November 28

1 CHRONICLES 24-25
“Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals.” How important is music in the praise of the Lord? In the Revival of David’s day, it was incredibly important. On the one hand, I do not see where the Lord instructed David to do this. On the other hand, the Lord did not stop him from doing this as He stopped him from building the temple. I think this reflected what the Lord desired. Music is incredibly important to the Lord in worship. It enables us to see more clearly the glory of God. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 148
I have had the privilege of having visited or lived in a number of places on this globe. I was born in Indiana, raised in Oklahoma, matriculated and graduated Seminary in Oregon, lived 13 years in coastal North Carolina, and now again in Oklahoma. I spent 6 weeks in Kenya, weeks in Germany and surrounding countries, ten days in Senegal, weeks in Mexico & Canada, one month in Mongolia, and ten days in the Middle East. I have seen a lot of things, swum in 3 oceans, climbed mountains in the Appalachians, the Rockies, the Cascades, Europe and the Middle East. I have traversed deserts in the SW USA, Mexico, Senegal and Mongolia. I’ve seen the wonders of the oceans, the deserts, the mountains, the plains the forests and the swamps. I have sat for hours looking at photographs brought to us by the wonders of Hubbell Telescope. If you have not seen them, check out this website: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/entire/pr2010013a/ . And yet, I have seen so very, very little in relation to what our Lord has created. The more that I see causes me to realize more that I have seen very little. And yet every ecosystem, every rock formation, every life form screams out at me that the Lord is a Lord of Great Glory!! I am, after all, but a tiny speck in the vast formation of His creation. With the exception of Humans, who are made in the image of God, they all cry out in praise of our God. What is our problem? It is our sin, NOT His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ZECHARIAH 10
The Lord has a fierce loyalty to His people. He will draw them back to Himself, even after they wandered like sheep, even when the appointed shepherds don’t behave as shepherds. He still cares about and calls His people back to Himself causing them to wend their way home. This is His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 PETER 5

4and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. . . 10But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

There are two kinds of glory:

1. Very great praise or renown given by common consent to someone or something
2. The source or reason for giving praise or renown whether it is given or not.

There have been times when all of us have received praise. But it is always short lived. In the fifth grade, our class did a production of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. I was cast for the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. We did the play for everyone in the school in first grade through seventh grade. I even had seventh graders telling me what a great job I did at acting the part. Now to a fifth grader-wow-I was soaking in the praise. I really thought I was something. At least everybody said so. Short lived praise. The next day I was the only one who remembered. Indeed here we are 40+ years later. I’d bet if we could locate those fifth grade class members (much less the audience) that a very small percentage could remember what play we did much less who played the leading role or even whether he did a good job. My point? Most praise or renown given by common consent is fleeting and indeed trivial. I mean really, who cares but me and the fifth grade class of 65/66 as to who played Scrooge or how well it was played? I don’t even care anymore. I just have this weird memory floating around in my head. Praise and renown given by common consent is often trivial and we don’t even recognize it.
So what good is glory? What makes it non-trivial? What makes it beautiful, just for beauty’s sake? Is the resplendent glory and beauty of the universe trivial? What if the Creator of it could destroy it in an instant and make an even more beautiful one? What if He could do that over and over again successively? Eventually we would say the first universe was trivial. What then really matters? Would it not be the source or reason for giving praise? And would it not be the Creator Himself? Would not glory emanate from Him and return to Him? This would be glory that would never end.
Peter says that Jesus is the source of that eternal glory and we can partake in it. This Creator became flesh. This Creator is not the divine watch maker who made and wound the clock and then left it to run down. But He is the shepherd of our souls. A shepherd must take careful interest in the welfare of his sheep if the sheep are to thrive and do well. But the sheep have to understand where the source of their welfare comes from. It comes from the Creator of their souls, not from themselves. The Creator invites us to share in His glory. But we cannot do that if we are fixed upon who played the part of Ebenezer Scrooge in a fifth grade play. We can only share in His glory if we are fixed upon Him. To Him be glory and dominion forever! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john, a has been Scrooge