Praise the Lord for this new day. The live concert by the Continentals Brass and Voices last night was a great blessing. The singers and the musicians were gifted, talented, and anointed. We are all refreshed, blessed, and filled. It was a great thrill to see once more some of the young people who have been here the past years for concerts. It was wonderful to reconnect with them. Praise the Lord for our church families who hosted these young people in their homes.
I attended a funeral service this morning for Tom Rushmer. Tom was a former New York State trooper. His granddaughter spoke during the service, and one of his younger sisters shared about her brother. What a great blessing he was to his family and friends. The pastor shared that when we walk with Jesus, the Lord, we never walk alone. When we love the Lord and live in Him we will never die alone.
Thomas Chalmers once said, "Live for something. Do good and leave behind you a monument of virtue that the storm of time can never destroy. Write your name in kindness, love, and mercy on the hearts of thousands you come in contact with year by year; you will never be forgotten. No, your name, your deeds will be as legible on the hearts you leave behind as the stars on the brow of evening. Good deeds will shine as the stars of heaven."
The late great hymnist, Rev. Frederick William Faber (1814 - 1863), once said, "To fill a little space because God wills it; to go on cheerfully with the petty round of little duties, little avocations; to accept unmurmuringly a low position, to be misunderstood, misrepresented, maligned, without complaint, to smile for the joys of others when the heart is aching, to banish all ambition, all pride, and all restlessness, in a single regard to our Saviour’s work; he [or, she] who does this is a greater hero than he [or, she] who for an hour storms a beach, or for one day rushes onward undaunted in the flaming front of shot and shell. His [or, her] works will follow him [or, her]. He [or, she] may be no hero to the world, but he [or, she] is one of God’s heroes!"
German Lutheran theologian and martyr, the Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 - 1945), wrote, "I believe that [Almighty] God can and will bring good out of evil, even out of the greatest evil. For that purpose, He needs men [and, women] who make the best use of everything. I believe that God will give us all the strength we need to help us resist in all time of distress. But He never gives it in advance, lest we should rely on ourselves and not on Him alone. A faith such as this should allay all our fears for the future. I believe that even our mistakes and shortcomings are turned to good account, and that it is no harder for God to deal with them than with our supposedly good deeds. I believe that God is no timeless fate, but that He waits for and answers sincere prayers and responsible actions."
What a way to live in Jesus and for the sake of His Kingdom,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twuLr5rQmp0
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