Songs of Ascent, Simply Beautiful

In June this year (2009), I was asked by my pastor to put music to scripture word for word, specifically to the 15 Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120 to 134). From the start of the first Psalm which I worked on (which was Psalm 130) to the completion of last one (Psalm 133), I have not ceased to be amazed, for the Lord has given me melody after melody to fit His words. I believe this is because we, the church of Jesus Christ, are entering into a season where these psalms will become more and more relevant, as we look forward to our Lord's return. (Please read the enclosed write-up for a clearer understanding of the Songs of Ascents).

I thank my pastor for allowing the Lord the use him to challenge me to the task. (Your feedback and guidance were crucial to keeping me on track.) I thank my church for enthusiastically learning and singing these psalms. (Hearing you sing them week after week gave me the encouragement to continue writing.) I thank my husband for providing me with all that I needed to work on these psalms. (You were the first to have the vision that we would sing straight out of out Bibles!) I thank my kids for their endless support and love. I thank my friends (in particular Pastor Wah Lok and Rich Moore) for their help, feedback and encouragement. Most of all, I thank my God, my Lord and Master, for seeing me fit to be a channel for what He wants to bless the body of Christ with.

Here's a short write-up for a better understanding on the Songs of Ascents:

Psalms 120-134, also called the Songs of Ascents, are basically songs sung by the Israelites as they "ascended" in their pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Zion) to worship God at the annual feasts. The Songs of Ascents collectively have a Zion-ward movement and express a deep yearning to be in Zion, the eternal dwelling place of God. These 15 psalms can be divided into five groups of three. The first four groups (Psalms 120 to 131) share similar themes: the first psalm has the pilgrim crying out to God for help in a situation of distress; the second emphasizes the Lord as the deliverer; and the third rejoices the pilgrims' ultimate security in Zion where God dwells. The last three songs (Psalms 132 to 134) are all psalms of arrival celebrating the blessing of being and fellowshipping in the Presence of God in Zion.

Why sing the Songs of Ascents? Firstly, it is in obedience to God's command to use psalms in worship (Col. 3:16, Eph. 5:19, 1Cor. 14:26) and to meditate on His Word day and night (Psalm 1) that we might be blessed. Singing makes memorizing much easier. Secondly, many scriptures are prophetic of the end time, and none more so than the Songs of Ascents. These psalms teach and prepare us to face the distressing tribulations that the true Church of Jesus Christ will increasingly experience in this end time (Mt 24: 9-13, 22). The ancient pilgrims' cries of hope in distress are becoming our cries to God for our own deliverance. Furthermore, their joyful arrival in Zion encourages us to hold on to our blessed hope in Christ when He returns to take us to reign with Him in Jerusalem (Rev. 20:4). Lastly, the Songs of Ascents remind us that even now, we are all pilgrims on an inward spiritual pilgrimage Zion-ward as we await our literal ascent to Jerusalem. Therefore, we are exhorted not to love the world or the things in the world, to forsake all, take up our cross daily and follow Christ.

Esther

More on this artist, who is my beloved mummy:
http://ps138.blogspot.com/
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=329899

Modesty

I found this quite interesting. Modesty Survey

Sermon Index

Semonindex

I found a lot of videos that I post from this channel. It's a website that has lots of audio, text and video sermons from different speakers like Art Katz, David Wilkerson, Paul Washer, etc.

VISION OF THIS MINISTRY

'The mission of SermonIndex is the preservation and propagation of classical vintage preaching and the promotion of genuine biblical revival to this generation.'

The work and ministry of sermonindex can be encapsulated in this one word: Revival. Sermonindex is not an organization, business, or any attempt by man to build something for God. It is rather a expression of a heart burden to see the Church revived and brought back to holiness, purity, and power with God. The main thrust of the speakers and articles on the website are towards an 'apostolic' vision of the church of God found in Holy Scriptures. This biblical balanced Christianity is something needed in contrast to our modern day commercial, superficial, cultural Christianity. The desire for a spiritual awakening is in hopes that it will restore this original apostolic church in this world as a better expression of what the Church should be.

'I was now beholding a precious gem, what my heart had been longing for. The strong preaching that seems to have gone by the wayside has once again been resurrected.' - Mike Balog. This quote encapsulates what sermonindex has done, which is recapture old biblical preaching that has been lost for a generation. There is a need amongst the apostasy and lukewarmness to find real, solid biblical preaching in our day. This scripture was given for sermonindex as a ministry in the midst of this spiritual declension we find ourselves in: 'A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their own means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?' -Jeremiah 5:31

The TRUE Grace of God!

^{Jude 1:4} For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God^a]">[a] and our Lord Jesus Christ.

The second coming

Matthew 24
Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple
1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all[a]these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,[b] and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
The Great Tribulation

15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’[c] spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
The Coming of the Son of Man

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The Parable of the Fig Tree

32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it[d] is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
No One Knows the Day or Hour

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,[e] but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour[f] your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant

45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ [g] 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Wake Up Church!

A Call to Anguish by David Wilkerson

Here is such a important video. Pastor played it 3 times in church and only 1 week later i began to understand. "All true passion is born out of anguish"... Pastor Susan also says the same thing. May God raise up more voices in the wilderness to preach HIS truth unadultered and not poisoned. Pastor always says that if you take bottle of clean pure water
and just put 1 drop of filthy sewage water, would you still drink it? So also with God's word. There is no such thing as partial truth. Either it is the pure word of God, living water, or poisonous heresy!






Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8utrtxNRE4Y&feature=related See Youtube and click the link at the side for pt 2 and 3

Here's a link to David Wilkerson's blog: http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/

More of his videos on youtube

Live the Antithesis!

This article is very helpful and important - http://station-of-life.org/tarticles/LIVING_THE_ANTITHESIS.htm

There are some e-books here that are very good - http://station-of-life.org/EBOOK.htm

The End Times

A little bite of Proverbs

Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory, But shame shall be the legacy of fools.

This is yet another exaltation to be wise. The Proverbs are abundant in these. Yea – there are bountiful blessings in being wise. Yet our wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord, not from the wisdom of this world, which the Apostle James says is earthly, sensual, and demonic. Truly, the wisdom of God is from above, and is:

Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Needless to say those with such wisdom from above are so filled with the righteousness of God, abundant in peace and longsuffering, and the inheritance of glory is yet another one of the benefits of godly wisdom.

Shame, truly, is the legacy of fools. The word shame is the Hebrew word kawlone which means: confusion, dishonor, ignominy, and reproach. The world legacy is translated in the King James as “promotion”. All a fool will ever be promoted to is shame - shame because of their foolishness which abounds from the lack of fear in God. The fool says in his heart that there is no God (Psalms 14, 53) The fool chooses to be indifference to the power and the presence of the Almighty God. The fool refuses to submit under the authority of the very God, the only God, who created Him.

Be wise, therefore, in all the knowledge and understanding, wisdom and truth, which is from above where Christ is.

The True Patriotism of Christian

The True Patriotism of a Christian

True Patriotism is not wanting what a man wants for your country, or even what you yourself think is right, but what God wills. In all things, God’s ultimate will is accomplished. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mat 6:10)

True Patriotism is not selfish pride and arrogance in our country's accomplishments. As Christians, we are to walk not in strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (Php 2:3)

True Patriotism is the heart of intercession. We are to be watchmen intercessors over our nation. Paul said in Colossians 4, “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving”.

True Patriotism is not the desire to turn our governments into "Christian", but our "heart's desire" should be that all men may be saved. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

(Col 1:27-29)

True Patriotism is seeing our present governments, no matter how evil, as appointed by God as ministers on His behalf, and submitting to them. (Romans 13:4)

We ought to obey God rather than men. not to rebel against our God-given authorities. We are to “subject to the governing authorities”. But what if the government is unjust and abuses its rights? We are still to recognize them as God-appointed. We are to give them the respect they deserve. They will be held accountable to God, but we must first respect them, and obey them, and “render therefore to all their due” (Romans 13:7)

Peter and the other apostles said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” We obey God by submitting to our governing authorities, because that is what God commands us to do.

Men may riot, men may demonstrate, men may protest, but we as Christians know that rebellion against authorities is sin. All rebellion is sin. By rebelling against authorities we rebel against God, because it is God who put those authorities over us.

Always remember that God is our ultimate authority and obey God rather than men. In all things submit to Christ, the head of all the church (Col 1:18), but still respecting our earthly governments as God commanded. When our authorities ask us to sin, and in that so rebel against God, we are to respectfully obey God rather than men. We do not protest or rebel, but we obey God and live through the consequences of that, always remembering that

… We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

(Rom 5:3-5)

For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

(1Pe 3:17)

We must all ultimately realize that our walk on earth is only temporal, and we are all citizens of the spiritual Israel, the bud grafted in (Romans 11) which is now in the spiritual realm, but will soon be in the physical as well. (During the millennium, after the tribulation where Jesus comes back to reign)

(1Ch 29:15)For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. (1Ti 2:1-2)

Now, as for the issue for our rights – what rights? Our old man, our sinful nature, who died with Christ , is the one who owns these rights. Our new man, raised with Christ, not being of this world but being of the Kingdom of God, does not cling to earthly temporal rights of citizens of this earth, but rather clings to mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col 1:27b)

We are to put Christ as the preeminence in our lives and follow in His truths.

We are to submit to governing authorities, and whoever else God puts over us as an “umbrella” of authority (parents, employers, etc) BUT knowing that Christ is the ultimate authority and in all we do we are accountable to God.

Col 3:1

(1) If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

(2) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

(3) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

(4) When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

(5) Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

(6) For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

(7) In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

(8) But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

(9) Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

(10) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

(11) Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

(12) Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

(13) Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

(14) And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

(15) And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

(16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

(17) And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

(18) Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.

(19) Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

(20) Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.

(21) Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

(22) Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:

(23) And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

(24) Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

(25) But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.