Brown's Daily Word 7/7/15

Joyful and beautiful summer day, 2015.  This is the first blog I am posting since we moved from 131 Maple Drive, Endicott, New York, where we had resided and made our home for the last 25 years.  it was a quarter century.  It does not seem possible that we lived in one place for these many years, where our four daughters grew up, graduated from the same High School, went to their proms. (and 3 got married from the same house)  The Lord of the Church and the Lord of History  allowed us to live there.  He gave us His favor with the people of the Union Center and Wesley United Methodist Churches through all these years.  We were sad to leave the people that loved us and lavished on us so much love and grace  and with whom we served the Lord together all these years. 

    The celebration on Saturday the 27th of June was amazing.  Praise the Lord every one who was part of preparing the banquet, serving, and caring for the all details.  Praise the Lord for every one who came in such great numbers to share your love and affection with us.  The place was overwhelmed with so many people.  People traveled from Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, and Ohio.  We were overjoyed and humbled.  There were so many who had to leave because there was no space.  This we regret and offer our sincere apology.  There  were so many who stayed to share in the fellowship and worship.  Thank you for lavishly blessing us with your love and kindness, including gifts and cards of love for us.  We just finished opening the cards.  We were in tears for your deep generosity and abounding love.  We are ever so grateful.   We will not be able to respond to you all in witting personally.  Please accept this note as our heart felt gratitude and love to you all.  May Jesus continue to bless you and fill your cup to the brim. 

    The last worship service on Sunday the 28th of June was amazing.  The Lord visited us.  So many of you came.  We were deeply loved and blessed.  The Lord gave us His favor to finish our ministry at Union Center and Wesley well, with much joy and thanksgiving.  Once again the Lord of the Church and the Lord our lives lavished us with his grace and kindness in and through you all.  We are ever so grateful.

    We moved from Maple Drive to Marathon, NY, some 24 miles in driving distance.   For our friends overseas, Marathon is located between Binghamton and Syracuse NY along Interstate 81.  Marathon is an exotic and beautiful town.  A tranquil river flows through the town. We are close to the Lake district and the Finger Lakes.  We can see some of the rolling hills through the picture window of the living room.   The train tracks run not far from the house where we are living.  Trains run twice a day.  The town is very close to the famous Greek Peak ski resort.  The town is blessed with 5 churches.  It looks much like an English town with many Victorian homes.  I will serving at the Marathon united Methodist Church, which is located straight across from the High School where Alice has been teaching over the last 15 years.  She will be walking to her school from now on, weather permitting.  We had our first worship service this past Sunday  in our new church.  The Lord blessed us with His refreshing spirit and presence.  Friends from the church we served from 1982 -1990 surprised by visiting and joining us for the service and taking us for Sunday dinner after the worship service.  In the afternoon we walked some of the streets of the town, exploring the beauty and the blessings of the town. 
    We moved to our new residence last Wednesday and drove to Boston in the early morning  Thursday, visiting our grandchildren in Boston.  We spent an afternoon at the beach.
    I love summer time in New York.  It is grand and glorious.  Every where you see and everywhere you gaze you are surrounded by the never ending beauty and the blessing of the Lord. 
    When I announced that I would be retiring from full time ministry, many of my friends oversees admonished that I could not retire.  The Lord has still work yet to be done.  I am beginning to serve post retirement.  The Lord gives me wellness and grace to live and serve.  Praise the Lord for His provisions, His promises, his presence and for His power.  "God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen."  Philippians 4:19 (19-20).
    Verse 19 contains a famous promise.  James Montgomery Boice says that this may be the greatest promise in all the Bible because it contains within it every other promise.  There are three parts to this promise.
    First, there is the source of the promise. “And my God.”  This is an unusual expression because Paul could easily have said, “And God will meet all your needs.”  But when he says “my God” he is making it exceedingly personal.  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is “my God.”  The God who raised up Moses is “my God.”  The God who led Joshua around the walls of Jericho is “my God.”  The God who enabled David to defeat Goliath is “my God.”  The God of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and all of the prophets is “my God.”  The God of the Virgin Birth is “my God.”  The God who raised Jesus from the dead is “my God.” The God of the apostles is “my God.”  In short, when Paul says “my God,” he wants us to remember that the same God who worked all the mighty miracles in the Bible is the same God who makes this amazing promise.
    Second, there is the statement of the promise.  “Will meet all your needs.”  The most important word is the little word “all.”  Whatever you truly need, God has promised to supply.  Do you need forgiveness?  He will abundantly pardon.  Do you need more grace?  His grace is sufficient for you.  Do you need hope?  He is the God of hope.  Are you tired and about to give up?  He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  Are you confused about the future?  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Do you need a miracle?  Nothing is impossible with God.  Are you worried about what may happen?  Fear not, says the Lord, for I am with you always.  Do you need salvation?  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.  This promise is as comprehensive as the needs of your life.  And you may claim it at any time.
    Third, there is the sufficiency of the promise.  “According to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  This is God’s way of saying, “You can always come back for a second helping.  There’s plenty more where that came from.”  Do you ever worry that you might be asking too much from the Lord?  It is not possible to do that.  We are like children with a plastic pail trying to drain the Atlantic Ocean.  After we have done our best, the ocean is still there, untouched by our efforts.  So it is with God. He will supply what we need not according to our resources—which are limited and finite—but according to his riches in Christ—which are unlimited and infinite. In this promise we come to an ocean without a bottom or shore.
In Christ our Lord,
  Pastor Brown N
https://youtu.be/xhkoUQ7HdIQ

Brown's Daily Word 6/24/15

Praise the Lord for this day.  Praise the Lord for all the days the Lord gives us on earth to love Him and to serve Him.  Every day is a gift full of His blessings.  Best of all He is with us.  He goes before us.    He goes before as the pillar of fire and and also He goes before as the pillar of clouds. He is our daily manna.  The Lord reminds not freak out, for He is with is and His grace is sufficient for every step of the way.  The moving vans are coming.  They will moving some of the major furniture.  All our daughters and their families are planning to be here for the weekend.  Please pray for them for safe travels.  We are expecting to see you all for the gathering this Saturday at 5:00 PM.  Our friends and family are gearing up in preparation for the food and fellowship.  We praise the Lord for every one who is involved in cooking, in preparing and in making all the arrangements.  The menu will include BBB chicken,  South Carolina pulled pork, coleslaw, Indian Curries , two different Beef Entrees. Lots of desserts, and an ice cream bar.. Lots of vegetables..  We are blessed and loved.  We will meet for our last Wednesday evening gathering with a very special meal at 6:00 PM followed by Bible Study from the letter of Paul to the Philippians.  The day is going to be sunny and stunning. 

    I am planning to continue to post my daily blog.  There will be long interruption because of the move.  Once we get all settled in I will resume my daily blog.  Thank you all who have written from around the corner and around the globe extending your love and grace.  We receive your love and kindness with gratitude and joy.  Please continue to pray for us that we might be able to serve Jesus greater determination and zeal and to finish the race well.  The Lord has blessed us through all of you with so much love and generosity over these years.  We thank you and we thank the Lord from all good and perfect gifts.  Praise the Lord  for His generosity.  Praise the Lord for His transforming power still at work in the world.  In the midst of the darkness and human delusion the light of Jesus shines.  The grace of Jesus falls afresh every day.  The love of the which has no end surrounds us and beckons us  eternally.  In all these things we are more than conquerors in through Him who loved us and who still loves us.

    I love the amazing and spectacular encounter that took place between Jesus our Lord and the chief tax collector of Jericho, the oldest city on earth.   Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus's house.  There are times we have to Invite Jesus into our hearts and into our homes.  There are times Jesus invites Himself and just shows up.  He does not need our permission.  He has prior claim  on our lives.  Do not be surprised if someday Jesus shows up at your doorstep to take over, and your life will be transformed for the better forever.

    Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ home, and the two went to his house  in Jericho, although we don’t hear one single word of what Jesus said to Zacchaeus while in the house together.  In a few moments, Zacchaeus was going to come out of that house a changed man, and we don’t know what Jesus said to him.  

     Zaccheus came out of the front door by himself and addressed the large crowd who finally quiet down.  He said, “I apologize to you folks.  I have been cheating you for years now at the tollbooth.  You know it and so do I.  I have taken advantage of my position.  I’ve gotten richer at your expense.  I apologize.  To make it right, I will pay back each one of you from whom I have stolen.  I will repay you back four times the amount I cheated you.  Yes, each and every one of you.  Also, I am giving half of my goods to the poor of our city.” 

    About that time, Jesus walked out, put his arm around Zacchaeus, and quieted the crowds.  “Today, salvation has come to Zacchaeus’s house.  He has become a true son of Abraham.  I have come to seek and save the lost.  Zacchaeus has been found.”

    Thus ends one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible, about a short little man who climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, a story about a man who was transformed from greedy to generous, from selfish to selfless, from a thieving heart to a thanksgiving heart. 

    Jesus loved Zacchaeus, the biggest sinner in town.  Jesus loved him, and in that love, Zacchaeus was transformed.   Zacchaeus was changed, from being greedy to generous, from selfish to selfless, from a thieving heart to thankful heart.  Short little Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus of Nazareth, the religious superstar, but all those people were in his way.  Cleverly, Zacchaeus looked down the Jericho road and climbed a sycamore tree where he waited, and sure enough, here came Jesus.  There Jesus said:  “Zacchaeus...you come down...for I am coming to your ... heart ... today.”  Amen.

 In Christ,

  Brown 

https://youtu.be/PANiveIKVX0

Brown's Daily Word 6/22/15

Happy summer.  It is the  season to celebrate Jesus and enjoy all His gifts. It is the season to get involved in sowing seeds.  It is the season to delve in to the great  out doors with endless beauty and amazing grace.   The Lord Blessed us with an amazing Sunday.  It was great to be in the House of the Lord for one more time.  The youth of the church led the worship.  The Lord blessed us all. The music and the message were anointed.  I had a great fathers' day. . . Talked to my daughters.  We had fun reminiscing our days, sharing, and doing life together.  My younger brother Caleb prepared an Indian feast in the evening.  All our families joined to celebrate and feast.  Thanks be to Jesus.
    One of the readings for yesterday was taken from 1 Samuel 17, the classic story of young David facing giant Goliath, unafraid, undaunted.  David’s father, Jesse, wanted to get a report from the battlefield so he decided to send David with some food for his brothers.  Actually, it was quite a hefty load—five pounds of roasted grain, ten loaves of bread, ten cheeses.  It’s 18 miles from Bethlehem to the Elah Valley.  David ran all the way.

    David arrived just as Goliath came out to make his daily challenge.  By this time the routine was getting old.  Goliath came out, made a few threats, cursed the men of Israel, and then went back to his fellow Philistines.  Little did he know, but this time things would be different.  David knew nothing of this giant Goliath and his challenge, but he was excited to be on the battlefield and away from the sheep, so he asked, “What’s going on?  Why doesn’t somebody take care of that loud-mouth?”  In verse 25: “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel.  Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (I Samuel 17:26).     I love the connotation, “The armies of the living God.”  He did not speak of “the armies of Saul” or “the armies of Israel.”  That makes all the difference in the world. 

    The soldiers responded by saying, “Do you see that guy?  He’s like a mountain out there.  You wouldn’t last five seconds.”  Yes, David saw him, but he understood that Goliath was not only defying Israel, but he was defying Israel’s God.  David looked at life differently.  While Israel saw Goliath as an immovable object, David saw him from God’s point-of-view.  David was no match for Goliath but when that uncircumcised Philistine took on God, he got in over his head.  David saw Goliath but he also saw God, and that made all the difference.

    Before David could go after Goliath, he had to convince the doubters.  The first one was his older brother Eliab who questioned David’s motives: “Why have you come down here?  With whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert?  I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle” (I Samuel 17:28).  Eliab’s problem was two-fold.  First, he was both a jerk and a coward.  He could not stand the thought that his kid brother could do something he could not and would not do.  David answered in the words of younger brothers and sisters everywhere: “Now what have I done?” (verse 31).

    David still he wasn’t ready to go fight Goliath.  Word came to Saul that at last a man has been found, but when Saul finds out it was David, he could not believe it. To Saul, David was only a child with no chance in the world that he could beat Goliath.  He said to David, “You are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”  David responded, “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.  The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (I Samuel 17:36-37).

    Behind these brave words lies an important truth: Every giant in our path is also in God’s path if we  are going in God’s direction.  God sends giants in our path on a regular basis, first, to see if we will run or fight. Second, to allow us an opportunity to honor our God. 

    So it was that David strode into battle with only his staff and sling.  As he headed down the slope, he paused at the creek bed to pick up five smooth stones.  By this time David was approaching Goliath while, behind his shoulder, the whole army  watched.  As he walked, Goliath got bigger and bigger and bigger.  Pretty soon some Philistine saw David and all of the Philistines start laughing.  Before they could fight, there was one more thing they had to do.  In single combat, the fighters would first yell at each other, sort of an Old Testament version of trash talking.  Goliath said to David, “Come on over here and I’ll feed you to the birds and the beasts.”

     David responded in verses 45-47 with one of the great statements of faith in all the Bible, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.  Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

    Then David began to swing the sling round and round and, at the perfect moment, he released the stone, which hit Goliath between the eyes and lodged in his forehead.  Goliath never knew what hit him.  Such a thing had never entered his mind before.  With a mighty crash he fell to the ground.  Verse 50, “So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.”

    David had promised to cut off his head but he didn’t have a sword.  He used Goliath’s own sword to complete the task.  The soldiers on both sides could not believe their eyes.  From the north end of the valley, the men of Israel are cheering, whooping, hollering.  It had become the most one-sided duel in history and Israel’s greatest military victory. All because one man saw life from God’s perspective.  A whole nation was saved, revived, and energized because a young shepherd dared to see life from the top down.  David was a nobody when he arrived early in the morning, but by sundown he was a national hero.  For that one act of bravery, he was enshrined forever in history.  Never again would he be overlooked or taken for granted.
    Goliath was actually defying the God of Israel.  What appeared to be a purely military conflict turns out to be a spiritual conflict as well.  We may face exactly that kind of conflict today.  In fact, there are numerous warnings in the New Testament to expect opposition from the world, the flesh and the devil. Let us  Consider Acts 14:22, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”  The whole Christian life is one battle after another and most of us will face a whole army of giants before the story is fully told.  

    Sometimes we will find ourselves in situations where  we find ourselves alone, facing a giant. A giant is any situation in our path which blocks the way God wants us to go.  It might be a person who opposes us or it might be a combination of circumstances which when taken together block us from doing what God wants done.  It may be an impossible situation at work or at home.  It may be a financial difficulty or a broken relationship.  It may be a task before us  that we know we  can’t handle.  It may be a dream that seems unreachable.  Giants by definition are enormous, threatening, intimidating.  Whenever we stand up to a giant and fight him in the name of the Lord, mighty miracles begin to take place.  There are still giants in the land and God is looking for some Davids.

In Christ,

 Pastor Brown.

 https://youtu.be/DMZ8D6nTKhg