Good Morning,
We enter the mid-point of the week, grateful for God's sustaining hand and providence, and looking forward to another weekend. This weekend is Palm Sunday, when we remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of His last week before the Crucifixion. Only He knew the extent of the powerful drama that would unfold over the course of a few days, that would change the course of human history forever.
As we journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, we continue to focus on the Cross and the suffering servant. Christ’s death allows us to Experience Pure Love; Complete Forgiveness; Ultimate Wholeness and Everlasting Life. Hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth prophets predicted the events of His life. His birth, ministry, death, and resurrection were set forth by these inspired men in great detail. Even His return in glory was predicted long before His first coming. These prophecies, called “messianic” prophecies were intended to prepare the world for the coming of the Messiah. Of all the messianic prophecies in the Bible, Isaiah 53 is arguably the clearest and most beautiful of all. It has helped the prophet Isaiah to earn the title “Gospel Prophet.” In the chapters 52 and 53 of Isaiah the story is told of the cross of Christ and the suffering that went along with His atonement for sin. No passage of the Bible, except the Gospel accounts, gives a more vivid picture of the suffering of our Savior at the Cross. Isaiah pictured the Messiah as a suffering servant of Jehovah. According to Acts 8:26-40, when Philip explained this passage to the Ethiopian official as he read this passage hundreds of years later his life was changed. He came to realize that this suffering Servant had indeed suffered for him.
We need to reflect on this story of the suffering of Jesus, as the fact that He died for us has a profound bearing upon our lives. It is because of His death we need never fear death. When the Ethiopian learned the meaning of this passage He immediately obeyed Christ. We also need this kind of obedience in our lives.
In Christ,
Brown
"When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.
See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP4JSVMBdZg
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-31-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for the way He brings fullness out of emptiness, life our of death, and victory out of defeat. Jesus, our Lord, said in Matthew, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (8:35). One of the great New Testament Scholars was Dr William Barclay. I was given one of his commentaries on the Gospel according to Matthew by Joyce Thomas during my high school days. Joyce Thomas had a great heart for Jesus and a great zeal to tell the old story of His redeeming love. The last time I had English tea with Joyce Thomas was in her house in England in 1992.
In one of his writings Dr Barclay told about a 4th Century Christian named Telemachus, who decided that the only way to protect himself from the corruption of the world and to serve God was to become a hermit and live in the desert. One day as he rose from his knees it dawned on him that if he wanted to serve God he must serve people. By staying in the desert he was not serving God, and the cities were full of people who needed help. Thus he set out for Rome, then the greatest city in the world. By this time the terrible persecutions of the first 3 centuries were over, and Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Emperor was a Christian, and so were most of the people, at least nominally. As strange as it sounds, calling yourself a Christian in 4th Century Rome was the politically correct thing to do, if you wanted the favor of the Emperor! Telemachus arrived in Rome at a time when Stilicho, the Roman general, had gained a mighty victory over the Goths. So to Stilicho there was granted a Roman "triumph" with processions, celebrations, and games in the Coliseum, with the young Emperor Honorius by his side. Though Rome was supposedly a Christian city one thing still lingered from its terrible past. That is, there were still the bloody games in the Coliseum. Christians were no longer thrown to the lions, but those captured in war still had to fight and kill each other in front of the Roman citizens, who roared with blood-lust as the gladiators fought. Telemachus went to the Coliseum where there were 80,000 people. As he entered, the chariot races were ending. There was tension in the crowd as the gladiators prepared to fight. Into the arena they came with their greeting, "Hail, Caesar! We who are about to die salute you!" The fight was on, and Telemachus was appalled. Men for whom Christ had died were killing each other to amuse a supposedly Christian population. He leaped down into the arena and stepped between the gladiators, and for a moment they stopped fighting. "Let the games go on," roared the crowd. The gladiators pushed the old man in the hermit’s robe aside. Again he came between them. The crowd began to hurl stones at him. They urged the gladiators to kill him and get him out of the way, and then the commander of the games gave an order. A gladiator’s sword fell, and Telemachus lay dead. Suddenly the crowd was silent - shocked that a holy man should have been killed in such a way. Quite suddenly there was a mass realization of what the killing really was. Historians tell us that the games in Rome ended abruptly that day, never to begin again. Telemachus, by his death, had ended them. One historian (Gibbon) wrote of him, "His death was more useful to mankind than his life." By losing his life he had done more than he could have ever done by living a life of lonely devotion out in the desert. Cross-bearing is not an accident that happens to us, or something unavoidable that we must face. Cross-bearing is an act of love that we freely choose. It is a task we undertake, a price that we pay, out of love. St Paul wrote, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The disciple of Jesus receives with a grateful heart the wonderful forgiveness of God, achieved through His own Son Jesus' death on the cross. Then the disciple of Jesus voluntarily takes up his or her cross. In doing so we find life in all its rich fullness, now and always!
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld3D4oOzx8o
Praise the Lord for the way He brings fullness out of emptiness, life our of death, and victory out of defeat. Jesus, our Lord, said in Matthew, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (8:35). One of the great New Testament Scholars was Dr William Barclay. I was given one of his commentaries on the Gospel according to Matthew by Joyce Thomas during my high school days. Joyce Thomas had a great heart for Jesus and a great zeal to tell the old story of His redeeming love. The last time I had English tea with Joyce Thomas was in her house in England in 1992.
In one of his writings Dr Barclay told about a 4th Century Christian named Telemachus, who decided that the only way to protect himself from the corruption of the world and to serve God was to become a hermit and live in the desert. One day as he rose from his knees it dawned on him that if he wanted to serve God he must serve people. By staying in the desert he was not serving God, and the cities were full of people who needed help. Thus he set out for Rome, then the greatest city in the world. By this time the terrible persecutions of the first 3 centuries were over, and Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Emperor was a Christian, and so were most of the people, at least nominally. As strange as it sounds, calling yourself a Christian in 4th Century Rome was the politically correct thing to do, if you wanted the favor of the Emperor! Telemachus arrived in Rome at a time when Stilicho, the Roman general, had gained a mighty victory over the Goths. So to Stilicho there was granted a Roman "triumph" with processions, celebrations, and games in the Coliseum, with the young Emperor Honorius by his side. Though Rome was supposedly a Christian city one thing still lingered from its terrible past. That is, there were still the bloody games in the Coliseum. Christians were no longer thrown to the lions, but those captured in war still had to fight and kill each other in front of the Roman citizens, who roared with blood-lust as the gladiators fought. Telemachus went to the Coliseum where there were 80,000 people. As he entered, the chariot races were ending. There was tension in the crowd as the gladiators prepared to fight. Into the arena they came with their greeting, "Hail, Caesar! We who are about to die salute you!" The fight was on, and Telemachus was appalled. Men for whom Christ had died were killing each other to amuse a supposedly Christian population. He leaped down into the arena and stepped between the gladiators, and for a moment they stopped fighting. "Let the games go on," roared the crowd. The gladiators pushed the old man in the hermit’s robe aside. Again he came between them. The crowd began to hurl stones at him. They urged the gladiators to kill him and get him out of the way, and then the commander of the games gave an order. A gladiator’s sword fell, and Telemachus lay dead. Suddenly the crowd was silent - shocked that a holy man should have been killed in such a way. Quite suddenly there was a mass realization of what the killing really was. Historians tell us that the games in Rome ended abruptly that day, never to begin again. Telemachus, by his death, had ended them. One historian (Gibbon) wrote of him, "His death was more useful to mankind than his life." By losing his life he had done more than he could have ever done by living a life of lonely devotion out in the desert. Cross-bearing is not an accident that happens to us, or something unavoidable that we must face. Cross-bearing is an act of love that we freely choose. It is a task we undertake, a price that we pay, out of love. St Paul wrote, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The disciple of Jesus receives with a grateful heart the wonderful forgiveness of God, achieved through His own Son Jesus' death on the cross. Then the disciple of Jesus voluntarily takes up his or her cross. In doing so we find life in all its rich fullness, now and always!
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld3D4oOzx8o
Monday, March 30, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 3-30-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. I trust you all had a blessed weekend of rest, renewal, worship, and fellowship. The Lord blessed us during worship yesterday. The readings were taken from Psalm 51 and John 12: 20 ff. Praise the Lord for His Word which is always relevant and contextual. Praise the Lord for the times and days of our lives on earth. He has called us for such time as this. It is exciting to be alive. It is a great thrill to know the Lord and to serve Him.
I praise the Lord for the internet. It is the new and emerging mission field. The social networks on the Internet are exploding. People all over the world now are writing blogs, which are online journals, or web-logs. Some are blaming blogs for ruining the newspaper and classic journalism. The role they serve is to give everyone a voice. People think their thoughts are worthy of being shared with the world. There is also the internet genre which includes Facebook and My Space. People use these formats to keep their friends up-to-date with what is happening in their lives; people really do want to know about friends and relations, both past and current.
The words of Christ as found in John 12 sting us when he says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. He who loves his life will lose it…” Jesus tells us we need to focus on something else besides ourselves. Actually, if we are to follow him we need to be like a kernel of wheat and die to our selves. We have to die to self in order to bear much fruit. King David, the one who penned Psalm 51, pleads, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” There is something inside of us, when we look really deeply, that desires something more. Sometimes we think we want to be famous, admired, revered, or at least seen as important. We want to be something to someone.
Nadya Suleman is a standard in our daily news these days. If you have not heard of her she is the woman who had six children, two with autism, and then just gave birth to eight more. She has been on a roller coaster ride with the media and not painting a good picture of herself. In an interview with the Today Show’s Ann Curry she said, “That was always a dream of mine, to have a large family, a huge family, and I just longed for certain connections and attachments with another person that I really lacked, I believe, growing up.” She went on in the interview to confess the connection she longed for was being filled by children and now she has 14 to help fill that void. But will it? That void inside of us, that desire for something meaningful in our lives, may be filled with many things. It can be full of sports, hobbies, relationships, children, material things, or whatever. Yet, these things cannot satisfy. Pascal, a 17th century philosopher, once said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every[one] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” The void within each of us that we are looking to fill can only be satisfied by God. When we are selfish and self-centered, we lose our lives. To gain life, we need to be focused on the one calling us. It is our narcissistic nature to think that we are seeking God. Many people think that God is on a mountaintop somewhere, and we have to climb to get to him. Only after making that journey can we be worthy to be in His presence. The truth is, we do not seek God; The Lord God, In Jesus Christ, seeks us. One of the reasons the poem "Footprints" is so popular is because the traveler realizes that God was there all along. The same is true with us. God is with us - we just have to be willing to see. During Lent, as we confess and as we go through our spiritual disciplines of self-denial, prayer, reading, and reflecting, the Lord of the Heaven and Earth, continues to call us closer. As we live through hard times, as we struggle with questions about faith, and as we love people we don’t like, God continues to call us closer. To see God we need to get out of the way. We need to die to self, leave ourselves behind for the sake of glorifying God. Just as a kernel of wheat falls to the earth and dies before it bears fruit, we need to die to ourselves and be open to God in our lives. When we do this, we realize the work God does for us, and the opportunities that surround us in which we can glorify God.
May Jesus be praised and glorified,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGbuz8QuhmE
Praise the Lord for this new day. I trust you all had a blessed weekend of rest, renewal, worship, and fellowship. The Lord blessed us during worship yesterday. The readings were taken from Psalm 51 and John 12: 20 ff. Praise the Lord for His Word which is always relevant and contextual. Praise the Lord for the times and days of our lives on earth. He has called us for such time as this. It is exciting to be alive. It is a great thrill to know the Lord and to serve Him.
I praise the Lord for the internet. It is the new and emerging mission field. The social networks on the Internet are exploding. People all over the world now are writing blogs, which are online journals, or web-logs. Some are blaming blogs for ruining the newspaper and classic journalism. The role they serve is to give everyone a voice. People think their thoughts are worthy of being shared with the world. There is also the internet genre which includes Facebook and My Space. People use these formats to keep their friends up-to-date with what is happening in their lives; people really do want to know about friends and relations, both past and current.
The words of Christ as found in John 12 sting us when he says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. He who loves his life will lose it…” Jesus tells us we need to focus on something else besides ourselves. Actually, if we are to follow him we need to be like a kernel of wheat and die to our selves. We have to die to self in order to bear much fruit. King David, the one who penned Psalm 51, pleads, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” There is something inside of us, when we look really deeply, that desires something more. Sometimes we think we want to be famous, admired, revered, or at least seen as important. We want to be something to someone.
Nadya Suleman is a standard in our daily news these days. If you have not heard of her she is the woman who had six children, two with autism, and then just gave birth to eight more. She has been on a roller coaster ride with the media and not painting a good picture of herself. In an interview with the Today Show’s Ann Curry she said, “That was always a dream of mine, to have a large family, a huge family, and I just longed for certain connections and attachments with another person that I really lacked, I believe, growing up.” She went on in the interview to confess the connection she longed for was being filled by children and now she has 14 to help fill that void. But will it? That void inside of us, that desire for something meaningful in our lives, may be filled with many things. It can be full of sports, hobbies, relationships, children, material things, or whatever. Yet, these things cannot satisfy. Pascal, a 17th century philosopher, once said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every[one] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” The void within each of us that we are looking to fill can only be satisfied by God. When we are selfish and self-centered, we lose our lives. To gain life, we need to be focused on the one calling us. It is our narcissistic nature to think that we are seeking God. Many people think that God is on a mountaintop somewhere, and we have to climb to get to him. Only after making that journey can we be worthy to be in His presence. The truth is, we do not seek God; The Lord God, In Jesus Christ, seeks us. One of the reasons the poem "Footprints" is so popular is because the traveler realizes that God was there all along. The same is true with us. God is with us - we just have to be willing to see. During Lent, as we confess and as we go through our spiritual disciplines of self-denial, prayer, reading, and reflecting, the Lord of the Heaven and Earth, continues to call us closer. As we live through hard times, as we struggle with questions about faith, and as we love people we don’t like, God continues to call us closer. To see God we need to get out of the way. We need to die to self, leave ourselves behind for the sake of glorifying God. Just as a kernel of wheat falls to the earth and dies before it bears fruit, we need to die to ourselves and be open to God in our lives. When we do this, we realize the work God does for us, and the opportunities that surround us in which we can glorify God.
May Jesus be praised and glorified,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGbuz8QuhmE
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