Celebrating NEW

Our worship gathering at Faith Discovery Church included baptisms, 6 people from ages 10 to 60 obeying the call of Christ Jesus. Tears flowed freely as ‘old’ life was left in the water and the ‘new’ began. The atmosphere was charged with joy and love. We practice “Believer’s Baptism” in our church, following the ancient pattern first set down by Jesus Himself Who commissions us to “Go, make disciples, and baptize!” 

Two young boys who were baptized yesterday, came to me on the Sunday after their orientation class, having processed the things we talked over and they asked me in all earnestness - “So when we are baptized does that mean we are then disciples of Jesus?”  I assured them that it did, for it is true!

Baptism is a rite that identifies us a Christian. We join Jesus in His death and Resurrection, as Paul said. "Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection." (Romans 6:3-5, NIV)  That is why we immerse those who have made a profession of faith.

Baptism of the faith-filled is a doorway into a whole new way of life, a moment when the Spirit is invited to live in us. Peter preached to the crowd who gathered in Jerusalem at the birth of the Church on Pentecost and urged them to  “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2)  The big word we use is regeneration - to be new - the opposite of sin’s degeneration to death.

Baptism also invites us into unity, a oneness of heart that grows out of a that new identity found in Jesus that is more important that any other label we may wear.  "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26-28, NLT)  Whatever divided us in the past is set aside as we become ‘brothers and sisters’ in the family of God.

I pray that those 6 who took that step of faithful obedience will always remember that day when they said “yes” to Christ Jesus in a public and humble way - plunged into the water of baptism.  It is a moment of resolution that marks us for life.  My own baptism now more than a half century past is etched in my memory, a moment when I declared to God, to the world around me, and to myself - “Hey, I’m a Believer!”  Everything changed - life now and for eternity - when the amazing, irrevocable life of the Spirit took hold of me.

Remember the day of your baptism with joy, renewing your commitment to faith and discipleship.  Let me ask you - have you been baptized since you believed? If not, why not? Take the step of obedience to Christ, with full faith.  Invite the Spirit to turn that act of obedience into a moment of empowerment, filling you with the Resurrection Life of Christ.

Here is a word from the Word. “Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.   

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” Romans 6:3-8, NIV

Oh Hallelujah, what a Savior!
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(Video of this blog at this link)

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Spirit of God, Descend upon my Heart

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart,
wean it from earth, through all its pulses move.
Stoop to my weakness mighty as Thou art,
and make me love Thee as I ought to love.

Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own --soul, heart, and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross --there teach my heart to cling,
O let me seek Thee and O let me find.

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh,
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear ---
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh:
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
Only holy passion filling all my frame.
The baptism of the heave'n descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love - the flame.

 George Croly© Public Domain

When You Wonder If You Matter

“Do I really matter?” is a question we all ask ourselves at least some of the time. It is not narcissistic to want to others to care that we exist, to feel that our life makes a difference. Look at the child who dances for her father, or who tries so hard to master that skill that she knows will impress her parent. Check out the teen who looks for a way to be noticed even as he carefully fits into his chosen social circle. We all look around and measure our lives against those who surround us - wondering if the world knows we are alive.

Notes that express thanks turn into treasures.
Phone calls that bring us word of care warm our hearts. Why?
Because they are tangible reminders that we matter to that person.

Most of us will live our days in relative obscurity and pass from the scene to be largely forgotten within a generation’s time. It is a fact we have differing abilities and opportunities. We need not become a CEO, a world-renowned artist, a best-selling author, or an Olympic medalist to matter. Not all can be superstars, yet we can all matter.  

 We can all LOVE others and God,
and in that faithful devotion,
we will become people who matter! 

There is a story in the book of The Acts, chapter 9, that illustrates the importance of each and every life to God.  A Christian who lived in Damascus enters the record from nowhere and just as quickly disappears, but what a pivotal person he was. Without Ananias the story of Christianity would have to be rewritten. 

"Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied. The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you arrive, ask for Saul of Tarsus. He is praying to me right now. I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him so that he can see again.” “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! And we hear that he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest every believer in Damascus.” But the Lord said, “Go and do what I say. For Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for me.”

So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you may get your sight back and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. Afterward he ate some food and was strengthened. Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days." (Acts 9:10-19, NLT)

This man’s faithfulness is amazing when we set it in the context of the time.  He knew about Saul, the zealous Pharisee who had made it his life’s purpose to eradicate the Jesus Followers.  Those people spread a message that Saul considered a falsehood, a threat to his religion. Most likely he had heard that this fanatic was coming to find people just like him, to beat them, arrest them, even to drag them back to Jerusalem for religious trials. God, the Spirit, comes over him and asks him to go and meet the man who could harm him, perhaps even end his life!  “I’ve heard about the terrible things this man has done to the Believers in Jerusalem!” he objects.  But, God urges him to go and pray for him! And he does!

What love and faith find their way into the story as Ananias meets the tormenter of his fellow-believers. He speaks to Saul as “Brother Saul.”  He extends fellowship, grace, and love. Most likely Ananias was the one who baptized Saul on that day, too. The rest, as we say, is history.  Saul becomes Paul, the apostle to the Gentile world, the inspired author of more than half of the New Testament. 

And Ananias?
He disappears into anonymity but what a difference his cameo appearance in history made.
Yes, he matters.

Who might you love to life, my friend?
Whose destiny might be changed by your investment in their life, if even for a short season?
Your name may not be known a generation from now. 

Your contribution to the ‘story’ may be hidden from view, but it is never overlooked nor forgotten by God.

Our faithfulness is what makes us into a person who matters: faithful in the place where we are given opportunities - great and small - to care, to love, to give, to encourage, to pray.

The word from the Word urges us to make today’s choices in the light of eternity’s promise. May the Spirit guide us into lives that are lived in such a way that we matter in the things that are of true and lasting worth.

"The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you. Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 4:7-11, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Find Us Faithful

We're pilgrims on the journey

Of the narrow road

And those who've gone before us

Line the way

Cheering on the faithful

Encouraging the weary

Their lives a stirring testament

To God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great

A cloud of witnesses

Let us run the race

Not only for the prize

But as those who've gone before us

Let us leave to those behind us

The heritage of faithfulness

Passed on through godly lives

 

Oh may all who come behind us

Find us faithful

May the fire of our devotion

Light their way

May the footprints that we leave

Lead them to believe

And the lives we live

Inspire them to obey (to obey)

(Oh may all who come behind us)

(Find us faithful)

 

After all our hopes and dreams

Have come and gone

And our children sift through all

We've left behind

May the clues that they discover

And the mem'ries they uncover

Become the light that leads them

To the road we each must find

 

Find us faithful

Oh may all who come behind us

Find us faithful

Jon Mohr © 1987 Mystic Beard Music; Jonathan Mark Music

CCLI License # 810055

A Game-changer!

There is a choice we can make that has the potential to completely change the way we live, our relationships with others, and even our spiritual health. Our entire perspective will shift if we learn to live this way. What has such potential?  The choice for true gratitude.  Learning to be content and thankful is not just a mental health issue, it is the will of God for each us who claims to live ‘in Christ.’  Scripture says "No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT)

Gratitude reveals a heart that is humble before the Lord. In Romans 1:21, Paul speaks of those who knew God but who “neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.” That awful passage includes a long list of sins showing us the downward slide into sinfulness that flows from the refusal to recognize God as Lord of all and thus, to give thanks in all situations.   

Luke tells us about some who received Jesus’ grace and forgot the source of the blessing. Take a look - "As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, their leprosy disappeared.

One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God, I’m healed!” He fell face down on the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19, NLT)

This is not about trying for positivity or saying the right kind of words without really meaning them. Genuine thanks is rooted in acceptance of God’s will, in humility that turns to Him with open hands and heart. When stormy times come - and they will - we can focus on what we lack or on what God provides.  We can choice to turn towards complaint and misery or we can find a quiet place with Him and invite His peace to own us.  

If we choose faith we will find the path of simple gratitude which pleases the Lord
and opens up the possibilities for Him to work in unforeseen ways on our behalf.

Will you invite the Spirit’s Presence to touch your life by giving up ‘a sacrifice of praise?’ (Hebrews 13:15)

The travails of the Israelites during the wilderness would be almost comical if they were not so revealing of our own foibles. God led them out of Egypt miraculously. He opened the Red Sea in front of them. He fed them every day with manna. Yet, they continually complained, focusing only on the hardships, which were real, instead of on God’s provisions for them. Their ingratitude turned into fertile soil for the growth of the weeds of unbelief. In that unbelief grew rebellion and they refused God’s will.  He gave them over to their self-will  and that generation wandered in the wilderness until they all died off; never seeing the Promised Land. It was no joke!

In his final charge to Israel, Moses contrasted the life of blessings found in devotion with the sorrows that come to those who abandon the Lord. Look at this sobering passage. "Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you." (Deuteronomy 28:47-48, NIV)  

The writer of Hebrews brings their negative example to us and encourages us to choose humility and gratitude. "Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ." (Hebrews 3:12-14, NLT)

God is speaking to us- His children – asking us to guard our hearts and minds. We, those of us who are ‘in Christ’ need not become part of the growing statistics of depression, domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and such things that are part of life in 2024. We can be different because of the One who lives IN US, but we must yield ourselves to Him and choose a course of surrendered obedience.

How can we do this? Not just with gritty determination. We do it by allowing faith to grow when we look higher than our circumstances, beyond our ‘light and momentary troubles’ and trust ourselves, our family, our future to Christ.

The word from the Word that I leave with you today is a call to shift our sight higher.
"Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" (Hebrews 12:2-3, The Message)

Take this moment to remind yourself that He knows your place, your difficulty, your joy - and confess - “You are Lord of all!”  Then, choose simple gratitude today, and let God’s Presence find you. It is a real game-changer!

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(Video of this blog at this link)

 

Stand In Your Love

When darkness tries to roll over my bones
When sorrow comes to steal the joy I own
When brokenness and pain is all I know
I won't be shaken I won't be shaken

My fear doesn't stand a chance
When I stand in Your love (repeat)

Shame no longer has a place to hide
I am not a captive to the lies
I'm not afraid to leave my past behind
I won't be shaken I won't be shaken

There's power that can break off every chain
There's power that can empty out a grave
There's resurrection power that can save
There's power in Your name power in Your name

Standing in Your love

Ethan Hulse | Josh Baldwin | Mark Harris | Rita Springer

© 2018 Be Essential Songs (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

EGH Music Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Gateway Create Publishing (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

CCLI License # 810055

Grow through it!

Each Friday morning, I find a newsletter called Friday Update in my email from a pastor - Mike Woodruff- who collects news of note, adding his comments and wisdom. Today he opened with this good thought. “We can learn much about ourselves, God, and life by suffering. Many say as much. The tuition is high, but some go so far as to thank God for it — i.e., for cancer, unemployment, and similar challenges. Not everyone, of course. And we need to be clear: not everyone gets better via suffering. Some simply get bitter. Growing through suffering requires the right conditions, starting with reflection, humility, and faith.”  .  (click here for a free subscription)

If your life is full of sunshine, love, and plenty - give thanks to God and enjoy it. Know this - sunny days will give way to rainy ones. Because we live in a world where there is sin and brokenness, we will inevitably run into hard times; some the result of our own choices, many simply because things like aging, illness, economic cycles, and imperfect people are part of the world in which we live. How we walk through those days, the choices we make, can make us better or bitter.  I really like Mike Woodruff’s line.  If we want to grow deeper and stronger in life, “the tuition is high,” but the result is so worth it, my friend. Faith grows. Love flourishes. God comes nearer to us. The Psalm says -“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.” (Psalm 119:67)

The value found in suffering is revealed in so many of the stories of the Bible.

Joseph would never have become the salvation of his family and the Prime Minister of Egypt without the horrific trip through slavery, false accusation, and imprisonment.

Daniel might well have concluded that his life was over, before it even started, when the Assyrians took him from Jerusalem to become a servant of the court of Babylon, but God turned a slave into a counselor to kings, changing history. Daniel did his part by doing what was right and godly, even when it looked as if he had no reason to do it.

David walked into a face to face challenge that looked ridiculous, a hero on the other side named Goliath, and he, a teenage shepherd from a backwater village. Mocked by the champion, David showed his heart. “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you.”  (1 Samuel 17:45-46)

Jesus was taken down from the Cross, buried by dispirited friends who thought it was over. I would like to know what the conversation among those disciples was like on Saturday. Regrets, perhaps? Recrimination?  But, God was not finished. His Son had entrusted Himself to the Almighty and on Sunday morning, the earth shook, the stone rolled away and death was conquered.

Paul was beaten up by life, opposed by enemies – spiritual and human – and his rivals dismissed him as just a ‘big talker.’ In city after city after preaching the Gospel of Christ he found himself rejected, arrested, and sometimes in peril of death. In Corinth it got so bad that he concluded his life was over. But, God was not finished with him. 

Reflecting on that time later in his life, he wrote -  "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many." (2 Corinthians 1:8-11, NIV)

From my own experience, I can tell you that God is faithful and that He accomplishes His purposes in us when we are willing to wait, to trust, to humbly accept His will, and to lean into His love.  I barely recognize the man I was three decades ago. Success found me early. God blessed me with a beautiful wife, wonderful children, with a fulfilling life that overflowed with good things.  Sadly, I allowed myself to think that somehow I had made it happen.

Pride overtook my heart and choices I made led me into a wilderness I did not seek. But God was there and I grew to know His grace in a way that I could not have known until that time in life. A decade ago, the awful diagnosis of cancer came to my wife, my love, and in 20 months her life here came to an end. It was the worst blow I had known in my life - emotionally and spiritually. But God was there; leading and loving me.  And I know this- I have not yet graduated from the school of discipleship!

Our strength is not blind faith. It is Christ-centered faith. We are not fatalists fumbling our way to the finish. We are people of purpose, called to follow the Spirit, assured of His promise and our ultimate place worshipping eternallly around the Throne of God. So, let’s go make a difference. Finish the game, for the glory of God.

The word from the Word:  "I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 1:16-20, NLT)  And He "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." (Ephesians 3:20, NIV)

Let’s grow on!

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(Video of this blog at this link)

Be Thou My Vision

 

Be Thou my vision

O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me

Save that Thou art

Thou my best thought

By day or by night

Waking or sleeping

Thy presence my light

 

Be Thou my wisdom

Be Thou my true Word

I ever with Thee

And Thou with me Lord

Thou my great Father

I Thy true son

Thou in me dwelling

And I with Thee one

 

Be Thou my shield

And my sword for the fight

Be Thou my dignity

Be Thou my might

Thou my soul's shelter

And Thou my high tow'r

Raise Thou me heav'nward

O pow'r of my pow'r

 

Riches I heed not

Nor man's empty praise

Thou mine inheritance

Now and always

Thou and Thou only

Be first in my heart

High King of heaven

My treasure Thou art

 

High King of heaven

When vict'ry is won

May I reach heaven's joys

O bright heaven's Sun

Heart of my own heart

Whatever befall

Still be my vision

O Ruler of all

 

Eleanor Henrietta Hull | Mary Elizabeth Byrne

© Words: Public Domain

The Most Excellent Way

Yesterday, while I was returning from a trip to Home Depot, I noted that the driver in the right lane paused for a few seconds before making a turn on red, simply being cautious.  A blaring horn announced the anger of the driver behind him who apparently found his caution a source of irritation. She gestured rudely while shouting words I can only imagine were not a blessing. Her flare-up of anger is not uncommon, is it?

Road rage contributes to a significant portion of traffic accidents and deaths on our highways. Aggressive drivers who crowd others, who drive too closely, or even who use their vehicle as a weapon are showing up on our roadways every day and every where. About a third of drivers self-report to experiencing road rage at least occasionally. Why is this happening?   Sociologists point to several factors. Among them are increased levels of general stress in life, feelings of isolation and being disconnected from a larger community, thinking of one’s self as anonymous and therefore unaccountable, and more crowded highways.

Let’s widen the lens on life.
Are you an angry person, quick to offense, meeting life with clenched fists?
Do you struggle with unresolved hostility, always ready to ‘defend your turf’ because you perceive a world that is hostile towards you or yours?

Paul was inspired by the Spirit to teach us as Christians to live differently!   “And now I will show you the most excellent way.  If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:1-7, NIV)

That passage makes clear the absolute necessity of love in our Christian practice.  We learn that without love eloquence is just noise. Without love spiritual gifts lose their ability to accomplish God’s work in the world. Without love personal service and devotion is without reward. Without love great knowledge becomes worthless.

Love is not just a syrupy emotion for special moments. It is not reserved for a select few, for children, or the sentimental. Love is a way of life that is vigorous, powerful - ‘the most excellent way.’   Authentic love is bold, engaged with the world, taking on difficult people, refusing offenses, actively going after what is best all of the time.  When we take time to process that passage, especially the second part, we find that love is never passive. It shapes each and every part of our lives and will make us radically different in this world.

So, how do we come to love in the ‘most excellent way?’  We will never achieve it simply by determination or discipline. Love begins with love!  John tells us "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:15-16, NIV)  By faith we accept that “God loved the world so much that He GAVE His son to save us”   The Spirit lives in us and reveals God’s love to us. Like the wayward son of the story of Luke 15 we turn towards home and find the arms of our Father open wide, ready to receive and forgive.  Loved, we learn to love!  Friend, let me underline this fact - God loves YOU.  His love is not limited or conditional.  He loves us from His essence, which is love. His grace is given to us, costly to Himself, free to us for the receiving. This is the start of becoming loving.

Then, we begin to live in love. 
We choose forgiveness because we are forgiven.
We refuse pride because we know we are “God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:10, NLT)  
We learn to live patiently because He is patient with us in our failures. 
We live outwardly focused because we know that He holds us secure in His grasp into eternity. 
We refuse to keep score in life because His love is the best affirmation we can ever know.

We feel no need to hide from the truth because we know that the ‘One who knows us best, loves us most!’

Choose love. It is ‘the most excellent way.’   Love pays rich dividends now and in the future with God.  I hope you will let Him love you to life.

The word from the Word is worthy of our meditation today. Jesus says "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34-35, NLT)

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(Video of this blog at this link)

God So Loved (Live At The Wheelhouse)

Come all you weary

Come all you thirsty

Come to the well that never runs dry

Drink of the water

Come and thirst no more

 

Come all you sinners

Come find His mercy

Come to the table He will satisfy

Taste of His goodness

Find what you're looking for

 

For God so loved the world that He gave us

His one and only Son to save us

Whoever believes in Him will live forever

 

Bring all your failures

Bring your addictions

Come lay them down at the foot of the cross

Jesus is waiting there

With open arms

 

For God so loved the world that He gave us

His one and only Son to save us

Whoever believes in Him will live forever

The power of hell forever defeated

Now it is well I'm walking in freedom

For God so loved God so loved the world

 

Praise God praise God

From whom all blessings flow

Praise Him praise Him

For the wonders of His love

 

For God so loved the world that He gave us

His one and only Son to save

 

Bring all your failures

Bring your addictions

Come lay them down at the foot of the cross

Jesus is waiting

God so loved the world

Andrew Bergthold | Ed Cash | Franni Cash | Martin Cash | Scott Cash

© 2019 Angie Feel Good Songs; Bay19; Capitol CMG Genesis; Capitol CMG Paragon; Scott Cash Publishing Designee; We The Kingdom Music

For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI License # 810055

Hope

Last Saturday I stood in an old cemetery in Dunmore, PA where I was leading a graveside burial service, I was surrounded by hundreds of monuments, some dating back more than a century.  I spoke the familiar words - “we commit her body to the earth in the in the certain hope of the Resurrection through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, ashes to ashes and dust to dust.” 

On the drive home, I thought back to Friday evening when I was called to pray with a man near the death. I stood in the presence of grief with his family, anointing him with oil, confronted with the ugly reality of dying.  In prayer, I invited the angels to lead him through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ to his home with the Lord.  The grim darkness of the cemetery, the heavy sorrow in the room of that dying man, starkly contrasted with the joy of Resurrection Sunday worship a few days previous when we sang - “Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!”

Death seems an implacable enemy, doesn’t it? We ignore aging, move quickly through the rituals of mourning, and too often attempt to smother the grief that comes after the loss. We may ask questions of our faith, wondering if our hope is real. Those stones with names etched on them, the grimness of a vigil at the bedside of the dying, can make the promise of life eternal hard to grasp.

Yet, I do have hope and so can you! "But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:20-21, NLT)   That whole passage invites us to faith.  Paul reminds us that the Resurrection is based on solid witness testimony. "I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me—that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. After that, he was seen by more than five hundred of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles." (1 Corinthians 15:3-7, NLT)

But what of those graves filled with bones of those now long dead, we might ask? 

There will come a time when God will call them from the grave, when He will miraculously and mysteriously give those who now live in His Presence, new bodies, eternal bodies, imperishable bodies.  The bodies long decayed into dust will somehow be raised, but new and beyond the death of mortality.  "It is the same way for the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies, which die and decay, will be different when they are resurrected, for they will never die. Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised, they will be full of glory. They are weak now, but when they are raised, they will be full of power. They are natural human bodies now, but when they are raised, they will be spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, so also there are spiritual bodies." (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, NLT)

Those who have left us do exist in the Presence of God even now.  We are told that "when this earthly tent we live in is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. … we will not be spirits without bodies, but we will put on new heavenly bodies. … God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. That is why we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:1-8, NLT)  Those who die slip beyond our reach but they remain ‘alive’ in God’s Presence awaiting that moment of final Resurrection, the end of this old earth and the expectation of a new creation!

This is our hope, assured by the Resurrection of Jesus, who is the evidence of what is to come. Do we understand it all? No, we do not. By faith we only see the outlines of the Promise. The veil between this world and the next remains impenetrable for us at the moment. So we look to Jesus and we pray, “I do believe, help me overcome my doubts!”

Are you grieving, dear friend? Seek the comfort of Christ Jesus, focused on the promise of Heaven’s home.

Do you live in fear of dying? Hold onto the assurance of the gift of life that is provided freely through Jesus’ grace, purchased by His death at the Cross.

Hope!  We know it, by faith, and find strength to live, though we are indeed now in a mortal body that will surely die!

The word from the Word urges us to the best life, lived in the light of Eternity. Let this truth own your mind and your heart.  "For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. When this happens—when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die—then at last the Scriptures will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord! So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." (1 Corinthians 15:53-58, NLT)   Add your Amen!

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(Video of this blog at this link)

 

Graves Into Gardens

I searched the world but it couldn't fill me

Man's empty praise and treasures that fade

Are never enough

Then You came along and put me back together

And every desire is now satisfied here in Your love

 

Oh there's nothing better than You

There's nothing better than You

Lord there's nothing

Nothing is better than You

 

I'm not afraid to show You my weakness

My failures and flaws

Lord You've seen them all

And You still call me friend

'Cause the God of the mountain

Is the God of the valley

There's not a place

Your mercy and grace won't find me again

 

You turn mourning to dancing

You give beauty for ashes

You turn shame into glory

You're the only one who can

 

You turn graves into gardens

You turn bones into armies

You turn seas into highways

You're the only one who can

 

Brandon Lake | Chris Brown | Steven Furtick | Tiffany Hudson

© 2019 Brandon Lake Music; Maverick City Publishing Worldwide; Music by Elevation Worship Publishing; Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

I hope you dance!

It is my privilege to work with several good and generous people who give hours to the food pantry ministry of Faith Discovery Church. Yesterday, feeling silly, I did a little dance proclaiming “I have a song in my heart!”  One of my friends joked - “Well, it’s not in your feet!”  That is so very true.  I cannot find a nicely coordinated way to move in anything resembling an actual dance, but I wish I could. But, I ‘dance’ anyway, when I feel joyful. Many years ago I thought that a class might help me so I enrolled Bev and I in one that met an evening each week. The instructor did her best to convince me that the only thing standing between me and real dancing was self-consciousness. Bev had a great time. I never did master the steps! 

Do you dance? The question is not about your physical grace or rhythm.
The real issue is do you allow yourself to feel and express joy, giving genuine thanks to God for life and the blessings He gives?

It is so easy to see only the pain in life which is real, to take note of what is ‘not right,’ which is common in our broken world, and yet to miss the small graces that find us each day- a beautiful sunset, a child’s giggle, a friend’s encouragement, or a song that touches our soul.  In those moments, I hope you dance!  Let your soul be free before Him!

Others may not dance with you, nor may they even appreciate your joy in the Lord.  David, the shepherd king of Israel, was bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to the Tabernacle. It was the symbolic dwelling of God among His people and the event was celebrated with joy. Overcome with his emotions the king started to dance in the street. He was not just tapping his toe with the music. The Bible says "David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly tunic." (2 Samuel 6:14, NLT)  Forgetting his position and his pride he was leaping, dancing, and shouting the praises of God. His wife found his enthusiasm embarrassing, disgusting evecn. "Michal, daughter of Saul, watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart." (2 Samuel 6:16, NIV)   

Coming to his palace, David expected she would share his joy. Instead, he found contempt poured over him like acid, as she spat the words - "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"

Ah, friend, allow yourself to feel joy. Thank God for Who He is, for the blessings with which he has graced your life. Dance if you feel like it!  Many will not appreciate the joy, criticizing you for your joy in the Lord.  But, if we spend too much time looking around  for encouragement  we will cease to love God as we could. Instead of dancing for His applause we will become slaves of the opinions of others.

Oh, I am not making an excuse for selfish expressions to impress others or that become a distraction. Joy is not an excuse to ignore the needs of others by doing your own thing. In balance we remember that Jesus told us that our best expressions of love and prayer would be private. He pointed to the public piety of the Pharisees and sternly warned against making prayer and worship into a performance designed to impress others. Heaven falls silent when we start to dance for the crowd!  Never the less, when we are lost in His love, when we release ourselves to the Spirit of God: our songs, our choices, our prayers may well appear to be foolish, childish expressions. 

When the critics sneer, we remind ourselves that is God we serve and we ask, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10, NIV)  The blessings and approval of the Holy Spirit are enough. When David’s wife mocked his joyful worship that led to his dancing in the street, he told her: "It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel-I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes." (2 Samuel 6:20-22, NIV)

So- dance, cry, sing, serve, love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Remember - He is Lord of the exuberant dance as well as the quiet reverence.  I hope you dance!

Here is the word from the Word.

"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!" (Psalm 30:11-12, NLT)

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(Video of this blog at this link)

House Of The Lord

 

We worship the God who was

We worship the God who is

We worship the God who evermore will be

He opened the prison doors

He parted the raging sea

My God He holds the victory yeah

 

There’s joy in the house of the Lord

There’s joy in the house of the Lord today

And we won’t be quiet

We shout out Your praise

There’s joy in the house of the Lord

Our God is surely in this place

And we won’t be quiet

We shout out Your praise

 

We sing to the God who heals

We sing to the God who saves

We sing to the God who always makes a way

'Cause He hung up on that cross

Then He rose up from that grave

My God’s still rolling stones away

 

('Cause) We were the beggars

Now we’re royalty

We were the prisoners

Now we’re running free

We are forgiven accepted

Redeemed by His grace

Let the house of the Lord sing praise

 

There is joy in this house oh yeah

There is joy there is joy

And we won't be quiet

We're gonna shout out Your praise

 

We shout out Your praise

There is joy in this house

There is joy in this house today

We shout out Your praise

We shout out Your praise

 

Jonathan Smith | Phil Wickham

© 2020 Be Essential Songs; Cashagamble Jet Music; Phil Wickham Music; Simply Global Songs

CCLI License # 810055