Micah 6:8

He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Are You Smarter Than a Scientist?

We were all sitting at at the dinner table last night, and dad was reading the bible to us.

We were talking about rebellion which  brought up the topic of  evolution.

Cason, the family evangelist, was telling us what he tells his friends when they talk about evolution.

Cason says to them,

"When I think of evolution I picture someone scattering a box of legos, and then putting some CO2 on them and blowng the legos all up. Then once they're blown up and all in the air, they fall back down and they make a perfect little house."

Then after he says that he says

 "Order can't be made form destruction."

I thought that was a neat way he put it.

Cason said that once he says that they stop arguing about evolution. hehee

I guess in a way they see how he's right.

We were all talking about this and Kamryn looked like she was deep in thought, and she said,

"You know what! I'm smarter than a Scientist!"

My dad asked her why, and she said

"Because scientists believe in aliens."

My dad said "You're right Kamryn."

Then Cole chimed in and said,

"Well, I'm smarter than a scientist too!"

Dad asked him why and he said, in a his very fast voice,

"Because they think that there was a speck, and then that speck turned into a tad pole, and then that tad pole turned into a frong, ok I know tadpoles do that, but then they think that frogs grow wings and then they can fly. Then the scientists believe that they turn into apes, and then they turn into cave men, and then they're people with long beards."

He knew this was funny, and so did the rest of the family.

Good Bye 2009!

Well, this is my last post for the year 2009!!

 It went by so extremely fast!

 I think almost too fast, but I like that I'm getting older and, hopefully, wiser. ;D

We ended off our amazing 2009 with an oyster roast at our friends family's church.

We first had a church service, and then we went outside for some fun and food.

I really enjoyed talking to, and meeting, new people... country people are so nice!!

It was a lot of fun, and I'm so proud, and blessed, to be a member of a big family with amazing, God fearing parents!

When we went into the sanctuary, for the service, we took up a whole row of seats, and we just, I think, really stood out... alot.

It was so funny because when the church service was over, and everyone was still patiently, and quietly, sitting in their seats, a man stood up and announced the congregation, "Uuuuumm, someone left their light on in their van... it's a big van... a 15 passenger van..."

Now who could that beeee? ;)

We knew it was us right off the bat, so, with out even asking dad if the van was ours, Cole ran out and turned them off.

Love that boy!

It sounds like a war zone outside, and so I think I'm about to go watch some neighbors shoot fireworks. :)

I hope you all have a very blessed 2010!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

For I Am Not Ashamed... Or Am I?

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Although I would never say I'm ashamed of Jesus, sometimes the things I don't say or tell people about myself really show that I am ashamed.

For example, I used to babysit for a family with 4 young children  and these kids could watch movies I can't watch.

When the mom would bring home newly rented movies to her very excited children, it would put me in an awkward position.

Instead of telling the mom of the family that, out of conviction to live a pure life, I didn't want to watch Twlight or Nights in Rodanthe, I would just avoid the subject and play games with the kids.

Now, looking back on it, I wish I would have said something.

 I know they like and respect me, and it's an opportunity I missed to share my faith with them. I feel I probably could have had more influence. For example, I did share my family's beliefs on not dating and how I'm trusting my parents and God in that whole process. They were so very impressed and very interested. I really wish I hadn't held back in other areas.

Really, in a way, it's selfish not to share it all. It's me being more worried about how they might look and think of me, and that's not what I should be worried about.

 Instead of looking for loop holes to escape these conversastions, I should've been more concerned about their salvation and eternal life, and I should have been looking for natural ways to bring it up.

I'm always saying how I love this family, but if I really did love and care for them, I should've taken every opportunity to share the gospel with them even if it was just through being willing to talk about  the movies they watch that I won't watch.

It would definitely be worth it to me to have a five minute uncomfortable talk and maybe reach these people, and honor God in doing so?

In alot of my dad's sermons lately, he's made the point that if you don't feel awkward in this world sometime, at least, you've probably comformed to and really are apart of it.

My prayer for the new year is that I will not be ashamed of the gospel.

Can any of you think of ways you want to be more bold in sharing your faith in Jesus in the coming year?
If so I would love to hear!

God is Not Dead; Nor Doth He Sleep!

Mr. Davis, one of the men in our church, during prayer request time Sunday, decided to read this poem about peace.

It was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  He wrote this during, the Civil War, a war where our country lost many, Longfellow's son being one of them. He was going through much pain because of his loss, and it was Christmas when he wrote this poem. We live in a war filled dark world, but as this poem reminds us "God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail,"

 I think the meaning and story behind this poem brings so much hope.

Christmas Bells
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"


Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
~ Luke 2:14 ~

• Jessie Worshiping •

  For as long as I can remember, we have been singing the song Crown Him With Many Crowns during our family worship, and once Max, 3 1/2, came along he started thrusting his fists into the air about every 30 seconds with the tempo of the song.  For example: Crown Him wih many crowns (He woud throw his hands up after this line.) And then: the Lamb upon the throne (He'd do it here too.) Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but it's own. (You get what I'm saying? ) It's very cute and contagious but has become more of a sporting event in the Brown household. We all do it now. Even Jessie. It's so cute, and it makes her look like a big girl. We're really not charasmatic, but maybe Jessie's trying to push us in that direction. heehee

The first little Brown kid that really really loved this song was Kamryn, 7 1/2. When  the babies are young they always just walk around while we read the bible and talk, but if we ever want that little one to come sit with us we just break out in Crown Him With Many Crowns. We know if we do that whatever baby is walking around will come running to find a lap to sit and sing along.

Jessies's mouth is wide open because she's singing with passion! Or at least she's attemptig to sing. It's more like a loud yell, but as you can very well see Jessie gets into it what she's doing.

Last night was the first time she started doing it, so this is definitely "blog" worthy! ;)

•My Cup Of Coffee•

Q: what's better than finding a dollar in your pocket?

A: Finding a good song on your iPod you didn't even know existed! hehehe

It really is a great song. It's one of those songs that make you feel good. I call those types of songs my "cup of coffee". Well, anyway I have been lying in bed for the past three hours, and I can no longer sleep! Too excited! I was listening to this song over and over. I put it on repeat so I now know almost every word! WOOHOO!

It's a hymn that was written in the 1800's, so this is an old song. I usually prefer the new-er music like: Rush of Fools, MercyMe and Brandon Heath. That type of stuff, but this one was just really pretty! Here are the lyrics.

Jesus I Come

Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of my sickness, into Thy health,
Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of earth’s sorrows into Thy balm,
Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm,
Out of distress to jubilant psalm,
Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of unrest and arrogant pride,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy blessèd will to abide,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
Out of despair into raptures above,
Upward for aye on wings like a dove,
Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the joy and light of Thy throne,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of the depths of ruin untold,
Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,
Ever Thy glorious face to behold,
Jesus, I come to Thee.

You should listen to it as well. Here's the song.  My goal is to learn how to play this on my guitar.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

•Fixat'n My Eyes On God•

Most every night, or at least my dad tries to do it most every night, we have family worship. Last night's bible passage was especially helpful in my everyday life. I love it when I hear those verses that apply so well. I guess all scripture is kinda like that, but there are always those verses that come at the perfect time. My dad was reading Psalm 28, and it was a prayer from David. My dad was explaining it to all of us and he was saying if we fixate our hearts on daily life and not on God, then we will always be going from happy to sad, happy to sad. If we focus on God, and all that we have because of God, then why should we really ever have a reason to be unhappy? Focusing on God makes us stable. When my dad was reading it to us, I was thinking, "Gosh, life would be so much easier if I were unwavering!" I'm not a particularly unhappy person ,but as we all do... I think, we get in those moods or have moments. If I'm ever in one of those moods it's usually because somethings not going my way, and I'm not focusing on God. I'm focusing on something going on around me instead. There's probably something that I want to happen or something I wish didn't happy, and it's not happening my way.

This morning in my quiet time one of my prayers was that I would fixate my eyes on God and not what's going on around me. I was put to the test today. I know most of you have met my precious little 7 year-old sister Kamryn, who at the moment has a bunch of bubble wrap and is popping it right here beside me and it  seems particularly loud. Little miss Kamryn isn't always very easy to deal with and this morning, at about 8:00am., I decided to go for a longer-ish run, and Kamryn, "REALLY REALLY wanted to come!" so I let her. I wanted her to come too... so I thought! ;D  I could tell, from the beginning, that the 3 miles that were ahead of me were going to  seem a little longer than just 3 miles. HAHA! The entire time Kamryn was yelling at me to run faster so we could get to the park, and she was laughing at me because my face was red from being hot. She was also trying to throw her sweater on me, and remember I was HOT, while I was running. She has a sweater because she has a basket on her bike and she brought it "just in case" it got cold, but between you and me... I think she brought it because she wanted to fill her empty basket. haha! Well, anyway it was a very long 3 miles. I was thinking the entire time about that bible verse and how I just need to stay happy, but wishing God could have made this... a litlllllllle easier. hehehe. If I had indulged in focusing on "daily life" I probably would have shoved her into her little basket, along with her un-needed sweater and on into the woods. Instead I used it as a somewhat easy opportunity to be a blessing to her and to practice fixating on God and correcting her sweetly. Anyway, I got through the run just fine... but for future reference, I'll only bring Kamryn if it's a little shorter run, and if I run 3 miles again I'll eat more that just a yogurt for breafeast.

Well, Hope everyone is having a blessed day so far!

Karis

Proverbs 3: 5-8

  Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

   and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways  acknowledge him,

   and he will make straight your paths.

Be not wise in your own eyes;

   fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your flesh

   and refreshment to your bones.