Blog Archives

April 30 - Psalm 134

4/23/2015

Photo ©2015 John Brigham

A journey with no end, no destination, is a draining thing. One foot in front of the other again and again … and yet again. We are weary, wasted, wanting it all to just end.

We began this ascent to Jerusalem with bright eyes, with hope, ready for anything. With a pack filled with Psalms to sing, a host of pilgrim stories to share, and a bag full of food, we stepped out on the road to the Temple. But it has been longer and harder than we thought. Will it ever end? We are exhausted with aching bodies and souls. But we haven’t given up. We have sung the songs of our God with our companions. We have persevered. Here we are, still putting one foot down, then the next: left, right, repeat.

Out of the night a voice explodes in our daze, “Behold!” “Come!” “Now!” “Attention!” Our heads snap up. Our ears open to more than our footfalls and shallow breathing. We are being called into the presence of our God. Yes! We look around at our companions, seeing a face here, a face there, brighten with a smile, perceiving the truth of the call. We have come to our journey’s end. We are roused. That's the Temple in front of us. We made it. We stand before God with delight, knowing the price we paid on the journey is minuscule compared to the joy bubbling from our souls.

So we join in the cry, "Bless the Lord!” We are moved body and soul, lifting our hands to echo our voices, “Bless the Lord!” It is the middle of the night. The journey has been hard, but there is no place we’d rather be than standing here, shouting our throats raw, praising our God.

Behold! We are in the presence of Jesus. We experience being the Body of Christ. We have come from different places, even different times, but today we are one. “Bless the Lord!” We made it!

But you know what? Regardless of the extravagance of our offering or the extent of effort made during the journey, we find God’s blessing is so much greater. May that be so as we gather in Rutland during the next two days. And then, as we return to the life God has given us, may these words resound in our mind, “May the Lord bless you!” Receiving God’s blessing, we are ready!

- David Doyle

Click Here for Psalm 134

Today pray for:
First Baptist Church of Wolfeboro Falls and their interim pastor George Faul
Pemi Valley Church, Woodstock and their pastor John Muehlke
Our Annual Gathering and our speakers Jim Murphy, Stephanie Allen and Dale Edwards

April 29 - Psalm 133

4/23/2015

Photo ©2015 Esther Martindale

Having taken a ten mile hike in the New Mexico desert in near 100° weather has given me a whole new appreciation for the misty morning walks we take for granted in New England. While on the trek in Cha-co Canyon we lost half our water supply and emerged exhausted, stumbling, and feeling a little sick.
I’ve never had oil poured over my head, but Jesus had something like that happen to him. Remember the woman with all that expensive perfume (Mark14:3-9)? It seemed like a waste to the woman’s critics, but not to Jesus. People still talk about it just like Jesus said they would.

The love of Jesus inspires us. This is our dew of Hermon and soothing balm! Idolizing our own opinions (and we all do it to some extent) exhausts us and leaves us sick. Churches can stumble before a skeptical world that needs the Christ we often overlook.

How “very good and pleasant” it is when we remember Jesus enough to love the ones we are convinced are wrong.

God, grant us the grace to experience the cooling dew and the soothing oil of unity. May our churches drink from your living water and walk with serene love with our neighbors. Amen.

- A retired ABC/VNH pastor

Click Here for Psalm 133

Today pray for:
Wilmington Baptist Church and their pastor Doug LaPlante
Wilmot Flat Baptist Church and their pastor Allen Koop
The ABCUSA Biennial Mission Summit coming up at the end of June in Overland Park, KS

April 28 - Psalm 132

4/23/2015

Photo ©2015 Malcolm Hamblett

“Let your faithful shout for joy.”

This past fall we were invited to participate in a very special celebration: the 200th anniversary of a church where we once served. The church celebrated throughout the year. We went for one weekend.
When we arrived there, more than 50 years ago, the church had had some turmoil in the past, but under the leadership of the senior pastor had known healing. Every board and committee had a written job description. My husband’s job was “to make it work;” mine was to hold down the “home fires,” sing in the choir, occasionally serve as organist, and to teach some classes.

The weekend we attended, the 200th celebration included a Saturday night concert on the church’s new pipe organ performed by a former church organist who was now the organist at the Mormon Tabernacle. There was also a Sunday morning church service at which the General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches, USA, Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, spoke, followed by a celebratory banquet.

In the fifty years we had been gone, many things had changed. The occasional local businesses that had been on the main highway had been transformed into miles and miles of continuous shopping centers jammed one after another. All the residences were gone.

When Eastman Kodak downsized drastically a few years back, the church lost many members, young couples and older executives alike. Yet the church stood strong and massive one block from the main highway, much as we had remembered it. The people were the same except they were much greyer and there were few, if any, children at any of the occasions.

The first person to greet us said, “I remember you. I sold you your first house.” Another person was our first baby sitter. Another was the widow of our physician and now completely blind. The reminiscences of the past flowed and were wonderful and a little sad because of those who had gone on. We noticed other changes. The choir stalls were not used by the choir any more, but had drums and instruments in them. The choir did not process, but the bell choir did, in robes, while the choir sat in the congregation except to sing the anthem. The kids we knew were now middle aged.

But the church was not stuck in the past. The next month a jazz concert was planned. The next week ground would be broken to build housing for seniors on land sold by the church. We anticipate that in time the church will benefit from new members. Thus a 200th anniversary becomes also anticipation.

Changes in the neighborhood, changes in people, changes in worship, but this church endures and flourishes. In times when some are struggling to exist, it is encouraging to experience those who have come a long way and are also looking ahead. They have been faithful, as God has been and will continue to be faithful. May we, too, celebrate such faithfulness.

- Luann Ketcham

Click Here fore Psalm 132

Today pray for:
Community Baptist Church, Whitefield and their pastor Greg Vigne
Whitingham Community Church and their pastor John Brigham

April 27 - Psalm 131

4/23/2015

Photo ©2015 Esther Martindale

I love a familiar song. Knowing every word. Singing confidently with the artist who made it popular. It brings me back to a day and place. It revs up nostalgic feelings. My mind drifts, “Oh how I wish I was…”. And I get stuck. Between what I wish and what I am.

I remember the feelings of humility when God and my sin first became real. I recall my thankful heart when the good news of Christ’s cross was applied to me. I cannot forget the night under the stars, feeling so insignificant yet overwhelmed by His personal love for me. At times, I want to go back and experience those feelings for a first time again, but I can’t.

It is dangerous to live on merely old feelings and stories of years gone by. Memories can mask our real condition. These songs of ascent were sung over and over not to experience old feelings, but to remind us of where we need to travel and reside today. Humility is not a feeling but a home and a condition. David reminds us of where we need to be: ‘like a weaned child resting,’ no longer famished and crying. Satisfied to be continually dependent on the One who gives nourishment. Letting a new cooing song escape our lips because we are experiencing the Spirit’s present grace and power.

A new day is here, and while we sing the old Psalms and songs, we must ask ourselves: Are we too proud? Are our eyes “haughty”? Do we meddle in matters too great? Will we quiet our souls like a child, weaned and resting, as we approach our Annual Gathering in just a few days? Will we find satisfaction in God’s present grace, remembering but not idolizing the past?

It’s tempting to personalize these questions to our denomination or church, but these should be intimate queries. Every denomination is made up of many churches and every church is made up of many individuals. You and I are a part of the whole. When each of us finds rest as a weaned child of God, we will experience renewal for the Day.

“Sing like never before, O my soul, I’ll worship your Holy Name.” (10,000 Reasons, Matt Redman)

- Robert Wyand

Click Here for Psalm 131

Today pray for:
Community Church of West Swanzey and their pastor Robert Robertson
United Church of Westford and their interim pastor Katherine Arthaud

April 26 - Psalm 130

4/23/2015

Photo © 2015 Rebekah Hamblett

When I read these verses, I can picture a watchman on the walls of the city of Jerusalem peering into the night, eyes and ears alert to any sign that an enemy might be approaching. And I imagine the relief he would feel at the first light of dawn – relief that his long shift is nearly over, relief that nothing bad happened on his watch, relief at the vision that daylight brings and enemies can no longer hide under the cloak of darkness.

I’ve never been a night watchman, but I did work the nightshift alone in a group home one summer. The first few hours were no problem – there were always chores to be done and paperwork to catch up on. But from about 2:00 a.m. on, the night seemed endless. It felt like morning would never come. The need to stay alert when my body was begging for sleep, combined with the array of eerie sounds one hears in an old house filled with sleeping people, did not make for an easy night. I've also had the experience of keeping watch all night with a sick child – waiting fearfully until that first light of dawn – things always look better in the morning.
As much as you know the morning will indeed come, that the night will come to an end, it doesn't make the waiting any easier.

I know what it's like to wait for God. I know what it’s like to cry out to God and wonder if and when He will answer. While we wait for God to act, the Psalmist reminds us that “in His word I put my hope.” What is God’s Word? He loves us, He is always with us – even when we cannot feel Him there, He will never leave us nor forsake us. Though the wait seems endless, though the darkness seems overwhelming at times, we wait with hope – dawn will come, there will be an end to our trials. Like the watchman waiting for the morning, we keep our eyes peeled and our hearts on the alert for the Bright and Morning Star. Our hope is not in vain!

- Laurie Edwards

Click Here for Psalm 130

Today pray for:
Water Village Community Church and their pastors James and Virginia Waugh
Freewill Baptist Church, West Charleston and their pastor Richard Whitehill
Our churches to fulfill Isaiah 61:1-3 in our time

April 25 - Psalm 129

4/23/2015

Photo ©2015 Stephen Payne

John, a faithful church member, came into my office and the first words out of his mouth were, “I feel like dirt.” I then asked him what was going on in his life.

John began to explain, “I really try to be a good Christian. I try to speak out when I sense that something isn’t right at work or at home. I attempt to share my faith in Christ when the opportunities arise. I try to approach life with an open mind, but often I feel that the world is in total conflict with my values and sense of right and wrong. I am often criticized by my friends, coworkers and even some of my own family. I just feel that I’m always being stepped on and walked on for attempting to live as I feel that God would want me to.”
Have you ever experienced the feeling that people want to walk all over you because of moral and ethical positions you have taken? Have you sensed personal persecution because of who you are and what you stand for?

Psalm129 speaks to this issue. The Jewish people had returned from captivity in Babylon. There were enemies surrounding them on all sides and they were under constant persecution by these people.
Psalm 129 speaks of the Jews having a sense of being walked on. The psalmist is quite graphic when describing his persecutors: “Often they have attacked me from my youth … the plowers plowed on my back; they made their furrows long.” Is this how you feel sometimes?

We must learn that persecution is to be expected by those whose desire is to follow God and his purposes. The Jewish people have suffered greatly for millennia. Christians have suffered greatly since Jesus ascended to His Father. Persecution of the Church and the people of God is to be understood as a fact of life for the believer.
The Apostle Paul reaches out to Timothy and instructs him as follows, “Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived, But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed…” (2 Timothy 3:12-14, NRSV).

The last verse in Psalm 129 teaches us that even while those who persecute us will not bless us, the believer is still to say to the persecutor, “We bless you in the name of the LORD!” One of Jesus’ promises in His Sermon on the Mount was, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10, NRSV).

- Clifford Vendt

Click Here for Psalm 129

Today pray for:
Wardsboro Yoked Parish and their pastor Peter Carlson
United Church of Warner
The courage for our churches to step out with confidence and engage the culture.

April 24 - Psalm 128

4/19/2015

Photo ©2015 Esther Martindale

(V. 1) Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!

Is there an implied 'and' between the two phrases? Or an implied 'or'? It is an implied continuum. How can I fear the Lord and not walk in His ways? Impossible to be a God-fearer and not a Kingdom walker. Or vice versa! Is my life in perfect harmony with the Kingdom of God? What beautiful music when it is. And how pain-fully screeching when it is not.

(Vv. 2-4) You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.

The oil of gladness seeps, permeates, covers and penetrates every aspect of the life of a God-fearer. An aroma that soothes and calms the environment; an expression of Shalom. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:23).

(Vv. 5-6a)The LORD bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! May you see your children's children!

Yes, it is a blessing to see and enjoy my grandchildren, but the greater blessing will be when I know they are walking with You. Bring them into Your Kingdom, Lord.

(V. 6b) Peace be upon Israel!
Shalom, that very essence of Kingdom life, be the hallmark of Your people. May Your Church live to spread the message of love, grace, mercy and transformation to all peoples, nations and tribes.

- John Nunnikhoven, 2015 © Voices Together, a daily devotional published
by the Fellowship of Ailbe through www.ailbe.org.

Click Here for Psalm 128

Today pray for:
The Tunbridge Church and their pastor Deadra Ashton
Vernon Union Church
Our churches to work in unity with other churches for God’s glory

April 23 - Psalm 127

4/19/2015

Photo ©2015 Esther Martindale

The very first sentence of this Psalm makes me feel way out of my league. It speaks of building a house when I can’t even saw a board straight. I swing a pretty good hammer, but the tape measure, in my hands, never agrees from one measurement to the next.

It’s not that I’m a complete dunce with my hands; I have plenty of experience with chain saws and brush cutters. I have been splitting wood since I was eight years old. And I used to be a fair mechanic. (Had to be in African bush – there was no one else around to do it.)

But I am a dunce when it comes to building something. Just look at the play house I “built” in the Congo for Susie (then 6 years old) and Annie (then 5) out of an old shipping crate. They were pleased with it, but no one else would have been. The Africans probably laughed behind their hands as they walked by.

So to do a meditation on a Psalm that talks of building a house seems a bit inappropriate for a carpentry-challenged guy like me. And to add to that, I am not even in sync with the second half of the Psalm and its quiver full of sons. I only have one (and he is half way around the world).

But the Word of the Lord is never inappropriate for any of God’s children. It was written for us, no matter what skill-sets or “non-skills” we might have. God knows, though it may take some of us a hundred forevers to learn it, that building a house or a family or a business – or a church – is in vain unless and until we surrender our skills and our tools to the Master Builder and watch in awe as the Master builds the house.

We may think ourselves capable. We may be proud of our education. We might have seen the effect our personalities can have. Thus we have learned to depend on our own strengths and abilities rather than humbling ourselves before the throne of our Sovereign and asking the Master Builder to take over.

Our God is the Master Builder (the Master Everything). If we stand in the way, God will not push us aside, but will leave us to ourselves and our human efforts. And it is vanity. It is in vain that we pretend to be capable in ourselves.

A frame house, maybe, for those who have some carpentry skills. But the Lord’s House? That is Another’s specialty, and I work at it in vain until I take off my ill-fitting carpenter’s apron, put down my tools and lie prostrate before the Holy One as a humble servant waiting for instructions. Or, to change the metaphor, until I am willing to be a simple screwdriver in His hands. That would be a great honor.

- Vernon Stanley

Click Here for Psalm 127

Today pray for:
Freewill Baptist Church, Sutton, VT and their interim pastor Mark Heinrichs
The Townshend Church
Our churches to reach out with mercy to the poor, the widowed, the lonely, and broken families

April 22 - Psalm 126

4/19/2015

“ When Yahweh brought back Zion’s captives we lived in a dream; then our mouths filled with laughter, and our lips with song. Then the nations kept saying, ‘What great deeds Yahweh has done for them!’
Yes, Yahweh did great deeds for us and we were overjoyed. Bring back, Yahweh, our people from captivity like torrents in the Negev! Those who sow in tears sing as they reap. He went off, went off weeping carrying the seed. He comes back, comes back singing, bringing in his sheaves.”

The first impression of reading this Psalm is to recount the history of modern Israel. Jews from all over the world have come to Israel "like torrents in the Negev". I have a number of Jewish friends that I have met on what I call the photographer's Facebook called Flickr. Most of them post images of a modern, prosperous, secular country.

The diaspora of the Jews has filled many chapters of history, yet Yahweh prevails and brings them to their homeland.

The joy in our journey is the surety that no matter where we are, no matter how far we have strayed, God's love is there for each and every human being on the face of the earth. For each one of us, it is God's desire, to find our way to the "homeland" of salvation, trust and steadfastness we have been provided through the blood of His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Robert Frost, in his poem 'Birches' penned this line, "earth's the right place for love, I don't know where it is likely to go better." "God so loved the world...." Yes, it is indeed love that God shows to all of us. How we so greatly need to show this God centered love to all those with whom we have contact.

May our Christ-centered love cause people to be "like torrents in the Negev," to flow to the arms of our loving Savior, and to rest in the peace that only He can offer. Amen.

- John Somers

Click Here for Psalm 126

Today pray for:
United Church of Strafford, VT
First Freewill Baptist Church, Sutton, NH, and their pastor Heather Koop Fulton
The ministry of the food pantries our churches run.

April 21 - Psalm 125

4/19/2015

Photo ©2015 Rebekah Hamblett

As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem

As a New Hampshire native, I am quite familiar with the White Mountains. My grandparents had a cottage on Province Lake, not far from Ossipee, that was a convenient starting point for trips through Pinkham Notch and Crawford Notch before the Kancamagus Highway was built. I even admit to the occasional unsanctioned field trip through the notches or climbing Mt. Monadnock with some of my high school buddies. Vermont boasts Smugglers Notch and the “Northeast Kingdom,” a term popularized 65 years ago by Gover-nor George Aiken during a political appearance in Lyndonville (home of one of my favorite breakfast stops, Miss Lyndon-ville Diner). The White Mountains and the Green Mountains offer a plethora of opportunities to experience beauty, recreation, wilderness and solitude.

Mount Chocorua (3,478 ft) is impressive with its rugged profile. Lincoln Gap Road demands that you put down your cell phone and pay attention to the hairpin turns and giant boulders that narrow the right of way.
When I flew over the Rockies my concept of a mountain range was redefined. Even viewed from 30,000 feet, they are impressive. A few years ago my wife Sharon and I went on the Gordon College European Seminar Alumni Tour. Two of the highlights for me were a gondola ride to Männlichen in Switzerland and hiking to Kleine Scheidegg in the early July snow under the shadow of the Eiger (13,025 ft). We were then rewarded with a piping hot bowl of goulash and some pommes frite in Wengen. Once again my respect for mountains was heightened.

I have seen mountains, I have skied, hiked, hunted, fished and photographed mountains. For the past 23 years I have been a member of the Board of Directors at our ABC/VNH mountaintop outreach, Loon Mountain Ministries. I think I know a mountain when I see a mountain. I’ve been to Jerusalem and I love Jerusalem, but if it were not for the Temple Mount and the Church of the Dormition, one would be hard pressed to identify Mount Zion. Even at 2,549 feet above sea level, surrounded by her sister hilltops, it is somewhat unimpressive. It doesn’t look like a mountain, even by New England standards. The Temple mount is located on top of Mount Moriah (the site of Araunah's threshing floor). It is located between the Kidron Valley and the Hinnon Valley. Jerusalem is nestled among seven small mountains; the Mount of Olives, Mount Scopus, Bethsaida, Mount Opel, Mount Zion (Zion also refers to the whole range), the hill on which the Antonia For-tress was built and Mount Ghareb (Calvary).

What makes Zion great is not its impressive size…it was the dwelling place of God’s presence in his temple. What makes Zion special is that God has chosen it, blessed it and surrounded it. Its strength is in God’s presence. Like David facing Goliath, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego lowered into the furnace, and like Daniel locked in the lion’s den, victory, courage and salvation came because God was in the mix. He surrounded them and they were not shaken.

We, too, are made significant by God’s dwelling in our hearts…our body is the temple of God, not the biggest, strongest or safest of temples, but chosen by God and transformed by Christ. Our power is in the promise of God’s presence, protection and permanence… No matter what… “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)

- James R. Smith

Click Here for Psalm 125

Today pray for:
Bow Lake Free Will Baptist Church, Strafford, NH, and their interim pastor Jeff Robie
Second Baptist Church, Strafford, NH, and their interim pastor Robb Dix
The drug problem in our two states