Happy Thanksgiving weekend on this Saturday, November 25th. I hope you had a wonderful holiday with lots of good food and fellowship. My whole family was home including all of my children and grandchildren. It is always a special occasion when we can all get together and enjoy each other's company for a few days every now and then.
My recent bout with shingles has been an unexpected setback which has been both long and difficult. Progress has been slow with my recovery taking longer than I would have liked. In fact last week after preaching both services, I was so weak and tired, I spent the next several hours in bed and was totally wiped out for the next several days. Clearly I underestimated my strength level at the time; therefore, I decided to not preach tomorrow to give myself an extra week to regain the strength I need to effectively preach the Word. Lord willing, I'll be back in the pulpit next Sunday, December 3rd.
Our newest associate, Pastor Andy, will be speaking in both services tomorrow and that should be a blessing to most of you who have not yet had the privilege of hearing him.
Unexpected incidents in our lives may be unplanned by us but they are never unexpected by God. Think of virtually every Bible character's life and you will find numerous examples of unexpected incidents including Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, etc. The list includes all except Christ. The best way of viewing these incidents is Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good, to them who love God, who are the called according to His purpose. Joseph understood the meaning and proper perspective of this verse in his circumstances with his brothers which resulted in his experiences in Egypt when he said, You intended it for evil, but God intended it for good. Remember every such incident may not in itself be good, but God's promise is to make it WORK TOGETHER for good. Now how can you beat a promise from God like that!

On this Saturday, Nov. 18th, I am writing a blog which will be unusually brief for two reasons: (1) although the shingles are improving daily, I still have lesions under my right arm which make it both difficult and uncomfortable for me to do much typing (2) I'm planning to be in the pulpit for both services tomorrow AM, Lord willing, preaching a Thanksgiving sermon entitled, The Love Equation: Greater Forgiveness = Greater Gratitude. This is a message I'm particularly anxious to preach because of its timeliness and relevancy in our lives. Please continue to pray for me as I prepare for some tests after Thanksgiving to assess the affectiveness of my chemo treatments.
I'll look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. You may have trouble recognizing me because I now have so much hair. :)
Mel Brown

Good morning on this 11th of November. Well few people could complain about the weather we enjoyed earlier this week - temps in the mid 70s during this second week of November were mighty nice for a change. There is something so uplifting about the refreshing warmth and brightness of the sunshine, especially after going several days with overcast or dreary skies. It is not a coincidence that God compares the Son of God to the Sun of Righteousness as one of the many metaphors used in Scripture for the Saviour. In fact there are exactly 365 separate names and titles for our Lord given in the Bible, one for each day of the year. It is quite a devotional study to carefully examine each of these names and titles and their important applications as they relate to God's Son. Many years ago, Benjamin Keach, a predecessor of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, wrote the definitive work on the topic, The Key to Open Scripture Metaphor. The book has been out of print for many years, but I was fortunate to obtain a copy after one of the most respected theologians of the twentieth century mentioned it to me with the comment, "You would do well in your ministry if you had only this book besides your Bible." Now back to the Son as the Sun. Although there are probably some twenty-five parallels between the Sun and Son, consider this important teaching. The sun with its remarkable warmth, light and brightness is always there whether visible or not. During those days when the clouds block the sunshine from our view leaving us with darkened dreary cloud-filled skies, the sun is still very much present. You can board a plane on such a day, climb through the thick cloud cover and suddenly experience the burst of sunshine as you climb above the clouds. That is how it can be for a child of God. Sometimes when circumstances make life seem overcast or dreary, it seems that God's presence is far removed from us. We don't sense or feel His closeness. Many of the Psalmists reflected on this theme when they were going through dark days or periods in their lives. As they expressed their anguish, they cried out to God to manifest His presence to them and soon realized that He was always there, they just needed to roll back the cloulds to experience the fulness of His presence. So when He seems far removed, pray through the clouds until the sun breaks through. In Psalm 22, the psalmist suggests praising the Lord as the way to roll back the clouds in your life to access the fulness of God's presence when he states, "God inhabits the praises of His people."
Going through the problems brought on by shingles has been a difficult experience. Facing the usual aftereffects of the chemotherapy has been compounded with the pain and problems associated with the shingles and has not been a pleasant combination. Some days have been pretty cloud-filled and dreary, but thank God, I realize that He is still very much there and that on those days I need to be vigilant in rolling back the clouds through prayer, the Word, and especially praise - until the sun (son) bursts through. The shingles are gradually improving and I am slowly feeling better on a day-by-day basis. Please continue to pray with me about the specifics of my current condition. I hope to be back in the pulpit very soon. Pastor Ed will be preaching in the AM services tomorrow. Meantime may the sunshine of His presence fill your life today.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, Nov. 4th. This has not been a good week for me. Early on I began experiencing some discomfort on the right side of my chest and back and soon had sores covering the right side of my chest extending under my arm and continuing across my upper back. Based upon my symptoms, I thought I had a case of shingles which the Dr. confirmed when I saw him early the next morning. I figured out why they call them shingles - because it feels like somebody took 16 penny nails and pounded them into your body (like to hold shingles to a roof) to hold the sores to your flesh. They are quite unpleasant. I'm taking a variety of meds including pain killers to keep as comfortable as possible and I'm grateful for every med and the relief it affords. Of course this hit when my immune system was at its low because of the treatment and I am counting the days toward getting my immune system stronger so that it will better be able to overcome this latest setback. Going through this ordeal has triggered flashbacks of having chickenpox as a child and I can't seem to remember much positive about that. I remember constantly asking my mother how much longer this was going to last and never being satisfied with her response. Please pray that my immune system will quickly strengthen, that I will have a quick and complete recovery, and that the Great Physician will soon complete His work through my treatment. There are some positives to consider through this latest setback. I'm grateful it happened during the last chemo treatment instead of earlier on; I'm grateful for the meds available to provide palliative care for this condition; I'm grateful that the Great Physician promises to be with me to go through everything I face and to be an ever source of comfort and strength as our High Priest who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmaties; and I'm grateful for the faithful prayers on my behalf because the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Pastor Tim will be preaching in both AM services tomorrow. Pastor Andy is out of town this weekend with members of his S.S. class at a marriage seminar, so Pastor Ed will be preaching on Sunday evening. Please don't forget that tomorrow we will be observing the Lord's Supper.
Mel Brown