Brown's Daily Word 8/30/13

   Praise the Lord for all His promises.  Praise the Lord that He is the Resurrection and the Life.  Praise the Lord for the life and witness of my mother-in-law Cora Maynard.  She went to be with Jesus on Thursday, August 28.  She was 86 years of age.   

    I first met my mother-in-law for the first time 40 years ago on the 5th of September, 1974.  She was a committed and faithful servant of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Together with her husband David Maynard, my father-in-law, they served the Lord joyfully and fervently.  The never missed Sunday worship.  In fact Sunday was the great day of the week as it was the Lord's day.  Mom played the organ for worship every Sunday.  She was the Sunday school teacher of the teen girls. She was involved in the mission outreach of the church globally.  She and my father-in- law loved the pastors and the missionaries.  Their home was frequently opened to house guest speakers and singers.  They had a ministry of hospitality which they eagerly extended to a great number of persons.  They also gave sacrificially and joyfully for the work of the kingdom.  They were blessed with two daughters and three sons. 

    The Maynard families were mostly dairy farmers.  Three farms were purchased by my wife's paternal grandfather William Maynard, who had migrated to America from Somerset county, England in 1906.  The three adjacent farms stayed in the family, with the David Maynard farm sandwiched between the other two. 

    Cora Maynard (Tiffany) was born Cora Bell Northrup on March 13, 1928.  After the untimely death of her young father, she and her three brothers were raised by the Ross family of North Norwich.  At 15 she hired out to be a live-in housekeeper in Smyrna.  While living there she attended a local youth group at church and met her future husband, David John Maynard.  They were married just one week after her high school graduation and were utterly devoted to each other until she was widowed in 1980.  Though she would have liked to become a nurse she was instead a wife, companion, co-worker, and much, much more, raising a family of 3 boys and  2 girls.  She loved her crafts, from knitting to quilting, to plastic canvas or crocheting.  There was also much music, singing, and play in the Maynard household.  Cora had a dimple in her cheek and a twinkle in her eye that spoke to her love of life.   

    My mother-in-law loved to travel, and so took her children on numerous adventures around the country.  In 1998 she joined my wife and I on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Israel.  Then, in 2000, at the age of 72 she joined our family in traveling to Europe for the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany.  At her retirement community in Hamilton, NY she loved to go on day trips and overnight trips to various places.  She delighted in taking pictures on her digital camera and showing them to her friends. 

    My mother-in-law was a devoted wife and loving mom, as well as being a doting grandma and wonderful great-grandma.  She loved her family.  All of our children and the grandchildren were able to visit her a few weeks ago.  Mom Maynard died well.  She died peacefully.  "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints"  Psalm 116:15 

    For those who live in the area the calling hours will be on Monday, September 1 at Burgess/Tedesco Funeral Home on Main Street in Sherburne, NY from 2-5 PM.  A service of death and resurrection will be held a 1 PM on Tuesday at Smyrna Baptist Church, located on Main Street, along NY Route 80.

    In all the world there is only one source of authoritative information about the afterlife, and that is the Bible. The Lord has promised that in heaven there are no tears, there is no sorrow … no regret … no remorse.  Bitterness is gone forever, failure left far behind, suffering redeemed and rewarded.  Many of us remember  the name Chet Bitterman.  He was a Wycliffe missionary in Columbia, taken captive by guerrillas in early 1981.  He was held for 48 days until March 8, when his body was found in Bogota with one bullet through his heart.  Speaking of it later, his father said, “We have eight children.  One is heaven.  Seven are on earth.”
    To the unbeliever such words seem either sentimental or simply incredible.  But to the one who accepts God’s Word, they are nothing less than the sober truth.  If Jesus Christ can be trusted, then heaven is a real place.  If heaven is real, then this life is not the end.  There really is a city “with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” 
    The Bible is filled with promises about heaven.  Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go, I will come back to take you to be with me that you may also be where I am” (John 14:3).  The last two chapters of the Bible are a description of heaven.  Millions of believers have died believing in the reality of heaven.  Romans 8:18 says that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” 
    Several hundred years ago the French philosopher Pascal put forth his famous wager regarding the Christian faith. It’s an imaginary conversation between a Christian and a non-believer. . .  Suppose that atheism is right and Christianity is wrong.  In the end, I have lost nothing by believing in Christ since my faith gives me hope and comfort in this life and the atheist has gained nothing because he believes that death ends all.  But suppose that Christianity is right and atheism is wrong.  Who wins and who loses?  The Christian wins everything because he goes to heaven.  The atheist loses everything because he goes to hell.
    If we are wrong, we lose nothing at all.  If we are right, we go to heaven.  But those who reject Christ run a terrible risk that hell is real because if it is, that’s where they are going.

    "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." T. S. Elliot
In Christ,
 Brown