I have enjoyed a very good week. Normally I would have had chemo this week but I received a reprieve so I could travel to Nebraska next week without being sick from the just completed treatment. I'll resume my chemo after I return from Omaha and then face another vigorous week of treatment.
Among the many notes and cards I have recently received, many of you have included Scripture quotations which either have been a special blessing to you or which you thought would have a special application for me. I have enjoyed and appreciated every one of them. One of our ladies who has recently gone through a serious illness took the time to share the verses to which she had constantly referred to keep her spirit up throughout her ordeal. I have used numerous Scriptures in the same way and have also used the many you have quoted to me in recent weeks. Here are a few of those treasured verses:
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me (Psalm 57:1-2).

I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope (Psalm 16:8-9).

Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard(Isaiah 58:8).

For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, "Fear not, I will help you (Isaiah 41:13).

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20).

Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble (Psalm 41:1).

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles (Psalm 34:15, 17).

But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).

And finally, I will add a verse that I have often thought about especially recently:

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death (Philippians 3:10).

Most of us would like to have the power of his resurrection in our lives, but we want to avoid the second part of the verse, the fellowship of his sufferings; yet they are clearly linked together. The power of his resurrection and fellowship of his sufferings are part of being made conformable unto his death. which is dying to self that there may be more of Christ and his power operating and flowing in and through us. Ultimately, it is about having less of self and more of Christ with Christ having more of us by possessing and influencing every area of our lives.
Also, going through hardships truly creates understanding and empathy toward others who are going through similar hardships in their lives; hence the saying about Jesus that He is a high priest who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15).
Lord willing, I will be preaching tomorrow morning on the subject, What it Means To Be Blessed. I can hardly wait to preach that message and see you all then.
Pastor Brown

Good morning, it is Saturday August 19th. This is the third week of my treatment cycle and normally I would be getting ready for my next round of chemo, but because I am getting ready to go to Nebraska for a consultation the end of this month, I have a brief respite from my next treatment cycle. For that reason I should be able to be in the pulpit both tomorrow and next Sunday barring any unforeseen complications. I eagerly anticipate each opportunity to preach and thoroughly enjoy the process.
This fall we will begin a new round of 20-20 groups studying The Normal Christian Life (studies in Romans) , Sit, Walk, Stand (studies in Ephesians) and Be Joyful (studies in Philippians). These studies are so vital to the understanding and appreciation of victorious Christian living, I am encouraging every one of our people to participate in these Bible studies. Details will be announced at church for the groups starting in early September. Watchman Nee, whose prolific ministry led to the studies of the Normal Christian Life materials, was responsible for starting more than 200 churches and spent the final 20 years of his life imprisoned by the communists because of his faith and his refusal to stop preaching the uncompromised message of Jesus Christ. He certainly experienced persecution, hardship, and enormous pressures in his life, yet remained steadfast in his faith and walk. He wrote these inspiring words of encouragement and insight for us.
God ... made us to sit with Him in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6). What does it really mean to sit down? When we walk or stand we bear on our legs all the weight of our own body, whereas when we sit down our entire weight rests opon the chair or bench upon which we sit. We grow weary when we walk or stand, but we feel rested when we sit down for a while. In walking or standing we expend a great deal of energy, but when we are seated we relax at once because the strain no longer falls upon our muscles and sinews but upon something outside of ourselves. So too in spiritual things, to sit down is simply to rest our whole weight - our load, ourselves, our future, everything - upon the Lord. We let Him bear the responsibility and cease to carry it ourselves.
What a perfect commentary on the verse, Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). Note that we are to cast ALL of our care upon Him because He cares for us. For most of us this is easier said than done, especially on a continuing basis. Nee goes on with his exposition and uses this illustration.
The temptation to try is ingrained in human nature. Let me tell you something I have seen in my own country at the salt pits. In China some coolies can carry a load of salt weighing 120 kilos; others as much as 250 kilos. Now along comes a man who can only carry 120 kilos and here is a load of 250 kilos. He knows perfectly well it is far too heavy for him, but although he cannot possibly carry it, he still tries. As a youngster I used to amuse myself watching ten or twenty of these fellows come along and try, though every one of them knew he could not possibly manage it. In the end he must give up and make way for the one who could. How often is it only at the point of utter dicspair with ourselves that we remember the Lord and relinquish to Him the task He is so ready and able to perform! The sooner we do so the better, for while we monopolize it we leave little room for the Spirit's mighty working.
This example also illustrates the application of the verse, Apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).
Ultimately, the secret of burden bearing is to transfer the burden to the Lord in much the same way we would transfer a heavy bag to be carried by a baggage handler at an airport, then watch as he carries it away. The transfer can only be accomplished if we yield the heavy bag to him and his control. What cares and burdens are you carrying that you have monopolized yourself instead of giving over to the Lord Jesus to carry for you?
I'll see you from the pulpit tomorrow, Lord willing, when I preach the sermon entitled, Seek to be meek instead of weak.
As ever I am so appreciative of your thoughts, prayers and expressions of love and concern.
Mel Brown

Good morning on this 12th day of August. As this week concludes it is the 2nd week of my treatment cycle. This is the week of special vulnerability to fatigue, weakness, infection etc. It has been a reasonably good week and I am looking forward to next week as the cycle usually leads to improvement, strengthening and feeling better. By the grace of God I work on not indulging in thinking about the "what ifs" during this process. 2 Timothy 1:7 says,"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." As I am fond of saying, fear stands for: Fanticized Experiences Appearing Real or in other words, the imagined "what ifs" that sometimes intrude on our minds. No wonder God so often counsels, "Fear not" in His word. In 2 Timothy He gives the antidote to fear; it is the spirit (attitude) of power, love and a sound mind. All three of these qualities are given to us by the Holy Spirit of God (See Gal. 5:22, 23, 1 John 4:18, and 1 Cor. 2:4). The sound mind means self-control, discipline, restoring to one's senses. It is one thing to have genuine fear and work through it or act inspite of it, but it is an entirely different matter to have fear conjured up by an overactive imagination filled with "what ifs". The Spirit of God provides the source of both reality checks and attitude adjustments toward strength, love, and restoring us to our senses - that is a sound mind. A good example of that process is the testimony of Kay Warren, Rick Warren's wife, whom I mentioned in a recent blog when I quoted her husband regarding his experience during her recent cancer treatment. Through her experience she sought God's answer to the question not so much as to "why me" but "why now"? Her suffering opened her eyes to other's suffering and became a purpose-driven experience for her and produced a profound change in her life. You can see God's work in her life through the process. Here are some brief excerpts from her testimony.
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--Kay Warren has an impressive ministry resume. She’s the wife of Rick Warren, perhaps America’s best-known pastor. She’s a Bible teacher and the president of Acts of Mercy, a foundation she and Rick established to help vulnerable people and needy communities. But she admits there are some things about God she just doesn’t understand. Suffering tops that list. God opened Kay’s heart to suffering in March 2002. She was at home, reading through a newsmagazine, when she saw an article with photographs of Africans suffering with AIDS -– images so horrifying she had to cover her eyes. One line of text said, “12 million children orphaned in Africa due to AIDS.”
“That was a shocking statistic to me. I couldn’t believe there were 12 million orphans anywhere due to anything,” Kay says. The number –- 12 million -– continued to haunt her. She told God, “Well, even if it’s true, there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m a white, suburban, soccer-mom type person. This has nothing to do with me.” When the thought of so much suffering was still with her a month later, she realized she had come to a crossroads. NO LONGER A NUMBER“ I made a conscious decision to open my heart to the pain,” she says. “When I did, God broke my heart. He shattered it in a million pieces, and I cried for days.“ I knew I couldn’t stand before God when He called me home and look Him in the face and tell Him, ‘Yes, I knew about the suffering of millions of people, but I did nothing about it,’” she says. Kay began sharing her heart with Rick, who encouraged her but insisted God was speaking to her -– not to him or to their congregation at Saddleback Church. Kay began reading about AIDS/HIV and talking with experts. She was deeply moved by the testimony of Bruce Wilkinson, author of “The Prayer of Jabez,” and his wife, Darlene Marie, who moved to South Africa to serve the poor. But it was a trip to Malawi that transformed her heart. At one house, she met a 15-year-old boy who was raising his 11-year-old brother and 3-year-old sister. Their parents had died from AIDS. Kay’s voice breaks as she recalls holding the little girl outside the hut: “She has no daddy to stand proudly when she marries, no mama to answer her cries in the middle of the night when she’s had a bad dream, no mom to tell her how to be a woman.” On that trip, 12 million ceased to be a number. It turned into faces and names.“ That’s the only way we’ll ever be moved to do anything about the pandemic -– when we move it beyond statistics and it becomes personal,” Kay says. “Each of those I was holding and weeping for, God is weeping for.” A VISION DISRUPTED Rick came along on Kay’s second trip to Africa. Up to that point, he was thinking more about the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 -– building his church and strengthening pastors around the world -– than helping the poor and needy by fulfilling the Great Commandment of Matthew 22:37-40. During Rick’s first five hours on African soil, though, God captured his heart for the world’s suffering and began showing him what to do about it. On that trip, the P.E.A.C.E. Plan -– attacking the world’s giants of spiritual darkness, lack of servant leaders, poverty, disease, and ignorance -– was born. They began working to put the P.E.A.C.E. Plan into motion -– and then Kay was diagnosed with breast cancer. “Breast cancer seemed at the time like the biggest interruption,” Kay says. And though she never asked, “Why me?” she did ask, “Why now?” When she became very sick during chemotherapy, Rick also had to pull back from ministry, and the P.E.A.C.E. Plan practically halted for several months. They both asked, “What is this about, God?” What it was about was increasing her empathy for people who suffer. Her hair was just growing back after chemotherapy in July 2004 when she traveled to Thailand for an international AIDS conference. She visited a widow who had AIDS and listened as she talked about how sick her medicine made her. When Kay told her about the medicine that made her hair fall out, each woman found a friend who understood her suffering. Witnessing -– and experiencing -– suffering have made God both more intimate to her and more mysterious, she says. She understands more about Him -– and less. “I don’t get this world system,” she says. “I don’t get the suffering.” In Rwanda, she saw churches that had been used as slaughterhouses and skulls stacked on top of each other with evidence of machete wounds. In Cambodia, she heard of people killing each other in horrible ways. Around the world she’s seen countless orphans. “When you see suffering, it takes your heart and wrenches it,” she said. “It has made me long for [Jesus’] appearing. It has made me long for suffering to come to an end.” What she does understand more than ever is how, as a Christian, she takes God’s presence with her wherever she goes.CHRIST’S HANDS“ When I go into a place -– whether it’s a hospital or mud hut or Mother Teresa’s home for the dying -– I take His presence and I offer it,” she says. “I’m His reflection ... His messenger ... His hands. That’s very intimate.” Kay is convinced that the church is the answer to the world’s global giants, like AIDS. “The evangelical church has been asleep at the wheel,” she says. “We have been absent from our post in caring for people and their needs for a very long time now. But I see repentance happening. I see people waking up with the same shock that I did and wanting to respond. That fills me with hope.” Kay knows the world won’t be perfect until Jesus returns. “But we can push back the darkness,” she says. “We can bring His presence and His light. We can be His hands that relieve the suffering, that comfort the dying, that care for the sick.” God is mobilizing His people to touch broken and hurting people with His love, she says....
Clearly through her dark days of her second bout with cancer God provided an amazing light of revelation for her. Jesus spent 55% of His ministry ministering to the sick. His example speaks for itself. We can make a difference in people's lives one life at a time - Jesus did!
I'm doing very well by the grace of God and I'm so grateful for Him, to Him and for and to all of you. Your prayers and support have sustained me again and again (Phil. 1:3-8).
Like Kay Warren I don't ask "why me" but know that He knows the "why" because there is a time to every purpose under heaven (Ecc. 3:1).
Pastor Dan Watson will be preaching tomorrow morning, and Lord willing, I will preach the last two Sundays of August.
On a lighter note, I'm not only getting used to seeing myself bald, but actually kind of liking it - a sure sign that I have either come to my senses or ...
Pastor Brown

It is 4:00 AM Saturday, August 5th. This week I completed my third series of treatments and they went very well. Additionally, I received the results of my latest PET scan which showed that the treatment is working well to kill the cancer which is of course, a very encouraging report. Now we have to finish the job! As my Doctor says, "Our goal isn't to get you to 3rd base, but to hit a home run." Later this month, I going to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for a consultation with a leading lymphoma expert who is on the cutting edge of treatment. He will review all of my records and reports and recommend any other measures that may be taken for maximum benefit. Although my treatment is going well, It will be good to insure that we are leaving no stone unturned in my recovery.
It was good to be in the pulpit last Sunday to finish the two-part message on, "Careful Instead of Carefull Living." I have appreciated the overwhelming response from so many about the benefit of those messages. Clearly, lots of us struggle with stress in our lives. Thank God we are "In Christ" and have "Christ in us" to give us His strength and help and the Bible to give us guidance for life's struggles and problems. I'm sorry that we ran out of some of the handouts at the information desk in the foyer. Although we printed a huge supply, so many wanted copies, we ran out in the second service. We have restocked the supply and should have plenty of copies for everyone of the several handouts for "Six Practices of Successful Families," and the two latest handouts on, "Careful Instead of Carefull Living."
Speaking of being in the pulpit, I was reminded of a story which I hope is never true of my preaching.
A country church help a potluck supper on opening night of a revival series. The guest speaker was invited to lead the food line, but he declined saying, " I can't eat a big meal before I preach. It detracts from my ability to deliver a good sermon."
Two hours later, several women were cleaning up the church kitchen, when one declared, "I believe that preacher might as well have ate his fill at suppertime."
I have so enjoyed your cards and notes. They have both touched and blessed me so much and your faithfulness in praying for me has been your greatest conmtribution to my strength and recovery. Thank you for caring and showing it.
Pastor Ed will be preaching tomorrow morning and Lord willing, I'll be preaching on August 20th and 27th.
Finally, I leave you with one of my favorite Scriptures and a couple of additional thoughts.
"For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).
"An impossibility is something no one can do until someone does it."
"A hospital is a place to wind up people who are run down."
"Opportunity is something that knocks but doesn't turn the door handle."
And a little humorous one: "An optimist is a mail carrier who enjoys the view when treed by a dog."
Remember, "God is the God of the impossible."
Pastor Brown