- Jan 25, 2009
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Revelation 12:11
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Revelation 12:10-12
Growing up, my mother used to listen to many of the sermons within the Faith movement (i.e. Creflo Dollar, Joyce Myers, etc) and be encouraged--but there was something truly powerful about hearing the simple stories of others who were changed by Christ. In example, one that came to my mind was that of Helen Baylor. She attends Dr.Fredrick Price's church (when he was the pastor, as he retired and his son now leads it). Her testimony was constantly played on the cassette tape in my mom's car...and I NEVER get tired of it, nor feel as if the power of hearing what Christ did in her is less than what it was when it impacted me in my younger years. From her sharing how she listen to Fredrick Price's tapes to how the Lord answered her through prayer due to her grandmother praying, I really do wish more of that was present in churches today.....when things seemed alot simpler on what was seen as a necessity for the CHurch to have today.
And to see how the testimony was combined with song/music made a difference in so many ways. As a child, I remember literally feeling as if the words of Christ were burned into my heart due to her singing what she was sharing...and to this day, it's amazing how much her testimony of deliverance was something that got me through times I experienced bondage. Compared to the amount of books, debates and teachings that others often gave, there are few things that seemed as powerful as a simple testimony to the Power of the Blood of Christ to change. To witness the entire experience I am talking about, one can go here:
If there are any other WOF members who either know of Helen Baylor in her testimony or who've felt similar, I'd love to hear sometime
Some things that come to mind whenever I hear her testimony.....
G
Ephesians 5:18-20
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 3:16
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
What has been on my mind is that corporate wosrship has a teaching function through the lyrics of its songs..and this was paticurlary important in the oral culture of Pauls day....and yet there was the reality that many times it was not corporate in the sense that everyone was looking to one person doing all of the work .especially in times when that was not available. The apostles could not always be there to teach the people---and as said before, many times they'd teach the members of a church and then leave elsewhere to anothe church that'd take months to get to. There was not NKJV Bible they could refer to, let alone many of the epistles combined that we have available today. Thus, essentially, there really wasnt a concept of well, lets look for the worship leader!!!" when someone was discouraged and you wanted to encourage them. You were the Worship leader. You were the sermon. And you spread what you knew. Seeing that worship is also a matter of how you live your life before others in view of God(Romans 12)as everything we do is to be done unto the Glory of Christ ( 1 Corinthians 10:30-32 / Colossians 3:16-18 ) , thats pretty heavy in my view. The way that information was spread was not merely through reading alone.....and in many ways, its symbolic of how we're to be when it comes to the Gospels of Christ and His message.
A quote that comes to mind is by Seth Godwin, who is a marketing guru and who coined the phrase ideaviruses to try and articulate hyberbolic growth in relation to marketing and ideas in general. In his conception, an ideavirus is a big idea that runs amok across the target audience. Its a fashionable idea that captures the thinking and imagination of a section of the population, teaching and influencing and changing everyone it touches. As Godwin said best, Have you ever heard of Hotmail? Ever used it? If so, its not because Hotmail ran a lot of TV Ads (they didnt). Its because the manifesto of free email got to you. It turned into an ideavirus. Someone you know and trust probably infected you with it. Just like a computer virus can spread through the Internet and jam the worlds computers in one we, so an idea virus is contagious..in precisely the same way that a virus does. The Gospel, which we all claim to believe, travels like a virus ..being sneezed and then passed on through further sneezing from one person to the other. All thats needed is the right conditions and the appropriate relationships onto which we can sneeze.
When I heard Helen Baylor's testimony at Dr.Fredrick Price's church, it reminded me of how many heard what she said and her words were contagious, infecting them (as I was ) with the Gospel and helping me see things differently simply because she shared how Christ changed her---and shared her words through song. Essentially the same thing that occurred with Negro Spirituals/slaves when they had very little connection with the Church....as they used what they had.
Oral methods were effective enough to get the truth across even when they couldn't share from the pulpit...
One can also look up the issue of Folk Tales and Folk Music (spread by Word of Mouth) and Storytelling. Thats where most of the TALE Tales that youre probably all aware of came from (i.e. Paul Bunyan, Davy Crocket, etc). Same thing when it comes to many of the assumptions entire cultures held at times for agesbe it claiming the world was flat or that the universe revolved around the Earth. Seeing the ways ideas spread has been on my mind for a good bit, especially when it comes to the old saying of how "attitudes are contagious...and is yours worth catching?" Seriously, can you imagine being a slave in the middle of the hot sunwith about 300 others. You have lashes on your back and things seem pretty grim. What if the main thing youre thinking about doing is making things worse by using your lips to complain? Discourage others with words of how its never gonna change yall or life stinks!!!!.
If slaves did that as a majority, they would have never made it out probably.....and many times, all it took was one slave .one to have a different tune and literally change up the atmosphere with sharing a testimony. Someone had to be speaking positively in order for others to simply survive and that led to a movement being sustained. Whats even more funny than that is that many other slaves may have never even been involved with those who were encouraging .yet when they heard of others singing, it infected them. It gave them an idea of something they could do with the other slaves they were with. Even with escaping slavery, some of the slaves heard music being sung by othersjust like itd be with hearing the commercials on the radio stationand if hearing it often enough and seeing others do the same, one started to catch on.
They were denied so much..and yet They still adapted what little they did know to their own circumstances....passing that down the generations what they could handle. If they were able to do that back then, what does that say of us today we act as if were stuck on mute" -and refuse to speak up with our words/testimonies?
Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.
Proverbs 15:23
A person finds joy in giving an apt reply and how good is a timely word
Proverbs 15:30
Light in a messengers eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones
Proverbs 25:25
Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.
Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.
Proverbs 15:23
A person finds joy in giving an apt reply and how good is a timely word
Proverbs 15:30
Light in a messengers eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones
Proverbs 25:25
Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.
They were obediant to the scriptural command to speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in admonishing one another before the Lord. With the example of Negro Spirituals, again, its amazing to see how the attitude of freedom from physical/spiritual oppression spread so quickly when it came to their circumstances...for they used the little bits /pieces of language they did understand and turned it into something that was QUITE extraordinary---an entire system/way of spreading concepts and ideas that aided them on a host of issues, be it the Underground Railroad/escaping to the North or social protest and the lifting of their spirits for the sake of survival----and all of it happened just as believers are called/able to do when they may have very little to rely upon at times...except the Spirit of God and the creativity he has given all men.
The example of Paul and Silas come to mind in Acts 16:24-26 /Acts 16 when they were in prision and they began to sing hymns/psalms. They didn't have a "Bible" with them (though the Word was certainly in their hearts)---and in light of their lack, they decided to begin singing. Admid their suffering Paul and Silas were miraculously freed from their confinement.. and God did an amazing work that led to others being saved.
G
Acts 16:16-34
Paul and Silas in Prison
After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyones chains came loose.
Praying someone walks away feeling encouraged if reading this thread..
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