Brown's Daily Word 12/23/16

 

    Praise the Lord for the beauty of the earth and for the glory of the sky.  He blessed us with a beautiful and almost magical day yesterday.  The hills and the dales, meadows and fields are all clad with snow.  It snowed with gentleness and friendliness almost all day in our area yesterday.  Alice I walked in the early evening - it was almost dark - on the snow clad fields.  We put on our winter garb and walked.  It was a silent night, beautiful and peaceful.  We walked over one mile through the fields and lanes.

     On this day, on December 23, 1973, my dad died and entered into the presence of Jesus our Lord.  My dad was 48 years old.  He was a  farmer, hunter, and outdoors man.  He was fearless, courageous, generous, and kind.  My dad looked forward to and anticipated to celebrate Christmas every year.  He exuded the spirit of " Bishop St Nicholas"  in our home and in our village.  In anticipation of Christmas he took measurements of us - all the children.  He would go to town and buy fabrics and give to the best tailor in town and get our Christmas clothing tailored for us. We, his seven children, would get really excited for Christmas, for we would get to wear new clothing for Christmas.  That is the only gift we got for Christmas every year.  Those clothing were never wrapped. 

    On Christmas day may dad was the main cook. Just before Christmas day  he  went to town to the market for Christmas grocery shopping.  He was so excited  for Christmas.  It was also harvest time.  There was plenty of grain and winter vegetables, along with  free range roosters and capons raised at home for Christmas.  My dad would get up early in the morning before first rooster crow.  We did not have any clocks or watches to keep time so we relied on roosters and our shadows.   He would start cooking making the very special Christmas cakes, traditional, pastries made from rice flower, all home grown.  He made Christmas dinner with chicken as the main meat.  After the food was all prepped, we had Family Christmas worship time with  hymns and reading from Luke 2.  Then we all took baths in the cold water and got dressed up with new clothes and go to church for main service where all Christians from the village gathered for worship.  The worship service was spirited, energetic and anointed. Following the Christmas worship service we went home and shared Christmas dinner.  My dad also served dinner to the villagers who just showed  up without any invitation.  He and my mom would serve them the full meal complete with Christmas cakes and cookies.   The going and coming lasted all afternoon.  It was all festive and celebrative.  My dad and mom and my grand parents who lived with us made Christmas very special, festive.  There was a great spirit of generosity. The more  the merrier was our family motto. 

     I am also thinking this morning of a beautiful and sweet singer of Jesus.  Donna Netherton , She was part of our ministry team.  During every Christmas Eve Service she sang, "All Is Well".  Just before Christmas few years ago she came to visit us.  She spent some time praying with Alice.  A few days after that encounter she died very unexpectedly.  She was in her thirties.  She was a great blessing to the church and to us.  Alice will sing "All Is Well" tomorrow during our Christmas Eve Candle light service at 6:.00 PM.  Please plan to be in the Lord's House wherever you might be celebrating, dancing, rejoicing, giving and receiving. "Joy to the world the Savior is born"'.

      It is going to be a brilliant day here in Central New York.  It is going  to be  sunny and stunning.  The sunlight will make the snow glistening and sparkling.  Alice is having Christmas luncheon with her faculty members today.  She is making one of her signature  dishes for the dinner.  I am making some authentic Indian curries of Chicken and the "Other white Meat".  There is a curry lovers society here in Marathon.  Praise the Lord for all the simple gifts the Lord has blessed us with that we can enjoy them and celebrate with friends and family.  These simple gifts remind us if the Inexpressible Gift that the Lord gave of on Christmas morning.

    I am thanking the Lord for four daughters who love Christmas like their mother does.  They are transmitting those gifts of love, grace, holy imagination, and creativity.  Our oldest, Janice, was born in Corpus Christi, Texas,where the weather is like Orissa India - warm, sunny, and gorgeous in December.  We celebrated her first birthday in Texas.  She is going to celebrate this Christmas with her family in Boston this year.  Sunita, Andy, Gabe, Addie, Asha are driving to New York today.  Jessie, Tom, and Lindy are coming to New York today.  Laureen is also coming to New York today . We all be together for Christmas and for almost a week together.  This will be my last blog for the year possibly.  I will be busy being fabulous grandpa for next week.

    Alice I praise the Lord for you all.  May Jesus bless our gatherings, celebrations, feasting's, sharing, worship, and adoration.  Many of us may be experiencing grief and loss.  May Jesus sanctify and beautify our memories and magnify and intensify our Hope  that we have in Christ.  May He infuse us with Christmas "Comfort and Joy".

    I am enclosing the Nativity story penned down by Dr Luke, who I belive was an OBGYN Specialist.  He records the birth of Jesus with  detailed clarity.  The Nativity Story is so mundane yer so divine.  It is earthy and yet it so divine.  It is  so ordinay and yet so extraordinary and ethereal.

                

Luke 2:1-20King James Version (KJV)

2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. ² (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) ³ And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) ⁵ To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. ⁶ And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. ⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ¹⁵ And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. ¹⁶ And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Man Shall live for evermore because of Christmas day.

  Brown

https://youtu.be/LFBIJgkj_-g

Brown's Daily Word - Christmas Letter 2016

     Merry Christmas to all our friends and family, both far and near!  Yes, indeed!  The season of Advent and Christmas is here once again.  Advent is the season of waiting and we are all eagerly anticipating the celebrations and reunions of this Christmastide.  It is a wondrous, delightful time that brings out the child-like wonder even in adults like us.  When we stroll along the streets of our small village, Brown and I delight in the light displays in “city-center” or along “Candy Cane Lane”.  It is a season of light, which is especially meaningful as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Light of the world.

When I was young I wondered how my mother had enough to do to fill all of her December days.  After all, she was not in school every day as I was.  I had not the faintest idea of how much time it took to shop and wrap, let alone accomplish the day to day chores of a very busy mother of five.  Now, however, I look at my long list of to-do’s and wonder if I could accomplish them all even if I had more wisely started my projects earlier.  How frail the nature of human procrastinators!

My childhood, like many of yours, was so much simpler in so many ways . . . paper chains, trekking outside to pick a 7 ½ blue spruce from the back lot, lights in all the windows and over the dining room archway, bubble lights on the Christmas tree (and figuring out which bulb had fused so that the set could be lit once more), secrets to be kept from everyone, shopping trips to Norwich, the Sears & Roebuck catalog, hiding away to work on sewing projects, going sledding down the big hill, tobogganing over the fields, batches of fresh fudge, making popcorn balls with the ladies of the missionary guild, the church’s Christmas program (I still remember the sock monkey that they made for me when I was on “cradle roll”), the charged atmosphere everywhere . . . and so much more.  It was also a family time, as all joined together in the many events.  The month before Christmas was all this and more – it was a time of great joy, excitation, and expectation.

Advent and Christmas in India, for Brown, was more different still.  There were no Christmas trees, no Santa Claus, yet it was filled with great expectation and sweet anticipation of the best that the Lord Jesus brought down to earth on Christmas day.  Though there were no malls for shopping there were small shops in the town, where tailors made new clothing for the families for Christmas.  The weather was warm, the skies sunny.  The hedges and fences were filled with poinsettias.  It was the season of harvest – both rice and winter vegetables – so there was more than plenty of good food for everyone to celebrate with and to share with others.  On Christmas Eve there would be a Watch-night service, and Christmas morning was filled with making Christmas cakes and cookies with flour from the new crops.  The main service on Christmas morning was before noon, and everyone came on Christmas morning dressed in their best.  The main course for Christmas dinner was capons that had been raised by the family and saved especially for that day. 

How things change though much remains remarkably the same.  This year so much has happened in our small Marathon family.  One of the things that impacted our lives the most is that Brown has had two major surgeries this year.  Strangely similar, both involved an area close to his spine and both surgeries were performed in Boston.  We discovered, in the course of our health adventures this year, the Hope Lodge in Boston (and the one in Worcester, MA).  In both we found a supportive community and established new friendships.  The one benefit in it all was that we were able to spend much time with our grandchildren from Boston.  Micah, (who is becoming a very fine fiddler), instinctively knows how to “work a room” and charm the adults she meets.  Simeon, not so unexpectedly, is a natural with a pool cue or at a foosball table.  Ada loves doing everything the older siblings do – especially Simeon – but especially loves role-playing, puzzles, and making patterns.  Simeon adores his grandpa, while the girls are extra close with their grandmom.  Our dear Janice has been our navigator through the healthcare system in Boston.  Janice, Jeremy, and the whole family have offered a wonderful support system to us in our times of need.  Sunita and Asha, Laureen, and Tom, Jess, and Lindy all came to Boston to help us out.  We are so very grateful.

Last May, as the school year was drawing to a close, Laureen and Sunita came home for Mothers’ Day – well, a week after Mothers’ Day, to be exact.  They came (with two darling little girls tagging along) to help honor me at school, as I was the yearbook honoree for 2015-2016.  That was, quite literally, just about the last thing in the world that I would have expected.  In fact, I had not even planned to go to the auditorium for the ranking ceremony/yearbook dedication. 

When school came to a close in June I headed off to Washington, DC and Brown prepared to journey to India on a short-term mission trip.  “Adventure” struck once again; Brown missed his flight and then suddenly got too sick to make the trip, so he joined me in Washington, DC.  We were there through the Fourth of July, getting plenty of grandchild love and helping Sunita with her three while Andy and Laureen were in India on the mission trip.  The team was able to do some very effective ministry – speaking, singing, and praying in the strong name of Jesus.  All returned blessed, enthused, and eager to serve the Lord in this capacity once again.  We had wonderful days in DC with both Laureen and Sunita. 

We have been able to spend time with each of our daughters in their homes this year, and even went twice to visit Tom, Jess, and Rosalind at their Abington, PA home.  (I think that may be a record for us).  When we next visit we may not even recognize the place, as Tom and Jess are taking on some renovations to three rooms of their house. 

Whether in their homes or ours it is always an incredible joy to be able to spend time with our daughters.  Truly the Lord has blessed us in bringing each one into our lives.  We especially enjoyed some golden days of summer all together in New Berlin, making the walls of the old house ring with laughter. 

At the end of September we flew to Grand Junction, Colorado for our nephew’s wedding.  We had never seen such scenery, with mesas to the North from every viewpoint.  The wedding was a country classic event, with chamber music for the ceremony and line dancing at the reception, with a backdrop of Colorado mesas.  While we were in Colorado we took time to drive the local wine trail.  We also spent a day at Colorado Monument, which is like a mini Grand Canyon, on a day that there were a thousand bicyclists riding through the park, and a day at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah.  It was only a little over an hour away with the 80 mph speed limit on the highway there.  We absolutely loved getting to know another part of our great country first-hand. 

The year 2016 has for us been paved with momentary afflictions, temporary detours, and miniscule setbacks,  yet accompanied with tremendous blessings, surrounded by His amazing grace, surprised by His joy that surpasses human understanding, and propelled by the Holy Spirit.  The Lord has poured upon us His grace to run the race, looking unto Jesus, the pioneer and the finisher of our faith.  He has given us the grace and strength to serve Him in season and out of season in Jesus.  Along this journey He has been more than wonderful.  His grace has been more than sufficient.  His mercy has been marvelous.  Praise the Lord Christmas.  As one of the carols says, “Man shall live forevermore because of Christmas Day.” 

As we walk with Jesus, we begin to realize that what He has said is in fact true, that there is strength in weakness, blessing in brokenness, exaltation in humility, comfort in affliction, and even life in the midst of death.  This is all because of Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor.  Though it is counterintuitive it is full of deep and lasting joy.

         

          “For men are homesick in their homes,

          And strangers under the sun,

          And they lay on their heads in a foreign land

          Whenever the day is done.

          Here we have battle and blazing eyes,

          And chance and honour and high surprise,

          But our homes are under miraculous skies

          Where the Yule tale was begun.

         

          “A Child in a foul stable,

          Where the beasts feed and foam;

          Only where He was homeless

          Are you and I at home;

          We have hands that fashion and heads that know,

          But our hearts we lost – how long ago!

          In a place no chart nor ship can show

          Under the sky’s dome.

          This world is wild as an old wives’ tale,

          And strange the plain things are,

          The earth is enough and the air is enough

          For our wonder and our war;

          But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings

          And our peace is put in impossible things

          Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings

          Round an incredible star.

          To an open house in the evening

          Home shall men come,

          To an older place than Eden

          And a taller town than Rome.

          To the end of the way of the wandering star,

          To the things that cannot be and that are,

          To the place where God was homeless

          And all men are at home.”  - G. K. Chesterton

Love,

Brown and Alice

https://youtu.be/KH9cSGPUjSU

Brown's Daily Word - the week before Christmas eve

Praise the Lord for super Saturday which  is just one week before Christmas Eve.  Overnight it was snowing with ferocity and abundant beauty.  Praise the Lord the way the snow blankets and decorated the earth as if done by a wonderworking artist and designer. It looks like a Norman Rockwell Christmas, capturing the just a glimpse of the Majesty and the beauty of the Lord.  The wind is gentle, the snow flakes friendly, reminding us of the true nature of Jesus, the Bethlehem Child.  Alice and I walked briskly last evening on the snow, defying the cold temperature. We came across many Merry Christmas Tree shoppers taking home Fresh Christmas trees from a local Christmas tree depot.  Main Street was filled with High School student Christmas gatherings and celebrations along with Christmas decorations all over the town.  Alice I watched a Christmas movie, Deck the Halls, filled with Christmas Spirit and redeeming factors.  Alice is looking at the long range forecast for Christmas day, being a firm believer that every Central New York Christmas should be a white one.  She is jubilant knowing that It will be Christmas very soon.

   Praise the Lord for the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord.  The Lord has used the church despite all of its bloopers, wrinkles, and blunders to bless the world throughout all the ages The Lord has used the church as a conduit for blessings, healing, restoration, reconciliation, and redemption around the corner and around the globe.  During the season of Advent and Christmas Jesus, the Lord of Christmas, puts His church on overdrive in terms of extravagant generosity and good will.  "There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,' returned the nephew.  'Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.  And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!” (Dickens, A Christmas Carol)

    The Church gets a special anointing to proclaim the good news of great Joy in word and deed.  The Jesus people redeemed by His blood and grace go extra mile in becoming the instruments of greater love, his great sacrifice and His great magnanimity.  Jesus people become blessing to the least, the last and lost..  Millions are blessed in around the corner, around the globe, in highways and byways, in hospitals, orphanages, refugee centers, leper colonies, children's  homes, prisons, and other institutions.  In and through the local churches  and denominational agencies, and many para-church organizations, like the Salvation army, World Vision, and others, overzealous servants for Jesus labor relentlessly and tirelessly with much love and grace using their resources to bless others that they might have taste the grace and gladness of Jesus.  Thank you for giving to the Lord during this season of Giving and Receiving.

    I have a dear friend, a colleague in ministry, who is in his 80's, caring for his beloved wife, who shared that he had made a commitment to give a particular ministry.  He kept the commitment, even though he needs the finances for his family.  Despite his apparent personal need, he kept the promise.  Behold, unknown to him another faithful servant  blessed him with a very generous financial gift that outmatched what he given to the ministry.  Our Lord is a hilarious giver.  The Lord blessed us to be part of a blessing in Orissa India.  The Government of India has attempted to curb the work the Gospel in India, but in spite of the  opposition the Church in India is on the move and growing like wild fire.  The Lord blessed us to  be a minute part of the blessing in that region.  We were able to send financial gifts.  Over 60 families, including several children, pastors, seminary students, and widows were blessed.  These blessings contain the seeds of the Gospel, that will bring forth harvest a hundredfold, sixty-fold and thirty-fold.  We are privileged and blessed to be part the blessing and gift that keeps on giving.  I wanted to share this good news, foremost and above all praising the Lord for He is the giver of all gifts.  Many of you have been part of this blessing.

    As I was sitting this morning, two messengers of Jesus brought to our home a humongous Christmas Basket full of grace and love.  Our Lord is extravagant in every way.  One of the saints of the church, Juna Tinkham, reminded me often, "Pastor, you can never out give Jesus.  Our Lord is nobody's  debtor.     

    I'm a bit of a church junkie, and I just love church, preaching, ministry, and the like.  So it is that being a pastor isn't just a profession for me.  It's a calling, an interest, and a hobby—all wrapped into one.  Christmas is deeply and profoundly personal for us because God did something great for us: he sent Christ for each one of us.  God didn't just send Christ at Christmas for the nameless, faceless, masses of humanity.  He sent Christ at Christmas for me, and for you.  To see Christ coming is to see God—the great and ultimate ruler of the universe, the ultimate creator and sustainer behind all that is, our very own Maker who fashioned us in our mother's womb.  It is to see him personally extend himself to us to do great things for us

    Christmas makes a difference because God has personally extended himself to us in sending Jesus.   Jesus didn't just come as some religious figure.  God sent his own Son to install him as the rightful king of the ages.  He was not a king in the classic sense, where he uses his authority to push people around.  He came as a king who would use his authority to lay down his life on a cross.  But also by laying down his life and dying on a cross, Jesus would be raised in power as the true King that even sin, evil, and death couldn't resist, and whom everyone would have to reckon with one day.  Jesus will fully and completely make all things right one day.  Christ's coming at Christmas means the humble are being lifted up and will be lifted up, the hungry are being fed and will be fed, the proud are being brought low and will be brought low, even those who are on thrones.  The rich are being emptied and will be emptied.  Justice delayed doesn't mean justice denied because Jesus knows the whole truth, in detail, about every story and every situation.  Eventually, one day, all accounts will have to be reckoned and reconciled with him because Christ is the true king who has come at Christmas.

    Although we are constantly reminded of all of those things that so depress us about our world, with ISIS, the Syrian refugee crisis, the images of the poor we see on TV that make us squirm, and the stories of the oppressed and murdered we hear about in the news, Christ's coming at Christmas means God will sort it out. and his justice is already initiated. Christ's coming began to reverse all of that, and He will fully complete that reversal one day when all accounts are reckoned and reconciled with him.  Christ's coming began making all things right that God will complete one day in perfect and complete justice.

    Christmas makes a difference because God has personally extended himself to us in sending Jesus, and he has initiated his justice for our world.  Jesus' birth wasn't a matter of happenstance.  His birth wasn't the unlikely fulfillment of a bunch of coincidences that some random people wishfully spoke hundreds of years prior.  Jesus Christ's coming was a matter of God fulfilling his long-standing promise to his people.

    It reminds me of a story about a particular Saturday morning in a small town diner.  On that day, in a secluded corner booth, there was a young couple having breakfast alone.  When they were done and got the check, the husband got up and went up to the diner's register to pay. T hen he came back to their booth, and then he did something rather odd.  He picked up his wife and carried her through the diner because she was crippled.  As he carried her through the diner, the noise level slowly went down until you could almost hear a pin drop, and everyone's eyes were fastened on this young guy carrying his wife through the diner and on out the door. Then everyone watched as he somehow managed to open the door to his truck so that he could tenderly set his wife inside.  In that pregnant silence, with no one having a sense of what to say, a waitress broke that silence and said, "I guess he took his vows seriously."

    God is completely serious about his vows and promises, too.  He is a God who keeps his promises and vows.  To see Christ's coming at Christmas means to see God fulfilling his promises and demonstrating how he treats all of his promises.  We know God makes good on His promises because we see Christ's coming at Christmas: that promise of forgiveness by receiving Christ, that promise he'll never leave us or forsake us, that promise of life with God now that extends beyond our graves into an eternity with Him, and any other promise God has made to us that comes to our mind.  Praise God during this Advent season, because in sending Christ, God has not only personally extended himself to you and initiated his justice and mercy  for our world, but he has also shown his promises to be sure.

In Christ,

 Brown

https://youtu.be/e9GtPX6c_kg

Brown's Daily Word 12/17/16

    Praise the Lord for the way He made Christmas happen.  It is the wonder of His love, the demonstration of His mighty deeds, and the act of His mercy.  We are all blessed because of the Christmas Gift that came down, wrapped in swaddling clothes.  The ultimate Christmas gift, Jesus, comes to the pauper, the peasant, the powerful, the shepherds, the kings and the wise men alike.  For those who receive the gift that came down at Christmas by God's grace, their lives are changed for eternity.  Alice and I praise the Lord for this wondrous season.  We get to celebrate one more time this year.  Alice gets overexcited with Christmas; she gets overzealous with the gift of Christmas; she is put into overdrive with the power and spirit of Christmas.  She is provoked to extravagant generosity by the mood and meaning of Christmas.  During our active ministries we have lived in lovely and beautiful parsonages.  The Lord blessed us with the best housings wherever we served.  During our tenure in the last church Alice decorated the parsonage each year.  Sometimes there were over 14 (more than 22 if you count the little ones) Christmas trees including a fresh-cut 9 feet balsam.  The Parsonage was transformed in to a "Christmas House". 

    After my retirement we moved to a beautiful new town.  We are blessed with a very beautiful cottage-style home.  We live in a beautiful town surrounded by beautiful people and we are loved by a caring, concerned compassionate Church family.  Alice has down-sized on Christmas decorations but still the house is full of Christmas decorations.  The home has been a haven of rest and peace of peace during the days of recovery and healing.  I have ben listening to Handel's Messiah and all other Classical Christmas carols and songs.  The other day I watched Christmas with the Kranks, Home Alone 2, Sweet Home Alabama and Forrest Gump. 

    We are very excited about the Worship services this coming Sunday.  We will meet  for Sunday School at 9:30 AM and for worship at 10:30 AM.  We will meet for a very special service of lessons and carols at 6:30 PM, led by Marathon Resident musician Nancy Barber, one of the sweet singers of Jesus.  There will be a mega- reception following the evening celebration.  Plan to be in the Lord's house this coming Sunday wherever you might be.  We have so much to celebrate and so much to be excited about.  We will gather for the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service  on Saturday, December 24, 2016 at 6:00 PM.  Our family from Washington, DC and Philadelphia will be with us for Christmas.  We will have four of our grandchildren to share Christmas with us.  They all will be with us for a whole week.  We are thrilled - way beyond excited.  Thank You Jesus, for Christmas.

 In Christmas Joy.

  Brown

https://youtu.be/n543eKIdbUI?list=PLedV3ijsZ39wLGZezuuPoIbBvjvUR87Zf

Brown's Daily Word 12/15/16

    Praise the Lord for this most wonderful time of the year.  It has been snowing off and on, just enough to blanket the fields, the meadows the hills, and the valleys with fresh and friendly snow.  The other day Alice and I walked through fresh snow, frolicking almost like children.  I have been resting and, best of all, leaning on the promises of Jesus during days of my forced sabbatical.  I am feeling stronger and sturdier day by day.  The Lord has placed some countless angels to minister to me during these days of waiting and trusting. Thank you all for uplifting me in pray, so faithfully and fervently.  So many friends have offered transportation to the doctors and hospital.  Friends have come and cared for the driveway, shoveling it and making it a perfectly clean.  Some have offered to bring foods. 

    I spent part of the day yesterday with a dear brother who drove me for my blood test.  It was fascinating to hear the story of his pilgrimage with Jesus.  He was a medical school student but he dropped out to become a craftsman who works with wood.  The Lord blessed him with a wonderful gift and talent.  He shared about his involvement in the ministry of the Gospel, how the Lord has been faithful during the days of trials and triumphs.  He is blessed with a beautiful family  including children and grandchildren. 

    One of our friends who lives of State has plans to come and spend some time caring for me.  My younger brother got two goats from a farmer friend of mine and dressed them out.  A young friend of ours shot a deer for me and is dressing it out for me.  Thank you for your cards, Christmas greetings, and gifts.  I used send hundreds of Christmas greeting cards around the world  every year.  Due to unavoidable physical circumstances I will be not be able to do so even though I had all the cards purchased for this year.  We will be posting our Christmas letter  on facebook and sharing it on our E-Mail distribution list.

    We are getting ready for release time with children today at 2:15 pm.  We are blessed with faithful servants of Jesus who love the children and love to minister to them.  The Downtown Singers, along withe Binghamton Philaharmonic, will be presenting the timeless Handel's Messiah this Saturday, the 17th of December,at 7:30 PM.  It will be held at the Historic Forum Theater in Binghamton. For tickets call 607-723-3931. On Sunday morning, December 18, we will be meeting for Sunday school at 9:30 AM and worship at 10:30 AM.  In the evening there will be a program of lessons and carols at 6:30 PM, led by our resident musician, Nancy Barber.  There will be a reception following the program.  All who live in the area, please join us.  On Saturday, December 24, we will be gathering at 6:00 PM for a Candlelight Christmas Eve Service. 

    One of the most poignant and powerful Scripture passages, which is pregnant with the hope and promise of the coming of the Messiah, is found in Isaiah 9.   I preached on this same passage a couple of weeks ago.  In these verses the Lord of promise  turns the peoples' gaze from the present to the future, yet it is cast in the past tense, as though it's already happened.  This is because from God's perspectives it has.  It is an accomplished fact.  All was accomplished through the gift of a son, the birth of a child.  "For to us a child is born,  to us a son is given" (Isaiah 9: 6a).  This is such a remarkable answer to all of our problems.

    Ray Ortlund put it so well when he said, "God's answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child.  The power of God is so far superior to the Assyrians and all the big shots of the world that he can defeat them by coming as a mere child.  His answer to the bullies swaggering through history is not to become an even bigger bully.  His answer is Jesus."

    Isaiah 9 is a magnificent chapter which gives us the prophet's first major exposition of Israel's coming king.  Isaiah had already hinted at the birth of this world-transforming child in chapter seven, when he announced that "[t]he virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel," (7:14) which means "God with us."  In chapter nine Isaiah elaborates at greater length about who this child will be, using four more names: "And he will be called / Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, / Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (v. 6b).

    Let us consider Jesus as the Wonderful Counselor.  Though this is a name given to the child, it also refers to God himself.  The child reveals God to be a wonderful counselor.  Whether a wonder of a counselor (that is, an extraordinary counselor)or perhaps a counselor of wonders, (one who counsels amazing things) this child to be born—this son to be given, named Jesus—is a wonderful counselor.  He reveals God's wonder-filled wisdom for the world, and it causes us to say, "Wow!" His plans are beyond our comprehension; they mesmerize us with the miraculous, show us unexpected flashes of grace, and cause us to gasp, with a sharp intake of breath, and say, "Wow!"

    Every saving encounter with Christ, every act of conversion, is what C. S. Lewis calls a case of being "surprised by joy."  When we come to Christ, we meet the wonderful counselor and learn about his mesmerizing and miraculous plans for our life, and it fills us with both surprise and delight.  Of course, the delightful surprises continue throughout the whole of our life: not just at the first, when we first meet Jesus, but as we learn to walk with Jesus and discover that he is indeed the "Wonderful Counselor."  His plans are always perfect; his ways are not always what we would expect, but they're always gracious and good, full of delight and surprise.

    As we walk with Jesus, we begin to realize that what he has said is in fact true: There is strength in weakness; there is blessing in brokenness; there is exaltation in humility; there is comfort in affliction; there is even life in midst of death—all because of Jesus the wonderful Counselor.  Though it is counterintuitive it is full of deep and lasting joy.

 In Christ,

 Brown

https://youtu.be/C6yIgN54R7k

Brown's Daily Word 12/12/16

Praise the Lord for the wonder of this new day.  He blessed us with a beautiful weekend.  We were privileged to host the St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble on Friday evening.  The abundant and delicious food, the sweet music, and the gracious fellowship were all a blessing.  We have known this wonderful group of singers from St. Petersburg, Russia over many years past.  The Lord blessed us in His house during the worship hour yesterday, in worship, witness, and fellowship.  We also hosted a community-wide Christmas youth event last evening.  There was food galore, plenty of fun and fellowship, and, best of all, sharing in the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Praise the Lord for all who participated in serving and sharing. 

    It looks like a winter wonderland today.  For the snow lovers, it is a  Paradise.  It looks clean, fresh, and stainless.  We are privileged to live in this region where so many people come for winter sports.  I watched some football yesterday and my  Steelers won.  We had a chance to chat with one of our granddaughters on Google chat yesterday.  It is always a thrill to have some kind of face-to-face time. 

    I shared yesterday from Luke 1, the Magnificat.  It is a song of hope and of  reversal of fortunes.  It is a song which echoes the one that the prophet Isaiah sang so many years earlier about good news for the oppressed, liberty to the captives, and comfort for all who mourn.  Mary sang not in the future tense of things that are yet to be, but in the past tense, as one who knows the promises have already come true.  This song is powerful and poignant, and it is beautiful, poetic, and rhythmic.  Her song is also prophetic.  

    We often think of Mary as being meek and mild, the quiet one over in the corner of the live nativity scene, the one holding the baby Jesus.  I believe, however, that she was prophetic, bold, and courageous. 

    It has been said that William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury back in 1942, warned his missionaries in India to avoid Mary's "most revolutionary canticle", lest they incite a riot among the impoverished people there.  The magnificat speaks of the powerful being brought down from their thrones, and the lowly lifted up.  It speaks of the hungry being filled with good things and the rich going away empty.  One can see how these words might stir up the oppressed and impoverished, might cause a revolution, might disrupt the status quo.  The song was sung by the one who bore in her womb the Son God, who was being sent to the world to change everything.  Her song embodies the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who would become the king who reigns forever and forever.  The song is sung by Mary, the one whom Elizabeth called blessed and "the mother of my Lord."  

    Mary's song is different because for centuries the prophets have cried to God, "Come down!"  Tear open the heavens and come down!" and now God was doing exactly that.  God was becoming incarnate.  God was becoming human.  God was entering the world to enact the great reversal God had always promised.

    William Willimon, one of my favorite theologians and preachers, whared the story of a Duke student explaining to him how the virgin birth was just too incredible to believe.  Willimon responded,

"You think that's incredible, come back next week.  Then, we will tell you that 'God has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.'  We'll talk about the hungry having enough to eat and the rich being sent away empty.  The virgin birth?  If you think you have trouble with the Christian faith now, just wait.  The virgin birth is just a little miracle; the really incredible stuff is coming next week."

    Willimon, along with preachers and prophets across the ages, knew that the virgin birth is the paramount  part of the promises of God that come to pass in the incarnation of Christ Jesus, who will look with favor upon the lowly, who will challenge those with power, who will question those with money, who will comfort those who grieve, who will heal those who are sick and who will stand by those who are marginalized.  That's what Mary sang about.  She sang praise to the mighty one, to the Lord her Savior.  A poor, lowly, humble, pregnant, pondering Mary sang with joy of the changes God would bring through the son of her womb, through the Son of God, through Jesus our Savior.

In Christ,

Brown

https://youtu.be/z0m4vKyMufI?list=RDz0m4vKyMufI

Brown's Daily Word 12/8/16

    Praise the Lord for the most wonderful time of the year, a festive season of sharing and caring.  I had my first treatment yesterday.  The doctor and his team are most caring, compassionate, and competent.  After the visit to the doctor's office, Alice and went to/for Christmas shopping in the "City".  (We actually only went to Sam's Club).  I love Christmas in the City.  "City sidewalks, busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style; in the air there's a feeling of Christmas. 

    The Lord has blessed us immensely during the Holy Days of Advent.  The Worship service last Sunday was a blessing, and it was followed by a Church-wide reception.  On Sunday evening, all churches of the town came together for an evening caroling.  It was old-time Christmas caroling.  After singing joyfully and merrily at the various churches, all gathered at our Methodist Church for a mega- reception with Coffee, Christmas cakes, cookies, and pastries.   Jesus, the host,  prepares a banqueting table for His people in all seasons.  You must be wondering and laughing at us, perhaps gently mocking us and saying that we eat a lot here. We are simply following our Captain Jesus, who loved to dine and celebrate in all places and in all seasons.  He has promised us the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. 

    Our Church chartered a bus to NEW York City this past Tuesday.  Many community members went along for an all-day excursion in the city, sightseeing, window shopping, and attending the Christmas Extravaganza at the Iconic and world famous The Radio City Music Hall.  During Christmas, New York City is transformed into a magical world for Christmas, filled with Christmas Spirit and celebration.  The whole world comes to New York City for Christmas.

    On Friday evening, (tomorrow), we will be hosting the St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble in concert at 7:00 PM at the sanctuary of the Marathon United Methodist Church.  There will be a dinner at 6:00 PM, with some international cuisine.  Those who live in the area, please join us for a great blessing.  On Sunday evening, December 11, our church in conjunction with other neighboring churches, will be hosting a Christmas Youth event.  We will be serving dinner for the youth at 6:00 PM, with pizza, lasagna, and chicken wings, and the main event will begin at 7:00 PM with a worship band and a youth specialty speaker.  We are praying for the Lord's mighty spirit to be poured out that the young people will be blessed.

    Praise the Lord for the Christmas narrartive, Christmas event , Christmas Story.  I never get tired of reading and reflecting upon it.  One of the paramount  imperatives and commands of the Christmas narrativs is “Fear not,” said the angels at Christmas. Then the doctor’s office calls, and there’s a problem with the tests, maybe a serious problem. You need to come in and have a talk.

“Fear not,” the Bible says, in one way or another 366 times, as if God wanted us to get this message every day of our lives, and two for that extra burdensome, heart wrenching day. I read about a major university  which did a poll of its students asking them to identify the number one problem they faced. The administration expected to have answers like too much to do or too little time to study or things like that. The number one problem 75 percent of the students named was fear, insecurity, lack of self-confidence, and it was eating away at their own ability to do their best in the studies before them.

Our Lord God, loving Father, did not create you to live in fear, and He intends for us  to move beyond that fear. in the language the angels use at Christmas, the expectation that we will move from fear to joy, from anxiety to assurance. Whenever the angels say “fear not”—and they say it all the way through the Christmas story—they are using the imperative . The angel is commanding us to dump the fear and choose the joy coming into the world!

It seems absolutely impossible, but the reason the angel can say it is because at Christmas God gave the world the gift of Himself in Jesus. That gift comes with power to transform our lives from the inside out, so that our fears can be dispelled and we can experience true joy.

 I was reflecting on Mary ... Pauper, poor peasnt yet chosen by the Lord to be  the mother of Lord Jesus.Joseph and Mary  travelled to Bethlehem, almost 80 miles from Nazareth.they wanted a warm bed, a decent place to stay, friends and family around them as they made their way to Bethlehem. They didn’t get any of it. Yet one gift was given.  One gift was given, a gift so great it set the angels to singing, a gift so great we still celebrate it today. God gave himself.

     What is the one thing we need most?  I am reminded  during these days of pilgrimmage  to put the focus of my  heart not on the problems , but   on  the person who comes to us  at Christmas to enter into our hearts with nothing less than the heart of God, I want  to know it, sometimes seems to change nothing, but in fact, everything is different.

 I read story of  Moss Hart that I wasdriven to tears.Moss Hart, in his day, was one of the great playwrights not only in North America but in the world. He was honored in cities and palaces, by presidents and kings and queens. Over the years he saw amazing Christmas celebrations. He would hear amazing music, go to amazing worship services, listen to amazing sermons, have amazing feasts, receive amazing presents. He had extraordinary experiences, which was why people were at first so surprised by the answer he gave once to a question about this season of the year.

Toward the end of his life he was doing an interview at Christmas time, and he was asked: What was the best Christmas he ever had? Immediately, without any hesitation, he said, “It was when I was 9 years old.” The people listening were stunned, because they expected him to say it was while he was in France or in Washington, D.C., or somewhere else magnificent. He said, though, his best Christmas was when he was 9 years old.

He went on to explain that as a boy he would go toward Christmas filled with fear, because he had not had a toy for Christmas in years. His parents were very poor. His father worked two jobs and sometimes a third, but could barely afford to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. So Christmas was a time of pain and even dread for Moss Hart, not excitement. But then, when Moss was 9, on Christmas Eve his father got back from his last job and said to Moss, “Let’s take a walk downtown.”

Moss got so excited. He was jubilant. First of all, his father was very distant. He had never learned how to express affection, and never went walking with Moss. They did not have that kind of relationship at all. Now, though, they were going walking! And they were walking downtown on Christmas Eve, which was where you went from the poor neighborhoods when you were going to get a toy.

Families from those neighborhoods could not afford to actually go in the stores, but downtown there would be vendors out on the street with carts. So when a family got the money together, they could go up to a cart, and a child would pick out a toy, the child and the parents together, and they would buy it. That was the ritual at Christmas for their community, and now, on Christmas Eve, Moss Hart was walking up to the carts with his father.

He was so excited. His feet didn’t even touch the ground. He was flying inside. He was going to get a toy for Christmas. They went up to the first cart, and his father asked about the things, and Moss said he would have given his eyeteeth for anything on that cart. They all looked wonderful. His father quietly fingered the things, the toys, and he asked about prices. Then he said, “Okay, okay. Well, we’ll look around.”

So they went to the second cart, and there was a chemistry set there that Moss would have given an arm for. He was so excited. His father looked at things, asked about prices. He said, “Well, let’s look around.” They went to cart after cart after cart down that long winter street, and Moss began to realize they were coming to the end of that block.

They were coming to the end of the vendors, and he started thinking, “What’s going on here?” He would have loved any of these toys. Why was his dad waiting? Then suddenly he realized that, although his father had gotten some money together to get Moss a toy, he didn’t have enough. He couldn’t buy any of the toys they had in the carts.

Suddenly that little 9-year-old boy got so mad and so upset and was filled with such rage, because it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. Other kids got toys, and he never had one, and now he wasn’t going to get one again. He opened his mouth, and he got ready to let out the biggest scream of rage and pain and despair that you could ever imagine.

But in telling the story later, he said that just before he did he looked up, and he saw his father’s face filled with anguish and despair. And for the first time in his life, he realized how much his dad loved him, because he realized whatever pain he was feeling over not getting a toy, his father was feeling double over not being able to give the toy.

All the anger and pain seemed to go out of his soul as he looked up into his father’s face and saw there the terrible heartbreak filling his father’s eyes. Then, as his father looked down into his son’s crestfallen face, without even thinking about it, his father reached out his hand. In response, Moss reached out his. And for the first time ever, without either one saying a word, they walked back to their house—they took the long way—holding hands.

In telling the story, Moss Hart said, “I have experienced Christmas in many situations and had many grand moments. But the greatest Christmas and the greatest gift I’ve ever been given came that night, for from then on my father and I walked and talked regularly, always holding hands.” Nothing was changed, but everything was different.

 in this world with so many problems we all would like fixed.. We  are reminded,   about the mystery and the wonder  of the person Christmas is all about. In these sacred weeks, let us  open our heart to the gifts He has come to bring. And as the angels said so long ago, fear not.

In Christ,

Brown

https://youtu.be/QIvH5GdY4JE

Brown's Daily Word - 12/7/16 - Personal prayer request

   Praise the Lord for the gift of this new day.  The Lord has blanketed the region with fresh snow that is glistening.  The snow lovers and the winter lovers are filled with great delight.  Alice has started decorating the house.  It is getting transformed into a Christmas house.  We are getting to celebrate the Advent and Christmas season by His grace.  We join you all around the corner and around world, singing, " O come, all ye faithful, joyful, and triumphant ... What child is this?... Joy to the world the Savior reigns...

    Many of you know that I have been battling my health concerns - prostate cancer - since 2005.  I had the first surgery in 2007 followed by radiation.  By His grace, the Lord gave me His grace and mercy to remain fully active in ministry.  He gave me grace to be involved in the ministry of our Lord around the corner and around the globe.  After serving full time for almost 40 years I retired and moved to Marathon, where I serve part time.  We have been blessed.  I had a surgery on my spine this past February followed by Radiation.  I had to have another surgery in the same vicinity this past October followed by radiation.  Now I am scheduled for chemo treatment which begins today at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton.  I am scheduled for a treatment every 3 weeks, for a total of 6 treatments.  Thank you all for your continued prayer.   Many of you have praying for me fervently and faithfully.  Our Lord God is into mystery big time.  We do not fully understand all about His ways and purposes. 

    Alice and I praise the Lord for you and join you in celebrating the wonder-filled and joy-saturated Advent and Christmas season.  May the Christ of Christmas propel us to dance like John the Baptist when he danced in his mother's womb.  May we be delightfully disrupted as the shepherds were, and come in haste to the manger of Bethlehem once again to adore the newborn King.  May we give selflessly and extravagantly as the wise men gave to the newborn King.  May Jesus pervade our homes, our hearts, and our hearths with His grace and glory.  May He pour upon us - and upon our children, our grandchildren, and the Church - His fresh anointing.  May He replace our mundane with His majesty, with His celestial.  May He somehow, by His touch, transform our ordinary into His extraordinary and our transitory into His eternal.  We are so blessed, so loved.  What a way to live!  What a way to serve! 

    "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."  Isaiah 55:9

    "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28

    "Some  trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." Psalm 20:7 (ESV)

    "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all."  Psalm 34:19

    "When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."  Psalm 91:15, 16

With much Gratitude.

   Brown

https://youtu.be/dy9nwe9_xzw

Brown's Daily Word 12/6/16

    Praise the Lord for the unshakable Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is His Kingdom.  The Lord is eternal and everlasting.  We can stake our lives in Him, we can take refuge in Him, we can anchor our lives in Him.  His love never fails.  His mercy endures for ever.  One of my favorite passages says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

    Another of my favorites states, "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Revelation 11:15

    In my college days I studied the British romantic poets.  Among my favorites was Shelley.  In 1817 Percy Bysshe Shelley penned the classic poem Ozymandias to demonstrate the arrogance of those who believe their earthly empires will last forever:

   " I met a traveler from an antique land
    Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
    Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
    Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
    And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
    Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
    Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
    The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
    And on the pedestal these words appear:
    “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
    Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
    Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
    Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
    The lone and level sands stretch far away."

    Let us pause and ponder the irony of a statue in the desert, surrounded by nothing but the drifting sands.  When Ozymandias calls on the mighty to despair, he means that they should live in fear of his power, yet nothing remains of his vast empire but the scattered ruins of the stones that form a “colossal wreck” in the wilderness.  Those who think they are invincible should indeed despair, but for another reason entirely. That is, the mightiest empires will one day be brought to the ground.  Habakkuk 2:14 is, perhaps, the ultimate truth.  “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”  I am quickened with the fact of the Good News of Jesus our Lord spreading around the world like wild fire.. 

    When the Communists came to power in China in 1949, they expelled all the foreign missionaries.  Back then there were 700,000 Christians.  For decades no one knew what was happening to the church or if it even survived, but by 1980 there were at least 10 million Christians in China.  Today there may be as many as 100 million.  It is happening as it is written in Habakkuk 2:14 with its vision of the knowledge of the Lord spreading across the earth as the waters cover the sea.”  Nothing can stop it.  There is no power, no policy, and there are no experts  that can reverse what God is doing.”  The ultimate fulfillment of this verse awaits the return of Christ to the earth to establish his kingdom.  As we race headlong toward the final days of this age, we should not be surprised—indeed we should expect—that there will be an explosion of gospel preaching around the world with untold multitudes coming to Christ.

    All of this is what the angel had in mind when he told Mary that “of his kingdom there will be no end.”  Even in lands caught up in the religion of Islam, Jesus is reaching out to rescue the lost.  There are millions and millions in the world today who are gripped with the thought that the kingdom of God is the greatest thing in the world, and that one thought has revolutionized their lives and reoriented their values.  Kingdom issues are at stake.  That’s the only possible explanation for the way they live.

In Christ,

 Brown

https://youtu.be/76RrdwElnTU