Praise the Lord for His constant companionship and the way He is
our Eternal Contemporary. During the last few days of September and the
first couple of days of October we have been on the
move. Sunita and her family are in Albania for her work. Sunita
shared that the Lord has been blessing their times and days in that beautiful
country. We celebrate this new month, new season, as a gift from the
Lord. We are planning for an evening of music on October 28 at 7 PM, to
be held in the sanctuary of our friends at First Baptist Church of
Marathon. Our friend, Aric Phinney, a faithful servant of Jesus, will be
presenting a concert of classical and contemporary Christian music. Aric
is an accomplished pianist and musician who loves the Lord and serves Him
joyfully. Please make a note on your calendar to attend this evening of
celebration and worship.
Alice and I spent a few days in
Grand Junction, Colorado. I was asked to officiate the wedding of
our nephew Arnold and his bride Stacey. The wedding took place this
past Saturday afternoon. It was held in a beautiful setting
surrounded by the beautiful mountains and splendid surroundings. The
wedding ceremony and reception were outdoors, accompanied by an elegant string ensemble.
The couple had selected classical (and some contemporary) pieces for the
wedding celebration and Country music for the reception and wedding
dance. The groom had six groomsmen, five of whom were police
officers(Arnold's colleagues) and one nuclear engineer (Arnold's classmate from
Robert Wesyian College). We met some wonderful people during the
rehearsal and the wedding - many who love the Lord and serve Him with
Joy.
Western Colorado, where Grand
Junction is located, is a place surrounded by so much natural beauty
and breath-taking splendor. One day we took some time to explore the
banks of Colorado river, driving by some of the magnificent
gardens, farms, orchards, and vineyards. We stopped by to
talk with some of the farmers and orchard growers and found them
very friendly and warm. We drove around the Palisade orchard and winery
tour. Peach picking was coming to an end but we saw beautiful huge
apples, ripe for the picking. We also drove past vineyards where the
grapes were in the first stage of harvest.
It was a very wonderful experience to
encounter people at the Airport, in outdoor settings, at restaurants, and
in other settings. The people were friendly, warm, welcoming, and
gregarious. It was indeed the Southwestern Ethos and hospitality.
It was refreshing and heart warming.
We took some time to visit the Colorado
National Monument, where we were stunned by the images of mesas, canyons and
vast layers of sand and rock. It was almost a microcosm of the Grand
Canyon, but was more accessible, with plenty of parking areas for photo
opportunities. We had an interesting time in the park as we passed
(probably) thousands of bicycle riders who were testing their legs and their
stamina on the hills of Monument park. They rode uphill literally for
miles before getting a small reprieve, followed by more miles uphill and then
miles of coasting to the other end of the park trail. Some of the bikers
took the time to stop and enjoy the scenery and take pictures (as they caught
their breath).
We also drove into Utah to visit Arches
National Park located in Moab, Utah. Even as we were approaching the
park we could tell that it was going to be a magnificent day in God's great
Creation. . . so many cars were lined up to enter into the Arches
experience. There we were overwhelmed by the natural beauty
and splendor of Mountains, Canyons, and Mesas. It was hard to
believe that some of the features were not carved by a human master
carver. The onset of a thunderstorm cut short our day of hiking and
photography. It was amazing to get up under some of the arches or to
photograph others from a distance. Alice said she was so glad that I
convinced her to drive the two hundred plus miles that day. It was a
shorter trip than you might expect as they speed limit was 75 MPH in
Colorado and 80 MPH in Utah along Interstate 70. My wife commented
about how different it must have been in the day of ox-drawn covered wagons
headed out to claim the "promised land" that awaited settlement.
She wondered how they found routes through or around the vast desert
wastelands, canyons, mesas, and natural obstructions. Even the sand would
claw at the wagon wheels and hold them tightly.
Western Colorado is an amazing place to visit
- clean and pristine. I was mesmerized by the vastness of the land, the
endless beauty of the rugged terrain, and the unadulterated and matchless
beauty of the Lord as displayed in His wondrous creation. It glorifies
Him both in season and out of season. The elevation in most of the
areas we visited was about 5000 feet above sea level. We found an
increased need to drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration from the super-dry
climate. Days were warm - generally in the mid to upper seventies, but
evenings chilled quickly so close to the desert. In Central New York we
are used to spells of humid weather, but seldom experience the super low
humidity of a place like Colorado. I was reminded of Psalm 24:1-2, which says, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and
they that dwell therein. For
he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
Psalm 8:1 - "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all
the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens." Isaiah
6:3 - "And one cried unto
another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his
glory."
I read the following statement, in one
of the recent postings on FACEBOOk.
In my heart and mind, we are still innocent, carefree teens at the church. However, the reality is that we are now middle-aged, and I am noticing that many of our friends on Facebook are dealing with exceptionally difficult illnesses. Others are losing special friends, mentors, and family members who were at the end of a normal lifespan. It still hurts, as we are such imperfect mortal beings.
There is, the writer adds, a great amount of hurting going on in the world. Who can doubt that this is true? When you are young, you feel invincible. I have always thought this was a good thing, this feeling of being strong and brave and able to conquer any obstacle, because it gives to the young the courage to attempt great things. Someone has remarked that it is a pity that youth is wasted on the young. By the time we gain the wisdom that comes from experience, we have lost that innocent and carefree spirit.
During our younger days growing up in pastoral setting, we did not have television; there was not even electricity. Every evening we gathered for evening songs and prayer. There was reading from the Bible. I remember often reading Psalm 136, which is known as the “Hallelujah Psalm” because it contains no petitions, no complaints, and no problems. Instead, it contains a list of moments where God worked in history, each answered by the refrain “His love endures forever.” No doubt the worship leader would read the first line of each verse, and the congregation would respond, “His love endures forever."
“Give
thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give
thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give
thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever“ (vv. 1-3).
The psalmist sums up forty years of wandering in one verse: “To him who led his people through the desert, His love endures forever” (v. 16). So many things happened during those forty years: manna and quail, water from the rock, Balaam and his talking donkey, Moses on Mt. Sinai, the golden calf, Kadesh Barnea, the 12 spies, bitter water, bleached bones in the desert, complaining, and the continual challenges to Moses’ leadership. Through it all, God led his people to the Promised Land.
Note that God led his people “through” the desert, not around it. To get to the Promised Land, they had to go through the desert. So it will be for all of us. God leads his children along to heaven, but they have no easy road as they make their journey. There are many detours, many switchbacks, many delays, and more than a few seeming dead ends, but God works in and through it all to see that they finally arrive because . . . His love endures forever!
What an encouragement these verses are because they remind of us God’s faithfulness in spite of our repeated failures. It would have been easy for the Jews to think, “Our sin has made God forget us. We have no hope, no future. We’ve blown everything.” Yet, despite their sin and foolish unbelief, God never gave up on his people.We need Psalm 136 to remind ourselves, because we are so prone to forget it, that God works across the centuries to establish his purposes on the earth. Our Lord God is on the move in the world today. He reigns. He rules. He makes all things beautiful and glorious in His time.
In Christ,
Brown
https://youtu.be/yTYJm5Ae0Xo
