FBCD_FaithEssentials_June_FlipBook

Faith Essentials

Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). Paul told the church at Corinth that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8). Next, heaven hosts peerless, perpetual praise. So much of our worship on earth is flawed. We honor God with our lips but our hearts are far from Him. (Isaiah 29:13). We come to Him in praise despite unconfessed sin in our lives. Our minds are prone to wander. Those who don’t know Jesus sing along as if they did. Too often, our times of worship are too predictable, scripted, and brief. Such is not the case in heaven. In His vision from the isle of Patmos, John saw living creatures, or angels, at God’s throne saying: “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME” (Revelation 4:8). Later , the beloved disciple saw a countless multitude standing at the throne before the Lamb crying out, “Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10). The book Psalms of the Heart contains the story of two missionaries who traveled to southern Mexico to work among the Chol Indians. Among other ministries, they labored 25 years to translate the New Testament into the local language. Today, more than 12,000 make up the Chol Christian Community—which, by the way, is financially self-supporting. What’s most amazing is that when the missionaries arrived, the locals didn’t even know how to sing. Upon their conversion, however, the Christians in the tribe became known as “the singers.” “They love to sing now,” said author George Sweeting, “because they have something to sing about.” 2 If you know Jesus as Savior, you too, have something to sing about. “SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT”

113