On the day of my 50^th birthday last month, my daily reading  included the Book of Leviticus where it spoke of the year of Jubilee (a whole feast year following seven sevens, or 50 years.) Reading this precisely on my birthday was such a gift from God for me: specific instruction I believe to celebrate my jubilee year the same way, forgiving debts, resting in His peace, and worshiping Him with marked JOY. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered a song that had the line in it, “it’s the year of jubilee.” I found the name of the song (“Days of Elijah”) and put the YouTube version on my blog post that day. I loved the song so much, so I went to Paul Wilbur’s website to see if he possibly had any concerts nearby. Much to my joy, he had plans to be in Houston February 27 and the concert/worship was free. I asked a dear friend from church, Karen, to go with me, and we had ourselves a date planned.

Saturday evening, the shofar sounded, (Listen to the instrument that made the walls of Jericho fall here.) and music rang out and banners waved high in synchronized motion with authentic worship. It was the kind of worship from the heart that I am certain pleases God. This day, by no coincidence, was the Sabbath that celebrates Purim, and it took place in the most unlikely place: a hotel conference room in Houston, Texas.  I felt the sonship of God’s people in that room, Christians who embraced their Hebrew heritage. On rare occasion, we get a small glimpse of what Heaven might look like, and this was one of those moments.

Below are a couple of pictures from the night. I didn’t take them during worship but beforehand. I snapped a few, particularly of the beautifully crafted banners that flanked each side of the stage.

Today’s Scripture readings included a complete guide for living (the Ten Commandments) given to us from God, and the famous Hebrew prayer and proclamation, the Sh’ma.

Sh’ma Yis’ra’eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

In The Message, it says, “Attention, Israel! God, our God! God the one and only! Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!”

That’s what Saturday night was for me. I wished it were more like that every day. Don’t forget Israel. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And lastly, love the Lord with all you’ve got!

Paul Wilbur warms up with Sharon, his daughter-in-law.

One of the beautiful banners beside the stage

Randy sounding the shofar