This Ain't No Ordinary Worship

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. -John 4:23-24

As a movement, I find that the church has moved away from radical worship as we used to know it. Not so far removed are the days of quickening of flesh, shouts of praise, and adorning ourselves with the heaviness of spiritual worship.

We have found that “ordinary worship” is passable. Simply clapping or lifting your hands has been the experience recently and Biblically I have found that worship is a sacrifice. If clapping, singing, and lifting your hands is a true expression of your sacrifice, that is amazing - continue doing that. But I would like to speak to Apostolics who are not allowing themselves to truly present a sacrifice of themselves. The Bible gives examples of people who were in extraordinary situations and exhibited extraordinary praise. Let me give an example:

18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. 20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground. 21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people. 22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. 23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee. 24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. - 2 Samuel 24:18-25

David did not want his worship to be given with no sacrifice. Facing a plague that was making its way to the land of Israel, faced with an extraordinary situation, he was instructed to give extraordinary praise. Would it have been easy for him to build an altar of praise in his own home and give God the minimum requirements? YES. Would that have brought the same result? That’s not a question that we can answer. What we can say is this - there are many of these same types of stories in the Bible. From Paul and Silas in the prison to Abraham leading Isaac up the mountain, these men knew that simple and ordinary wasn’t going to cut it. Paul and Silas could have hung in the jail thinking about Jesus, but instead used what breath they had in their bodies to sing the praises of God. Abraham could have disobeyed God because what He was asking was too uncomfortable, but Abraham knew that God had given him a gift and was going to praise in whatever way God asked.

I was at a service last night where I heard the testimony of a lady who had asked prayer for who I assume was her granddaughter. The church had prayed and God brought her granddaughter out of an unbelievable situation. I watched as this elderly lady whose name I will not mention slowly made her way out of her car, grabbed her cane, and lifted her hands. I saw tears stream down her face as she began to say words that we have all said, but they carried more meaning now - “Thank you Jesus.” As these extraordinary words came out of her mouth and God saw her extraordinary praise, I saw the Spirit of the Lord wash over her and do what only He can do. This is what it means to praise. This is what it means to worship. You might say “Bro. Nathan, I don’t have something like that to praise about.” Here’s a list of things to give God some praise for:

1. You woke up this morning.

2. You’ve got breath to breathe.

3. You’ve not gotten sick from the coronavirus.

4. You’ve been kept safe from harm.

5. You know Him.

6. You have felt His Spirit.

7. You know the Truth.

8. God came down to Earth in the flesh and sacrificed himself for our sins.

9. Etc.,

Apostolic praise does not stop before sacrifice. Apostolic praise does not stop before it interferes with your normal. When we serve a God that interrupted the order of the world to send an extraordinary sacrifice for us, He deserves the same from us.

What Type of Light Are You?

A few days ago as I was walking through Lowe's to get supplies for a job to be done the next day, I happened to glance at the lighting section. With just a glance, I was able to see many different types and shapes of light fixtures and bulbs. What really stuck in my mind was the different levels of light; some were bright and very noticeable, while others were subtle, soft light bulbs.

My heart began to stir as the question "what type light are you?" began to run through my mind. Am I a soft, subtle light that blends into to the environment around me? Not very noticeable sitting among all the other subtle, soft lights around me. Blending in, but not standing out.

"For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth." Acts 13:47

We are set forth to be a light, a beacon in darkness to the lost in this world. We need to be burning bright with the fire of the Holy Ghost so that the lost and undone can, in their darkest moment, see that light and make their way to truth.

"Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:15-16

We were not designed and created to be weak in our representation of Jesus. We are to shine in a dark land and cast light into the dark places of depression and sadness. Our work is to be done among the lost so they can see what can be accomplished when the light of salvation burns brightly in us.

We, as Apostolics, sometimes hide because we don't want ridicule, shame and embarrassment brought upon us by the mockers in this world. We are called to be different, to stand out from the pack, visible even In the darkest of despair.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 2 Corinthians 6:17

In order for our light to shine from our personalities, actions and habits, we must make sure that our lives are clean and pure before God. The smudges of sin in our lives must be routinely cleaned off by repentance and worship. When the globe or lens is clean, the light from within can cast out and overcome darkness -- consuming the shadows where sin and despair loves to hide.

Remember oil can be in the lantern, a flame can be lit, but if the cover is not clean that light will not shine.

God bless you, I love you all and pray that the light of truth will wash over each of us today.

Bro. Teeples

Faith Isn't Just A Word, It Has To Be A Habit In Use

In this writing when I use the word FAITH I am referring to the belief that God is going to move in us and our situations, not as what I believe religiously. We as a modern church society tend to talk about faith, but when it comes to action, our faith is more of a background image. It is there, but not predominant in our lives. As time has passed and life for the most part has become comfortable, faith has moved from being a tangible part of our lives to being a word of no real meaning. Faith is not a part of salvation that has diminished in time. In fact, it is still just as powerful as your need requires. The issue, as I see it, is this -- we have lost faith to just believe. We find it so easy to run to a temporary solution to handle our need instead of waiting in faith for God to solve the issue in its entirety. In days gone by those temporary solutions were hard to come by, pain killers were limited and, in many cases, more deadly than the ailment causing the pain. Now pain killers are found in nearly every place we go. Its easier to believe in those for relief than in God through faith it seems.

In times when food was scarce and there were no grocery stores or food banks to go to, faith in God was needed for substance. Now it seems that food is bountiful in most places in our country. Faith in God to supply is not needed it seems.

In the days of our country's growth, money was scarce and there were no disability checks, or welfare programs. Faith in God was the bank for many during these times. Now it seems that even the poorest among us are living in prosperity compared to those in the days of which I speak. It seems that faith in God is no longer needed. Why is faith in these things important, Pastor? This is why. If we don't practice faith in these matters that are not life or death then how can we believe with faith in the times of desperation? When death is facing us, or calamity is upon our family, the over the counter medicine isn't going to work, the doctor has said go home and die, the bank can't buy your healing, where will you turn? How can you use something that you have not practiced?

James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? We can talk about it, we can relive it through stories of old (and we should), but if we don't put it into work in our lives it will die with us! Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Church attendance is not required, they say; we can have church at home, they say; I don't need a pastor, they say. Then how can you hear? How can your faith build? I propose that the timeline of church attendance slacking off is about the same time there was a decline in healings and miracles. I said decline, not disappear. There are still some that live it. There are still some that speak in faith and allow God to be their Savior in all things. I propose that Satan has had a hand in stealing the necessity of faith in the small things, therefore effectively crippling faith in the big things. If we can't believe God for healing of a headache then how can we trust Him for cancer, tumors, heart disease, etc. What is the difference in the woman with the issue of blood and you? Faith! What is the difference in you and the blind man? Faith! What is the difference in you and the woman who gave all she had? Faith! Jesus has not changed since the days of those examples, not even a little. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. As a people, we must get back to the business of letting God be God. To remove Him from the small things in our life is to limit Him in the large things. Lets make it a point to use the faith instilled in use by receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost in all aspects of our lives. God is still in business and we need to make faith a habit in our daily lives. Love you and God bless you. Pastor Teeples