HOSANNA!

Perfect timing...it just so happened that we were up to chapter 11 last evening in our Wednesday night study of Mark In The Now, which coincided with this Sunday being Palm Sunday...I love when things like that work out without any planning...hope to see many of you at CITN this Sunday (10 AM) to enjoy praise and worship, fellowship, the Word, water baptism and a celebration of the Triumphant King!

1. As they neared Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples ahead.

2. And He gave them very specific instructions, saying, "I want you to go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter it you will find a young colt tied which has never been ridden by anyone. When you find it, I want you to unfasten it and bring it here to Me.

3. If anyone should ask you, 'Why are you taking this animal which doesn't belong to you?', just say to them, 'The Lord needs it, but He will send it right back here when He's through with it.'"

4. So they went on their way, and, sure enough, they found a colt tied at the door of a house as soon as they entered the village, and they went right up to it and loosed it.

5. And some who were standing there said to them, "What do you think you're doing? Why are you untying this man's colt?"

6. And they said to the people exactly what Jesus had told them to say...and it worked! The people allowed them to go without saying another word.

7. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and started throwing their outer garments on it, creating a sort of festive, makeshift saddle...and He sat on it.

8. And many of the people who were around took their cues from the disciples and began to spontaneously spread their garments on the road. Still others joined in with the impromptu decorating, and scattered a layer of leafy branches which they had cut from the fields along the route on which He would be travelling.

9. And still others formed a parade of praise, preceding Him on the road and crying out, joyfully and triumphantly, "Hosanna! Save, Lord! Praised and infinitely blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!

10. Praised and blessed in the name of the Lord is the coming Kingdom of our father David! Hosanna! Save, Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

REJOICE TODAY!

Hey bloggers...

I'm posting from A YEAR IN THE NOW again today...thanks for the good reports from those of you who started going through it again on January 1...it really is blessed...

I don't keep the AYITN blog current (www.ayearinthenow.wordpress.com), but the daily entrees are still posted on the CITN site every day...it's still preferable to have your own copy of the book, though...I haven't heard a weather report for tomorrow, but every time it gets really cold, or it snows a little, people start asking if we're going to have church...so before any of you even think of going there, let me say once again that the answer to that question is always YES! We will have both the 9 and 11 servces tomorrow, and they will both be awesome...so put your thermal underwear on and get here for one or both...good things are happening at CITN, but your visible and manifested support is needed just as much as ever...remember, we didn't get a miracle because we didn't need a miracle...we need you...you are the miracle! See you tomorrow...

"This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

Today I will live in the now! I will live in the now because I understand and appreciate the energizing power of rejoicing in the now. Today I joyfully celebrate the present, and all of the possibilities that it presents. I exercise my will — I WILL rejoice, and I WILL be glad in this day! Today I choose to wear the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. I choose happiness! I choose joy!


Today I will resist the temptation to whine, complain, murmur, grumble, mourn, lament, moan and groan, be depressed, feel sorry for myself, feel down and out, feel dejected, feel discontented, feel oppressed, be sad, or even be in a bad mood. Instead, my merry heart will do me good like a medicine . . . I will glory in my infirmities (for when I am weak, then I am strong) . . . I will count it all joy when I fall into various trials . . . I will leap for joy at persecution . . . the joy of the Lord will be my strength!

Today I will laugh, finding the humor in my current situations. I will recognize what is funny, and I will not hesitate to enjoy it. I will not waste today by living in regret, but with joy I will draw water out of the wells of salvation. I will even find the proper way to appreciate the absurd and the ridiculous. I will let God use the foolish things of the world to confound the wise around me.


Today I will enter the Kingdom by becoming like a little child . . . laughing . . . playing . . . having fun . . . not taking life too seriously. I will make the effort to enjoy my day. I will smile at people. I will be a pleasure to be with. People will enjoy my company today because my joy will be both attractive and infectious. I will be a blessing to others.


Today, for the joy that is set before me, I will endure my cross.
I will know the reality of the resurrection and, therefore, will see no situation as hopeless.
Life will always triumph over death. I will celebrate my life. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will live big in me today!


Today I will be optimistic. I will see the glass half-full. I will think positively. I will think on those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of a good report. I will walk in the Mind of Christ. I will be proactive in dealing with the people around me, and with all of their issues. My joyful mind will cause me to think like a winner!


Today I will be thankful to God, and grateful for my life. I will make melody in my heart to the Lord in an attitude of praise and worship. I will be renewed by the refreshing laughter of Christ in my spirit. This is my day that the Lord has made — I will rejoice and be glad in it and, today, I will live in the now!

Father, help me to remember to rejoice today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Moving From Theology To Doxology

An article I wrote for Streaming Faith, adapted from SOTB IV...


The title of the Bible’s last book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, is also translated as “The Apocalypse", or better said “The Unveiling", specifically, the final unveiling of Jesus, the King! This beautiful book, which describes through prophetic symbols the ultimate triumph of the Christ, is not only a message of hope and reconciliation for the earth, it is also an anointed Psalter.

But it has, unfortunately, become primarily associated with doom and gloom and dark, ominous threats of things to come in recent years. This modern concept of The Apocalypse has evolved from a pessimistic paradigm that is the result of a legalistic interpretation of the Scriptures and a misunderstanding of original languages.

But John’s glorious vision of the Lamb’s dominion is actually built around seven joyous doxologies which describe what he saw and heard every time heaven (or the spirit-realm) was opened up to him:

Mass Choirs. Loud, exuberant singing. Orchestras with enormous brass sections. And songs of worship sung in unison by countless saints, martyrs, overcomers, angels and every other created thing in heaven, in earth, and even in “Hades"!

And I heard every created thing in heaven and on earth and under the earth [in Hades, the place of departed spirits] and on the sea and all that is in it, crying out together, To Him Who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb be ascribed the blessing and the honor and the majesty (glory, splendor) and the power (might and dominion) forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities)! (Revelation 5:13 – Amp)

The word doxology is defined as a liturgical prayer or hymn of praise to God and is from the Latin doxologia (a combination of doxa, meaning praise, glory and honor) and logos (which means speech or “to speak”). The verb that is translated into English as “to worship” is found twenty-four times in The Revelation, far more than in any other New Testament book.


In fact, these references to worship in John’s vision make up almost half of its New Testament occurrences. Also, the word “Hallelujah", which means “to shout the Hallel to Jah” and is the only word that is the same in every language on earth, is only found in The Revelation!

And this brings us to the universal purpose of worship: it is the means by which all people of faith are able to move from theology—from studying God, espousing their ideas about God, arguing and dividing over the doctrines of God, fighting and starting wars over their different concepts about God—and enter into the dimension of doxology, where the top priority is simply to join with all creation in fulfilling its purpose of glorifying God.

In a word, doctrine divides us, but worship unites us, and the “unveiling”—or the place where we behold nothing but the Lamb of God—occurs through our worship!

Rejoice Today!...And Then Some

_______________


Later that day...

Hey bloggers,

As you can see, I have two posts for today. The first one is the John 3:17 pic (currently 16 comments). When you click on it to enlarge it, the images are quite powerful.

The second is the REJOICE! pic (currently 3 comments). I posted it in faith, because I had a feeling about how the service was going to go this morning, and suffice it to say that I wasn't disappointed! Pastor Nancy Courter sent this to me before church this morning...

Hi Bishop,

Here is a picture I took this summer when His Hands went up to Virginia Beach. We were given 3 rooms for 2 nights on the beach while we were there. It goes along with today’s blog.

Pastor Nancy

_____________


Thanks, P. Nancy.


Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!