SOUND OUT

Geoff's Journal Volume 01 No 02

2010-04-15T06:22:00.000-04:00

“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” (Matt 10:27 NASB)
It’s Sunday morning, I’m in my car and being a golf enthusiast I’m listening to the final round of the 138th British Open on satellite radio.

The announcers are quick to point out that not only is the radio broadcast available on satellite radio but it is also available on their website along with a link so that you can email them while you’re listening.

There’s also another link (because you can’t ever have too many links) to a discussion site where you can discuss the Open with other fellow golfers.
You can also Twitter, or Tweet (I have no idea what the difference is) and if that doesn’t provide enough stimulation there’s another link to their Facebook page where you can get behind the scenes information along with the latest gossip. All this for a golf tournament that’s been played 137 times.
I know we live in the information age but we are being bombarded by so much data that trying to keep up is not only impossible, it can be wearying. Whenever I’m in an airport it seems I’m surrounded by members of my species (they could be aliens but I don’t think so) who are on their Blackberrys, checking their emails on a continuous basis. Many others are either on their cellphones, texting or listening to their ipods.

While all this is going on, it seems that we run the very real risk of listening to everyone but the one that matters most, our Heavenly Father. The very fact that God gave us His Word, sent the Holy Spirit to lead us and invites us to commune with Him through prayer is proof that He desires to have an ongoing communication with His children. However, He does not communicate to us through email, twitter, cell phones or the latest podcast. In 1Kings 19, God tells Elijah to stand on the mountain while He passes by. Elijah then sees a strong wind, but the Bible tells us that God was not in the wind. Then an earthquake followed by a fire but God was not in either of them. God then spoke to Elijah, not through the wind or the earthquake or the fire but through a gentle blowing, what one translation calls a still small voice.

Matt 10:27 tells us that God will speak to us and what he speaks is to be proclaimed, to be shouted from the housetops. But these vital truths are spoken to us in the darkness, meaning the secret place where we shut out the world and get alone with our God. They are not shouted to us, but they are whispered in our ears. God is speaking, but are we listening? In the midst of the cacophony of our world can you hear Him whispering in your ear? If you’re discouraged, He has words of encouragement. If you’re confused He has words of wisdom. If you’ve lost your way He’s promised to lead us on the path. God is speaking and what He is saying is there to bless you and those around you. One Word from God can truly change the entire course of your life. God is speaking. But we need to quiet our hearts and our minds to hear what He is saying.

I’m inviting you to go on a journey, a journey to that secret place where you quiet your heart and your mind and sit in your Father’s presence. The Bible says we are to “be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10). It is in that quiet place, when we commune with God that we truly get to know Him, not just as God but as our Loving Heavenly Father. Take the time each day to shut out the world and tune in to God and I promise you that you will begin to experience a hope, a joy, a peace that you cannot experience any other way. Jehovah radio, broadcasting 24/7 in that still small voice.

Geoff's Journal Volume 01 No. 01

2010-03-07T19:26:00.001-05:00

Welcome to our blogspot - here is Geoff Wattoff's first journal entry from January. Entry two will be posted soon. Enjoy and come back often. dcb =)
In Me You May Have Peace

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33 NAS)

“In Me you have peace…in the world you will have tribulation (trouble)”. What a contrast!
As I read this verse, I heard the Lord speak to me saying: “Stop trying to get peace from the world’s system. There isn’t any peace to be found there, but there’s peace in Me. My kingdom is a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy" (Rom 14:17). The world promises peace but it can’t deliver. You will never find peace through the world’s methods because Satan is the god of this world (2Co 4:4) and he doesn’t have any peace to give. But Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He comes from a kingdom of peace and wherever He went, He released Kingdom life and Kingdom realities to whoever would receive it (see Mark 4:35-39).
How do we appropriate this peace? How do we live in peace in the midst of the hustle and bustle, the stresses of this life? A key lies in the first part of this verse. Jesus said that the words He spoke would bring peace. His Words contain the very peace of God. The key is for us to take His Words to heart as if He were speaking to each one of us personally. Then as we act on His Words, we release His very peace into our lives.
Many times I have reached a place of stress and anxiety in my life. In the midst of it, I stopped and took a few moments to pray, to worship God, to meditate on what He promised. At first I didn’t feel like doing it. We can get so caught up in the things of this life that it seems that the last thing we can afford to do is to stop and pray, stop and worship, stop and hear His voice. But that is the very thing we need to do. We need to stop and change our focus from this world, which is full of stress, to His kingdom -- where true peace dwells. Try it. The next time you feel stressed, feel anxious, stop and spend just a few minutes with your Lord, the Prince of Peace. If you do, the stress will fade away and His peace will envelope your life.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." -- John 14:27

Geoff's Journal Volume 01 No. 01

Going Deeper with God

2010-02-17T16:10:00.003-05:00

As troubled as I’ve felt over several areas of my life (both at home and at work) – I keep hearing the Lord say – love. It is so hard, yet He is telling me it is so easy. It is a choice. I just read a passage from the book ‘Deep unto Deep’ by Dana Candler. I would like to share it with you. I am seeking Him a closer, deeper walk with the one true God of Love. I pray it blesses you.

The heart of God is ravished with enjoyment and delight over His people. We cannot pass by this quickly. We have known the concept of His love, yes, but often this very knowing and familiarity is what hinders us from ever entering into the depths and actually drinking from the deep wells of Love’s plentitude. We cannot let common words stand-in for experienced realities. To say the He loves me is a familiar notion indeed, but to pursue, know and experience His love is a rare preoccupation. Our familiarity with the words deceives us into thinking we have personally known the exceedingly vast riches that lie beyond the realm of language and in the eternal deep of God’s heart. We confuse the hearing of a concept with the actual abiding of that reality inside of us. Yet His Love is a realm that transcends all mental comprehension and leaves all utterance ashamedly barren. It is to this unknown world of eternal pleasures that we give ourselves as we begin our pilgrimage into His ravished heart.

Further excerpt [We have heard with our ears of a God of love, and we have known with our minds that in this love is our life, but have we yet been embraced by love himself?]

Listen to Sunday Night Worship from ibethel.com

2010-02-10T04:07:00.002-05:00

Just spent the last hour in worship. Click on the link below to listen. Some old songs, some new - just worship Him.
Also - note the widgets on the right. Let me know if you use any of them (thanks Anthony).

iBethel.TV // Bethel Church // Sunday Night Worship : Feb 07 '10

CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY!

2010-02-08T15:25:00.002-05:00

Homework Assignment: Head to Heart assignment - JESUS, THE HOPE OF GLORY

Pastor Nicholas closed out service yesterday 2/7/10 with an assignment for us all. That was to read Colossians 1:27
“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (niv)

• Take this scripture before God in your prayer time. Perhaps you would pray it this way: God would you penetrate my being this week. Would You go from my head to my heart this week. Would you go from my head to my heart inside?
• How did God penetrate you with these words?
• What does it mean, Christ, that You are in me?
• You’re going to get some stuff, write it down! In what way is it going to change my life?

Write me cos.wogspeak@gmail.com or leave comment here (public comment).

Christ in you, the hope of glory. The Holy Spirit is going to reveal to you that it’s not a concept. Once you get that is not a concept – it’s in you and it doesn’t get taken away!

Colossians 1:27 (Amplified Bible)
"To whom God was pleased to make known how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within and among you, the Hope of [realizing the] glory."
Colossians 1:27 (New King James Version)
"To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which[a] is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Colossians 1:27 (The Message)
"This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me."

Note from dcb =)
This is a wonderful opportunity for us all to grow closer to our Lord, Jesus. The more time I spend with Him, the more time I want to spend with Him. The more I want to spend time with Him, the more things vie for my attention to pull me away. But greater is He in me than he who is in the world. I pray we continue to seek him with each breath. He is worth it.

Sounding Out

2010-02-06T09:21:00.000-05:00

WELCOME TO OUR NEW BLOG! "You must encourage one another each day." Hebrews 3:13

Hi and welcome to 'Sound Out', our new Church On The Sound blog. This is a place where our Elders and Ministry Leaders can share what is on their hearts for COS. It is a place where you can ask questions, post comments and share your heart. We look forward to this blog expanding as we grow in the Lord together. May this be a place to get encouragement and hope for the days to come. I leave you with chapter three of Hebrews to meditate on. Blessings to all...dcb =)

Hebrews 3 (CEV)
"1 My friends, God has chosen you to be his holy people. So think about Jesus, the one we call our apostle and high priest! 2 Jesus was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in serving all of God's people. 3 but Jesus deserves more honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves more honor than the house. 4 Of course, every house is built by someone, and God is really the one who built everything. 5 Moses was a faithful servant and told God's people what would be said in the future. 6 but Christ is the Son in charge of God's people. And we are those people, if we keep on being brave and don't lose hope.

7 It is just as the Holy Spirit says, "If you hear God's voice today, 8 don't be stubborn! don't rebel like those people who were tested in the desert. 9 For forty years your ancestors tested God and saw the things he did." 10 "Then God got tired of them and said, 'You people never show good sense, and you don't understand what I want you to do.' 11 God became angry and told the people, 'You will never enter my place of rest!'"
12 My friends, watch out! Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God. 13 You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called "today." If you don't, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn. 14 We were sure about Christ when we first became his people. So let's hold tightly to our faith until the end. 15 The Scriptures say, "If you hear his voice today, don't be stubborn like those who rebelled." 16 Who were those people that heard God's voice and rebelled? Weren't they the same ones that came out of Egypt with Moses? 17 Who were the people that made God angry for forty years? Weren't they the ones that sinned and died in the desert? 18 And who did God say would never enter his place of rest? Weren't they the ones that disobeyed him? 19 We see that those people did not enter the place of rest because they did not have faith."