Brown's Daily Word 8-1-08

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this first day of August. Praise the Lord for this first Friday of August. Praise the Lord for the first Sunday of this new month. As we get ready for the Lord's Day, I am reflecting on Hebrews 13:12-15, where it is written, "And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood... Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name." Praising God is easy when everything is good and working out well. It’s a lot tougher when the world is crashing around you. Matthew Henry, a British scholar famous for his commentary on the Bible, was once attacked up by thieves who stole his wallet. After the incident he wrote in his diary, "Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed."
The author of Hebrews calls upon to praise God for the hope we have – even in the middle of everything going wrong. He speaks of the “Sacrifice of Praise”.In the Hebrew the word altar means “a place of slaughter or sacrifice”. The altar was a place where the Israelites carried out their spiritual rituals and religious practices of offering up some type of sacrifice to God as a form of worship. All through the Book of Hebrews there has been but one message, that the new way of Jesus is better than the old way of Moses. The new way of the covenant of grace is better than the old way of covenant of law. Now we read that we are to worship at a new altar – not with sacrifices of dead animals but with the sacrifice of praise – the fruit of our lips. The sacrifice of praise refers to a place where we can come and be with God as we fellowship with him. Our Altar of Worship is a place of Safety. "Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Hebrews 13:1-3 We are called to a life of sacrifice." Rick Warren’s wife Kay has cancer. [He wrote "The Purpose Driven Life] Rick sends out a letter every week through his web site, and a recent one said, “So many of you have asked about Kay’s progress in her treatment for cancer, so we wanted to give you an update. We are a little over halfway through her 12- week chemo-regimen. Yesterday she had a great day at the hospital until the chemo effects kicked in, and she quickly deteriorated into misery and major nausea. The rest of the day was very rough as nurses tried to ease her pain. Today, Kay feels wiped out from all the meds they’ve given her, along with the expected fatigue and nausea from the chemo. I’ve kept all visitors away, so the room is quiet for hours. The less going on, the better it is for her. "Between caring for Kay’s basic needs, I sit quietly and think a lot and thank God for my wife, and God’s amazing invention of marriage. With all its ups and downs and “in sickness and health,” I’m certain that marriage is God’s primary tool to teach us unselfishness, sensitivity, sacrifice, and mature love. I want to thank you for your prayers for Kay. My wife is the love of my life, and this is what God intended families to do - to care for each other in need, even if it means cutting back your ministry for a season. I’d want every other husband in ministry to do the same if the situation arose in his family. God blesses us when we keep our commitments to each other." In Genesis 8:20-22 we read of an altar that Noah built to worship God after the flood had destroyed the earth. Here at this altar God spoke to Noah and gave His entire creation a promise. “Then Noah build an altar to the Lord . . . never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.”
At one time Howard Hughes was the richest man in the world. All he ever really wanted in life was more. He wanted more money, so he parlayed inherited wealth into a billion-dollar pile of assets. He wanted more fame, so he broke into the Hollywood scene and soon became a filmmaker and star. He wanted more sensual pleasures, so he paid handsome sums to indulge his every sexual urge. He wanted more thrills, so he designed, built, and piloted the fastest aircraft in the world. He wanted more power, so he secretly dealt political favors so skillfully that two US presidents became his pawns. All he ever wanted was more. He was absolutely convinced that more would bring him true satisfaction. Unfortunately, history shows otherwise. He concluded his life emaciated; colorless; sunken chest; fingernails in grotesque, inches-long corkscrews; rotting, black teeth; tumors; innumerable needle marks from his drug addiction. Howard Hughes died believing the myth of more. He died a billionaire junkie, insane by all reasonable standards. (Bill Hybels in Leadership, Vol. X #3 Summer, 1989, p38). God’s promise to us is simple - You will never be alone! The altar of our worship is a place of trust where we rest on his promise to always be there for us . . . this faithfulness is our sacrifice of praise and the fruit of our lips. Our altar of worship is a place of testimony. In April 1998, a series of tornadoes ripped through the southern part of the United States. The day after one of the storms had hit, the NPR program, "All Things Considered" aired a story about a congregation called the Church of the Open Door. Their church building had been destroyed the previous day. Terrified children had been in a choir rehearsal at the time of the storm. When the pastor saw the storm coming, he quickly gathered all the children in the churches main hallway. There they huddled together as the winds ripped the church apart. In an effort to calm the children’s fears, the pastor had led them in singing, “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” Although some of the children were hurt, miraculously no one was killed. The most penetrating part of the broadcast was the report of a little girl who said, “While we were singing, I saw angels holding up the hallway. But the winds were so strong that the angels shouted, “We need help!” and some more angels came to help.” That little girl will never forget what she saw, and she knows that angels are watching over the little children, and that they are precious in Jesus sight. Their last breath was and ours is to be a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of their lips and of our lips.

In Christ,
Brown


This weekend our local area will be holding its annual Spiedie Fest, held at Otseningo Park near Route 81. Part of the Spiedie Fest will be a "Hope Tent", a setting for worship, prayer, music, and praise. Stop in and be blessed.
Please join us tonight by turning in to channel 4 at 7 p.m.
Beginning next Saturday, August 9, we will be having a Saturday evening service, with worship being led by Jeff and Keisha Blaine.
Laureen and Alice arrived home yesterday, with Alice at the wheel of a 14 foot U-Haul (scary!)