Brown's Daily Word 8/18/17

 Praise the Lord for His realness, His nearness, His Immanence, His transcendence, and His sufficiency in all circumstances, predicaments, and crises and in His heavenly places on earth.  Indeed, "earth is crammed with heaven".  We have a foretaste of Heaven every day in and through Jesus Christ, the Emmanuel, God with us.  He blessed us with a day of abundance.

    The world is gone insane with hatred, violence, anarchy, and rebellion, but in and through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and Lion of Judah, we can hold onto Him and to His perfect and eternal purposes and plans.  We can know that the "kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God His and of his  Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever".  We will continue pray for His peace.. We will continue to be instruments of His peace. 

    The Lord showered us with brilliant weather - warm, yet comfortable.  We worked in the garden, praising the Lord for the abundance all kinds of vegetables and greens.  Alice started harvesting tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and beet greens.  We were blessed to receive sweet corn, cucumbers, zucchinis, and peppers from a friend.  Alice made relish from some of the abundant produce, and she also made  her signature loaves of homemade bread to share with neighbors and friends.  We had some face time (Google chat) with our granddaughter Lindy and her mommy Jessica, who are waiting for the birth of Lindy's brother.  Alice and I drove on the back hills yesterday afternoon, through the meadows and hills, pastures and farms.  The early evening sun was magical and mesmerizing, refreshing the heart, evoking in us a deep sense of gratitude for the magnanimity of our Lord.  We are blessed for the way beauty explodes all around us.  We passed by the Amish families and farms.  Their horses were grazing in the fields and families were outside playing some summer sports.  It was beautiful to behold.  Alice and I walked in the late evening along Main Street, where we met some of Alice's former students  who were congregating near the town square and the ice cream parlor.  It was all sweet.

    It is Friday, but Sunday is coming.  Let us plan to be in the House of the Lord this coming Lord's day wherever we might be.  We will gather for worship at 10:30 AM.   Those of you live in the vicinity please mark your calendars for a coming event.  We will be hosting the St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble from St. Petersburg, Russia, on Saturday, December 2, 2017.  They are the gifted and talented musicians who have been with us every year for last several years.  They will be in concert on Saturday December 2 at 7:00 PM in the Sanctuary of the United Methodist Church of Marathon.  We will be serving a dinner featuring International cuisine at 6:00 PM.

    In his book The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis describes a young man who is tormented by a red lizard that sits on his shoulder and mocks him.  For Lewis, the lizard represents the indwelling sin all of us struggle with.  In the book, an angel comes and promises to get rid of the red lizard, and the man, for the moment, takes great joy in that.  He's thrilled.  "I can be rid of this thing."  Then he realizes the way the angel will get rid of it, as the angel begins to glow with a fiery heat.  He will kill the lizard.  Beginning to recognize the implications, the young man says, "Maybe you don't have to kill it.  Maybe you don't have to get rid of it entirely.  Can't we just do this another time?"  The angel says, "In this moment are all moments.  Either you want the red lizard to live or you do not." T he lizard, recognizing the hesitation of the young man, begins to mock and plead at the same time. "Be careful.  He can do what he says.  He can kill me.  One fatal word from you and he will.  Then you'll be without me forever and ever.  It's not natural.  How could you live?  You'll only be a sort of a ghost, not a real man as you are now.  He doesn't understand.  He's only a cold, bloodless, abstract thing.  It may be natural for him, but it's not natural for us.  I know there are no real pleasures, only dreams, but aren't they better than nothing?  I'll be so good.  I admit I've gone too far in the past, but I promise I won't do it again.  I'll give you nothing but really nice dreams, all sweet and fresh and almost innocent."

    For C. S. Lewis, these words typify for all of us the way in which we compromise and allow sin to dwell in our lives.  The apostle Paul wrote about what it would really mean to kill the "lizards", the indwelling sin in our lives.  He began with an authority that is quite striking, almost hurtful to us.  "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking," (Ephesians 4:17).  When we are in Christ Jesus, we walk a different path. There will be no joy in those who are mired in their sin.  "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts," (Ephesians 4:18). That unrewarding life is characterized by a darkened mind.  They don't see or understand what they should.  They are, in fact, ignorant in their thinking. This is going to be in stark contrast to what he is going to say about the life of those who are in the Lord in verses 20-21.  We're in union with him who is life.

    Those who walk in the way of the world don't have any understanding of real life.  Their experience is limited only to their instincts and to the urges of their bodies.  They don't have any knowledge of the eternal.  They don't know the beauty Christ intends.  It is further written what will happen to those with hardened hearts. "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more," Ephesians 4:19.

    The angel in C. S. Lewis's story grasps the lizard and with fiery hands begins to choke it so that it finally dies and falls to the ground, but when it hits the ground, it becomes a stallion, and the young man gets on it and rides. What had been the ruler is now ruled.  What had been his master, he now masters.  What had ridden him, he now rides.  It's C. S. Lewis's great expression that when we actually kill the sin, the things that were so hard actually become good and freeing and wonderful to us.  Imagine what would it be like not to live the life of lizards, but actually to ride the horses of heaven.

 In Christ,

  Brown

https://youtu.be/6_KXsMCJgBQ?list=RD6_KXsMCJgBQ

Brown's Daily Word 8/17/17

   G. K. Chesterton wrote, “It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon.  It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.  It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.  The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.”

    Praise the Lord for the gift summer 2017.  It has been full of splendor, accompanied by gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, torrential rains, cool and comfortable breezes, spectacular thunders and lightning, raging rivers, overflowing lakes and ponds.  The pastures and farms have stayed  luscious green.  The flowers, both domestic and wild, have been blooming profusely.  The cattle on "a Thousand Hills" have been grazing unhurried and unafraid.

    We were in the Triple Cities today.  Young families and University students are gearing up for their annual and sacred back to School and College shopping.  Parents are anxious, greatly anticipating the changes that come to families with the passages of time and seasons.  Praise the Lord, for the He places the solitary in families.  He places in the heart and the hearth of the Church, His body, the desire that we might live in "a season of Joy".  He infuses His people, those who are committed and loyal to Him, with His everlasting and eternal joy despite the trials and tribulations of the world.  We can run the race well, looking unto Jesus, the Pioneer and the finisher of our faith.

    From the parsonage I gaze  at Interstate 81 and Route 11 that run parallel to each other.  The traffic on the Interstate is always a steady stream.  Another Route connects the Interstate 81, with the city of  Ithaca, the home of Cornell University  and Ithaca College.  That route runs just a few yards in front of the parsonage.   Traffic starts buzzing around 3:30 AM, when I am often up listening to the really early birds, praising the Lord for another brand new day pregnant with the Lord's promises and all the Possibilities in and through Him.  I spend time reflecting on God's faithfulness and deflecting the enemy's darts.  As I am pondering on the "Goodness and mercy" of the Lord I am deeply overwhelmed and profoundly blessed.  He has met all our needs with His extravagant generosity and mercy above and beyond. 

    I shared with one of our daughters today and confirmed how the Lord has never forgotten us and has never forsaken us even though we often  are prone to go astray from Him.  He, like the Hound of Heaven, seeks us and like a reconnaissance team goes before us.  Our youngest daughter is due to deliver her second baby any day now.  Please join us praying for the mom and baby and the family.

    During my treatment yesterday, two of my friends came to spend some time with me while Alice did some errands, including shopping for our grandchildren.  One of the guys has retired from the USA Navy.  He has battled with some severe health problems.  The Lord has healed and restored him.  He is busy serving the Lord in his local church.  The other man retired from IBM and has his personal independent contracting business.  The Lord has blessed him.  They both are involved in the ministry and mission of the local church.  Their church purchased  a Sports complex with 17 acres of land.  The men and women of the church have renovated the church to include a balcony, worship center, and fellowship center.  The Lord is blessing the outreach and mission of the church.  The contractor and his wife have been to mission fields in Africa  and other countries on short term missions.  Their lives have been changed and transformed.  They are sold out for Jesus.  We were exchanging  the stories of of Jesus and His unfailing love.

    This is what Psalm 117 is all about: talking so clearly about what our calling is. We are to praise our God "Praise the Lord, all you nations; / extol him, all you peoples."  This psalm is a foretaste of what we know is to happen at the end of the ages. There will be that time when all nations gather together before the throne of Christ, and they will say, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, because by your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Rev. 5:9, 12).  He has purchased us so that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.  The psalmist says, in addition, "And  the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever."  It's unstoppable and it's endless, and it's this understanding that makes our hearts want to sing.

    One classic hymn says, "the church of Christ shall never perish, her dear Lord to defend."  There will be opposition; there will be hardship and difficulty.  Kings and kingdoms may come and go, and Jesus Christ shall prevail.  We recognize we have tremendous privileges, and one of those tremendous privileges is the ability to praise God without fear of reprisal.  There will come the day when the knowledge of God covers the earth as water covers the sea.  Every other false thing will fall away.  Jesus Christ will reign.  When I know that and you know that, it means our lives have purpose.  The psalmist ends the psalm saying, "Praise the Lord."  There is a compulsion to praise among those people who understand how great the purposes and the love of God are.

    The song, "How Can I Keep From Singing" came out of the Civil War agony and angst of this nation.  If the horror is so great, then the message of salvation in Jesus Christ—his deliverance from the evil and the darkness and the blackness of the earth—appears even greater.  In the midst of agony, how could I keep from singing, if what God is promising is that his steadfast love toward us is great and his faithfulness will endure forever?  It is this knowledge that gives us a sense of purpose and meaning.  We ultimately are in a cause that has not only eternity in view, but the triumph of the best things this life can offer: mercy and love and faithfulness beyond the trials that we experience.

   

     Psalm 117 is one of the psalms the Israelites repeated annually in their Passover service.  "Praise the Lord, all you nations;  extol him, all you peoples.  For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord."  The steadfast love of the Lord is mighty, and his faithfulness endures forever.  Kings and kingdoms may come and go, but the gospel of Jesus Christ is like hurricane or a blazing wind which no one can stop.  The gospel must push through the difficulty, dictators, famines, floods, and all manner of hardship that God's people face.  When they say, "But our praises are still to our God who has eternal faithfulness," then we enthrone Christ above all the world and say, "This is the God that we worship."

    Many people were shocked at the sudden death of Robin Williams (August, 2014).  As an expression of grief and a desire to honor his life, the Internet exploded with people trying to find the most poignant film clip of his life that would somehow give meaning and significance to what he had stood for.  Apparently they best remembered that little period in Dead Poets Society, where he's trying to encourage the boys that he's teaching.  He says, "Carpe diem, boys. Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary."  I say the extraordinary life that God is calling us  to live is not just for ourselves; He calls us to participate in an eternal purpose that's far beyond us.

    I read about  a small town named  Hopedale, Illinois (population 868)  In 1894, in the little red brick schoolhouse, under the inspired guidance of the wife of the Methodist pastor, was the first vacation Bible school in the world.  Thirty-seven students attended that first summer.  From that isolated, nondescript, insignificant, nobody-will-know-about-it effort, what has happened?  Across all denominations, across all borders, across all nations, across all prejudices, literally millions of young people have come to know the Lord because of what was done in that place. 

    Our God is enthroned on the praises of his people.  As we are faithful to him, we take the gospel past boundaries, enemies, prejudices, and our own sin.  We recognize that he will use us because if we have breath, we can give praise, and praise is His plan.

In Christ,

  Brown

https://youtu.be/SgQ6vWEhH5E

Brown's Daily Word 8/15/17

    Thanks and praises unto Jesus our Lord for the gift of the summer season.  He is the Lord of all seasons and the Lord in every season who makes all things glorious and beautiful in His time and in His appointed season.  We have been on the go during this month.  We drove to Boston for my regular check up with the doctors in Boston.  I have to go through another set of treatments there in the beginning of September.  I am continuing my other treatments here in Binghamton. Thank you for praying.  The Lord gives us His continuous strength and fresh grace along with daily manna for the journey.  We spent a few days in beautiful Boston where the world comes for vacation and the holidays.  We spent hilarious and sweet days with our grandchildren Micah, Simeon, and Ada.  I spent one afternoon fishing with Simeon.  Alice did some baking and cooking with Micah and Simeon.  We attended worship with all of them in the church they attend.  Micah, Simeon, and Ada are busy with summer events and activities.  They spent a week of Music camp in Maine.  They are involved in sailing camp and tennis camp.

    Sunita and Andy, Gabe, Addie, and Asha spent a few days with us here in New York on their way home from visiting family and friends in "Pure Michigan".  It was a treat and a thrill to have them with us for a few days.  We took lots of walks and strolls while they were visiting and we found and picked some wild berries. Sunita loves Ithaca and its gorges.  Sunita and Andy spent  part of the day in Ithaca hiking and going out for dinner.  On another day Sunita  and Andy also attended Sunita's 20th High School reunion of her class from Maine-Endwell.  She was sharing that it great to reconnect with high school classmates after 20 years.  We all spent two days at the Chenango county fair in Norwich.  Gabe , Addie, and Asha loved the animals  - especially the cows, horses, and chickens.  The children were mesmerized by the horse show that we saw, which included 3 full-sized stallions and 6 miniatures.  We enjoyed the sights and sounds of the ionic county fair.  One highlight for me is exploring the food booth options at the fair, and I usually gravitate to a food booth run by the churches of the area.  One local church has a permanent food stall, which is open for the entire week, where men and women of all ages joyously served the fair patrons.

     Alice and I participated in the service of death Resurrection of Donald Barber Sr. last week.  It was a beautify service of celebration and thanksgiving.  Don lived a wonderful life of service and dedication.  He retired at the age of 89 from the last of his 3 jobs.  Don and his dear wife Julie went to lunch last Wednesday at a local diner and then drove to a local cream shop after lunch.  Don, who was 92, died  peacefully in his home Thursday early morning.  We praise the Lord for the life and testimony Don Barber.  "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."  (Psalm 116:15)

    The Lord blessed us in His house Sunday with His grace and joy.  We praise the Lord that He is upon His throne.  He reigns, He rules, and He overrules.  It is because of His great faithfulness and authority we can live "in a season of Joy" day by day.  He is the Lord of Joy who invites us to enter the Joy of the master and He infuses us with His "Joy unspeakable and full of glory".  As Summer is winding down, we are looking forward.  Back to Church Sunday will be on Sunday, September 17.  We will meet for worship at 10:30 AM, with special music.  Following the service will be a very special meal.  The Lord always invites us to enter His joy, and He propels us to live "in a season of joy" in every season.

    We are witnessing a massive display of demonic powers, of fear, and of hatred all around the world.  Extreme fringe groups from all sides are in clamor and collusion.  The enemy, the adversary, brings out the worst - the beast - in all of us.  Jesus, the giver of life, brings out the best in us.  The world seems to be on the verge of exploding.  It is written, "And you  shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet" Mathew 24:6.  "The sky is not falling". .Martin Luther wrote, "Though this world, with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we  will not fear for God has willed his truth to triumph through us".  The Lord of the earth, the mover and shaker of the universe, in control.  He reminds us lucidly and lovingly to "Be still and know that I am God".  The Lord has all the forces and powers, and all authority to overcome the dark forces of this world.  Our trust does not eradicate all present trials, but when we believe that the tears and fears of today will be dried by triumphs of tomorrow, we will find the strength to live for our God.  Frustration and tragedy may still come, but they cannot overwhelm the purposes of our God or the usefulness of our lives when we continue in the duties he sets before us.

    I love the wonderful narrative of Daniel, the daring one.  The account of Daniel in the lions' den not only encourages us to trust in God, but to live for him.  Because he trusted in his Lord, Daniel was able to live for God in a great variety of circumstances.  The circumstances that climax his life and most capture our hearts are those that require great courage.  We should recognize that these accounts are recorded precisely for this purpose.  Through Daniel's example, the Bible inspires us to live with courage when circumstances and threats tempt us to compromise. Our trust in God should fill us with the courage to live for him.  Daniel knew the consequences of his prayers.  The prophet knew that his commitment to his God would cost him everything: his respect, his position, his life.  Still, he continued his spiritual disciplines.  Devotion to God came before his personal safety.  Daniel's faithfulness to duty was challenged by more than personal tragedy.  He was alone in his stand of faith against all the other advisers of the king.  The law—the unchangeable decree of the Medes and Persians—opposed Daniel.  Even the king had no power to alter this law.  Injustice ruled and dominated.  Israel remained in powerless captivity.  There is no record his countrymen rising to give Daniel support.

    What could one man do against such overwhelming institutional and national evil and what would it matter if one person were to take a stand against an entire nation, culture, and tradition of godlessness?  Would any even care if Daniel did his personal duty to God?  If devotion to duty were to make no difference, why hold fast to it?  Daniel faced enormous temptation of the sort that argues that because it will make no difference what I do, it does not matter what I do.  Daniel's stoic devotion to Almighty God teaches us that duty remains even when sin seems unaffected by it.  Even when the sin is so large that our efforts to oppose it seem meaningless, God requires our faithfulness.  We are to stand our ground and live for him.  The Book of Daniel is as much about courage in the face of overwhelming odds as it is about divine rescue. 

    Daniel is the story of God's provision of hope—the message that individual lives can make a difference in difficult places.  Believing that the Lord can change everything through us, beyond us, or after us is what should keep us living courageously, because we are living in hope—the confidence that our God will fulfill His purposes through us if we will stand for him.  The world says, "Give in. The stand you take will make no difference.  Why get yourself in trouble?  Why sacrifice for nothing?"  God, however, tells us to "Dig in.  Plant your feet firmly on my Word and let me triumph through you."  Trials may come at work or in our  family where others pressure us to abandon our stand for the Lord.  We  may not be able to see any value or results from our stand, but stand we must.  God can use us  to build his kingdom if we stand our ground, because we are never alone in our stand for him.

    Following this final chapter of the prophet's life history are Daniel's amazing prophesies of the victories to come in Jerusalem. The captives from Israel will return to the holy city. Jerusalem will be restored, and from the former ruins will rise the Savior. This Savior will defeat forever the enemy who prowls the earth "like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). As Daniel did his duty, his physical eyes could see only ruin, despair, and danger. But, through the eyes of faith, Daniel saw much more. By focusing on Jerusalem he saw sure victory, future triumph, and certain hope. Through the eyes of hope, ruined Jerusalem shone yet as the great symbol of God's abiding faithfulness to those he would defend. Daniel was faithful before the threat of raging lions, because he trusted in the One who shuts the mouth of the great lion called Satan. The sign of God's faithfulness that we all remember is Daniel's rescue from the lions. But the greater sign that proves the value of Daniel's hope for his nation and for us is almost hidden in the last words of this chapter. The chapter ends with these words, "So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian" (6:28). The name of the final ruler is most important because under this ruler the people of Israel began to return to their homeland. And because they returned to Israel, ultimately a child would be born in the city of David who would be Christ, our Lord. Daniel's influence and God's promise finally were fulfilled according to the hope Daniel maintained into his old age. The message to Daniel's people and to us is that our hope in God is not misplaced. Though we may have to wait to see the results of our faithfulness—and may never see them until we are with him—our God will accomplish his purposes. So we trust him and live for him. Because we know that God shut the mouths of lions for Daniel and subsequently, shut the mouth of the raging lion who seeks to devour us, we trust our Savior and live for him. We always live in the hope of the ultimate and eternal victory he will provide for us.We live and serve under a Captain who has never lost battle.  He is Lord. He is exalted.

In Christ,

  Brown

https://youtu.be/AhlnProP8o0