REV. DR. WM. ROCKY BROWN, 3RD

   This message is based on one of the two fishing episodes that are found in the Bible. Fishermen spent the whole night on the sea and caught nothing. Nobody gets pleasure out of going fishing and catching nothing. In this particular incident, the people back home were counting on the success of these fishermen for sustenance. 

   But as their boats came to shore, their nets were empty and empty nets told everybody it had been an unsuccessful night.  Since they had fished all night and caught nothing, the people called them failures.  Failure is one of the hardest things in life to deal with.  For when we fail, the initial impulse is to throw up our hands and say, “I might as well forget it.”

   So after fishing all night long, Simon, Andrew, James and John had caught nothing. Not catching anything made their spirits low and their pride was hurt.  

It was at this low point in their lives that Jesus came in and said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught.”

To read more Rocky Brown visit SCOOP USA Media, December 6, 2019, page 14

    Thanksgiving is over and most of us are preparing for Christmas, but in the wrong way because we have the wrong conception of what Christmas is all about.

What does Christmas mean to you? To some folk it means hard work. The stores are crowded with shoppers, the post office is overflowing with mail and the trains, buses and planes are carrying record crowds. To some Christmas means that Santa is coming with his sleigh full of goodies.

Then to some Christmas means a visit home. Surely this is the best time of all the year to be with family and friends. To some people Christmas is a time of sorrow, loneliness and sad memories. They look back over the year and think of the loved ones who have left them since last Christmas. Then to some Christmas means its party time. 

    Then there are millions of people for which Christmas means nothing. They do not know Jesus. They couldn’t care less about the Christmas season and December 25th, for them it’s just another day!

Now, if Christmas is to be right we must first make room for Jesus! When Mary and Joseph came to the inn, the innkeeper said, “We have no room for you.” My father’s children, this man missed Christmas and all of its meaning. He had many guests in his hotel, but they were soon gone and forgotten. If he had allowed Jesus to be born there this would have changed his hotel and his whole life.

Today, this Christmas season there are people saying, “I have no room for Jesus” Their hearts and lives are filled with other things. But if we are to have a Christmas that will be pleasing unto God, we must throw out all else and make room for Jesus!

To read more Rocky Brown visit SCOOP USA Media ,November 29, 2019, page 14

‘O’ give thanks unto God of heaven:  for his mercy endureth forever. (Psalm 136:26)

Over three and a half centuries, or three hundred and ninety-seven years ago, a little band of men and women joined their hands and hearts in America’s first Thanksgiving.  With Indian guests, they gathered around a table for the New World’s first Thanksgiving dinner.  Measured by our standards they did not have much.  The harvest was in and they were grateful to God.  But their needs were great and there were no supermarkets down the street.  Cold, hunger, and sickness threatened their very lives.

How far in some ways have we come since that first day of thanks in 1621?  Today more than two hundred million people populate our land.  We produce more food, more fuel, and more finished products than any nation in the world.  Measured by dollars and cents our gross national product exceeds one trillion dollars and is climbing every year.  Science and industry do our bidding.  We can even send man to the moon.

  But like the Pilgrims, we have great needs.  The richest nation in the world is perplexed and troubled by crucial shortages.  Millions are Homeless; forty five million people go to bed hungry every night.  We have higher wages and more dollars, but unemployment lines are long and the dollar buys less and less all the time.  Moreover, we as a nation are over 4.0 trillion dollars in debt.

  A greater concern is that our nation appears to stand at a crossroad of its history.  The winds of moral and spiritual pollution threaten our future.  But, in situations like ours real thankfulness to God is the first step toward our illnesses being cured.  For God is the panacea for all of our problems.

Yes, we should give thanks to God and I would like to explain why!  We should give God thanks because we owe it to Him.

To read more Rocky Brown visit SCOOP USA Media, November 22, 2019, page 16

LORD, WE GIVE YOU PRAISE FOR THE ASSURANCE THAT WE ARE HEAVEN BOUND BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS. AMEN. 

Most of us have heard someone tell somebody to “Go to hell!” When its’ been said to me, my response is just to laugh and say, “Thank Jesus your words can’t send me there.” Because of the Blood of Jesus, I'm going to Heaven, and nobody on this earth can stop me or send me to hell. 

There is no way to describe hell. Nothing on earth can compare with it. No living person has any real idea of it. No madman in his wildest flights of insanity ever beheld its horror. No man in delirium ever pictured a place as utterly terrible as this. No nightmare racing across a fevered mind ever produces a terror to match that of the mildest hell. No murder scene with splashed blood and oozing wounds ever suggested a revulsion that could touch the borderlands of hell. Let the most gifted writer exhaust his skill in describing, this roaring caverns of unending flame, and he would not even touch infancy the nearest edge of hell. 

To read more Rocky Brown visit SCOOP USA Media, November 15, 2019, page 16

    Since the beginning of time, whenever man established a nation, country or kingdom, he also developed a Military Force to protect that kingdom from enemies and if necessary back that Government in enforcing its law.  When we read the Scriptures and the pages of history we find that many nations have been established throughout mans existence on this earth and every one of them had a “Military Force.”  Webster tells us that these military forces are men and women trained and armed for war!

Now, America’s Military Force propagates the philosophy that “It’s a Great Place to Start” and is headed by Uncle Sam who is the President, the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff!

    It is broken up into 4 major divisions namely…

-The Army for ground tactics with the motto, “Be All You Can Be!”

-The Navy for sea and air tactics with the motto, “It’s Not Just a Job, But an Adventure!”   

-The Marines for specialized ground tactics with the motto, “The Few, The Proud, The  Marines!”

- And the Air Force for air tactics and support for the others, with the motto, “A Great Way of Life, So Aim High!”

Now the requirements to get in these different branches, of the military vary, but basically they are the same.

- You Must have a High School Diploma or G.E.D.

- Then you go through a series of written test.

- Then you go through a series of physical test.

And if you meet all these requirements you then go through more written and physical testing for 6 to 16 weeks which is called “Basic Training.”  Upon completion you become a full pledged member. A man or woman trained to be wounded, trained to take pain, trained to follow orders.  And all your training is based on the military law book known as the “Uniform Code of Military Justice.” As a soldier you are expected to read, know and live according to the dictates of this book.

To read more Rocky Brown visit SCOOP USA Media, November 8, 2019, page 16

Dear Mr. 45,

It’s taken me a while to realize this and to admit it, but I’m grateful to you.

For the past three years, I’ve spent a good deal of time lamenting your Presidency and the poison it has so effortlessly generated. I’ve watched our country imploding, our public discourse become polluted, our political climate grows ever more corrosive, and wrongly assumed you were to blame.

It’s only lately I’ve come to understand that you haven’t manufactured our current national ugliness—you’ve simply revealed it. By saying the irresponsible, mean-spirited, ignorant things you say so freely and so frequently, you’ve given other like-minded people license to do the same. You’ve opened up the floodgates for our corporate sewage to flow fully. People no longer conceal their vile mess, they now revel in it, they broadcast it and re-tweet it.

You’ve made bigotry and racism socially acceptable again and that has been a kind of twisted gift because it’s allowed me to really see people; not as they pretend to be on the surface—but in the very depths of their wounded, weaponized hearts.

Your supporters tell me that they like you because you “speak your mind.” It wasn’t until recently that I’ve realized that you speak their minds. You’ve given credence to their prejudices and made those prejudices go mainstream.

Thanks to the terrible ground you’ve broken, politicians, pastors, friends, and strangers, both in person and on social media now regularly out themselves as hateful, intolerant, and malicious—and they remind me just how close they are to me, just how deep the sickness in us runs, and just how far we have to go together.

To read more Rocky Brown visit SCOOP USA Media, November 1, 2019, page 16

    The phrase, "We Made It," as I' am using it in this setting is a statement of achievement in the midst of over whelming odds. It is a proclamation of accomplishment for someone or a group that has had the deck stacked against them.

    It is a way of saying that “in spite of the length of the journey, In spite of the roughness of the road and in spite of the many stumbling blocks which have been thrown in our way, we have overcome and we have reached our goal.  Now it must be noted that the statement, “We Made It,” as I am using it in this context does not refer to an ultimate goal nor does it refer to a permanent victory.

    For as long as we are citizens of this world, as long as we are pilgrims passing thru this barren land and as long as we are housed in these mortal bodies; every achievement is temporary and every victory is short-lived.  The celebration only last for a short while and in many instances it is only the prelude to another struggle. Yet, in the words of the songwriter we are encouraged by the fact that “Each victory will help us, some other to win.”  So even through the statement, “We Made It” has no permanency for us, it does however contain an element of encouragement, which says to us that the same grace, which brought us thus far on our journey, can be trusted to lead us into the future.

    Now, it must also be noted that there is a vast difference between saying “We Made It” and saying “We’ve Got It Made.”  You see, We’ve Go It Made is a statement of self-sufficiency and arrogance but “We Made It” is an expression of humble jubilation.

Read more Rocky... ScoopUSA Media, October 4, 2019 page  16

    The subject of our message is the title of a very familiar African American Spiritual. The title of the song and the words which follow give us some information concerning the deep religious convictions of our fore parents. For they believed that no matter how sinful a person might be, somebody was still knocking at the door of his or her heart. They felt that even though a person might be “low-down” and doing what we sometimes call wallowing in the mud, they could still expect somebody to be knocking at their door.

    And then, they went on to identify the Caller, the Guest, the visitor, the traveler or however you might label him. They said that the person who keeps on knocking at the door of sinful hearts has a knock, which sounds familiar. 

It’s not a hard knock, its gentle knock. It’s not a demanding knock, it’s a requesting knock. It’s not a hateful knock, it’s a loving knock. Now, when they put these qualities together they had a pretty good idea who was standing outside the door so they said, “knocks like Jesus.”

    And then they made an appeal. It wasn’t enough to inform sinners that a caller was at the door and that His name was Jesus. They followed the giving of this information with a passionate plea: “O sinner, why don’t you answer somebody’s knocking at your door. You know, it’s a wonderful feeling to know that Jesus Christ God’s only begotten Son is so concerned about each one of us that He stands outside the door of every human heart and constantly knocks in the hope that we will open up our hearts and let Him come in. O’ somebody’s knocking at your door, knocks like Jesus!

Read more Rocky... ScoopUSA Media, October 11, 2019 page  16

     A white minister who was to become president of a great African-American University picked up a dictionary in his study at the First Congregational Church, Washington, D.C.  He thumbed through the pages until he found what he wanted, and then made some notes on a pad at his side:  “Farewell-fare thee well.  Wherever you go, whatever you do, however circumstances affect you, may you fare well.”  Another volume furnished an interpretation of the slang expression, “So Long,” and hinted that it was possibly an English corruption of the Islamic greeting, “Salaam Alaikum” which means “Peace be with you.”  Noting that the French farewell, “Adieu” and “Au Revoir,” means “Till we meet again,” he then looked up the word “Goodbye.”  He jotted down these notes: “Goodbye-God be with you. Can God go with everyone? Suppose they don’t want Him to go with them?  Is this not a parting word for Christians only?”  

    With that he looked up the various “Farewells” in the New Testament and found these references: Acts 15:29, “Fare ye well;” Acts 23:30, “Farewell.”  From the original Greek, he discovered that these words have a wide variety of meaning, including “God make you strong; be strong; be well; be firm; enjoy good health; rejoice; be joyful and be full of joy.”

Since his Sunday evening congregations were growing, the resourceful pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Eames Rankin (1828-1904) featured evangelistic singing.  He had already edited a book of gospel songs two years earlier, “Gospel Temperance Hymnal” having been published in 1878.  Even before that, some of his original hymns had been included in “Songs of the New Life” published in 1869.

Read more Rocky... ScoopUSA Media, October 18, 2019 page  16

Lord, Teach Us To Give You Thanks, All The Time, For All Things And In All Things. Amen.

    This is one of the nicest e-mails I have seen and is so true, so I decided to share it with you: 

“I dreamt that I went to Heaven, and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, "This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received."

    I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world. Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section. The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth. 

    Finally, at the farthest end of the long corridor, we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section," my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed. "How is it that there is no work going on here?" I asked. "So sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments."

"How does one acknowledge God's blessing

Read more Rocky, SCOOP USA Media, October 25, 2019, page 16

This message is based on one of the two fishing episodes that we find in the Bible where fishermen spent the whole night on the sea and caught nothing.  Nobody gets pleasure out of going fishing and catching nothing.  And in this particular incident, the people back home were counting on the success of these fishermen for fishing was their vocation. 

To read more Jesus is the Reason, go to Scoop USA Media, December 7, 2018 edition. 

We do things in life because they have become a tradition or custom.  They become so much a part of our cultural existence that we do them without questioning or understanding why.  We just do them because it has always been done.  We need to be careful about that because we can do something wrong for so long that we began to believe that it is right. 

We have Christmas traditions and customs that we follow and very few of us know why or their meaning or where the idea came from.  We just do it.  Our story goes back at least 4,000 years ago.  It begins in Mesopotamia, called the cradle of civilization.  Here Christmas really began as the festival that renewed the world for another year. 

Read more on Scoop USA Media, December 14, 2018. 

On New Years Eve many of us will gather in church for the purpose of praying the Old Year out and the New Year in.  Traditionally this is called “Watch Night Service.”

In many African – American Churches, this has been the most important prayer meeting of the Christian year.  For we gather to thank God for keeping us through the past year and to be found in a state of prayer on bended knees in “God’s House, when the clock strikes 12 midnight and the New Year begins.

Now the act of being on bended knees at the midnight hour is supported by the spiritual belief among Black folk that a good ending and beginning are necessary ingredients for the Christian year.  You see, Black Theology believes God can and will forgive the sins of the past year in a special way on this night that closes the year and opens up the New Year.  This golden moment affords the child of God the annual opportunity to make a new resolution to live a more “Holy Life.”

Read more on Scoop USA Media, December 28, 2018. 

Last year 2018 was a year full of trials and tribulations as well as joys and good times for just about all of us.  Each of us has had happy moments we want to remember for years to come as well as sad moments we wish to forget. But through it all, the Lord our God kept us wrapped in His arms of protections and we should be able to say regardless of what happened last year, “THANK YOU JESUS, you’ve been so good to me”!

I believe this New Year ‘2019’ can and will be a good year if each and every one of us would do the following:

Read more on Scoop USA Media, January 4, 2019

The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man who had hoped to be an inspiring preacher in a quiet small community.  Instead, by the time of his death he had led tens of millions of people into shattering the system of Southern segregation, splintering it beyond any possibility of restoration.  He had fashioned a mass Black electorate which eliminated overt racism from political campaigns and accumulated political power for African Americans beyond any they had ever possessed in their history in the United States.  Above all, with these and other accomplishments, be brought a new and higher dimension of human dignity to the African American Experience.

Read more on Scoop USA Media, January 18, 2019

LORD, BLESS US AS WE LIVE TO BLESS OTHERS. AMEN. 

 We had a problem at church, one day with some water pipes that were leaking. The Chairman of our Trustee Board, Charles Thompson, was having a hard time finding someone to fix the problem. So after doing some praying and searching he remembered he had an old friend that did some plumbing work for him in the past. He called him and the guy met him at the church. The guy sized up the job and said,” I’ll be right back.” When he came back, he had new piping and all kinds of supplies that were needed to fix the plumbing problem. He started the work, not saying a word as Bro Charles looked on. Well, after about 4 hours he was finished and Bro Charles said to him, “Give me the bill so we can pay you.” The guy looked at Bro. Charles and said, “I’m not going to give you a bill for the supplies or my services. No, all that I want for the work I’ve done is for you to ask the church to pray for me and if they ask you my name just tell them, “ The Man Who Fixed The Pipe!”    

Read more Rev. Dr. Wm. Rocky Brown on Scoop USA Media, Praise and Worship, January 25, 2019

One day our Master, Jesus Christ was received into a village home in Bethany by Martha, the sister of Lazarus. As we read this eventful account in the Gospel of Luke we are impressed with the fact that Martha seems to also be the older sister and no doubt was the supervisor of the home.  She was a woman of standing in the community. Yet, she had the warmth of spirit to openly make it possible for Jesus and surely some disciples with him to come into her home. Yes she invited the Master home. 

How many of us today are anxious to invite the Master home? How many of us are living lives that are both respectful and humble, holy and human so that Jesus could find comfort and lodging in our homes? Now, being the woman of the house it would be up to her to prepare a meal. And the custom of the day tells us that it was a great honor to be able to prepare a meal for important guest or dignitaries. Martha had gone to make bread and prepare a meal. But it seems that Martha’s troubles developed when she began to worry about Mary. As long as Martha was doing what she could do best, all was well.  As soon as anxiety rose and her tensions increased, Martha wanted her sister, Mary to know what she was going through. I suspect she wanted Mary in the kitchen with her.  

Read More, Scoop USA Media, March 8, 2019

Whether you realize it or not, one of the most effective methods of experiencing physical, mental emotional and spiritual therapy, is to take a retrospective view of your life and count the many blessings which God has bestowed upon you.

Yes, there is an unparalleled kind of therapy which goes on everything time you count your blessings. You see, you can’t count complaints and blessings at the same time. If you don’t believe what I’m saying, try it for yourself. I dare you to try it! Let your mind flash back upon the blessings, which you have received in the last twenty-four hours. Go ahead and start counting your blessings of the last twentyfour hours. If you need some help, I’ll assist you: You’ve been breathing God’ air. Your life has been sustained by the power of God, (Paul said in Acts 17:28, “For in Him we live and move and have our being.”) You’ve had some food to eat. You’ve had some water and some other beverages to drink. You’ve had your eyes to see, ears to hear. Tongue to talk, you were able to lie down on a beauty-rest mattress and sleep all night long while the angels watched over your bedside. You were awakened this morning, not by your alarm clock, but by the invisible finger of God. When you woke up, your body had been re-vitalized, you were clothed in your right mind, you noticed that your bed was not your cooling board and that your cover was not your winding sheet. You had the right exercise of your limbs, and you were able to get up and start on another day’s journey.

Read More, Scoop USA Media, March 15, 2019

LORD, WE LIFT OUR HEARTS TO YOU AND ASK THAT YOU COMFORT AND BLESS THIS GRIEVING FAMILY. AMEN.

A friend of mine, in my hometown, was once really going through a difficult time in her life. She had lost her son because he was caught in the crossfire of a shooting and died. Then the day of her son's repast, his four-year-old son, her grandson, was hit by a truck and died. This mother, these grandparents, these relatives, this family, had been shaken to the core. I'm sure their faith was shattered; their hearts were beyond broken, and their trust in God was on the brink.

Read More, Scoop USA Media, March 22, 2019

There are all types of people in this world. We come in different shapes, sizes, heights, weights, complexions, cultures, nationalities, races, backgrounds, habits, ways and norms. GOD has made all of us different. No two of us are alike. Even identical twins are not 100% alike. Today I want to talk about three types of people that exist in every country and culture in this place we call Mother Earth.

First, there are the “People Who Wonder What Happened.” These are the folk who are not paying attention to what is happening in their neighborhood, on their job or in their community. Some are lost because they are on drugs and alcohol, some are mentally ill, some are afraid to get involved, and some are so into their own world that they don't care about anybody or anything but themselves. They feel that the world is all about them. I call them Selfish People.

Read More, Scoop USA Media, March 29, 2019

oday, I share because I want you to join me in believing that all things are possible because of our faith. GOD, who is the author and finisher of our faith, gives us what we need to make our dreams come true. I feel the Spirit telling me that there is something that you have wanted to do for years, but you have put it aside because of the BUT in your life. You say, 'I would do this or I would do that BUT.'

Beloved get the BUT out of your life and make that dream come true. Let go of the negative naysayers and launch out into the deep and make your dreams a reality. Barak Obama had a dream of leading this country, and he would still be living in Chicago, working as a social worker, if he didn't get the BUTS from around him. I'm sure somebody said to him, 'You are a very intelligent person, BUT you won't be president because you are a black man raised by a single white woman.' He was able to achieve his dream because of GODS grace and because he took the BUT out of his life.

Read More, Scoop USA Media, April 5, 2019

The day Jesus rode into Jerusalem was a very triumphant one. He came in as a humble King and the crowd was enthusiastic about his reign. They wholeheartedly accepted him as their King and they demonstrated their enthusiasm.

For they cried out, “Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”

They tore down palm branches and waved them. They even made a welcoming carpet on the road with their coats. They were probably called “fanatics” by the religious establishment and curious onlookers.

Read More, Scoop USA Media, April 12, 2019

I thank God for blessing me to see another day. But in the midst of my joy, I'm sad. I’m sad, and my heart is broken because of what's going on in my hometown as well as black communities across America. As I heard a pastor say one Sunday, for us (Black folks), these are the worst of times and the best of times. This thought came from a novel by author Charles Dickens entitled: A Tale of Two Cities set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The book is a historical fictional political commentary.

These are the worst of times because young black males are killing each other on a daily basis, but then these are the best of times because we are making advances in medical technology and living much longer. There is a sister in my neighborhood who is 103 years old, who takes care of herself and is still the head cook at her church and an adviser to the Usher Board.

Read More, Scoop USA Media, June 7, 2019

For some of us, this summer is a time for work, fun and vacations, but for many of our brothers and sisters there is no work, no fun nor any vacations.  Many of them have just come through the winter by the Grace of God.  No housing; no work; very little clothing and food as well as hardly any help from others.  But God by His might, power, ability, and love pulled them through.  

If one would ask the question, “How did they get into that situation?”  I would answer by saying, “Well, some are like that because they want to.  But most of them are in this situation because our economic environment is extremely ill.  It is off-balanced because our Federal and State Government have continued to keep people off of welfare but have no jobs to give them.  Believe it or not, most people would rather have a job than welfare, but welfare is better than nothing.  No job or income such as D.P.A., S.S.I. or Unemployment, will cause anybody to rob and go to jail or suffer and die.

Read More, Scoop USA Media, June 21, 2019

Two years ago I was blessed to attend a conference in the beautiful city of Rocky Hill, Connecticut. There were many topics discussed, but the one that was dear to my heart was called 'Saving Our Youth.' I truly believe this should be of great concern to you also. You see our children are our future. GOD has given them to us and they are our responsibility. Now, the situation of our youth is so messed up that we need many ideas and solutions. Here are some of my thoughts about the situation.

First, we call them a lost generation, so the real question is, if they are lost, who lost them? They didn't lose themselves. No, we lost them. I believe we have lost them because we have not raised them like we were raised. If they were raised like us, they would be more like us.

Read More, Scoop USA Media, June 28, 2019

Whenever the 4th of July comes around I think of the word freedom.  Freedom is one of the most illustrative words in the English language.  On the surface, freedom seems to suggest the absence of restraints, the absence of control, and the ability to do what one pleases.  Almost everyone wants freedom, but very few, it seems, really know just what freedom means. 

True freedom is an inward spiritual experience rather than just an external deliverance. For not only is there a physical aspect to slavery, but a mental one as well.  You see, you don’t need shackles on the feet if you have them on the mind. 

Now in the 14th chapter of the book of Exodus we find that the Israelites have been freed by God from Egyptian slavery and led through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.  Then the Lord spoke unto Moses and said: “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp between Migdol and the Red Sea.  Pharaoh will think that you are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.  And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and he will pursue you.  But, I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” 

So Moses and the Israelites followed the Lord’s command.  Now, when the King of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services.”

Read More, Scoop USA Media Digital July 5, 2019

Songs play a great role in the lives of people.  There is a song somewhere suited for all occasions.  Out of the joys, sadness, problems and prosperities of people, songs were born.  Lifted beyond mere entertainment our songs tell us something that we are unable to phrase otherwise.  Therefore, it becomes difficult for me to think of any situation so gruelsome that one is left without a song. 

I have watched from the pulpit at funerals, people who seal their lips when the songs of Zion are sung.  They experience deep human hurt and lost.  They brush back the tears from their eyes.  They simply cannot handle it.  The hurt is too grave to have a song during this unusual hour.  However, I have watched others who’s lost is just as dear and as deep and their voices have rung out with perfect clarity.  They had a song. 

WE MUST NEVER ALLOW PRESSING AND DEPRESSION MOMENTS TO STEAL OUT MELODIES.  Pressures are great.  They build up unusual, uncalled for and unwanted frustration.  We often find ourselves saying, “I don’t know whether to turn to the right or the left.”  In these moments it is easy to lose track of yourself.  The mind does not function properly.  Things are done that do not make sense.  Actions are taken that often create life long hurts. Have you had the experience of misplacing something that you needed badly?  You look through the pockets, pull out the drawers, and comb the house and the yard from one end to another with no success.  Finally, it dawns upon you to go and sit down, be quiet and try to remember where you last had that thing.  Ninety percent of the time the answer comes. 

Read more, Scoop USA Media, July 12, 2019,  page 13

Just about everyone I know, both Christian and non-Christian, has a special place in their heart for the much reverend hymn, “Amazing Grace.”  It was written by minister and hymn writer, John Newton. It is the one hymn you always hear being played by bagpipes at a Police and Firefighters Memorial Service.

Newton was born in London, England in 1725.  His mother gave him some religious training, but she died of tuberculosis when he was only seven.  He received little formal education before going to sea with his father, the commander of a merchant ship at age eleven.  In 1743, he was forced to serve aboard the H.M.S. Harwich and soon deserted.  He was captured, flogged and degraded to a common seaman.  After asking to be exchanged to a slave ship, he suffered brutal persecution before being rescued by a friend of his father.  Newton later said that in the course of these wanderings he lost all sense of religion. But, during a severe storm on the homeward voyage, he experienced a strong religious conversion.

Newton married a childhood sweetheart.  He also successfully educated himself, learning Euclidean, Geometry, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Syrian.  For a time he commanded a slave ship, attempting to repress the swearing and immoral conduct of his sailors, and reading Liturgy twice each Sunday with the crew.  But, during what became his last voyage as a slave ship captain, there was once again a severe storm to send him a message.  The Lord told John Newton that the thing he was doing was good but it wasn’t enough because he hadn’t come to the realization that slavery was wrong also.  As the spirit moved upon him, he realized that he was no better than anybody else, because everybody is somebody and all men and women are free by the Grace of God.

When Newton returned safely home, after the storm, he fell down on his knees in prayer, As he was praying, a part of verse 10 from the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians came into his mind:  “By the Grace of God I am what I am, “he said, “I am not what I ought to be.”

How imperfect and deficient I am!  I am not what I wish to be.  Though I am not what I ought to be, I can truly say that I am not what I once was – a slave to sin a Satan.”  He heartily said with Paul, “By the Grace of God I am what I am!”  Then he rose from the floor, sat down at his desk, and wrote these lovely, soul stirring, and every lasting words:

Read More Rocky Brown, Scoop USA Media,  July 19, 2019, page 13