psaturn
03-06-2006, 03:09 AM
Locally I attend a very small church (around 30 people) but a very dedicated group of people. Usually on weekends I am away on ministries in Mexico or other places.
But today Sunday I felt led to go to the local community of believers. And boy was I glad I followed that leading!
The normal worship leader was out of town. There was a young lady that begun with the worship on the piano and it was sweet. Then the pastor whispered in the ear of one tall gentleman sitting in the first row and he got up and approached the piano as the pastor also whispered to the young lady on the piano and she got got up and yielded the piano to the tall gentleman.
That is when it begun:
One of the most fantastic life giving piano music I heard live in a long long time.
It was like Chopin, Beethoven, Bach all in one. The musicality, the technique and yet the heart of worship was really evidently flowing from the hand of the master that I was witnessing. My mouth was agape.
And he led worship. It was a very intense worship session. Each notes was like something pressed into my spirit. And then the floods of notes was like torrential rain of praise flowing down from Heaven.
That music did trigger people into deep in the spirit. People started prophesying and giving words of encouragement. One lady from out of town that had a powerful church in the Pacific Northwest said she was fretting leaving town for vacation in Palm Springs as she would miss the wonderful worship in her church but coming this morning to this small humble church she exclaimed that she found such a high level of worship here that she was glad she came this morning and that she learned that other places do have high level of worship and that God does move in many places.
Finally, the Pastor spoke and he related that we should move in the Spirit all the time and he related that one time he was in a church in San Fernando Valley and he was praying in tongues and one person sitting behind him heard what he was praying in tongues and he told the pastor that he understood what he said. At first the pastor thought he meant that he had the gift of interpretation. No no...the guest said. He said that it was an ancient French, during the same period of Elizabethan English was employed during the reign of Elizabeth and Shakespeare. So the pastor asked if he would stand and translate whatever he said in tongues and into English. He did. What the pastor was saying in ancient French was this: Take my hand and walk with Me. So it was not even interpretation but rather a translation!!!
The the pastor gave the floor to the guest worship leader, pianist, whose name was Steve.
Steve asked everyone in the Congregation what is the most important Psalm in the Scriptures?
He gave some of the potential answers: Psalm One, 23rd Psalm for obvious reason, Psalm 91, Psalm 119...
He said all of these are powerful Psalms. But there is one Psalm that is extremely important. It is PIVOTAL to everyone.
He explained that Psalms are divided into 5 books. All the Psalms were finally put together by the Jews who returned from the Babylonian Exile to their homeland in Israel. It was divided into 5 books and one has to see the global view of how they put the book in order. RIght in the middle of all Psalms is the Book Three and it begins with Psalm 73.
It begins thusly:
[ QUOTE ]
1A Psalm of Asaph. 2Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. 3But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped. 4For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 5For they have no pangs; their bodies are sound and sleek. 6They are not in trouble as other men are; they are not stricken like other men. 7Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. 8Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies. 9They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. 10 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. 11 Therefore the people turn and praise them; and find no fault in them.
[/ QUOTE ]
This Psalm begins with the Psalmist questioning the fairness of God.
The Psalmist questions here"
[ QUOTE ]
13 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. 14 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 15 For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning.
[/ QUOTE ]
Here the Psalmist is living a sinless life and kept his hands clean in innocence and yet he is chastened every morning while the wicked seems to be getting richer and richer and living a life of ease.
God, is this fair???
What happens next ?
The Psalmist was even considering in declaring that God is maybe not fair, for [ QUOTE ]
16 If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have been untrue to the generation of thy children.
[/ QUOTE ]
So he tried to reconcile the situation and said:
[ QUOTE ]
17 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, 18 UNTIL I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.
[/ QUOTE ]
Steven, the guest speaker, asked, what is sanctuary of God? Sanctuary of God is where the Presence of God is.
When you are in the presence of God, that is when your questions are answered or you are given an answer appropriate to the situation and according to the will of God.
When you are in worship and adoration, it is when you put aside your questions, and yet He gives you the answer.
Steven said once he was visiting Pastor Albie, when he was pastoring in Mammoth Lakes California, that he was flying a Cessna and he was put in holding pattern. He was circling the airport around and around and it was during this period that God was silent to him. He was asking God, just tell me yes or no if I am to land. No answer. Okay just tell me if it is maybe. No answer. Okay Okay, then I will flying round and round and you will provide an airplane that will provide the fuel while in air then! God finally spoke to him and said you did not give me another choice, and that is that I will hold you in my hands while the fuel runs out.
Steven said that many times we limit God to certain choices of our choosing and within our frame of mind. God is way beyond that. We need to know Him as He is and not according to what our vision of Him is.
We need to worship HIM as He is. No more question, just come to the sanctuary of God.
I did NOT know who the speaker was. Just heard the name Steven. There are many Steven...
So I asked the pastor's wife what was his last name?
She said "Frye". I responded: "THE Steven Frye???" Oh my gosh! I had gotten back in the late 70's an album called We Are Called by Steve Frye and it was the music I constantly used in my quiet time in adoration and worship!!!
I went back and told him how much I appreciated that album, it made an impact on me growing in the spirit and love for God back when I was a young Christian in HIGH SCHOOL!!!
He was the senior pastoring at Belmont Church in Nashville Tennessee, a church with 3000 members !!!
It was the church where Michael W Smith, Amy Grant had their roots!!!
But today Sunday I felt led to go to the local community of believers. And boy was I glad I followed that leading!
The normal worship leader was out of town. There was a young lady that begun with the worship on the piano and it was sweet. Then the pastor whispered in the ear of one tall gentleman sitting in the first row and he got up and approached the piano as the pastor also whispered to the young lady on the piano and she got got up and yielded the piano to the tall gentleman.
That is when it begun:
One of the most fantastic life giving piano music I heard live in a long long time.
It was like Chopin, Beethoven, Bach all in one. The musicality, the technique and yet the heart of worship was really evidently flowing from the hand of the master that I was witnessing. My mouth was agape.
And he led worship. It was a very intense worship session. Each notes was like something pressed into my spirit. And then the floods of notes was like torrential rain of praise flowing down from Heaven.
That music did trigger people into deep in the spirit. People started prophesying and giving words of encouragement. One lady from out of town that had a powerful church in the Pacific Northwest said she was fretting leaving town for vacation in Palm Springs as she would miss the wonderful worship in her church but coming this morning to this small humble church she exclaimed that she found such a high level of worship here that she was glad she came this morning and that she learned that other places do have high level of worship and that God does move in many places.
Finally, the Pastor spoke and he related that we should move in the Spirit all the time and he related that one time he was in a church in San Fernando Valley and he was praying in tongues and one person sitting behind him heard what he was praying in tongues and he told the pastor that he understood what he said. At first the pastor thought he meant that he had the gift of interpretation. No no...the guest said. He said that it was an ancient French, during the same period of Elizabethan English was employed during the reign of Elizabeth and Shakespeare. So the pastor asked if he would stand and translate whatever he said in tongues and into English. He did. What the pastor was saying in ancient French was this: Take my hand and walk with Me. So it was not even interpretation but rather a translation!!!
The the pastor gave the floor to the guest worship leader, pianist, whose name was Steve.
Steve asked everyone in the Congregation what is the most important Psalm in the Scriptures?
He gave some of the potential answers: Psalm One, 23rd Psalm for obvious reason, Psalm 91, Psalm 119...
He said all of these are powerful Psalms. But there is one Psalm that is extremely important. It is PIVOTAL to everyone.
He explained that Psalms are divided into 5 books. All the Psalms were finally put together by the Jews who returned from the Babylonian Exile to their homeland in Israel. It was divided into 5 books and one has to see the global view of how they put the book in order. RIght in the middle of all Psalms is the Book Three and it begins with Psalm 73.
It begins thusly:
[ QUOTE ]
1A Psalm of Asaph. 2Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. 3But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped. 4For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 5For they have no pangs; their bodies are sound and sleek. 6They are not in trouble as other men are; they are not stricken like other men. 7Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. 8Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies. 9They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. 10 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. 11 Therefore the people turn and praise them; and find no fault in them.
[/ QUOTE ]
This Psalm begins with the Psalmist questioning the fairness of God.
The Psalmist questions here"
[ QUOTE ]
13 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. 14 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 15 For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning.
[/ QUOTE ]
Here the Psalmist is living a sinless life and kept his hands clean in innocence and yet he is chastened every morning while the wicked seems to be getting richer and richer and living a life of ease.
God, is this fair???
What happens next ?
The Psalmist was even considering in declaring that God is maybe not fair, for [ QUOTE ]
16 If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have been untrue to the generation of thy children.
[/ QUOTE ]
So he tried to reconcile the situation and said:
[ QUOTE ]
17 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, 18 UNTIL I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.
[/ QUOTE ]
Steven, the guest speaker, asked, what is sanctuary of God? Sanctuary of God is where the Presence of God is.
When you are in the presence of God, that is when your questions are answered or you are given an answer appropriate to the situation and according to the will of God.
When you are in worship and adoration, it is when you put aside your questions, and yet He gives you the answer.
Steven said once he was visiting Pastor Albie, when he was pastoring in Mammoth Lakes California, that he was flying a Cessna and he was put in holding pattern. He was circling the airport around and around and it was during this period that God was silent to him. He was asking God, just tell me yes or no if I am to land. No answer. Okay just tell me if it is maybe. No answer. Okay Okay, then I will flying round and round and you will provide an airplane that will provide the fuel while in air then! God finally spoke to him and said you did not give me another choice, and that is that I will hold you in my hands while the fuel runs out.
Steven said that many times we limit God to certain choices of our choosing and within our frame of mind. God is way beyond that. We need to know Him as He is and not according to what our vision of Him is.
We need to worship HIM as He is. No more question, just come to the sanctuary of God.
I did NOT know who the speaker was. Just heard the name Steven. There are many Steven...
So I asked the pastor's wife what was his last name?
She said "Frye". I responded: "THE Steven Frye???" Oh my gosh! I had gotten back in the late 70's an album called We Are Called by Steve Frye and it was the music I constantly used in my quiet time in adoration and worship!!!
I went back and told him how much I appreciated that album, it made an impact on me growing in the spirit and love for God back when I was a young Christian in HIGH SCHOOL!!!
He was the senior pastoring at Belmont Church in Nashville Tennessee, a church with 3000 members !!!
It was the church where Michael W Smith, Amy Grant had their roots!!!