Brown's Daily Word 6-8-07

Good Morning,
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. It is going to be very warm and even hot here in New York. The mercury should be reaching 90 degrees F. The Franklin Graham Festival will begin this evening at 7 p.m. There is an explosive anticipation in the air. The Lord is going before us trailblazing the area and drawing many people to Himself: boys and girls, young men and young women, old men and old women to the kingdom. The Lord is always going before us paving the way. He wants us simply to show up so that we may behold His glory and experience His grace.
Please pray for the entire team, including all the leaders and workers, that the Lord would anoint the preaching, the listening, and the counseling. The Lord is going to heal the land and restore His people. He will bring many sons and daughters to the Kingdom. Jesus came to set the captives free. He came to give sight to the blind. He came to give life to those who were dead in sin. He came to rescue the perishing.
During the early days of the Church, the Lord rescued a young man. He lived a life of debauchery and sin. His mother was praying for him faithfully and fervently. The Lord heard the prayer of a mother and rescued her son, who became one of the greatest theologians of the early church. He is known as St Augustine. Augustine's life as a young man was characterized by loose living and a search for answers to life's basic questions. He followed various philosophers, only to become disillusioned with their teachings. For nine years he was associated with the Manichean sect, but he gradually became aware that Manicheism was unable to provide satisfactory answers to his probing questions.
At this time Augustine was teaching rhetoric in Milan. He went to hear the preaching of Saint Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. At first he went only to hear Ambrose's eloquent style of speaking, but the Bishop's preaching led Augustine to a new understanding of the Bible and the Christian Faith.
Some time in the year 386, Augustine, his mother Monica, his son Adeodatus, and several friends, were spending time in Cassiciacum, a small village near Milan. While outdoors, Augustine heard the voice of a child singing a song, the words of which were, "Pick it up and read it. Pick it up and read it." He thought at first that the song was related to some kind of children's game, but could not remember ever having heard such a song before. Then, realizing that this song might be a command from God to open and read the Scriptures, he located a Bible, picked it up, opened it and read the first passage he saw. It was from the Letter of Paul to the Romans. Augustine read:
Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy. Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. --Romans 13: 13-14
Reading this scripture, Augustine felt as if his heart were flooded with light. He turned totally away from his life of sin. He was Baptized by Ambrose during the Easter Vigil April 24, 387. His friend Alypius and his son Adeodatus were Baptized at the same time. Later, reflecting on this experience, Augustine wrote his famous prayer: You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. He went on to become a powerful influence on the spirituality and theology of the Christian Church.
Jesus must love people for He made so many of them. He desires and dreams that all of them will come to the saving knowledge of His redeeming love. He delights in His own. He knows them by name. He throws a massive party when one turns from sin to the Savior, when one makes an U turn to the Lord of life and resurrection, when One says no to Satan says yes to the Savior in full surrender and abandonment. Indeed, what a wonderful change is being wrought in a believer's heart when Jesus comes to be in resident there.
We are blessed with four beautiful daughters who are blessed with keen minds and warm hearts. By the grace of the Lord all of them love Jesus as Lord and Savior and serve Him as their King and Master. They have a deep passion for Him and are focused on glorifying Him. Our third daughter, Laureen, went forward to give her life to Jesus during the Billy Graham crusade that was held in Syracuse. She was a little girl. The Lord Jesus honored her childlike faith and has kept her in the grip His grace. She now lives in Washington. She drove home yesterday to attend the Franklin Graham festival. We are so blessed. Thank you Jesus.
We also have a couple in our church who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior during the Billy Graham Crusade which was held in Madison Square Garden. They also are parents of four daughters. One of their daughters accepted the Lord during that Crusade. They all have been serving the Lord faithfully and joyfully since that time. The couple are Mr. and Mrs. Al Binder. They have been married 57 years. They are the salt of the earth.
It is a wonderful testimony to the work of grace of the Lord that those who come to trust Jesus during mass evangelism such as the Franklin Graham Festival remain to faithful to Jesus and to His church. We are praying for a great and mighty Move of the spirit during these days of the Festival and the preaching of the Word, that many would come to Jesus and enter His Kingdom.
All Hail the Power Of Jesus' Name,
Brown
The bus leaves our church parking lot on Friday and Saturday at 4:30 PM and Sunday at 1:30 PM. Come, share, & rejoice!
Reminder: Food Collection at Festival

Friends,
Thank you for the prayers for what God is going to do during the NY/Penn Franklin Graham Festival. As a reminder the Love-In-Action Committee of the Festival will be collecting food for the local food pantries during the Festival. There will be trucks in front of the Binghamton University Event Center and downtown at the Binghamton Arena. Please have everyone from your church bring at least one can good if possible so that we can bless the food pantries and many families.

Every month more than 7,500 people need food assistance in Broome County alone. So far through Festival events we have collected more than 11,800 items weighing almost 5 tons and that has been distributed to 37 food pantries from Montrose, PA to Oneonta, to Owego and throughout the Binghamton area. We have the opportunity to do even more through the Festival if you bring non-perishable food items and encourage others to do the same. Thank you so much for your participation and prayers. Also, please remember to continue to pray for those on your Operation Andrew list.

Sincerely,

Love-In-Action Committee
NY/Penn Franklin Graham Festival
Office 607-584-9370

Brown's Daily Word

Here we are, on the verge of participating in the Franklin Graham Festival to be held here in the Event Center of Binghamton University. They are forecasting that it will be 90 F tomorrow. We are trusting and anticipating that the Holy Spirit will come upon the event with fire and wind and will ignite that place and draw thousands to Jesus. We are excited and thrilled.
Billy Graham once said, “The evangelistic harvest is always urgent. The destiny of men and of nations is always being decided. Every generation is strategic. We are not responsible for the past generation, and we cannot bear the full responsibility for the next one; but we do have our generation. God will hold us responsible as to how well we fulfill our responsibilities to this age.” Jesus said it this way, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37) We have the wrong perspective when we are thinking that the harvest is not plentiful, when we are thinking that no one is interested in spiritual things.There are always people who are searching for God, and our God is always drawing people to Him. There are more and more people inhabiting this earth. Paul declared in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of every one who believes.” Hebrews 4:12 reminds us, “…the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Isaiah 55:11 says, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which it sent it.” Having found Christ, all of us have found the greatest person. In Christ we have found the solution to all our problems and the supply of all of our needs. In him we have found something to live for and die for. The early Christians were ignited by the fire and passion for Jesus to share His good news with others. They had found Jesus and there was no way they were going to keep it to themselves.Not even when punished and promised further punishment would they be silenced. They said things like, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20) What a wonderful example they have left us. “They never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” (Acts 5:42) Jeremiah said, “his word is in my heart like a fire…I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” (Jer. 20:9). Having the right kind of passion begins with appreciating what God has done for us, and then wanting to tell others what God can do for them. Ultimately, what we want to do is to point them to Jesus. Jesus is the Savior and the source of salvation. Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” The story of Jesus is truly a compelling story. It is a story of love and sacrifice. It is the story of a man with a mission and unequalled character and courage.I am convinced that if we simply tell people the story of Jesus, he will capture their hearts. So, what is the good news that we must be faithful in sharing? It is the news of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. (1 Corinthians 15:1-5) Implied in this gospel is that fact that God loves every single one of us and that he values us enough for his son to make the extreme sacrifice of himself for us. The good news is that God is not going to count people’s sins against them if they are in Christ, for being in Christ means that we are new creations. The old has gone and the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth, and part of what he meant by that is that we, being salty, can make others thirsty. We make them thirsty by telling our story illustrating what God can do in a person’s life. Our God is so faithful, and he calls us to be faithful. One aspect of our faithfulness is being faithful in sharing the good news about Jesus. There is a crisis of confidence in our country. Faith gives us the courage to face the present with confidence and the future with expectancy. I often draw inspiration from little William Carey, who became known as the Father of modern missions. His motto was "Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God." For forty-seven years he pioneered the modern missionary movement in India, translating the New Testament into 44 languages and providing a model for indigenous leadership training around the world. Several years ago (1985) a celebration took place at a municipal pool in New Orleans. The party around the pool was held to celebrate the first summer in memory without a drowning at the New Orleans City pool. In honor of the occasion, 200 people gathered, including 100 certified lifeguards. As the party was breaking up and the four lifeguards on duty began to clear the pool, they found a fully dressed body in the deep end. They tried to revive Jerome Moody, 31, but it was too late. He had drowned, surrounded by lifeguards celebrating their successful season. What a tragedy! It is even more tragic when people surrounded by Christians still die and go to hell not knowing Jesus. The early Church was committed to reaching the lost for Christ. We need to raise the bar in our commitment toward reaching others as well.

Please continue to pray for Sunita, who is still in Africa. She is flying back home from Africa on Saturday.
Laureen is driving home today. She is going to join me in attending the luncheon welcoming Franklin Graham tomorrow.
Jessica and Tom are coming up on Friday evening. Jess, Tom, and Laureen are coming up to attend some Festival activities and to attend their cousin's wedding.
I will be interviewed by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association live on radio this noon.
Praise the Lord for all His blessings! It is wonderful to be alive, to know the Savior, and to be part of His eternal Kingdom.

May Jesus Christ be praised!
Brown

Brown's Daily Word 6-6-07

Here we are on the eve of the Franklin Graham Festival to be held here in the Event Center at Binghamton University. Some of the prominent Christian bands, like Point of Grace and the Third Day, will be in concert prior to the proclamation of the Gospel by Franklin Graham. Jesus will be proclaimed as the Savior of the world. Jesus is indeed the light of the world. He is King of nations and Lord of all. He is Eternal and yet very contemporary. He is divine and celestial but yet very earthy -- the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. He is the Risen Lord and yet He is Man of suffering acquainted with grief. Franklin Graham will be proclaiming the same Gospel that was proclaimed by Peter over two thousand years ago. As we walk through the Book of Acts we see in Acts 3 and 4 that Peter and John were instruments of the risen Savior to heal a man who had been lame his entire life. This man gets up and runs into the temple praising God. As you might expect, a great crowd gathers and Peter begins to preach. In this sermon Peter the preacher points out that Jesus Christ is the Author of life [3:15]; He was raised from the dead [3:15]: He fulfilled a 1500 year-old prophecy [3:22]: He is coming again [3:21]: and all the families of the earth are blessed through Him [3:25]. Jesus Christ has global impact! His Gospel Has Global focus. For the Lord is global in His love and in His grace, For God so loved the world:This was his message. When we come to Acts 4, we find that the Jewish officials arrested them for preaching Jesus. After spending the night in jail, these believers were called to stand before the religious leaders of Judaism. In defense of their actions, these men—now filled and anointed with the Holy Spirit—proclaim the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ. They were being asked to give up Jesus, but they refused. Look at verse 12, : “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” Today you and I need to feel the impact of this audacious and explosive and astounding claim—“There is salvation in no one else.” We need to wrestle with this claim because you and I are being asked in many subtle ways to give up Jesus for a greater religious cause. The supremacy of Jesus is declared exclusively. Our world hates this word. Carl Sandburg said that the word “exclusive” is the worst word in the English language. Yet, I want you to know that Jesus Christ Himself made many exclusive claims. Just look at John’s gospel. Jesus claimed to be the eternal God [Jn. 1:1; Jn. 8:58]. He claimed the exalted position of judging the world [Jn. 5:22]; and He claimed to be the only Savior of the entire human race [Jn. 14:6; Jn. 10:9]. Do you see why Peter made his exclusive claim in our text today? Jesus Christ is not a local god vying for the affection of other nations. He is the one true God who has been declared to be the exclusive Savior of the entire world! There is only one person—one name in the whole universe that has the power to save and bring a person to heaven to live with God forever. That name is Jesus! The supremacy of Jesus is declared inclusively also. Christians are bashed because they preach that Jesus is the only one who can save. Here is the other side of the world’s half-truth. Jesus Christ is the exclusive Savior who inclusively invites the entire world to be saved. Take His word in John 3:16—“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Anyone can be saved if they come to Jesus. Do you see now how the supremacy of Jesus is declared both exclusively and inclusively? The question is this—will you allow the culture to cause you to give up Jesus? Our culture can be slick at times. Subtly, it moves against the church of Jesus Christ with deadly effectiveness and stealth. Take the following examples for instance. Jason is a 38-year-old single economics professor in California. In response to a question asking why he didn’t attend church, he replied, “I know you don’t like to hear this but I really don’t see how Jesus can be the only way to heaven. I definitely believe in God, but there are just too many people in the world who don’t believe in Jesus for me to think that God doesn’t love them too.” This is pure relativism. Based on this philosophy, one concludes that it makes no difference what you believe. There are no absolute truths. What is true for me may not be true for you and vice versa. Relativism distorts the supremacy of Jesus, but there are other distortions also. "One sees the totality of God’s full revelation through all religions." This too distorts the supremacy of Jesus and brings Him down to the level of Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, and others. Was Peter right when he made his bold claim? Let me tell you, the supremacy of Jesus is defended by reason. One of the rules of logic states that a truth is true all the time. Truth never contradicts itself. Two plus two is four whether you live in America or Thailand. We have already seen how Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh. He claimed to have the ability to forgive sins, to heal the sick, to raise the dead, and He did all these things. Now, either Jesus Christ was telling the truth or He was a liar. You can’t have it both ways. Therefore, you are not left with the option of lowering Jesus down to the level of other religious leaders. Either you believe Him or you don’t. You can’t patronize God! Notice, the supremacy of Jesus is defended by revelation. The God of the Bible does not buy into the culture’s distortions of truth. He never has. Look at the following verses: Exodus 20:3; 1 Kings 18:21; Isaiah 44:6; 1 Timothy 2:5; and 1 Jn. 5:12. Clearly the Bible teaches that there is only one God and one Savior that can reconcile sinful man to the Holy God. Make no mistake about it. The pressure to give up the supremacy of Jesus is increasing. The early believers were forced to deal with this challenge. For them it was either religion or Jesus…Caesar or the Lord Jesus. The point is this—you must deal with this pressure. You can’t avoid it, because it is only going to get worse. Jesus is the truth. He said it and He backed it up with His life, death, and resurrection. You have only two choices here. Either you receive Him as your personal Lord and Savior or you reject Him outright. There is no middle ground. He invites you to believe Him and trust Him. In the face of antagonism, do you have the courage to stand for Jesus unashamedly? Listen to Paul’s word to the believers in Philippi, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.” [Phil. 1:27-28] Jude said that we must contend earnestly for the faith. This takes courage. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! Ask God for courage today. Our calling is to get this truth of Jesus to our neighbors and the nations. Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven by which we or anyone else can be saved. Will you tell others about Jesus? Jesus is the one and only Savior and Lord of this world. This is the truth. Let us Honor Him with our lives and our lips. Let us Praise Him with our whole heart. He is worthy! He is worthy! He is worthy! “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [Phil. 2:9-11] Give Him glory! Give Him glory! Give Him glory! He is Jesus Christ, the one and only!