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