Praise the Lord indeed, the giver of all good and perfect gifts.
Praise the Lord for the sizzling, simmering, yet sweet summer.
Praise the Lord for farms, orchards, and vineyards, and the gardens
and fields with diverse crops. The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful garden
with all kinds of vegetables. We have started harvesting with much joy
and gratitude. We have some strawberry plants they are still bearing
fruit and ripening. We have some pear trees which are luxuriant and
abundant. Praise the Lord who is the Lord of harvest.
Our
children and grandchildren came for their summer visit. We spent several
days together, 16 of us altogether. It was a blast. Praise the Lord
for grand- children as they bring out the best in us. We spent time
in "spoiling" them. The girls and Alice took some very long
walks in the country by the corn fields and Amish farms. We all watched
the Olympics, fixed all kind of spicy foods and barbeque, spent
time in reflection, recalling the faithfulness and the tender mercies of
the Lord. We spent time with the grand children at local parks
and a State park, even swimming at the Lake. The young men barbequed
during torrential rains and dangerous storms. Children of all ages joined
in a gigantic water fight, including lobbing water balloons with a
launcher. Praise the Lord for the simple and sweet gifts the Lord
lavishes us with in every season. Praise the Lord for all of you as
you spend the days of summer and the days in all seasons glorifying the Lord,
enjoying His grace, and sharing that amazing love and wonderworking of the Lord
with family and friends.
It has been in the 90's in Central NY - hot and exhilarating. Today we are expecting temps in the upper eighties, with the chance of yet another extreme pop-up thunderstorm. Despite the heat and humidity this August, we are thinking about Christmas. It will be here before you know it. We have been to NYC most recent years, as part of our Christmas celebration. We are planning to take a charter bus to NYC to see the Christmas Extravaganza at the world famous Radio City Music Hall. We are taking the charter bus on Tuesday, December 6th, 2016. The bus leaves from Binghamton at 6 AM and it will arrive in NYC around 9:30 AM. Then we will have a full day for sightseeing and window shopping. We plan to attend the Christmas Extravaganza at 5 PM, following which we will leave NYC at 7:45 PM to come back to Binghamton. The cost for the bus ticket and the ticket to the Christmas show is $80. (Only meals are not included). We would love for you to join us for a great celebration and fellowship. Those who would like to go can send a check for $50 as soon as possible to reserve your spot. The remaining $30 should be sent by the first part of November. You can make the check payable to Marathon United Methodist Church and mailed to PO box 423, Marathon, NY 13803. Contact me at brownnaik@aol.com.
Some of the things available in the city include visiting St Paul's Cathedral, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, Liberty One at the World Trade Center, and the window displays of Macy's, as well as the Cathedral of St John the Divine. We are praying a wonderful blessing over this trip at Christmas time.
I
have been looking at James chapter 2, where we come in contact with Abraham and
Rahab who are the witnesses and examples of those who have walked by faith and
have acted in faith and elucidated the power of living faith in the living
God.
Abraham
offered Isaac. Rahab hid Israelite spies. Both events were largely
hidden from public view. Only Abraham and Isaac knew what happened on
Mount Moriah. Rahab hid the spies and sent them off in another direction
so they wouldn’t be caught. Neither knew the
outcome of their faith before they acted. Abraham didn’t know about the ram in the thicket when he raised
the knife. Rahab wasn’t expecting Jewish spies to drop by for a visit and
didn't know that salvation for herself and her family would result. Both
were heroes in the eyes of God.
Abraham could not
have foreseen what God wanted when the Lord told him to take his son and go to
the region of Moriah. Likewise, when Rahab awoke that day in Jericho, she
had no inkling that two men were about to show up who would change her life
forever. Living by faith is risky business.
When
I read these stories, I’m reminded of Todd Beamer and the other heroes of
Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. That morning all the passengers boarded
the flight in Newark, expecting an uneventful flight to California, but fate intervened
in the form of terrorists who took over the plane. Then came the
split-second decision and the declaration, “Are you ready? Let’s roll.”
The
truth is, in our Christian walk and life, we never know when the test will
come. When it comes we will not have a lot of time to decide
our course of action.
We can’t predict
the results of our actions. The Lord
honors faith that takes action. True faith trusts God, takes action, and
leaves the results in His very capable hands.
It’s
rare to meet someone with the name Rahab, almost as if the word harlot is
attached to it. Yet, in the eyes of God, Rahab is a name of honor.
She made the book precisely because she was a woman of faith. Her
past did not define her future. Although the Canaanites
built a thick wall around Jericho to keep people out, no wall can keep God
out. No one is beyond the
reach of God’s grace. Even in the
midst of judgment, God reached out and saved a harlot who turned to Him in
faith. No one is beyond the reach of God's grace.
I
love the second verse from the hymn, "To God be the Glory', which goes
like this:
O
perfect redemption, the purchase of blood.
To
every believer, the promise of God.
The
vilest offender who truly believes
That
moment from Jesus a pardon receives.
in Christ,
Brown
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