Some Favorite Gospel Videos

I love older songs; there just something about the 'theology' and the message they contain that is so powerful, it speaks to the deepest part of one's soul. A couple of my favorites...


"Sinner Saved By Grace" ~ George Younce & Glen Payne, both now deceased.


The late Jake Hess singing "Faith Unocks The Door"


One that reminds me of my Dad: "It Is Well With My Soul" ~ Guy Penrod & David Phelps


The incomparable Michael English: "Lord, Feed Your Children"


Michael English & Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir ~ "Midnight Cry"

Being Child-Like

There is something beautiful about the innocence of a child. Adorable little wonders that they sometimes are, they generally have a level of trust that most adults can only recall from memory. A parent could put a child on a pedestal, and the child would eagerly jump into the arms of the parent, just because the parent said they should. In healthy relationships between parent and child, there is unwavering trust. The parent is the authority, and the child will often adapt his or her behavior to what it is taught to be right or wrong. Why? Simply a matter of trust.

I believe it is that level of trust that we, as children of God, should bring into our relationship with Him. I love that when Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray, the first two words He used were "Our Father". Of course most of us have repeated that prayer a thousand times over, yet have we ever stopped to consider the profoundness of the address? "Our Father" challenges the child of God into a relationship of intimacy and trust. We come to Him with child-like innocence that reflects our awareness that He not only loves us, but also has our best interest at heart. When the veil of the temple was shattered on Crucifixion Day, I believe God was throwing the doors to His inner chamber wide open and inviting us to come in. Like a child running into his parents' bedroom, jumping in bed and snuggling between Mom and Dad, so God invites us - His children - to come boldly into His Holy of Holies.

Maybe that was why when the disciples tried to rebuke the children from His presence, Mark wrote that He was much displeased and said unto them, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein" (10:14-16). Unwavering faith, trust, and confidence in the parent goodness and goodwill are qualities most children will possess. I strongly believe those are the very same things that God desires from us in our relationship with Him. "Our Father"; wonderful words indeed.

Talking About Praise

One of my favorite part of Scripture is Psalm 34, especially verses 1-3; "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together."

My fascination with this Psalm lies in David's determination to bless (praise, salute) the Lord no matter what. So many times we allow our emotions to influence our praise, but here we see the Psalmist making the conscious decision that he would bless the Lord at all times; the two importants phrases being "I will" and "at all times". We cannot always trust our emotions, and there are times when it feels like we are passing through endless valleys, and that may be the case for some, but even then, we can resolve to bless the Lord. To praise or not to praise is a decision that we make. When and how often we praise are also decisions that we make. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nothing external to you have any power over you", and once we realize this, we will also realize that there is nothing, nor no one, that can stop our praise but ourselves.

We cannot afford to be situational praisers. True praisers see praise as an offering to God for who He is; a celebration of His attributes. Inspired by the Holy spirit, David wrote, "Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD" (Psalm 150).

I am with David. "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the LORD's name is to be praised" (Psalm 113:3), so come and "magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together". Praise ye the Lord!

What's In Your Bucket? II

Thinking of the heart as a container, like a bucket, from which all things flow, the words of Jeremiah regarding the state of the unregenerated heart is somewhat chilling; "...deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (17:9). The Christian is not immune from this affliction. If we performed an honest self-evaluation, we would probably find in our buckets, traces of bitterness, conceit, unforgiveness, pride, anger, jealousy, self-pity, envy, among other things. Some of these may have been in there for years, yet on the outside, we put on a spiritual face that mask our inner realities.

David came face to face with an important truth when he declared, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18). Some have abused this verse in thinking that as long as they do not voice what is in their hearts, then God cannot hear (know) it. Of course, that is not what David meant. Sins of the heart are known by God. The important truth, according to Bible Commentator Matthew Henry, is that "iniquity, regarded in the heart, will certainly spoil the comfort and success of prayer." It doesn't matter how much we wrap ourselves in spiritual clichés, or how much of a righteous face we show to others, it is an undeniably truth that God knows what's in our buckets, and it is He who declares it acceptable or not. It is not by chance that God would have Jeremiah use the word "deceitful" to describe the heart, suggesting the need for constant vigilance to root out those things that are blockages to spiritual progress. The Proverbs provide us with the warning, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (4:23).

In what must have been a moment of reflection, David prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:22, 23). He had previously declared, "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple" (Psalm 27:4). I believe he knew that achieving intimacy with God required transparency. His most earnest desire to seek after the things of God was so great that he was willing to have God examine his bucket! How about you? What is your most earnest desire? What's in your bucket?

Making Things Right

During my formative years attending Sunday School, I liked the Biblical character Zacchaeus (Luke 19). Here was a short, rich publican, a sinner, who had to climb up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus as He passed through his town. I do not know what provoked his curiosity, but I'm sure he didn't realize that his encounter with the Son of God would change his life from that day forward. Isn't that just like Jesus? Any genuine encounter with Him, and a person cannot stay the same.

On this particular day as Zacchaeus perched in the tree, Luke tells us that Jesus, having got to where the tree was, looked up, and said unto him "Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully" (vv. 5, 6). What intrigues me is what followed: "Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold" (V.8). That latter half of that verse speaks to restitution - the act of restoring to a previous state. It is a tragedy of our times that the Church has lost this practice. It is not unusual for brethren to hurt / offend each other, sometimes unknowingly, but the ball and chain tied to our feet and retarding our spiritual progress is our inability to go and make things right with a brother or sister.

It is instructive that Jesus coupled restitution and reconciliation as a crucial part of genuine worship: "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (Matthew 5:22, 23). Maybe somewhere within, Zacchaeus knew that there was no way he could have meaningful fellowship with Christ without first making things right with his fellow men.

There is something in that for all of us. Is there someone you need to make things right with? Sure there may be many reasons why you may not want to do it, but bear in mind that it is your relationship with the Lord that is at stake. May God give us the grace to step out in faith, and reach out to that someone, so we can be free to worship in spirit, and just as importantly, in truth. The Father seeketh such to worship Him (John 4:23).