Friday, April
22,
2005
"The Concert of
the Ages"
"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: 'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.' Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: 'To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'" (Revelation 5:11-13). When I was a young Christian I used to enjoy going to Christian concerts. Living in the Kansas City, Missouri area and then through my college years in Springfield, Missouri there were a lot of concerts and activities. But for many years we lived in rural upstate Pennsylvania and New England where there were few local concerts to attend. However, here in midstate PA there are a lot of concerts. Last night we went, along with our pastor and his wife, to a concert with Phillips, Craig and Dean. It was a wonderful evening as they have many songs that have really blessed me through the years. On the way home we reminisced about our younger years (we are all about the same age) and how concerts have changed and how we have changed. We used to attend a large annual outdoor festival in the central PA mountains called "Creation", which had concert after concert over a three day period. Some 80,000 people come to these. At one time this was so exciting to Brooksyne and me, but not now; camping out in tents and using portapotties is for a bygone era! The group ended the concert last night with a powerful song titled, "the concert of the ages." That's sure got me thinking about a future concert we will all participate in. The daily text presents a powerful preview of a concert the Redeemed through all the ages will not only attend but actually participate in. Read the Scriptural text again slowly and carefully. Every creature will sing! I guess that means that I'm going to have a part even though I sing terribly here on earth. (I sing so bad that when I pastored, my wife, who was the choir director wouldn't let me sing in the choir!) We can all begin now to work on the lyrics, "To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" You know what, I am already getting excited about this concert. What about you? Just imagine the most meaningful, touching, emotionally charged service or concert you've ever experienced on earth. I can recall many in my life. But this "concert" will be something else altogether. Through this online ministry I hear from readers all over the world and that's so gratifying. The other day a sister from Romania wrote and made a request that, "maybe in heaven Jesus will introduce us." I certainly believe that can be arranged! But we will be at that concert together. I hope to see all of you there. It will indeed be the concert of the ages as we sing along together in worship to the Lamb!! Be encouraged today, Stephen C. Weber Note from Brooksyne: In addition to our daily text Revelation 4:8 is an awe-inspiring picture of praise around the throne of God that never ceases. We usually delegate "Worship" to be an appointed time with others in a church setting, a Christian concert, and of course many of us enjoy worship during our time of devotions. Those times of praise create cherished moments as we worship our Father. But consider praise that is not delegated to a segment of time or initiated by a gifted worship leader. The four living creatures day and night, without ceasing, cry out "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty." May God instill that pictorial description of praise on our hearts so that as we go about our work day and life's routines we too can join with the living creatures now in declaring "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." (Today's encouragement is later than usual since Brooksyne and I had an early breakfast meeting.) Here's the website for "Phillips, Craig and Dean". It plays samples of their music. |
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