Brown's Daily Word 6-30-09

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this bright and beautiful, rain-washed morning. Alice arrived safely yesterday from Washington, DC. She had spent a few days there with our nieces, visiting Sunita and Andy.
We are happy to announce the engagement of our daughter, Jessica, to Tom Ross. They became engaged on Saturday. Jessica and Tom are both graduates of Grove City College, where they met and were friends. Jessica lives in an apartment in Philadelphia, which she shared with her cousin, Jovita, until recently. Tom shares a house with one of his buddies from college. Tom is a financial consultant with Vanguard Financial Services and Jessica is a special programs coordinator with Teach America, Inc. Both attend the Vineyard Church in Philadelphia. Jessica will be celebrating her 25th birthday tomorrow.
Janice and Jeremy celebrated their 9th wedding anniversary on June 25. Their little boy, Simeon, will be turning 2 one week from tomorrow. Janice and the kids are planning to join us this weekend to help celebrate Jess and Tom's engagement. We will also be having a little party to celebrate Simeon's birthday.
The reading for last Sunday was taken from Mark 5. This chapter contains the record of three miracles Jesus performed. One was in the gentile territory and the other two were in the Jewish region. Jesus cast out demons from a man who was possessed and tormented by many demons and who lived in the tombs. Jesus drove the demons away, into the sea, by His word of command. Later Jesus, our Lord, had returned to Capernaum, where a great crowd gathered around Him. A Jewish leader came and fell at the feet Jesus and begged Him to come to place His hands on his daughter who lay on her death bed.
Jesus was on the move, but He was interrupted by the touch of a woman who had suffered for 12 years. Suffering for 12 years she was probably very discouraged, very isolated, and bankrupt, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. As a last resort she came to Jesus . She touched the hem of His garment. According the Jewish ceremonial laws she was unclean and untouchable, yet she reached out and touched Jesus. In a deeper way Jesus, the great and winsome physician, touched her and made her whole again. He restored her. Jesus, the Christ, is still in the business of touching the untouchable! We may feel like we are too dirty or too wicked for Jesus, the Christ. May He touch us with His forgiveness today and cleansing today.
I read about a man living in London during the 19th Century, Joseph Carey Merrick, (1862 - 1890) who was terribly disfigured by neurofibromatosis. His own family rejected him because of his hideous appearance! Sir Frederick Treves (1853 - 1923), a prominent British surgeon found Joseph working in a circus as a sideshow freak! Dr. Treves, in August 1866, brought Joseph Carey Merrick to a London hospital and began to treat him as a person instead of some sideshow oddity! He provided books for Joseph and soon discovered that he was a kind, intelligent person. Joseph Carey Merrick lived in that London hospital until his death!
After a newspaper reported on Joseph’s progress, Dame Madge Kendal came to visit him. Dame Kendal (1848 - 1935), born Margaret Shafto Robinson, was a talented English actress and theater manage, a beautiful woman of high society, and a committed Christian. On one visit she presented Joseph Carey Merrick with a copy of William Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet." He felt like an ugly beast cowering before a fairy princess. He was at such a loss for words that he opened the book and began to read. His voice was squeaky and broken as he read the words from the Second Act: "See! How she leaned her cheek upon her hand that I might touch her cheek." As he read that line, Dame Madge Kendal slipped quietly into the seat beside him! She responded with the words of Juliet that she had memorized from her years in the theater. Joseph read and she recited the rest of the act together! When it was done, Dame Madge Kendal leaned over and kissed the swollen, leathery cheek of Joseph Carey Merrick! Dr. Frederick Treves later recorded that from that moment on, Joseph Carey Merrick was a changed man!
Though we may not have a physically disfiguring disease, sin has disfigured each and every one of us until even our righteousness is as filthy rags! Compared to the perfect holiness of Almighty God, our sinful lives are hideous and grotesque. However, the Lord Jesus Christ leaned over at Calvary and gifted us with the mercies of Heaven and since that day none of us have ever been the same!

Blessed be His Name.
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef9jKHwHueQ


This for those who live in our vicinity:Mark your calendars for a couple of very special events.
On Saturday, July 18, 2009 there will be a free and informative workshop called, "Heaven Now, A Marriage Seminar". The seminar will be from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM, and will be held at the First United Methodist Church at 53 McKinley Avenue in Endicott and sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church. The speaker for the event is Richard P. Larson, the Executive Pastor of the Sierra Bible Church in Sonora, California. Lunch will be provided, and there will be daycare for infants and children up to 12 years of age. Your are encouraged to pre-register by calling 748-6329.

On Thursday, July 23 at 7 PM the Continental Singers will be in concert at the First United Methodist Church at 53 McKinley Avenue in Endicott. The program will be an energized, uplifting program bringing glory and honor to our Lord. Be there and be blessed.


Lost
A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." The woman below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."
"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is, technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The woman below responded, "You must be in Management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."