Brown's Daily Word 7-30-12

Praise the Lord for this summer season here in America the beautiful. It is the monsoon season in India. Seasons come and go; they have a beginning and an end. Waiting is also a season in our lives and we have no option but to go through it. Jesus used the fig tree in Matthew 24:29-31 to illustrate that we need to be aware of our spiritual surroundings and seasons.

One of the greatest tragedies for Christians is they do not recognize the season they are in. Summer is a time of spiritual development and fruit bearing. Applied to our personal spiritual development, we might find ourselves learning to study Scripture better, having deeply significant devotions where we feel God’s presence more regularly, worshipping the Lord with His people intentionally, faithfully and regularly... On the other hand, Satan will attempt to divert us, to cause us to put our energies into non-fruit bearing activities. Often we are tempted to invest our energies and the resources on trivia.

Jesus, who is the Lord in all seasons and the Lord of all seasons, ordains spiritual seasons to provide the greatest spiritual fruit-bearing and the greatest spiritual growth. Recognizing the season we are in and responding appropriately to that season is the best way to insure continued spiritual growth and a life that bears Godly fruit.

The Lord blessed us with an abundant Sunday yesterday. It was a great thrill and blessing to be in the House of the Lord worshipping Him and celebrating His grace and love. During the morning worship I preached from Acts 4, on " Holy Boldness. We gathered for a Block Party in Binghamton yesterday evening for an Adult baptism, worship, and celebration, followed by great time of food and fellowship. It was an outdoor service. All the neighbors and friends were invited. There were so many young adults and young people who came, many with young children. We sang and praised the Lord. The Lord visited us.

One of the heroic stories to come out of the 9/11 tragedy is the story of Todd Beamer. He and several passengers on flight 93 have become heroes to us because of their bravery. In all likelihood their actions, in the face of death, saved hundreds of lives, and very possibly the White House or Capitol. The phrase he used as they decided to storm the cockpit was ‘Let’s Roll.’
In many ways, this is the theme of Acts - let’s get going. Let’s go out and share...
Acts 4:13 KJV "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." The NIV says it like this,
"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."
Acts 4:29-31 KJV continues the story, "And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."
Boldness is something desired by almost all Christians. Holy Boldness in the Lord includes courage, conviction, passion, and fearlessness. Frequently, we hear Christians pray for boldness. This is Scriptural, as we see in Acts 4. These first believers in the early Church prayed for boldness and God answered in a mighty way. The whole building shook with the power of God, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they Spoke the Word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:33 NIV "With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. God gave them Great Power through the Holy Spirit."
THE OPPOSITE OF BOLDNESS IS FEAR. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “BOLD AS A LION”? Phil 4:13 KJV says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Many Bible characters exhibited great courage in their walk with God. The prophet Elijah was bold and courageous as he battled the "gods". In Daniel, 3 the Hebrew men in the King’s furnace showed tremendous courage. Peter, John, and Paul in the New Testament were courageous in the face of all manner of opposition.

The Story of Joshua and Caleb at the Promised Land has always blessed me. Moses had sent the 12 Spies into the Land of Caanan on what was basically a reconnaissance Mission. 40 Days later, when they Returned, 10 of the spies gave what God called an “evil report.” Ten were afraid. They reported that the people there "are too Strong for us". They continued, "They are giants and we are grasshoppers in their sight." Joshua and Caleb, however, said, “Let’s go up at once and possess the land, for we are well able to overcome it.”
Fearlessness is the main idea of 2 Timothy 1:6, "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." When the Spirit of God is stirred up and activated within you, you can live a life that is free from fear.
Holy boldness is NOT arrogance or boasting. It is NOT bragging on yourself. James 4:6, "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." Holy Boldness will ONLY operate within the framework of love and humility. To be great in God's Kingdom, we must each first be a servant.

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtu.be/-GD-5mRyaJw

Brown's Daily Word 7-27-12

It is Friday and Sunday is coming. I trust you had a blessed week in the Lord. It is calm and tranquil after the storms yesterday afternoon. The birds are singing and making melodious sounds to the Lord of the heaven and earth. Our youngest daughter Jessica and her husband Tom are flying to Europe for their summer vacation today (and no, they are not stopping in England at all). The summer Olympics have begun in England the land of John and Charles Wesley, William Carey, and David Livingston. The church of Jesus Christ is engaged in London ministering to the athletes and the guests who have landed in London. We will meet for worship this Sunday at 8:30 AM at Wesley UMC and at 10:00 at the Union Center UMC. We will also be gathering for a summer block party in Binghamton, for food, fellowship, and worship, beginning at 5 PM. There will be an outdoor adult Baptism service following the worship service. The location for this event is 14 Broad Street Binghamton. This one of the occasions when "Church leaves the Building" and goes out where people live. Pray for us that will be faithful witness for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is great thrill and joy serving the Lord.
Robert Louis Stevenson once entered in his diary what he considered to be an extraordinary thing. He said, "I have been to Church today, and (Surprisingly) I am not depressed." Christians are called to be joyful in all circumstances. Christian concepts of joy are different from the world's. The Joy of the Lord is the result of God’s work in our hearts (Galatians 5:22). Christ didn’t come that you might have sadness; He came that you might have a full life. (John 10:10)
The book of Nehemiah records a time when the people of Israel were coming back into their homeland after spending 70 years in exile. They began to rebuild their home in the ‘land of promise’. Israel was regaining her homeland and returning to faith. The book of the law had been discovered and Nehemiah called the people together, and had Ezra conduct a public reading of God’s law. The Israelites had different stages of reaction to the law: First, they fell into repentant sorrow. Second, they began to praise and worship the Lord. Third, they celebrated the “Feast of Booths” as the law commanded. The result was great joy! Nehemiah told them, “The Joy of the Lord is your strength.”
As told in the book of Acts, Paul and Silas sang at night in a dungeon in Philippi with their backs bleeding and oozing from the brutal beating of the day before. They weren’t taunting the prison guards. They sang because they found joy like a fountain bubbling up from within them. Their joy struck their jailor. It was their joy that caught his attention. Instead of the moaning and cursing that suffering convicts usually emitted he heard songs in the night. Their joy demanded an explanation. People whose backs are beaten to a bloody pulp don’t sing, they cry. Cheerfully Paul and Silas told him, “Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” Thus he was invited to the joy of their salvation. In his moment of total vulnerability the jailer found the joy of his salvation.

From what the New Testament tells us, the evidence of this joy is the litmus test of being a Christian. The clear and distinguishing mark of the faith of Jesus Christ is this joy, “unspeakable and full of glory” that results from a life of obedience to Jesus.

Isaiah wrote that it is the deaf, the blind, and “the meek that will obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.” There has always been a common element in popular but wrong religion. Whether in ancient Israel or in modern America, those things that grab the popular mind, that brings teeming results, always miss the point of the way of God. Upstanding Judahites in Isaiah’s day would have protested against any suggestion that they followed a religion other than the Divinely revealed religion. They maintained the sacrifices and perhaps carried on other ceremonial functions.

As Cardinal Ratzinger points out in his marvelous book, "Introduction to Christianity", the religion of Israel was essentially a religion of faithful observance of the law. But it was possible to live a way of life totally at odds with the way God commanded, while faithfully maintaining the system of Temple sacrifices. The elite of society did this, unaware how distasteful to God they were. They trusted their prophets, after all. However, God found in the deaf, the blind, and the poor those who could receive His word. “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.”

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtu.be/iPeVIuRjUi4

Brown's Daily Word 7-26-12

Good Evening. We witnessed some very stormy weather here in the Southern tier of New York this afternoon. Tornado watches and warnings were posted around the area for a few hours. It is reported that a tornado touched down in one of our neighboring towns, causing some damage. We saw and heard some of the powerful lightning and booming thunders. The ground shook and trembled. The Lord sent us some very needed rains in and through it all. Thank you Jesus.

I was reading from Mark 4 today. The disciples find themselves in the midst of a powerful storm. In fact, if their anxiety level was rated on a scale of one to ten, they were probably at a ten. They were afraid they would not live. Jesus saved them by an act of mighty power. Mark, chapter 4:

"That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, 'Let us go over to the other side.' Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?'
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?' They were terrified and asked each other, 'Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!'"

The story first draws us the obvious point that storms come along sometimes. There was probably nothing unusual about the storm itself. Storms were known to come over the lake, Lake Galilee, or the Sea of Galilee. Several of the disciples were fishermen. They knew what fear was like, and even had some skill in dealing with it. It is also true that we all face storms in our lives. Experiencing them is universal. Nobody escapes them all. Storms come.

Note also that Jesus doesn't protect them - his followers - from the storm. There was no bubble of safety around the disciples at this moment keeping them dry and secure. Some people try to tell us that good Christians don't get caught in storms. They insist that as Christians, we won't get laid off, or if we do get laid off, we're going to find another job immediately. They insist that If we're Christians, we won't have serious illnesses, chronic illnesses, or emotional problems. They say that nothing will touch us. It's just not true. The disciples, in this story, were wet, exhausted, and afraid, fearing for their lives. Jesus, who commanded the storm, was in the boat with them, but they still got wet, and they still became very afraid.

In fact, the disciples were in the boat in the storm because of Jesus. Recall also that some of those disciples were not fishermen. This might have been the first time they were in a boat, and they were in this particular boat on this night in this place because Jesus said, verse 35, "Let us go over to the other side." It is possible that even the fishermen might not have gone out on a night quite like this, or, if they did go out, maybe they would have stayed closer to shore. Regardless, they were in the middle of this place, in the storm, specifically because Jesus said, "Let us go over to the other side." Sometimes we face storms because we follow Jesus.

The apostle Paul faced his own set of shipwrecks, and he faced his own storms. Paul clung on pieces of a ship because he followed Jesus. Alec and K C Bersch faced an earthquake, and they're staying in Haiti in all of that hardship that follows because they follow Jesus.

Our missionary friend Dave Coles preached in our church this month. He told us that there are Muslims in certain countries who are becoming Christians, and many of them lose their jobs, lose their families, and some even lose their lives, because of following Jesus. Jesus, who commands storms, commands us into some storms we would never have to face if we were just normal folk. Storms come.

Disciples asked Jesus, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" It was a great question since Jesus, who commands the storm, is in the boat with them, and he seems to be doing nothing about it, and their question to him is, "Don't you care? We're going to die here!" Their big question mirrors our own questions in our own storms. "God, don't you care?" Jesus then answered their need. He stood and gave a command, "Quiet! Be still!" At no point were the disciples more than three English words from the total solution to their problem. Jesus commanded the storm, and he totally controlled the outcome.

Psalm 89, verses 8 and 9. It goes like this.

"O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them."

The one in the boat with the disciples, the one in the storm with them, was the Lord God Almighty. He experienced their dangers with them, not far away and untouched by their circumstances. Still the disciples were faithless, accusing Jesus, the Lord, of not caring. Yet, Jesus still delivered them. He extended to them the grace of God, and, despite my grumblings, doubts, and accusations he does the same for me. That's how much he cares. The good news is that Jesus, although he rebuked them, still delivered them. Jesus, who commands the storm, was there with them, and he is with us too.

In Christ, http://youtu.be/KyWOIKCtjiw

Brown,

Psalm 4:8