I am up early this morning. It is 4:00 AM. It is
Friday, but Sunday is coming. The Lord blessed us with
a magnificent day yester4day. It was sunny, brilliant, and
cloudless. The temperature reached 82. Thank you, Jesus. The Lord
blessed us with a winsome and inspiring time with the children during our
weekly Release Time - the last for the year. We praise the Lord for
each one of the children, who has come so faithfully. They are
beautiful children, eager to learn, eager to serve. We made yesterday
just a time to celebrate and party. We served wholesome drinks along with
pizza and chicken wings and took time to sing. It was joyful and
sweet.
Alice and I walked around
town, meeting people who were out in droves (maybe a little exaggerated),
enjoying a summer like day in Spring. The local high school
marching band was rehearsing for the upcoming Pageant of Bands and other
competitions. I had lunch with one of my friends.
We have known each other since 1990. He is a USA Navy veteran and
a committed servant of Jesus our Lord. He has had a severe bout with
cancer. He went through surgery, radiation, and
chemotherapy. He is was in a nursing home as part of
his journey. We had a time of prayer. Many people have
been praying for him. The Lord of wonders and miracles
has intervened and restored this servant of His. He is back home,
fully restored. We had great time of sharing. "We
shared how we have overcome." He gave a generous and sacrificial,
yet most joyful, gift be used for the ministry of our Lord Jesus. Jesus,
the Lord of the Church, provides for His ministry. His name
be glorified all over the earth.
Laureen, Sunita, Andy, Gabe, Addie, and
Asha are coming home for few days. We are excited. We are getting
ready for Sunday, which is Pentecost Sunday. We will meet for Sunday
School at 10:00 and for worship at 11:00. There will be a Church-wide
banquet in honor of all moms at 12:30 PM. Our people are preparing
all kinds of exotic and "bizarre" foods. The Lord, who is Host
at every meal , spreads a banqueting table before us in every season.
I get inspired and provoked every
time I read the story of Michael Brady, who was a stuntman for Universal
Studios, specializing in skydiving. Michael was in Benson, Arizona,
preparing to parachute onto the top of a moving train. Climbing up the
ladder on the side of the train to check some rigging, Michael accidentally
fell, hitting his head and dying instantly. Michael's body was taken to
the University Medical Center in Tucson, where his heart was placed inside
the body of another man, Bill Wohl, who had been kept alive for the previous
159 days by a temporary artificial heart.
Six
months and one day after getting a new heart, Bill Wohl received a letter from
Michael Brady's family with a picture of Michael enclosed. Bill was
surprised to find that he had the heart of a 36-year-old Hollywood
stuntman. "I looked at this picture," Bill said, "at this
incredibly good-looking, super-fit, super athletic guy, and I thought, 'Are you
kidding me? That's whose heart I've got?'" Before his heart
transplant, Bill Wohl had been a Type-A, overweight, money-obsessed businessman
pursuing a jet-setter lifestyle. Today, he works part-time, spending most
of his new-found energy winning speed and performance medals in swimming,
cycling and track.
Recently
interviewed by a reporter in his Scottsdale condo, Bill Wohl leaned forward in
his chair, glanced up at the bronze, silver and gold medals he has won, lowered
his voice, and said, "Every day, all day, I thank God for Michael Brady.
When I ride, when I work out…the biggest thing is to honor him." A
new heart changed him.
On
the Day Of Pentecost, when the Lord sent the Holy Spirit upon His
disciples, the Church was born. The Holy Spirit came like blazing
fire. It came down like a tornado. The Holy Spirit came
and infused the disciples who were discouraged and depleted.
Those
who have accepted Jesus and have their whole lives in His hands are His by His
grace. Jesus dwells in them. When Jesus dwells in us His heart
beats in us. The greatest thing in our lives becomes to love Him, to Know
Him, and to serve Him.
In
Matthew 28, we find the Lord Jesus and His disciples on a mountain in
Galilee. Throughout Scripture, mountains were places where God revealed Himself
to men and women. In Matthew's Gospel, we learn that Jesus conquered the
devil's third temptation on a mountain; that Jesus preached the greatest sermon
ever preached from a mountain; that the Lord lingered in prayer by Himself on a
mountain; that He revealed His glory to Peter, James, and John on a mountain;
that He unfolded the end times to His disciples on a mountain.
It's
no surprise, then, that the Lord Jesus issued the Great Commission from a
mountain. We don't know the name of this mountain, but we might call it
"Heartbeat Mountain", because the Lord revealed His heart so clearly
there. It is written, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,
'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore
and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that
I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.' Amen" (Matt. 28:18-20).
When
His heart beats in us His Great Commission becomes a great
obsession. I love the way some form of the word all appears four
times in the words of Jesus. First: "all authority"; second:
"all nations"; third: "all things"; fourth: "always." Because of this
promise we are covered 24/7. We are called to love Him, worship, Him,
serve Him, and finish the race well by His grace.
In Him whose mercies
are innumerable.
Brown.
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