Good morning,
Praise the Lord for His love, which never fails. He blessed us with a fantastic weekend. Praise the Lord for His bountiful provisions in season and out of season. It is always a great treat to be in the Lord's house with His people to declare the mighty deeds of Jesus our Lord. The Thanksgiving banquet served following the Worship yesterday was a wonderful blessing. Jesus our Lord showed up in worship and in fellowship to enrich our lives and to deepen in us His grace and His mercy. One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Hebrews 10:19-25. This is one of the favorite passages of our friend Warren Ayer. "And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works..." (Hebrews 10:24)
Jonathan Hull, in his novel The Distance from Normandy, told the story of an elderly widower who decided to take responsibility for his troubled teenage grandson. Expelled from school for pulling a knife on a bully, "Andrew" traveled from Chicago to San Diego to spend three agonizing weeks with "Mead," a World War II veteran who had lost his wife three years previously. Everything about this young man provoked anything but love in his grandfather, from the baggy jeans hanging almost down to his knees, to his dirty, unlaced sneakers; from his rumpled black tee-shirt, to the earring in his left earlobe; from his messy hair streaked with yellow along the top, to his attitude which was part "scared little kid" and part "rebel without a cause."
Of course, the feelings were mutual. Andrew was a misfit dealing with many inner demons, an outcast who was at the bottom of his high school pecking order. To him, his grandfather was just a stodgy, old man, long on rules and order, and short on anything else that matters to a teen. As young as he may have been, however, Andrew could see that Mead himself struggled with his own demons, some of which went back to his days in the Army. As they stumbled through this misbegotten visit, they constantly provoked the worst in each other, not the best. Yet, this is a story of how, eventually, "both of them confront the secrets they have been trying to forget."
"And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works..." (Hebrews 10:24) What a strange way of speaking about the how-to’s of Christian love! "Provoke," indeed!
In that novel young Andrew needed to see the very human side of his grandfather before anything could happen for good in his own life, and in his relationship with the old man. Likewise, Mead needed to open himself and see his grandson as he was, and not as the young punk who defied everything this grandfather held dear... that same thing needs to happen among God’s people.
When the Scripture says, "let us consider how to provoke one another to love," the verse could also be translated, "let us notice each other," (Jewett, p. 177). In order to provoke one another to God’s kind of love and to the "doing" of what we say we believe, we need to pay attention to each other. We need to see one another as we really are, not as what we think we are. Often we project upon other people our own fears or anxieties, or we see them as being separated from us. In other words, we see what we want or need to see.
It is often difficult to see others (and ourselves) as we really are. Sometimes we must be "poked" out of our illusions. That Greek word "paroxymos," (provoke) by the way, literally means "with" (para) "sharp" (oxys). "And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works..." (Hebrews 10:24)
Can love be provoked? The life story of Jesus is nothing if not a provocative account of God’s human side. The Lord took on human form. This is what that big word, "incarnation," means - in "carnal" form, "carne" being "flesh," as in "flesh and bones and blood," just like us. God is not just some lofty idea, or a mirror of our own dreams or wishes. God is real. We hold onto this fact, especially in uncertain times. "The confession of our hope," which the author of this letter to the Hebrews calls us "to hold fast without wavering," involves more than just affirming some words written upon a piece of paper. It means being so bold as to relate with God as He really is, because Jesus made it possible for us to do so. "Just as I am," we sing in that old hymn, "I come." And the Lord God responds, "I’ve been waiting. Welcome."
In Jesus,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twuLr5rQmp0
Laureen and her group in Thailand .Thank you for praying and sharing
Monday, November 16, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 11-13-09
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day, this Friday the thirteenth. It is going to be a wonderful day, for the Lord has made it. It's Friday now, but Sunday is coming, 60 degree temperatures and all, or so they say. Come and join us on the Lord's Day in His house with His people for His worship (8:30 and 11 AM here, and 9:30 at Wesley). Following the second service there will be a Thanksgiving meal with the trimmings, prepared with much love. All are welcome.
Those who live in the area, please join us in our television outreach. It is presented on Channel 4 at 7:00 PM on Time Warner Cable.
In his writings Rick Warren has said, "We are made for worship, and we grow stronger through worship." It is a great thrill to worship the risen Lord in spirit and in truth. So, plan to be in the house of the Lord on Sunday, and worship Him wherever you may be. When the saints sing the Savior's song, Satan trembles and demons flee.
It has often been said, "The Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing!" Of course, the question is, "What is the Main thing"? For the church of Jesus Christ, without a doubt the "Main Thing" is worship. Several times in Scripture, we are given exhortations to worship God. For example, in both 1 Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 29:2 we have this exhortation, "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." Psalm 99:5 says, "Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; He is holy."
In America we have adopted this way of thinking which attempts to place everyone on an equal plane. No one is better than anyone else, and thus no one has authority over anyone else - everyone has an equal say. We are opposed to hierarchy of any kind. It's interesting to me that many people want to be the boss, but few want to obey the boss.
Ultimately, we even bring God down to our level. Inscribed on our great American buildings is the saying, "The voice of the People is the voice of God." That may sound like an expression of a wonderful Democratic idea, but it is nearly blasphemy. However, we haven't only put our voices in place of God's, but we have come to the place where we think we have power over God - prayer has turned around to become our telling God what we expect Him to do for us, instead of listening to what He expects from us.
Jesus our Lord, speaks directly about worship when He answers the temptation put to Him by Satan in the wilderness. "Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" (Matthew 4:10) The author of Hebrews wrote (in Chapter 10), "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together." The gathering together of Christians on a regular basis is not optional!
Thank you all for praying for Laureen. She will be back home in 10 days,I know that she has felt the prayers of the Lord's people carrying her through.
In Christ the Risen Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiy3_KRKNaQ
Praise the Lord for this new day, this Friday the thirteenth. It is going to be a wonderful day, for the Lord has made it. It's Friday now, but Sunday is coming, 60 degree temperatures and all, or so they say. Come and join us on the Lord's Day in His house with His people for His worship (8:30 and 11 AM here, and 9:30 at Wesley). Following the second service there will be a Thanksgiving meal with the trimmings, prepared with much love. All are welcome.
Those who live in the area, please join us in our television outreach. It is presented on Channel 4 at 7:00 PM on Time Warner Cable.
In his writings Rick Warren has said, "We are made for worship, and we grow stronger through worship." It is a great thrill to worship the risen Lord in spirit and in truth. So, plan to be in the house of the Lord on Sunday, and worship Him wherever you may be. When the saints sing the Savior's song, Satan trembles and demons flee.
It has often been said, "The Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing!" Of course, the question is, "What is the Main thing"? For the church of Jesus Christ, without a doubt the "Main Thing" is worship. Several times in Scripture, we are given exhortations to worship God. For example, in both 1 Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 29:2 we have this exhortation, "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." Psalm 99:5 says, "Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; He is holy."
In America we have adopted this way of thinking which attempts to place everyone on an equal plane. No one is better than anyone else, and thus no one has authority over anyone else - everyone has an equal say. We are opposed to hierarchy of any kind. It's interesting to me that many people want to be the boss, but few want to obey the boss.
Ultimately, we even bring God down to our level. Inscribed on our great American buildings is the saying, "The voice of the People is the voice of God." That may sound like an expression of a wonderful Democratic idea, but it is nearly blasphemy. However, we haven't only put our voices in place of God's, but we have come to the place where we think we have power over God - prayer has turned around to become our telling God what we expect Him to do for us, instead of listening to what He expects from us.
Jesus our Lord, speaks directly about worship when He answers the temptation put to Him by Satan in the wilderness. "Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" (Matthew 4:10) The author of Hebrews wrote (in Chapter 10), "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together." The gathering together of Christians on a regular basis is not optional!
Thank you all for praying for Laureen. She will be back home in 10 days,I know that she has felt the prayers of the Lord's people carrying her through.
In Christ the Risen Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiy3_KRKNaQ
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 11-12-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Our grandchildren who live in Boston, live just a brisk 2 minute walk from the train station. They love to ride train. They are train savvy. I saw on the news yesterday a story about a woman who was drunk, standing on the platform in Boston, waiting for the train. She was very close the edge of the platform, and she fell on the track in front a on coming train. There were some caring passengers who stood on the edge of the platform waived frantically towards the oncoming train. It was a miracle that the train stopped just inches from hitting the woman who had fallen on the track. The fellow passengers did not jump to the tracks to retrieve the fallen passenger, they just waived at the oncoming train.
Presbyterian biblical scholar/ minister/author Carl Howie tells about an incident that took place in a New York subway on a wintry, and especially cold and bitter, night. Very few people were on the subway at that hour. At each station, the train would screech to a halt, open its doors, allowing a few people to come and go. At one station, a peculiar woman got on. Her clothes were ragged and dirty. She was either extremely tired or extremely drunk. As the train lurched forward, she stumbled and fell into a seat and was almost instantly fast asleep. Through the screeching and swaying of the train, she slept, her hands nestled inside two tattered worn-out gloves. It was hard to see how those gloves, full of holes, would help at all. How could she go anywhere in that bitter cold without freezing her hands? Few people in the train could take their eyes off this homeless person, asleep on the subway, her gloved hands without gloves.
Then a strange thing happened. A young Puerto Rican boy got up to get off the train as it slowed to a stop. He could have gone out the exit closest to him, but he went by the sleeping woman instead. He paused by her for a few moments, removed his gloves, laid them on her lap, and got off the train.
It is easy to judge everyone around us. After all we all have plenty of faults. Deliberate choosing to see everyone as an object of God's love in Jesus Christ, created in His image, will help me look past the homelessness, age, beauty, intelligence, opinions, the differences between myself and others. Really looking at God's children and really seeing them I can be more compassionate. I can be better responsive to needs and less responsive to my judgmental prejudices.
We live in an incredibly selfish world. Even if we can look past or lay aside the judmentalism and anger we see in the world today, there is still an overwhelming sense of self-serving that is impossible to reconcile with Christian teaching.
Unfortunately, the self-centeredness that we see in the world at large is also present in our church congregations. For many today, there is a shopping mall mentality. We all know that consumers shop at the place where they can get the most services and goods for the least amount of money and with the greatest ease. It is the philosophy of Walmart…but not of the Bride of Christ!
Galatians 5:16-18 (The Message): "My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?"
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x2IpLSfqp8
Praise the Lord for this new day. Our grandchildren who live in Boston, live just a brisk 2 minute walk from the train station. They love to ride train. They are train savvy. I saw on the news yesterday a story about a woman who was drunk, standing on the platform in Boston, waiting for the train. She was very close the edge of the platform, and she fell on the track in front a on coming train. There were some caring passengers who stood on the edge of the platform waived frantically towards the oncoming train. It was a miracle that the train stopped just inches from hitting the woman who had fallen on the track. The fellow passengers did not jump to the tracks to retrieve the fallen passenger, they just waived at the oncoming train.
Presbyterian biblical scholar/ minister/author Carl Howie tells about an incident that took place in a New York subway on a wintry, and especially cold and bitter, night. Very few people were on the subway at that hour. At each station, the train would screech to a halt, open its doors, allowing a few people to come and go. At one station, a peculiar woman got on. Her clothes were ragged and dirty. She was either extremely tired or extremely drunk. As the train lurched forward, she stumbled and fell into a seat and was almost instantly fast asleep. Through the screeching and swaying of the train, she slept, her hands nestled inside two tattered worn-out gloves. It was hard to see how those gloves, full of holes, would help at all. How could she go anywhere in that bitter cold without freezing her hands? Few people in the train could take their eyes off this homeless person, asleep on the subway, her gloved hands without gloves.
Then a strange thing happened. A young Puerto Rican boy got up to get off the train as it slowed to a stop. He could have gone out the exit closest to him, but he went by the sleeping woman instead. He paused by her for a few moments, removed his gloves, laid them on her lap, and got off the train.
It is easy to judge everyone around us. After all we all have plenty of faults. Deliberate choosing to see everyone as an object of God's love in Jesus Christ, created in His image, will help me look past the homelessness, age, beauty, intelligence, opinions, the differences between myself and others. Really looking at God's children and really seeing them I can be more compassionate. I can be better responsive to needs and less responsive to my judgmental prejudices.
We live in an incredibly selfish world. Even if we can look past or lay aside the judmentalism and anger we see in the world today, there is still an overwhelming sense of self-serving that is impossible to reconcile with Christian teaching.
Unfortunately, the self-centeredness that we see in the world at large is also present in our church congregations. For many today, there is a shopping mall mentality. We all know that consumers shop at the place where they can get the most services and goods for the least amount of money and with the greatest ease. It is the philosophy of Walmart…but not of the Bride of Christ!
Galatians 5:16-18 (The Message): "My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?"
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x2IpLSfqp8
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