Heavens Roar

Today was a windy day. The fierce gusts lashed my car and pushed it around. Swirls of browning leaves flew across the road as I concentrated on keeping control of the car. The harsh winds howled. Regardless, I worshipped to some Tim Hughes and Soul Survivor. Why? Because my God is greater than the harshest storm and He is more powerful than anything this world throws at me. My God is greater; My God is over all. He can calm a storm with just His voice! I didn’t need to worry about a bit of wind- I have the King of the universe by my side!

Check this song out! This was one that I was worshipping along to!

Tonight was a momentous occasion; It was the first time I’d ever sang in the CU worship band. You’d have thought I’d be more nervous about this, but no! I was fairly confident! (see why: BOOM!). The only drawback to this was my mouth/throat. Y’see, Its been troubling me for a few days now. Apparently, I have an infection or something. The word ‘tonsillitus’ was used in passing when talking about symptoms… I may or may not have this D: !! Regardless, I was able to worship in spite of the discomfort.

The thing about my mouth/throat though, was that it took my focus out briefly. (Also, for some reason I felt really tired after singing too… I felt so tired that I had to leave straight after; I thought that if I left it any longer I wouldn’t have been able to drive home safely.) Usually, before I sing in a time of worship, I like to pray it through. I pray to see a glimpse of heaven touching earth. I pray that I would burn brightly for God. I pray that God, by His power, would touch people’s hearts through the time of worship. But not today. Today, I was downing a bottle of water.

It came to the time and I went up to sing. It was different to leading in church – for one it was just me and 2 singer/guitarists. Theres something nice about cutting back the sound/distortion/FX pedals/ drums/ electric in a time of worship. It creates a sort of intimate atmosphere. I feel this was achieved tonight. As a result of this atmosphere, there were no fold-back speakers, so you couldn’t just hear the musicians. We did a 3 song list; 2 songs before the sermon, 1 song after. And God granted me the desire of my heart.

Things I have usually prayed through many times before worship sessions happened tonight. I glimpsed the glory of the Lord. I heard the sound of heaven touching earth. I heard the people worshipping alongside me. I don’t often get to hear this as there are usually drums and electric guitars behind me, but tonight I heard it. I saw the people giving their all in worship. I heard the sweet sound of God’s children bringing Him praise. It was wonderful. Oh, to bask in that moment – it is like being in the heart of worship! God’s children intimately singing praise to their loving Father in Heaven. Heaven roars God’s praise; His children echo the roar. It was such a blessing to be part of this experience. It was a holy moment. There are times for selah moments – but there are also times to hear the heavens roar. And even if the roar is soft, there is a time to hear it! For a second there, It was like we weren’t on earth! It was like we were just resting in His company and serenading the Lord with song. And. it. was. lovely.

That said, here’s a psalm to ponder on! Or at least part of a psalm!

Psalm 33

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 33

¹ Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
² Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
³ Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.⁴ For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
⁵ The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

⁶ By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars^[a];
he puts the deep into storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

 

 

Praise the Lord! God is worthy of praise! He made EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE and yet He still meets with me! He still has time for lil’ old me!

Even when my I’m not 100%, or when the distractions of this world grab my attention, God always re-aligns my heart! And when I bring God praise, He meets me powerfully. He never ceases to amaze me! He always welcomes me with arms open wide! And I love it. And I love Him.

 Our God is coming, you can hear the heavens roar!; hold on, get ready for the glory of the Lord!

Universally magnificent

Today I watched Thor again. I’ve now seen it twice, and I’m sure I will watch it many more times! I think that it is an excellent film. One could say that it is a THORSOME film. Its got good graphics, a good storyline, great characters, tie ins with other movies in the Avengers series and one brilliant plot twist after the credits! I would easily put it in my top 5.

Part of the reason that I like Thor, and the Thor graphic novels, is because it is based partly on norse myth and legend. I like to see what other cultures think about and believe, and this does not fail to disappoint. (This is also partly why studying ancient Rome and ancient Greece interested me.) It is, however, a Marvel film and so may not be true to the original legends, but you get the overall gist of things from it.

The belief, as I gather from Thor, is that various realms are connected via this cosmic tree thingading. The people from Asgard are on the top, whereas the people from Hel are on the bottom. Earth is somewhere in between. Asgardians seem to rule the roost, and they even have a thing called the bifrost where they can reach other worlds. It seemed a bit fanciful to me, but it must be based on some sort of legend or some stories somewhere. It is not really the difference in belief that I want to talk about though – it is the vastness of the Thor world system.

There are many realms in Thor, and each one of them carries a certain beauty. Take for example, the Asgardian rainbow bridge and the sea below it. It is described as beautiful, and at the end it has a portal to the other worlds. These worlds are all apparently connected by the tree thing, but rarely meet other than through the bifrost, which is a sort of space cannon that shoots people around in bolts of lightning. The universe described in the Thor film and books is huge, vast and beautiful. It gets even bigger when meeting people like the fantastic 4, but I’ll not go into that right now. The creation of said universe is not depicted in the film, or the books I have read. It just appears big and pretty. As with most things in life, this got me to thinking. Moreover, it got me thinking about our universe.

Scientists say that our universe is millions of light-years wide and is ever expanding. However, tracing biblical timelines, we have not been around for millions of years so how would they know? How could technology built in fairly recent years have any way of measuring the size of the universe? It couldn’t. It breeds speculation. Its hype. They also claim that there are other universes out there. Again, how would they know? They haven’t reached the end of ours!

Many people have different views on how the universe was created. A lot of people seem to subscribe to the view that there was a large bang and then POOF! we appeared. I do not think this happened. I dropped a pan the other day and it made a banging sound and nothing was created! Also, look around you for a moment. How could a bang, an explosion, a loud noise create a whole universe? How could that possibly happen? Take humans for example – we are so intricately designed (made in God’s image) and each one of us is unique – how could a bang do that? I have heard some people say that when God created everything, there may have been a bang, you know, for flamboyance – but this didn’t create anything. And don’t get me started on evolution. (Just a quick outline – we were intricately designed. We were made for a purpose. My ancestor was not an ape. King Kong is not my grandpa! God made man and he made us different to the animals. And God gave different parts of creation different purposes and abilities.) Other people subscribe to the view that the world is on the back of a giant turtle. Another view is that the world was created by a giant noodle. Seriously? A noodle. A man-made delicious edible food substance. NOPE THATS NOT WHAT CREATED THE WORLD!!!!

Many people also speculate on the universe. Is Pluto a real planet? Or is it just a planet wannabe? Should we be telling it to hang out with the moon and all the other satellites, or is it not cool enough for them either? How big is the universe? We were taught in school that it is opening up like a balloon. WHAT? It’s not called a Ballooniverse guys! But is it expanding? Are we alone? Is there life beyond our planet? Will the apes rise like in the movies? What if one day I wake up and yoda wants me to be a jedi and he’s like “Darth vader’s a badman innit? Lets shank him” and I have to be all “KK LOL”? What happens at the end of the universe? Would you fall out?

So far, we’ve discovered the planets, comets, some satellites, many stars, constellations and some galaxies. Perhaps the rest is not for us to know right now. If you think about it though, even just our solar system – it is vast. Not just vast, but immensely vast. Unfathomably fast. And real purty too. The way the planets move through space is amazing! The way the sun helps to aid life is amazing! The beauty of it all is amazing! And have you seen the stars? The other year, I was at soul survivor festival, and there was a brilliantly clear sky. The night sky was like a dark canvas, on which God had painted a beautiful picture. The milky way was visible up above and it was truly beautiful. It was mind blowing. It was awesome! Seeing just a glimpse of the vast creation of God and the extent of His work just put things into perspective for me. In comparison to this vast and magnificent universe, lil’ old me was just an invisible dot (man) on an invisible dot (UK) on an invisible dot (Earth) in the universe. God, who made it all, was and still is prepared to talk to me – the invisible dot. GET THIS – God, who flung the stars into space and knows them by name; God, who knows the number of hairs on your head, and the amount of grains of sand on the earth; God, who in His infinite wisdom and with His unfathomable creativity, created the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the stars and the planets and everything else has time for me. Me. That invisible speck thats part of His creation. Not only does He have time for me, but He loves me. He loves us all. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t His love magnificent? I saw the milky way that night and was in awe of its beauty. However, as I stood there with my jaw on the floor, I was more in awe of its creator. I was silently thankful that the One who made something this beautiful made me too, and loves me. Even though in comparison I am small, God knows my name. He knows who I am and He cares for me. And for this, I am eternally grateful, and will be eternally in awe of Him.

One thing I have noticed about creation is this- God likes circular, cylindrical, spherical and swirly patterns. The planets are spherical; hurricanes are swirly; stars are circular; trees are cylindrical; many more things that I could list fall into these categories. It is interesting to note here, that when we were in the womb, we developed in the foetal position, which is like curling up into a ball.  In contrast, man likes square and cuboid and cube objects, like buildings, computers, iPods, furniture, etc.

If I think about creation and how varied it is, it blows my mind. God made so much, yet he put so much detail into everything, to give it individuality. From songbirds to supernovas, from constellations to canyons, from mountain ranges to men, God created them all and gave them variance. He created the universe and everything in it. I’m not sure if we’ll ever grasp how big it is, or just how much work has gone into it – It blows my mind every time I try! The universe is magnificent. Lets look at creation in the scriptures:

Genesis 1

New International Version (NIV)

Genesis 1

The Beginning

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁷So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
¹¹ Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
²⁹ Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 2

¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Wow. Just wow. God created everything. Everything was created by His divine design. All the worlds, all the planets, all the vegetation, all the animals, mankind – EVERYTHING. Light and dark, He created them. Water and dry land, He created them. The vastness and beauty of the universe, and everything in it… You guessed it, HE CREATED IT ALL! No bang, no noodle, no turtle – GOD created it all. And its so flipping big! We think the world is big, but its nothing compared to the size of all creation! Each part of creation carries its own individual beauty. It is truly amazing. And then there is heaven. We haven’t had the privilege of seeing that yet, but I bet its awesome. Universally magnificent! And unlike the stories of Thor and the graphic novels, this story and this universe is real. Our God is real, and He is true. And if you don’t know Him already, He’s waiting for you with open arms. It doesn’t matter how small we are, God is always there for us. Jesus came and died for us. He rose again and conquered death, so that we could be reconciled with God. The Holy Spirit is always with us, if we acknowledge and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. You can know God, and trust me, knowing Him; being in relationship with your creator is universally magnificent. Its brilliant. Its awesome. It blows the mind. Yet, it is possible! I heartily recommend it. Following Him is the best decision I ever made!

God made it all. He designed it all. He gave us life and a reason to live. He shows us the beauty of His unfathomably vast creation. He is universally magnificent. I cannot comprehend the vastness of creation, but because of it, I stand in awe of Him. I will worship my God, for He has done great things!

In search of the incredible

This morning it rained. In fact, most of the day it has rained on and off. This evening, it rained so hard, the signal went on the TV. Being British, most of our people would be inclined to complain about the rain. I mean, thats sort of our thing – talking about the weather. Other cultures have their own talking points; one example of this is how Italians love to talk about food, and talk in depth about what they have for lunch and dinner, even if it is the same every day. We talk about the weather. If, by chance it ventures above 15 degrees, we have been known to complain about the heat. If it goes below 10, we complain about the cold. If a few snow flakes happen to fall, there is a ruckus! Last time it snowed ‘heavily’, the London public transport stopped or something. In contrast, Canada manages to keep going day after day, despite having drastically heavier snowfall. As I woke up this morning I saw the rain and heard the harsh winds howl through the trees, causing them to sway and dance. Most people would complain about the weather, but not me. I saw something beautiful. Something that reflected the glory of God, the creator of the world. I tried to catch it on my phone :

Now that autumn is upon us, the leaves have begun to chance colour. The reds and greens in the foliage mix so beautifully, and when you just spare a moment to take it all in, its breathtaking. I thought to myself, why stop here? So I had a look around at the rest of the beauty of creation (that was in my immediate vicinity). In my opinion, plants are so beautiful. No 2 plants seem to be exactly the same! And they each carry their own charm. The shapes of the leaves, the colours of the berries and flowers – they are simply magnificent. Even cut flowers are beautiful:

Just seeing the way that each flower and plant is intricately designed is incredible! Each one carries its own individuality, and yet each one goes well with other plants. They can be truly resplendent on their own, or can be stunning when they are accompanied by companions. They truly show the glory of God’s creation. But it isn’t just flowers that are beautiful.

I looked to the skies, and noticed the clouds. Whether sultry and dark, or fluffy and light, the clouds are beautiful, and incredibly, they always manage to compliment the sky. That can’t be a coincidence! Last night the sky was glowing a pinky-purple colour. It was marvellous! But it does not stop there! Because of all the rain lately, there has been an abundance of rainbows, which are truly exquisite! Colour itself is beautiful. The concept of colour is beautiful, and the thought of designing colour is baffling. Another beautiful, yet baffling thing is time. The concept of time is beautiful, but the way it works and the fact that God created and thus exists outside of time is baffling!

BUT WAIT! THERES MORE!

Even the animals are beautiful. From anteaters to zebras, every animal is beautiful. They are all incredible in their own way. The plumage of a peacock; the fur of a cat; the pattern of a giraffe; the whiskers of a walrus – each animal reflects the beauty of creation, and thus glorifies God. It is incredible that God created all this! So many species of animal, such a wide variety of plant life, such a beautiful environment; its all so beautiful, it MUST have been created. No bang could have done this, no matter how big. Did I mention how beautiful the world is? Look at this cat!

How cute is that! Only God could create something so cute. awwww! Its squeezing its eyes shut! aww! Incredible! Beautiful! But God, in His infinite wisdom and with His unfathomable creativity, did not stop there – He brought us, the human race into the world. (Don’t believe me? Read the first couple of chapters of genesis. Its the first book of the bible.) And do I even need to say it?

Go on then, I will; we are all beautiful – each one of us carries our own beauty. We have the choice to glorify God verbally and with our actions, but the fact that we are here alone reflects His beauty! God made us in His image! By my logic, if we even look a little bit like God, this means we must be truly beautiful!

After thinking about creativity, I thought that our own God-given creativity breeds beauty. For example, music! Take the music of Jason Mraz for example! It is simply wonderful! The way he orchestrates different instruments, the timbre of his voice, the songs he writes – its incredible! One of my favourite songs of all time is ‘a beautiful mess’. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsNglM1TO5o . That song is beautiful! The way it has been written, and the use of brass and other instruments is wonderful! The lyrics are so sweet as well. It just makes me want to smile. Another wonderful song by Jason Mraz is his latest single, ‘the world as I see it’. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjP7VTHUais . The song is catchy, the lyrics are heart-warmingly romantic. The tune is lovely. In one word, this song is beautiful! The creativity of singers and songwriters (like Jason Mraz) shows the beauty of music, which is a gift given to us by God. King David wrote many songs to God in the bible (read Psalms if you’re interested). Lyrics and poetry and music are truly incredible things. They are beautiful!

I love the individuality and creativity of different musicians. And being a singer myself, I like the way that different voices sound! Some of my favourite singers are: Matt Thiessen (Relient K), Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon, Jason Mraz, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), Adam Young (Owl City), Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble and Adam Levine (Maroon 5), just to name a few. Each one carries a different sound, and their voices are each individually beautiful! And the different songs that they write and perform are beautiful.

I was listening to ‘Jefferson Aero Plane’ by Relient K earlier on, and part of the song stood out suddenly:

“Feels like/ I don’t remember/ ever/ being this tired/ before now/ my eyes were closed to/ all of/ the beauty in this world…”

Upon hearing this, I realised that most of the time in my busy little life, my eyes are closed to the beauty in this world. I’m so focused on whats going on and whats coming next that I rarely stop and take in the beauty around me. From now on, I’m going to try and pause and take in the beauty of creation!

Sometimes, I just look up at creation and the incredible beauty of the things around me and just say to God “Wow God! Your creation is simply beautiful! Its breathtaking!“

I went further than looking at music to other arts. I know i’ve waffled a bit, so i’ll try and cut this down! Film, literature and theatre are beautiful, as they show the beauty of good stories, and how entertaining they can be. Paintings, drawings and other artwork are beautiful too! They have the power to tell stories, evoke reactions and spark emotions, as well as being aesthetically pleasing.  The environment is beautiful! The way the mountains are formed, the rolling seas, sandy beaches, busy cities… Need I say more? In short, the world is beautiful! It is truly incredible! God’s creation is glorious, and through it, we have cause to bring Him praise!

But why stop there? The cosmos is stunning too! From the stars to supernovas and planets, God’s unfathomable beauty is reflected! And from what I have read in Revelation (last book of the bible), Heaven sounds even more incredible! Wow! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfjZGoXhuzE here is a lovely song about heaven by Phil Wickham.

When I step back and reflect on creation and its vast reaches, and all the things God has made and how incredibly beautiful it is, I scarce can take it in! My head nearly explodes at the thought of it! Its indescribably wonderful! Thank You God for Your beautiful creation! It takes my breath away and never ceases to amaze me!

Recently i’ve noticed that people are searching for something incredible. They just need to look around them at the world.

If people reflect on the beauty of the universe, it will blow their mind, as it continually blows mine! My mind cannot fathom it’s beauty, and my words cannot express how incredible God’s creation is! WOW!