Thanksgiving Days & The Sacrifice of Praise: God’s Idea

Thanksgiving Days & The Sacrifice of Praise: God’s Idea  

By Kelly Durant  11-23-14 Re 11-24-24

 

Ps 107:22

22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Ps 50:14   

14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

Jonah 2:9

9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

 

2. It’s our Thanksgiving Day Sunday! It is obvious from the verses of today that giving thanks to God by sacrificing was God’s idea a few thousand years ago, long before the forming of this country! The verses of Psalm and Jonah today are around 3,000 years old, so we conclude that God wants His people to take special days of sacrificing reverencing Him doing it together with others.

 

Do you know how the U.S. Thanksgiving Day began? It began with a group of Christian Immigrants, immigrants just like you and me! Plymouth, Mass. 404 years ago was inhabited by Native Indians, and then one day a ship of Englishmen landed to set up a colony. This happened in 1620 as they were escaping religious persecution in Europe. Under the tyranny of King Henry VIII, just a few decades earlier and even afterwards, an estimated 70,000 lost their heads for not submitting to the abusive dominating monarchy that imposed their church hierarchy system on them. Are you thankful you have not lost your head due to an abusive authority? In history and even today millions have lost their heads, or lives, over religious and governmental persecution!

 

The problem is these desperate immigrants arrived too late in the year to have a harvest of food that would keep them alive throughout the cold winter. But thank God the Natives, or Indians, had compassion on them and gave them food in a special fall festival. One of the most common foods then was turkey, along with corn, and other vegetables, it was a fall harvest festival. Historically, most cultures celebrate the beginning of spring, and this coincides with Easter and Passover; and to celebrate in the fall as well as did the Jews celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and the Torah, Rosh Hashanah, while Christians have traditionally come to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. 

 

Thus, the tradition of eating turkey! Many more of those immigrants would have died if they had not been helped! Half the colony later did die of hunger anyway! It was Sqanto, a native slave of the English who taught them how to raise corn and fish eel. He sacrificed his time and food to help these immigrants who were ignorant of living from nature since they came from large European cities. God bless the natives!

 

3. But many people have immigrated to many different lands throughout history so what makes this thanksgiving festival so special? 

These Christian immigrants took the time to rejoice, and have a party and celebrate, and praise the Lord and thank Him for freedom, life, and new friends, that’s what is special! It is a sacrifice to create a big celebration, many of you here sacrificed to make our food together special, and sacrificing your self is what pleases the LORD! Psalm 54:6 I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good.

 

Before it was common that the government authorities, and all the townspeople, would get together to celebrate expressing their faith and thanks to God in the public square. Never succumb to secularists that in this country that insist you must keep your faith private and secret! To the contrary, celebrate as is traditional, show God your thankfulness and be public about it anywhere, and everywhere! Be generous and share with others! How ironic that in this country today some people even get arrested for sharing food publicly with the needy! Christians traditionally have fed the needy in shelters and on the streets and we should not allow lawmakers make our traditions un-compassionately illegal.

 

Over 200 years ago congress recognized the importance of the Thanksgiving Day observance, and President George Washington issued a national Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789. He wrote, "Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country”...

He understood the basics of being Christian and he recognized the need to set aside a day to show God that we as Americans are thankful for this land under God!

 

4. Ps 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Thanksgiving Day in reality is all about thanking God for maintaining your life and for sharing with others your thankfulness! (repeat)

 

In the verses of today we observe that David and Jonah, and we know well that all men of God, have always made a special event out of praising God for victories, protection, and supply! The problem in the world today is there is not much of an ‘attitude of gratitude’ anymore! For the past few decades unthankful Godless people have been rudely drowning out the thankful polite people! There are many sins in this nation and many people in the media are like rotten apples that incite bitterness over the past, and they promote hate between races, and insult the goodness of God’s people. But on the first Thanksgiving Day the natives and the Pilgrims were both acting as good people being good to each other! 

 

In our community you would assume people would come to worship and thank God for their blessings but instead often they offer only negative comments (the opposite of praise) about personal frustrations or unhappy situations, and this makes God very sad and angry! God allowed a whole generation of Hebrews who escaped Egypt with Moses to die in the desert because they were unthankful to Him! 1 Corinthians 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 

 

Thankful people are happy people who recognize God as their provider, and they are blessed by God, and they make others feel good nearby them! Unthankful people disturb the peace and bring others down and they are on the path to their own destruction!

 

5. Just think, this country now has 65 million Hispanics, and about 40 plus million have arrived within the past 30 years. I personally have a hard time understanding why most all of them are not going to the church of their choice giving thanks to God?! I read about 15% do start going to a church of some kind but that is too few! In their countries about 70% go to church! You and I need to awaken more thankfulness in these new immigrants! We already have too many arrogant, Godless, unthankful people in all sectors of society! Let’s encourage new ones to thank God, worship God, and be good neighbors involved in the community! 

 

Most immigrants, like the first European ones, recognize that they are strangers in a strange land, and that they could literally die if they were not having God on their side providing, protecting, and guiding! I know when I moved around in South America I literally cried out to God every time to provide and protect my family because arriving somewhere not knowing how the system functions, not having friends, not speaking the language, and arriving with almost no resources is a situation that will make one desperate and thankful for every place to stay and every plate of food!

 

You who are here today to thank God are special to God!  I am thankful to God for you, and always we must be thankful for our Christian brothers and sisters, because you are the special ones of God! Being here to thank God today is comparable to being with the one leper that was healed that came back to give thanks. Ten were healed but only one returned and expressed thanks! Eternally we praise God and Jesus in recognition of thanks. Sadly, in infamy, there are the unthankful nine others. Never be one of them!

 

6. In order to show you are thankful, you must sacrifice something for God’s work from time to time. You must make a commitment and then keep it.

If you are thankful in life in general, you are always praising and happy, you are willing to do anything, and willing to give up anything to show God your love and appreciation, and thankfulness to Him!   As David the Psalmist words it, Ps 50:14

14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

 

We should all be dedicated to God’s work and to God’s people to have a proof of our thankfulness! Some people serve in shelters, and some give food to their hurting neighbors during these holidays, but really you can show thanks anytime!

Serve others with a need! Invite them to eat and tell them about your love for Jesus!

 

It is the tradition of many countries, even here, that when someone has been nice to you and done something special, you invite them to eat with you. Everyone likes to eat, right? What a great way to get to know someone and learn to love and like them!

 

7. Jesus commanded his disciples to travel and basically immigrate or integrate as they preached. No one can understand the full extent of being thankful for a bed and food unless they have had to be at the mercy of others for it! I have been in this situation many dozens of times in my life! Matt 10:9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. 11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it.  In other words, bless those that bless you!

 

Back to our U.S. lesson in history, imagine these defenseless Pilgrims in a new land with no homes except the ones they could build before winter, and with no food stored for the winter either! Just think if right now I were to tell you, you are condemned to die in two months in the woods! In two months, your life will be over, you will die a slow death of starvation in the cold!

But then if suddenly there appeared a group of strange people of another race unexpectedly putting food on your table, just think how happy you would be! The reality is some of them survived in that Plymouth colony throughout the winter yet quite a few of them did die!

 

We praise and thank God this time of year (but we should every day!) and celebrations are good for all of us! And let’s also recall we must thank the native people for supporting the immigrants because your great-great grandparents were able to arrive here and work and have a life! All of us should thank all immigrants here including Latinos, Blacks, Irish, and Asians all of which helped build America’s major cities, railroads, and farmlands. The ones before us suffered painfully through extreme hard work and hard times, and their great grandparents suffered as well! People use to die at age 40 something, remember?  We have a super nation full of prosperity with wealthy cities, superhighways and mega factories all due to the labor of the many races that make up the population of The United States! 

 

8. Thankfulness to God involves being thankful to those different from you, by accepting and loving them, and respecting them. God’s glory invokes praise for His creation of the entire diverse human race, and the maximum thankfulness we can show Him is to love Him and love one another as Jesus commanded!

Because of the lives of those few hundred immigrants that were saved 400 years ago, we now have a great nation today with many millions of immigrants who are Christian! This is still the most generous nation on earth because many thankful people still have faith in God and want to give back to their communities.

 

Did you know Jesus said He would celebrate a meal with us sort of like Thanksgiving? Let’s look up, Rev 3:20-21

 20'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Even Jesus offers to eat, fellowship, and celebrate with us! But the food Jesus is offering is not physical food, it is spiritual which is more important! 

 

It is sad to see people with hungry bodies, but we must also see that many people are dying of starvation spiritually! Many of your friends and family are weak and dying inside due to not understanding the roots of why we give thanks to God! Tell them the story of Jesus and take opportunity to emphasize the story of the Pilgrims. It is your and my job to tell everyone about God’s food, this bread of life, that He offers so ‘whosoever will’ can live forever! It is our job as Christians to teach others to always be thankful to God for even a cup of water! We must be a light to others in this work of feeding the sick and the suffering! Physical food is just a temporary aspect of life but spiritual feeding is what will keep us motivated to be alive and to live eternally!

 

Now, let us conclude that as we are thankful today, that we will recognize that it is by God and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit through which comes our Salvation. Any of us can die at any moment so being alive today let us, as in the book of Jonah, do our part to be fair with God and honor Him for his goodness and be sacrificial; Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

 

Ask yourself right now, have I shown thankfulness and sacrifice to God lately as I really should by being loving and doing something kind for someone else in need as happened on the first Thanksgiving Day?

Position Statements to Live By: the Biblical views

The Salvation Army’s Position Statements. 

Do you know them and the Biblical views?   by Kelly Durant

2 Timothy 2:15 

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.    https://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ips

 

2. How many of you get asked questions about your faith? Usually people ask questions like this, How do you feel about abortion? To start with, the question of how I feel about something puts the answer within a relative box, in other words how I feel and how you feel may both be valid or invalid, so how you or I feel is not the correct answer. There is a standard from God.

 

The real answer, not one based on opinions, emotions, or peer pressured replies is, what is the truth concerning this matter, or any other matter for that matter?  What is truth? Truth, according to the world’s definition is something universally consistently true and modern, government-paid-for, secular teachers would have you believe it is relative as well, that your truth may be as valid as my truth but that is not how it works. Most of the time things are black and white but people want to see gray so they can justify their own way instead of God’s way. Only Jesus with the Word of God is the truth!

 

For example, does the sun shine in the mornings? It does, no matter where you wake up on the earth. So you can see there is only one standard for physical events, and conclusively there is only one truth concerning moral, or often denoted religious rules as well, so why do people want to put truth into a feeling, or a relative perspective? It is for the purpose of the manipulation of feelings with scenarios that never or rarely exist so this conflictive person wanting black to be white and white be black  and it usually contradicts the Word of God in the Bible.

 

3. To be a Christian you must adhere to the Bible as absolute truth, if you do not, if you have a pick and choose faith, then you must evaluate that you are spiritually bankrupt and not a real Christian! You may be lacking in being connected to the Holy Spirit which brings you into all truth. John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. Have you ever prayed and asked for the Holy Spirit in your life?

 

In general, most people agree with the 10 commandments. For example, “Thou shall not kill” is a good example of how most everyone will agree that you do not want a person to kill you, or your mother, father, son, or daughter and just get away with it!  Laws exist so that the punishment for breaking them will bring heavy consequences, so peace and order are maintained.

 

In the Old Testament it was an eye for and eye, so if you kill a life, your punishment would be to be put to death as well. And since a baby has a heartbeat after 2 weeks of inception, technically all abortionists and abortion participants, are murderers. 1 John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. A murderer does not have eternal life, that is the law of God, but if a person had murdered and repented and totally changed, as in the case of Saul to Paul, then Jesus’ grace and forgiveness will apply. The huge factor is, ‘Is an act being done in ignorance?’ Or is it being done knowing by the law, the consciousness, and the mind that it is wrong? Willful unrepented rebellion against God’s law, Jesus’ grace, and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will take a person to hell! Their spirit will be tormented, and troubled now and then here, but they die remaining in the torment. How sad not everyone does a U-turn to get back to God and live in holiness and love for forgiveness and eternal life! Only people who have done this have clear judgment, wisdom, and understanding and are on the path to holiness.

 

4. So the principles and positions Christians adhere to are all covered in the Bible. In ages past people would sacrifice their babies to Satanic pagan idols (Moloch, Baal, etc.) to be burned in the fire. That was human sacrifice, a rite condemned by Judeo Christian influenced societies, but Satanists today still do human sacrifice! Also, today, aborted parts are sold for huge profits to bio labs. It is obvious we must remain firm against abortion because it is murder, grotesque, and heinous.

 

We are against alcohol and drugs because it causes people to destroy their bodies, and it breaks up families as the addicted person may become demon possessed to feed their appetite to an extreme. Many people will sell their home, car, their own bodies, and even their own children to get another buzz or high. Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. The Salvation Army rehab centers in all the major cities are full of people who have lost everything due to their uncontrollable desire to get high or drunk. What a torturous slavery! What a waste and destruction!

 

And speaking of addictions, we are also against gambling. It is amazing that people will gamble away their 2 week salaries in a few hours and even turn over their homes, cars, and anything with the expectancy to win something by chance. Never start, you may have a weakness for gambling and not know it! The Salvation Army’s largest homeless shelter is in Las Vegas where hundreds show up daily after having lost everything in that cruel gambling sin city!

 

5. Another horrible addiction is pornography. It also has provoked divorces, caused salaries to be wasted on images of people breaking the law and opened the door for extreme aggressive behavioral abuse and supports human trafficking. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” or “Thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s wife” makes it clear that God is not pleased when people lust for “strange flesh” because it breaks down the union a married couple should maintain. Single people also often destroy their ability to relate to others in a civil undebauched manner. It degenerates the mind into a desire for more and more perversion leading up to perversions, and Satanic ritual child abuse. Jesus breaks chains though! But people with those chains though have real demons to overcome!

 

Another is human trafficking: it is modern day slavery! We denounce this evil as no person should ever be the owner of another person! Those that control others in order to exploit their bodies for money usually do so by fear and intimidation, and blackmail,  getting them addicted to drugs, inflicting pain, or/and by terror abuse which threatens violence to be caried out on them or their families if their greedy expectations are not met. Avoid abusers, pimps, drug dealers and those bound for hell at all costs! Never tattoo yourself with their icons and nets as they are cruel murderous overlords destined for hell! Unless they repent! 

 

People who live abused, exploited, or addicted are often suicidal and we are against suicideas well! It is not a solution but only brings on more pain to those around them, being family or friends. I have brought up suicide as a topic before and people become very emotionally affected. But remember there is always hope in God and there are testimonies of millions finding Jesus and gaining a new opportunity to live blessed and free from the destructive voices of oppression. Physical, mental, or spiritual abuse can be overcome with Jesus’ power. Assisted suicide, or euthanasia, is also deemed by us to be wrong as it is God who numbers a person’s days of their life, and it should never be our decision usurping God’s authority. 

 

6. And The Salvation Army decries injustices carried out by abusive authoritative powers. This makes us unpopular in certain dark places, but so be it. Have you ever seen the movie ‘Papillion’? It was of the escape of a prisoner from the a penal colony Devil’s Island in French Guiana. That island in the Caribbean off the north coast of South America was a horrific place of abuse and the Salvation Army denounced its atrocities and got ‘Devil’s Island shut down in 1960. http://sahpa.blogspot.com/2011/07/devils-island-by-harry-hayes-salvation.html

 

We declare we are nonpartisan and this means we do not endorse any particular party or power in any country. Why? Because Psalm 14: 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Dictators, presidents, and powers change hands often and to be associated with the deeds of one of these powers is counter-productive to spreading the good news of the kingdom of God. Our kingdom is not of this world, so what benefit would there be for us to heavily invest in this world’s dark, unthankful, backstabbing, murderous, perverse, debauched, political game of thrones?

 

We are against corruption of any kind as it creates great disparities between the rich and the poor. We are for peacemaking where division of ideals and political views exist. Getting people to make peace will invoke great forgiveness on the part of some but God wants for all love, stability, and blessings. Matthew 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 

 

7. Considering the Salvation Army serves in over 130 countries, we have had to take positions against certain cultural practices which involve ignorance, a waste of resources, or outright demonic rendering. Ancestral worship is to be condemned. Spellcasting, witchcraft, white or black magic, Santeria, or any ritual practice is to be rebuked in the name of Jesus Christ and overcome by fasting and prayer. Days of the dead and all evil celebrations are unwelcome.

 

We honor our day to worship God, which is the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was ordained by God at creation and set aside as a holy day for Him.(Genesis 2:2-3) Christians worship on Sundays (our Son Day), and a day of rest prevents abuse from abusive employers. All Christians should always insist on having rest, worship, and fellowship on a reserved day. 

 

As Christians we also support protecting the environment. God created the earth for us to take care of and now that the food supply, water streams, and air are so contaminated, we must conclude that greedy-for-money humans, no matter the race or country, are guilty and are not very worthy stewards of God’s earth! We believe in helping to recycle and clean up where we can and not be wasteful, at home or in our community. Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 

 

8. We must always care for the homeless and desperate, so we care for refugees and displaced people. In the U.S. and abroad we attend to almost every major natural disaster. In certain countries a lot of our social services work is with refugees, so those who had to move away, loosing everything, deserve attention and basic needs. It is not their fault they were displaced from their homeland because they wanted it. It is often due to a murderous military coop or a change of political or religious leaders, or an environmental/economic disaster. To survive, all people must move at times.

 

Attending to refugees from another race, creed, or country may often provoke conditions for discrimination and racism. We condemn these and even in our Salvation Army mission statement we affirm that we attend to all, “without discrimination”. This implies not to be rude or inattentive to a person due to their gender, age, race, religion, personal sexuality, or for any reason. We are commanded to be ‘good Samaritans’ and racism is not tolerated. I saw a long-time employee in Miami get fired because he spoke to several others about how evil the Jews were. There is evil no matter the race but to single one out is against the law in this country. Currently many Christians are being murdered and displaced in Africa and Asian countries. These refugees being from Iran, Sudan, and a dozen countries need your prayers! Religious persecution is a reality as well.

 

Historically, and presently certain races, religions, and different people groups pose acceptance challenges but those familiar with their Bibles know how Paul addressed the strengths and weaknesses of the Romans, Greeks, Jews, and pagans. We must apply wisdom in dealing with others different from ourselves remembering always we are to “love our neighbor as our self”.

 

9. Finally, for the record we do not accept or endorse sin, but we must attend to those in the world with multiple sins with the hope we will (and we do) win some to the Lord. But those that say they are brothers or sisters, and practice sin are fooling their selves. Today, in our end-time apostacy, in too many churches, sins such as fornication, idolatry of praise worshippers and preachers, and the extortion of church givers for the leaders lavish lifestyles, is accepted. Woe is to them as today many churches resemble the 7 churches in Revelation!

 

1 Corinthians 6: 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

 

Let’s look at condemned practices again but finish it with how we are to be.

Galatians 5: 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Our goal is to study the Word of God, to be led by the Spirit of our loving God and to never be guilty of failing to honor Him in all we do, say, think, believe, and live out from day to day! Amen.

Music: What We Know Today Has Degraded From The Original. Part 7 of a series

Music: A Seven Part Sermon on How What We Know Today Has Degraded From The Original Pt. 7      By Kelly Durant

 

Psalm 149:3 Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. Psalm 150:3

Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!

Psalm 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

 

2. Sound penetrates deeply into our bodies. There are ‘good vibrations’ and there are bad ones, there is ugly irritating noise, and there is beautiful soothing harmony. For example, imagine right now someone scratching their fingernails on a chalkboard; now consider this, no one ever made a song using that sound! Two seconds of that and you want it to stop!

 

God’s sound creates! John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. Sound, vibration, and the Word is God’s essence and from Him spawns all creation. Contemplate on all the waves of “the Word” we know, they create light, sound, material matter, and all micro and macro forces and orders are maintained and established by God’s eternal vibrations.

 

Sounds produced by beats (timbrels & drums), wind instruments (trumpets & others), strings (lute, guitar, & harp), and by the amazing human voice in song (may) make harmonious music! A captivating activity! According to the verses in Psalms 100, these noises (noises, LOL!) are made by God and are to be produced by us making praise and joy in reverence to His majesty. 

 

3. Why is music considered to be a part of the ‘sacred sciences? Because of how deeply it affects our spirits, music is spiritual! Music is either positive of God, negative from Satan, or a neutral wave with no effect on our being. What we tune into, and most everyone listens to music, wires our brains to be ‘one’ with the composer. That can be a very good thing or a very bad one!

 

You have heard ‘you are what you eat’, well it is the same with the consumption of music, ‘you are what you tune in to’. If you are praising God all day in song, it is for sure you are giving no time to Satan to come in with evil temptations and thoughts. In today’s world, you can choose amongst a million songs and genres that appeal to your tastes and preferences of instruments and voices and we should tune in to God’s music in moderation.

 

All music should glorify God because if not, it is glorifying some person making a name for themselves. There are too many famous people who love to be praised for their musical productions, and they do not glorify God nor thank Him for their talent as they want to be a ‘rock god’! What a waste, what a disillusion! They live in luxury, debauchery, and then pass away forgotten.

 

4. Have you heard it said that ‘if you will not learn an instrument on earth, how do you expect to play a harp in heaven’? That position is harsh because not everyone has a musical ability. What we do have is a voice that should always praise God for His mercy and goodness to us and to all generations.

 

No matter how your voice sounds, it was created by God to praise Him!  Psalm 100 ‘Make a joyful noise unto the lord’! Psalm 150:6

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!

 

God doesn’t care if you sound pleasant or not, he cares about you participating in His joy! When people gather to make music, the atmosphere is charged with joy and good vibrations. When you hear a band of 3 or a band of 30 (like in the Salvation Army bands) you get an uplifting effect. A connection and a unity for everyone in the meeting place! 

 

5. We know that some people get to hear music all day while others only a little. In King David’s time and until the recent past, music was special as you heard it only in gatherings and festivals by live performers. When something is rare, it is valued. Saul got to hear a lot of David’s music, and in heaven I want to hear him play! And you? The music of angels must be overwhelming!

 

1 Samuel 16:23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

 

I know there are people out there similar to Saul. They are not fully in tune with God’s will, and they often feel down, discouraged, and condemned so music is a great thing for their broken spirit. Church is important as we get to praise and unite in song there. Very few families sit in a circle and sing together anymore. I did with my kids though, and I took them performing in hospitals, orphanages, and rest homes. We can share music even though we are not perfect as most people don’t require perfection.

 

6. Today however, music is often too prevalent being on our car radios, in stores, and playing in people’s earbuds from their iphones. Many people have the radio on for 12 hours a day so they are getting an overload of sound, music, and news chatter. Commercials in particular irritate the psyche! Remember Jesus often went to pray where He was alone in silence. 

 

The negative factor of the world’s worldly music is it can be replayed in the brain at random and it can become a huge distraction and background annoyance, almost like a torture. As in the movie, ‘Ghost’ you do not want to hear, “I Henry the 8^th I am…Henry the 8^th I am, I am…” all day long, over and over! Each one of us must strive to tune in or tune out what penetrates our ears, hearts, and minds. At random music resurfaces from our memories. Notice how powerful a grip music has on the brain! Music often in our memory is playing in the background, and are you aware of the message in the song?

 

Here is God’s standard…Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. I repeated and memorized scripture all day when I was younger to overcome the background music in my head from my childhood and teenage years. Playing guitar as I did, or any instrument, causes music to more engrained in the mind. Musicians are often ‘special’ not tuning into reality and the world around you as most people do!

 

7. Reminded of our upbringing, who grew up with a record player or a tape recorder? As a 4 year kid I was changing out 45 vinyls for hours all day long! Tennessee Ernie Ford and many artists got played so much that I never want to hear them ever again, ha! After all the music industry being exposed like it has this year, I hope every music fan will agree, “We’re not gonna take it, anymore” and reject, despise, and delete from devices all the billionaire producer’s productions who worship Satan, traffic and abuse aspiring young artists, and participate in demonic possession through music. 

 

It has been said that to be a professional at something you need 10,000 hours of experience. You could say I was a professional music listener with my 10,000 hours in by age 12! Today the kids are getting in 10,000 hours of screentime getting programed by the world and by age 12 or earlier and they are like wet cement that has dried hard as a rock molded by the world’s misguided, ungodly messages creating ungodly annoying behavior. 

 

We can be thankful that today there are many hymns we know and cherish, and we know they were for the most part written by men and women of a pure heart serving God. There is a lot of modern praise music as well that is catchy and uplifting. Since the ‘80s, I think it is good that most churches have accepted modern praise, but some do not sing any hymns at all anymore! They are losing some great timeless creations by doing that!

 

8. Let’s look at Christian music deeper taking note that not all of it is good as the singers or composers may be (or became) prideful and corrupted. I read articles that it came to light with some ‘Hillsong’ groups that their worshippers (?) do not even believe in God! It seems in today’s world we must research everything to know from what source it has come, a good one or a bad one.  

 

Music, used as God intended, was made to comfort the soul. Recalling that King David played his harp for King Saul, and it eased his troubled spirit, it would be nice if music today were applied like this! Considering this, you should only select music to listen to that brings you peace, joy, and love!

The interaction of sound waves also are mathematically perfect as seen in sea shells.

 

For a few hundred years certain ‘blue’ flat notes were considered to be of the devil. I personally don’t think we should let the devil own anything! God should and can be praised in all kinds of music. Focus on the words, are they true to the Word of God with good theology? Are they glorifying God? The world’s music, in general, boasts about sinful activities, heartbreak, and tragedy! 

 

9. One of the grandsons of Adam, Jubal, created some of the first musical instruments and compositions about 6,000 years ago! God gave music to us as a gift as we learn that it has been around since the beginning. The group Kiss sings, “God gave Rock ‘n Roll to you” but recall not everyone using God’s name is referring to our Father God of Jesus, “by their fruits, you will know them”! I do pray for this world’s musicians to turn to Jesus, but few have!

 

As we learn in the Psalms, God wants us to praise Him in song! I think everyone should sing when we praise, no matter how you think you sound! It is not about you; it is about God’s exaltation! About how you love Him and want to praise Him!  And those that can keep a beat, will always note that we have tambourines available. That is a beautiful history within the Sal Army!

 

Conclusively music is therapeutic. It is an emotion enhancer. It can also be used to arouse violence! But music correctly used produces a calming effect and it works good on all of us as we are not always joyful, but sometimes sad or disturbed. Observing this power, we understand why music falls within the category of science and is in the spiritual realm making it sacred as well. So, “I’m gonna sing, sing, sing, I’m gonna shout, shout, shout, I’m gonna sing, I’m gonna shout and praise the Lord, For when those gates are opened wide

I’m gonna sit by Jesus’ side, I’m gonna sing, I’m gonna shout, and Praise the Lord!!” And you?

Kelly Durant’s Sermon Quotes by Subject

Kelly Durant’s Sermon Quotes by Subject

Accusations

Those with a quick mentality to accuse are influenced by Satan who is known as, “the accuser of the saints”. People who are too quick to accuse, too quick to judge without all the facts, and afterwards never allow for an explanation, a reconnection, or reconciliation to determine if they were fair or wrong in their accusations, judgment, or reasoning for their out of control feelings are classified as being “fools” according to the Word of God in Proverbs 29:11 A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

Apologetics

All your life as a Christian you will be challenged, made fun of, and provoked by those who have everything in their minds mixed up, these are the people with their minds fashioned by the corrupt worldviews of the day and false doctrines. How intellectually prepared are you to defend Christ? To defend you must be opinionated; you have a right to believe what you choose! Never let another person intimidate you that you must accept heresy!

Appreciation                                                                                                                                       

And Jesus said that Mary Magdalene is to be honored; it was pure thankfulness and love in her tears! Think about it, in your lifetime a few times you may have a few shed tears out of thankfulness for something someone special did for you. But his is extreme purity and holiness; this is a passionate crying repentance and love for Jesus as He wishes to see it! I wish there existed more people with this same passion and appreciation today!

Availability 

Usually it is only 3 to 5% of the church people that make their selves available to help with important projects volunteering. Making your own schedule and priorities secondary to the wishes of those being served is a noble act that will gain you heavenly rewards. But the people who are unavailable and always busy with their own things all the time probably wonder why God is not very available for them. Loving God means loving and serving others He created.

Bitterness

Unthankful bitter people lose their perspective of what others suffer. Bitter people are always self-focused. The disciples were not thankful for the tears that washed Jesus’ feet, they were indignant. Bitterness can come in when it is exposed one does not have a radical and total dedication in honoring Christ and someone else beside you does.

Competiveness

Young people and many adults are extremely competitive! They want to show off that they are the best, that they are better than the teacher, better than the preacher and supreme in all things. When they meet someone in their world, in the school or church, that seems more influential, more beautiful, or more talented, the first reaction is to hate them and destroy them. Everywhere, in schools, in jobs, in churches, we see this superiority immaturity! Competition is often nothing but pure hatred out of pride desiring the humiliation of a person who did not desire to do the work to compete fairly in the first place!

Capitalism or Socialism

Corrupt leaders will always be administrating the wealth they have confiscated either by high taxes, or property acquisition. Corruption in all systems has always been, and will always be, that is why Jesus said the “poor will always be with you”. But did Jesus promote a taking from the rich to give to the poor from the passage we just read? Luke 18:22 He in fact did, but within the context of sharing it for the fair & equal distribution in God’s Kingdom! It was to provide for the needs of the desperate poor and the disciples! But this was also about being a test of love. Did he love God and his neighbor enough to share it all? In God’s Kingdom there are many mansions, Jesus idea is that sharing all the wealth makes everyone rich here and in heaven, and with Jesus system there is no lower class of degraded poor! The young man appeared perfect in regards to the law, but he was disobedient, loving money more than God & others!

Church

The church, or this new loving group of called out ones that Jesus established, were designed to be a movement of follower teachers. They were sent to do God’s Kingdom work, to pray, preach, heal, and recruit souls that would teach others to follow Jesus as well. Jesus did not leave engineering plans and then ask his disciples to build impressive structures and then get people to come visit the extravagant cathedral so they could hear God’s word. The early disciples had many places where to meet, such as in homes. The emphasis was to “go” and preach the gospel to every creature. Expensive to maintain, luxurious structures distract the money and the mission away from getting out as Jesus did who made everyplace He went a temple, a place where God is. 

Compassion

They say that giving a beggar a piece of bread is a civil duty, but to give him a bread with butter on it, now that is compassion! Compassion is a divine quality something that is in all cultures with a certain measure, but the sad thing is that it is also very much diminishing in most cultures today. The level of the spiritual development of a culture or people can be measured by how much compassion they have. Being realistic, only Christians throughout time have proven over and over to be the ones to truly shell out millions and with an army of volunteers when there is a need or crisis. As a Christian how much compassion do you express? How much compassion does this community have? It lacks a lot!

Contributions

There is a hymn that says, I gave my life for you, what have you given to me? The Bible makes it clear we are to show our thanks to Jesus by giving Him our whole life, our time, our money and everything for His work! People that choose churches that only ask them their money contribution are getting robbed of blessings! There is a joy in serving others, in the giving of our lives in service as Jesus’ disciples did. But contributions here and there will never give you back the great joy and satisfaction you deserve to be getting as when you contribute all you can.

Correction

Today we live in a society that does not discipline nor correct people for their wrong as they need it! Quite often the right ones who justifiably want to correct someone, to expose the damage and wrong doing, end up with the punishment of ridicule and frustration instead! We live in a world were good is proclaimed as bad and the bad is exalted as good!

Culture

Racial and cultural relations are broken all the time because people are not willing to observe and respect the formalities and customs that are within the culture of the other! The rivalry between tribes, nations, and tongues has been going on ever since the beginning of time but what is our role as a Christian? How should we respond to others different than ourselves? Try to be “one” of them as Paul says to be as a Greek to the Greek, and as a Roman to the Roman.

Discipline

How many people have you ever heard give testimonies of how it was when they were disciplined by God? Here is a big problem: Many people are so unspiritual they do not even perceive when the Lord is dealing with them and understand when things do not come out right that there is a purpose. And the other problem: when people are corrected, they hide it from others so they will appear perfect. Neither way is right. 

Evangelism

 When we as Christians practice evangelism, it is very real like the sewer in the parable.  In Matt 13:3-8   there are 4 seeds and only one turned out to be the amazing one in four to give fruit! What we could conclude is, this is a crazy investment! I get little reward back for all the effort, I get waste and unthankfulness! Only 25% good if that much! But the rewards are in heaven!

Fathers

The first step for a man to be capable of being a good father is for him to recognize that he has a Father over him, who is God. If he gives honor and respect to someone over him, then he becomes a good example to his children and they will in turn honor and respect him. It works both ways, if he doesn’t honor God or anyone, his children will not learn to honor nor respect him and men, or fathers, reap what they sew.

Friends

So, mark out the names of the friends on your list who are not walking in love, or in other words, not living their lives in sacrifice to their family and others as God wants. You do not need friends who are not close to God. Even if only the pastor’s name is the only one left on your list, at least you will have Jesus and one more person on earth to look to whom you can trust and never regret knowing. In life we will always have friends, but who are friends are greatly affects our spiritual walk! Better quality than quantity and the honestly good over the ones with dubious motives who can end up draining the life out of you with their troubles or interest.

Entitlements

Some people believe they should benefit from what others have and should give up. This type of entitlement thinking wants the government, or the church, or their parents, or their husband or their wife or relatives to be continually giving to them all what they want just because they see them as richer, and having more than them. This one type of relationship from this unbiblical way of thinking and acting creates resentments, bitterness, and division. In Genesis the ones taking the best land by being selfish later paid a higher price. To share is Biblical but to share it with people who will appreciate it and not waste it.

Expectations

Some people have the expectation that we will serve them all the time, and that we will keep producing more bread and fish for them as they produce nothing; no souls won to the Lord, no friends converted to Jesus or the church. How sad their souls will be for eternity with nothing stored up in the bank of heaven! People expect, but do they give what is expected of them?

Family 

Jesus confirms that our greater family, the true common blood Christians near us, are the true family we have in God. Family is also friends, not just the relatives we inherited in our lives from our parents. Jesus makes it clear since He said,“I am your friend”, and He was a friend better than a brother, He laid down His life for you and me! He also expects the same standard from us towards our Christian brothers and sisters! Real families love each other and give their lives for each other!

Foolish Men

You can be a man with money, with power, with fame, and with much education, but without submitting to God’s wisdom you can be reduced to being an embarrassing fool! Many men reduce their lives to being in hell now and in hell hereafter, because they allow pride, selfishness, and lust, and to control them.  It destroys not just their life, but the lives of those closest to them!

Greed

What did the scripture say about the man who got a little prosperity and was rich? He wanted even more! When he had no problems, when God was good to Him, what was his attitude? Did he go to the temple and thank God for his prosperity? No! He became more and more selfish, he wanted to build bigger barns! And what provoked God’s wrath on his life? What caused God to decide to not only let Him loose everything but cut his life short? He had a heart that only could think about himself and no one else! He wanted to enjoy life without the bother of seeking or thanking God who gave him his life and his prosperity in the first place!

Hypocrites

People claim there are hypocrites in the church and they do not want to go to church. That’s like saying I do not want to see the doctor because his lobby is full of sick people! And true there always are a few hypocrites everywhere, in families, public office, etc., but usually those accusing are the not converted. They are people overcome with minds that mirror the hypocritical world. Hypocrites? These always are the other people, right? See your own!

Independence Celebrations

Jesus is very interested in the liberty and spiritual freedom of each of us! He wants us to have an Independence Day celebration!  When you first repented and received Jesus that was your Independence Day of sin and death, and it is your rebirth into the family of God with eternal life!

Immigrants

Jesus was an immigrant! He left his celestial home in heaven to come down to this poor unjust earth to be one of us! How many of you are immigrants? How many of you know how hard it is to be an immigrant? Like the immigrants, Jesus Christ had to arrive in humble circumstances! He was amongst the poorest of the poor born where the animals are born, in a manager.

Kingdom of God

Are you so presumptuous to assume that you are bound for heaven? Flesh and blood cannot inherit the “kingdom of God”! In other words you will not enter in if you are who you are now as only the holy, only the pure in heart, only the peacemakers, only the humble, only the merciful, only the honest and just, only the loving and persecuted for God will enter in! If you don’t have these qualities now, you won’t just instantly gain them there in heaven.  Jesus in Matthew 16:19 reveals that how you are now is how you will eternally remain!

Loyalty

Imagine, all of the disciples saw His miracles, they had heard all of His teachings, they probably were proud to boast that they were followers of the newest wave, at how Jesus was so popular. But now, what happens when his teaching no longer makes them feel good? What happen when a certain sermon suddenly makes Him unpopular & persecuted?  Their loyalty went out the door, and Jesus makes it clear they never believed in the beginning.

Nature

If you look up In the Bible the word tree, or look up references to the stars, animals, or any of God’s creatures or creation, you will find that there are hundreds and hundreds of these examples that display the majesty of God. All nature is used in the Bible as a spiritual metaphor as well. It is the devil’s role to try and destroy everything God made, as much as possible, be it the souls of people or any nature life as well!

New Year’s Goals

What you and I see from year to year is that some people are progressing in their walk with God being more loving, winning more people to His mission while others seem to be getting more self-centered, and farther away from God! Some people are looking more towards the things of the earth, and some are seeking more the things of God.  What goals have you made?

Perceptions

Perceptions of people, what they think about you and I, are what mess us up relationally. Godly guided people will understand more and speak more for the things of God in others, but most people do not perceive the whole picture as God does. The perceptions people deduct will cause them to speak up but notice it is usually over what is of their own self interests.  

Prophets

Paul’s definition implies that a prophet is one who follows all the word of God! A believer and transmitter of the message will follow the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the Godly counsel of fellow Christians. All Christians who share God’s message are in reality prophets! But what is a prophet? Isn’t that one of those Pentecostals who suddenly stand up in the middle of church service and yell out a verse or some phrase that tells everyone what they are supposed to do? No, that is not a prophet but a manipulator!  

 

Punishment

I want to ask you does any child just say, Oh I am so happy you are punishing me? No! No one likes punishment and the problem with some people is they have never let God do what He needs to do to clean out the rottenness in their life. They are like the dental patient who stops the dentists work and says, you know what, I don’t like pain so just leave that tooth alone, I’m out of here! But the rot will cause death! We all must learn to appreciate God’s corrections.

Relations With People

Working with people can easily be compared to the job of the snake charmer who dances the cobra with a flute! Most of the times it seems like everyone is happy, and you are happy and a lot is getting done for the kingdom of God, and then suddenly someone makes a human mistake, and then the flow of work & the music gets interrupted and then the fangs come out! Most people are not even aware of their own vicious nature when things do not go as they want them too!  People do not even perceive their own pride nor see with God’s spirit when they attack others with unkind words or defend their actions which are not according to God’s spirit!

Sadness

Sometimes God wants us to cry and be sad not over what sadness we feel from our circumstances but over the sadness He feels over us because we are proud and not clean and obedient. Everyone has a heart that needs a washing by tears but for the right reasons. It is sad that we are not in love with God more, wanting to be closer to Him in prayer and in His Word more every day!

Sin

There are many Christians that accept Jesus but they really never ask God to clean them totally inside. They want to keep having their little sins of gossip and greediness. The drug addicts and prostitutes, and really bad people understand what it means to give it all up to God, but the problem is with many people who grow up in the church, and they think they have not done too much to be so bad and wrong, is that they do not see their own faults. Sadly, there are those here, and there are Christians around the world that go to church but they never do confess their sins and live fully changed lives.

Soldiers

The Christian Soldiers of all churches are a small minority group but they have the privileged and elect status of a Soldier because they are willing to march out there into danger into their neighborhoods just as Jesus did to love the unlovely, to heal the wounded, and to preach the truth of the gospel! Soldiers fight battles with the truth against the dominant evil and each time and place requires its own tactical strategy for effectiveness. 

Teachers

In reality we are all teachers! We are all students too, but we are all teaching something just by our actions! This is evident by the way we live, the habits we repeat in our homes daily; everything we do is teaching someone close to us, our children, our spouses, our friends, what our character is made of whether it be truthfulness or hypocrisy. Whether we are authentically sweet and kind and gentle and loving, or whether we are loud mouthed complainers, unthankful and critical of everything behind closed doors!

Time

Decades pass us by. Returning to my hometown to revisit old neighborhoods is like time travel. The old neighbor next door who drove the old ‘57 Chevy for years finally bought a new Oldsmobile in the 80’s, and now that one is an already antique! Time on all of us without fail takes its toll and degenerates people and communities but only leaders with a vision to renovate and conserve that worth saving bring better circumstances. Everything before our eyes is rusting away, but God is in the renovating, saving, and conserving the good business.  

Uneducated-ness

Proverbs 1:22  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners (accusers) delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? The verse is basically making it clear that people who are simple and not intelligent enjoy being conflictive with others and are happy when they can bring up a subject that they can speak scornfully about to you, or of someone else. They only show their ignorance. Here is the sad part we observe more and more: Many Christians remain with simple minds due to their lack of educating themselves with the Word of God and they don’t even recognize their own ignorance! Some Christians today only hear a sermon every other week and they never open their Bibles and this keeps them simple, uneducated, and in danger of retaining a small mind and loud opinion that is more carnal than spiritual.

Vision

Your vision influences your personal life and walk with the Lord. Some people have the vision just to maintain enough in life to just get by; some want just enough of God to keep them out of hell, while others want all the blessings they can get out of the Lord! Like in the Prayer of Jabez, his family had a past of suffering, like you may have had, but he wanted prosperity and protection from evil, and God gave it to him! Vision invites reaction, either mediocre or great!