"From Faith To Manifestation"

Worship in it's purest form is comprised of two words, "WORTH-SHIP". All that we do, and all that we say must give an answer to the question, How much is God worth to you? So then the life that we live and the worship that we freely give should display the Worth-Ship of God to us.

I must say I am not of the persuasion that believes we have just begun to know the essence of true worship simply because we sing songs that has a unique tempo and beat, for if we believe that then we make light of the many spiritual accomplishments that our predecessors, those that have paved the way for us has made and the many things that happen as a result of their worship. As I begin to consider, I must say the ultimate purpose of worship is to make the connection with God, and after the connection is made to receive from Him manifested Glory or simply put, to get God to respond to our worship. Rather I get there by singing the old hymn of the church"Jesus keep me near the Cross" or one of our more modern day worship songs "Let the Glory of the Lord rise among us" I just want to embrace His manifested Glory! You know, the kind of Glory that was physically visible back on Clinton Street (Bishop Gates home church Detroit, Mi) under the leadership of Bishop Samuel N.Hancock, where I was told when the saints begin to praise & worship God you could see a cloud hovering in the sanctuary, so realistic you could almost cut it with a knife. The kind of Glory that Mother Mattie B. Poole (Pastor of Bethlehem Faith Healing Temple Chicago, IL) walked in and all manner of sickness was healed, and I could go on and on, we want God to respond to our worship.

The word "Glory' in the Hebrew is the word "KABOD" which means (Weight) or heaviness. When we worship God we should expect the weightiness of His presence to come and rest upon us. II Chronicles 5:13-14 says (paraphrase) that when everyone was on one accord making one sound praising and thanking God saying "For He is good for His mercy endureth forever", that the house was filled with a cloud. The cloud was so great that the bible says the priest could not "stand to minister" by reason of the cloud because God's "Kabod" weighted glory had filled the temple. I want you to note that the bible did not say that the priest did not minister, only that he could not 'Stand" to minister. One must be able to understand custom and tradition; when the priest would go to minister he would be towering over the congregation in a high place, so that the people would have to look up to see him, so when Ezra begin to write, 'stand to minister" he was saying that the priest did not take the high place because he was weighted down by the Glory of God! Just like in bible times and in times of old ,I believe that our Senior Pastor Bishop Lambert W.Gates Sr. yet ministers under the weight/heaviness of the Glory of God and we are the recipients of the manifested Glory of God, isn't it refreshing to worship in such a place where His Glory still fills the temple?

Food for thought!
God is not looking for the "Posture" of a worshiper, He's looking for the "Position" of a worshiper. Yes there are times when we will bow our knees or lay prostrate before Him, (posture) but I firmly believe God who is omniscient and omnipresent, who knows all and is everywhere at the same time, I firmly believe He's yet asking the question that He asked Adam in the Garden of Eden when His voice walked to meet him in the cool of the day, "Worshiper! Where art thou"? (position)