God

Afternoon, to you from the Oasis along the road.  Silver Streak here behind the silver microphone.  My camels are enjoying having the day off and just relaxing.  I on the other hand have been busy trying to schedule a few things that I need to get done.

I have been wondering if anybody has had the same feelings as I have lately.  What does God do all day long.  Where is God. What does He look like?

Well, I picture God sitting up in Heaven on the Throne and just watching everybody all day long.  I mean there is nothing I do that He can’t see.  He is watching us all the time and keeping us in His sight.  I know that He is taking care of us both day and night.  He sees the evil and the good of the world i live in and I pray that He will find I am doing like I should.  Down on my knees and looking up to Him, every day.

Can you imagine if people saw Him today, walking around down here on earth.    I think most people would not even look at Him, dressed in the robe and sandals as He walks.  But when you get to know Him you know that the Sandals were just fooling you.  He is like no other, He is a Holy Man.

What name do you call Him?  Mary called him Jesus.  The angels called Him Jesus too.  Others call Him, Master, Redeemer, Savior, Wonderful counselor, provider, bright morning star, lily of the valley, Friend.

I call Him Lord.  I sometimes call Him Dad.  I try to see Him in everything that does on around me every day.  I lean on Him as much as He will let me.  Sometimes He says just go and do it, at other times He holds me close and says it is alright, son.

 

Leave me a comment and how you see God and talk with Him.  I will hold you in my prayers.

 

Silver Streak has left the tent.

 

Some Thoughts.

Greetings to everyone out there in cyber land.  This is your friend Silver Streak coming to you from the Oasis in the desert.  I have had to stop and feed the camels and rest a little.

I was listening to one of my favorite CD.s a little while ago when God spoke to me.    I really had to listen to understand what He was trying to tell me.

This happened to me a long time back and now I am thinking about it again. I told God that I would go anywhere, except that one place over there.  That is the first line in the song.  Well, what do you think God told me to do?  He said that He was sending me there.  How many times has God told you that He was going to send you somewhere and you said NO!!  I sat down and thought of every reason why it wouldn’t work out and I listed them on the page.  But He  said that there is nothing to it.  He said that He wouldn’t say do it it it couldn’t be done and they couldn’t be won.  AI know that sounds sort of like an argument that Job would have made. But it is also one that each of us makes at one time or another.  

So let me ask you, :How has god been talking to you?  Are you holding back from doing what He has told you to do.  Are you worried and dreading it.  Well, You will never know the blessings that will come until you just do it. Think about it and talk to Him and tell Him your fears and He will help you overcome them.  

Well,Silver Streak is going to sign off for now and start talking with Him.  God Bless.

 

Servanthood

Evening all.  Silver Streak here at the Oasis.  No not the local drinking establishment!  I am at the wonderful glass like lake of the third Oasis from Jerusalem.  My wife was just finished removing the dinner dishes and the kids are outside chasing the cats around.  So I have a few minutes of quite to myself.  

Tonite, our Father would like my to talk a little about what is required for servanthood.  I will try to be short and not use a lot of technical terms. 

Over time believers should become increasingly like Christ.  We’re never more like Him than when we are selflessly reaching out to meet somebody else’s needs. 

As servants, we need to incorporate the following into our lives:

1. Awareness.  Jesus stopped under the sycamore tree because He was aware that Zaccheus was up there.  How many needy people are “hiding in trees” while you walk by them without looking up?
2. Availability.  On spotting the tax collector, Jesus didn’t make an appointment to go see him a few weeks later.  Being available was such a priority that He dropped whatever agenda He may have had and went right to Zaccheus’ s house.
3. Acceptance.  Jesus did not wait until Zaccheus got cleaned up and straightened out his life.  The Lord accepted him just as he was.  We must never forget how Jesus embraced us, filthy rags and all.
4. Abiding.  When we are saved, we become grafted into the vine of Jesus Christ.  Abiding in Him is the only way to find the resources to serve other people in the way that they need to be served.
5. Abandonment.  God calls us to abandon our selfish desires.  Only in leaving behind self-seeking ways will we be free to truly serve others.

Well, brothers and sisters, that is the topic that our Father put in my mind earlier today.  I have only one thing to say.  Are you living for God?  Have  you left your self-seeking ways behind and letting God handle your life now?  If not why not.  Leave me a comment and let me know and if there is anything that I can do to help you I will.

Until next broadcast, Silver Streak says God Bless.

 

 

Good evening, to my brother/sisters out there in cyber space.  This is  Silver Streak coming to you from the facilities of HSJCG  network.  I am trying to get this office cleaned up and reset so that I will be able to use this space as my “Man Cave”, instead of the bedroom.  The wife is a little upset.  I have it mostly done, just have to add a couple of thing like, another chair, a small table and candles.  I have the cross, picture and writing material nearby.  I just finished getting this computer moved and running again.  I don’t know how many times I have moved it.  I know of at least 3 times.  Twice because we had to move to a different oasis and the third time due to a sand storm.  So now I am praying that this will be the last time I do this, as we are finally into a two story home.  ‘dang I am going to miss the quiet oasis.’  Anyway, tonight I would like to give you some words that God gave me about worship and why we regularly get it wrong.

Have you ever noticed after church and it is around noon, that as the congregation files out of the sanctuary heading toward the parking lot, you hear the following comments.  “I didn’t gt anything out of that today.” “I didn’t get anything out of the sermon.” “I didn’t get anything out of that service.”  ” I guess her song was all right, but I didn’t get anything out of it.”  Sound familiar>  Not only have I heard that over the nearly 50 years I have belonged to this church, but I probably have said it a few times myself. 

This is like dry rot in a congregation.  Like a termite infestation in the building. Like an epidemic afflicting the people of the Lord, one which we seem helpless to stop.   But let’s try.  Let’s see if we can make a little difference where yo and I live, in the churches where we serve and worship.  We might not be able to hel all of them, but if we bless one of two, it will have been time well spent.

1. You are Not Supposed to “Get anything out of the Service.”

           Worship is not about you and me.  Not about “getting our needs met.”  Not about a performance from the pastor and singer or choir and musicians.  Not in the least.

    2    Worship is About the Lord.

     “Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name. This verse from Psalm 29:2 is found also in 1 Chronicles and Psalm 96:8  It deserves being looked at closely.

   a) We are in church to give.  Not to Get.

Now if I am going somewhere to “get.” but find out on arriving, I am expected to “give.” I am one frustrated fellow.  And that is what is happening in the typical church service today.  People walk out the door frustrated because they didn’t “get.”  The reason they didn’t is that they were not there to “get,” but to “give”.     Someone should have told them.

    b)  We are giving glory to God.  Not to man

We know that.  At least we say we do.  How many times have we recited, ”   for thing is the kingdom and the power and the glory”?  And how often have we sung, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow…”?

c)  We do so because glory is His right.  He is “worthy of worship.”

This is the theme of the final book of the Bible.

“Who is worthy?”  (Rev. 5:2)

“You are worthy…for you were slain and have redeemed us” (Rev. 5:9)

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (Rev. 5:12)

3.  Self-centeredness Destroys All Worship.

If my focus is on myself when I enter the church–getting my needs met, learning something, hearing a lesson that blesses me, being lifted by the singing–the Christ has no part in it.  He becomes my servant and the pastor (and all the other so-called performers) are there only for me.  It is all about ME ! !

We have strayed so far from the biblical concept of worship–giving God His due in all the ways He has commanded–it’s a wonder we keep going to church.  And it’s an even greater wonder that our leaders keep trying to get us to worship.

The poor preacher@@ Trying to cater to the insatiable hungers of his people, even the best and most godly among them, is an impossible task.  One week he gets it right and eats up the accolades.  Then, about the time he thinks he has it figured out, the congregation walks out grumbling that they got nothing out of the meal he served today.

The typical congregation in the average church today really does think the service is all about them–getting people saved, learning the Word, receiving inspiration to last another week, having their wins forgiven, taking an offering to provision the Lord’s work throughout the world.

Is there anything wrong with the things I just mentioned>  Absolutely not.  But if we go to church to do those things, we can do the.  But we will not have worshiped.

Warren Wiersbe says, “If you worship because it pays, it will not pay.”

4.  Evangelism & Discipleship, giving & praying, Grow our of worship, not the other way around.

The disciples were worshiping on the Day of Pentecost when the Holly Spirit fillled them and drove them into the streets to bear witness to the living Christ. (Acts 2)

Isaiah was in the Temple worshiping when God appeared to him, forgave his sins, and called him as a prophet to the people (Isaiah 6).

It was in the act of worship that the two distraught disciples had their eyes opened to recognize Jesus at their table (Luke 24).

5.  We are to Give Him Worship and Glory in the Ways Scripture Commands.

“Give to the Lord the glory due His name and bring and offering.” So commands 2 Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 96:8.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.  A broken and contrite heart–these, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)

Singing, praise, rejoicing, praying, offering, humbling, loving.  All these are commanded in worship at various places in Scripture.

The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob/s well. “Those who worship God must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24)  That is, with their inner being, the totality of themselves, their spirit, not just their lips or their bodies going through the motions.  And in truth–the revealed truth of how God has prescribed worship to take place.  He is not pleased with “Just anything” that we claim as worship.

We must balance our worship between spirit (the subjective part: body, soul, emotions) and truth (the objective aspect:  all that God has revealed in His Word).

6.  We are the Ones Who Decide Whether We Worship upon Entering the House of the Lord.

Don’t blame the preacher if you don’t worship.  He can’t do it for you.

No on else can eat my food for me, love my cherished ones in my place, or do my worshiping for me.  No pastor can decide or dictate whether we willl worship by the quality of his leadership or the power of his sermon.  Whether I worship in today’s service has absolutely nothing to do with how well he does his job.  I am in charge of this decision.  I decide whether I will worship.

(Luke 10:42) says when Mary sat before the Lord Jesus, clearly worshipping, He informed a disgruntled Martha   that her sister had “chosen the good part,” something that “will not be taken away from her.”  That something special was time spent in worship.  Such moments or hours are eternal.  Lest someone point out that Martha could have worshiped in her kitchen by her service for Christ, we do not argue, but simply point out that she was not going so that day.

7.  Remember:  Worship is a VERB —  And it is an active verb too.  Worship is something that we do, not something done to us.

In the worst of circumstances, I can still worship my God.  In the Philippians prison, while their backs were still oozing blood from the beating they’d received, Paul and Silas worshiped (Acts 16:25)

Even if a church has no pastor and has to make do with a stuttering layman or some inept fill-in, I can still bow before the Lord, offer Him my praise, and give Him my all.  I can humble before Him and I can baring my offering. 

What I cannot do is leave church blaming my failure to worship on the poor singing, the boring sermon, or the noise from the children in the next pew.  I am in charge of the decision whether I will worship and no one else.

Someone once pointed out that ours is the only nation on earth where church members feel they have to have “worshipful architecture” before they can adequately honor the Lord.  Millions of Christians across the world seem to worship just fine without any kind of building.Believers in Malawi meet  under mango trees, according to Mike Canady (A retired missionary) and their worship is as anointed as anyone’s anywhere.  (What?  No stained glass!)

Our insistence on worshipful music, worship settings, and worshipful everything are all signs of our disgusting self-centeredness  It is disgusting—because I see it in myself and I DO NOT LIKE IT !  No one enjoys a great choir more than I.  I love to hear a soloist transport us all into the Throneroom by his/her vocal offerings in the service.  A great testimony of God’s grace and power thrills me.  And of course, I delight in hearing a sermon that you feel is directly from the heart of God. 

But if I require any one or all of those before I can worship, something is vastly wrong with me.

My friends, something is vastly wrong with us today.

Now, brothers.sisters,  having typed all of these words that our Father was so gracious to put in front of my ( I thank Joe McKeever for that basic outline and portions of the wording) I must admit that I was once like that, but because of my becoming a Child of God, that I now see worship differently.  When I enter the doors of our church, I do so expecting to see GOd walking around and talking with His children.  I expect to see the rest of t6he people anxiously waiting to see what He is going to say, through our Pastor.  I give Him my all, everyday now.  I no longer go to church to “get”.  I now go to “give<‘ of myself. 

My prayer, brothers/sisters is that you will read this and re-evaluated your relationship with our Father and how you worship Him.  I pray that like me you will come to understand that worship is about Him and not about me.  God Bless.  Silver Streak is gone.

 

 

 

 

 

         

The Phone Call !

It has been a year since I have had a chance to really sit down and type any words onto this site.  I feel real sorry for that.  But a lot has been happening in my life since then.  We have family medical problems that are too numerous to really get into.  Let’s just say that it has been a challenge.  I am still keeping the homestead running, while my wife has returned to her childhood home to take care of her mother.  It is a strain on both of us but it is working out o.k. for now..

The last article I wrote on here, I talked about the telephone.  My prayer was and still is that you have received the information in the Love of Christ  and that you are remembering.  Brothers, His line is never busy, I don’t care how many people call Him at the same time.  He has the ability to answer each and every one of them and supply us with what we need at that time.  You know that He is just sitting there waiting to talk to you.  He wants to talk with you.  That is one of the reasons that He created us….for relationship. 

How long has it been since you cleaned your house (heart)?  Is there trash laying around? (cigarettes, drugs, a broken marriage, )?  If so guess who can make it sparkling clean!  God can!  So pick up that phone and call Him (Prayer).  He wants to  help.

It is time that we really, finally, break down and clean our house (heart) and invite Him to come in and sup with us.  So Brothers and sisters, let’s go to our quiet place and get down on our knees and start talking to Him.  You may be surprised when He answers you.  Then read His Word to find His answer.  Study His Word and strive to show yourself worthy.  Remember we are in a race and we are to never quit (which we do a lot).  We are meant to be “Winners.”  not losers.  I pray that you will do this and let God help you.  Talk with Him.    You won’t be sorry.

Father I praise you for everything that you have done for all of us and what You will do in the future.  I pray that my brothers/sisters will keep calling on You.  I pray that You will show them the way, the way back to You.  I praise You that you allow “U-Turns.” Father, I want to walk with You the rest of my life. I ask all this Father in your son’s name, Jesus Christ.  Amen!!