It's very late on Monday night and here I sit at the computer.  The worship went well enough on Saturday night, but when I'm leading, the volume of the band more or less restricts me from actually hearing whether the congregation is responding or not so it's not usually an activity I relish in.  Back in the "old" days when I lead at another church either by myself or with a couple of singers and a piano player, I could always hear whether the congregation was responding or not and adjust what I was doing to try and reahc them where they were at, but having a loud band around me, actually hinders my being able to respond and therefore, leaves me wondering just how it actually went.  I did get positive feedback from Kathy and a few compliments from members of the congregation but it's just not the same as feeling what is going on when it's going on.  It's not a problem to worry about though as God has it all in control, it's just another area where I need to try and learn how I am to react so as to continue to be made into a well rounded worship leader.  No one ever "arrives" as there is always nsomething new to learn.  I'm just glad God allows me times to share what I am learning with others.

We had my family over last evening and a good time was had by all.  We had a great dinner, played some cards, and watched the Sunday night football game.  Today Kathy worked and after she finished we went to the Lone Star Steak House to use a gift certificate she got at work and then to Kohl's to return a couple of clothing items.  We also went to the Family Bookstore to use a gift certificate I got for Christmas but I didn't find anything I wanted at the moment.  We may go on Wednesday morning to a theater about 30 miles form here that has stadium seating to see "Return of the King" and there is a larger Family Bookstore in the same shopping center where I can have another go at spending that gift.  It's really asurprise to go to the bookstore and see the same books that were being published 30 years ago but with new covers.  Isn't anyone writing anymore?

We have no plans for New Year's Eve.  We sometimes go to my Mom's to be with my family and we sometimes stay home and have a single friend of my wife's over but we've yet to decide what we are doing this year.  Maybe we'll go to Mom's early and come home before midnight.

Well, this is just starting to ramble so I think I'll post and get to bed.  Have a great day tomorrow and a blessed week ahead.

God IS Good!

Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!

You're Invited!!

Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).  Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!

I thought I'd log on for a few minutes this morning.  It's been a typical Christmas week of shopping, wrapping, and visiting.  It's always a great time to spend time with both families and they are all great people.  Today Kathy is working so I'll be working on a couple of things here at home waiting for my sisters to call to tell me if they are going to get together today or not.  There's lots of food left at Mom's so I'd imagine we will end up there at some point today.  I'm leading worship this Saturday Night so I have a couple of things to wrap up on my preparation for that.  My family is coming here on Sunday so I'll have to buckle down and with my daughters, shine up the house before then as this is also Kathy's Saturday to work and her Sunday will be taken up with food preparation.

My last day of work was Tuesday and the news was that Janet was up in a chair watching TV for a while on Sunday.  She's now been moved from ICU to a room though she still has no feeling below her waist.  The prognosis is good and continuing prayer for her would be appreciated.

Have a great Friday and a great weekend!

God IS Good!

Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!

You're Invited!!

Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).  Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!

I just finished reading my SIRs for the past several days and now have decided to update.  I put on a pretty convicting CD (see below) to listen to while I was reading and it inspired me to write.  Work has been pretty much a non-event the past few days and I am looking forward to finishing up next Tuesday at which time I will be off until the Monday after New Years Day.

A co-worker, Janet, was seriously injured in an auto accident on Tuesday night:

“State police Trooper Quentin Newsome said Janet E. Navalance, 49, was traveling east when her car slid sideways into the westbound lane of Route 30. A car driven by Shawn P. Boyd, 35, hit head-on as he and his family headed west.

Navalance was taken by helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh because her injuries were the most severe, state police reported. A spokeswoman for the hospital said Navalance was in critical condition late Tuesday night.

Boyd's wife, Joann, 43, two daughters, Alexis, 12, and Sierra, 9, and son, Shane, 13, were injured in the crash. Ambulances took them to East Liverpool City Hospital in Ohio.

Hookstown Fire Chief Jerry Torrence said emergency crews took about 15 minutes to remove Navalance and Shawn Boyd from their cars.

Torrence said a steady rain Tuesday evening worsened driving conditions.”

She had to have her skull opened on arrival at the hospital to relieve pressure. She has multiple broken bones, the worst which is her back and she at the moment is paralyzed from the waist down.  Last night they operated on her back and she was to have further surgery today.  Please pray for her complete recovery as well as for the complete recovery of the Boyd family.

The Presence Based Church - Part 3

“As the body of Christ, we desperately need the Presence of God.  We are nothing without it.  His Presence, unrivaled in any aspect of beauty, power, fame or majesty, is our provision and glory.  It should be the thing that holds us up and sets us apart.  One moment in the Presence can do more than a lifetime of church services without it…” – Terry Teykl (The Presence Based Church, ã2003.  Prayer Point Press, page 13)

Before I move on this discussion I want to mention that I’ve nothing against the Martha’s of the church as they get a lot of things done.  As mentioned in Part 2, Martha’s love for Christ is just as great as Mary’s, the only difference is that while Martha’s way is good, Jesus said that Mary’s way was better.  James tells us that faith without works is dead:

James 2
¹⁴   What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
¹⁵   If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
¹⁶   And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
¹⁷   Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
¹⁸   Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

So I just want to clarify that Martha’s way is not wrong, it’s just not the best way.

Romans 10
¹⁷   So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

So, without works, our faith is dead, but we first need to build the faith which is done by hearing the Word of God.  Jesus is the Word and if we are to hear Him, we need to spend time at His feet, just as Mary chose to do.

(To be continued….)

God IS Good!

Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!

You're Invited!!

Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).  Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!

A combination of being busy and lack of interest has kept me from posting this week, though I’ve been reading your sites off and on and your gracious comments.  I’ve begun reading the Terry Teykl book “The Presence Based Church” which goes a bit more deeply into what he had to say at the seminar by the same name.  In actuality, he said a lot of things I’ve been lead to see by God over the past 15+ years but which, when I tried to share them, people were skeptical.  It’s been that way through my whole worship leading ministry and my only thoughts are that rather than trying to share such things, I should just be preparing for when the church starts to come “on board” so to speak.  So as I continue to share on The Presence Based Church, it will be not so much a book report on Mr. Teykl’s book, but a reiteration of his ideas through the revelation I’ve received on this subject.  Mr. Teykl has done an excellent job of relating his thoughts around the following scripture:

The Presence Based Church - Part 2

Luke 10 (NIV):

³⁸As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
⁴¹"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but only one thing is needed.^[1] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

[1] 10:42 Some manuscripts but few things are needed--or only one

So, you see here two women who based on the scriptural references to them, both love Jesus greatly.  Martha, hungering to have His presence, invites Him to come into her home.  Don’t we all hunger for His presence?  Don’t we all desire to have Him come into our “homes”?  The difference here is revealed after Jesus gets there.  Martha, the gracious host, is busy with the details of the preparations, while Mary, while in His presence, chooses to neglect the details and to sit at His feet.  Martha, being human, begins to feel like she’s being taken advantage of and, because of her heart, takes the matter not to her sister but directly to Jesus. 

Now, looking at this matter through my human eyes, I’d probably feel like Martha too, but Jesus, looking through His spiritual eyes, sees the situation much differently.  He “chides” (I use that term loosely for lack of a better word at the moment) Martha for allowing herself to be distracted by things (or “works”) and declares that Mary has made the better decision.

Martha appears to have chosen to show her love for Jesus by trying to do everything she could do to prepare her home and meal for Him, down to last detail.  She pursued excellence in her “ministry”.  Mary chose to partake of the chance to be in the presence of Jesus by spending every available moment with Him and to not allow the “details” to distract her and steal even one precious second of time from her.

We as Christians, act much the same way.  Too often we allow the details to become distractions and we don’t choose to give Him the time He desires to be with us.  He is the source of our strength and to function on any other level is to rob ourselves of the strength and motivation we need to accomplish all He has lain before us.  And this extends to the level of the church also.

(To be continued….)

God IS Good!

Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!

You're Invited!!

Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).  Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!

Gee we got about 6" of snow and it's so depressing and yet so beautiful at the same time.  I got up early and shoveled and now am holed up in the house where it's warm.  I'll have to go out this afternoon for band practice and church but the sun seems to be melting the rest of the ice off the car so that's a help.

I have a new Christmas song at Dale's Songs if you'd like to hear it.  There's a couple of other songs I've linked in the past also.

I wrote this about three days ago but never had the compelling desire to log in and post it.  The days seem to getting busier and busier though I don’t seem to be doing anymore than usual.

The Presence Based Church Part 1

I spoke a couple of weeks ago about attending the “Presence Based Church” seminar at my home church and stated I’d have some things to share about it at a later date.  The events of the last couple of weeks have served to distract me from that task as well as my not getting started to reading the book by the same title written by the seminar speaker, Terry Teykl.  I have long been an advocate of the position that we cannot achieve much for the kingdom if our mindset is on how much work we can achieve for Him rather than on how much worship we can bestow upon Him and that was really the basis of Mr. Teykl’s message.  From the pamphlet for the seminar:

            “Terry believes the church needs to move from a consumer and people based church to a presence based church.  The presence based church asks, ‘I hope God got something out of our worship today’.  Through this workshop God will raise you up as a Levite who doesn’t just listen to music for self-stimulation but worship to please God.  Moving consumer based people to a presence based church where God is premiere.  God is raising up Levites who don’t just listen to worship as self stimulation but desire for worship to please God.”

I will, hopefully soon, have more to say on this subject but for now it’s important to realize that this isn’t to say that those hungering to honor God with their work are wrong, but that there is a better way that will ultimately accomplish a whole lot more.  God reveals His principles to us in small doses so we can begin to get an understanding of them and it appears that He is trying to move us beyond working for works sake and into the realm of works that result from our sincere efforts to worship Him and are the fruit of lavish worship bestowed upon Him.

His teaching was based on what he called the “Martha Church” contrasted with the “Mary Church” which is where I’ll pick up in Part 2.

God IS Good!

Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!

You're Invited!!

Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).  Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!

Thanksgiving was good and we spent time with both sides of the family.  Friday Kathy worked and I just mostly lay around though I did finalize the last lesson for the Worship Leader’s Workshop which wrapped up on Sunday.  Saturday I can’t really remember what I did besides getting ready for church, printing out my handouts for Sunday then going to practice and the church service.  Sunday was to Sunday School and then to do some shopping then to small group.  I sometimes wonder how we are to get our minds on the lost and what opportunities we might have to witness to them in some way when so much of our attention and time can be concentrated on the church itself.  Hmm…..

This Saturday is the second Saturday in Advent but the last Saturday, the first Saturday in Advent, didn’t seem to have the impact we wanted.  I know we can’t judge the effectiveness of what we do by the response of the people but I feel we failed to again fan the flame of worship which had been ignited the week before and brought a lot of the people into a new and more enthusiastic time of worship.  I don’t want to be discouraged but I know how the stimulus of what is taught us can fade in time if it’s not continually “stirred up.”

Last Saturday was Christ came as a revelation of the Father.  This week is that He came to redeem us. (All 5 weeks are “R’s”, cute huh?)  We mulled over a lot of ideas last night as how to make it a vehicle Christ can use to reach people and we’re praying it works to His glory.  As to the praise and worship, someone who has led only once before is again going to lead and I’m in a quandary about it as the last time they led, they spent an enormous amount of time talking between each song which is distracting to the intent of the P&W and also takes away time that could be spent glorifying Him.  I keep wanting to say something but we studied this pretty thoroughly in band practice over the last year and since this person wasn’t leading at the time, I’m afraid they must not have paid much attention.  I can only hope and pray it will be different this time as I really like the person and don’t want to cause any problems.  I guess the worst part of it is I’ve seen so much improvement in the worship leaders over the last couple of years and now we seem to have a giant step in the wrong direction.

I’d appreciate it some prayer for both myself and all involved in bringing these services to fruition.   Thanks!!

God IS Good!

Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!

You're Invited!!

Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).  Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!

Psalm 95
¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. ² Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. ³ For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

Psalm 100
³ Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name. ⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

towdah {to-daw'}  8426: confession, praise, thanksgiving;  give praise to God, thanksgiving in songs of liturgical worship, hymn of praise, thanksgiving choir or procession or line or company, thank-offering, sacrifice of thanksgiving, confession

Philippians 4
⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 2 (Instructions on Worship)
¹I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- ²for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

eucharistia {yoo-khar-is-tee'-ah} (2169): thankfulness, the giving of thanks

When I think of thanksgiving, these are four of the verses that come immediately to mind.  Along with them I’ve listed the Hebrew and Greek words with their Strong’s numbers and the various ways they are translated in scripture.  From the O.T. the most important part of thanksgiving, to me, is that if we are to enter His presence and come before Him, it must be with thanksgiving.  From the N.T. we see that we are not to worry or fret but to bring our problems and worries to Him with thanksgiving and that all prayer, even intercession, involves thanksgiving.  Maybe we don’t see our prayers answered at times because we are not thankful to Him for what He does and Who He is and if taken according to the O.T. verses, because our lack of thanksgiving keeps us from entering His presence and therefore hinders our prayers from being heard.  This is not so much doctrine as it is life and we all know that we appreciate those people who are thankful to us better than those who just take from us and disappear.  Think about these things as we all gather together for the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow and don’t forget to thank Him abundantly and to thank those around us who care so much for us.

Have a great and blessed Holiday with Him and with your family and friends!

God IS Good!

Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!

You're Invited!!

Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).  Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!

Just stopping by real quick to leave a short note.  I've been extrememly busy this week which culminated in a "Presence Based Church" seminar all day yesterday at our church.  I'll have some things to say about it in the days to come.  For now, we just got back from Sunday School (The Worship Leader's Workshop) which has only one more week to go for this semester.  We now need to run out and do some shopping or we will be out of food! (It's tough to get it done during the week with us both working.)  I did get news that our small group is canceled tonight so that loosens up our schedule a bit. I hope and pray the rest of this day is a blessing to you and that the upcoming week will bring you many opportunities to be both blessed and to be a blessing to others!  Worship Him!!

Time is flying past so quickly that I must be having fun!!  I really think that as time winds down to its final days that it must be speeding up (or am I just getting old?).

Our Saturday Night service at church was started as an outreach to reach a new generation and was quite a draw to young and old alike whom did not appreciate the traditional type church service but also had no interest in the “charismatic” type services.  Somewhere along the line, the service lost its vision and just became an alternative service to the two Sunday Morning services.  The attendance has been declining, especially when it was decided the same sermon should be preached at each of the services.  This has been a bit of a divisive point lately as the older (in time, not age) members where suspicious that Saturday Night as it had once existed was turning into a rogue group or a church within the church.  On the other hand, those who had been involved in the outreach the service offered where becoming disillusioned that we had ceased to offer outreach to cater to the group who prefers church with a “rock” type setting.  After a lot of praying, the Saturday Night Pastor has gone, with a couple of other interested parties, before the board at the church and gotten their approval to once again lean towards the outreach type of service.  I have, myself, as has my wife, sort of vacillated back and forth between the reasoning of the two groups, seeing the benefit of both types of service but now that the decision has been made, I see that God has had His hand (or “Hand” as in Holy Spirit) in this decision and I’m getting quite excited as to the prospects of once again reaching out to those who have been dissatisfied and/or hurt by the church and need somewhere to find the peace that we only find in the shadow of His wings.  I believe the Saturday Night Pastor said it best when he said that the Saturday Night service was started as a great idea (he wasn’t involved at the time) but it had no plan and when the personnel started to change, there was no consistency to the vision.  I once heard it stated that if we are to accomplish anything, we must first have a goal in mind and then we need to have a plan to get to that goal.  For those of you in some type of ministry, be sure you have a goal in mind and a plan which has been clearly stated and shared with others so the ship doesn’t get cast adrift and flounder if and when you are gone.

God IS Good!

Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!

You're Invited!!

Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).  Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!

It's been a fairly busy week for me so I haven't had much time for xanga.  It used to bother me when I didn't have time to post and read but now I'm content to do so when I have the time and to do whatever I need to do at other times to get other things done.  My wife and two daughters are all working this morning so I'm taking the time to get caught up as much as I can before getting into church related things I need to accomplish for this weekend.

Work has been so routine that I find myself falling back into the lazy mode of not accomplishing much.  I used to look forward to going to work but the uncertainty of the work load, the funding, and our future just somehow sucks the ambition right out of me.  I need to remember that I'm to work as if unto the Lord and present it to Him as worship.

I went the other night to buy my Mom a  new receiver for her CD player.  The one she had was about 30 years old and I replaced it with a surround sound home theater system though I'd imagine that with just her CD changer hooked onto it, it will only be playing through two speakers.  I got it hooked up and we went out to eat and took my youngest to the mall.  The night before that we went shopping to actually buy the unit and last night my wife and I went out to eat and do a little shopping so, I have been preoccupied with life and family.

That's about it for now, except to pray you all have a blessed weekend and week ahead in the Lord!

God IS Good!

Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!

You're Invited!!

Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!