Brown's Daily Word 4/8/16

   Praise the Lord.  It is Friday, but Sunday is coming.  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday evening gathering for fellowship and study.  The Fellowship was sweet and the study was both very provocative and heart warming.  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful time with the students at release time yesterday.  Children are filled with exuberance and spontaneity.  The sharing time with the children often becomes in-depth sharing.  Their smiles and laughter, along with their inquisitive questions, fill our souls with, "Thank You, Jesus." 

    Please pray for one of our grandsons, who suffered a severe injury on the  playground.  We are praying and trusting that the Lord would bring to him full and complete healing.  Thank you for praying.  Praise the Lord for one of our dear friends who has gone through foot surgery.  The Lord is strengthening her.  She is able to walk again.  A couple of friends are traveling to the Philippines on a short term mission.  Please join in praying for them.

    "God Made a Farmer".  I am a farmer by birth.  I have started some vegetable seeds.  They are sprouting profusely.  One of our friends is preparing a very fertile garden plot  with a fence to keep the deer out.  We are excited abut Spring planting. 

    We are getting ready for Sunday, the Lord's Day.  Sunday school will meet at 10:00 AM and worship will begin at 11:00 AM, followed by fellowship hour.

   I have been looking at 1 Corinthians 15. this morning.  Chapter 15 in First Corinthians is an explosive chapter.  Seven times in these few verses Paul uses the word "if."  "If Christ has not been raised," says the apostle, then preaching is in vain, faith is futile, forgiveness is a myth, and there is no hope of heaven.  "If" is a pretty big word for having only two letters.  Think how different American history would be if Lincoln had not gone to Ford's Theater that night or if Lee Harvey Oswald's aim had been a hair off.  Things would be altogether different—if....

    The greatest "if" is this one: "If Christ has not been raised ... ." But Paul did not  stop with "if."  He concluded with the ringing affirmation, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead."  "But someone may ask," said Paul, "'How are the dead raised?  With what kind of body will they come?'"  Paul answered with a parable of sorts.  He spoke about the sowing of seed, and his point is this: There is an intimate relationship between a seed of corn and a cornstalk, but if you had never seen a cornstalk, could you imagine what one looked like just by studying a seed?  Just so, we cannot imagine the resurrected body by looking at the bodies we possess now.

    Easter is about living.  The message of Easter is not merely a comfort for those who expect to die; it is a bracing word of assurance for those who expect to live.  I love the way Paul ended his song of triumph in 1 Corinthians 15.  "Therefore, do not be afraid to live!"  "Therefore, my dear brothers," said the apostle, "stand firm. Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

    Paul was not talking about dying; he was talking about living.  The children's bedtime prayer goes "... if I should die before I wake," but Paul's message is for those who expect to wake before they die.  Paul's conclusion is "Therefore, do not be afraid to live—for Jesus Christ."

    I love the Easter narratives found in all the Gospels, slightly differing yet pointing to the epicenter of the Resurrection event.  In John's gospel the resurrected Jesus seems to have a non-material presence, passing through closed doors to join his disciples in the upper room.  In Luke's account, Jesus eats bread and fish and calms his frightened followers by saying, "It is I myself!  Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (24:39).  Matthew and Mark remember one angel at the tomb; John and Dr. Luke report two. and then there's Matthew's earthquake, which seems to have escaped everyone else's notice.

    The Easter symphony thunders with dissonance, but this much the gospels have in common: they all affirm that Jesus died and rose again.  "The resurrection is a great mystery, an event beyond human understanding," said Luther.  True, but in one sense the resurrection is a simple matter.  It is simple in that either it happened or it didn't.  Either Jesus rose from the dead or he did not.  It's either yes or no, true or false.  It has to be one or the other.  The gospels sing out with one mighty voice, "He is risen!" 

    E.B. White's wife was a Christian.  When she died, he wrote of her, "Katherine was a member of that resurrection conspiracy, the company of those who plant seeds of hope under dark skies."  Paul planted a seed of hope under a dark sky: Nothing can separate us from the love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord! Christ is Risen indeed.

In Jesus the Risen Lord.

 Brown

https://youtu.be/4Q0qho_hKEg

Brown's Daily Word 3/31/16

Praise the Lord for this last day of March.  Our town is preparing for its annual Maple Festival.  During the festival, our town becomes the epicenter of festivities and celebrations.  It begins Friday evening with the Maple Pageant and concludes Sunday afternoon.  Thousands and thousands converge in the streets, parks, and greens of our town.  Almost every organization in town is involved in this annual event.  Those of you who live in the area please join us.  Our church serving hundreds of Barbeque  Chicken dinners.  Our men of the church will be  barbecuing chicken both on Saturday Sunday.  High School students and faculty will be serving pancakes for the pancake breakfast.  Around the village everything is coming up maple, from Ice cream to sundaes to maple candy.  It is a huge event for the high school students as they sell freshly roasted nuts, balloons, spiedie sandwiches, and so much more.

    Join us for our Friday Evening Television outreach on Time Warner cable channel 4 at 7.00 PM.  I will sharing the Easter Message.

    Praise the Lord  for He is the Resurrection and life.   If Christ merely died for us, he would be no more or less than any other great man, but he did more: he rose from the dead. He conquered hell and the grave, and made eternity possible. If Christ only died, then the Bible says, “. . .your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. . . If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19). If Christ only died, then he is only a dead prophet. But if he did conquer death, he is the giver of resurrection life which is eternal. 
 
    In 1887, twenty-two years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, his coffin was dug up and opened because there were persistent rumors that he was not in his grave after all. Fourteen years later, his withered body was again exhumed because rumors persisted that he was not there. But each time there were witnesses of the gruesome ceremony who attested to the fact that Lincoln was indeed still in his grave. Three days after the death of Christ, rumors of the same nature began to spread throughout the land of Israel. Only this time, there were no witnesses who could say they had seen his body. To the contrary, many witnesses claimed to have seen him out of his grave, and talked with him after his resurrection. the resurrection of Jesus Christ is: It is the distinguishing mark of Christianity. It is said that Auguste Comte, the French philosopher, once decided to start a brand new religion to improve on Christianity and ultimately replace it. He began to develop its philosophy, moral tenets, ideals, and beliefs, but he was having trouble gaining support for his project. He shared his intention to start a new religion, and his problems with the project with Thomas Carlyle. He asked what advise Carlyle could give to help him in his enterprise. Carlyle replied that he did not know if such an undertaking would be possible, but after a moment he said, “There is one thing you might try. I suggest that you be crucified, rise from the dead on the third day, and get the world to believe that you are still alive.” Obviously Mr. Comte never followed through with the suggestion. He realized its impossibility. But the Christian faith is built on the fact that Jesus Christ did rise from the dead, and that he is still alive changing people’s lives today.  

    On June 18, 1815 British General Arthur Wellington faced Napoleon in the decisive battle of Waterloo which would determine the future of England. To communicate the outcome of the battle, some of the towns from Belgium devised a system of communication by flashing lights from one church tower to another across the country until it was to go across the English Channel. When the battle was over, England had indeed proved victorious, and the joyous message was sent: “Wellington defeated Napoleon.” But as the message was received and sent by each church until it was to go across the channel to Great Britain, the fog began to rise. By the time the message was to go to Britain, the fog blocked the final part of the message so that it only read “Wellington defeated,” leaving people with the erroneous belief that England was doomed. For hours, the nation feared the battle was lost and any hope for the future was gone — until the fog lifted and they had the complete message: “Wellington Defeated Napoleon.” On Good Friday, the early Christians were like those in England believing an erroneous message: “Jesus Defeated.” But when the fog lifted on Sunday morning they saw the complete message: “Jesus Defeated Death.” 

    I believe in the resurrection!

 Brown

https://youtu.be/t5ghKwGEQRA

Brown's Daily Word 3/29/16

Praise the Lord for this EASTERTIDE.  We live in the afterglow of Easter.  Praise the Lord for His assurance and unfailing love.  He is the Risen Lord and Savior.   Indeed, He is our eternal contemporary.  His love never fails and never gives up on us.  

    Sunita posted some of her family pictures taken on Easter Sunday.  They were in the vicinity of the iconic and panoramic settings, the Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC, our Nation's Capital.  I praise the Lord for America the beautiful.  Praise the Lord for the Body of Christ, the Church, the bride of Christ which is eternally beautiful.  I took some time yesterday listening  to the songs and sounds of the spring birds.  I took some time looking at some of the spring flowers, diverse and variegated.  The Crocuses are in full bloom; the daffodils and tulips are popping up.  Jessica, our youngest daughter, shared that the Magnolias near  her  home are blossoming.   Indeed, Easter and Spring are extravagant gifts of the Lord to us.  We are reminded that our lives have eternal ramifications and significance and Jesus makes Easter and Spring possible.  He makes all things glorious and  colorful in His time.

    Max Lucado, in his book Six Hours One Friday, tells the story of a missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle near a large river.  The tribe needed medical attention.  A contagious disease was ravaging the population and they were desperately in need of medication.  Many of them needed to be hospitalized.  People were dying every day.  There was a hospital not very far away, but in order to get there you had to cross the river.  The people of the tribe would not cross it, because they believed that evil spirits lived in the river. They were certain that to enter the water would mean certain death — or worse. The missionary explained that he had crossed the river and nothing evil happened to him, but they were not convinced.  The missionary took them to the bank and placed his hand in the water.  Still they wouldn’t go in.  He decided to walk into the water up to his waist; he even splashed water on his face.  It made no difference. They were still afraid to enter the river.  Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side.  Once there, he smiled and raised a triumphant hand into the air.  He had entered the river and lived.  It was then that the people of the tribe broke into a cheer and followed him across. 

    What will it take for us  to dive in?  The only thing we will lose is our sickness, and the only thing we will gain is wholeness and life.  The good news is that someone has gone before us  to the other side.  He has lifted He hands in victory. He assures you that we  will not only survive,we will have life better than we  have ever known it before.  He has said, “Because I live you also shall live” (John 14:19).  The risen Christ is with us to offer His life in all its fullness.

 He is Risen.

  Brown.

https://youtu.be/6_KXsMCJgBQ