Good morning on this Saturday, September 24th. "What goes up must come down" is an oft repeated statement. Did you ever wonder what could ultimately happen to those many satellites orbiting around the earth? Well this week we got an answer with the warning from NASA that some 26 pieces representing 1,200 pounds of debris called space junk from the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) would come crashing down to earth. The largest piece is expected to be about 300 pounds. The warning is to put people on alert to watch out for the falling masses similar to the postings along highways to watch out of crossing deer, But this space junk is small compared to the 75-ton post-Apollo Skylab space station, the 10-ton Pegasus 2 satellite, or the 135-ton Mir space station, all of which have come raining down to earth. Fortunately most of this previous debris has landed in our oceans.  So now with all of the other things people have to watch for and worry about, we add falling space junk to our list! Many experts on Biblical prophecy believe the cataclysmic descriptions in the book of Revelation will be fulfilled by not only supernatural occurrences but by phenomenon such as space wars and falling space parts. Maybe or maybe not, but it is something to consider when you read about the heavenly bodies which will cause havoc and destruction on earth.
Tomorrow's sermon is entitled, How To Fire The Preacher. This is a message you will not want to miss. I hope you can be there.
Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, September 17th. Tomorrow's Re-Church sermon will focus on the three things people want most out of life. Do you know what those three things are? They are consistently at the top of the list when people are surveyed about this topic. The three things are: love, happiness, and peace. Ironically, many people are surprised by the things which are not at the top of the list, i.e., wealth, position, popularity, possessions, etc. Those things usually appear further down the list, not at the top. One characteristic of people who count themselves happy or very happy in their lives is the presence of gratitude and appreciation. They do not allow themselves to take the good in their lives for granted; yet, that is exactly what others so easily allow themselves to do. Take a good look at your life and ask yourself, "do I constantly inventory my blessings and am I thankful for them?" It is so easy to "habituate" things in our lives. To habituate means that we become so accustomed or used to those things, we fail to be as grateful for them as we should be. In other words they become so routine, we fail to appreciate all the good things we have and ignore their true value. The Bible warns us about this happening and repeatedly admonishes us to give thanks, be grateful, have appreciation, and count our blessings. We should all constantly keep a gratitude journal in our minds, if not on paper. The song writer was right when he wrote, "Count your many blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done." You won't want to miss this sermon tomorrow. Your happiness may depend on it.
Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, September, 10th. Today I'm covering a potpourri of topics in my blog. Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. There will be ceremonies and remembrances honoring the occasion, but through all of the memorials, we should offer thanks to God that we have not had a similar devastating attack on our soil since that tragic day.
Keep a close eye on what is happening in Europe, particularly with the debt problems of Greece, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, and Spain. Many experts are predicting that Greece will eventually have to face bankruptcy with the possibility that the other debtor nations will eventually follow. Europe is a tale of the haves and have-nots with Germany and France the haves who have been resuscitating the Greek economy with infusions of money. Now the Germans are balking at their expense of the so called rescue and the situation has become increasingly proceeding to a crisis point. Some are purposing a tighter alliance of the European countries with the creation of the "United States of Europe." The financial problems of Europe have impacted other economies; hence the decline in the U.S. stock market.
Things are heating up in Israel. The Israeli population is increasingly growing discontent with their government and want changes. Meanwhile attacks against them by their enemies have increased. President Obama has prescribed a return to the pre-1967 War boundaries and Israel has bulked. Tensions are running high between Israel and many other nations, including the United States. There is no easy solution in sight.
One week from today and tomorrow is Re-Church weekend at Edgewood. We are going all-out to invite folks who formerly attended church and now do not to attend to our Re-Church services. We now have only one week to invite these folks to attend our special services. Solomon said, "He who wins souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30).
Tomorrow's sermon will focus on the Re-Church theme. I hope you will be able to attend.
Mel Brown 

Good morning on this Saturday of the Labor Day weekend. I begin by wishing each of our readers a happy and prosperous Labor Day. Throughout the Bible God highlights the dignity of work. In the first chapters of the book of Genesis, He, Himself, is described as doing the work of creation and then resting from His labor when the work was finished. He commissioned Adam to do the work of naming all of the livestock, birds of the air, and beasts of the field. Literally from day one, God gave Adam responsibilities to complete and Adam labored to do as the Lord had instructed. Work is depicted in the Bible as a blessing. If you don't believe that, talk to a person who has been unemployed for a long time and is unsure about his future and you will find the importance of the security and fulfillment work brings to those who have a job and the chagrin of those who are chronically without one. Of course, there are exceptions, Proverbs warns about some lazy people who refuse to work (Proverbs 19:15, 21:25), and Paul adds that a man who refuses to work should not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Note that after Adam and Eve sinned, the ground was cursed (changed for the worse) causing Adam and those who followed to experience hard and more difficult labor because the ground was much more resistant to Adam's effort. Thistles and thorns (weeds) became a hindrance and sweat produced by exertion and hard work was the result of the changes sin created. A few other thoughts about work this Labor Day.

(1) Count having a job as a blessing and be grateful for what you have.

(2) Do your work faithfully and do it as unto the Lord; maintain a good work testimony for Jesus Christ.

(3) Pray for those who are without work and assist them if at all possible with help finding a job and sharing your resources with them to meet their needs.

(4) Remember the hungry and starving people throughout the world who can be saved through your generous support to programs such as Edgewood's F.O.O. D. fund (We have helped provide over 1,000,000 meals world-wide during the last 10 years).

(5) Finally, enjoy the Labor Day holiday with your family and friends. It is another opportunity to do as the Lord instructed to take some time to rest from our labors.

Tomorrow's sermon is entitled, God Will See You Through.

Mel Brown