Category Archives: Worship

February 3, 2021 · 1:00 PM

Ancient of Days

Deneo - Ancient of Days | Spinnin' Records

We used to sing a song in our church that started like this:

Blessing and honor, glory and power, be unto the Ancient of Days . . .

Some of you nodding and humming the melody in your heads right now. It was a popular song in Christian circles during the 1990’s, and I still hear it occasionally. One of my favourites.

I hadn’t thought about this song for ages, but the other day I was driving in my car and for some reason, the words just popped into my head. Since then, I have been having conversations with God as to why. I’m certain it wasn’t random.

I wanted to find out where in scripture Ancient of Days was mentioned. Surprising to me, Daniel chapter 7 has the only three references in the entire bible – verses 9, 13, and 22. Okay then. The book of Daniel is primarily a prophetic one and my knowledge of its contents, I’m finding, is rather lacking.

Most commentators say that the Ancient of Days is God, the Father. In Daniel 7:9, He is preparing to judge, seated on a fiery throne wearing a garment white as snow and hair like pure wool. I get why we’d assume that we’re reading about God here. This fits our mental picture of Him, right? But one commentator made a good point. The Ancient of Days can be no other than the Son of Man, Jesus. What? In John 5:22, Jesus says, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.” So, if there is to be judgment, the judging will be done by Jesus Christ.

The following description of Him in the book of Revelation corresponds to the one in Daniel.

When I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, I saw seven golden lampstands.And walking among the lampstands, I saw someone like a son of man, wearing a full-length robe with a golden sash over his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool – white as glistening snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire!His feet were gleaming like bright metal, as though they were glowing in a fire, and his voice was like the roar of many rushing waters. Revelation 1:12-15 (TPT)

Stay with me here.

Daniel 7:13 and 22 mention the Ancient of Days again, but this time as God the Father. We know that because the Son of Man, Jesus, came to stand near Him. Two separate beings.

What does all of this have to do with anything, you ask?

The title, Ancient of Days, was used interchangeably, I believe, confirming Jesus’ statement in John 10:30; “The Father and I are one.” John 1:1 says, In the beginning was the Word (the Word is Jesus Christ), and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word (Jesus) was God. They are One with the Holy Spirit, just as they are separate.

A lot of stuff in this post, I know, but the Ancient of Days, whether He be the Father or the Son or the Spirit, is everlasting – ancient. Outside of time and space. With complete clarity of the reality of all there is to know. He existed before days even were a thing.

This is what God wanted me to know: That He was here before all and will be here after all. He knows the before and the after and everything in between. About me. About you. His love surrounds us, flows in us, through us, and is for us. His love is ancient. It has never failed and it never will.

For none can compare to Your matchless worth! Sing unto the Ancient of Days.

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October 18, 2018 · 8:00 AM

Holy Ground

Holy Ground

Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.  Exodus 3:5-6 (NKJV)

God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, telling him not to come near and to remove his sandals – not because the actual ground was holy, but because it was His presence  that made it holy. Moses responded, not only removing his sandals, but also by hiding his face. He understood that he was in the presence of the glory of the Almighty God, very conscious of his own sin and unworthiness. Moses was so aware of God’s holiness that he was afraid to look at Him.

We need to see something here.

When we come into His presence, whether that be individually or corporately, we should be entering that place as set apart for divine worship with reverence in our hearts, for wherever the Lord is constitutes holy ground.

Gathering together with the Church – the body of Christ – should lead us to holy ground. A place where we get to come and worship the Father. A place where we get to pour out our love to Him by serving those around us and putting their needs before our own. It’s not about us. It never was.

It’s about being a part of something sacred.

Something far greater than you or me.

Let’s not settle for something as small as what we humans define as God’s presence. He is so much bigger, so much greater, more powerful, more majestic, more awesome, more holy than our brains can even begin to comprehend. When we worship Him with complete abandonment and love, acknowledging His absolute sovereignty, we do indeed stand in His presence on holy ground.

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January 14, 2014 · 2:08 PM

My New List of Favorite Things

Don’t you find that your list of favorite things changes as you chug along in your life? I do. So, on a completely random note, I will dedicate this, my 555th blog post, to my new list. Here it is, in no particular order.

1. Baby girls. Well one three-month-old named Adelaide.

2. Moleskine notebooks. This has made the list for years.

3. Acrylic artist paints. Oh, the possibilities.

4. Hamilton Beach BrewMaster. Makes a pot of coffee on one side and takes a K-cup on the other.

5. Downton Abbey Season 4. Except for Edna.

6. Monday night prayer meetings at the church.

7. Cooper’s grocery store in Chilliwack.

8. Samsung S4 Mini smart phone. But I still miss the Blackberry keyboard.

9. J.J. Abrams. Some of you will get it.

10. Scentsy.

11. Tupperware.

12. Bath & Body Works. All of it.

13. Wednesday morning bible studies with my friends.

14. Grandchildren. Lots of them.

15. Ice cream. Always on the list.

16. The view from my living room window.

17. God’s words.

18. Cheez Whiz. Even though there are those who claim it is not real food.

19. Crossword puzzles. The hard ones. Sometimes.

20. The ice maker/dispenser in my fridge. Best invention EVER!

Well, folks, that’s it for today. What’s on your list?

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October 14, 2013 · 9:45 AM

Giving Thanks

It is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and we will be celebrating with our family later today. Turkey, mashed potatoes, salads, desserts – yes, we will be “feasting”, as our nine-year-old grandson Caleb likes to say.

While we zero in on giving thanks for this one weekend every year, it’s something I have been striving to do on a regular basis.

Thankfulness is an attitude.

A mindset.

A way of life.

Even when I don’t feel grateful because of some sort of crisis (often of my own making), I have much to say thank you for. There are the usual things like family, friends, health, and home, none of which I take for granted. But then there are these:

The laughter of my grandchildren.

Technology that allows me to Skype with my mom and my kids.

The beautiful women in our Wednesday morning bible study group.

The cashier at our local grocery store who always smiles and chats and brightens my day.

Tim Hortons extra large decaf double-double (Canadians will know what I’m talking about).

My husband who knows me so well and loves me anyway.

Books.

A brain that thinks and reasons and imagines and creates.

And I am always and forever thankful for my Father who loves me, for His Son who saved me, and for His Spirit who guides me.

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 (NKJV)

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July 21, 2013 · 8:08 AM

Yours is the Kingdom

Yours is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever is Yours
Heaven and earth bow down in the wonder of Your Name
Heaven is open, death is broken
And the glory forever is Yours
Nothing can overcome the power of Your Name

King above kings, all the universe will sing
Everlasting God, You are wonderful
You are wonderful

And the shout of the earth will be Your praise
God forever, and the light unto all
Will be Your wonderful Name
For the glory Lord is Yours
God forever, all the glory Lord is Yours

– Joel Houston

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June 18, 2013 · 9:57 AM

Worship Music Typos

I saw this post today over here, and I couldn’t resist letting you in on it. Those of you who are or have been involved in the worship music area of a church will love these!

Top 16 Worship Music Typos

1. “Lord, You are more precious than silver . . . Lord, You are more costly than golf.”

2. Easter. The line was supposed to read “We were naked and poor” but instead it read “We were naked and poop.” Quite possibly the best typo of all time. I could not stop laughing for the rest of the song. It was epic.

3. ‘Defender of the week’ like Jesus is getting an award for being great at sport.

4. When we lived in Latin America: the line in the song was supposed to be “levantando manos santas” (lifting holy hands) but they wrote “monos” (monkeys) instead of “manos” and put that on the screen. Lifting holy monkeys. Um hmm. People standing around us thought the shekinah glory had come over us.

5. “Our God is greeter, our God is stronger.” I like that image. God greeting us as we walk into church. He’s like the little old lady who shakes our hands, only…He is God and God gives high fives! I assumed they left out the “a” and forgot to embrace the contraction, so I sing: “Our God’s a greeter.”

6. I made the power points for our colleges ministry and had a slide that, instead of saying Jesus my closest friend, said Jesus my closet friend. Don’t know how many people’s experience I ruined.

7. When I saw “Oh Lord Your Beautiful”, I wanted to stab my eyes. But I chose to say nothing. It was years ago. The fact that I still remember it means something.

8. I’ve noticed that, when we are singing “How He Loves,” the phrase “sloppy wet” gets misspelled to “unforeseen.” Not even close! C’mon, media team!

9. Lion of God turned into “Loin of God.” Fail. My bad.

10. I create the lyric sheets for our small fellowship, and one Sunday the “strumpets” were calling during Days of Elijah. Oops.

11. The slide said “four our sins He died.” Someone behind me asked if we’re on our own for the fifth sin.

12. The best one I have seen was: Amazon love, how can it be?

13. I’m personally a fan of “Angles We Have Heard on High” at Christmastime. I always assume they are right angles.

14. I once attended a performance of Handel’s “Messiah” where the phrase “surely He has borne our griefs” was printed as “surely He has borne our briefs” in the programs given to the audience. I laughed for a while.

15. My favorite? It was in the song “The Great I Am.” “Holy, Holy, Guacamole…”

16. My favorite is not a song lyric–it’s a typo in the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our debits as we forgive our debitors…” Not exactly the same meaning.

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April 23, 2013 · 12:07 PM

User-Friendly Jesus

I had coffee with a friend last night. We touched on a good many topics, but the underlying agreement between us was that it is time to cut through the fluff and get down to some serious Bible. Read what it says. Believe what it says. Do what it says. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Actually, it is.

But herein lies the problem. The gospel of Jesus Christ, in its simplicity, goes against the grain of human nature. Because it’s uncomfortable. It’s convicting. It’s a commitment.

So . . .

Instead of reading, believing and doing, we’ve created a user-friendly Jesus. We’ve twisted Him into a version we are more comfortable with. We’ve molded Him into our image instead of allowing Him to mold us into His. We’ve come to Him and said, “I’ll listen to what you have to say, and then I’ll decide whether or not I like it.” In a nutshell, we don’t take Jesus seriously.

We live in a world dominated by self-advancement, self- esteem, and self-sufficiency. It’s all about individualism and materialism. Who needs Jesus when we can do it all by ourselves?

I’m thinking about this today. Praying, and asking God to show me where I need to make some corrections in my life. I don’t want to hear His words and walk away, content to settle for anything less than obedience to Him. I want to experience the consequences of really believing and really doing what the Bible says. Because if Jesus is who He said He is, and if His promises are as rewarding as the Bible claims they are, then maybe the satisfaction and success I think I have in my life are nothing compared with total abandonment to Jesus.

I’m not interested in a user-friendly gospel that can be manipulated to suit my own personal comforts.

Because that’s not a gospel at all.

I’ll stand with arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all,
I’ll stand, my soul, Lord, to You surrendered,
All I am is Yours.

 

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February 28, 2013 · 10:37 AM

A Day for Worship

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy is He
Sing a new song to him who sits on
Heaven’s mercy seat

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Clothed in rainbows of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
to You the only wise King

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
At the mention of your name
Jesus your name is power
Breath and living water
Such a marvelous mystery

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

(Revelation Song – Kari Jobe)

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February 2, 2013 · 9:08 PM

Be Real

I may have touched on this a time or two in past posts and I will probably do it again. Why, you ask? The answer is simple. I know too many people who can’t, won’t or have forgotten how to be real. And it’s sad. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for someone to wear a mask all the time, never letting their guard down long enough to be honest with those around them.

Even more disturbing is the fact that the “unreal” people aren’t even being honest with themselves.

My very talented and insightful nephew wrote a song called Mirrors and Masks with these lyrics:

Take of your mask and lay it at His feet
Who you are is discovered in your defeat
Strip away your pretense
Behind your face is another waiting to be found
Who is hiding under there?
Come out, come out wherever you are . . .

How much truth lies in those words! All pretense is stripped away in the presence of our Savior Jesus Christ if we but lay ourselves open to His love and mercy, and allow Him to complete the good work He has begun in us. There is no need for masks. Just hearts bared and hands raised in awe of the One who died to save us and give us the promise of an eternity with Him.

No more pretending. No fake smiles. No empty words. God sees the truth anyway.

Be who you were created to be. Be real.

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December 30, 2012 · 6:30 AM

Worship Him

You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.

Revelation 4:11 (NKJV)

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