12/10/02 - “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” (II Corinthians 8:9)

The story of Christmas has been told by young and old alike for centuries, the story of the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. It is that story that surrounds each of us again. Christ came from the glory of Heaven to earth that we might be saved.
Several centuries ago, a Christmas carol was written in Latin “with sweet singing”. Johann Sebastian Bach liked it so much he made an arrangement for the organ. John Mason Neale put it into English and today is it entitled, “Good Christian Men, Rejoice.” The first stanza tells us what Christmas is all about:

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Give ye heed to what we say:
Jesus Christ is born today!
Ox and ass before him bow,
He is in the manger now.
Christ is born today,
Christ is born today!

Think of it! Jesus left the eternal wealth of heaven to take on the life of a peasant, all because He came to make us rich! To think that the mighty God would become a man is unfathomable. It’s one thing for dust to become deity, but why would deity want to become dust? He did not have to come to earth. No one forced Him, no one coerced Him. He came to earth for our sake.
The only way to explain it is, “by the grace of God.” That is the real meaning of Christmas. The last stanza of the song sums it up:

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Now you need not fear the grave:
Jesus Christ is born to save!
Calls you one and calls you all
To gain his everlasting Hall.
Christ was born to save,
Christ was born to save!

Good Christian men, women, and children, rejoice! Jesus Christ became poor that we might inherit the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church



12/03/02 - Recently I had the privilege to visit the City of Brotherly Love. We visited several of the historical sites and I was greatly impressed. The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and the first Post Office were just a few of the sites reminding me of our nation’s great beginnings.
One place that especially stood out was Benjamin Franklin’s printing press and his shop. As we stood and listened to the guide tell about Franklin’s life and work, I was impressed by both the genius and the humility of that great founding father. He brought beauty, convenience, technology and even safer streets to the city of Philadelphia. He brought humor, liberty, honesty, integrity, godliness and resourcefulness to the newly birthed United States of America. There was not one area of life and living that he did not seek to make better for his family and fellow citizens.
Yet with all of this, he wrote in his will, “I, Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia, Printer...” It struck me that most of us are known for one thing in our lives; one truth we taught, one lesson we gave, one job that we did well. We all wear many hats with many responsibilities. However, most of us do one thing. Most rush to and fro in a St. Vitas’ dance trying to accomplish everything, when in fact God really wants us to be known as Christians. That is our calling if we know the Lord.
Our nation is in actuality to be known for one thing. We are a Christian nation from the halls of the Capitol through the White House. From our coinage to our congress we are to be known as a Christian nation. With all of our many intricacies, with all our diversities, we are a Christian nation.
May we never sway from that mission. May our last will and testament state: America, born 1776, a Christian nation!
This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church



11/26/02 - Psalm 23 is for many a favorite passage of scripture. It soothes, it comforts, and for many, it is an oasis in a dry spell of life. The last verse is particularly comforting. It is the psalmist David stating that he would dwell in the house of the Lord forever. For the king, Heaven would be his final destination.
Life is a journey that prepares us for our final destination. As we make this journey, this one verse tells us many tremendous truths in which we can take stock.
First, we are told that God’s goodness watches over us. The psalmist prays, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me!” That doesn’t mean that everything that happens to me will be good. It does mean that God will use everything that happens to me to work for my good. Truly we can say at this Thanksgiving season that God is a good God.
This verse also tells me that God’s glory is waiting for me. For David, his glory was that he would dwell in the House of the Lord. David was a shepherd for much of his life. He knew much of the nomadic life, and he looked forward to settling down in Heaven. What a blessing it is that we can know that our final destination is Heaven. You see, for the Christian the best is yet to come.
The story is told of a woman dying of a terminal illness. In three short months, she would leave this earth. She contacted her pastor and made final arrangements. She told her pastor of two things she wanted in her casket: her Bible and a fork in her right hand. The pastor inquired as to the why the fork. She stated that all her life at church socials and family gatherings, the host would say after the meal, “Keep your fork”. That meant dessert was on the way, and that the best was yet to come.
At the viewing for this dear lady, the pastor would reply to those who asked about the fork, “The Lord was her Shepherd and because of that, the best is yet to come.” For those who know the Shepherd as Saviour, surely the best is yet to come!
May God bless you and give you a blessed Thanksgiving season.


— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church
11/19/02 The week before last, I had the pleasure of feasting on the last of the season of America’s greatest seafood, the “Maryland Crab.” They were some of the best I’ve ever eaten, leaving their wonderful taste in my memory and a great anticipation for their arrival again in the spring.
Not only do I love to eat steamed crabs, but I love to go crabbing as well. The procedure is simple to catch a crab: You bait a line that lies at the bottom of the water. Then you begin to go back and check your line. Very slowly you draw in the line until the crab is in 3 to 4 inches of water and quickly you slip a net (a little net about 12 to 14 inches in diameter on a broomstick) around the little fellow and take him home to a pot of boiling water for a delicious meal.
One day the thought occurred to me that many human beings are really like the hungry crab. He is so absorbed in the meal and so preoccupied with his appetite that he does not see the impending danger and the end of his freedom.
How many people resemble the hungry crab? They are so intense in satisfying their desires and so preoccupied with their physical appetites, not realizing that their life is soon over. How we need to resist the majority’s practice of throwing away our future to satisfy present appetites. Both nationally and individually, we in America are sacrificing the future on the altar of the immediate. Don’t sell out America – remember the hungry crab!
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

11/12/02 Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” There is a deliverance in accepting the truth. Truth is not just for the head, it is also for the heart.
Ours is a world bound by shackles and chains. Some are in the bondage of bitterness. Some are bound to booze. Some are leashed to lust, some in the prison of jealousy and the prison of pride. The only key that will set you free is the key of truth.
There are four truths that will set you free from any prison you may be in. First is salvation! All of us can be saved if we want the Lord’s salvation. It was provided by Jesus on the cross of Calvary.
The second truth is sin. We all must realize we are guilty before God.
The third is self. No longer do you have to be controlled by you. There can be a new you. Jesus said in I John, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”
The story of the chimpanzees is told by radio personality Paul Harvey. They were taught to write on paper. Scientists had worked very hard for 14 years and the day arrived when it looked as though the chimps would be able to construct a sentence. People came from all over the world to see. They watched as words were being formed by the most patiently trained chimps in history. They opened the paper and saw that the chimps had written, “Let me out!” Truth will set you free.
The fourth key is sanctification. You and I need to set ourselves apart for God. The Apostle John wrote in III John, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
The Word of God is precious, timeless, unchanging truth. It frees the glad receiver from bondage in all areas of life. Thank God for the freedom it brings to the lost soul, the fettered mind, the troubled spirit, and the hopeless heart.
“Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

EDITOR’S NOTE- This is the third and final commentary in Pastor Brindley’s series on truth.

10/29/02 Jesus told his followers, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” There is a delight in affirming truth. Jesus did not say you will know a truth; He said ye shall know the truth. In other words, there is a truth that you can know absolutely. John 17:17 says, “Thy Word is truth.” Whatever God says is truth!
Psalms 100 says, “His truth endureth to all generations.” God’s truth is never obsolete. A million years from now it will endure. Someone has said, “Truth may be tampered with, tinkered with, redecorated and camouflaged, but it will never change.” That’s good news for all of us.
A man went to see his old friend who was a music teacher. He asked his friend, “What is the good news?” The teacher struck the tuning fork with a hammer and as the note sounded he said, “That is an ‘A’. Five thousand years from now that will still be an ‘A’. The soprano upstairs sings off-key, the tenor across the hall flattens out his high notes. The piano downstairs is terribly out of tune.” He then struck the tuning fork again. “But my friend, that’s an ‘A’; always has been and always will be, and that’s the good news today.”
The Bible is truth. It always has been, it always will be, and that is good news. When we removed the Bible from our schools, in essence, we removed the truth. That is why people do the things they do.
A man who walked to work every day would stop by a clockmaker’s store and synchronize his watch. Finally one day, the clockmaker asked him about it. The man said he was a timekeeper at a nearby factory. He had to ring the bell every day exactly at 4 o’clock and wanted it to be right. The clockmaker laughed and said, “My clock may be out of sync. I have been adjusting my clock to the bell at the factory when it rings every day at 4:00.”
Friend, set your life by the eternal, unchanging Word of God.
This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church


EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of a series on this subject planned by Pastor Brindley. Part 3 will appear next week.

10/22/02 - Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
In many instances, children are wiser than adults. They are often wise enough to believe that some things are true. Most adults question the truth. We are living in a time where most people reject the notion of absolute truth. The philosophy of the day is that No. 1, there are no absolutes, and No. 2, all truth is relative. A Gallup Poll in 1992 stated that 72 percent of all adults agreed with those statements.
What is true in society is also true in schools. Allan Broom stated in his book, The Closing of the American Mind, “There is something that a professor can be absolutely certain of, the fact that almost every student believes that truth is relative.”
This philosophy has even entered the church. Eighty-eight percent of those in evangelical churches believe the Bible is the Word of God, while 53 percent of those polled say there is no absolute truth.
We see on the horizon the decaying of a culture. Chuck Colson calls it a cultural crisis. What is it that has caused such chaos in a society so built on rock-solid principles? I say it is the rejection of the truth.
Today we are more concerned with political correctness than standing on convictions. The buzz word of the day is tolerance. Tolerance is taught from first grade through the university level. Heterosexuals are taught to be tolerant of homosexuals. Christians are taught to be tolerant of militants. Pro-lifers are taught to be tolerant of pro-choicers. Now, if someone does stand for the truth, they are called bigots, zealots, or extremists.
The greatest enemy to truth is tolerance. I question why we are to be tolerant. There is no tolerance in the chemical laboratory. There is no tolerance in music. There is absolutely none in mathematics. Yet when it comes to morality, righteousness, holiness, and decency, we are supposed to be “tolerant.”
That is precisely why the Bible was removed from our public schools. You see, when you remove the Bible, which is the only source of truth, right and wrong become a matter of opinion. Without the Bible, everyone is right and therefore no one can be wrong! That philosophy is why some fight for the rights of trees and the endangered baby seals and turn a deaf ear to an aborted child.
It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “He who spits in the wind, spits in his own face, and whosoever denies the reality of truth is spitting in his own face.”
This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.

—MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

Editor’s Note - This is Part 1 of a series on this subject planned by Pastor Brindley. Part 2 will appear next week.

10/15/02 - No one living thing can produce life in and of itself. Life can only beget life. It was God in the Garden of Eden who created life. He spoke and creation began. He scooped man out of the dust of the ground.
There is a lot of talk today about cloning, and it certainly is an incredible discovery. However, in the last 50 years, many scientific discoveries have been made. From the wireless telegraph of Marconi to the splitting of the atom, to cloning an animal, the potential genius of mankind in science is clearly evident.
One may ask, “How are these modern-day miracles possible?” One ad states, “It all starts with the seed.” Any discovery man may make is only possible because of the seed of the goodness of God. Only the mighty power of God can create something from nothing. Everything man may discover must begin with this great truth.
There are many limitations placed on us by God. Many boundaries exist in our lives. We are unable in our limited humanity to live even one day beyond the sovereign will of God. The Bible tells us we are just pilgrims on this earth and our lives are as shadows that flee away. Job said, “For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow.”
Even our knowledge is limited by God. God told Moses, “The secret things belong to the Lord.” Solomon the wise man said in Ecclesiastes 11:5: “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.”
Ingenious discoveries are just that – discoveries. It is man finding out what God has already created. It is man coming to an understanding of the how and why of God’s creation. Cloning is not creating life. God is the only One who can accomplish that, because… “it all starts with the seed.”
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— Mel Brindley
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

10/08/02 - The old fable is told of an emperor who gathered the wisest people in the kingdom. He told them to gather the greatest knowledge of their civilization for future generations. They came back with volumes and volumes of books. He told them it was too much, they must go back and condense it. They finally came back to him with one sentence. The Emperor then announced to his people, “All the genius we possess is contained in this one solitary phrase:” He read it before the entire kingdom. It stated, “There is no free lunch.”
The truth revealed is this – whether you eat dog food or filet mignon depends on how high a price you are willing to pay for the meal. In other words, greatness depends on sacrifice.
Jesus spoke of sacrifice many times to his disciples. He told them that there were things they were to forsake if they were to truly be his disciple. Jesus was constantly looking for commitment in his followers. I find there is a great lack of commitment in our society. However, anything we do in life has a cost. Study anything that has ever been achieved of any notoriety and you will find that some place, somehow, somebody paid a price.
We live in a free country. Our founding fathers paid a price for it. The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence were men of sacrifice. Five of them were captured and tortured. Nine died in war, twelve had their homes burned, and two lost sons in battle. The list goes on and on. Our freedom is the result of their sacrifice.
We often get the idea that sacrifice is negative. However, the team that sacrifices on the field wins the game. When David Livingstone went to Africa he was going to a nation of few Christians. He lost his wife and his health while preaching in Africa. Unbeknown to him, over the years Livingstone obtained celebrity status back home in England for his love and dedication to the African people. As an old man, he was asked to speak at Glasgow University. A hush fell over the student body as he walked out onto the platform. He was emaciated. His skin was dark and wrinkled from the African sun. He was half deaf from rheumatic fever. The students stood and never sat down until he was through telling of his life spent in bringing people to Jesus Christ.
Was it worth the sacrifice David Livingstone had given? Consider this: twenty-five years after his death there were ten million Christians in Africa. Today there are over three hundred millions Christians in Africa. It was his sacrifice that paved the way.
Sacrifice — nothing great happens without it! This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown, Md., Baptist Church

10/01/02 - The admonition of Jeremiah the Prophet to the people of God was to break up the fallow ground. The farmer discs his field – he breaks up the subsoil to allow water and nutrients to yield a healthy crop.
Jeremiah was speaking of the human heart. God wants our hearts to be soft and pliable so that the water of God’s Word can help us to be all that God wants us to be. All of us go through times of drought. We become compacted and hard toward the working of the Lord. We become inactive concerning the things of God.
The Apostle Paul realized that this was often the type of hearts we have. He said, “And knowing the time, let us awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed.”
Most of us need to be stirred up about the things of God.
We need to be stirred up in regard to praising the Lord. Quite often we need to pull out some of our groans and put in some praises. If your heart has become hard, why not ask God to break up the fallow ground and let the water of God’s Word take root?
A song written by Julia Montoro puts it this way:
“Break up my fallow ground
Give a heart just like Your own.
Where Your Word will find sweet soil
Everywhere that it is sown.
Break up my fallow ground,
Rid my heart of sinful stone.
Break up my fallow ground
My heart, Your throne.”

This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown, Md., Baptist Church

9/24/02 - A wise person once said: “Never go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.”
Profound words! Quite often people go through life with hands wide open, living like the man who said, “My name is Jimmy – gimme, gimme, gimme!” Selfishness, stinginess, and dishonesty all stem from that lifestyle.
Jesus said, Give, and it shall be given unto you. If we learn to care for the needs of others then it will be reciprocated in our lives.
Isn’t it interesting that we have to teach children to share? It’s human nature to look out for old “Number One”. Man in his sinful condition cares not for others. He is conscious only of himself. If that be the case, how are we to live? We are to live with eternity in view. Jesus said, “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

“One by one He took them from me, all the things I valued most,
Until I was empty-handed, all my glittering toys were lost.
Then at last I comprehended, with my stupored mind, and dull,
That God could not pour his riches into hands already full.”

This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.


— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

9/17/02 - Many people in our society wonder if life is really worth living.  Some have a negative attitude about life.  Think of it.  In America we have abortions, murders and suicides. Psychologists tell us there are at least 12 million people in America so depressed that they have lost the desire to live.
Ernest Hemingway, who eventually took his own life, said of life, “It’s a dirty trick, a short trip from nothingness to nothingness.  There is no remedy for anything in life.” H.G. Wells said, “Unless there is more abundant life before mankind, this scheme of space and time is a bad joke.”  
Sad but true that those words reflect the feelings of many today: A crust of bread, a corner to sleep in, a minute to smile, and an hour to weep in.  A pint of joy and a peck of trouble, never a laugh but the moan comes double, and this is life.
Many today are like the shipwrecked sailor who spent three years on a deserted island.  One day a ship dropped anchor in the bay, a tiny boat came ashore, and an officer handed him some newspapers.  The officer said, “The captain suggests that you read what is going on in the world and then let us know if you want to be rescued.”
Jesus said of life in John 10:10, “The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  Without Christ life really has no purpose, no direction.  It’s no wonder people live and do as they do. They are seeking fulfillment and peace.  Only Jesus Christ can offer those to the life.  One poet put it into these words:

“Friends all around are trying to find
What the heart yearns for by sin undermined
But I have the secret; I know where it’s found.
Only true pleasures in Jesus abound.”

This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

9/03/02 The Apostle Peter said, “He that would love life and see good days....” One thing that all of us want is to have good lives and see good days. It only makes sense that you want to get out of life all you can.
There are three ways people tend to look at life. Some look at life as a burden to be endured. For them life is just another day, another dollar, another debt. They live life from paycheck to paycheck. Someone has said, “the world is full of too many people in too many cars, in too much of a hurry, going too many directions to get nowhere for nothing.”
Some look at life like a battle to escape. They are constantly looking for a way out of reality. Bottles, pills, and thrills would define their existence. They never find a purpose or true meaning to life. Solomon, the wisest king of Israel, had everything heart could long for and eye could see – yet he said in Ecclesiastes, “I hated life.”
Then there are those who view life as a blessing to enjoy. That is what God intended when he gave us life. Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy; I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Jesus is not talking about prosperity gospel, He is speaking of a blessed life – one that is lived with the thrill of knowing that God is in charge and causes a peace that passes understanding.
Life has its burdens, its bumps and its headaches along the way but the Bible says, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”
Friend, let your life be a blessing to be enjoyed. Put Christ in your life. You cannot possess life until Jesus Christ possesses you. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown, Md., Baptist Church
8/27/02 Albert Einstein, without a doubt, was the most notable scientist who has ever lived. He was chosen as the “Person of the Century”. His genius and influence is seen around the world, in the atomic bomb, electronics, and quantum physics to name just a few. He is the standard by which all scientists measure themselves.
As tall as he was scientifically however, he was equally as small spiritually. He believed in a superior being who in his words, had “superior reasoning power.” He once said, “There is a God, and anyone who does not believe that is a fool. However, we could never know Him.” He basically believed in a cosmic force but not in a personal God that can be known.
Contrast Einstein’s wisdom to what God says in the book of Jeremiah: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord.”
Chuck Swindoll said in a recent broadcast, “The most important thing about any human is what they think about God. Thinking about God does several things for us. It shapes our moral and ethical standards. It affects our response to pain and suffering. It motivates our response toward fortune, fame, power, and pleasure. It gives us strength when we are tested. It gives us courage when we are outnumbered. It determines our worship and prompts our praise.”
In America we have enjoyed some security blankets. We are proud of our wisdom, our educational system. We are proud of our military prowess. Most of all, we are proud of our possessions.
All of these have their place. However, we are not to glory in these. We are to glory not in our wisdom, our power, or our riches. We are to glory that we know the Lord.
Do you know the Lord? What do you think about God? That and nothing else will determine how you live your life.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church


8/20/02 Most of us are familiar with the story of Aladdin and his magic lamp. A genie appeared and said, “Your wish is my command.” He would grant Aladdin whatever he desired. It’s just fantasy, just a fable. But what if it were true? What if it really happened? What would you wish for?
It actually happened to King Solomon. The omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent God of the universe made Solomon that offer. Solomon did not ask for popularity or possessions, or even power over his enemies. He asked God for wisdom and knowledge. God granted his request, and also blessed him with possessions, popularity, and power over his enemies.
All of us today are in great need of wisdom. God wants us to be wise. The Bible says that godly wisdom is of infinitely more wealth than all the riches of the world.
God’s wisdom is not the acquiring of information. You can be wise and not know very much, and you can know much and not be wise. Wisdom and knowledge are not the same. There is a big difference between knowing facts and knowing God. Knowledge comes from what you know. Wisdom comes from whom you know. A person can have a brain that is full of knowledge but empty of wisdom. Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Max Bonn was a German nuclear physicist, a very close friend of Albert Einstein. He possessed one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century. In an interview just before his death he said, “The world would be happier if it had scientists with less brains and more wisdom.” Scholars are a dime a dozen, but wise men are as rare as diamonds.
The best definition of wisdom is this: Wisdom is the ability to think through the mind of God. The way that we learn the mind of God is through the Bible. The greatest hindrance to wisdom is a dusty Bible. The only person who will be wise is the one who admits he is not wise and realizes that only God is. Search for it today, ask God for it, and be ready to receive it. It is the most valuable treasure you will ever receive in this world.

Proverbs 8:11: “For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.”

This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church
8-13-02 Psalm 23 has always been a favorite of many of God’s people. In the hour of trouble, it has been a solace of comfort and peace.
Verse 2 is a particular blessing. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.”
A dilemma that many deal with today is stress. Look at Americans and you will see a people all stressed out with no place to go.
It affects each and every one of us. In particular, it affects the clergy. An L.A. Times article said that pastors were the single most occupationally frustrated group in America. Seventy-five percent of pastors go through stress so bad that they actually contemplate quitting. Thirty-four percent actually do. Incidents of mental breakdown are so high that insurance companies charge four percent extra to cover church staff compared to employees in other professions.
Seventy-five percent reported significant stress-related crises at least once in the ministry. Eighty percent believe the ministry has had an adverse affect on their families. All of us have a minister - someone who is there to marry our young, bury our dead, encourage us in times of need, and counsel us in time of crisis. A good pastor is a wonderful find for a church. Quite often they go unnoticed and unrewarded. I think we never appreciate something until it is no longer there.
Why not today write your dear pastor a letter of encouragement? Have him over to your house for dinner. Give him money for a new suit of clothes or do something to express your love and appreciation for him. I tell you, it would make a world of difference to your pastor. It could make a world of difference to you when you hear the sermon next Sunday, knowing you have encouraged the encourager.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church
8-06-02 - Church attendance is not a substitute for a daily walk with God, but it is still a very important part of the Christian life.
Christians belong to each other and they need each other. There is strength and encouragement in the fellowship of God’s people.
In Isaiah Chapter 6, the prophet went into the temple and came out a changed man. When Isaiah went into the temple, several things happened to him. For one thing, he saw the Lord. He looked beyond the other people in the building and saw God on his throne.
Of course, we don’t have such dazzling visions today, but we can still see the Lord as we meet with God’s people. The Word of God, the worship, the praying, the fellowship - all of these can lift our eyes from this world with its problems and focus on the King of Heaven.
Then Isaiah saw himself. This is what usually happens when we see the Lord. “Woe is me”, cried Isaiah, “for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
How easy it is to be convicted about other people’s sins and never see our own shortcomings.
But Isaiah’s experience did not stop there. He saw a world in need of God’s message. Isaiah responded, “Here am I, send me.”
That’s what happens when you take the time to go to the house of the Lord. Let’s give the church a more prominent place in our lives.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church
7/23/02When describing perilous times, the young preacher Timothy said, “Men shall be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” Simply put, that defines our society. How could you read that and not think of the society we now live in?  Read the paper, watch CNN, and you will find that many prefer pleasure over the worship of God. Many people live from one vacation to another, one weekend to another. It is pictured in the mottos of our day: “If it feels good, do it…Don’t worry – be happy… Thank God it’s Friday…Are we having fun yet?...Weekends were made for _____”…and on and on we go!
A book was written a while back entitled, We’re Amusing Ourselves To Death. In it the author points out that in the 18th Century, America was represented by the city of Boston, in the 19th Century by the cities of Chicago and New York City business, and in the 20th Century America was depicted best by the city of Las Vegas. Everything has to entertain us!
God’s word teaches us that life must have balance. While God wants our lives to be pleasurable and enjoyable, He doesn’t want us to be obsessed with the pleasure of it! When any nation becomes more interested in its pleasures than it does in honor and godliness that nation is doomed for destruction.
History teaches us that there are four stages to the ruin of a nation.
First there is a fascination with pleasure, then a preoccupation with it, then an addiction to it, then destruction because of it. No one can say we are not preoccupied with the pleasures of self-indulgence. If that were not true the drug industry, the liquor industry and the pornography industry would be out of business.
It could be said that we have become a pleasure-mad society! We have become obsessed with sex, sports, “image”, music, and ideologies and we are forgetting about the God who placed us here!
America will never be hurt from without; she will be hurt from within by apathy and the attitude of “What’s in it for me?” Take a good look at our lives. Something is wrong when the gambling casinos are full and many churches are empty. We are giving an example to our young people when we spend more time viewing and playing sports than we do in the worship of God.
Just as the acrobat on the high wire, we need to remain constantly alert and attentive to achieve true balance in our lives. It’s time to quit trying to please ourselves and begin having a desire to please God with our lives.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church
7/09/02Our nation is on a true “high” right now. Our position, our prestige, and our power have been restored in the minds of many to a place of unquestioned preeminence. Since Operation Desert Storm we confirmed that we are the most powerful nation on earth. Militarily and economically, we are second to none. Old-fashioned patriotism seems to be back in vogue.
The Fourth of July is always special. However, this one is extraordinary. After the attack on 9-11, we have become increasingly patriotic. As I look on our nation with many bright spots, there is also reason for concern. Storm clouds seem to be gathering on the horizon. To a great extent we are more interested in the Gross National Product than being a godly national people.
Our success is no secret. We are living proof of Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” We were founded for a godly purpose. From our inception, the threads of government were woven together with the threads of God.
We must be careful, for if God’s blessing is on a nation who trusts him then God’s curse would be on a nation who curses him. William Highland, the editor of a foreign affairs periodical said: “The United States has never been less threatened by foreign affairs or forces, but never since the Great Depression has the threat to domestic well-being been greater.”
Many different solutions could be given to remedy our difficulties. Some would say the answer is government. We must remember, as Gerald Ford said, “Any nation big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.”
Some say gold is the answer. We throw money at our problems. Woodrow Wilson said, “Our civilization cannot survive materially unless it is redeemed spiritually.”
Our answer is not government or gold, it is God!
John Witherspoon, a former president of Princeton University said, “He is the best friend to American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting the true and undefiled religion and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down on wickedness of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country.”
May we endeavor to seek the divine help in America. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church
7/02/02 - The Book of Numbers gives us the account of God’s people preparing to take their Promised Land. God had told them to go in and possess the land. They instead preferred to ‘sit out’ to see if He was telling the truth. Well, God was telling the truth.
It was a rich land, a beautiful land, and a fruitful land. But there were giants! The report came: “We be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger then we.”
That was the majority report. The minority report came from Caleb and Joshua, who said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it,” and Moses agreed with them. They believed God would give them the victory in spite of the obstacles.
Romans tells us, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” The majority saw the obstacles, and they were bigger than God. The minority saw God, and the obstacles disappeared.
Unbelief always cries and complains. It plays the same tune: “We are not able!” Israel had the promises of God to lean on and the presence of God to depend on, but they preferred to walk by sight. It cost them 40 years in the wilderness. It ultimately became the world’s largest funeral march.
As Christians, we do not fight for victory, we fight from victory. Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.........This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” Remember, we are overcomers or we will be overcome.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Bap[tist Church

6/25/02 - In his book, Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin set a query down for his readers. Of this book he said, “For I am well aware that scarcely a single point is discussed in this volume on which facts cannot be adduced, often apparently leading to conclusions directly opposite to those at which I arrived.”
At the end of his life, Darwin, reflecting on his writing, said: “I was a young man with unformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything; and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion of them.”
Darwin was bedridden for many months before his death, and was often found reading. When one visitor asked what it was he was studying he replied, “Hebrews, still Hebrews, the Royal Book I call it.”
On his deathbed, Darwin spoke of the holiness of God and the grandeur of the Bible and declared, “Christ Jesus and his salvation. Is not that the best theme?”
Undoubtedly Darwin accepted by faith the Lord Jesus. As I read his statements again, I wondered why the National Education Association has grasped his writings as factual conclusions.
Yet the teachings of Jesus, the Creator and Author of every atom and genetic code, Him by whom and for whom all things consist, have no place in our public education system.
Is this not convoluted thinking of the highest order? We teach Darwin’s theories and cannot even have a copy of the Bible in our schools.
In our infancy as a nation, there was not a school found where the most important class of the day was not the Bible class. It was considered the benchmark of the education process. It makes you wonder what the benchmark is today. Whatever it is, it most certainly is not the Word of God. We need to take back our educational system. We need to elect leaders who have Christian views and principles.
These are thoughts for fodder. This, my friend, is a great nation. It is so because we have honored God. Let’s put God back into the classroom.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church
6/18/02 - In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells the story of a city under siege by a great king. Inside the city there was a man of wisdom. Through his wisdom, the city was delivered and spared.
The value of godly wisdom is immeasurable. From the saving of the soul to the sparing of the life, wisdom is used and needed.
What is real wisdom? The Bible says the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. This is not a terror of God that causes one to shrink, but a wholesome respect that causes us to respect His Word as Himself. With all the difficulties that befall us, there is not one that couldn’t be solved by the following of Godly wisdom.
Solomon’s story has many lessons for us. As individuals, our problems and crises will not find any answers until we know the Lord. His wisdom in our lives can help us more than intelligence, strength and prestige.
As a nation, we will remain the envy of the rest of the world only by godly wisdom. Our dilemma with our young has been caused much in part by a lack of Biblical wisdom. As we’ve been thinking on fathers and fatherhood this past week, may we as godly men determine to impart Godly wisdom to our children.
Many great obstacles lie at America’s gate. We cannot withstand them in our own strength. However, Godly wisdom cries out and if we will listen to it and heed it, our nation will be spared. The psalmist said, “Some trust in horses, some in chariots, but we will remember the name of the Lord.”
This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church
6/04/02 Life often has been described as numerous possibilities but few inevitabilities. In other words, you can go as far in life as you want. The sky is the limit, but along the way there are a few inescapable realities. Growing older is one of them. A poet penned these words:

“God, keep my heart attuned to laughter even when my youth is done.
When all my days are gray days coming after the warmth of the sun.
God, keep my heart from bitterness, from grieving when life seems cold.
God, keep me always loving and believing as I grow old.”

Robert Browning wrote; “Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be. The last of life is for which the first was made.”

So many people have different attitudes as they grow old. Some feel useless, or like they are “over the hill.” Some feel self-pity. Many live with the fear of what will become of them when they no longer can care for themselves. An abundance of people grow old with guilt, thinking they were too much this, or not enough of that. Their life would be analyzed like this:
“Across the fields of yesterday, he sometimes comes to me.
A little lad just back from play, the boy I used to be.
He smiles at me so wistfully, when once he crept within.
It’s as though he’d hoped to see the man I might have been.”

In the Wilderness, Moses described life as grass that grows up in the morning and in the evening it is cut down. Then he prayed a prayer we all should use: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
As Christians we cannot afford to look back. The Apostle Paul wrote, “I press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
We should never dwell on past accomplishments or past failures. We should always look inward and upward. Solomon said in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” There is no fear in growing older when we remember our lives are in God’s hands.
This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

5/28/02 We celebrate Memorial Day. It’s the day we honor and remember the men and women who gave their lives in the service of their country.
A few of years ago in honor of Memorial Day, the movie “Saving Private Ryan” was released. I watched it in my home a few months ago, and was deeply moved by the heavy price war inflicts upon a nation. I felt overwhelmed as I thought of the great sacrifice those men and women made.
At the end of the movie, Ryan is visiting the cemetery in Normandy, years after the invasion. Ryan looked at his wife and said, “Tell me I’m a good man.” He asked that because an entire squad of men had been dispatched into enemy territory to bring him out. He had refused to leave. A battle ensued with great loss of life.
The main character, played by Tom Hanks, was shot. Lying on the lap of Ryan, he whispered as he died, “Be worthy of this.” That is what prompted Ryan’s question. Had he lived a life that was worthy of the sacrifice of so many others? Was he worthy of the price they paid so he might live?
As the movie ended, I found myself puzzled, and yet confronted with the same question. Have I lived a life worthy of the sacrifice of so many? I think of all I have: freedom, family, friends, and most of all, my Saviour.
I think that on this somber day, as we think of those who died for us, it would be wise to take stock.
Have we lived lives worthy of those who died to give us so much? Much of what we see in the lives of people is unworthy. We see the sin, the vice, and the wickedness that abounds around us.
May God help us to make our life count and be worthy of their sacrifice. May God bless America – through us.
This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.
— Mel Brindley
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church






5/21 Pick up your Bible or read a newspaper, and you will read about the nation of Israel. Israel is one of the most important nations on earth. Israel is the geographical center of the world. Ezekiel 5:5: “This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.”
Israel is the spiritual center of the world. This is where Jesus was born, where he lived, died, and rose again. One day, the Bible teaches, Christ will rule from this land.
Israel holds the key to the rest of the world. King David said in Psalm 122:6, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
There will be no peace on earth until there is peace in Israel. What a marvelous history this nation has! God loved this people and brought them unto himself. The Jewish nation is the only one that can be traced with total accuracy. We don’t know who was the first Englishman, Swede or German, but we know who the first Hebrew was. A miraculous birth from Abraham and Sarah’s union brought this people into the world. Their history is checked. They have often gone away from God and He has allowed them to be consumed into other lands. But He has always brought them back to himself (Deuteronomy 28, Psalm 89).
On May 14, 1948, they became a nation. At that time there were only 650,000 Jews living in Jerusalem. Around them were over 100 million Arabs. Yet they have never been consumed. During the Six Day War, they were outnumbered 80 to two. At the close of the war, they had taken three times the land mass of their original territory.
Since that time God has blessed their land and their people. The Jewish people make up only one fourth of one percent of the world’s population. Yet they have won 12 percent or more of all the honors in medicine, health, music, public life, and science. Over 25 percent of all Nobel Prize winners have been Jews. They have made an enormous impact on America. A Jewish man financed Christopher Columbus’ trip when he discovered America. A Jew (Hyam Solomon) financed a great deal of the Revolutionary War for Washington.
Jonas Salk invented the vaccination for polio. Friedrich Bayer’s company developed the aspirin. Selman Waksman invented streptomycin. Sigmund Freud is the father of psycho-analysis. Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity. Edward Teller is the father of the hydrogen bomb. The list of Jewish contributions to our history goes on and on.
Israel is now faced with a great crisis with Palestine. They have been attacked and they have defended their land. I stand with them, as do a host of Christians in America. They will never be removed, as we are told in the Bible. The last battle of all time, called Armageddon, will take place there. Yet again they will be spared.
As Americans and as Christians, may we take spiritual admonition from what God told Abraham in Genesis 12: “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
May we in these perilous times, stand with our friends, the Jews, and the Nation of Israel.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

5/14 In Ephesians Chapter 6, the Apostle Paul says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” As a pastor, I am thankful for the children in our church. Over the years it has been my privilege to know and pastor hundreds of kids.
There is no doubt that children today are under assault in our nation. I think of the aborted child that never has a chance to live life to its fullest. I think of the abused child. What an awful problem it has become in our blessed homeland. I think of the abandoned child, and the latch-key kids. Many young people in our ghettos are frightened to go out.
Yet the Bible says, “Children, obey your parents.” What does it mean to the young person who wants to obey? Well, it means first of all to heed your parents. Obey means “to hear under.” It carries the idea that the one listening is under the authority of the one speaking.
There are many reasons why young people should listen to their parents. It is the godly thing to do. The Bible says to obey “in the Lord”. Disobedience of children is mentioned two times in the Bible.
The first time is in Romans 1:20 where disobedience is pictured as a sign of depravity. The second is in II Timothy where it is pictured as a sign of apostasy.
Rebellion is a terrible sin toward God. The Bible says in the Old Testament that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. God wants children to obey.
Obedience also means to honor your parents. Obeying is an action, honoring is an attitude. It is possible to obey without honoring. Oh, how awful is the sin of disrespect. How pleasant it is to see a home where children obey their parents. When we leave our homes and begin again on our own we are still to show honor. The Fifth Commandment is to honor thy Father and thy Mother. Six times throughout the New Testament that command is repeated. It is a command with a promise - the promise of a blessed and full life if children will obey. Obedience for a child means a richer, fuller, and happier life.
Two Bible sons come to my mind. There is Absalom, who rebelled against his father David. His story is one of sorrow and tragedy. Then there is Joseph, of whom the Bible says, “The Lord was with him.” This story is one of blessing. The difference is found in how they honored their father. May God give us a generation that honors those who brought them into this world.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown, Md., Baptist Church

5/07 - We all know that family life in America is in great conflict. We have lost our sense of order. Oftentimes fathers, mothers, and the children have no idea what their assignment is in the home. The result has been a rise in divorce, alcohol and drug abuse, and teen pregnancy.
Divine order is often questioned in our culture. No one is an expert regarding the family, but we do have a manual. It is the Word of God. The key assignment for the man is found in Ephesians Chapter 5. “Husbands, love your wives.”
Three different words for love are found in the Bible. “Eros” means physical love, “phileos” means brotherly love, and “agape” represents the highest form of love, which is spiritual love.
That is the love husbands are to have for their wives. Agape love shares itself. A husband is to involve his wife in his life, his decisions, his joy, and his sorrow. He is to spend time with her. Many times a man is so involved in work, sports, and making money that this family is way down on the priority list.
A farmer and his wife were in bed one night when a tornado came up and lifted the roof off the house. They themselves were flying through the air, hanging on to the bed. As they did the wife began to cry. The farmer told his wife, “This is no time to cry”. She responded, “I can’t help it. This is the first time we’ve been out together in 20 years!”
Husbands, love your wives. Treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve. When a husband obeys his God-given assignment, it makes it much easier for all the others in the home to obey theirs. May God bless your home.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

4/30 - Someone has wisely observed that there are only two religions in the world. First is the religion of “do”. It requires that one ”do” something for salvation. The way that some believe is that salvation is obtained by living a good life, joining the church, getting baptized, keeping the Golden Rule, being honest, treating your fellow man right, and the list goes on and on. The Bible teaches that the religion of “do” is the false way to salvation.
The other religion is the religion of “done.” It requires nothing but faith in Christ for salvation. It holds that Jesus Christ, God’s son, paid the price for every person’s sins and died as every person’s substitute. So through accepting Christ as Saviour, God forgives us for Christ’s sake.
The story of Cornelius illustrates so vividly that a man can do all the rights things and still be lost.
According to Acts Chapter 10, Cornelius was a man of impeccable character and reputation. He was sincere and a devout leader in the Roman Army. He was generous and a man of prayer.
However, according to Acts 11:14, he was lost. Think of it! He did all those good things with the right motive but he was lost.
However, God answered his prayer when he quit doing and started trusting in what Jesus had done for him. In all probability Cornelius was a better than you or I, but he had to be saved through faith in Christ to go to heaven.
Have you been genuinely saved? Are you trusting in what you “do” or in what Christ has “done”? The Bible is very clear. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,” (John 3:36)
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
—Mel Brindley
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

4/23 If you are going to be a happy person there are two important relationships that must be cultivated. The first is your relationship to the Lord. We must see to it that we live our lives on praying ground.
The other relationship we must tend to is with others. One great truth of life is this: if you are not right with the Lord and with others, you do not know happiness. Jesus said there are two basic commands: love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and love thy neighbor as thyself.
The capstone of all of this would be the Golden Rule. Many in today’s society have re-written the Golden Rule. Their goal is to “do unto others before they do it unto you.” For some, their outlook on life is to “get all you can, can all you get, and sit on the can!”
If you are going to be happy, Jesus would say, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That would include how we talk about others, how we respect others, and how we relate to others.
For years now I’ve had the privilege to coach high school soccer. We have had some great teams. For three years in a row we were state and regional champions. Two years ago we went to Dayton, Tennessee and took third in the nation. Now, my coaching did not do that. Great unselfish players with huge hearts won those games. My philosophy of coaching is simple: treat every young man like you would want your son treated.
A little boy hollered down into a cave and heard his echo. He called, “What is your name?” and those words came back to him. He yelled, “I’m gonna hit you!” and it echoed back to him. Frightened and bewildered, he went back and told his mama. Knowing what had happened, she told him, “Go back to the cave and yell ‘I love you.’” He obeyed, and the words he spoke were again the words he received.
As Americans we need to remember the principle that the way you treat others is the way they will treat you. Go back to the cave and yell, “I love you!” and see what echoes back.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— Mel Brindley
Pastor, Chestertown, Md., Baptist Church

4/09/02 - Benjamin Franklin tells in his autobiography of wanting to convince the citizens of Philadelphia to light the streets at night to protect against crime and as a convenience for evening travel.
When he failed to influence them by his words, he bought an attractive lantern and placed it on a long bracket that extended from the front of his house. Each evening at dusk he lit the wick.
His neighbors noticed the warm glow it gave. Passersby appreciated the way the light helped them over the rough cobblestone streets.
Soon others began placing lanterns in front of their homes. Eventually the city recognized the need for well lighted streets.
Jesus told us that we are the light of the world. We are to shine for righteousness, courage, and for our Lord in this world.
Many complain of the overriding darkness that seems to prevail today. We can make a difference. How? By letting our individual light shine.
At home, at work, or at play, let’s influence our world for our Lord. Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Let your light shine!
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown, Md., Baptist Church

4/02 - Spring is a delightful time of year. With the breaking of each new dawn, the flowers are budding, grass is growing. The dearth of the winter is past and it’s a time for new life. Solomon put it into these words: “For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”
When Jesus came into this world, Isaiah said, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.” John said, “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness.”
Imagine that all the world before you is dark. You wander only by the sense of touch, groping along. Then someone turns on the light, and now that which you had only known by touch is reality by sight.
Picture blind Bartimaeus saying these words: “Jesus came my way - this blind beggar could not see; Then I cried for mercy for the darkness that was me. Then my faith reached out to Jesus - He saw what I could be; He looked at me, I looked at Him, for now my eyes could see! This is daybreak: more than I ever hoped could be! My eyes are open - I can see; and the first face I see is the face of Jesus shining love on me: This is daybreak!”
Friend, has the Light that brings new life dawned in your heart? This is the true message of Easter.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

—MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

3/26 Cicero said, “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious, but it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gate is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves among those within the gates freely, his sly whispers rushing through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.”
He went on to say, “He robs the world of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city. A murderer is less to be feared.”
It is no mystery how America rose to prominence in this world. God said in I Samuel 2:30, “...them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” When America turns her back on God, she begins to destroy herself from within. We did this in 1933 when we legalized intoxicating liquor.
We did this in 1955 and 1963 when Bible reading was prohibited in our public schools.
We did this on January 22, 1973 when the Supreme Court legalized abortion.
Jeremiah said, “Hath a nation changed their gods which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.” General Louis Walt has written, “The average citizen is not aware of the change from strength to weakness that has taken place in America.” Neighbor, we had better get back to the Bible. We had better get back to God. Our enemies could never defeat us from without if we have God’s blessing. If God be for us, who can be against us? This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.
  
— Mel Brindley
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

3/19 If a man is to be successful, he must seize every opportunity that comes his way. The difference between mediocrity and greatness is opportunity taken advantage of.
Some men come to town a day after the fair and open their market an hour after everything is closed. They make hay when the sun has stopped shining. Some men are like a cow’s tail — they’re always behind. Theirs is the philosophy of “take it easy and live long.”
Shiftless people generally excuse their laziness by saying they are behind a little, but a miss is as good as a mile, in most cases. The philosophy of many is, “Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.”
Don’t wait for your ship to come — swim out and get it! Better yet, build your own. Many an American could learn a great deal from the ant or the bee which works itself to death to accomplish a purpose. You see, a man who will not plan cannot expect to eat. If you will not strike when the iron is hot, then you will soon find it cold. “He that will not when he may, when he will he shall have nay.”

“Let thy mind still be bent, still plotting where
And when, and how thy business may be done.
Slackness breeds worms, but the sure traveler
Tho he alight sometimes, still goeth on
Acting and stirring, spirits live alone
Write, as the others, “Here lies such a one.”

Remember, farmer, there is no such thing as luck. Seize your opportunity. It’s there somewhere knocking, but remember, “opportunity only knocks once.”

This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

3/12/02 - A man once said that we should not be all sugar or the world will suck you in, and not all vinegar or the world will spit you out. In all things, there is balance. Though we live in a society of unbalanced people, balance is important for success. We should not be all iron or all wax, all rock, or all sand.
A man must have a backbone to hold his head up, but that backbone must bend or he'll knock his brow on a low beam. There are times in our lives that we do what others wish, and a time to stand on our own feet. We should do our best to please everybody and try and live peaceably with all men while at the same time realizing everyone will not be pleased. We should realize that some people will let us down; however, we should do good unto all men, especially those of the household of faith. Some people will try to use you, but not all! Some of those who make very much of you either mean to cheat you or are in need of you, while some really care about you.
God's Word says, “The simple believeth every word but the prudent man looketh well to his goings.” Go with your neighbor as far as conscience will go with you, but part company where the shoe of conscience begins to pinch your foot.
When injured, bear it without malice but don’t become a kicking block. Be gentle to all men, yet put your foot down where you mean to stand and let no man move you from that spot.
Balance — we need it back in America; it’s what has caused us to get along for over 200 years. If we lose it, the “unbalanced” ship will sink.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

3/05/02 - Live any amount of time at all and you come to the realization that ours is a self-centered world. Life is lived on three levels: Hellish, which returns evil for good; Human, which returns evil for evil; Holy, which returns good for evil.
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains how to live the latter. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Everywhere we turn someone is trying to gain advantage of us.
A farmer who had been to town to buy a car was wheeled and dealed by the salesman. Then the day came that the salesman came to buy a cow from the farmer. He priced the cow this way: Basic unit price, $400. Two-tone, extra $45. Extra stomach, $75. Produce storage compartment, $60. Dispensing device, 4 spigots, $10 each. Genuine cowhide upholstery $125. Dual horns, $15. Automatic fly swatter, $35. Total cost: $835 for a $400 cow.
Many Christians live their lives like that farmer. Jesus was not teaching passivism. Jesus was not saying we are to be doormats. On the contrary, the Old Testament tells us we are to defend what is ours.
What Jesus was teaching is not taking personal vengeance. When our dignity is upset, when we’re insulted or deprived, as Christians we are not to be concerned with self as much as we are to be concerned about others. This was the faith of our fathers, and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

2/26/02 - Abraham Lincoln said, “Laughter is the joyous universal evergreen of life.” He also said, “I believe it is the inalienable right of a man to be happy or miserable, and I, for one, choose the former.”
I firmly believe that life, for the most part, is what you make it. The songwriter said, “What you make it is up to you.” We can live our lives looking for the negatives in our circumstances if we want to. We can go around long-faced and pooch-mouthed, looking like the picture on our driver’s license. We can choose to live in a world of fault-finding, knowing that sooner or later the clouds will burst on our parade. Or, we can see life from a spiritual perspective, rejoicing that this is the day the Lord hath made.
Lincoln also stated, “Were it not for my little jokes, I could not bear the burdens of this office. With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.”
Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Choose to laugh today. Choose to find the humor in the circumstances you face and in the situations life sends your way today.
Happiness is a choice, my friend. Choose to enjoy the goodness of God.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

2/19/02 - God is the great planner of the universe. As you watch a building’s construction progress, you see the ground leveled, the footings poured, walls and roof put up, and eventually the interior of the home finished. All of this is done for the day an occupant will move in.
As God created our world, all the six days of creation were accomplished for an occupant, man. The absolute crown of all of God’s creation is man. Man is the zenith, the apex, the capstone of creation. Although God made abundance in creation, man was his greatest creation.
Evolutionists have tried to prove the association between man and the animals, but there is a great difference. Man is a physical marvel. The book of Psalms tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made. In the Library of Congress, the inscription is found: “There is only one Temple in the universe and that is the body of man.” Thomas Carlyle said, “Whoso layeth his hand upon a human toucheth heaven.” Psalm 139 tells us that, before we come into existence, all our members are known by God. Man is a physical wonder: 58 pounds of oxygen, 50 quarts of water, many other things and some 300 trillion cells! Each cell is as intricate as all the workings of a great city.
When God created man, He built a masterpiece. Man is a mental marvel. Animals can be taught, but the mind of man can reason, memorize, and communicate shades of meaning while showing love, anger, and a myriad of other emotions. The greatest computer in the world is the human brain. Man is a spiritual marvel. The spiritual side of man makes him different from all of God’s creation. The spirit of man is what makes man in the image of God. Animals have instinct, and through this God-given ability can perform astoundingly incomprehensible feats. But only man can know God.
What a tragedy it is for man to give attention to the physical and mental and to ignore the spiritual side. Jesus said, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Three words describe the story of man. Creation: divinely made, we are a miracle. Degeneration: the history of man is not a story of gradual development upward, it is a story of a cataclysmic fall downward. Re-creation: we can be made anew by the New Birth. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”
The Old Testament tells us about a man made in the likeness of God. The New Testament tells us of a God who was made in the likeness of man. God’s plan for man is to make us like Jesus. This is only possible through being born again as a child of God. This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

2/12/02 Never before has so much emphasis been placed on the value of time. It is so valuable, important, and precisely measured.
In 1790, less than 10 percent of all Americans had any kind of clock whatsoever. Today we have computers, communication satellites, and global positioning receivers.
The U.S. Naval Center in Washington is known as the nerve center for the directorate of time. In that building, there are 28 atomic clocks. Those clocks are accurate up to one billionth of a second.
We can experience an hour of time, a minute of time, a second of time, and even a tenth of a second of time. Now with the speed of computers, time can be measured in nanoseconds. A nanosecond is one billionth of a second. Though we can understand the concept of a nanosecond in our mind, it occurs too fast for us to experience.
Yet with all the accuracy of time, we still cannot answer the question: “What is time?” Ben Franklin said, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander it, for that is the stuff life is made of.”
The psalmist said in Psalm 118, “This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” The psalmist is speaking of today. Today is all we have to serve God. Yesterday is simply a memory and tomorrow is simply a possibility. We must learn to use the time God has given to us.
In a ball game, there are time-outs. In life there are no time-outs. We can’t stop it, hold it or put it in the bank. We are to use our time wisely and invest it into those things that will make us productive for the Kingdom of God.
Jesus told us to make the most of our time. We are to redeem the time because the days are evil. Our Lord warned us that “night cometh” when no man can work. Use your time wisely because as Franklin said, “It’s the stuff life is made of.”
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor,
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

2/05/02 A man asked his wife for the loan of her umbrella on a rainy day. “No!” came the reply. “You have 10 at the office you’ve never brought home!”
Sitting on the bus, wet from the rain, he noticed a Quaker gentleman by him with an umbrella at his side. At his stop, he grabbed the man’s umbrella and walked off the bus.
At the end of the day, he gathered all the wayward umbrellas from the office to return to his impatient wife. As he got on the bus, he fatefully found himself seated again next to the Quaker. The Quaker simply smiled, eyed the large collection of umbrellas and said, “Thou hast had a good day.”
The story reminds me about appreciating the goodness of God. How many good days do we enjoy because of God’s goodness? James said, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
Paul told the church at Rome that the goodness of the Lord leadeth men to repentance. We take our blessings for granted. We are prone to grumble rather than praise. It’s been said that perhaps we should pull out some of the groans in our prayers and shove in some hallelujahs! “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they may speak no guile. “ (I Peter 3: 10)
We’ve been through a shock wave in America. Through it all, God has been faithful and true. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Our lives, our future, and the future of our nation are in the hands of an Almighty God.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

1/22/02 I saw an ad the other day entitled, “A NEW YOU IN 2002.” Not a bad idea for all of us in a lot of ways! One way we all could use a change is the way we think.
Solomon said, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” Right now is a good time to consider some thoughts for the new year. Someone wisely said,
“When you are in your youth you are too frivolous to think.
When you become an adult you are too busy to think.
As you mature you are too worried to think.
When you are old you are too sick to think.
When you die it is too late to think.”
In I Peter, Chapter 1, Peter tells us to gird up the loins of our mind. The word for “mind” is a word which means the ability to think something through. In Bible days, long robes were worn. When they would run, they would tuck the robe in at the waist, or “gird” themselves, to not be hindered by the robe. In our vernacular, we would say, “roll up your shirt sleeves,” or “focus!”
The Apostle Peter is telling us to fix our focus on God, to prepare ourselves to run the race for the year 2002. This year, why not change your focus? Rethink your priorities. Begin the new year by thinking. Proper thinking begins with God. To have a great year, you need to have a godly year. To have a godly year, you must put the Lord first.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church
1/15/02 - There’s a story of a ship on the stormy sea in the dark of night. Some of the passengers wanted reassurance from the captain that all would be well. The old captain said, “Well, this is an old, leaky vessel that has seen better days, so we may go down. And the boilers have been bad for quite some time, so we may go up. But until then, we’re going on.”
The children of Israel faced the same dilemma. Across the Jordan was the land of Canaan, for them the land of opportunity.
Canaan was also a land of mystery for them. Joshua told them they had never passed that way before. He explained to them that they were going to follow the Ark of the Covenant. To them it was the guidance, protection, and blessing of God.
You and I have come into a new year. Surely it is a way that we have never been before. This year some of us may go down. We may die - surely some will. Some of us may go up. The rapture may occur. Jesus may return!
But until then we’re going on. How? We are going to follow our guide to the great unknown - God. He will lead us because while this is a year of opportunity, it is also one of mystery.
Today set your sights on the Lord, who is your Guide through uncharted waters. He it is who will take you and lead you on.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

1/08/02 - In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he says, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think...” That is one of the greatest verses in all of holy writ. Our God is able to do more than we could begin to ask or think!
As the apostle wrote those words under the guidance of God, he was in prison. Physically he was a prisoner, but spiritually he dwelt in the heavenlies. Although in his prison cell, he was able to pray.
If we look at life from a spiritual perspective, then our problems will take on a different aroma. That's how we grow, through difficulty. Paul turned his prison into a prayer closet. "Prison walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage."
The person who can pray is never really in prison. Prayer is something we can do when we can't do anything else. Abraham Lincoln said, "I have often been driven to God in prayer by the conscious awareness that I had no place else to go."
As we embark on this new year, many obstacles will be encountered. We must remember that one of our greatest weapons is prayer. Why? Because God can do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church

1/01/02 - The chance to begin again is a privilege given to us by our God. A new year is upon us, and with it comes the ability to discard the old and get on with the new.
Many opportunities await us! Many say we will never be the same after 9-11. I like what Mayor Guilliani said: “That’s correct — we will be better.”
The Lord is opening a new door for each of us. May we walk through it with his strength and power.
Jesus told the church in Revelation,”I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it.” What a theme for a new year - an open door.
We all find security in familiar things. We resist the changes that the days and years can bring. However, there are times God has a purpose and a task for us, an open door, if you please.
As we begin again as a people in 2002, may it be with God’s guidance. As we walk in realms never known before, may we do so with God’s help.
I like how Shawn Craig put it: “Arise O mighty army, take up thy shield and sword, for the Father lifts the golden lamp beside the open door... Walk on through the door, for the Lord will go before you, into a greater power you’ve never known before.”
What is beyond the open door for you? You have but to walk through it to find out. God is waiting to take you through in His strength so that you might walk the path He has planned for your life.
This was the faith of our fathers and I trust that it is yours.

* Thank you, dear readers, for allowing me to come into your home or place of business. Please know that I very much appreciate you. May God give you a blessed and prosperous new year.

Because of Calvary,
— MEL BRINDLEY
Pastor
Chestertown (Md.) Baptist Church






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