Good Morning,
We are in the midst of our first Pre-summer heat wave here in New York. It is similar to summer days in Orissa , India. It will be in mid 90's here today. The Lord blessed us with a wonderful weekend of great fellowship and worship. Our man's banquet was a time a great sharing in a sumptuous banquet and in participating a time worship, and in the proclamation of the word of the Lord by Bishop Simpson.
The reading from the Gospel for yesterday focused on Jesus' hand at work in the lives of many. A woman was healed of a 12 year-long illness. A child was raised from death. A synagogue leader experienced Christ face to face. There were so many miracles for one journey, but more than these outward took place, unseen to the eye but visible to the heart. Here, on the road to Jairus' house, we confront, once again, the matters of riches and poverty. We delve into the ever-troubling issue of suffering. Why do we suffer? Where is God in the midst of our trials? Jesus has the answers ready, if we will only listen. We explore, on this journey, the eternal truth of God's right time, in comparison with our faulty human conception of time. Jesus shows us God's right time in perfect action. All of these matters meet us on the road to Jairus' house, and demand our attention, our comprehension, our work.
Jairus, a synagogue leader, was a figure in society who carried some weight. As a leader, he was well-known, and well off. His opinion counted. Onlookers probably thought it only proper that Jesus would take time to attend to Jairus' daughter – after all, he was a religious leader. He deserved Jesus' help. On His journey to see the sick daughter, however, another figure entered the scene and stalled the trip for awhile. A woman, hemorrhaging for twelve years, also sought Jesus' help, though she was not confident enough to ask for it directly. The woman, unlike Jairus, completely lacked status. First, as a woman, she did not have the ability to command attention as Jairus could. Second, her disease made her ritually unclean, a state of being in Jewish code that made it unlawful for others to touch her. By touching Jesus, she risked violating the law herself and making Jesus unclean also. Third, where Jairus was well off, the woman, we are told, had spent her whole livelihood in search of a cure. She had nothing at all to recommend her to Jesus, no reason to believe he would care about her story. On our journey, we come upon the issues surrounding riches and poverty. Jesus treated the woman's suffering and pain in the same way he treated Jairus' pain, despite their contrasting financial states. No doubt Jairus was in a hurry to get aid to his dying daughter, but Jesus stopped the procession to care for the needs of the woman – needs Jesus deemed equally important. To Jesus it did not matter that one person was wealthy and the other one poor. The only thing Jesus attended to was the need that he can provide for, the life he could act to change.
How would we act in Jesus' situation? What would we do if we had to choose between stopping for the poor woman, or pressing on toward the home of the wealthy man? The gospel text itself shows us two responses of contrasting views. Peter, Jesus' closest disciple, urged Jesus to press ahead when Jesus asked who touched him. He says, "Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you". Peter's attention was on the goal of getting to Jairus' house, but he neglected the importance of the journey. Jairus, on the other hand, (amazingly) made no complaints. One might expect that Jairus would complain or hurry Jesus, considering the state of his daughter. Imagine if your loved one were ill and in need, but the ambulance stopped on the way to your house to quibble over a fender-bender. You might get anxious, nervous, or even angry. For Jairus the circumstance was magnified by the fact that the woman turns out to be an unclean woman. What a disgrace to Jairus, to be put off by such a person! Yet Jairus made no complaint. He waited patiently, not even arguing with Jesus when a messenger brought word that the daughter had died. Surely Jairus must have considered that if Jesus had neglected the poor woman, his daughter would still be living. He expressed no such sentiments, however, and followed Jesus trustingly.
A 12 year old is on the verge of death. A woman hemorrhages for 12 years. Parents watch anxiously over their only child. Is this fair? In this one passage we find deep and profound suffering. Where is God in this picture? Suffering is one of those questions we all face at one point or another in our lives. None of us can escape suffering. Perhaps we have lost a parent, a sibling, a spouse, a child. Perhaps we have suffered disease, or looked on as another battled an illness. Some starve. Some face war in their homeland. Some have homes destroyed from disaster. In one way, or many ways, we have all faced suffering in some form. Why? Why do we suffer? Does God care about our pain? As faithful Christians, we know that answer to be yes, even though it is hard to understand.
Jairus, his wife, his daughter, and the sick woman were all suffering, until they let their faith guide their actions to God. No doubt Jairus was hesitant about seeking help from a man who gave trouble to synagogue leaders. No doubt the woman feared acting against the law to trouble the great teacher. However, despite fears, they acted in faith, and their faith was rewarded by an end of their suffering. Jesus stopped on his journey to care for someone in need. In our hectic goal-oriented world, it is hard to think about stopping, pausing to attend to something other than our final destination. Jesus did not give it a second thought. The woman, we must remember, was healed without Jesus speaking a word or slowing his pace. But when he realized what had occurred, he still paused to attend to the woman, face to face. He heard her story. He looked into her eyes. He shared and relieved her suffering. Can we do the same? Karl Shelly,wrote, "The good news is that we as a people of faith are on the road to Jairus' house. The challenge, however, is whether we will be touched by people we pass along the way who are suffering". We have the challenge. Will we accept?
In the passage, we also confront the issue of time. In Christian theology, human time is called chronos, regular time. We are a culture, a world, obsessed with time. We are always in a hurry, seeking "fast food" and instant cures. Yet, we want to slow time in other areas of our lives. "Age-defying" makeup promises to remove outward signs of our growing older. Sometimes time moving forward is our enemy too. Either way, we are not happy with time. It goes by too quickly or takes too long.
God's time is different than our time. God has a perfect time, which, in theology, we call kairos. Kairos means the appointed time, the correct time, the "right" time. Interestingly, the word's roots are in no way related to the roots of chronos. Kairos is an understanding of time totally unrelated to human understanding of time. Think of God's time, God's kairos, at work . A woman is ill for twelve years, a long time by our standards to endure an illness. But on this day, she happened to be where Jesus was, and happened to cross paths with him. If she had been anywhere else in the world, she would not have been healed. God's kairos is at work – and the woman was healed at just the right time. Think of Jairus' daughter. At first, one is tempted to think Jesus was late. He spent too much time with the woman, and the little girl died. The child was twelve years old, only a short time for our standards of long life. But, despite our doubts, despite the laughter when Jesus claimed the girl was only sleeping, despite the wailing for the loss of life, Jesus acted to save the girl in God's right time. Instead of merely healing a sick girl, Jesus exhibited God's ability to work even through death to bring life, by allowing Jesus to raise the girl from the dead. What a powerful message that was, and it was one that Jesus would make even more clear through his own death and resurrection later on. The Lord acted in His right time, to bring a better message to the world.
We grow impatient from waiting for what we want to happen now, and we grow anxious when the days pass by too fast. But we must remember, our Lord works in His time, and the best things happen when we let Lord do His work.
On the road to Jairus' house, we have a lot to discover about who we are, and who the teacher and healer is with whom we travel. Are we ready to notice the suffering around us, on the sides of the road ? Are we ready to open ourselves to God' right time? We have a journey to take, side by side with our Lord and Master, on the road to Jairus' house.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uNDVvQKOYw
Monday, June 9, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 6-6-08
Good Morning,
Praise the for this first Friday of June. Today is the anniversary of D-Day. Praise the Lord for the thousands brave and gallant men who gave their lives for the cause freedom, who stood against tyranny, cruelty, injustice, oppression, and sin. May Jesus, the Prince of Peace, cause the wars to cease. May nations and people groups come to Him, to worship the Lord and Savior.
We live in a world where many people allow themselves to be limited by their fears of hurt, disappointment or criticism. A man who hid for 32 years fearing punishment of pro-Nazi wartime activity says he used to cry when he heard happy voices outside, but dared not show himself even at his mother’s funeral. Janez Rus was a young shoemaker when he went into hiding at his sister’s farmhouse in June, 1945. He was found years later after she bought a large supply of bread in the nearby village of Zalna. "If I had not been discovered, I would have remained in hiding. So I am happy that this happened," Rus told a reporter. Throughout those years he did nothing. He never left the house, and could only look down at the village in the valley. David praised God and then experienced release from His fears. In Psalm 34, we are reminded that by extolling the Lord at all times, with our praise of His attributes, we are lifted up above our fears. The Psalmist writes, "I will extol the Lord at all times, his praise will always be on my lips." Praise helps us gain a new perspective. Praise of God’s Lordship over all aspects of life helps us see that He is sovereign and His omnipotence is greater than any problem. When we are focused on Jesus as the one who overcomes the world, we are given an increased sense of His empowerment, enabling, and courage. Jesus said, "BE of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." Praise God for His resurrection power that gives us the power, love, and self-discipline to cast all of our anxieties upon the Lord and He will sustain us. Somehow Jesus comes and gives us the victory. David sought the Lord for a solution for all of his troubles and found deliverance from all of his fears. The Psalmist wrote, "I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all of my fears." (Psalm 34:4) Whenever we feel afraid we can trust Him to provide whatever we need. He makes us adequate with His adequacy. He provides us with courage when we are feeling timid. He gives us the confidence to speak with articulate wisdom when we are unsure of what to say. He helps us face our obstacles with the assurance that we can do everything God asks us to do with the help of Christ who gives us the strength and power. (Philippians 4:13 - Living translation)
We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us-- who still loves us".
"Unbelief puts our circumstance between us and God, but faith puts Godbetween us and our circumstances." F.B. Meyer
In Jesus, the Mighty Warrior,
Brown Praise the Lord for His unfailing faithfulness and steadfast love. Sunita flew back to Washington safely yesterday. Andy and Sunita and some of their friends are going to Toronto today to attend a wedding of their friends. Janice, Jeremy, Micah, Simeon are going on a camping trip in New Hampshire this weekend. It is the first camping experience for both Micah and Simeon. Our young friend Allison Bassett returned back to the States after a semester in Spain.
Praise the Lord for Al and Evvie Binder, who are celebrating their 58th wedding anniversary; Irving and Orpha Rosenbarker are celebrating their 62nd anniversary; Chuck and Jane Loeffler are celebrating their 66th anniversary; George and Marion Cameron are celebrating 60 years; Mahlon and Eloise Tewksbury are celebrating 62 years; Leo and Jean Cornett are celebrating 62 years. As Sarah Groves sings, "When the Saints go marching in, I want to be one of them."
We will be gathering at 6 p.m. tomorrow for the annual men's banquet. Our speaker will be Bishop Larry Simpson. Our praise band, led by Aric Phinney, will lead the worship. Our young friend, chef Joe Walker, will be preparing the prime rib dinner.
Please join us for our weekly television outreach tonight on channel 4 at 7 p.m.
Pray for our friend Jerry Adams as he goes for surgery next Tuesday.
Pastor Brown,
Do you still have a prayer list. I'd like to ask that Harvey be put on it. His lung cancer is at stage 3A. Once he recovers from the surgery, they'll start chemo. He also needs healing with his kidneys. Severe diabetes has reduced his kidney function by 50% and this can impede the chemotherapy. They removed part of his right lung and the biopsies found that the cancer had spread beyond that to some lymph nodes.
Thank you and praise God,
Nancy
Praise the for this first Friday of June. Today is the anniversary of D-Day. Praise the Lord for the thousands brave and gallant men who gave their lives for the cause freedom, who stood against tyranny, cruelty, injustice, oppression, and sin. May Jesus, the Prince of Peace, cause the wars to cease. May nations and people groups come to Him, to worship the Lord and Savior.
We live in a world where many people allow themselves to be limited by their fears of hurt, disappointment or criticism. A man who hid for 32 years fearing punishment of pro-Nazi wartime activity says he used to cry when he heard happy voices outside, but dared not show himself even at his mother’s funeral. Janez Rus was a young shoemaker when he went into hiding at his sister’s farmhouse in June, 1945. He was found years later after she bought a large supply of bread in the nearby village of Zalna. "If I had not been discovered, I would have remained in hiding. So I am happy that this happened," Rus told a reporter. Throughout those years he did nothing. He never left the house, and could only look down at the village in the valley. David praised God and then experienced release from His fears. In Psalm 34, we are reminded that by extolling the Lord at all times, with our praise of His attributes, we are lifted up above our fears. The Psalmist writes, "I will extol the Lord at all times, his praise will always be on my lips." Praise helps us gain a new perspective. Praise of God’s Lordship over all aspects of life helps us see that He is sovereign and His omnipotence is greater than any problem. When we are focused on Jesus as the one who overcomes the world, we are given an increased sense of His empowerment, enabling, and courage. Jesus said, "BE of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." Praise God for His resurrection power that gives us the power, love, and self-discipline to cast all of our anxieties upon the Lord and He will sustain us. Somehow Jesus comes and gives us the victory. David sought the Lord for a solution for all of his troubles and found deliverance from all of his fears. The Psalmist wrote, "I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all of my fears." (Psalm 34:4) Whenever we feel afraid we can trust Him to provide whatever we need. He makes us adequate with His adequacy. He provides us with courage when we are feeling timid. He gives us the confidence to speak with articulate wisdom when we are unsure of what to say. He helps us face our obstacles with the assurance that we can do everything God asks us to do with the help of Christ who gives us the strength and power. (Philippians 4:13 - Living translation)
We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us-- who still loves us".
"Unbelief puts our circumstance between us and God, but faith puts Godbetween us and our circumstances." F.B. Meyer
In Jesus, the Mighty Warrior,
Brown Praise the Lord for His unfailing faithfulness and steadfast love. Sunita flew back to Washington safely yesterday. Andy and Sunita and some of their friends are going to Toronto today to attend a wedding of their friends. Janice, Jeremy, Micah, Simeon are going on a camping trip in New Hampshire this weekend. It is the first camping experience for both Micah and Simeon. Our young friend Allison Bassett returned back to the States after a semester in Spain.
Praise the Lord for Al and Evvie Binder, who are celebrating their 58th wedding anniversary; Irving and Orpha Rosenbarker are celebrating their 62nd anniversary; Chuck and Jane Loeffler are celebrating their 66th anniversary; George and Marion Cameron are celebrating 60 years; Mahlon and Eloise Tewksbury are celebrating 62 years; Leo and Jean Cornett are celebrating 62 years. As Sarah Groves sings, "When the Saints go marching in, I want to be one of them."
We will be gathering at 6 p.m. tomorrow for the annual men's banquet. Our speaker will be Bishop Larry Simpson. Our praise band, led by Aric Phinney, will lead the worship. Our young friend, chef Joe Walker, will be preparing the prime rib dinner.
Please join us for our weekly television outreach tonight on channel 4 at 7 p.m.
Pray for our friend Jerry Adams as he goes for surgery next Tuesday.
Pastor Brown,
Do you still have a prayer list. I'd like to ask that Harvey be put on it. His lung cancer is at stage 3A. Once he recovers from the surgery, they'll start chemo. He also needs healing with his kidneys. Severe diabetes has reduced his kidney function by 50% and this can impede the chemotherapy. They removed part of his right lung and the biopsies found that the cancer had spread beyond that to some lymph nodes.
Thank you and praise God,
Nancy
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 6-5-08
Good Morning.
It is going to be like summer today and in coming days here in New York, the Empire State - hazy, hot, and humid. The rhododendron in front of my study at the parsonage are in full bloom in glorious, magnificent, and marvelous,colors. "A thing of beauty is joy forever". One of my friends uses the devotional, "Streams in the Desert'. I like to speak of songs in the night, because the Lord of Joy gives us songs in the night. When it is dark and bleak,when the situation at hand is stark and suffocating, the Lord of Light breaks into our hearts, bringing in songs in the night.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were in a prison cell in Philippi. I encourage you to read the entire chapter yourself, but here's an overview. Paul had cast out a demon from a fortune-teller. Her master was very displeased because she lost the revenue from her ability to predict the future, so he had Paul and Silas arrested. Acts 16:22 says, “A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So he took no chances but put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.” When we read a story like this, and it’s tough to put ourselves in their shoes and fully understand their plight. We all have had bad days before, but probably nothing comparable to this. Paul and Silas must have been emotionally and physically drained, and spiritually spent. They were drained to the last drop, with nothing left to give. Their backs were bleeding from their beating. They were black and blue all over. They must have been angry. Then, to top it off, they landed in the maximum security cell in stocks! It just doesn’t get much worse than that, and that’s why the next verse is so amazing. It says, “Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.” From personal experience I know that when I get into a spiritual or emotional slump, it’s usually because I have zoned in on a problem, fixing my mind, heart, and energies on something that is wrong. That is the wrong place for my focus. Nine times out of ten, the solution is looming out there, ready for me to get some right perspective. Sometimes we all need to look at the big picture. Worshipping means taking our eyes off of our external circumstances and focusing on God. When we stop focusing on what’s wrong with us or with our circumstances, we can start to focus on God. Paul and Silas could have looked inward and complained about their circumstances. . . God, we cast out a demon and this is what we get? We’re on a missionary journey and we get beaten and thrown in jail? Instead of you “watching our back”, our backs are bleeding from a beating! They could have complained forever, but they made a choice to worship God despite their external circumstances. Worship restores spiritual equilibrium and helps you regain your perspective. It enables you to find something right to praise God about even when everything seems to be going wrong. Worship resetting our focus on the big picture, on the fact that two thousand years ago, Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. It’s refocusing on the fact that God loves us when we least expect it and least deserve it. It’s refocusing on the fact that God is going to take us where God wants us to go. It’s refocusing on the fact that we have eternity with God to look forward to, in a place where there is no mourning, sorrow, or pain. Worship is refocusing on the fundamentals of our faith.
When we refocus and look at God's big picture, He restores the joy of our salvation. We then regain our spiritual equilibrium. Nothing is more difficult than praising God when everything seems to be going wrong, but one of the purest forms of worship is praising God when we don’t feel like it, because it shows God that our worship is not based on circumstances. Our worship is then based on the character of God, not on our human condition. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "there are two kinds of simplicity: simplicity on the near-side of complexity and simplicity on the far-side of complexity". In the same sense, there is worship on the near-side of suffering and worship on the far-side of suffering. Worship on the far-side of suffering has greater intensity and purity. It requires rising above our circumstances. George Bernhard Shaw said, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, make them.” One of the books I read in the 1970s was "Man’s Search for Meaning", by Victor Frankl. Frankl was a Holocaust survivor who wrote about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Everything was taken away from the prisoners. They were stripped of their clothing, their photographs, and their personal belongings. Their captors even took away their names and gave them numbers. Frankl was number 119104. Everything physical thing was taken away. Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” Paul and Silas were enchained in prison. Their bodies were chained, but you cannot chain the human spirit. What Victor Frankl discovered in the concentration camp is the same thing that Paul and Silas modeled two thousand years ago. Their bodies were chained, but their spirits soared. This is one audio track I would love to have heard. I wish we had the track of Paul and Silas singing. There is something so awesome about worshipping God at the top of your voice without caring how it sounds. Paul and Silas sang with a conviction that caused their fellow prisoners to listen. They praised God at the top of their voices! And that choice to worship set off a chain reaction. Albert Einstein once said, “You can’t solve a problem on the level it was created.” Problems created on a human plane are solved on a supernatural plane. That’s what happens when we worship God. It changes the spiritual atmosphere.
God sent an earthquake, opened all of the doors, and loosed their bonds. Paul could never have planned this miraculous jailbreak. The prisoners were set free, but they did not leave! The jailer who was about to kill himself because of the escape was saved that night, and his entire family is baptized in the middle of the night. (You can’t script that kind of thing.)
We cannot plan miracles, but when we worship God in the worst of circumstances we never know what is going to happen. Worship sets the stage for miracles! Worship causes spiritual earthquakes that can change the landscape of our lives. Worship may not change our circumstances, but it will change our lives. Worship is the way we stay positive in negative circumstances. It’s not a placebo! It’s reality. No matter how bad things get, as followers of Christ, we have eternity in heaven to look forward to! Our pain is real, but so is heaven. The good news is that this reality is temporary, but the reality of heaven lasts forever! Paul gave some priceless advice in Philippians 4:8 He said, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” True worshippers always finds reason to praise God because they are looking for reasons to praise God. It was worship that set Paul and Silas free physically, and it is worship that will set us free emotionally and spiritually. Worship sets off a chain reaction. The prison doors fly open. Our chains fall off. Let us stop focusing on what’s wrong about us or our circumstances, and let us begin focusing on worship of the Living Lord and witnessing for His grace and mercy.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q63Rg5AeUTM#
It is going to be like summer today and in coming days here in New York, the Empire State - hazy, hot, and humid. The rhododendron in front of my study at the parsonage are in full bloom in glorious, magnificent, and marvelous,colors. "A thing of beauty is joy forever". One of my friends uses the devotional, "Streams in the Desert'. I like to speak of songs in the night, because the Lord of Joy gives us songs in the night. When it is dark and bleak,when the situation at hand is stark and suffocating, the Lord of Light breaks into our hearts, bringing in songs in the night.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were in a prison cell in Philippi. I encourage you to read the entire chapter yourself, but here's an overview. Paul had cast out a demon from a fortune-teller. Her master was very displeased because she lost the revenue from her ability to predict the future, so he had Paul and Silas arrested. Acts 16:22 says, “A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So he took no chances but put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.” When we read a story like this, and it’s tough to put ourselves in their shoes and fully understand their plight. We all have had bad days before, but probably nothing comparable to this. Paul and Silas must have been emotionally and physically drained, and spiritually spent. They were drained to the last drop, with nothing left to give. Their backs were bleeding from their beating. They were black and blue all over. They must have been angry. Then, to top it off, they landed in the maximum security cell in stocks! It just doesn’t get much worse than that, and that’s why the next verse is so amazing. It says, “Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.” From personal experience I know that when I get into a spiritual or emotional slump, it’s usually because I have zoned in on a problem, fixing my mind, heart, and energies on something that is wrong. That is the wrong place for my focus. Nine times out of ten, the solution is looming out there, ready for me to get some right perspective. Sometimes we all need to look at the big picture. Worshipping means taking our eyes off of our external circumstances and focusing on God. When we stop focusing on what’s wrong with us or with our circumstances, we can start to focus on God. Paul and Silas could have looked inward and complained about their circumstances. . . God, we cast out a demon and this is what we get? We’re on a missionary journey and we get beaten and thrown in jail? Instead of you “watching our back”, our backs are bleeding from a beating! They could have complained forever, but they made a choice to worship God despite their external circumstances. Worship restores spiritual equilibrium and helps you regain your perspective. It enables you to find something right to praise God about even when everything seems to be going wrong. Worship resetting our focus on the big picture, on the fact that two thousand years ago, Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. It’s refocusing on the fact that God loves us when we least expect it and least deserve it. It’s refocusing on the fact that God is going to take us where God wants us to go. It’s refocusing on the fact that we have eternity with God to look forward to, in a place where there is no mourning, sorrow, or pain. Worship is refocusing on the fundamentals of our faith.
When we refocus and look at God's big picture, He restores the joy of our salvation. We then regain our spiritual equilibrium. Nothing is more difficult than praising God when everything seems to be going wrong, but one of the purest forms of worship is praising God when we don’t feel like it, because it shows God that our worship is not based on circumstances. Our worship is then based on the character of God, not on our human condition. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "there are two kinds of simplicity: simplicity on the near-side of complexity and simplicity on the far-side of complexity". In the same sense, there is worship on the near-side of suffering and worship on the far-side of suffering. Worship on the far-side of suffering has greater intensity and purity. It requires rising above our circumstances. George Bernhard Shaw said, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, make them.” One of the books I read in the 1970s was "Man’s Search for Meaning", by Victor Frankl. Frankl was a Holocaust survivor who wrote about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Everything was taken away from the prisoners. They were stripped of their clothing, their photographs, and their personal belongings. Their captors even took away their names and gave them numbers. Frankl was number 119104. Everything physical thing was taken away. Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” Paul and Silas were enchained in prison. Their bodies were chained, but you cannot chain the human spirit. What Victor Frankl discovered in the concentration camp is the same thing that Paul and Silas modeled two thousand years ago. Their bodies were chained, but their spirits soared. This is one audio track I would love to have heard. I wish we had the track of Paul and Silas singing. There is something so awesome about worshipping God at the top of your voice without caring how it sounds. Paul and Silas sang with a conviction that caused their fellow prisoners to listen. They praised God at the top of their voices! And that choice to worship set off a chain reaction. Albert Einstein once said, “You can’t solve a problem on the level it was created.” Problems created on a human plane are solved on a supernatural plane. That’s what happens when we worship God. It changes the spiritual atmosphere.
God sent an earthquake, opened all of the doors, and loosed their bonds. Paul could never have planned this miraculous jailbreak. The prisoners were set free, but they did not leave! The jailer who was about to kill himself because of the escape was saved that night, and his entire family is baptized in the middle of the night. (You can’t script that kind of thing.)
We cannot plan miracles, but when we worship God in the worst of circumstances we never know what is going to happen. Worship sets the stage for miracles! Worship causes spiritual earthquakes that can change the landscape of our lives. Worship may not change our circumstances, but it will change our lives. Worship is the way we stay positive in negative circumstances. It’s not a placebo! It’s reality. No matter how bad things get, as followers of Christ, we have eternity in heaven to look forward to! Our pain is real, but so is heaven. The good news is that this reality is temporary, but the reality of heaven lasts forever! Paul gave some priceless advice in Philippians 4:8 He said, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” True worshippers always finds reason to praise God because they are looking for reasons to praise God. It was worship that set Paul and Silas free physically, and it is worship that will set us free emotionally and spiritually. Worship sets off a chain reaction. The prison doors fly open. Our chains fall off. Let us stop focusing on what’s wrong about us or our circumstances, and let us begin focusing on worship of the Living Lord and witnessing for His grace and mercy.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q63Rg5AeUTM#
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