LIFTING MY VOICE: PSALMS, HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS Just yesterday...

LIFTING MY VOICE: PSALMS, HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS  Just yesterday...: PSALMS , HYMNS AND S P I R I T U A L SONGS   Just yesterday, I was watching a video online of Karen Wheaton, Senior Leader of The Ramp chur...

PSALMS, HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS 

Just yesterday, I was watching a video online of Karen Wheaton, Senior Leader of The Ramp churches in the USA and Manchester, England - presenting her latest weekly "Front Porch Friends" segment from her home in Hamilton, Alabama. She quoted a few verses from Philippians 4 from the New Living Testament. Immediately, in my mind, I was reminded of 

a song featured on one of the "Children Arise" set of albums my wife and I bought way back in the 90's for our two girls. In fact, the song in question was directly inspired by the words of these verses in Philippians 4 in The Living Bible, the 1971 paraphrase by Kenneth N. Taylor. These are the verses:

            Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank Him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus. Verses 6-7.

These four "Children Arise" albums recorded in Brisbane in the 90's and originally released on cassette tape were the result of the vision given to Merrilyn Billing and her family of producing high quality children's music albums with songs taken direct from Scripture verses. A fifth "Children Arise" album was later recorded and released in Tasmania, where Merrilyn Billing now oversees Zions Hill Church in Launceston. George Mcardle, former bass player for Little River Band in the 1970's was also heavily involved in the production of the four albums recorded in Brisbane.

This blog is not primarily to focus on these albums, but to highlight the wonderful and powerful impact that singing Scripture verses has on the Christian, whose regenerated human spirit responds and is energized by hearing and being able to sing the Word of God. Let me just finish the reference to the "Children Arise" albums by saying that I believe they still sound just as relevant and refreshing as when they were first produced. If you do not have these albums in your CD collection, they are still available for purchase from Zions Hill Church in  Launceston. If you go online to the church's website, you can order online. As well as these, there are a number of other anointed music and worship albums, including the children's "Let The Whole World Sing" albums which, I believe are based on verses from The Passion Translation of the Bible.

The other source of songs set to the Word of God that greatly impacted me in the 70's and 80's especially, are those produced by the ministry of "Scripture In Song", headed up by David and Dale Garrett from Auckland, in New Zealand. In the seventies and eighties, they wrote and recorded a number of albums, some of which were made up entirely of "Scripture in Song" songs. Some of their later albums contained songs that were Biblically sound, but not lyrically direct Scripture verses. From a personal point of view, the Scripture in Song albums that most impacted me were the double-album set "Prepare Ye The Way." By today's Christian recording standards, some of the "Scripture in Song" albums may not seem as professionally recorded or produced, but the anointing of the Holy Spirit that was on some of them certainly made up for what they may have lacked in "professional" sound and production.

David and Dale Garrett were certainly Holy Spirit anointed servants of the Lord who were trailblazers in laying a foundation for subsequent contemporary Praise and Worship music. They deserve a place of honour in the halls of faith, for their commitment to the Lord personally in their lives and their desire to see the church built up and encouraged by singing the Word of God.

David and Dale Garrett

The Bible has much to say about singing, as an expression of praise, worship and gratitude to the Living God - and also as a weapon to subdue the enemy. More about this in the next blog post.

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THE STANDARD

Part Two

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair....." - so commences the book "A Tale Of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.

With every passing day, it seems that the battle lines are being drawn, and increasingly, as Christians, we are being faced with choices which not only affect our own lives, but those of our families, and the wider communities in which we live, and beyond that, the nation and nations of the world.

If Dickens was writing today, would he not say the same about our world and society, which brings us back to the passage in Isaiah referred to in my previous blog post:

Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the LORD will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

The Gentiles shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3

It is not a time for us to be having a spiritual slumber party. We need to take a clear stand for the Lord in our lives, even if it goes against popular society attitudes that are clearly in opposition to the non-negotiable teaching of the Word of God in the Bible.

The Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 5: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord........

Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep,

                              Arise from the dead,

                              And Christ will give you light." (verses 8-10,14)

I am always challenged by the words of the song "Asleep In The Light" written by Keith Green, where he says in one of the verses:

                     The world is sleeping in the dark

                             That the church just can't fight

                             'Cause it's asleep in the light.

                             How can you be so dead

                             When you've been so well fed?

                             Jesus rose from the grave,

                             And you, you can't even get out of bed. OUCH!! 

Jesus said of Himself in John 8:12...I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

He also said of His disciples, then and now, in Matthew in Matthew 8:14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

We are admonished by the apostle Paul to redeem the time because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:16

He again pleads with those who claim to be followers of Jesus 

in Romans 13: 

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Romans 13:11,12

                              

Can we hear the anguished heart cries of Isaiah, Paul the apostle, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to each one of us in the Church to ARISE, to SHINE THE LIGHT, TO AWAKE FROM SPIRITUAL SLUMBER...and in so doing, to help bring an eternal difference to individuals, to communities, and to the nations as we glorify Him with our lives.

Writer: Peter Harvey, Tasmania, Australia.

 

THE STANDARD

A number of years ago, I remember listening to a message by highly respected Bible teacher and author, Dr. Derek Prince, his text for the message being Isaiah 59:19 - 60:5. This is still one of my favourite Bible passages. When he first delivered the message so many years ago, the prophetic nature of the passage was clearly being worked out in the life of the Church.

    As of this writing, late 2020, the prophetic fulfillment of these verses for the Church of Jesus Christ, and for the world in general, is even more amazing and relevant to our times.

    Isaiah 59:19 states:

So shall they fear

The name of the LORD from the west;

And His glory from the rising of the sun;

When the enemy comes in like a flood,

The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.

Derek Prince presented such a wonderful word picture of the significance of the second part of the above verse historically, which in turn has great significance to us today in the church as this, and following verses from Isaiah are being fulfilled prophetically today on the Earth, and in the Church of Jesus Christ, the worldwide Body of Christ.

When the enemy comes in like a flood,

The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.

In an ancient army, Derek Prince stated, the particular army would have a flag or banner, or STANDARD, which, when preparing to face battle with an opposing army, would be raised or lifted up by the STANDARD BEARER. When the standard was lifted up, this was a signal for all those in the army to gather to the STANDARD in order to march out together in unity under that particular STANDARD.

Prophetically speaking of the Church, the STANDARD today is the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and the Standard Bearer is the Holy Spirit.

As members of the church, each one of us has to make a decision. Either, YES, that's my standard, or NO, that is not my standard. Although the Church, the Body of Christ is made up of so many different denominations and different doctrinal emphases, all who agree with the universally accepted Biblical tenets of the faith, and who proclaim that Jesus is Saviour and Lord, are rallying to this Standard.

It should be the aim of every one of us who desires to please the Lord and to honour Him with our lives to always be  "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2 I admit that I often fall short of this aim, but I am determined to, with God's grace and some discipline on my part, get closer to Jesus, so that I may hear His voice more clearly.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

LIFTING MY VOICE: WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE? This is the title of a ...

LIFTING MY VOICE: WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE? This is the title of a ...: WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE?   This is the title of a well known hymn written in 1877 by Frances Ridley Havergal, an English poet and hymn...

WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE? 

This is the title of a well known hymn written in 1877 by Frances Ridley Havergal, an English poet and hymn writer. Another of her most well known and loved hymns is "Take My Life And Let It Be."

Below are the verses and chorus to the hymn "Who Is On The Lord's Side.":

            Who is on the Lord's side

                    Who will serve the King?

                        Who will be His helpers,

                    Other lives to bring?

                Who will leave the world's side?

                                Who will face the foe? 

                            Who is on the Lord's side?

                                                    Who for Him will go? 

                        By Thy grand redemption,

                    By thy grace divine, 

                    We are on the Lord's side,

                         Saviour, we are thine.   

Not for weight of glory, 

Not for crown or palm,

Enter we the army,

Raise the warrior psalm;

But for love that claimeth

Lives for whom He died;

He whom Jesus nameth

Must be on His side.

Jesus, thou hast bought us,

Not with gold or gem, 

But with thine own life-blood, 

For thy diadem;

With Thy blessing filling

Each who comes to Thee,

Thou hast made us willing,

Thou hast made us free.

Fierce may be the conflict,

Strong may be the foe, 

But the King's own army

None can overthrow.

Round His standard ranging

Victory is secure,

For His truth unchanging

Makes the triumph sure.

Chosen to be soldiers

In an alien land;

Chosen, called and faithful,

For our Captain's band;

In the service royal

Let us not grow cold;

Let us be right royal, 

Noble, true and bold.

    "Who is on the Lord's side?"  This was a crucial question asked by Moses to the children of Israel, as recorded in Exodus 32:26. Moses had been on Mount Sinai for forty days in the presence of the Lord, receiving instructions from Him concerning various laws and detailed instructions on building and furnishing the Tabernacle. The children of Israel became impatient and restless because of their perceived delay of Moses' return to the camp, so they foolishly pleaded with Aaron to make them an idol to represent God to them.

    After instructing the people to bring anything they had, made of gold - earrings, ornaments etc., Aaron fashioned the molten metal into a golden calf.

    When Moses challenged Aaron about the idol worship, he sought to justify himself by saying: "Do not let the anger of the people become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.

    "For they said to me, 'Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

    "And I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let him break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out."

    No wonder Moses was angry with the people, because of their unrestrained idolatry. He made a proclamation at the entrance of the camp: "Whoever is on the Lord's side - come to me." And the sons of Levi gathered to him. The children of Israel paid a high price for their idol worship that day, as the sons of Levi went through the camp and put to death around 3,000 at the edge of the sword because of their rebellion against the Lord.

    We can look back at the history of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament and perhaps wonder at the apparent harsh judgment of God against a people who often were stiff-necked and rebellious.

    The history of Israel in the Old Testament is filled with periods of obedience to the LORD's injunctions, followed by periods of disobedience to His decrees, outright rebellion against God with much idol worship, resulting in terrible consequences for the people as the hand of God was removed from the nation. The majority of the kings of Israel and Judah were evil, given to blatant rebellion and idol worship, even though the Lord had warned them of terrible consequences of disobedience to His decrees.

    Deuteronomy 28 lists the blessings that would follow obedience to the Lord, followed by a much longer list of the curses which would result from disobedience.

Thankfully today, we live under a different dispensation - that of grace, not of law as was the case with the children of Israel under the old covenant.

     However, that does not mean that we are free to disobey God's Word to us, which has been given for our benefit, that we might fulfil God's purposes for our lives. Through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to become more Christlike as we allow the Word of God to renew us from within, we, as followers of Christ are being changed, as the Bible says, from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18

    When the Lord God made man, He gave him a free will. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, Paul reminds the readers that there were serious consequences for the sins and idolatry of the children of Israel. He says in verses 11,12 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

    At the end of the Book of Deuteronomy, a recounting of Moses of God's holy laws, Moses lays before the people a clear choice:

    "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 

     In that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord will bless you in the land you go to possess.

    "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live." Deuteronomy 30:15,16,19.

    You might be reading this, and thinking that God must be an egomaniac, a control freak, that we have to obey His laws or else suffer undesirable consequences. The reality is that the Creator God is a God of love, whom the Bible says " is not willing that any should perish [in his or her sins], but that they all should come to repentance."2 :Peter 3:9

    The old hymn quoted above "Who Is On The Lord's Side" is a rallying cry for Christians to take a clear stand for the truth of God's Word today. The language of hymn seems rather outdated now, and archaic, but the call to arms for followers of Christ to be fully committed soldiers of the Cross is as relevant today as when it was written 143 years ago.

    Persecution of Christians has long been the price one has had to pay for following Jesus in communist and many Islamic nations, but increasingly today in the twenty first century, to be a wholly committed, uncompromising Christian in the Western world is becoming a very unpopular entity with those caught up with the social distortions of the age.

    Whether it is in relation to marriage, sanctity of life before and even up to birth or approaching death, creation versus evolution, and a number of other social and ethical issues - those holding to a Biblical worldview are having to count the cost of being a true disciple of Jesus Christ in an increasingly hostile world, where they are labelled as homophobes, bigots, and other terms of derision.

    "Who Is On The Lord's Side?" is not only the name of an old hymn, but a question each person, including those who claim to be Christians, must answer today.

THE TIME FOR COMPROMISE IS OVER FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN AND FOR THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

For help in discovering how to become a Christian, go online to www.vision.org.au

This is the home online of Australia's Vision Christian Media, including Vision Christian Radio broadcasting to around 730 cities, towns and small villages across Australia.

Click on the "Grow your faith" tab at the top of the page, then "Looking for God?" God Bless!

                       

LIFTING MY VOICE: GOD'S SUDDENLIES WORTH THE WAIT PART TWOAnd when...

LIFTING MY VOICE: GOD'S SUDDENLIES WORTH THE WAIT 

PART TWOAnd when...: GOD'S SUDDENLIES WORTH THE WAIT   PART TWO And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. A...

GOD'S SUDDENLIES WORTH THE WAIT 

PART TWO

And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4 KJV

As I stated in the previous blog post on this theme, this would have to be one of my favourite passages from the New Testament. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of a prophecy given by the prophet Joel at least 800 years before Christ. 

Jesus had told his disciples ten days before this event prior to His ascension to heaven: " Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." Acts 24:49 KJV

This day saw the birth of the New Testament church with an estimated three thousand people saved following the anointed preaching of Christ the Messiah by the Apostle Peter. He called on his hearers that day to: "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call." Acts 2: 38,39

What a tremendous "suddenly" as the infant Christian Church grew to around three thousand in one day, with the people coming under the conviction of sin and their need for a Saviour.

As we continue to read through the Book of Acts, we see the church continuing to grow in leaps and bounds, as the twelve apostles of Christ lead the growth of the church, starting in Jerusalem, then spreading to all parts of the known world as persecution acts as catalyst for the leaders to go to Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the world, as Jesus told them it would be - in Acts 1:8.

Recently I heard Karen Wheaton, Senior Leader of "The Ramp" churches in Alabama, Tennessee and Manchester, England say of God's time in relation to the outworking of His purposes in our lives as either SLOW or SUDDENLY. There is often a process we have to go through in order to receive His promises, BUT, when it is God's appointed time, that's when we may well experience some of God's amazing Suddenlies in our lives.

When the Spirit of God is moving powerfully in the life of an individual believer or in a church body - or even in a nation, the manifestation of God's provision, His power and His glory may at times be overwhelmingly of a "suddenly" nature - revealing God's desire to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hope is in Him alone.

How exciting it is to read the Gospel of Mark, and to discover all the instances of "Immediately" or, as it says in the King James Version, "Straightway." There is a real sense that God was moving powerfully in His manifest presence to heal, deliver and transform spiritually those who had been walking in blindness to see the glorious light of God, in the person of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World.

That is not to take away from the other three Gospel accounts of Matthew, Luke and John - but the Gospel of Mark does seem to have a real sense of the "suddenly" actions of the Living God!

Read through all four Gospel accounts and it is obvious that many received their "suddenly" encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ to heal chronic diseases and afflictions, and demonic oppression that, for many had held them captive for years, even from birth for some.

Think of the woman in Mark  5 with the issue of blood. The Bible tells us this had been an affliction she had borne for twelve years. She had spent all she had seeking medical help, but instead of getting better, rather grew worse. Her faith was such that she knew in her heart that, if she could just get close enough in the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus' garment, she would be healed instantly - and that is exactly what happened. That day, she experienced her "suddenly."

I think about the crippled man Jesus encountered at the pool of Bethesda who had been in that condition for thirty eight years. The Bible tells us in John 5 about this man. It is stated that around this pool lay many who were sick, blind, lame and paralyzed - as they waited for the moving of the water. It says that after the moving of the water, whoever stepped in first was healed of whatever affliction they had. Because of this man's condition, someone else always got in the water before he could, as he had no one to put him in anyway. Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed. He then commanded him, " Rise, take up your bed, and walk." Immediately, the man was healed, took up his bed and walked. After thirty eight years of being unable to be independently mobile, this man received his "suddenly."

Then consider the case of the woman mentioned in Luke 13 who Jesus healed of an infirmity that had had her bent over for eighteen years and could not straighten herself up. What a terrible condition to have to endure. The Bible tells us that this incident was in a synagogue on a Sabbath. When Jesus saw her, He called her and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." Then He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God.

The heartless ruler of the synagogue was indignant that this woman was healed on the Sabbath by Jesus. Jesus rightly replied: "You hypocrite. Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it. Then should not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound these eighteen years, be loosed from this bondage on the Sabbath?"

This woman was another one who, although waiting eighteen years of physical bondage - in the presence of Jesus was instantly healed, and experienced a liberating "suddenly."

Many more passages could be cited in the Gospels of Jesus of His healing the chronically sick and infirm, setting free those held in bondage to demonic spirits, 

turning those in spiritual darkness to light, as multitudes experienced their individual "suddenly" from the Living God, whose love and compassion for each one was displayed by demonstrations of the Holy Spirit's power to make the broken whole.

One final incident from the Book of Acts will also serve to highlight God's delight in moving in the power of a "suddenly" to bring glory and honour to His name.

In Acts 16, we see the account of Paul and Silas in the city of Philippi in Macedonia. I encourage you to read the whole chapter for yourself.

As the chapter unfolds, they wind up in prison with their feet in the stocks, after having been beaten "with many stripes." The Bible tells us that at midnight they prayed and sang hymns to God - in the midst of their pain and imprisonment, they prayed and worshipped God - and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. and immediately  all the doors were opened and everyone's shackles were loosened. Amazingly, none of the prisoners escaped. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit was so real in that inner prison that the prison guard knew God was there, as he cried out to Paul and Silas: "What must I do to be saved?" He was saved that night, along with those of his household - and I would like to believe some of the other prisoners were too. It must have been a miracle for the other prisoners not to have attempted to escape. 

If you are reading this today, and are one who has been praying, believing, waiting for your "suddenly" from the Lord - perhaps for the return of a prodigal child or children to the Lord, for healing in your body, or your mind, to see the restoration of a broken marriage, for financial breakthrough. Whatever area you have been praying and standing in faith on God's Word for, may I encourage you today to: NOT GIVE UP BELIEVING!

                STAND ON THE PROMISES OF GOD IN HIS WORD!

                GET INTO AGREEMENT FOR YOUR ANSWERS TO PRAYER WITH                             SOMEONE WHO ALSO TRUSTS IN THE LORD!

                REFUSE TO ALLOW DOUBT AND FEAR TO ROB  YOU OF HOPE!

                IF YOU ARE NOT IN A CHURCH FAMILY, FIND A BIBLE-BELIEVING                         CHURCH WHERE THE UNCOMPROMISED WORD OF GOD IS PREACHED                 AND THERE IS AN EXPECTATION OF GOD TO MOVE IN THE POWER OF                 THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR SALVATION, HEALING, DELIVERANCE AND FULL                 PROVISION OF THE BLESSING OF THE LORD

If you live in southern Tasmania or the southern Midlands of Tasmania, and you do not have a church home, may I invite you to Living Waters Christian Centre, meeting at 54 Bridge Street in the centre of historic Richmond village at 10.30 next Sunday, 18th October, 2020.

A blessed time of  fellowship, praise and worship, Word and Holy-Spirit led ministry!

You will be made to feel most welcome!

Living Waters Christian Centre is led by Pastors Anthony and Annette Castro

                                    Historic Richmond Bridge

                                                                          

  

Ps Anthony and Annette in front - on the church land at Campania!