Brown's Daily Word 1/14/17

Praise the Lord for the beautiful, bountiful, and colorful world we live in; the Lord still loves this world.  I woke up early this morning and looked out through the Bay window, where I gazed at the moon beaming brightly with dazzling beauty.  The stars were sparkling.  "And I said to myself, 'What a wonderful world!'"  Praise the Lord for all the nations, all the people groups who are precious in His sight.  Praise the Lord for America the beautiful, a shining city built on a hill.  

    I took a random walk yesterday by the corn fields and meadows.  As the snow has melted, the grass looked greener and the skies looked bluer than the ocean. Praise the Lord for snow and rain.  I felt like spring is about burst forth.   We spent a few days in California two summers ago.  The State was in the midst of dire drought.  The Lord has blessed the region with heavy rains and, in places, heavy snow falls, recently.  They are reporting that much of the drought situation has been redressed.  Praise the Lord for each day. 

    I spoke top some family members back in India.  Winter is already making space for Spring.  The Mango trees have started blooming spreading their pleasant and sweet scents and aroma.  The Spring birds are out in droves singing and praising their Creator.

    Our daughter flew to Hawaii yesterday to spend some time in the tropics.  She is like her father who loves tropics and warm weather.  She will be spending her vacation time there with a couple of her close friends from College days.  

    I talked to our grandchildren in Philly and Washington.  They have had some very warm days.  Lindy her mommy spent some time outdoors, and  Asha, Gabe , and Addy also spent some time outdoors. 

    This is for our friends overseas:  America will be celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr this coming Monday.  We praise the Lord for the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.  The son of a Baptist Pastor, he was born and raised in the Church, and His life was molded and shaped by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Martin Luther King Jr was called and commissioned to be a minister of Jesus Christ our Lord.  He went for Graduate Studies at Boston University, which was founded by the Methodist Church.  Dr King became a pastor and theologian who served Lord with great courage and Passion.  Praise the Lord for men like  Dr King, along with Dietrich Bonhoeffer of Germany, and John and Charles Wesley of England.  Martin Luther and countless servants and lovers of Jesus who have followed Him served over the centuries have proclaimed the Power of the Gospel of Jesus that changes lives and transforms cultures and nations, and saves  people  and nations from decay, decadence, and destruction.

    Next week will be an exciting week for many in our nation.  On Friday the 20th of January the 45th President of the United States of America will be sworn in.  Praise the Lord for the founding Fathers of this great Nation. They were influenced and impacted by the tenets and truths of the Bible.  They recognized the Authority of God as revealed in Bible, in governances of human affairs.  Praise the Lord for the role of the church in the formation of this great Nation.  Praise the Lord for the Founding Fathers made a provision  in the Constitution regarding the peaceful transition and transfer of power.  We pray the Lord would shed Grace on the land and on our leaders.  May Jesus continue bless the church to be the salt of the earth and light of the world.

    Praise the Lord for Sunday, the Lord's day.  Plan to be in His House wherever you might be.  "Better is one day in His House than a Thousand elsewhere".  We will meet for Sunday School at 9:30 AM. and for worship at 10:30 AM.

   Praise the Lord for the way He lavishes on all of us His matchless grace in season and out of season.  We celebrate His grace.  He is worthy of all our worship and praise. 

    We are preparing and planning for a special of evening of feasting at the  banqueting table.  It will be held on Saturday the 18th of February.  Our chefs and cooks will be preparing foods that are Mexican, Swedish, Italian, and Indian.  There will be dessert galore.  The meal will be served at 6:00 PM, followed by an evening of beautiful music worship.  No reservation is required.  There is always room at the Lord's table.  Those of you who live in the area, please join us -  we will make you happy.

   “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; He is their stronghold in time of trouble.  The Lord helps and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him” (Ps. 37:39-40).

    When I was in Australia several years ago, the guide told us that it was best to be back inside when the sun went down, because that's “when all the creatures come out and begin eating each other.”  The outback creatures were playing "Hide and Seek" with survival as the prize.  So do you and I each day.

    Where is safety to be found? Certainly safety is not to be found in the temporary rhythms that control this world. Everything on Earth comes and goes in cycles. Mountains rise and fall. Self-improvement projects  fail and falter. Each of us is on a one-way journey that always ends.

Safety is found anytime it is needed by hiding under the wings of Almighty God. “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge” (Ps. 91:4). What a picture of warmth and protection we find in His availability and commitment to us. Only the Holy Spirit can bring the comfort and security we need. Only the Spirit of God was given by the Father and the Son to comfort us with peace that has an eternal quality (John 16: 26; 14:26-27).

Today’s verses tell us where we are to hide. Safety is found in a relationship with the One who controls life, the Creator. He controls life, the environment and the forces of nature. When we are told: “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord: He is their stronghold in time of trouble…because they take refuge in Him,” we have found where we are to hide: in Him.

Safety comes from a personal relationship with God Almighty through His Son, whom He sent to make a way through His death, burial and resurrection, which is the payment for each person’s sins. Full-hearted belief in Jesus and what He has done is how a person can have a personal relationship with God and find security and a place to hide.

The gospel of salvation is the gate into safety that is guarded by the Good Shepherd whose rod and staff comforts His fearful sheep.

"Finding the Place Where I Should Hide"©
Taking refuge in Jesus, I find peace.
I become a little child whose trust is near.
He stands between me and what I fear.

Taking refuge in Jesus, I am safe.
I become calm; I’m now found.
He holds me above shifting ground.

Taking refuge in Jesus, I am strong.
I can raise my head and I can see.
He sets me free and abides with me.

Taking refuge in Jesus,
I have found where I should hide.
It’s the same place where I abide.

In Christ,

Brown

https://youtu.be/ndVRcqziKWA

Brown's Daily Word 1/12/17

Praise the Lord, for the Lord grants us His rest and ushers us into another new day to live and celebrate His grace, His realness, His nearness, His dearness, and, best of all, His faithfulness and tender mercies.  We live on Main Street in our town.  I have never used alarm clocks to make me up in the morning.  During my younger days (childhood days) we had roosters who gave the clarion call of a new dawn.  In our new location, soon after 4:00 AM heavy trucks come rolling in to remind us the day has already begun.  If you are sleeping beyond 4:00, you are wasting the precious moments of the morning. 

    Alice and I walked yesterday  evening.  We had some ice formation in the morning, causing schools to be delayed.  After the sun was up for a couple of hours, the snow and ice began to thaw briskly.  We walked at our favorite site again.  We walked over some green grass covered by some melting snow.  I felt like the Spring is not far away.  (At least more January thaw is not far away).  The Spring fowl will return to their natural warm weather habitats.  The Canadian geese will return.  They all will make melodious sonnets accompanied by holy Honks.  It is all beautiful    May Jesus be praised!

1. When morning gilds the skies,
   My heart awaking cries:
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
   Alike at work and prayer,
   To Jesus I repair;
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
2. Does sadness fill my mind?
   A solace here I find,
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
   Or fades my earthly bliss?
   My comfort still is this,
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
3. When sleep her balm denies,
   My silent spirit sighs,
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
   When evil thoughts molest,
   With this I shield my breast:
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
4. The night becomes as day
   When from the heart we say:
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
   The pow’rs of darkness fear
   When this sweet chant they hear:
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
5. In heav’n’s eternal bliss
   The loveliest strain is this,
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
   Let earth, and sea, and sky
   From depth to height reply,
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
6. Be this, while life is mine,
   My song of love divine:
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
   Sing this eternal song
   Through all the ages long:
   May Jesus Christ be praised

    I once read a book called "The Book of Failures".  It is filled with all kinds of failures that people have made.  For instance, the book introduces Arthur Pedrick, who patented 162 inventions, but not one of them was ever taken up commercially. These inventions include a car that could be driven from the back seat, a golf ball that could be steered in flight, and a plan to irrigate the deserts of the world by sending a constant supply of snowballs from the polar region through a massive network of giant peashooters.  

    One of my favorite stories in "The Book of Failures" is about an elderly lady in South London who called a group of firefighters to rescue her cat from a tree.  They arrived with impressive speed and carefully rescued her cat.  The lady was so thankful that she invited them in for tea.  So they had tea, received another round of thanks from the woman, and drove off, waving goodbye.  As they backed out of her driveway, they drove right over her cat!

    Most failures are not funny.  They are painful, wounding, leaving scars that throb with pain.  A lot of people want to know where God is when we fail morally.  I think we would want God to meet us where we are, as a failure, and give us a second chance.  The Word of God records the story and  witness of those who have loved the Lord and have served Him, followed Him, and yet failed miserably.  I was reflecting on the lives of David and Peter.  Peter screwed up beyond belief and then came face-to-face with Jesus.  Peter was one of the most intimate and trusted followers of Jesus.  Jesus personally called Peter to come and follow him.  Peter spent three years with Jesus by his side, listening and learning from his teaching, witnessing his miracles, watching every move that Jesus made.  He was personally mentored, molded, and developed for a life of impact and significance.

    David, the Shepherd King, is known as the man after God's own heart.  He was a singer,  musician, and lover, who was blessed with a beautiful mind and a brave heart.  He had a deep desire to follow the Lord and serve Him.  His heart belonged to the Lord.  He was committed and loyal but just like all of us he had the propensity to sin.  He messed up. He blew it repeatedly.  

    Both David and Peter, giants of the faith, were frail and fragile, and they messed up just as we do.  They were loved, they were called, they were commissioned,  they were sent out.  They would fail, they would falter.  The Hound of Heaven was relentless in pursuing them.  The wonderful grace, the matchless of grace, of Jesus that is beyond human comprehension, far beyond human understanding,  pursued these men.  They were forgiven sinners.  This is the God's Good News for the new year.  We can begin anew.  We can be propelled into the orbit of grace again and afresh with no condemnation.  The Lord of grace of mercy beckons us all of to join the great cloud of witnesses, running the race well and finishing it well, looking unto Jesus the Author and the finisher of our faith and begin the adventure with Jesus the trailblazers for the fallen, reluctant, hesitant servants and soldiers.

    "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanse us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:5-9   Once We stand at the foot of the Cross , forgiven , restored , we hear the words of Jesus again  "I love you.  . Now get into the game, and follow me."

In Christ,

Brown

https://youtu.be/JP8isf9PVz4

Brown's Daily Word 1/11/17

 Praise the Lord for this wonderful Wednesday.  Snow, sleet, and freezing rain of yesterday has ushered a warmer day.  Thank you Jesus.  Our Church will be hosting a community wide dinner today starting at 4:30 PM.  Praise the Lord that He is Lord in all seasons and the Lord of all seasons.  My wife  celebrates her birthday today.  I praise the Lord for my wife.  She is gifted and multitalented.  We will celebrating our 42nd  wedding anniversary  this year. As I pause and ponder  it feels like we were mere teenagers when got married in 1975.   I have preached the Gospel.  Alice has lived the Gospel.  Praise the Lord for the way He infuses us with His new mercies and loving kindness.  All we have needed  some how He has provided.. and by His  wonderful grace and mercy  He will continue to provide and undergird.  It is a wonderful pilgrimage and adventure living and serving Christ.  There is nothing compared to the joy of serving Him and there is nothing compared to the promises we have in Him. 

    The poet Percy Bysshe Shelly tells of meeting a traveler from an "antique" land who describes the ruins of a great statue in the desert.  The head, half sunk in the sand, lies apart from great stone legs still standing on their pedestal.  The shattered face portrays a sneer of royal arrogance.  Words on the nearby pedestal reflect the look on the statue's face:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!

But beyond these words and relics the poet relates,

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

    Time  and circumstance erode all the accomplishments of men, making pride absurd.  When most of us consider the fragility of our abilities and the limitations of our wisdom, our response is to do what we can to "beat the odds".  Since nothing is secure forever, we do what we can while we can to prepare for hard times. Only that which we have in and through Christ is secure. In my understanding in the light of the light of the Word of the Lord,  Grace lies not only behind material accomplishments but behind spiritual attainments as well.  This truth of God's unmerited mercy to one who possesses no apparent good is the wonderful and glorious Good News.  Even on our bad days, we need to depend upon His  grace.

 One of the Gospel hymns I love is" To God be the Glory":   The second verse of "To God Be the Glory" is 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 forgiveness receives.

    I love a story that I read about a young pastor, for I was once a young pastor. Fresh out of seminary, the young man was asked to visit a dying man in a Washington, DC hospital.  An aggressive bone cancer was eating away the life of the man, who was not a Christian.  On the few occasions when the pastor presented the gospel there was no spiritual response, but a friendship formed nonetheless.  Through a number of visits, the pastor learned that this dying patient was a remarkable, self-made man.  He had been raised in Spain by a loving mother who diligently taught her son the truths of faith.  He only listened a little.  The Franco regime killed his father, and because Spain's official church supported Franco, the boy spurned Christianity.  He fled his country as a young teenager and came to America knowing no English.  He worked hard and studied hard.  He eventually went to college, med school, and then began a highly successful medical career.  Despite his early disadvantages, he became skilled, wealthy, and a respected leader in our nation's most prestigious hospitals.  He also became more convinced of his atheism.  Then came the cancer.

    In just a few months the cancer destroyed the accomplishments of a lifetime.  His body, once kept in top shape by miles of daily swimming, was devastated.  His skills also began to deteriorate with the advances of cancer.  With his spirit broken and his body wracked with pain, the man ran out of pride and finally tired of his own answers.  When the young pastor next visited, the despairing doctor confronted him: "I have treated depression all my life, but I have no answers for what I'm going through.  If your God really has some answers, then you help me with the hell I am going through now.  Give me some peace, if you can."  The young pastor could hardly begin to think of what to say.  He hesitated, grasped for the right words, and then stumbled forward:

    "You've gained everything a man could gain in every avenue of life.  You have wealth, respect, achievement.  These all may have to be put aside before you gain this last thing you want.  In every sphere of life you have succeeded, except the spiritual sphere, and to succeed there you must not follow any of the rules you have used before.  You cannot conquer the spiritual world by your efforts.  To gain spiritual success you must admit your helplessness and inability.  You must confess you have nothing to stand on.  To enter God's kingdom and know his peace, you must not come as a self-sufficient man but as a helpless child—you must not come as a lion but as a lamb."

    Still there was no spiritual response.  Little else was said that night.  The man talked no more.  A few days later the bone cancer progressed to the extent that the man's leg broke spontaneously as he lay in bed.  The doctors had to operate to repair the damage despite their patient's weakened condition.  On the eve of that operation, unbeknownst to his family, he wrote a note to the young pastor.  In a labored scrawl he wrote in Spanish the words which he had memorized years ago at his mother's knee: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord … "—the words of the Apostles' Creed.  The note concluded in English with these words: "Jesus, I hate all my sins. I have not served or worshiped you.  Father, I know the only way to come into your kingdom is by the precious blood of Jesus.  I know you stand at the door and will answer those who knock.  I now want to be your lamb."

    The man who wrote those words never regained consciousness after his operation.  He died and woke up in the presence of Jesus.  God can change the hardest hearts and wipe away the darkest sin.  When we call to him, without trying to stand on our accomplishments or goodness, but humbled by his mercy for sinners like us, he responds.  His voice is gentle and loving.  His words echo our desires.  He says, "Forever you are mine.  The kingdom of heaven is for humble ones such as you."

In Christ,

 Brown,

https://youtu.be/jdE03zRJtxw

Brown's Daily Word 1/10/17

Praise the Lord for a new day, indeed a gift from the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the same Lord who orchestrates Christmas and Easter.  He blessed us with a beautiful Sunday.  It was snowy and windy yet beautiful and blessed.  It was a great blessing to be in the House of the Lord this weekend, joining His people around the corner and around the globe in praising, worshipping, witnessing and declaring His majesty and mercy.  Our Church hosted a birthday reception for my wife following morning worship.  It was all sweet.  Alice and I walked Sunday evening.  The wind was blowing, foreshadowing the March winds that usher in Spring.  It is always exhilarating walking on the fresh snow, at times stepping on the grass beneath the snow.  Praise the Lord for the way the days are getting longer, preparing to break the sway of winter.  It appears we will have an early January thaw as the temperatures range into the fifties this week.  Our church is preparing and planning to host a community wide  dinner this coming Wednesday.  The dinner will be served starting at 4:30 PM and continuing through 6:00 PM.  All neighbors, friends, and family are invited.  This is an occasion to share in the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ as we enter this new Year with joy and gladness. 

    I posted a brief video message on FACEBOOk yesterday.  I hope that each of you will take time to view it. 

    I knew a man who was raised in the Traditional style with hymns, liturgies, and observing all the seasons, special days, festivals, and ordinary days of the Church.  He loved some majestic hymns that sang the Gospel and declared the  essence of Jesus.  One of Christmas carols he loved to sing was: "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", with words by  Longfellow.  I read about the background context of the Carol.  On Christmas Day, 1864, the Civil War was slowly drawing to a close after four long years.  Already 500,000 soldiers had died and many more would die before the war would finally end.  On that Christmas Day Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned a poem that became the beloved Christmas carol called, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".  It starts with these hopeful words:

    I heard the bells on Christmas Day
    Their old, familiar carols play,
    and wild and sweet
    The words repeat
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    The song culminates with the words, “For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men."  Shortly after the war began, Longfellow’s beloved wife Fanny died after being terribly burned in a household accident.  Her death threw Longfellow into despair.  In his journal for December 25, 1862, he recorded, “’A merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more for me.”  Then, in 1863, his eldest son Charles was severely wounded and crippled in battle.  Out of his own sadness and in response to the carnage of war, he wrote:

    And in despair I bowed my head;
    “There is no peace on earth,” I said;
    “For hate is strong,
    And mocks the song
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

     During every Christmas season in the midst great celebration, jubilation, worship, Satan raises his ugly head, causing bloodshed, violence and the death of innocent people.  In fact, soon after the birth of Jesus the butcher of Jerusalem , King Herod, bludgeoned to death the innocent, defenseless, boys of Bethlehem. There was lamentation in the homes and streets of Bethlehem.  Although we know that Mary and Joseph were warned so that Jesus might be preserved from Herod’s murderous intentions, what shall we say about the other boys of Bethlehem?  Were not those babies precious to the Lord also?  Surely the Lord heard the wails that arose from the little town of Bethlehem, but I believe there is mystery in the ways and the purpose of the Lord.  God always has a bigger plan.

    We know that the Lord cares and that he hears the cries of those who hurt so deeply.  “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18).  This is God's promise, and millions of people can testify to God’s presence in the midst of the worst pain and the greatest loss.  God always has a bigger plan than we can ever imagine.  He preserved his Son so that one day his Son could die on the cross for the sins of the world.  Recently we have seen the bloody deaths of innocent people in Germany, in the streets of Jerusalem, and in the Airports.  I even know a retired Methodist pastor who was at the very place where the airport shooting took place.  He posted that he knew one of the people who was killed.

    The Good News of Christmas and Easter is that our Lord wins.  The Lamb wins.  God always wins in the end.  Jesus landed at the beachhead of Bethlehem where He  launched a mighty counteroffensive that continues to this very day.  It all started with a tiny baby boy named Jesus, who was born in a scandalous way, in a barn, to unmarried teenager who was  homeless and alone.  The world had no idea that night what was happening in Bethlehem. Only in retrospect can we begin to understand.  That same battle of evil and good continues to the present moment and will continue into the future until the day when Jesus returns and defeats evil once and for all.  Perhaps that thought is what led Longfellow to write one final verse to his poem in answer to his own despair:

    Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
    “God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
    The wrong shall fail,
    The right prevail,
    With peace on earth, good-will to men!”

    Rightly understood, there is a world of truth in that final verse.  At Bethlehem God struck a blow to liberate the world from sin and death.  God’s front line soldier was a tiny baby boy, one of the boys of Bethlehem.  We should never take Him for granted.  There is in this little baby all the strength of Deity.  The power of God is in those tiny fists.  He has strength which is divine.  Whatever he desires, he is able to achieve.

    As Luther put it, “He whom the worlds could not enwrap, yonder lies on Mary’s lap."   He’s the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the undefeated Son of God.  He’s the leader of the armies of heaven.  Because he is who he is, Longfellow was right. Jesus is the undefeated Son of God.

    “The wrong shall fail, the right prevail.
    With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

    We need to remind ourselves in these sad days that the devil will not have the final word.  Though he strikes many painful blows, he cannot win because the battle belongs to the Lord.  The boys of Bethlehem will be avenged and every enemy will be defeated.  Better days are coming.  In that confidence let us trust in God and commit ourselves to Jesus Christ now and forever.

In Jesus.

 Brown

https://youtu.be/ngSsaSimi8A