Good morning on this the last Saturday of July. This week some previously undisclosed information came to light in the news. The former Beatle, John Lennon, had both a genuine fascination and flirtation with evangelical Christianity. The famous musician had earlier written the song, Imagine, in which he highlighted the desirability of a world with no religion. The recent news article revealed that he later listened to Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, and Pat Robertson and periodically corresponded with them beginning in 1973, even requesting prayer for his family on one of their hot lines. He spent time during the summers in a resort town near the mountains of Japan where a missionary regularly conducted services and would ask questions about Christianity of the missionary on a continuing basis. Most of his questions apparently centered on the deity of Jesus Christ. It was previously reported that he had written a letter to a number of evangelical preachers asking forgiveness for his earlier statement about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus. It appears that he became an ardent seeker in his later years. His wife, Yoko Ono, was reportedly quite upset with his interest in Christianity and constantly argued against the truth of the Christian faith, particularly challenging the truth of the deity of Christ. While we do not know for sure the condition of any man's heart, it appears that he might have been like King Agrippa in Acts 26:28 who said to the Apostle Paul, "Almost you persuade me to become a Christian," because near the end of his life he wrote the song, Save Yourself. I can only hope that he ultimately found his way to a saving knowledge of and relationship with Jesus Christ. That would be really something to "Imagine."

Tomorrow's sermon is the another in the series on Heaven and is entitled, The Unobservable, Unspeakable, Unimaginable Reality. You won't want to miss it.

Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, July 23rd. I read about a lady who found herself driving in a strange city during a blinding snowstorm. The snow was falling so fast a whiteout occurred making it difficult for her to stay on the road. To her relief she spotted a snowplow and decided to follow it. After she followed the plow for about an hour, the driver stopped plowing, approached her car, tapped on her window, and said, "Lady I'm now finished plowing the Kmart property and am heading to Wal-Mart, are you sure you want to continue following me?" She was moving in her car but was going nowhere, and definitely was not heading for her destination. Jesus commands us to follow Him, but also warns us about the blind following the blind. Sometimes in our Christian life we can spin our wheels like when our car is stuck in the snow; there is energy expended but no forward motion. It behooves us to check our forward progress periodically to see if we are going in the right direction, gaining ground, and getting where we want to go spiritually. Don't confuse movement with progress, they are not necessarily synonymous. Here are some important questions which we should ask ourselves from time to time to check on our progress.

(1) Am I becoming more Christ-like in my life and walk?

(2) Are the spiritual activities I am doing helping me to achieve Christ-likeness?

(3) What should I do, not do, or do more or less of, to make more spiritual progress?

(4) What do I have to do to ensure that I will do them?

May God help all of us to so live that we can say with the Apostle Paul, "Follow me as I follow Christ."

Tomorrow's sermon is another on Heaven and is entitled, The Place Prepared For You."

I sure hope you'll be there to hear it.

Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, July 16th. Recently some parts of the country have been baking in a sultry heat wave. Wichita, Kansas, has experienced temperatures over 100 degrees for 20 days during the last month. Someone compared the relentless hot spell as being like "sticking your head in a oven." It brought back memories of my college days one summer when I lived in Missouri. Every day during the month of July was at or above 100 degrees with exceedingly high humidity. Being a poor college student, I had no air conditioning at home, work, or in my car. Believe me when I tell you it was pure misery enduring the nearly unbearable heat. You couldn't beg, borrow, or steal a window air conditioner because every one in town had already been sold. Many were replacing their non air-conditioned cars to get some relief. It makes you realize that the good old days (without air conditioners) were really not so good after all. Thank God for cool comfort we can enjoy today. Years ago people were creative in their efforts to keep cool. They put blocks of ice in front of fans, would hang cold-water saturated wet sheets in breezeways, sleep on open porches at night, camp out in basements to take advantage of cooler temps underground, and fan themselves with various types and shapes of hand-held fans. Many sought refuge under the shade of trees and foliage. In Jonah chapter 4:6-9, the Old Testament prophet, Jonah, experienced torrid heat from the sun until God provided a vine to provide him relief through its shade. When a worm ate away part of the vine and with it his refuge from the sun, he fainted from the heat and subsequently became very angry, whereupon God reminded him that he selfishly showed more concern for the vine and his own comfort than for the people who would have perished had he not given them his message of repentance. Clearly Jonah cared more about his personal comfort than the welfare of the perishing Ninevites including 120,000 small children. Sometimes we imitate the sin of Jonah when we care more about ourselves and some things than the needs of others, especially those who are in desperate need and are perishing without God's message. He clearly did not do to others as he would have had them do unto him.

Tomorrow's sermon is on the topic of Heaven. It should be a heavenly message. I hope you'll make every effort to hear it.

Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, July 9th. High profile court cases frequently capture people's attention as the courtroom drama plays out day-by-day. Such a case was Casey Anthony's, who was accused of killing her two-year old daughter, Caylee, and was acquitted of murder charges this week in Florida. When members of the jury were interviewed after the trial, several reported that they wept in agony over the not-guilty verdict. Some jurors said they felt she did it, but voted not guilty because they decided there was not enough evidence to convict her; they agonized over the outcome because they felt they had to set a guilty person free. When discussing the evidence presented, they opined that it was not enough to pass the "beyond-a-reasonable-doubt" test. The debate over the verdict has raged in the press and among the public with some holding that members of the jury confused "beyond-a-reasonable-doubt" with "beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt." in their conclusion.

I once preached a sermon entitled, If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you. If people testified as to our attitudes, actions, activities, words, relationships, witness, and lifestyle, would they conclude that we are a true believer and follower of Jesus Christ? Would the evidence presented lead others to conclude there is "reasonable doubt" or "beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt indication?" Since we (our lives) are the only bible some people will ever read, may God help us to live our lives in such a way that the evidence of our faith is conclusive beyond all doubt!

Tomorrow's sermon is entitled, The Devil Is In The Details. I hope you can make it.

Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, July 2nd. Earlier this week I returned from a vacation in Ocean City, Maryland. As my wife and I sat behind our grandchildren during a fire fighter's parade, Barb hollered to the kids to be sure to notice the huge hook and ladder fire truck as it passed on the street. A young lady who was standing near the children approached us and asked if we were speaking to her. After we explained that the comment was intended for our grandchildren who were next to her, she mentioned she was a local reporter covering the parade for her newspaper and asked if she could interview us. We answered all of her questions and she requested to take our picture to accompany her article. Barb and I chuckled as we recounted how she could mistakenly think Barb was shouting her commentary about the parade to a perfect stranger like her. The fire fighter's parade was a huge event in Ocean City that week; it lasted nearly three hours and featured miles and miles of equipment from all over the Easter Shore. As I was watching the assortment of different fire fighting vehicles and personnel, I was struck by how many were designated as "volunteer" firefighters. Many municipalities could not do the job of protecting from fires without this cadre of volunteers who are willing to sacrifice and serve. My mind then switched to a parade of godly volunteers who sacrifice and serve our Lord in so many ways in our church. I found myself thanking God for the many hundreds of voluntary workers who serve on the boards and committees, teach classes, assist with the children, and serve in various other ways in our 70 plus ministries at Edgewood. I close this blog with a heartfelt "thank you" to all of our people who give so much and serve so well in God's volunteer fire force who are constantly battling the fiery arrows of the wicked one (Ephesians 6:16). Well done good and faithful servants (Matthew 25:21).

Tomorrow's sermon is a special 4th of July weekend message. I hope you'll be there.

Mel Brown