Brown's Daily Word 1/20/17

    Praise the Lord  this New day.  This is one of the special days.  Praise the Lord for the fresh, brand new day the Lord has lavished us with one more time.  Praise the Lord for His constant care and loving kindness and tender mercies.  He redeems our lives from the pit and crowns our lives.  We are renewed, restored, and replenished with amazing power.  He gathers us into His fold as the gentle and winsome shepherd.    

    "Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands, Robed in the blooming garb of Spring.  Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, Who makes the woeful heart to sing."

    "But what to those who find? Ah, this
    Nor tongue nor pen can show;
    The love of Jesus, what it is,
    None but His loved ones know.

    Jesus, our only joy be Thou,
    As Thou our prize will be;
    Jesus be Thou our glory now,
    And through eternity."

    I praise the Lord for His power to transform the world.  Praise the Lord for the Power of the Gospel that transforms human lives and brings forth new birth.  When Jesus takes over our lives something wonderful takes place.   He performs works of grace from within and without.  Blessed be is His name.  Jesus is constant in a world of change.  His love never fails and never gives up on us.  It goes on and on,  and endures and lasts forever.  The historian Matthew Arnold put it this way, "On that sad pagan world, disgust and secret loathing fell.  Deep weariness and sated lust made human life a hell." 

    The Apostle Paul said, "they were without God and they were without hope" (Ephesians 2:12).  If there was one city in Greece that typified the hopeless condition of a people, it was the city of Corinth, a great throbbing, commercial center surrounded by two great seas.  Ships came to it from all parts of the world. At the center of this city there was a temple to the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of fertility and sexual love.  We are told at one time in Aphrodite's history she had between 5,000 and 10,000 temple prostitutes to do her bidding.  You can be sure that with women doing this personal work, those sailors became easy converts to that religion.  Moral people despised Corinth.  A "Corinthian" was understood as someone totally debauched.  Corinth was full of thieves, robbers, idolaters, and the sexually perverted.  It was moral darkness without hope.

    Then one day a little Jewish man from Tarsus showed up in the marketplace of Corinth.  By his own admission, he felt very weak.  He said he was afraid to speak into that darkness this word of hope, but he did it anyway.  I'm sure that at first the Corinthians who heard him walked away mocking him, but then some came to listen, perhaps to laugh at him, and they stayed, because the message this little Jewish man preached—the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified—somehow grabbed hold of them.  These people cast themselves with a reckless abandon upon God's truth and grace, and they were changed.  These folks had been inwardly filthy and now, because of Paul's gospel by God's Spirit, they were clean. These folks had been unholy, but now they were set apart to God.  They were wicked, and because of the gospel Paul preached, the Judge of all the universe had declared that they were righteous.  They were changed.

    The gospel comes to men, to women, and to children.  It came to the people in Corinth in the ancient world, and it comes to people today.  When people come to embrace the gospel, the person, the work of Jesus Christ, they are changed.  The filthy are cleansed.  The unholy are set apart to God.  The wicked are declared righteous.  Whenever we see a woman or a man, no matter who they are, we should never dismiss them as hopeless.  If you are someone who takes the gospel of Jesus Christ seriously, to say that someone is hopeless is to slam the door in the face of God.  This love of which Paul speaks always hopes because it's based in the person of Jesus Christ.

    Praise the  Lord for America, the beautiful.  This ia a special day in our Nation.  Praise the Lord that the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord has played a vital and integral part in shaping and molding the tenure and contour of our great nation. The rudimentary roots and foundations of our nation are rooted in Biblical principles and Christian convictions.  Praise the Lord for those who have gone before us, the countless witnesses who have left  a legacy of Christian witness, sacrifice and service.  Jesus, the Lord of the Church, has used His Church as the salt if the earth and as the light of the world.

    Yesterday we watched the live telecast of the Presidential Inauguration Concert   that was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in our Nation's Capital.  It was awe inspiring and patriotic.  The premises of the Washington Mall and its surroundings, with the gathering of so many people and participants, were brilliant and beautiful.  I was blessed with the songs, the patriotic hymns, all the instrumentalists, the drummer, and the Piano guys.  Praise the Lord for the wisdom and guidance the Lord gave to the framers of the Constitution, who made a provision for a peaceful transfer and transition of power.

    "Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will.  Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners.  Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way.  Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues.  Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth.  In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen."  Book of Worship. Methodist Church.

 In Christ the King of all Nations.

Brown

 https://youtu.be/QSiVjlknuSw

Brown's Daily Word 1/18/17

One of the fresh blessings of getting up early is to  spend some time in prayer and study, reflections and contemplation.  Another blessing is that I took a brisk tour of the world news, the breaking news around the corner and the around the world.  I get  to glance through some of the major world newspapers to glean the world news.  I was also watching one of national channels this morning, which had a guest weather reporter flown into New York City from Charlotte, North Carolina.  He was dressed up... handsome and winsome.  He was joyful and vibrant.  The Network weather reporter asked who he would like to thank this morning. The gust reporter said with out any hesitation, "First I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I thank Mom and Dad then my neighbor.  One of the fascinating features about this guest reporter is that he is only 9 ( nine) years old.  Praise the Lord!  Jesus capture the hearts young boys and girls that they may live in Him and walk in His light with great courage and conviction and, best of all, in great freedom. 

    "Weeping may tarry for the night but joy comes in the morning."Psalm 30.  This is one of favorite verses.  Praise the Lord for the joy that comes in the morning.  I am  a morning person.  Deeply I long for morning.  The Lord of Eternal morning makes all morning glorious and brilliant. 

    It has been raining since yesterday.  It is a friendly rain.  We are experiencing warming trends here in beautiful Central New York.  They are forecasting warm and summer like wether in the beautiful Southern states.  Praise the Lord for the Lord of heaven and earth is the One who makes things happen in His divine providence and according His divine purposes.  He is upon the throne.  He reminds me, "Don't freak out. . . you are not in charge. . . "  The Lord reminds me that He is in charge so we do not need to strive, but just keep trusting Him, loving Him, and serving Him.  Praise the Lord for the church of Jesus Christ our Lord.  He has promised that He will build His church upon the Rock, and the gates of hell  cannot prevail against it. 

    As I shared some time ago, Alice and I are "Church Addicts", and we love it.  We have been loved by the Lord Jesus our Savior and we have been nurtured by His church, his people, the family of God, at times blemished, tainted, wrinkled, stained yet redeemed by the Lord Jesus.  The way the Lord looks at His church, He declares that we are justified, we are being sanctified, and we will be glorified when "we shall behold Him face to face".  WOW.  This propels and provokes us to live our lives looking not at the trends, the moorings of the culture or winds of fads, but looking to Jesus who is the same yesterday, Today, and forever.  He is the pioneer and finisher of our faith.  Praise the Lord, for this Wednesday many churches will gather for midweek services, Bible Studies, and prayer meetings around the world.  We are hosting a community wide dinner at the Church today... with serving starting at 4:30 PM and concluding at 6:00 PM.

It is written, "Faith, Hope, and Love abide" 1 Corinthians 13:13.  These three foundations of the Gospel are known as the Trinitarian Tenants.  These blessings and virtues are incarnated in the Person of Jesus our Lord.  Jesus has embodied them in His mission, in His ministry, and in His person.  It is written, "Christ in you the hope Glory". (Colossians  1:27)  Hope is not a wishful thinking.  It is more than a feeling.  It is a Holy Conviction.  It is the presence of the Risen Lord in our lives, in our chaos and confusion, for He is the Christ in every crisis.  He is present in all our circumstances.  It is the bedrock of the Christian faith.  Jesus is the dispenser and giver of hope.  When we place our lives in His hands, when we  surrender our fragile, confused lives to Him, He holds us and hides us in the grip of His grace and mercy.  He infuses us with His hope.  He  magnifies and brightens our days when they are joyful and mirthful.  He, in His amazing grace and power, sweetens our days and lives that can be stolen by the enemy,  broken, beaten, bruised, even bitter.  That is power of the Cross and the  power of blood of the Lamb.

    Viktor Frankl survived years in the Nazi concentration camps.  He noticed that many prisoners died just after Christmas.  They were hoping they'd be free by then.  When they weren't, they gave up.  He learned that as long as prisoners had something to live for, a reason to press on, they could endure just about anything. But once they lost hope, they quickly died.  Dostoevsky said that "to live without hope is to cease to live."

    Hope is the confidence that the Risen Lord can and will do something good both in this life and in the life to come.  Whatever the circumstance in which we may find ourselves, whatever pain, loss, or disappointment we may be dealing with, our Lord, the Lowly Jesus, can do something good with it, or in it.  That doesn't minimize the pain or loss or evil of it.  It simply means the story isn't over yet.  Our Lord can and will meet us in that place, in that moment, and He is strong enough and wise enough to do something good, something meaningful, something eternally significant.

    In this life, we can find joy, beauty, forgiveness, healing, purpose, restoration, and the reality of God's presence in our lives every day.  In the life to come, we can look forward to reunion with those whom we have lost, the restoration of all creation, and eternal life with God and one another in worlds beyond our imagining.  Hope isn't wishful thinking—it's confident living.  It's facing the future knowing that God can and will do something good, both in this life, and in the life to come.

    I was thinking of  Fantine in Les Misérables, dying in the home of Jean Valjean after living in squalor in the street.  Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables to expose what he called three great evils of his time—poverty, the exploitation of women and children, and spiritual darkness.  He pulled no punches.  Fantine ends up dying of her illness, but somebody is there.  Jean Valjean takes Cosette into his protection; he raises her, and years later delivers her into the arms of a fine young man. As Valjean dies at the end of a long and good life, Fantine's spirit returns to usher him into heaven.  The musical version of Hugo's great work ends in a great re-union of all the characters, singing about a new and better day.  "Will you join in our crusade, will you be strong and stand with me.  There's a future about to start when tomorrow comes."  It's a song of hope.

    Victor Hugo had a hard time with the church of his day, but he believed in the Lord of the church, and that gave him reason to believe that good would triumph over evil, that justice would be done, and that there was life and love beyond the grave.  For 200 years, his story has given the world hope that is grounded in the existence of a good and gracious God.

    Often in this life we encounter countless blessing, incredible beauty,  and unparalleled glory and splendor.  There are times we are in a head-on collision with pain, massive grief, disappointments, and loss.  The Good News of the Gospel is that as we walk through the valley, grim and dark, Jesus walks with us.  He carries  to shores of eternal bliss.  Blessed be His name.  This life  without Jesus in this world has a way of killing dreams, but Jesus has a way of bringing them, and us, back to life!  Let us come to Jesus and live.

In Jesus the Eternal Lord.

Brown

https://youtu.be/6_KXsMCJgBQ

Brown's Daily Word 1/17/17

    Praise the Lord for this brand new day. He blessed us with a gorgeous day yesterday here in the Central New York with  mild weather and abundant sunshine.  Alice and I drove in the countryside celebrating the beauty and the blessings of the Lord in the great outdoors.  We saw  flocks of wild turkeys roaming and foraging, carefree and unhurried.  We also saw small family farms with goats, sheep, geese, ducks, cows, and horses.  The days are getting longer with more daylight.  We walked again in the late afternoon, covering more ground than on previous days on the green grass and frozen ground.  We came upon children who were boot skating on some of "ice islands".  We stopped by the river banks and watched the river that runs through town.  I was reminiscing about an outdoor wedding I had performed on the very spot where we stood, close to the boat landing.  I had performed the wedding in the early nineties of the last century.  The Lord blessed the couple with a son who is at Clarkson University studying engineering.  

    We had some sweet face time with our family Boston yesterday.  It was Ada's 6th birthday.  They all spent the day bowling, ice skating, and just celebrating.  Micah, Simeon, and Ada are all growing up so fast. We talked about doing some camping in the National parks this summer.  We also had a call from daughter who is vacationing in Hawaii.  The Lord is blessing her days there in the tropics.  We just compared the notes, as the area where I was born and raised in Orissa, India resembles Hawaii to some extent.  We have high peaked mountains and deep valleys.  The area is over 5000 feet above sea level yet we were just 50 miles as the crow flies from the shores of the Bay of Bengal.  The region where I was born is  also like Hawaii in that it is blessed profusely with mangoes, papayas, jackfruit, Coffee, pineapples, and sugar cane.  Taro, figs, and tamarinds also grow in abundance.

    I learned from one of our friends about the death of Richard Molyneaux.  Richard Molyneaux was our old neighbor (sort of).  He was a born farmer.  After serving in World War II as part of the "Greatest Generation", Richard came back home and became a farmer.  He was blessed to own hundreds of acres of farm land, which was wooded and had large hunting area.  He was one of the largest growers of Christmas trees in the area, with Molyneaux Plantation.  He also raised fruit like blueberries, as well as maple syrup and honey.  Mr Molyneaux was a committed and faithful Christian who was a servant of Jesus.  As a family we got our annual Christmas trees from his farm,  When the daughters were teenagers we tagged our Christmas tree on a warm Indian Summer day in October and would always get a tree 9 feet tall.  For a few years it was Blue Spruce and then we switched to Balsam or Douglas Fir.  Alice is a glutton for Christmas trees.  Mr. Molyneaux was kind, gentle, generous, and always hospitable.  During  December his farm land became like Christmas carnival site, for so many young families came there in droves to pick there Christmas trees. I praise the Lord for his witness for Jesus our Lord.  He lived well.  He served the Lord well.  He loved his family well.  He died well because of Jesus.  He was in his nineties.  Wow!  "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints".  Psalm 116:15

    We are gearing up to host a community wide dinner.  This will be held at the Church  tomorrow (Wednesday) starting at 4:30 PM and concluding at 6:00 PM. All friends and neighbors are warmly invited for a great time of fellowship and sharing.

    We will host our weekly Release time for the children from the Public School this Thursday at 2:15.  Praise the children who come every week to learn about Jesus. Praise the Lord for workers  who invest their time and talents in the lives of these children.

    Friday, the 20th of January, we will be watching the inauguration of out 45th President of the United States of America, Mr. Donald J. Trump.  God Bless America. 

    Jesus the Promise Keeper  made another audacious promise: "These things I have spoken unto  you, that in me you might have peace.  in the world you will have tribulation; but, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  John  16

    I get provoked and inspired by the faith and witness of Daniel, who was taken  as a captive to Babylon along with other young men from Israel.  Daniel could have said, 'when in Rome do as the Romans do", but instead he "resolved in his heart that he would not defile himself"'.  I love the way the Lord extended His favor and grace to Daniel.  "And God gave Daniel favor".  Though Daniel has the favor of the Lord he was not immune from the trials and tears of life.  Daniel walked by faith.  Because he understands the nature of his Lord, Daniel offered God prayer and praise in a difficult time.  Still, Daniel's regard for God had yet to reach its broadest expression.  When the bottom seemed to fall out, and Daniel's circumstances remained tough, he still proclaimed the greatness of God.  Daniel's response to peril was proclamation.  He resisted any temptation to take credit for the amazing insight God granted him.  When the king asked Daniel if he could reveal the dream, the prophet—who by now knew the dream and its interpretation—made sure the king knew that God had provided it all.  The prophet was careful to ensure that God alone was glorified. 

    The Bible says that God is the One who keeps us safe because beneath under us are his everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:27).  We may think that what we have accomplished, or what we are, is a matter of our efforts, arrangements, or abilities—or the work of our hands—but the truth is that other arms have been beneath us.  Were it not for those arms beneath our lives, we would long since have fallen from the heights we thought our abilities had enabled us to climb.  Pride and self-acclaim disappear when the true source of human achievement is known.  If we are anything, it is only because God climbed the heights with us and kept us from falling.

    Daniel knew the trust of God's enabling and keeping.  This erased all reference to self in his speech.  The prophet was so conscious of the work of his God that no explanation of the king's dream could possibly exclude the proclamation of God as the source of revelation.  Even when the young prophet wasn't yet sure what the cruel Nebuchadnezzar's response would be, God could not be kept from Daniel's lips.  As a result, God could not be kept from Nebuchadnezzar's mind.  When Daniel finished interpreting the dream, Nebuchadnezzar not only paid homage to Daniel (because the king didn't fully understand God yet), the king also honored Daniel's God: "Truly your God is the God of gods, and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery" (2:47).  Because of Daniel's proclamation, the king knew Daniel's ability was from his God. Nebuchadnezzar recognized that the power of God was an important product of Daniel's proclamation which would have far-reaching spiritual implications for this despot, but there were even more implications of Daniel's proclamation.

    The proclamation accompanying Daniel's revelation made the power and presence of the Lord so real that the king would not touch God's prophet. Daniel's interpretation openly degraded the future of Babylon and her king. Yet, instead of ordering Daniel's execution for such an affront, Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before the prophet and praised Daniel's God. The king was so humbled that the rage Daniel expected never came. Nebuchadnezzar bowed to Daniel. The prophet's proclamation itself became an instrument of God used to give perspective to the king and to protect Daniel.

    There is never a better time to proclaim God than when the risk seems great, because God assumes control of those causes fought in his name. The powers of this world cannot stand when God is clearly, courageously, and solely proclaimed. By our witness others see the Lord better, and as a consequence, the Lord affects their lives. Whether they turn toward him or away from him, they are still being forced to deal with his testimony through our proclamation.

    We can bear almost anything if only we see God at work in our circumstances. The Book of Daniel teaches us we may not see God clearly enough to take comfort and strength from our vision until we proclaim him.  Proclamation of God clarifies our vision of him.  When we learn enough of God to express him before others, we begin to know him well enough to entrust him with our lives.  The heart that overflows with knowledge and love of God is never overwhelmed by the circumstances that are already in his hands.  We hear loud and clear from many faithful Christians who are in the midst severe persecution from pagan governments that they keep on praising the Lord and proclaiming His faithfulness.  In the face of adversity, even death, Christians are proclaiming, Jesus as Lord and Savior.

In Jesus.

 Brown

https://youtu.be/aKTqwBetI1I

Brown's Daily Word 1/16/17

 Praise the Lord for this marvelous Monday.  It is going to be sunny and mild here in Central New York.  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful day in His house yesterday.  It was good to be in His house with His people.  The Lord of the Church, and the Lord of our lives, who is worthy of our praise and worship, descends upon His people with His blessings and promises.  He provokes us to love Him and He provokes us to love one another.  He  blesses our times of worship, praise, laughter, tears, and the proclamation of and listening to His Word.  Alice and I walked in the evening across the soccer fields yesterday afternoon.  Our hearts were stirred and thrilled to see dandelions blooming in winter. 

    We extend our Christian sympathy to the family and friends of a young man by the name of Dan, who died suddenly and unexpectedly in his sleep.  May Jesus, the Comforter, Healer, and Sustainer, come upon his friends and family with His abiding presence and deep comfort.  

    We extend our heartiest birthday greetings to Art Ensign, who is celebrating his 92nd birthday this month.   

    Today our grand daughter, the amazing, adorable, audacious Miss A. from Boston turns 6 years old.  We praise the Lord for her.  She is energetic, brave, and enthused for life. She loves the simple gifts and simile joys of life.  We will be with our Boston family in a few weeks.  We are praying for rich blessings of Jesus on A. today.  May Jesus bless all the children around the world today; all the children are precious in His sight and they are adored and loved by the Good Shepherd who carries them in His bosom.   

    Sunita and her youngest daughter in Washington and I here New York watched some Football yesterday, as the Green Bay Packers triumphed narrowly over the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs.  We rejoice.

    During these past months of my recovery and treatments I have ample time to  pause and ponder.  I have time to recount, reminisce, and remember, and I am so grateful to Jesus for His realness, and for all His promises.  I am grateful for you all, around the corner and around the globe, who are praying for me fervently, faithfully, and lovingly.  The Lord of life lavishes on me His matchless grace, peace and abundant life through your kindness, loving concern.  I am deeply blessed, loved, and affirmed.  I praise the Lord for the realness and essence of His love in Christ our Lord extended to us, incarnated in our lives through his grace and power. 

    The longing for love is one of many longings we have as human beings.  We long for significance.  We long for beauty.  We long for meaning.  Each of these longings can be fulfilled to some measure in this life, but none of them can be perfectly fulfilled.  We always want more significance, more beauty, more meaning. Bruce Springsteen sings, "Everybody's got a hungry heart."  The longing for love, just like these other longings, is holy and right and good, but none of these longings can be fully satisfied in this life.  They weren't meant to be.  Lord Jesus  gives them to us to bring joy and wonder into our lives, but ultimately he gives them to us to lead us to himself.  In the end, he alone can satisfy the deepest needs and highest longings of the human heart.  Ultimately that's where the Holy Spirit, the Hound of Heaven, beckons us - leads us - into the heart and embrace of Jesus—to the love of God.

    I read some time ago about a man by the name of Brian Keenan.  In the 1980's a man named Brian Keenan was taken captive in Lebanon and held hostage for four years, suffering physical beatings and psychological oppression, but in his imprisonment he turned to God, and one of the books that led him there was the Song of Songs.  That book awakened within him the longing for romance, the deep desire for intimacy.  It reminded him that he was human; that he was made to love and be loved.  It assured him that love was out there and that it could be found.  He ultimately found that longing fulfilled in a relationship with Jesus, the embodiment of love, beauty and blessing.

    Jesus, the Lover of our Souls, satisfies our deepest desires, and transforms our sin-stained lives.  He anoints and equips our lives with abundance and eternity.  One hot and dusty day Jesus was walking through Samaria.  At the hottest point of the day, He came upon a well, and asked a woman there for a drink of water.  It must have gone down nicely—cool and refreshing.  Then Jesus offered her some water—living water, he called it, that would satisfy her thirst like no other, once and for all.  "I'd like some of that water", she said.  "I'm tired of coming out to the well a couple of times a day."  "Very well", said Jesus, "go get your husband and I'll tell you about it".  The woman stammered for a moment.  "I have no husband", she explained.  "I know", said Jesus.  "I also know that you've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now is not your husband".

    For years this woman had been looking for love in all the wrong places; she tried all kinds of men; she'd tried marriage, singleness, cohabitation.  None of it satisfied, none of them lasted, but that day at the well she met a man who would love her like no other, a Savior whose love would always satisfy, and never fail. That same love is available to us today. That same Savior wants a relationship with each of us.

    We all look for love, and that's a good thing.  Love is worth pursuing, worth waiting for, and worth celebrating, but ultimately we won't really find what we're looking for until we love and are loved by Jesus, the lover of souls and the Lord of our lives.

 Let us come to Jesus and live.

  In Him.

https://youtu.be/PANiveIKVX0