Brown's Daily Word 12-19-07

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this wonderful season. Praise the Lord for the wonderful and Holy Birth of our Savior and Lord, who is Holy, meek and mild, and He is the Lion of Judah, who breaks every chain. I love to read the poignant and powerful prophecies regarding our Savior and Lord. Our Lord delivers what He promises because He can. He is able, and He is more than able.
The more I read from His Word the more I get excited about Jesus our Savior and about His coming to the world and the eternal blessings he brought down to the earth of sorrow, sin and suffering. He is Emmanuel, the God with us. The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. In translating Revelation 21, Eugene Peterson makes a wonderful rendition, "Look, look, God has moved to our neighborhood". Indeed, Jesus has moved to our neighborhood with healing in His wings as read in Malachi.
We have seen so many healing in our lives ... so many of them in so many lives. It is a wonderful privilege, serving Him, and a high honor indeed it is, to worship Him.
Let us go back to Isaiah 35, "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart,‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come . . . .
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool,and the thirsty ground springs of water."
What a magnificent picture of healing and new life Isaiah portrays. It is the very thing that many people long for more than anything else either for themselves or those they love. We spend billions of dollars on health care and healing.
Some time ago I read about Mark Cruikshank, who owns 2 transmission repair shops in the Chicago area. Last year, Debbie, his wife, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and he tried to think of various ways to help. As he watched her suffer he thought, "Are there other venues, medically? Something we haven’t tried or thought of? How can I support her emotionally?" After awhile, he realized praying might be the best thing he could do. He really hadn’t been a praying man himself, and he wasn’t sure that in itself would be enough. So, instead of using his company signs, as he usually did, to advertise the most recent special, he would use those same signs to say: PLEASE PRAY FOR DEBBIE THAT THE CANCER WILL GO AWAY. "
How amazed he was at the response! A stream of customers, many of them strangers, began flowing in to ask how Debbie was doing and to offer their prayers. People of every faith came in. Some customers told Mark that they hadn’t prayed in twenty years, but they would be sure to pray for Debbie. Now emboldened, Mark began to personally ask customers and business colleagues to pray.
As the months passed, Mark noticed a change, not only in his wife, which was certainly there, but in himself. Over the years, he had become rather cynical about human nature. He was like anyone involved in the service industry, considering how grouchy and rude customers can be. You can imagine what it would be like to run a car repair business! I mean, no one likes to get their car fixed or pay the high costs usually involved. As a result, Mark became weary of dealing with such people.
But after he posted the sign about his Debbie’s cancer, the outpouring of love and support from his customers, and even from total strangers, startled him, causing him to think differently. A few days before Christmas, the Cruikshanks got the good news. On Christmas Eve, Mark Cruikshank drove to his shops to post a new sign: PRAISE GOD, DEBBIE IS WINNING HER BATTLE WITH CANCER.
The truth is that not everyone in the wilderness will win a battle like that--Or that dramatically. Not everyone is going to be healed of cancer. But we do know that healing was and is a part of Christ's ministry. We also know that many who came to him were among the most challenged: The hearing impaired, the visually challenged, and the leprous, among others. Thus, the coming of Christ was and is hope for the hopeless and healing for the hurting.
Isaiah wrote," A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." The coming of Jesus brings joy. To be in his presence is heaven.
Pastor Clay Shultz of Alberta told the story of his father, who worked in the oil fields. It was a job meant that he was on call 24/7. Often he would be gone for days at a time. Still, Clay seldom felt cheated or deprived of time with his father. He said that during summers and holidays, their family would often go to where his father was stationed just so everyone could spend time with one another. If they were near a body of water, their father would take them fishing, or if it was a particularly good hunting region, they would hunt.
Though they never went on a vacation in a usual sense, Clay says both mother and father knew how to give their children their full attention. In fact, one of the best Christmas dinners Clay says he ever had was on a work site. The rig was stacked, which means it was not operating over the holidays, but Clay’s father was assigned there in order to ensure its security. Clay, his mother, sister, and older brother, also traveled there to stay with him. On Christmas Day, all they had to eat was turkey sandwiches and chips. And yet, Clay insists it was wonderful for all of them!
Why? How could he find it to be wonderful? It was because they were in the presence of their father, which meant that nothing else could compare in value.
That is what believers often claim they feel in the presence of Jesus. From the beginning His coming has meant, and continues to mean, hope for the hopeless, help for the hurting, and joy.
Christmas itself is all about God actually having come into our world in the form of an infant. His divine act makes a life of wonder and joy possible and accessible to all. Thus, no wonder we can sing during this season, Joy to the world, the Lord is come. " Look. Look, the Lord of life, liberty, and Joy is moving in to our neighborhood". We are not alone; no, we are never alone. He makes the "Communion of saints" a living reality.

Brown

Pray for Janice, Jeremy, Micah, and Simeon, as they drive from Boston to New York State on Friday after work.
Pray for Andy and Sunita as they drive up from DC on Friday, for Jessica and Tom as they drive in from Philadelphia on Friday, and for Laureen, as she drives up from Virginia on Sunday morning.



We are all happy faces as mom is scheduled to come home Thursday
- a note from Roger

Hi everyone!
We just returned from another long day at Dartmouth.
Good news - The twins are doing great!!!! One is 1 lb 10 oz and the other is 1 lb 9oz so they are still sharing and doing well in there.

We met with the doctors and have finally agreed on a plan.
We are going to start daily monitoring at Littleton soon (tomorrow or Monday.) Then I will be admitted into Dartmouth hospital around December 28 for more continual monitoring. Once admitted they will be able to monitor me more frequently and be able to have a better chance of saving the twins if anything happens.

We took a tour of the maternity section and it was nice. It will be hard living there for an extended period of time but we'll have to make the best of it. We're hoping the twins will be fine with no problems until mid to end of February so if all goes well I will be there for a while.

Our last stop was the David's house (a big house nearby for family to stay.) David's house was awesome - I was choked up for most of the time there because it was perfect for Eliana. I think she will adjust very well there because it is a huge beautiful house with lots of family rooms, food and toys. She said she wanted to come back to play there and that was what Patrick and I were hoping for.

Please continue to keep the twins and us in your prayers. We are about to start the whirlwind part of this experience. We are really glad to have peace in our hearts that God will take care of us and we keep handing concerns over to him. Thanks for all of your support and we'll keep you posted if anything else happens.
Love,
Cori (a young mom on maternity bed rest )

"Walt is having foot surgery on Friday 12/21 at 1:30 at Lourdes. He'll be off of work for 4-6 weeks because it's his right foot. "