I grew up in the CRC, and am still here, along with my family. I'm married to Daryl, who has a construction business. I had a CPA license for 10 or so years, then I added EX to the front, and MOM to the back, so now I'm an EX CPA, MOM =). I am MOM to Duncan, Ian and Samantha. Our family also owns a raspberry farm, and in the summers we get to work out there together.
Praise the Lord, He gave us His Holy Spirit to help us, comfort us, counsel us, lead us, guide us, etc...
Blain, thanks for sharing your heart & a bit of your journey... each journey is beautiful & unique in its own way, even though there are times it can be very painful, it is also very personal & profound...
May the eyes of our hearts continue to be open with the Spirit of wisdom & revelation to know our Heavenly Father, our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ more and more by the power of the Holy Spirit in each of us as His saints/holy people in our journeys of faith & praise... there's a time for high praise, a time for solemn reverence & everything in between... \o/ \o/ \o/ PTL!
The movement of the Spirit is a mystery, much like the wind (so I read "windy" as potentially Spirit inspired ;)... the Spirit and the Life He gives is a huge topic so we could fill books with our discussion as many books have already been filled on this, and I think the "wrestling" is Prov. 27 sharpening, and i will say it again, I would much rather discuss this person to person, because it is a "concept" worthy of much deeper discussion.
Is the evidence of the Spirit always tears and tongues? Well, when was the last time anyone has experienced tongues in a crc? From my experience, I have found it extremely rare for whatever reasons. I am not seeing any over emphasis on tongues or tears, in our denomination, and we are probably a long, long ways off from that being a "problem". Instead I usually hear comments that treat such "expressions" with disdain or fear. So I would love a holistic approach, but it has seemed like we "pick and choose" only certain elements (ie like preaching, etc) that we are more comfortable with. If I experienced or heard a testimony of us actually "shouting" to the LORD!, I would say ok, maybe I'm wrong (which I love to be proved wrong by testimonies =), and we are more open to these different "expressions" than the evidence of what my experience has shown . But I have never heard it! that doesn't mean it hasn't happened in the crc, but when I bring it up, instead of a testimony that shows I'm wrong, I often hear reasons justifying why we don't need to be doing that.
back to the mystery of how the Spirit moves... I love this quote from Duncan Campbell:
When God Stepped down... not an evangelist, not a special effort, not anything at all organized on the basis of human endeavor, but an awareness of God that gripped the whole community.
I am interested if anyone has any further insights on: Ps. 149:6 and high praise and what that might look like in worship; the different translations of Ps. 22:3 (NIV and NKJV); what does the "anointing" of the Spirit look like today, is this the same as the Spirit being "upon" someone =), and what about revivals.
ps... I became a cpa so i wouldn't have to write... =)
how fitting for our holistic approach to worship... the following is from the link to a Dallas Willard article also on the network's art. 17 thread....
As the Living Word and the written Word occupy our minds we naturally—and supernaturally—come to love God more and more because we see, clearly and constantly, how lovely He is.
The wise Puritan, Thomas Watson, wrote:
The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of God. “When I awake, I am still with thee” (Ps. 139:18). The thoughts are as travelers in the mind. David's thoughts kept heaven-road. “I am still with Thee.” God is the treasure, and where the treasure is, there is the heart. By this we may test our love to God. What are our thoughts most upon? Can we say we are ravished with delight when we think on God? Have our thoughts got wings? Are they fled aloft? Do we contemplate Christ and glory? ... A sinner crowds God out of his thoughts. He never thinks of God, unless with horror, as the prisoner thinks of the judge.3
In this way we enter a life, not just times, of worship. The hymn of heaven will be a constant presence in our inner lives: “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and forever” (Rev. 5:13, NASB).
Worship will become the constant undertone of our lives. It is the single most powerful force in completing and sustaining restoration of our whole beings to God. Nothing can inform, guide, and sustain pervasive and radiant goodness in a person other than the true vision of God and the worship that spontaneously arises from it. Then the power of the indwelling Christ flows from us to others.
Remember, however, that we are not trying to worship. Worship is not another job we have to do. It is one aspect of the gift of “living water” that springs “up to eternal life” (John 4:14; 7:38, NASB). Our part is to turn our minds toward God and to attend to His graceful actions in our souls. This is the primary “care of the soul” we must exercise. Then love and worship, worship and love, flow in our lives as we walk constantly with God. By stepping with Him—in the flow of His grace—we live with spontaneity, love our neighbors, and minister the word and power gospel.
Hi Adriel, so sorry I missed your response from last June... Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your experiences and insight here! I love that you have been helping the Coit congregation grow in understanding of the rich spectrum of worship and praise. I love the Hebrew praise words that give us permission to physically express how we love our heavenly Father with all our heart, soul, mind AND STRENGTH! so good!
Blessings to you on your journey, would love an update on how God is working in your life as you serve His Kingdom!
Thanks for responding David, I would be interested in your insights and thoughts... Hebr 12 is a key chapter that God has made living and active for me regarding various matters, so appreciate your insights on the present tense of our worship...
Hi David, so sorry to hear about your health struggles. Thankful to hear that you are still dancing before the Lord, despite the suffering you have experienced! I love your testimony!
Thank you for sharing how God is continuing to minister to you in this way, to help you grow in understanding of worship and praise. Worship is a rich word, that includes so many different ways that we worship our Creator, our Lord and Savior!! Praise is one of those ways, but not the only way... every breath, every thought, every action is meant to be part of our worship.
There are so many levels, dynamics in the wide spectrum of expressions that we have been given to worship our Holy God! from solemn reverence to exuberant joyful praise and everything in between. There is a time and place for each expression.
You are His precious and priceless son, dearly loved! He delights in you! The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord shine His face upon you and give you His peace and grace, now and forever, in Jesus precious name!
PS. Yes, I did follow the Asbury revival! beautiful, powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, especially on behalf of Gen Z...
Since 2008, I've been praying into "God's economy", which i think will look a lot different than what we are seeing in our culture, even our "Church" culture. I encourage you all to pray asking Him to show you His ecomony. I think it would be amazing to share insights rec'd through the Holy Spirit and put the pieces together that He might give to different people in His body, for what He intended for His economy. I believe one of the scriptural insights is Malachi 3:10-12. Our family has experienced this many times over, where we have been gifted with far more than we need! We're not buying it! "stuff"/food just pours in from people/friends/family giving and we do not have enough room to hold it (which is another discussion).
An interesting "fast" that I had several years ago, was a buying fast, where for an extended time, i would only buy basics, food, gifts for others and 1 book/month that would feed the soul (now for some of us, the book realm might be where we need to fast =). Only my husband knew about the "fast" at the time.
Anyway, the second day of the fast, my sister brought me 2 bags of her clothes, that she didn't fit in. I'm still wearing them, even though some have holes now, so i call them my holy pants, because they represent a shift in our family's spending and giving.
Then a few days later, a sister in law brought 4 bags of kids clothes. I saw these "gifts" as confirmations of the fast. There were other confirmations as well, and i would have to go find my journal, because I don't remember them all.
Ok, I'll share some ideas from an email we rec'd, encouraging us to think about how we can "invest" our $ a little more locally over this Christmas giving season, with tomorrow being support local, small business day.
Give gift certificates for: hair cuts, lawn mowing, house cleaning, vehicle detailing, or oil change, golfing, gym membership, locally owned restaurants or coffe shops, computer repairs, local theatre or bands, local high school sports, plays or other activities, locally grown flower baskets, local garden businesses and landscapers. these are just a few ideas that will support business right in our communities.
Add your own thoughts. I'm sure we could have some very creative Spirit led ideas. One suggestion I will share would be to hire a house cleaner for someone (maybe your wife =). I know a lot of moms, that this is the extra they make so they can keep their kids at Christian school. (i see this idea is mentioned in the email) and one more thought, support your grandkids with Christian school tuition =)... now that's investing.
I am not anti-walmart, God has giving me some beautiful insights/epiphanies there, so I'm not sure what that means about His economic view on Walmart ;), but He has had me in tears with thoughts He has shared while I was shopping there - and that's an entire discussion again.
I believe we (America - including Canada) are blessed so we can bless others. I think that was one of the concepts we had mostly missed prior to 2008. so with tithing/contributions at about an average of 2-3% of income, somewhere i read this was true for Christians as well, we have some work to do =). So I encourage us all to think about how we are investing our resources for Kingdom purposes.
This is reminding me also of the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan, and he challenges us/Americans to live the Acts 2:42-47 way. So what would that look like for us today? Is it possible? Is that part of God's economic plan for us still? =)
I encourage you all to share some stories/testimonies of how God has worked in your life when you did "economic"/financial things God's way, instead of leaning on our own understanding. I will share some more of ours, if you share some of yours!
David, it's actually 9 years later... this was originally posted in 2012, then this website re did some updating and somehow it was updated in 2017...
I continue to grow in understanding and expressing "high praise" along with the many physical expressions of praise based on the Hebrew words used... the "high" praise is a concept that has not been a part of my tradition's language regarding worship...
Hey Ken... good to see you back on here... thanks for pointing us back to the basics of loving God 1st, and then neighbors. Amen, Amen!
I loved Doug's comment that he was "richer" for staying, and obviously not referring to his portfolio value, but richer in relational love for his neighbors and richer in experience (I'm thinking in trusting God and His ways is part of that), and in being obedient to God's call for his family. That's God's economy. It's eternal treasure.
I think what Doug shared is one way Acts 2:42-47 looks in today's culture.
I also had to think about going against everyone's advice some more. I got a kick out of it because it is going against conventional "wisdom", and it made sense in a higher than the heavens God way (Is.55). But it was also interesting and unusual because generally (but not always) the Holy Spirit will confirm significant decisions like that through other (generally Spirit led, but not always the case) people. So as I'm studying guidance by the Holy Spirit, and His ways of confirmation, I will admit that that is unusual, and I'm glad you felt compelled enough to follow through. I am curious about the process of your decision 10 years ago as well. that fascinates me! That helps me understand how the Holy Spirit "prompts"/guides us in many different ways. I know what I've experienced, but i enjoy hearing and learn from listening to the "process" others went through as well. Again, the 2008 timing is very interesting to me as well!
I know each of these specific testimonies are not what everyone or even many are called to, but I hope that by sharing them, it will inspire other believers to take that step of faith, whatever it might look like in their life that the Spirit is putting on their heart at this time, and these stories and God's goodness through them, will encourage whomever it might be, to possibly be a little more (do i dare say) "radical" about their faith and lifestyle. =). To go beyond human wisdom, man's understanding (Prov. 3:5-6) and walk in step with His Spirit, to follow that prompting that you are pretty sure is from the LORD!
Posted in: What Exactly is High Praise?
Praise the Lord, He gave us His Holy Spirit to help us, comfort us, counsel us, lead us, guide us, etc...
Blain, thanks for sharing your heart & a bit of your journey... each journey is beautiful & unique in its own way, even though there are times it can be very painful, it is also very personal & profound...
May the eyes of our hearts continue to be open with the Spirit of wisdom & revelation to know our Heavenly Father, our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ more and more by the power of the Holy Spirit in each of us as His saints/holy people in our journeys of faith & praise... there's a time for high praise, a time for solemn reverence & everything in between... \o/ \o/ \o/ PTL!
Posted in: Where Does the Life Come From?
thanks Rich, for pointing me to that info =) !
Posted in: What Exactly is High Praise?
Thank you for sharing these worship songs David... I just subscribed to your channel & hit "play all"... listening as I respond :) \o/ \o/ \o/ PTL!
Ephesians 5:19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, (biblehub.com)
Very confirming of one of the 59 "one another" commands that I love to share!!!
The “One Another” Passages (mmlearn.org)
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
Posted in: Where Does the Life Come From?
The movement of the Spirit is a mystery, much like the wind (so I read "windy" as potentially Spirit inspired ;)... the Spirit and the Life He gives is a huge topic so we could fill books with our discussion as many books have already been filled on this, and I think the "wrestling" is Prov. 27 sharpening, and i will say it again, I would much rather discuss this person to person, because it is a "concept" worthy of much deeper discussion.
Is the evidence of the Spirit always tears and tongues? Well, when was the last time anyone has experienced tongues in a crc? From my experience, I have found it extremely rare for whatever reasons. I am not seeing any over emphasis on tongues or tears, in our denomination, and we are probably a long, long ways off from that being a "problem". Instead I usually hear comments that treat such "expressions" with disdain or fear. So I would love a holistic approach, but it has seemed like we "pick and choose" only certain elements (ie like preaching, etc) that we are more comfortable with. If I experienced or heard a testimony of us actually "shouting" to the LORD!, I would say ok, maybe I'm wrong (which I love to be proved wrong by testimonies =), and we are more open to these different "expressions" than the evidence of what my experience has shown . But I have never heard it! that doesn't mean it hasn't happened in the crc, but when I bring it up, instead of a testimony that shows I'm wrong, I often hear reasons justifying why we don't need to be doing that.
back to the mystery of how the Spirit moves... I love this quote from Duncan Campbell:
When God Stepped down... not an evangelist, not a special effort, not anything at all organized on the basis of human endeavor, but an awareness of God that gripped the whole community.
For the full message:. http://www.revival-library.org/leadership/rs_dcwhengod.php
I am interested if anyone has any further insights on: Ps. 149:6 and high praise and what that might look like in worship; the different translations of Ps. 22:3 (NIV and NKJV); what does the "anointing" of the Spirit look like today, is this the same as the Spirit being "upon" someone =), and what about revivals.
ps... I became a cpa so i wouldn't have to write... =)
Posted in: What Exactly is High Praise?
Ahhh.. you are appreciated David!
Couldn't copy one pic so here's a whole bunch ; )
53,029 Worshipping God Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images
Posted in: Where Does the Life Come From?
how fitting for our holistic approach to worship... the following is from the link to a Dallas Willard article also on the network's art. 17 thread....
http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=106
Love and Worship
As the Living Word and the written Word occupy our minds we naturally—and supernaturally—come to love God more and more because we see, clearly and constantly, how lovely He is.
The wise Puritan, Thomas Watson, wrote:
In this way we enter a life, not just times, of worship. The hymn of heaven will be a constant presence in our inner lives: “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and forever” (Rev. 5:13, NASB).
Worship will become the constant undertone of our lives. It is the single most powerful force in completing and sustaining restoration of our whole beings to God. Nothing can inform, guide, and sustain pervasive and radiant goodness in a person other than the true vision of God and the worship that spontaneously arises from it. Then the power of the indwelling Christ flows from us to others.
Remember, however, that we are not trying to worship. Worship is not another job we have to do. It is one aspect of the gift of “living water” that springs “up to eternal life” (John 4:14; 7:38, NASB). Our part is to turn our minds toward God and to attend to His graceful actions in our souls. This is the primary “care of the soul” we must exercise. Then love and worship, worship and love, flow in our lives as we walk constantly with God. By stepping with Him—in the flow of His grace—we live with spontaneity, love our neighbors, and minister the word and power gospel.
Posted in: What Exactly is High Praise?
Hi Adriel, so sorry I missed your response from last June... Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your experiences and insight here! I love that you have been helping the Coit congregation grow in understanding of the rich spectrum of worship and praise. I love the Hebrew praise words that give us permission to physically express how we love our heavenly Father with all our heart, soul, mind AND STRENGTH! so good!
Blessings to you on your journey, would love an update on how God is working in your life as you serve His Kingdom!
HE is MIGHTY to save, HE DELIGHTS in you and REJOICES over you with LOUD, EXUBERANT SINGING! Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing." (biblehub.com)
Posted in: What Exactly is High Praise?
Thanks for responding David, I would be interested in your insights and thoughts... Hebr 12 is a key chapter that God has made living and active for me regarding various matters, so appreciate your insights on the present tense of our worship...
Posted in: What Exactly is High Praise?
Hi David, so sorry to hear about your health struggles. Thankful to hear that you are still dancing before the Lord, despite the suffering you have experienced! I love your testimony!
Thank you for sharing how God is continuing to minister to you in this way, to help you grow in understanding of worship and praise. Worship is a rich word, that includes so many different ways that we worship our Creator, our Lord and Savior!! Praise is one of those ways, but not the only way... every breath, every thought, every action is meant to be part of our worship.
There are so many levels, dynamics in the wide spectrum of expressions that we have been given to worship our Holy God! from solemn reverence to exuberant joyful praise and everything in between. There is a time and place for each expression.
You are His precious and priceless son, dearly loved! He delights in you! The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord shine His face upon you and give you His peace and grace, now and forever, in Jesus precious name!
PS. Yes, I did follow the Asbury revival! beautiful, powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, especially on behalf of Gen Z...
Posted in: An Anthem for Black Friday
Since 2008, I've been praying into "God's economy", which i think will look a lot different than what we are seeing in our culture, even our "Church" culture. I encourage you all to pray asking Him to show you His ecomony. I think it would be amazing to share insights rec'd through the Holy Spirit and put the pieces together that He might give to different people in His body, for what He intended for His economy. I believe one of the scriptural insights is Malachi 3:10-12. Our family has experienced this many times over, where we have been gifted with far more than we need! We're not buying it! "stuff"/food just pours in from people/friends/family giving and we do not have enough room to hold it (which is another discussion).
An interesting "fast" that I had several years ago, was a buying fast, where for an extended time, i would only buy basics, food, gifts for others and 1 book/month that would feed the soul (now for some of us, the book realm might be where we need to fast =). Only my husband knew about the "fast" at the time.
Anyway, the second day of the fast, my sister brought me 2 bags of her clothes, that she didn't fit in. I'm still wearing them, even though some have holes now, so i call them my holy pants, because they represent a shift in our family's spending and giving.
Then a few days later, a sister in law brought 4 bags of kids clothes. I saw these "gifts" as confirmations of the fast. There were other confirmations as well, and i would have to go find my journal, because I don't remember them all.
Ok, I'll share some ideas from an email we rec'd, encouraging us to think about how we can "invest" our $ a little more locally over this Christmas giving season, with tomorrow being support local, small business day.
Give gift certificates for: hair cuts, lawn mowing, house cleaning, vehicle detailing, or oil change, golfing, gym membership, locally owned restaurants or coffe shops, computer repairs, local theatre or bands, local high school sports, plays or other activities, locally grown flower baskets, local garden businesses and landscapers. these are just a few ideas that will support business right in our communities.
Add your own thoughts. I'm sure we could have some very creative Spirit led ideas. One suggestion I will share would be to hire a house cleaner for someone (maybe your wife =). I know a lot of moms, that this is the extra they make so they can keep their kids at Christian school. (i see this idea is mentioned in the email) and one more thought, support your grandkids with Christian school tuition =)... now that's investing.
I am not anti-walmart, God has giving me some beautiful insights/epiphanies there, so I'm not sure what that means about His economic view on Walmart ;), but He has had me in tears with thoughts He has shared while I was shopping there - and that's an entire discussion again.
I believe we (America - including Canada) are blessed so we can bless others. I think that was one of the concepts we had mostly missed prior to 2008. so with tithing/contributions at about an average of 2-3% of income, somewhere i read this was true for Christians as well, we have some work to do =). So I encourage us all to think about how we are investing our resources for Kingdom purposes.
This is reminding me also of the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan, and he challenges us/Americans to live the Acts 2:42-47 way. So what would that look like for us today? Is it possible? Is that part of God's economic plan for us still? =)
I encourage you all to share some stories/testimonies of how God has worked in your life when you did "economic"/financial things God's way, instead of leaning on our own understanding. I will share some more of ours, if you share some of yours!
Posted in: What Exactly is High Praise?
David, it's actually 9 years later... this was originally posted in 2012, then this website re did some updating and somehow it was updated in 2017...
I continue to grow in understanding and expressing "high praise" along with the many physical expressions of praise based on the Hebrew words used... the "high" praise is a concept that has not been a part of my tradition's language regarding worship...
Posted in: An Anthem for Black Friday
Hey Ken... good to see you back on here... thanks for pointing us back to the basics of loving God 1st, and then neighbors. Amen, Amen!
I loved Doug's comment that he was "richer" for staying, and obviously not referring to his portfolio value, but richer in relational love for his neighbors and richer in experience (I'm thinking in trusting God and His ways is part of that), and in being obedient to God's call for his family. That's God's economy. It's eternal treasure.
I think what Doug shared is one way Acts 2:42-47 looks in today's culture.
I also had to think about going against everyone's advice some more. I got a kick out of it because it is going against conventional "wisdom", and it made sense in a higher than the heavens God way (Is.55). But it was also interesting and unusual because generally (but not always) the Holy Spirit will confirm significant decisions like that through other (generally Spirit led, but not always the case) people. So as I'm studying guidance by the Holy Spirit, and His ways of confirmation, I will admit that that is unusual, and I'm glad you felt compelled enough to follow through. I am curious about the process of your decision 10 years ago as well. that fascinates me! That helps me understand how the Holy Spirit "prompts"/guides us in many different ways. I know what I've experienced, but i enjoy hearing and learn from listening to the "process" others went through as well. Again, the 2008 timing is very interesting to me as well!
I know each of these specific testimonies are not what everyone or even many are called to, but I hope that by sharing them, it will inspire other believers to take that step of faith, whatever it might look like in their life that the Spirit is putting on their heart at this time, and these stories and God's goodness through them, will encourage whomever it might be, to possibly be a little more (do i dare say) "radical" about their faith and lifestyle. =). To go beyond human wisdom, man's understanding (Prov. 3:5-6) and walk in step with His Spirit, to follow that prompting that you are pretty sure is from the LORD!