“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.”  (Acts 2:2)

I’m not content with a “sound from earth”- I want to hear “a sound from heaven”.  If the early church had never heard that sound I wonder where we’d be today?  I’m not talking about some of the weird stuff going on today that passes for a sound from heaven.  I don’t recall reading that the early church barked liked dogs, rolled around the floor in uncontrollable laughter, had gold dust falling from the sky or anything like that.  What I’m talking about has nothing to do with this sort of thing at all-  I’m not interested in going to revival meetings where men prance around and make big shows of the “power of God”, creating a spectacle of themselves and the church.  But I do want to hear a sound from heaven…

Jesus speaks from, and of, eternity- and that is what we so desperately need today.

You can take the supernatural circus, I don’t want it.  You can take the coffeehouse “cultural faith”-I’m really not interested in that either.  I’m tired of hearing about a “social gospel”, a “cultural gospel”, and that we’re here to “create beauty” through the arts and on the earth.  Whatever happened to the eternal gospel?  Can someone please tell me about heaven, hell, sin and redemption?  Who will stand up to preach the cross, tell of Jesus’ blood, and preach to win souls?  Will someone please give me that gospel- the one I see saints laying down their lives for in the Book of Acts?

I honestly feel sorry for those who are seeking God and have to wade through the mess of Christian blogs and churches that offer up this pathetic, watered down, twisted mess!  Oh, I know there are some who still faithfully preach the cross and are focused on eternity… but I remember a time before there were hundreds of thousands of blogs with everyone’s religious opinions; a time when the world was a much easier place to navigate.  There has always been bad doctrine, but there’s never been an explosion like what we’re seeing today of confusion and doctrinal error.  We can thank the internet for that- it was the perfect vehicle to usher in every unbiblical belief under the sun and spread it around the earth.  It has given a voice to people who probably never should have been speaking in the first place because they were never called by God to do so.

In the bible men were actually “called by God” to speak and act as God directed- they were sent out by Him, and anointed by the Holy Spirit.  I’m not sure many Christians worry about that today, we just all assume we should speak our mind.  And that’s the problem… I’m tired of hearing the sound of people speaking their minds-  I want to hear a sound from heaven!  I want to hear from those who are called, who speak by the Holy Spirit and cause us to focus on eternal things.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

The man who hears a sound from heaven, who hears Jesus, speaks of eternal things.  There’s a famine of the Word of God today, a famine of hearing from heaven, and because of that, not many people are talking about eternity.  Are we so focused on earthly things simply because we’ve never had a revelation of the glories of eternity?  Have we heard “a sound from heaven”, or are we just parroting the world we live in?  The Christian’s focus isn’t to be about earthly things!

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

See, it’s not about the arts, it’s not about Christian music, it’s not about Christians getting involved in politics, it’s not about social justice, it’s not about some culturally driven faith, it’s not about a prosperity gospel where God makes us all rich, it’s not about gold dust and holy laughter… it’s not about all this stuff and so many more of the things we’ve been told it’s about.  This world is passing away along with all the things we think are so important.  I’m really tired of sitting in a church (like I did a couple weeks ago) and being told that we should be focusing on this earth.  I don’t appreciate being told that D.L. Moody got it wrong with his notion that this world was a sinking ship, and that we needed to get as many saved as we could before it went under.  Wrong?  Moody got that wrong??  God help us-We need an army of Moody’s!  We are in a desperate hour when the ship is sinking and the Captains of the ship are out taking the world for a pleasure cruise!  We should be on a rescue mission but we’re out “creating beauty”.  Moody said, “You don’t polish the brass of a sinking ship”.  If we could only see what Moody saw- this world is passing away.  He heard a sound from heaven, saw the sinking ship, and tried to bring as many as he could to the safety of eternity in Jesus Christ while they still had a chance to be saved.

Twenty-six years ago, when I was just turning 24, I also heard a sound from heaven.  I heard the Spirit say, “You can be born again!”  I got a glimpse of eternity and saw the world (and myself) for what it was- dead in sin and without God.  I grabbed hold of Jesus with everything I had, and as I looked into His face I began to be changed from one degree of glory to another.  The thing I’d been looking for my whole life was Jesus!  Like the old hymn says,

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”

Do we see what we’re doing today in the church?  Do we understand where this embracing of the world system is taking us?  Does Jesus really want your eyes off of Him and off of heaven? Does He want you “polishing the brass” of this sinking ship, or looking to eternity?

“For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

I hope I will stir some of you to think about this.  Read your bible and ask yourself honestly what the focus of the early church was on.  Read Acts and ask yourself if you’re focused on eternity like that?  Are you wanting to reach the lost like they were?  Has it dawned on you and alarmed you that this world is quickly passing away?  Does eternity fill your vision?  Maybe it’s time to sit in your upper room, read your bible, pray, and wait on God until you hear a sound from heaven!

Today marks the 4th anniversary of my Mom going to be with the Lord after an almost 2 year battle with Ovarian cancer.  The night before she died I had a sense that the time was drawing near, and that we had only a little bit of time left with her.  I went out for a walk and spent a good while praying.  I knew that “to be absent from the body” was to be “present with the Lord”.  But it never quite dawned on me until that night that “to be absent from the body” was to be absent from me.  I would no longer be seeing my Mom walk this earth.  I would not hear her voice again or see her smile while I was in this place.  I was very close to my Mom so the pain of this was very real.

There are some who will try to tell you that death is just a natural progression of life, and even become poetical about it.  That is not what the bible says; death is actually an enemy, and anyone who’s experienced the grief and loss that comes from losing the ones we love the most, knows that. 

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”  (2 Corinthians 15:26)

There will come a day when:

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  (Revelation 21:4)

Crossing from death to life

As I walked and prayed that night I knew the time was near that I’d be losing my Mom.  And as I came to the end of my prayer, I asked Jesus to take my Mom “into the presence of His glory”.  The next day she departed this world; it was on her birthday.  I had time to bring her a rose, say good morning and “Happy Birthday Mom”, and read her Psalm 23 by her bed.  With my brother and sister beside me, we surrounded her bed and watched her take her last breath.  The pain was overwhelming, but so was the joy I had in knowing my Mother had given her life to Jesus Christ and that she would be with Him for eternity, and that one day I’d  be seeing her again.

The final word is not death.  For those who belong to Him, the final word is “life everlasting”!

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”  (John 5:24)

I wrote the song, “In The Presence of His Glory”, the day after my Mom’s funeral.

In The Presence of His Glory

Holy is the Lamb
glory to His name
round about the throne
all the angels sang
 
Glory to the Lamb
Who sits upon the throne
All of the redeemed
Worship Him alone
 
And every single heart
That’s been washed in His blood
For all eternity will sing of Jesus love…
 
In the presence of His glory
no eye has seen, no ear has heard
all the wondrous things that God’s prepared…
for those who love Him
there is no night
in the presence of His glory
 
In the presence of His glory
all the sadness, pain, and heart’s despair
has disappeared and can be found nowhere…
for those who love Him
there is no night
in the presence of His glory
 
Behold the sight of 10,000 angels singing,
“There is no night, before His throne!”
There is no fear of the sting of death remaining
“There is no night!  There is no night!”
 
Holy is the Lamb
glory to His name
round about the throne
all the angels sang
 
Glory to the Lamb
Who sits upon the throne
All of the redeemed
Worship Him alone
 
And every single heart
That’s been washed in His blood
For all eternity will sing of Jesus love
 
In the presence of His glory
The sting of death will fade to heaven’s sky
In Jesus Christ you will be glorified…
And joy will reign,
there is no pain
in the presence of His glory!
 
And joy will reign, there is no pain…in the presence of His glory!

“Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

If He can bear the whole world’s sin
then who am I to say to Him,
that mine is just too much?

Surely such a sacrifice
is worth my very heart and life…
Look at how He bled and died,
Look at how He loves me!” 

I hardly need to say a word about my lyrics for today… God’s love is amazing!  He has power to forgive sins, but not just power… more than enough power!  When I start to believe that my sin is just too bad to forgive, or that I’ve sinned the same sin one too many times to be forgiven, I remember that Jesus’ death was powerful enough to take away the whole world’s sin! 

“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”  (1 John 2:2)

Think about it:  That’s the whole world’s sin for all time, not just my lifetime.  If He can do that, then who am I to say that mine is just too much to forgive?  There’s mercy for you in Jesus, and not just enough, but overflowing, overwhelming mercy, far exceeding any sin you have committed.  The power of what Jesus did on the cross for you, is greater than your capacity to sin.  In all ways His blood shed on the cross is enough; you cannot sin more than He is able to forgive!  That’s how powerful His sacrifice for you is!

Now, having said that, there is something you can do if you want to continue on and die in your sin… You can turn your back on Jesus and say no to His forgiveness, but why would you?

Doesn’t a love like His demand your very heart and life?  Do you really want to walk away from the One who loves you more than anyone else in all the world, whose love goes beyond the grave and promises to be there for you throughout eternity?  Look at how He loves you!  He paid the penalty for sins you committed and offers you eternal life!  He doesn’t accuse you of sins you’ve committed, but washes them away!

“Surely such a sacrifice
is worth my very heart and life…
Look at how He bled and died,
Look at how He loves me!”

I’ve been reluctant to get involved with Facebook, blogs, ect., because the internet is already taking so much of my time. I’d like to connect with the Body of Christ here, and also share the things He’s called me to share through my music… but I can really see how all this can rob me of my time with God. Here’s a post that I wrote recently on another persons blog about that…

“All I know is that being online is sucking huge amounts of time out of my life… time I used to spend with Jesus. Thank God there was no internet when I got saved! I would have been exposed to so many ideas I would probably have ended up a confused, faithless, mess. As it was, I just had my bible and plenty of time to think and read. I also had plenty of time to walk and talk to God. I seriously believe God is telling me to just “come away” from all this mess, as Keith Green sang about… and be with Him. All this connectivity may be robbing us of the greatest connection of all.”

I honestly believe that. We have the most awesome means to fellowship, and tell the world about Jesus through these sites, but I don’t think God’s gonna be too happy if social networking takes the place of time spent with Him.