LET YOUR TESTIMONY RING OUT - Sept 26 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter Eight, “You Can Do This” p. 140

CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC         

                      

 About the Thessalonians in I:8, Paul said, “The Lord’s message ‘rang out’ from you… your faith in God has become known everywhere.”  That reminds me of a Lanny Wolfe song we used to sing called, “Can’t Stop the Music”.   When it’s in there, you just can’t stop it!

The thing is, the message needs to be really clear.  Peter said in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in No One else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”  Remember that great song?  “No Other Name”? Both Sandi Patty and Steve Green brought us to the heights with that one in the 80’s.

When told he must stop using the name Jesus, Peter instead  declared, “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts, 4:20

David said similar things in Psalm 40: 9-10. “I do not seal my lips, as You know O Lord… I speak of Your faithfulness and salvation….”

It is a fact that most people come to the Lord through someone’s personal testimony.  We have to make sure most of it is about what Jesus has done for and through us, not the “I have done” of our testimony.

The bottom line is bigger than we can even know or guess. At the very end of this age, when the Lord returns, and His followers are being killed and hounded by Satan, the accuser, the Bible declares in Revelation 12:11 about those Christians being persecuted, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.”

Your testimony today in our confused and needy world is essential for people to find the Lord, so…

                     LET YOUR TESTIMONY RING OUT

BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS

SEPTEMBER 22

BIRTHDAY BLOG

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter Two, “Sit at God’s Round Table.” 

BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS…MANY THANKS

Truly, thank all of you for your FaceBook messages today.  I am so blessed!  Wishes from around the Globe… awesome!

It wasn’t his birthday, but when David wrote Psalm 8, “How majestic is Your name in all the earth!”, he had just killed Goliath, and yup, he was thankful!  Michael W. liked it as well!

I have loved my life in music.  God’s calling is the best!  And throughout my life, I really had no choice but to follow His plan. Often, I really did not know where the next step would go, but I took it anyway.  Such is His leading.  I’ve been thinking today of so many songs and one that sticks out this morning is Andrae Crouch’s, “It Won’t Be Long.” We recorded it in 1979… here’s some lyrics…

“Count the years as months, count the months as weeks.  Count the weeks as days, any day now, we’ll be going home.”

Andrae is home now.  And I just praise God for good health, and hope to hang around here a little longer, but time is zipping by, just like the song says.

From my early days with Thurlow Spurr, I actually sing these lyrics every day, at sunset time, standing or sitting on the cliffs with my dog, Maverick, and looking out at the very big ocean, and magnificent sky filled with all kinds of colored clouds.

“How big is God, how big and wide His vast domain! To try to tell these lips can only start.  He’s big enough to rule His mighty universe, yet small enough to live within my heart.”  

Then right away I think of Nichole Nordeman’s song, “Small Enough”.

“There have been moments when I could not face Goliath on my own.  And how could I forget, we marched around our share of Jerichos.  But I will not be setting out a fleece for You tonight, just want to know that everything will be all right.  Oh Great God, be close enough to feel you now”.

I received a sweet message from Greg Nelson this morning who said, “Today I’m celebrating the day you were born.  Yep, that was a Great day.”  And let’s all remember 1985 when we first heard Steve Green sing Greg’s great song, “People Need the Lord.” As we sent off 15 Continental tours that summer, that song was our calling and our invitation, too.  

“We are called to take His light,  To a world where wrong seems right. What could be too great a cost for sharing life with one who’s lost? For People Need the Lord…”

That’s who we are, and that’s what we do…

THANKS FOR MY BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS… ALL OF YOU

TAKE HEART - Sept 14 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter 3, “Live in the Moment” p. 49

JOY                                                   

I had a long talk with a good friend today who has, as she said, “cancer everywhere.”   There was such a beautiful spirit full of joy as she shared with me how the Lord as given her such a peace and joy.  “He’s so close” she says, “I’m not afraid anymore.  I’m proud of how I brought up my children.  They are all doing so great and I asked the Lord for the privilege of seeing my grandchild this summer and He answered my prayer.”

We all have our heartaches and tough times, and the Lord gives us strength to come through them if we ask Him.  He is so faithful, Praise Him!

David did, too, and he said it hundreds of times. Here are a couple examples, “Show me the wonder of your great love… Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings” Ps 17: 7 and 8.

When we face the deepest and darkest times, He is there to show us the wonder of His love.  How great is that!  Our friend Andrae Croutch wrote, 

“Through it all, Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God.  Through it all, Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in His word”

And Jesus' words in John 16:33 are, “I have told you these things that in Me you might have peace.  In the world you will have trouble.  But take heart.  I have overcome the world.”

So no matter what…

TAKE HEART… HAVE JOY!

HOSPITALITY - Sept 12 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter Six, “Be There, Like A Good Neighbor” p. 83

NO GRUMBLING    

We love our privacy, but there are times to open our hearts and arms to those around us.  Not the least of which is to simply be a friendly, good, Christian testimony, to see if the Lord opens the way for an honest witness to His love and grace.

Jesus spoke what is now called, “The Golden Rule”.   He said in Luke 6:31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” 

You may recall from one of my earlier blogs that David found a survivor of Jonathan, a close friend from his youth, who was actually the grandson of King Saul. His name was Mephibosheth.  David gave him a seat at his own table, a very hospitable act.

Later, David himself needed some hospitality when escaping from his own son, Absalom, who was trying to kill him and take the kingdom away from David.  When David crossed the Jordan with his large entourage, he was met with hospitality.  Shobi, Makir, Ammiel and his old friend, Barzillai, “brought bedding, and bowls and pottery, wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, sheep and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat.”  2 Sam. 17:28-29

Sometimes if we are asked to provide hospitality and it’s not our idea, we may not feel that open hearted. But, Peter

says in 1^st Peter 4:9, “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

Some people are just not good at hospitality and for others it is their spiritual gift.  Paul said in Romans 12:13, “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”  Either way we need to do our best at entertaining and giving of ourselves and our resources.

And remember, in Hebrews it talks about the possibility of entertaining angels without knowing it.  I love entertaining, but I have not seen any angels recently!   However, you never really know for sure, so just…

BE AN ANGEL YOURSELF

EXALT - Sept 1 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter 7,  “Cry Out and Shout” p. 91

                             ISLAND EXALTATION

“They raise their voices, they shout for joy;

From the west they acclaim the Lord’s majesty.

Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;

Exalt the Name of the Lord the God of Israel

          IN THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA.

From the ends of the earth we hear singing;

        ‘Glory to the Righteous One’”  

Isaiah 24:14-16

Wow, what a fabulous scripture!  It even asks us out here in the Islands to exalt the Name of the Lord.  How easy is that! So from my heart right now here it comes…

"I exalt You Lord.Your Name is great in all the earth 

and I exalt you now from out here 

on my Island in the Pacific.”

You can find yourself in there somewhere, yes?  Maybe in the west or the east or really just anywhere from the ends of the earth.  Can you hear the singing?  Are you listening?  Step outside and look around.  There is exaltation music everywhere, join in.

David did all the time.  He praised in I Chronicles 29:10-11, “Praise be to You, O Lord, God of our father Israel,  from everlasting to everlasting.  Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all.”

Sing along right now with me -

I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, O Lord

I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, O Lord

We exalt Thee, We exalt Thee, We exalt Thee, O Lord

We exalt Thee, We exalt Thee, We exalt Thee, O Lord

What a great way to start any day or live any day or to close out any day…

              LORD, WE EXALT YOU!

WORTH DYING FOR!

AUGUST 30

WORTH DYING FOR

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter One, “Bring on the Giants” p. 7

WORTH DYING FOR

Today’s youth, Millennials, are searching for something worth living for and when they find it, they are willing to die for it.  The problem is that in our secular society today, they are finding nothing worth living for.

The great Greek philosophers and thinkers of old had a similar issue.  Speaking to them, the Apostle Paul said to them in Acts 17:24-28, “The God who made the world and everything in it, is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands, as if He needed anything. Because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  From one man, He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.  For in Him, we live and move and have our being.  As some of your own poets have said, ‘we are His offspring.’”

David found that his goal was just that, to live with Him at all times. He said in Psalm 27:4, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”  Knowing that the Lord had “assigned him his portion and his cup” (Psalm 16:5) He tells us the secret of his strength in Psalm 16:7. He says, “I have set the Lord always before me.  Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

If you are looking to give your life for something worthwhile that has forever implications and an eternal future, give it to Jesus.  He was serious when He told His disciples the kind of dedication He expected.  He says in Matthew 16:21-25 and 27, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it…

For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then, He will reward each person according to what he has done.”

Do you want to REALLY LIVE and have your life count for something?  Then…

LIVE FOR CHRIST!

HE IS WORTH DYING FOR!

WISE GUY - Aug 22 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter Two, “Sit At God’s Round Table” pp. 9-11

BE WISE                           

I couldn’t find “wisdom” in any of the great lists of virtues.  It’s because you just can’t decide one minute to be wise and the next not. It’s something you cultivate as you get to know things, experience life, grow up. When you finally make all of David’s virtues yours, you have most likely arrived at wisdom.

David said in Psalm 19:7, “…the statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.”  That means, as we absorb the principles God has laid down for us, we become wise.

Solomon, the second born son of David and Bathsheba, was considered the wisest man who ever lived.  He said, “He who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30

Jesus was concerned about that very thing.  As He was sending out His disciples to win souls, He said, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.  Therefore, be as wise (shrewd) as serpents (snakes) and as innocent as doves.”  Matt 10:16

Peter, one of those being sent into the wolves’ den, wrote, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” I Peter 3:15. It sounds like he is suggesting we should be wise in our responses.

The world we know is crumbling faster and faster, and the principles we grew up with are being eroded in a direction opposite of God’s statutes. The game of Chess comes to mind.  We need to anticipate the negative moves being made against contemporary Christianity and take the admonishing of James 1:5. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all, without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

The bottom line is this. No matter what decisions our leaders, or our supreme court, entangle us with, remember that God is still in control and it is His plan that is being played out.  Think about that and…

BE WISE

TRUE WORSHIP - Aug 19 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter Seven “Cry Out and Shout”

                     MOUNTAINS OF WORSHIP       

                             

 When I see a mountain, or stand on the summit of one, and look out at the other peaks in the distance and at the beauty of the land below, it just makes me want to praise God in worship.

David said, “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the great deep.” Ps. 36:5-6

If you have ever struggled with wanting to experience a true worship experience, I suggest you take a little time, as soon as possible, and have a “quiet, nature experience by yourself”.  It could be on a mountain if you live near one, or in the quiet woods, or deep forest.  Water calms our spirits, too. David wrote about that in Psalm 23 verse 2 “… by quiet streams…”  Lakes, rivers, and oceans work, too.

Be sure to experience a quiet worship time like this by yourself.  Go alone.  Listen to the quiet in the woods or the running water in the stream or the bigness of the waves crashing on a shore somewhere.  Think about all the great things the Lord has done for you in your life.  Worship Him… Praise Him…

Mountains were where the ancients worshiped. Jesus declared to a Samaritan woman a couple thousand years ago, “Believe me, Woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. A time is coming when the TRUE WORSHIPERS, will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is a Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” John 4:21 and 23-24.

Worship in spirit and truth. Worship from deep within your own heart.  When that can happen for you, whether in nature, your home, your church, or somewhere else, you experience…

TRUE WORSHIP

WORSHIP - Aug 18 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

 Chapter Seven, “Cry Out and Shout” p.94-95

REAL WORSHIP                                                  

When it happens, you will know it and there is no better place to be than right there in it.  I happened into a Millennial worship service last Sunday!  Loved it!  Great band, great choice of songs, right chords and melodies, wonderful singers (not too much repetition… I’m old) and the crowd of college age and young adults really got into it.  It was what it is supposed to be for Sunday morning worship time.

However, I am reminded again, that there are many types of real worship experiences.  Yesterday, I heard another story about a different worship service with no band, no group, just one little girl and her heart of worship.  She was attending “Family Camp”, in a wheelchair, born with Cerebral Palsy.  She had appointed herself as the head greeter, making sure that she had kind words, and a smile for everyone that entered the hall.  In her difficult to understand English, she would say things like, “Nice hat, Bill”, or “Good morning, it’s beautiful today”.  By the end of the week, she knew everyone’s name and, of course, everyone knew her.

The last night of camp, there was a talent show, and as it would be, the young girl had asked to lead worship as her talent.  Everyone was a bit concerned and somewhat embarrassed for her, as they felt it would be a difficult task given her physical challenges.  But, the pastor stood up, and introduced her as the last performance for the evening.

She wheeled herself into position, and with the one good hand she had, she raised it straight up in the air, threw her head back and with all her heart began singing, “God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He’s so good to me”.  With that, the entire hall was standing, tears streaming from their eyes, as they were led in the most beautiful of all worship services.                     

  

Here is what David wrote from his “heart of worship” in Psalm 86:12, “I will praise You, O Lord, my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your Name forever.” Real worship originates in our hearts.

HAVE A HEART OF WORSHIP

DIVINE APPOINTMENTS - Aug 17 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter Three, “Live in the Moment” p. 53

             IMMEDIATE OBEDIENCE  

                                  

When you know you simply have to do something good, do it right now before procrastination, and then forgetfulness, make it disappear.  “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:17

If the Lord is in charge of you, then He takes care of the appointment calendar.  So, it‘s a good idea to get to know what is on the schedule, and then, keep it!

David was anointed to be the next King. 

However, on the way to the appointment, he was conscripted to play and sing for a deranged King Saul who ended up throwing spears at him.  After a dozen or so years of fleeing for his life, he finally made it, and became the King of Judah.  Then, he faced seven years of civil war with Israel to the north.

In the end, the divine appointment did work out. He became King of all Israel for the next 33 years.  He died at 70, successful, loved, a legend in his own time, and the greatest King in Israel’s history whose line would reach to Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

You have a divine appointment, too.  You were chosen by Jesus just like his disciples were and in John 15:26 He said, “I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit”.  The thing is, can you handle the interruptions, detours, and uphill struggles that most certainly will come your way to complete your appointment?  These appointments require immediate obedience, too, and they are life changing! The best!

Embrace them.  Watch God work beyond your biggest dreams. “Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord has assigned him and to which God has called him.” I Cor. 7:17. “For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” Eph. 1:4. These are awesome, big statements.  It is great to know we have been appointed, and for a very long time….so

JUST GO FOR IT

HOPE - Aug 16 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter Three “Live in the Moment” p.53

HOPE LIVES                    

Were your hopes ever crushed?  Sometimes our hopes are stopped cold.  Sometimes they are just diverted into some kind of detour that seems to go nowhere that we wanted to go at all.  But, if your life is centered on the Lord and doing what He wants you to do, then chances are, He is behind the crush!  What you hoped for and lost could get even better just ahead.

Wishing on a star is romantic, but putting your hopes and trust in the Lord makes wishes and hopes come true.  HOPE lives in us.  It is in our nature. We HOPE things will get better.  We HOPE for good health, and wealth, and happiness, and all kinds of things.  But, what if your hopes get lost and instead of HOPE you face some kind of heartache or suffering? 

Paul says in Romans 5:3-5, “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, HOPE.  And HOPE does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”

When you feel that all HOPE is lost, take heart in the fact that the Bible holds the secret to bringing back your HOPE.

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have HOPE.” Rom. 15:4

David teaches us that while we may feel lost in our many troubles, like he always was, that we should take his advice and chill.  He says in Psalm 62:5, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my HOPE comes from Him.”  So…

TAKE HEART, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!

THINK RIGHT - Aug 15 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID’S 7 SECRETS

Chapter Three “Live in the Moment” pp. 45, 50

SPEAK RIGHT

David was not politically correct.  He was concerned that what he said was correct in God’s eyes.  He said, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Ps. 19:4

Our thoughts and actions are to be centered on what is right, not necessarily on what our secular society sees as right or might want to judge or penalize us for, but what the Lord ordained as right.  He said, “I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind to reward man according to his conduct.” Jer. 17:10

To bring it to reality, Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Matt. 12:34. 

So, once again, it is time to look within our hearts and examine our beliefs. It is there, in the depths of who we really are, that we prove our honesty and loyalty or fall prey to what others want us to believe or how they want us to act or speak. Again, David said, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips.  Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil….” Ps. 141:3-4

Jesus gave us a strong warning in Matthew 7:13-14 about correct living and the position we should take.  He said, “Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

I am afraid we are being herded off the narrow path and into the broad way.  Just pray that the Lord will give us the courage to…

THINK RIGHT AND SPEAK RIGHT

INTEGRITY - Aug 12 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID'S 7 SECRETS

 Chapter Two "Sit at God's Round Table" PP 9-37

THE VIRTUES - INTEGRITY

There is more than one way to do anything; many ways to be creative, choices of how to treat people we know, work with, love, or have just met, avenues in which to build a business, and principles by which to live.

Nothing beats integrity

It builds trust when people know you are fair, honest, generous, open, loyal, humble, and when you generally live out, as best as you can, the gifts of the spirit; "...Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control..." Gal 5:22.  Give it a go at this kind of living and people will respond to you in a way you have never expected and had always hoped.

I remember a mother coming to me in the early days of The Continentals.  We had spent most of a stressful day loading a bus and a truck (I mean cramming) for a long summer tour.  She stopped me late in the afternoon with a bright face and said, "I know why these kids will do anything for you." 

“Talk to me," I said. 

She replied, "Because you love them and they know it."

These things were exemplified in David's life as well.   It was said of him in 2 Samuel 8:15 that "David reigned over all Israel doing what was just and right for all his people."

It is easy to be demanding and harsh when you are the leader or the parent, but if you want to motivate people, whether friends, family, co-workers or employees...

BE FAIR, BE HUMBLE, BE LOVING

VICTORY - Aug 10 Today's Perspective

PERSPECTIVES FROM DAVID'S 7 SECRETS

 Chapter Two, "Sit at God's Round Table" p. 17

WINNERS AND LOSERS   

There will be lots of winners at this year's Olympic Games. Some who lost will feel like winners just because they had a chance to compete.

ATTITUDE ALWAYS WINS

Peter Grasmeijer is a winner. He was the very first European Continental director and he set the pattern for all those that would come after him.  Between them they led 14 Continental tours

He could have been a loser by giving up or quitting but facing cancer he won, facing beginning new companies and disaster at times he plowed through and won.

Me with Peter and Rolina

When his wife Rolina had cancer they didn't give up, they persevered and defeated it. Today they're both cancer free and he's the head of his own publishing company here in Holland, directs a large Gospel choir "Forever Worship", he works for the largest Christian radio and TV company and is well respected throughout this nation for his musical leadership. Watch this video message from Peter and Rolina:

Peter and Rolina

I've never read of a battle that David lost.  If there was one, I couldn't find it.  He always won.  Yet, there were times he could have won the kingdom sooner and killed Saul who was his mortal enemy. but backed off because he felt God had made Saul king and God would choose the time of Saul's demise.  Hiding in a cave, he said, "I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed." Psalm 57:2. (this whole psalm was written while he was in the cave). Then, in verse 4 he says, "I am in the midst of lions..." and in verse 6 he exalted, "...they dug a pit in my path, but have fallen into it themselves!"  Then, once the enemy had passed and he was rescued, he just praises and praises in verse 9, "I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of You among the peoples."

When he felt like a prisoner in Gath, and he gave himself up so he could hide from Saul, he wrote in Psalm 56: 12 and 13, "I am under vows to You, O God, I will present my thank offerings to You, for You have delivered me from death."

David's victories are well recorded and resound in praise and worship.  If we learn anything from his writings and his story, no matter what disaster or battle came his way, he always found a way to trust, praise, and thank the Lord. God always gave him success.  It is the learned lesson from his many victories.

We need to be like David, trust the Lord to win our battles, let Him pave the way out of our troubles, then praise Him for the outcome.  His will is always a win! Always remember....

VICTORY HAS TO END IN PRAISE