Terry Folster – Renewal Fellowship

Praise The Lord!

Terry Folster — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 04:10:00 +0000

This past summer, I had the great privilege of attending a performance by the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. I was surprised by the crowded stage of 90 devoted youth musicians. Our local symphony is made up of only 60 members, so what a treat it was to enjoy such a varied and energetic performance of 20th century music!

The modern symphony has few musical ancestors. Its most ancient ancestor is the Sinfonia, a short overture that was heard at the beginning of 17th-century Italian operas. "Sinfonia" means "sounding together". Sinfonias were always written for a small orchestra, never just for one or two instruments.

After 108 works, Haydn had mastered the classical symphony form, and is credited as the father of the symphony. Mozart, Beethoven, and many others would follow in his footsteps. The classical symphony includes strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.

But I would argue that the Bible hints at a form of the symphony that predates and is much more ancient than the 17th century. Psalm 150 alludes to a great orchestra — even a heavenly one:

Can't you just picture the conductor picking up a baton, tapping the lectern with it, lifting it to bring the musicians to order after tuning up, and holding it for just those last few seconds before unleashing a triumphant opening, breathing life into notes praising God. One by one, the conductor points to each section for their turn: strings (harp and lyre), woodwinds (pipe), brass (trumpet), and percussion (timbrel and cymbals).

Psalm 150 doesn't mention a choir, but I also envision an enormous choir (picture a massive choir for Handel's Messiah or bigger!) of heavenly angels waiting in the wings for their turn to lift up their voices in praise also!

One of my favourite 20th-century hymns is by Bruce Ballinger. It opens, "We have come into His house and gathered in His name to worship Christ the Lord" and exhorts the gathered audience, "So forget about yourself and concentrate on Him and worship Christ the Lord." A third verse has been added over the years: "Let us lift up holy hands and magnify His name and worship Christ the Lord."

We are all invited to join this heavenly orchestra whether or not we actually play an earthly instrument, or whether we are sitting in a pew in a great sanctuary or in the comfort of our own homes. Won't you join in?

Prayer: Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise Him in His mighty heavens! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen.

Salt, A Christmas Blessing

Terry Folster — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 05:50:00 +0000

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.

Job 6:6 – Can something tasteless be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? (NASB)

Every evening before eating supper, my husband prepares the coffee for the next morning. He dumps out the old coffee, rinses the pot, fills it with fresh water, and pours it into the water reservoir. He puts in the filter and carefully measures out enough ground coffee to make the precise amount of coffee for both of us. This endearing habit has been carved out over many years of marriage. Experience has taught us that neither of us does well making coffee upon waking up, but I am definitely the one most likely to end up with water or coffee — or both! — all over the counter! So preparing pays off. I really miss my hubby when he travels away for work.

My dad also used to prepare the next morning's coffee for him and mom each evening too. Only back then, we didn't use a brew machine but a coffee percolator. I remember that he used to add broken eggshells to the coffee that we ground at the store, and then a pinch of salt. I never did understand why he added that salt, until I came across an article on Facebook the other day.

Apparently salt binds to the portions of taste buds that detect bitter flavours and prevents them from properly bonding. Effectively, salt acts as a bitterness reducer, making the coffee more palatable and mellow, thereby enhancing flavour. One of my friends used to put salt on fruit, too. She said that it took the bitterness away and made the fruit sweeter. She was right. Salt is necessary and life-giving, and some things are just much sweeter with salt. Yet, too much salt isn't good for us. What a conundrum!

As I thought about this, it occurred to me that Christ acts like salt. He came to bind to us to reduce the bitterness of our sins, our burdens, and our weariness, in order to transform our lives and our world into something sweeter, richer, and more full of flavour, living in God's way. The sweetness of Christ is the best blessing for our world — one that our bitter, lost world needs most!

Matthew 5:13a – You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything. (NASB)

You are the salt of the earth. Wow! What a charge! As Christians, we are to be that blessing, that sweetness to the world, too! I don't know about you, but sometimes, when Christmas comes around, I feel like I've lost all my saltiness. But can our salt be made salty again? Perhaps only by going back to where it all begins for each and every one of us who believe, back on a pilgrimage that starts at the manger in Bethlehem with the birth of a sweet baby Jesus. Perhaps only by preparing our hearts to receive the Christ Child and letting Him bind to us. Perhaps only as we open ourselves to the hymns, carols, and messages of peace, hope, joy, and love of the season. Perhaps only as we open our hearts to bless others as Jesus blesses us.

Prayer:

Tag! You're It!

Terry Folster — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 05:50:00 +0000

Exodus 3:2-4 – There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight — why the bush does not burn up." When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." (NIV)

"Tag" has come to mean many things over the years. Items are tagged with graffiti. People are tagged for speeding, with wins/losses in sports, and now in pictures online.

But when I was growing up the only "tag" I cared about was our favourite playground game. The person who was "It" had to tag someone who then became the new It. For varying reasons, some of us were It more often, but we all needed to take turns to stay in the game.

I hadn't thought of tag in years! Until this e-mail:

Thank you very much to those who contributed devotionals this month. It has been years since I have not been able to fill an entire month with devotionals on hand, but that has happened in January — we were three days short. And now, so far at least, I have only enough devotionals to last until February the 19th. It's been a long time since some of our writers have contributed, so this e-mail comes as a reminder that your contributions are greatly appreciated. If the Lord has been prompting you to write something, now is the time! So often, something happens, and it has a direct spiritual application. Those are the best devotionals. Different things are happening to us every day, and if we're on the lookout for what the Lord may be trying to say to us, the devotional almost writes itself! Give it a try. I'll be happy to hear from you! – Robin Ross

At that, I felt tagged to be It, just like Moses in today's Scripture. I strongly identify with Moses because my life parallels his. His journey started out in an oasis of life, later found him stripped of identity, purpose, and hope. Banished on a treacherous, long, lonely, journey in the desert, grieving, parched, and longing for a merciful death, God rescued Moses and settled him in a new land and a completely different reality. Oddly comforting, perhaps even numbing, he could hide and forget. A timeout. But only temporarily …

"Moses, Moses." Tag! You're It. Moses answers, "Here I am," but then waffles. "I have never been eloquent, I am slow of speech and tongue. Please send someone else." God cajoles, then angrily rebukes the excuses. "I will give you a helper: Aaron. I will help both of you speak, and will teach you what to do."

Acts 13:47b – I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. (NIV)

Many times over years, the Daily Devotional has been a light in my darkness, a faithful daily drop of salvation in my inbox to quench a desperate thirst. So much inspiration from seasoned preachers and ordinary people alike — what a blessing! But even when I've felt inspiration and stirrings within, I've waffled — never written, never embraced "Here I am."

Yet this time was different. I felt tagged. It hit me. What if no one answers, "Here I am"? What about all the people needing that daily outreach? Out of silence came this voice:

Once I had answered, "Here I am," and prayed, "I will go, Lord, if You lead me," the game, the thoughts, the Scriptures, the hymns — everything — came flooding at me, not only for this devotional but more as well. What Robin said is true: Devotionals almost write themselves.

Isaiah 6:8 – Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" (NIV)

And now: Tag! You're It. Hear it. Feel it. Pray. Embrace it! I'm looking forward to your contributions!

Prayer:

With bold new decisions, let us arise. Amen.