Lord indeed, the giver of all good and perfect gifts.  Praise the Lord for the sizzling, simmering,  yet sweet summer.  Praise the Lord for farms, orchards, and vineyards, and the gardens and fields with diverse crops.  The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful garden with all kinds of vegetables.  We have started harvesting with much joy and gratitude.  We have some strawberry plants they are still bearing fruit and ripening.  We have some pear trees which are luxuriant and abundant.  Praise the Lord who is the Lord of harvest. 

    Our children and grandchildren came for their summer visit.  We spent several days together, 16 of us altogether.  It was a blast.  Praise the Lord for grand- children as they bring out the best in us.  We spent time in "spoiling" them.  The girls and Alice took some very long walks in the country by the corn fields and Amish farms.  We all watched the Olympics, fixed all kind of spicy foods and barbeque, spent time in reflection, recalling the faithfulness and the tender mercies of the Lord.  We spent time with the grand children at local parks and a State park, even swimming at the Lake.  The young men barbequed during torrential rains and dangerous storms.  Children of all ages joined in a gigantic water fight, including lobbing water balloons with a launcher.  Praise the Lord for the simple and sweet gifts the Lord lavishes us with in every season.  Praise  the Lord for all of you as you spend the days of summer and the days in all seasons glorifying the Lord, enjoying His grace, and sharing that amazing love and wonderworking of the Lord with family and friends.

    It has been in the 90's in Central NY - hot and exhilarating.  Today we are expecting temps in the upper eighties, with the chance of yet another extreme pop-up thunderstorm.  Despite the heat and humidity this August, we are thinking about Christmas.  It will be here before you know it.  We have been to NYC most recent years, as part of our Christmas celebration.  We are planning to take a charter bus to NYC to see the Christmas Extravaganza at the world famous Radio City Music Hall.  We are taking the charter bus on Tuesday, December 6th, 2016. The bus leaves from Binghamton at 6 AM and it will arrive in NYC around 9:30 AM. Then we will have a full day for sightseeing and window shopping.  We plan to  attend the Christmas Extravaganza at 5 PM, following which we will leave NYC at 7:45 PM to come back to Binghamton.  The cost for the bus ticket and the ticket to the Christmas show is $80.  (Only meals are not included).  We would love for you to join us for a great celebration and fellowship.  Those who would like to go can send a check for $50 as soon as possible to reserve your spot.  The remaining $30 should be sent by the first part of November.  You can make the check payable to Marathon United Methodist Church and mailed to PO box 423, Marathon, NY 13803. Contact me at brownnaik@aol.com.

    Some of the things available in the city include visiting St Paul's Cathedral, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, Liberty One at the World Trade Center, and the window displays of Macy's, as well as the Cathedral of St John the Divine. We are praying a wonderful blessing over this trip at Christmas time.

    I have been looking at James chapter 2, where we come in contact with Abraham and Rahab who are the witnesses and examples of those who have walked by faith and have acted in faith and elucidated the power of living faith in the living God. 

    Abraham offered Isaac. Rahab hid Israelite spies.  Both events were largely hidden from public view.  Only Abraham and Isaac knew what happened on Mount Moriah.  Rahab hid the spies and sent them off in another direction so they wouldn’t be caught.  Neither knew the outcome of their faith before they acted. Abraham didn’t know about the ram in the thicket when he raised the knife.  Rahab wasn’t expecting Jewish spies to drop by for a visit and didn't know that salvation for herself and her family would result.  Both were heroes in the eyes of God.

Abraham could not have foreseen what God wanted when the Lord told him to take his son and go to the region of Moriah.  Likewise, when Rahab awoke that day in Jericho, she had no inkling that two men were about to show up who would change her life forever.  Living by faith is risky business.

    When I read these stories, I’m reminded of Todd Beamer and the other heroes of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.  That morning all the passengers boarded the flight in Newark, expecting an uneventful flight to California, but fate intervened in the form of terrorists who took over the plane.  Then came the split-second decision and the declaration, “Are you ready?  Let’s roll.”

    The truth is, in our Christian walk and life, we never know when the test will come.  When it comes we will not have a lot of time to decide our course of action.

We can’t predict the results of our actions.  The Lord honors faith that takes action. True faith trusts God, takes action, and leaves the results in His very capable hands.

    It’s rare to meet someone with the name Rahab, almost as if the word harlot is attached to it.  Yet, in the eyes of God, Rahab is a name of honor.  She made the book precisely because she was a woman of faith.  Her past did not define her future.  Although the Canaanites built a thick wall around Jericho to keep people out, no wall can keep God out.  No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.  Even in the midst of judgment, God reached out and saved a harlot who turned to Him in faith.  No one is beyond the reach of God's grace.  

    I love the second verse from the hymn, "To God be the Glory', which goes like this:

    O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood.

    To every believer, the promise of God.

    The vilest offender who truly believes

    That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

in Christ,

 Brown

https://youtu.be/Y1uIiOLRpLU?list=PLWvahZRxLnLPV5ECCHvmLuus6Tjmv4Oir