Brown's Daily Word 5/27/16

    Praise the Lord indeed for this, in the words my British friends, "Fantastic Friday".  It is going to unusually balmy and gorgeous today.  This for my overseas friends and family - Today ushers the celebration of the Memorial Day weekend.  Monday is the official Memorial Day.  The nation pauses to remember the brave men and women of the armed forces who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defending the freedoms and liberties.  I like to watch the movie "Saving Private Ryan", by which I get moved and humbled.  People around the nation head out the beaches, lakes , summer cottages, and mountains.  This is the unofficial beginning of the Summer season and the camping season.  Thank you Jesus.  We are getting ready for Sunday.  We will meet for Sunday School at 10 AM and for worship at 11:00 AM.

    My wife Alice whispered to me loudly that she has only 9 days of teaching days in School including today - but who's counting?.  The High School class of 2016 is gearing up for Baccalaureate services, graduation celebrations, and gatherings. These are rituals we go through as a part of the passages of our lives on earth.

    Last night was the awards ceremony and celebration for the high school and junior high students here in Marathon.  My wife joined the presenters who called the students to the stage in front of a crowd of proud parents, grandparents, and well-wishers.  Two students who were honored with many awards could not attend because they were walking up to a different stage - to receive their associate degrees from TC3.  What an honor!

    I heard the story of Jacob when I was 4 years old.  It was told to me by my uncle during our evening prayer time.  It left an indelible mark in my memory lane, inscribed and in scripted with love.  The early chapters of Jacob's life mirror the lives of many young adults around the corner and around the world.  Life had been pretty good for Jacob. He had grown up to be a shepherd and he lived a serene existence.  Jacob had not had much need for God.  We never read about any conversations he had about God or with him.  We never read about him worshiping, nor any encounters with God in all of his life up until he met God at Bethel, but Jacob was desperately in need of God then.  He had swindled his brother out of his birthright and inheritance, and the conflict between him and his brother has escalated to the place where he was in fear of losing his life.  He needed to go home to God, but he did not seem to know the way. 

    The good news is that when we cannot "find" our way to the Lord God, the maker of Heaven and earth, God in Jesus Christ comes to us.  Jacob was running from his brother and his problems — problems of his own creation.  Finally, as he was on the run, night came and he fell asleep.  A rock became the pillow under his head, and above his head were the open heavens.  As he slept, God revealed himself to Jacob.  In his dream there was what appeared to be a large ladder, almost like an escalator of light, the top of which reached to heaven and the very throne of God.  God revealed himself and promised Jacob that he would inherit the promises which God had made to his father and his father before him.  The Lord repeated those promises to Jacob personally saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.  I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.  Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth... All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.  I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Genesis 28:13-15).

    Jacob called the place “Bethel,” which in Hebrew means ‘House of God.’  This special place seemed to him to be the very dwelling place of the Lord.  Jacob had met God.  He wasn’t expecting to meet him.  He wasn’t even thinking of God.  It was purely grace.  Meeting God was probably the last thing on his mind.  He did not even want to meet God.  He was only thinking of getting away from his brother.  His mind was full of thoughts about where he was going and what was ahead of him, but God broke into Jacob’s self-absorbed world in a dramatic way.  God opened his world to Jacob, even when Jacob had closed his world to God. 

    This whole incident tells us something very important about God.  Isaiah the prophet quoted God as saying, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.  To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I’” (Isaiah 65:1).  God is full of surprises.  Just when you do not expect to meet him, he comes to you.  God can interrupt our self-centered lives in the most amazing ways, even if you do not want to hear from him....

    In his book The Spiritual Life of Children, the famous Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles, tells the story of Alice, a ten-year-old girl who came from a family that did not believe in God.  She expressed her doubts to him with these words: “I remember... I saw the people next door coming home from church, and I looked out the window after they’d left and I tried to ask God if they were right and we were wrong, because we never go.  But how can you talk with God?  I said, ‘All right, God, please, I’m young, and I’d like to know, so give us a signal, me and my mommy and daddy.  I knew he wouldn’t — and he didn’t.”  But then she says, “Later, when I went to the park, I thought there might not be a God, but somehow we have this park and the flowers are out, and how did all of this begin, that’s what I’d like to know!” 

    God met her in the park, when she least expected him.  He answered her prayer and astounded her with the miracles that were all around her.  Don’t miss the signs that are pointing the way home.  He is there and he is longing for you to come home.

 In Jesus  the " Hound of Heaven".

  Brown

https://youtu.be/bfveawSAHJA?list=RDbfveawSAHJA

Brown's Daily Word 5/26/16

    This is the new day with which the Lord has blessed us to live, to love, and to serve Him.  This is a day fraught with His Fresh grace and new mercies.  We are in the midst of a heat wave as a precursor to the sizzling summer 2016.  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday gathering of fellowship and study.  The food was sumptuous once again the fellowship was heart warming.  The Bible Study was inquisitive and provocative.

"Morning sun, morning glories
Pouring down the hill
Through my window
I can feel the ocean breeze

Noisy sparrows fill the oak trees
Swallows can't stay still
And in the glad commotion
Lord, You speak to me

If rain clouds come
Or the cold winds blow
You're the one who goes before me
And in my heart I know"Fernando Ortega 

     Philip Yancey, in his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, tells the amazing story of grace and miracle.  “A vagrant lives near the Fulton Fish Market on the lower east side of Manhattan.  The slimy smell of fish carcasses and entrails nearly overpowers him, and he hates the trucks that noisily arrive before sunrise. But midtown gets crowded, and the cops harass him there. Down by the wharves nobody bothers with a grizzled man who keeps to himself and sleeps on a loading dock behind a Dumpster.
    “Early one morning when the workers are slinging eel and halibut off the trucks, yelling to each other in Italian, the vagrant rouses himself and pokes through the Dumpsters behind the tourist restaurants. An early start guarantees good pickings: last night’s uneaten garlic bread and French fries, nibbled pizza, a wedge of cheesecake. He eats what he can stomach and stuffs the rest in a brown paper sack. The bottles and cans he stashes in plastic bags in his rusty shopping cart.
    “The morning sun, pale through harbor fog, finally makes it over the buildings by the wharf. When he sees the ticket from last week’s lottery lying in a pile of wilted lettuce, he almost lets it go. But by force of habit he picks it up and jams it in his pocket. In the old days, when luck was better, he used to buy one ticket a week, never more. It’s past noon when he remembers the ticket stub and holds it up to the newspaper box to compare the numbers. Three numbers match, the fourth, the fifth - all seven! It can’t be true. Things like that don’t happen to him. Bums don’t win the New York Lottery.
    “But it is true. Later that day he is squinting into the bright lights as television crews present the newest media darling, the unshaven, baggy pants vagrant who will receive $243,000 per year for the next twenty years. A chic - looking woman wearing a leather miniskirt shoves a microphone in his face and asks, “How do you feel?” He stares back dazed, and catches a whiff of her perfume. It has been a long time, a very long time, since anyone has asked him that question.
“He feels like a man who has been to the edge of starvation and back, and is beginning to fathom that he’ll never feel hunger again.”

    The poor beggar did  nothing to  do deserve receiving several million dollars. Absolutely nothing!  He had not even bought the winning ticket.  All he did was pick it up and cash it in to receive his prize.  Someone else had thrown it away as though it was useless, but he saw its potential worth.  He had not worked for a long time.  He did not earn the money.  The check was given to him as a free gift, without conditions.  He did not have a job or an education.  He did not have to do anything but accept the check.  Having a relationship with the Lord  does not depend on how well we do or how perfect we are.  It is based solely on the mercy and grace of God.  This is good news for us failures.  We read in the book of Titus: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4_5).  Here is the unique message of the Christian faith.  As it says in 2 Corinthians: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).  This frees us from guilt and legalistic perfectionism.  We understand that we can never be perfect and that our relationship with God is based solely on grace.  The Bible says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4_5). 

    This amazing Grace with its sweet sounds inspires us to no longer live in sin.  Guilt and fear are poor motivators, but love motivates us inwardly, from the heart, to do our best.  As the apostle Paul said, “The letter [of the law] kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).  He said, “Christ’s love compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14).   Once we realize what the Lord has done He has taken away our guilt and shame.  He has taken our sin and wretchedness upon Himself and given us His favor and new life.  We want to serve.  We want to live in freedom and walk in liberty, glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.

   In Jesus,

    Brown

https://youtu.be/fpUcPa4c6CU

Brown's Daily Word 5/25/16

"When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer,
To Jesus I repair;
May Jesus Christ be praised!

The night becomes as day
When from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The pow’rs of darkness fear
When this sweet chant they hear:
May Jesus Christ be praised!"

    I woke up around 4:45 AM this morning.  The birds had already started singing praises to the Lord.  The tractor trailers and heavy duty vehicles had started a new day, ready for action.  It is going to be sizzling with summer heat today in Central new York.  The temperature will be reaching 90 by Saturday.  I am excited.  Many will be heading out to the beaches, hills, mountains, and various campsites.  Praise the Lord for the great outdoors and the vast expanse, America the Beautiful, which is blessed with so many natural wonders including lakes and rivers, hills and mountains, including the Great and Iconic National Parks.  We will gather for our Wednesday evening study and fellowship this evening at 6:00 with a special meal followed by Bible study at 6:30 PM.

    When I was in seminary and grad School in the late 60's and  the early 70's of the last century, many philosophers and theologians were saying that God was dead, and they were predicting the death of the church.  Today almost no one can remember the names of those who made those predictions, let alone the titles of their books, but the church of Jesus Christ is thriving and God is still very much alive. 

    The values of the world change, but God’s Word remains the one constant in a world of change and confusion.  It is written "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever"  "All may change, but Jesus never.  Glory to His Name". 

    The emperor Diocletian tried to revive the old pagan religions of Rome by persecuting and killing Christians.  He set up a stone pillar in his own honor, inscribed with the words that he wanted to describe his legacy: “For Having Exterminated the Name Christian from the Earth.”  If only he knew how far short of his goal he fell!  His monument was more of a tribute to the endurance of Christianity than it was to him. 

    I have been blessed by so many committed and fervent servants of Jesus  around the corner and around the globe.  I am thinking about them and praising the Lord for them this morning.  One of them  is known among her friends as the Purple Lady.  She always wears purple dresses.  Her Bible cover is purple.  The luxury car she drove was purple.  She was blessed with a "Purple Heart " for Jesus.  She often quoted from Isaiah 40.  In this awesome and breath taking chapter we read of an everlasting comfort, and he told of the everlasting Word of God, but thirdly Isaiah spoke of an everlasting strength.  Isaiah wrote: “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31).  

    Even the young were beaten down, weary and defeated. But those who placed their hope and trust in God did not lose heart, and they did not lose strength — regardless of their age.  Their hearts and minds soared as they thought about what God was going to do.  As new strength and courage entered their hearts it began to affect their bodies.  They gained a new enthusiasm for life and a new strength to go on.  But you never gain that strength unless you are willing to wait on the Lord. 

    I read about a young boy who spent the summer with his grandfather.  As he and his grandfather were out in the field one day they found a small bird.  It was strange looking and they didn’t know what it was at first.  They named him Ernie and took him home to show to his grandma.  Grandma put him with a mother hen and her brood of chicks.  As it turned out, Ernie was an Eaglet.  It wasn’t long until Ernie was larger than the chickens, and it was apparent he was different — even though he had picked up some of the mannerisms of the chickens.  But one sunny afternoon the father eagle saw Ernie eating corn down on the farm with some strange white birds.  The father eagle began to soar in circles above the farm, and then began to spiral downward while calling out for Ernie.  Ernie’s head lifted as he heard something that resonated deep within him.  Instinctively he began to spread his wings.  Suddenly he was flying, and he began to soar in response to his father’s call.  Ernie had within him the spirit of an eagle.  The chicks heard the father eagle’s call as well, but they only chirped in response and continued to eat their corn on the ground.  But Ernie had a higher calling.  He was destined to soar. 

    

    In Jesus Christ, who is the Alpha and Omega, and through the ongoing work of Grace of the Holy Spirit here and now, we are called and propelled, and destined to soar.  "Looking un to Jesus, the Pioneer and the finisher of our faith".  WOW!

In Christ,

 Brown

https://youtu.be/IoezWBPGRAc

Brown's Daily Word 5/24/16

 Praise the Lord!  Summer 2016 has made its debut a little early.  The temperature here  in central New York reached into the 80's yesterday, and later this week it may approach 90.  It was sunny and stunning with the beauty of sunshine.  It is mid-summer in the Orissa, the State where I has born and raised.  The temperature there has been reaching to 115.  Some regions of India it reaching 121 F and higher.  I was examining some of the fruit trees we have such as Pears and Cherries.  They are bearing fruit, luxuriant.  I noticed in one of the pear trees a robin has built a nest.  The birdies are hatched and being cared for and fed by mommy and daddy robins.  Though Summer has arrived, Spring is lingering as well.

    Alice and I went for a long walk last evening.  We noticed the crabapple blossoms, lilacs, and other Spring flowers are still blooming.  I love the long and lazy days of spring and summer when the sun sets well after 8:00 PM and it is still daylight after 9:00 PM.  Praise the Lord for the wonders and blessings of His creation.  As we were walking yesterday  around town we noticed all the walkers strolling around town.  People were congregating around the Ice Cream Pub with sweet smiles.  We ran into many people exchanging greetings and haloes.  We stopped to talk with a young couple who has purchased one of the  gigantic, gorgeous, and ornate houses in town.  It is historic with classical architecture. They were landscaping beautifully and shared that they are restoring the interior of the house to its original architectural moorings and designs.  We ran into some of  Alice's former students who are planning to go on to Universities and colleges. It is all exciting and thrilling.  In Jesus life is full of immense possibilities and His amazing  and Eternal Promises.

    Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25).  He said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).  Without the resurrection the words of Jesus make no sense.  They would only be irrational babbling. 

    In Charlotte Brontë’s classic book Jane Eyre, Jane is an orphan being raised by a wealthy, but cruel, aunt named Mrs. Reed.  Her aunt decides to send her to Lowood School which is run by Mr. Brocklehurst — a man who is even more cruel and hypocritical than her aunt.  After her arrival, Mr. Brocklehurst asks Jane if she knows where bad girls go after they die.  Jane frankly replies, “To Hell, Sir.” Whereupon Brocklehurst spits out: “And what do you plan on doing about it?” Jane cooly responds, “I plan to live a very long time, sir.” 

    There is another alternative.  Jesus Christ came to deliver us from our sin and gave us the promise that he will also deliver us from our grave.  Peter said, “When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:26).  You don’t have to live a long time here, you can live forever in the presence of God — all because Jesus lives. 

    The realization of the resurrection, which led to the certain hope of the second coming of Jesus, was the driving force behind the evangelism of the early church. Because Jesus was alive He could transform human lives.  Because He had conquered death, life had endless possibilities.  Because He was coming again, it was imperative for everyone to be ready to meet him.  This new truth created an urgency in the heart of all believers who understood its implications — as it still does today.

    As Spring arrived this year, I watched as the new growth literally exploded from the ground.  I began to think about the trees, which had looked so dead, but which were now budding and bringing forth blossoms, leaves, and eventually fruit.  I thought about the flowers which would bloom and grass which would grow. . . and grow. . . and grow.  The ground had been holding life all winter just waiting for the promised moment.  I began to think about how impossible it would be to hold back Spring.  You could chop down trees, but their stumps would sprout.  You could dig up flowers, but their seeds would grow.  You could plow the ground, but the grass and vegetation would come back.  You could even drop a nuclear bomb, but it could not stop the Spring.  It’s impossible.  Life would be popping out all over.  It was the same with the resurrection of Jesus.  Death could not keep its grip on Him.  He exploded from the grave full of life, and his life was life-giving.

    The life in Jesus that lifted him from the grave now lives in us who know him — so it is impossible for death to keep its hold on us as well.  Nothing can keep us in the ground.  The Bible says, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).  “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Thanks be to Jesus.

   In Him,

   Brown

https://youtu.be/TKthRw4KjEg

Brown's Daily Word 5/23/16

    Praise the Lord for this new week.  May is marching briskly along, making way for the arrival of June and the sweet season of summer.  This past weekend has been a weekend for graduations from universities and colleges across America the Beautiful that has been blessed with its fruited plain.  I was looking back in my life to my graduation with my undergrad degree in 1969, the year the American Astronauts landed on moon, an epoch making event in human history.  In the month of May the High School seniors go through the grand ceremonies of proms  as part of the growing up rituals and sweet  traditions.  The Lord blessed in His House yesterday in worship and service.

    Our young family in Boston spent the weekend attending a music camp in a rustic setting in Massachusetts.  Janice posted a picture of our Simeon jumping in the lake for a swim.  He is brave and fearless and, above all, adventurous.  He loves swimming, even in cold water.

    I conducted a service of death and resurrection for a man who died unexpectedly.  It is a blessing to share the Good News of Jesus with people who are grieving and sorrowing.  I also attended another service of death and resurrection - that of one of my senior colleagues who entered the Church triumphant.  He was one of the dedicated and committed  servants Jesus our Lord. 

    It is going to a very warm week.  I am thrilled that one of the church members has ploughed, disked, harrowed, and fertilized a plot of his farm land, and it now is ready for planting.  This is first time in a long time back in gardening on a larger scale.  Praise the Lord for the Good Earth the Lord has blessed us with.

    Jesus has promised us that "Upon this Rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell can not prevail against it".  The  Kingdom of God  and of His Christ, are continuing to move on regardless of how things may appear or what people do.  God is going to do what he is going to do, regardless.  The Lord is the God of hope.  It is written " Christ in us the Hope of Glory".

    Jurgen Moltmann  one of the great theologians of the last century, said , “Expectation makes life good, for in expectation we can accept our whole present and find joy not only in its joy but also in its sorrow, happiness not only in its happiness but also in its pain.  Thus hope goes on its way through the midst of happiness and pain, because in the promises of God it can see a future also for the transient, the dying and the dead. That is why it can be said that living without hope is like no longer living.  Hell is hopelessness, and it is not for nothing that at the entrance to Dante’s hell there stand the words: ‘Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.’” 

    Christians are people of hope.  For us, sorrow is always a temporary emotion, and joy is the norm.  The reason is that we know that life overcomes death, love is stronger than hate, light overcomes darkness, good will ultimately triumph and Jesus reigns.  Jesus came to have his joy live in us (John 15:11). 

    My wife is an avid lover of  "Lord of the Rings".  She has the movies.  She also has both the paper copy and the Audio version of the books.  There is a wonderful scene where Frodo, the Hobbit, is discouraged because of all the adversity he was going through.  As they sit deep in the Mines of Moria, Frodo says to Gandalf, “I wish the ring had never come to me.  I wish none of this had happened.”  Gandalf says to him: “So do all who live to see such times.  But that is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.  There are other forces at work, Frodo, than the will of evil.  Bilbo was meant to find the ring.  In which case you also were meant to have it,  and that is an encouraging thought.”  Frodo’s attitude changed when he realized that God’s hand was at work in his life, and that even the difficult circumstances could not deter God’s plan.  To realize that is to experience joy.  The Bible says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). 

    One of my most favorite and beloved composers is George F. Handel.  I listen to Messiah in all seasons.  I never get tired of listening to it.  The Lord always fills my cup and lavishes my heart with his Joy.  In 1741 an old man was wandering the streets of London.  That man was George Frederick Handel.  At this point, he was angry at life.  His mind kept going back to the time when he was famous and had the applause of royalty and the elite of London, but now his mind was full of despair and hopelessness about the future, for the applause was gone.  Others were now in the spotlight and envy began to possess him.  Added to that, a cerebral hemorrhage had paralyzed his right side.  He could no longer write, and doctors gave little hope for recovery.  The old composer traveled to France and began to soak in the baths which were said to have healing effects.  The hot mineral baths seemed to help, and his health began to improve.  Eventually, he was able to write once more, and his success returned. 

    Then Handel faced another reversal.  Queen Caroline, who had been his staunch supporter, died.  England found itself on hard economic times, and heating large auditoriums for concerts was not permitted.  His performances were canceled, and he began to wonder where God was.  Then one night, as he returned from his walk, Charles Jennens was waiting at his home.  Jennens explained that he had just finished writing a text for a musical that covered both the Old and New Testaments, and believed that Handel was the man to set it to music.  Handel was indifferent as he began to read the words which Jennens had put together.  But then his eyes fell on such words as ‘He was despised, rejected of men. . . he looked for someone to have pity on him, but there was no man; neither found he any to comfort him.’  His eyes raced ahead to the words: ‘He trusted in God. . . God did not leave his soul in hell. . . He will give you rest.’  And finally his eyes stopped on the words: ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth.’  He became aware of the presence of God.  He was aware in a new and profound way, and as he picked up his pen the Spirit of God was moving, and music seemed to flow through him.  He finished the first part in only seven days.  The second section was completed in six days. 

    Many will remember that when the classical work was first performed in London, and the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ was sung by the choir, King George II was so moved that he stood to his feet.  To this day, people still rise to their feet as the great chorus is sung in praise to God. 

    In reflecting on Handel’s Messiah, Joseph E. McCabe wrote: “Never again are we to look at the stars, as we did when we were children, and wonder how far it is to God.  A being outside our world would be a spectator, looking on but taking no part in this life, where we try to be brave despite all the bafflement.  A God who created, and withdrew, could be mighty, but he could not be love.  Who could love a God remote, when suffering is our lot?  Our God is closer than our problems, for they are out there to be faced; He is here, beside us, Emmanuel.”

In Jesus our Lord.

Brown

https://youtu.be/yIjPySiAcfg