The Voice

~(music) This Is The Voice (cue more music)~~~~~~~~

My wife and I love a show on tv called "The Voice" that is broadcast on NBC networks. In case you've never seen it, it has 4 famous singers who are looking to coach unknown singers to stardom and hopefully to win the competition each season. All four "coaches" are in high backed chairs with their backs turned to the stage. One at a time, singers come out on the stage and give a 90 second performance. At any time during the performance the coach can hit a button in front of them and make their chair turn around towards the stage. This gives the singer an opportunity to pick a coach for the season (if there is more than one) or if only one, they will be automatically assigned to them. Unfortunately, some of the singers do not get a coach to turn around until they have completed their song, in which case all four coaches are turned around to the stage and they have a chance to give feedback to help the singer with their skills.

Growing up in the 60's and 70's, I loved what has come to be called "Classic Rock". Janis Joplin was one of my favorites, as something about her gravelly voice called out to me. This season there is another singer that has that kind of voice and a power house style of performance that I think will carry her far in the competition. Sarah Potenza is her name. Her wardrobe seems to try to mimic the styles of that era, and if many people judged her by looks, (at least by the way the current pop singers appear), she would not be very popular. But "The Voice" gives people a chance to initially prove themselves by their voice alone. As it progresses in the season, they will have to be able to show that they can perform for the audience as well.

Now, let's look at God and see if there is any comparison.
The Stage: Heaven
The Singer: God
The Song: Life
The Judges: Me and You

We start out in life facing away from the stage. We are born into sin and we have no connection with heaven. There is no "permalink" as the web likes to call connections made. We are looking out into the audience, many times gauging their reactions and motions as we go about listening to The Song. Just as I have seen the judges during the show be influenced by crowd reactions to the singer, we also are influenced by what goes on with the people who surround us.

Many times we want to be a part of the crowd, and we never really listen to what is happening on The Stage. We do this in life. We're too busy with everything going on around us to really listen to The Voice that is singing in our ear. Even at church we simply choose not to listen to the pastor and instead dwell on the things that we didn't get done this past week that we now have to add to our busy schedule. Or we are there simply for appearances and we have no sincere desire to make an actual attempt to be a part of The Voice.

Something in what they are singing, or the way that they are singing, just doesn't interest us. It may not be our style. In church, they may only sing one type of music, maybe just hymns, or praise & worship music, or maybe you don't like the instrumentation or speed of the music. Too fast, too slow, too guitary (hmmmm wonder if that is even a word. but you know what I mean). And yes, just because you go to church doesn't make you a Christian. (aw snap, that is a wake up call for many).

So we go through the performance with no contract, no guarantee and no commitment to be a part of what is happening on stage. WHY?

If these 4 coaches on this show never hit their button to turn around, nothing would ever get accomplished. But it wouldn't mean that they are not great singers and performers themselves. Each artist sells millions of albums, their names are a household name and millions of people flock to their concerts every year to watch and hear them perform. So, if they never turn around, it could never mean that they are not singers themselves. It just means that they didn't want to be a part of something else that may be bigger than themselves.

There are 2 ways to view this in our world.

(1)   You have people who simply refuse to be a part of what is happening on the stage behind them. They recognize the voice that they hear as telling them something that may or may not interest them a little bit, but not enough to be fully committed. These are the people who surround you that you call "good-hearted." A lot of times they don't attend church, you've never heard them give a witness about anything that God has done in their lives. Chances are they are not saved and have not given their life to Christ. It doesn't make them a bad person. Just like the coaches that never turn around for a singer are not bad singers themselves. These people who remain facing the audience just simply choose to not completely commit to someone else, in this case Jesus Christ. That connection is never made and there will be a price to pay for it. Just like the show where the coach can't win with that artist is they don't at least turn around and offer their commitment, these people will never have a chance to live with God in Heaven for the rest of eternity.

(2)   There are those who listen to the voice behind them and like what they hear and want to be a part of it. When a coach turns his/her chair on the show, they are offering their commitment to be a part of the singers life and hopefully make a better performer out of them. When we in life turn our chairs and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are offering ourselves to God to make our world a better place. Some do this for "fire insurance" (see a much earlier blog about this) so that they escape Hell, but they never really put their all into the mission. Some fully give themselves to help God further His mission, including becoming ministers, missionaries, or workers in a church and serving in capacities where needed. Just as a coach will reap more out of the effort that they put into an artist, we also reap more from what we truly give of ourselves to God.

 

Revelation 4:10-11  New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God,

    to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

    and by your will they were created

    and have their being.”

We will receive these crowns based on what we have done in Jesus' name, not ours. (more on that in a later blog I'm sure.)

So to wrap this up, I'm asking you, what Voice are you listening to? Each person has heard "the voice". Some turn their chairs, excited to be a part of something great, and others remain facing "the audience" or in life's case, the world and always keeping their back towards God.

Just as in the show when the coaches do not turn their chairs and the song ends, they have no way of going back and changing their mind to be a part of it. I've seen it happen many times where they try to hit the button after they are facing the stage, but it is all for naught. In life we too have a chance to listen to "the voice" and turn our chairs. Once the music and the singing stops, that choice will be over. We will only have the judgement and an eternity in Hell. You cannot get a "redo" and a chance to hit the button.

Revelation 20: 14-15

14   Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

15   And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

 

So  your choice today is: Do I turn my chair while God is still singing, or do I remain facing away from Him which will condemn me to an eternity where I can never be a part of Him?

Please, turn your chair.

(4) A member requests to be buried in his truck because ...

(4) A member requests to be buried in his truck

because, "I ain’t never been in a hole it couldn’t get me out of."

I used to have several trucks, and I had one that could pull anything out of a hole. It was a 1974 El Camino that had a Straight 6 with a Posi-Trac rear end, and Gabriel Hi-Jackers with very oversized tires (I forget the exact size 30 something inch I think). I would go “mud-bogging” with other friends, some who had 4x4’s and a few of them would become stuck in a mud hole. I would back my truck down in the mud, hook up the chains, and it would pull them and me out of the hole where I could unhook from their truck and drive away. I miss that truck. I was rear-ended and it cracked the frame in half, otherwise I would still be driving that truck today!

Okay, back to the subject, (pardon my reminiscing.)

I have met some people who believe in reincarnation. I haven't found anything to actually support this theory. And even if I were not a Christian and looking forward to where I will spend eternity, I certainly would not want to have to live this life over again, whether it be as a human or a critter!

Consider this:

John 20:1-10 (NIV)

The Empty Tomb

 ¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

 ³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

A lot of people believe that grave robbers, for whatever reason, stole Jesus’ body from the tomb and stashed it somewhere. The non-Messianic Jews believe that Jesus was a prophet, but not the Messiah, since He is nowhere to be seen now, not even his body (plus some other reasons that I won’t cover right now.) But the idea that someone would steal a body from a grave, leave the linen and cloths in place and carry a naked dead body around is really preposterous. Not to mention some of the other things that happened.

Now if Jesus escaped the grave and now lives in Heaven (if you’re a Christian, you should automatically believe this, otherwise you’re just worshipping some poor dead sap whose body no one can find), don’t you think that you will be taken from the grave and whisked to Heaven too? No truck will be needed. No 4x4’s will be needed. Only your salvation will be needed.

Salvation? What is that? And what from?

Hell. Being kept from living through eternity in some of the most horrid and painful conditions imaginable. (no, I take that back, I don’t think we can really conjure up what it will be like.) That is why Jesus died on the cross. That is why the sacrifice was made, and we no longer have to sacrifice burnt offerings as were required in the B.C. days.

It is so easy to do. To believe. To accept Jesus as your Savior. Why do people make it so hard? I wonder if it’s because of a phrase that we’ve been taught all our lives, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” For a lot of things in life, this holds true. But these things are usually revealed as scams before long when the truth actually comes out. For Christians, we’ve decided that the burial/resurrection is not a scam. For God to be a hoax, Jesus to be a scam, and the Holy Ghost just to be a Halloween nightmare is not a possibility for me. Too many things have happened to me (read the first blogs) that are not explainable by man. Only a being greater than any human could have ever pulled these things off.

No scam, no hoax, and He doesn’t need my help to try to do something that He has already said He would do. I can only pray that more people will see God as I see Him before it is too late.

Traffic Signs that you need to know

While driving on the road this past weekend, I wound up on a 4 lane highway that was divided by a grassy median. Two lanes went in each direction, and every so often there would be a portion of the median that was paved so that people could cross the road. On both sides of the road facing the direction that would have traffic flowing in the wrong direction, there were signs saying, “Wrong Way” or “Do Not Enter.”

This got me to thinking. That is what the bible does. It shows us that our ways are wrong when we are committing sins that the bible is Very Explicit about. God’s word should be a sign in front of our face when we are contemplating doing something that we know is wrong. Following Satan is the “Wrong Way” and the door that he will try to lead us through needs to be flashing “Do Not Enter.”

A little bit further down the road I saw a sign that said, “Keep right except to pass.”

I thought about this and decided that it is another sign that we need to apply to our daily lives. We need to “Keep Right.” We need to stay on a path that doesn’t stray away from God’s word and His commandments. And that includes not picking and choosing which ones we want to obey, and which ones we want to ignore. We need to either keep the whole bible as God’s word or throw the whole thing out. Some people have said that they don’t believe it is the word of God since man wrote it, yet they observe things that were written in the bible. You can’t have it both ways. Either read the whole manual and live a life like you should, eventually enjoying an eternity in Heaven with God. Or throw the whole thing out and risk getting fried (in about every way possible, both here on earth and in hell.)

But then I thought about the rest of the sign. “Keep right [except to pass]”

So, when would I pass? Well, that is easy to solve. A lot of people mature at a faster rate than others. The same can be said for Christians. There are some who buy the “fire insurance” and they can barely maintain a safe speed through life. You know these types of people because every little bump in life upsets their whole life, and they frantically try to “grab the wheel” to bring their life back under control.

There are others who notice the bumps, keep a tight grip on the steering wheel, and they make it through life fairly unscathed. They have learned how to worship God. They have learned how to ask God for what they need. They have learned to count on God to care for them and be their Rophe, Jireh, Nissi and many other names that I’ve covered earlier in other blogs.

These people are going to pass up the first type of people on the road to success and contentment in their lives. When you learn to trust God for your daily needs, you learn to keep your eyes on the road, study the “road map” on your trips and trust that you’ll arrive at your destination “Heaven” as scheduled.

Life is also like what I found when I went further down the road. There was an exit ramp. Life has exit ramps. Growing up I can remember the old folks saying that someone who had been active in church and then left to pursue “worldly” interests had “backslid.” I think of it as an exit ramp. They got off track and took another road, eventually realizing that they were headed in the wrong direction, and then hopefully they did a U-Turn and came back to where they took the exit ramp. There is almost always an “on-ramp” for them to get back on track and continue on with their life pursuing God. Sometimes they reach the wrong destination, and tragic events can often happen.

What road will you take? What lane will you find yourself in? Will it have “Wrong Way” signs staring you in the face? Or will you find traffic flowing smoothly in your direction, the Son shining upon you, and “Keep right except to pass” will be the road sign that greets you periodically. Sure, you will have “danger” signs, “reduced speed” signs and other road hazards in your way. But if you have God as your GPS (Globally Positioned Savior), your road ahead will be the best possible route in front of you.

Why should I spend my time worshipping?

Why Worship?

Worship is always a response to the revelation of God’s character and/or His works.  When God reveals His compassion, salvation, His holiness, etc. our appropriate response is to worship Him.

Revelation 4:8-11 

          And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS  THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, who was and is and who is to come.”  And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne saying, “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created.”

What caused the twenty-four elders to worship here?

Revelation 5:8-14

          And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.  "And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."  And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,  saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."  And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, " To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."  And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Revelation 7:10-12

          and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,  saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Revelation 11:15-18

          And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."  And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign.  "And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy bond-servants the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

God’s power (THE Almighty), sovereignty, and eternality is cause for us to worship Him.

Revelation 14:7b

          “…and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”

God’s creation screams out of His power and greatness.  The command here is to worship Him for this.  Cross-reference Romans 1:19,20,25.

Revelation 19:1-4

          After these things I heard, as it were, a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER."  And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER."  And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!"

The character of God (His salvation, glory, power, truth, and righteousness) as well as His works (avenging the blood of His bond-servants) causes the elders to fall down and worship.

Too often we come into a worship service, or worship setting, expecting to receive from God; for Him to give to us.  Worship is not an act of receiving.  It is an act of giving.  Look at the above Revelation passages again.  After every declaration of God’s worthiness there is a phrase that shows His worthiness to receive, i.e. “to receive blessing, glory, honor, etc.” or “We give Thee thanks…” We give, He receives in worship.  That is what worship involves, a giving of our adoration, an acknowledgment of our unworthiness in  our humanity, and His worthiness because of His perfect character and works.

We will worship that which we hold in the highest reverence.  Whatever is most important to us is what we worship.  In all truth and reality the only object worthy of our worship is the one and only God.  He alone is worthy.

Exodus 20:2-5

          "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  "You shall have no other gods before Me.  "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.  "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Deuteronomy 6:13

          "You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him, and swear by His name.”

Matthew 4:10

          Then Jesus said^ to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"

Revelation 4-5/John 9

          Jesus is repeatedly worshiped by the angels as well as by men.

I figure that it's like this. If Worship is going to be a main theme in Heaven, though not the only one in Heaven, (there are plenty more things that we will do!), shouldn't we learn how to worship. Shouldn't we learn why we need to worship.
And lastly, shouldn't we know HOW to worship. The next few blogs I will dig deeply into this.