In preparation for a series I am preaching this week, I came across this new hymn written by the composer of MAJESTY, Dr. Jack Hayford. Great words as you prepare to worship on this Lord’s Day.

WORSHIP CHRIST THE RISEN KING

Tune: Angels From the Realms of Glory

Rise, O Church, and lift your voices,
Christ has conquered death and hell.
Sing as all the earth rejoices;
Resurrection anthems swell.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the Risen King.

See the tomb where death had laid Him,
Empty now, its mouth declares:
“Death and I could not contain Him,
For the Throne of Life He shares.”
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the Risen King.

Hear the earth protest and tremble,
See the stone removed with pow’r;
All hell’s minions may assemble
But cannot withstand is hour.
He has conquered, He has conquered,
Christ the Lord, the Risen King.

Doubt may lift its head to murmur,
Scoffers mock and sinners jeer;
But the truth proclaims a wonder
Thoughtful hearts receive with cheer.
He is risen, He is risen,
Now receive the Risen King!

We acclaim your life, O Jesus,
Now we sing your victory;
Sin or hell may seek to seize us
But your conquest keeps us free.
Stand in triumph, stand in triumph,
Worship Christ, the Risen King!

Have a great day in worship!

One of our faithful friends and fellow Freedom Fighter members just completed the race and crossed the finish line at 1:30 AM. I met Butch Geiser, our Camp Ground Host, nine summers ago. He and his dear wife, Faye, have been an example to all of us of how to suffer with grace and confidence in the Lord. Butch has faced numerous physical challenges including heart issues, diabetes, vision problems, and must recently, leukemia.

Butch has been a faithful witness, loving people and sharing Christ with those he meets. He had an amazing love and burden for the men of the Colony of Mercy. To many of the men, Butch and Faye were “Mom and Dad.”

These past several months, the suffering has been intense with many days spent in the hospital questioning his quality of life. Several days ago he told Faye that he had enough and that this wasn’t life. He was ready to go home to be with Jesus. This morning around 1:30 AM, Butch entered into the arms of Jesus. I could not help but think of Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:6-8: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not only to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Thanks, Butch, for running the race with excellence. You are finally home!

I prayed for help, I prayed for strength,
I prayed for victory;
I prayed for patience and love,
For true humility
But as I prayed, my dying Christ
By faith I seemed to see,
And as I gazed my glad heart cried,
“All things are mine, thro’ Thee!”

If He doth dwell within my heart,
Why need I strength to implore?
The Giver of all grace is mine,
And shall I ask for more?
And need I pray for victory,
When He who conquered death
Dwells in my very inmost soul.
Nearer indeed than breath?

Oh help me, Lord, realize
That Thou are all in all;
That I am more than conqueror
In great things and in small
No need have I but Thou hast met
Upon the cruel tree.
Oh precious, dying risen Lord,
Thou art my victory.

Avis B. Christiansen, as quoted in Charles R. Swindoll, Victory

Good words for you and me today!

Prayer does change things! Growing up I was surrounded with people who were “prayer warriors.” They literally prayed about EVERYTHING. They believed that God answered prayer and that He listened to the prayers of His kids. Jan’s Mom, and mine, both taught us from early on that we could talk to the Lord about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Some of the things we prayed about were BIG things — some were LITTLE things — kid things. Back then it didn’t make sense, but it has shaped the way we pray today.

With our kids, we have tried to do the same thing. We have prayed for lost hamsters, keys for the car that we couldn’t find, sick pets, sick friends. And our kids will often talk about ways they saw God answer their prayers. And I love to hear children pray because they don’t get wrapped up with all the jargon and flowery phrases — they come to the Lord with the heart of a child.

One of my dearest mentors and friends, Pastor Newton Conant, now with the Lord, was a man who prayed with the heart of a child, yet was not afraid to take ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING to God in prayer. I remember one day calling him for counsel on a particular issue and asking him to pray that God would reveal His will. His response? He put the phone down and was gone for 10 minutes. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing — he was praying! After he was done, he picked up the receiver and shared what I needed to do. It was truly amazing.

Yesterday one of our staff men came into my office distraught because he lost his car keys. He wanted to know if he could borrow a car if he couldn’t find his keys. I suggested to him that we stop and ask the Lord to direct him to his keys, and thanked the Lord for answering our prayer. I told him that I would rejoice with him with the answer when it came. I am not sure if he thought I was crazy, but he said, “OK — when I find them, I will come and share it with you.” Five minutes later he came back to tell me that he found his keys! Praise the Lord.

God is interested in EVERY detail of your life, my friend. He is into BIG things — like running the universe. But He’s also into minutia — He knows the stars by name. He knows when each sparrow falls. He knows YOUR name. He cares for YOU and delights in YOUR childlike faith.

“Call to ME and I will answer YOU. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own!” (Jeremiah 33:3 — from THE MESSAGE)

So what’s on your heart today? Concerns? Problems? Take it to HIM in prayer.

Several weeks ago a friend of Pastor Mike Woods, Director of Addiction Recovery Ministries at America’s KESWICK, dropped off two white Peking ducks to put on the lake down by the Colony of Mercy. These two precious ducks have become pets to the men of the Colony and would add additional beauty to our lake.

The problem is that we have an adult swan who is very territorial and refuses to let the ducks swim in the lake. As soon as they make attempts to get into the lake, he aggressively comes to chase them away. There is no negotiating with the swan — he stands his ground and protects his turf.

While I am not particularly a fan of the swan (please, swan lovers, no letters . . . ) it was an excellent reminder to me about keeping sin out of my life. The enemy of our souls wants us to think we can take little steps with our sin. Think about it . . . we make little compromises in
our lives that then lead to falling head first into sin. Martin Luther said “we play with fire thinking we can’t be burned.”

My son-in-laws dad had open heart surgery while he was in his late thirties. At his recent check-up his cardiologist told him that if he didn’t lose 45 lbs. immediately, he was going to die in his sleep. That is radical news with an easy fix. Stop eating the wrong things and exercise. Within 48 hours of the news, he was already cheating! We need to learn from the swan. Don’t play with sin. Protect your God-given turf. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus! You are adopted by the Father, purchased and loved by the Son, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Be vigilant and don’t give the enemy a foothold. Flee! Run! Protect! Guard! Don’t toy with sin.

Good words for your consideration.

Yesterday I was blessed with one of those special “God sightings” in my life. One of my dear brothers and partner-in-ministry invited me to come to share the Word at his church. The church is in a beautiful section of Vineland, NJ, and Pastor Tony is the pastor of a growing family of special believers who are in love with Jesus.

Tony grew up on the mission field and his huge heart for people is quite obvious. But more than that, Pastor Tony has fallen in love with Jesus and it was downright refreshing and exciting to see him with his people. He is a gifted pastor-teacher, but on top of that, because of the make-up of his congregation which is comprised of Anglos, Mexicans and Hispanics, he does the service in English and Spanish. He does his own translating from English to Spanish.

I went yesterday to share God’s word with these precious people, but I came away with my socks blessed off! The worship was absolutely incredible. As I stood there listening and watching, I couldn’t help but think of David’s words: “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.” (Psalm 100:1-2)

Several things touched me:
The worshiped with joy! Their faces radiated their love for God. There were three distinct people groups represented in the congregation. But that didn’t hinder them from worshipping TOGETHER! The worship was not all about them — it was all about HIM! Watching the musicians serve yesterday was awesome. The musicians were smiling and excited to be serving Him And the singing — oh my! The singing was exhilarating. And why shouldn’t it be? They were lifting there sacrifices of praise to the one who has TRANSFORMED their hearts.

One young man behind me was recently saved from a life of drug addiction. Not only was he using — he was a dealer. And when Jesus came into his heart — he was TRANSFORMED. He placed a new song in his heart and gave him something to shout and sing about.

How about you? Is your worship joyful? Do you serve the Lord with gladness? Is there a new song in your heart this morning? Then don’t hold back! Sing to the One who loves to hear you praise Him. It isn’t all about you! It’s all about Him!

Good words to ponder today.

“Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.” (Psalm 33:1)

Our team of missionaries was based at a church in one of the rougher parts of London. We decided to put on an “international night.” We printed up invitations, and spent a week on the streets encouraging the locals to come. Our plan was to spend most of the evening entertaining them, then to ease our way into the Gospel. When the big night came, about thirty guests had responded. Half of them were young teens, and most of these had been drinking heavily and sniffing glue.

We gave it our best shot. The Swiss guy was funny, and the Korean flag dance was great, but our visitors were just mocking. Later on, in broken English a young Korean called Peter, (we couldn’t pronounce his real name), tried to share his testimony. Someone threw a can of coke at him. Peter looked up and said, “Before I Christian, Me, one punch, You, heaven!” From that point on, anything could have happened. I was the preacher that night, and due up after Peter. Why
me? I recalled the words of a friend, “You will find yourself in situations that you just can’t pray your way out of; but you can always praise your way out.”

And so I did. In a room that was about to explode, I found God. I told him how much I loved Him. I thanked Him for taking me from the sewer and filling my life with joy. I told Him what an honour it was to be in this place, on this night. I was absolutely lost in His presence. When someone tapped me and said, “You’re up,” the room was calm. The ring leaders had left. They must have gotten bored. Those that remained settled in and I spoke for fifteen minutes on The Good Shepherd. The end of the story is that three people came to know Jesus that night as Saviour and Lord. Wow!

And so now I can say to you, “You will find yourself in situations that you just can’t pray your way out of; but you can always praise your way out.” There is never a time when it is not fitting for the upright to praise Him. That includes in anything that you face today.

Chris Thompson Scripture Reading: Psalms 66-67; Romans 7

Today’s devotional is from REAL VICTORY FOR REAL LIFE, our 365-day daily devotional. It is available in the KESWICK Bookstore by calling 800-453-7942. Chris and Pam Thomspon serve in Leicester, England as church planters. Chris is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy.

“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” (Hebrews 13:15)

Who should worship? Anyone who has placed their trust in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior has the privilege of worshipping the one true God. I Peter 2:9 says “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”

Why should we worship? Because God desires to have a personal relationship with us, He created us for His glory that we might worship Him. Romans 12:1-2 says “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.

When should we worship? Hebrews 13:15 says “Through Jesus, therefore let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess His name.” A.W. Tozer said “It does not seem to be very well recognized that God’s highest desire is that every one of His believing children should so love and so adore Him that we are constantly in His presence, in Spirit and in Truth.” “True worship of God must be a constant and consistent attitude or state of mind within the believer.” I Thessalonians 5:17 says “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

How should we worship? Deuteronomy 6:5 says “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Colossians 3:16-17 says “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” I Chronicles 28:9 says “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of
your father and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

Robert Hayes Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 25-27; Mark 14:27-53

Today’s Freedom Fighter Devotional is from REAL VICTORY FOR REAL LIFE — 365 Daily Meditations published by America’s KESWICK. Call the KESWICK Bookstore to order your copy today.

“May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you.” (Psalm 25:21 NLT)

Someone once said that character is who you are when no one is watching. Stan and Bruce, in their book GOD IS IN THE SMALL STUFF . . . AND IT ALL MATTERS, reminds us that our character defines who we are. When your character is “broken in two or more pieces, you no longer have integrity. And without integrity, you don’t have character.”

“[We think] we can keep a break in one part of [our lives] from impacting the other parts, but it doesn’t work that way. An integrity breach in one compartment of our lives quickly spills over to another until our entire life begins to sink . . . One of the best ways to keep your life whole is to pay attention to the small stuff. Do what it takes every day to develop your character and preserve your integrity. Most of all don’t live your life to please others. Live your life to please God.

Some things to remember:
1. People of integrity make an easy target for critics because they stand upright.
2. Let your word be your bond: Keep you promises, meet your deadlines, honor your commitments, pay your bills.
3. It’s one thing to know what’s rigt, and another thing entirely to do it.
4. Others determine your reputation — YOU determine your character.
5. If you want to know what’s in your heart, listen to your mouth.
6. If you find yourself in a questionable situation, get out immediately.
7. Before you can ask integrity of others, you must attempt to be blameless yourself.
8. The PRACTICE of honesty is more convincing than the PROFESSION of holiness.
9. Character is made by what you stand for; reputation by what you fall for.”

Good words to consider on this Friday, July 8, 2005.

“If there’s one thing we need in the midst of our busy, loud, and nervous lives, it’s the inner peace and quiet and assurance that only God can give. It’s the only way to see God’s purposes for us, let alone keep our sanity.

The thing is, God doesn’t yell out and say, ‘Hey, you’re neglecting me. Sit still for a moment so you can hear me.’ He is fully capable of getting our attention when we really need it, but you don’t want to make a habit of giving God a reason to chase you down ( and He will).

Rather than waiting for God to whack you over the head with a spiritual two-by-four, would it be far better to give God some time each day to quietly speak to you? Actually, this is God’s preference. ‘BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. (Psalm 46:10). Being still may be the hardest thing you will ever do, but it may be the most important. When you give God time, you show Him respect. In effect you’re saying, ‘God, You’re important enough to me to set aside some time each day. I want You to teach me, and I want to learn.’

The doorway to letting God into the details of your life — into your concerns and dreams — is time. We know this won’t be easy. Many other voices will call out for your time and attention, and many of them are worthwhile. But if you want to hear the one Voice who will make all the
difference in your life, you’ll need to let God in … quietly!

Some “small stuff” suggestions:

1. Make and appointment with God every day and then keep it as if you were meeting with the most important person in the world.
2. Set aside a designated period of time each day, each week, each month, and each year to focus on God.
3. The advantage of meeting god at the same time each day is that you don’t have to decide when you are going to do it.
4. Sometime in the next month, try giving the Lord a day out of our life. An entire day.
5. Make moments of stillness, quiet, and solitude part of your daily routine.
6. Rising early to meet the Lord gives you a jump on the day. Meeting God at night enables you to reflect on the day. Either option is good.
7. If you hurry through life without giving God time, this world will seem like a hospital, a place to get sick and die.
8. If you go through life with God, this world will seem like an inn, a place to stay while you’re passing through.
9. Depending on your spiritual condition, being alone with God will either be unnerving or invigorating.
10. The time to find moments of stillness and quiet is when it’s most difficult to do so.”

from GOD IS IN THE SMALL STUFF . . . AND IT ALL MATTERS written by Bruce and Stan, published by Promise Press.