Songs of the Season

Luke 2:13-15

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased. 15 And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us."


OK, if your anything like me then before Christmas ever gets here your already tired of hearing the same songs being played over and over on the radio. Don't get me wrong, love the season and the songs but it's like overkill from the end of november until New Years Day. There is one song however that never gets old. This is the song the angels sang on the night that Christ was born.

The birth of Jesus changes everything! I was re-reading the story again when this time the song of the angels really stuck out to me, a song of peace and goodwill to all men because of the new born Christ. This song of peace and restoration that broke the silence of that starry night and broke into broken humanity wasn't sang to Caesar, the self righteous Pharisees or any other great leader of the day. This angelic song that reveals heavens heart and the messiahs mission was sang to shepherds.

So who were the shepherds?

They were Social Outcasts. They were poor, uneducated, uncultured, and uncouth. If you were with your family walking through town you would go to the other side of the street to avoid them. They were the rough characters in the small town on the fringe of society, so much so that their testimony was not even admissible in court.

They were Religious Outsiders. Because their work was considered ceremonially unclean, they were not allowed into the temple courts or to be an active part of temple worship. Religious leaders often considered them on the same level as prostitutes, so when it came to the religion of the day they were always on the outside looking in.

Here then, God is inviting a group of guys who have been on the outside looking in the entirety of their lives and putting them at the top of the invite list for the most important birthday of all time. This is a theme we will see continue throughout the story of Jesus’ life. Not only does he consistently seek out those on the outside or fringe, He invites them to be at the center of His mission. As an adult, Jesus chose an inner circle comprised of uneducated fishermen, a former tax collector who has robbed and cheated his countrymen, women (who had few or no rights at the time), and even a former prostitute. Those who have been relegated to the outside are not only a focus of His rescue mission—they become the leaders of God’s rescue mission for humanity.

Even after the resurrection, the song, the mission continues, the invitation to all outcasts still stands. In Acts chapter 8 we read a very powerful conversion story. Phillip who is evangelizing in Samaria and being very successful is called by The Lord to leave and head to an area where no one lived. On the way to nowhere he ran into an eunuch who was reading from the Prophet Isaiah.

At normal glance this too would seem like just another cool conversion but this man was not only a foreigner, he was also a eunuch. A eunuch was someone who had been castrated. This man was in the service of the Queen and this was something that had to be done in order to work with royalty. This help to ensure protection and eliminate trouble in the palace. Often eunuchs picked up feminine traits and acted a little odd because of very low testosterone. These guys freaked regular people out and according to Deuteronomy 26 were not even allowed in the assembly of believers. God however sent Phillip to a man the bible banned, this outcast would become one of the greatest evangelists Ethiopia would ever know. Notice that when he wanted to be baptized Phillip didn't pray for a creative miracle if you know what I mean. Without rules or stipulations Phillip obeyed and although not embraced by religion He was added to the Kingdom and was a catalyst of Kingdom expansion.


From birth, in life and even after death Jesus breaks the boundaries of religion and His love goes after the outcast. This season (one of the greatest time to missional I might add) lets listen to the song of the season, the heart of heaven and go after and love the outcast and maybe even have our boundaries pushed a little.

Greater Continued

In John 14:12 Jesus makes a very staggering statement. He said that because He was leaving we would know be empowered to do not only the works He was doing but "Greater." Wow! What a promise. This isn't just my wishful thinking or something I came up with. This greater life that goes beyond the limitations of of our imagination is God's idea. God not only believes but has done everything He can to make this greater life accessible to us. This begs the question then, "are we just living a good life or one founded in the realm of greater?"

In our series this month we have been looking at life principles from the life of Elisha, an ordinary man who went on to do extraordinary things, a man who from routine to remarkable and left the fields of familiarity to embrace the miraculous mantle called greater! Here are just a few of the principles we have looked at thus far.


1) Burn the plow - Elisha didn't just sacrifice his oxen, he burned the plow. Simply put there was no room for a plan B. He was making sure there was nothing for him to go back to. Often we make seasonal sacrifices but fail to burn the plow and when we try to go from good to great we often find ourselves frustrated, dissatisfied or in a place of doubt often because we have never burned the plows.

2) Digging Ditches - faith requires action and is often spelled RISK. To avoid getting stuck after the plows have been burned we need to dig a ditch. There were some kings going to battle who believed they knew what and how to do it only to if d themselves about to die in the desert. When they ask the man of God what to do, He replied, "dig a ditch." This sounds stupid when your out of water and dying in the desert but we must remember God is the only one that can send the rain but he is looking for someone to dig the ditch, put faith in action. Faith in action not only moves God it releases the resources necessary to accomplish the task at hand. Dream Big (Water for an army in the desert) Start small (dig a ditch).

3) Pour some oil - like the woman who all she had was "a little oil." We must also embrace our limitations and understand all God wants is all we have! He is not looking for us to be something were not but to surrender to him what we have. god has a way of taking our little and making it a lot. Surrender the gifts/talents/limitations you have and remember our limitations can be Gods greatest opportunity.

4) Connect to Someone- before Elishas miracle ministry, before he walked around in the realm called greater he first connect hi life to that of Elijah, somone who was going in the direction he was going in. Simply stated, if you want to be a giant killer you need to hang out with people who have killed giants. Who and what we connect our lives to can and will have an direct impact on the realm in which we will live, "good" or "greater".



For more on the series you can watch the messages on our YouTube page elevationqc.

Greater

  

Greater....

             God has called each of us to live a life tat is greater than we have or could even imagine. The only real limits we have are the ones we have already set in our hearts and minds. 

JOHN 14:12 - "..and greater works will you do.."   Jesus left no room for wonder or doubt when it comes to His expectations for our life. It is a life that is Greater than the normalcy that seeks to suck the expectation for more out of the very air we breath. The reality is most of us are not in danger of ruining our lives we're just in danger of wasting them.

Most of us know, at least in part, that we are created for so much more. Yet we end up settling for so much less than what has been paid for on our behalf. This is baseline living and this place of miserable mediocrity is the cause of many Christians apathy, depression and overall loss of passion for life because somewhere along this journey we stopped at a place called "good enough".

I don't know about you but that is a place I cannot stay! Not when Jesus called us to something "greater." The clarion call has sounded, can you hear it? Today is the day and now is the time to shake off the slumber and sleep, apathy and depression and awaken your soul to the possibilities of something "greater."

I want to end my blog with a simple question. Are you ready to open up your heart, your imagination to the possibility that God has a vision for your life that is Greater?


                 - greater than the labels place on you by others
                 - greater than all the missed moments and wasted time
                 - greater than the slander from the enemy
                 - greater than the struggles your having right now
                 - greater than the dreams you already have for yourself


This is more than hyped up spiritual talk, it is a promise from the one who hung the stars and created the cosmos. He said, "GREATER," will we believe him?

This is a new series I am going to be preaching in youth during November and December, so stay connected on here as I continue to add pieces and thoughts about going after the "greater" that God has in store for you!

Create or not to Create that is the ??????

"All the forces in the world are not so powerfu as an idea whose time has come" - Victor Hugo

The first revelation we ave of God in scripture is that of a  creator.  All it takes is a glance n any given direction and this s evident. If God is anything, He is a creator and He is very creative. This being said then if God is infinitely creative and we were created and called to be conformed to His image then creativity isn’t optional for us. In reality, creativity is one dimension of spiritual maturity. To become more like the creator is to operate in wisdom because biblically wisdom and creativity are connected. In fact, creativity is a manifestation of wisdom in the context of excellence and integrity.  Wisdom is personified in Proverbs 8, and is the companion of God in the creation of all things. Therefore wisdom and creativity cannot be separated. While most Christians place a high value on wisdom most do not hold an equal value for creativity. Yet it is creativity that illustrates the presence of wisdom: “wisdom is vindicated by all her children” Luke 7:35 NASB. 

 The first mention of a person filled with the Spirit in scripture was Bezalel  and he was called upon to head up a building project for Moses. Wisdom has a creative release. King Solomon, the wisest man next to Jesus, was honored by dignitaries and led Gods people into the greatest time of peace and prosperity they had ever known. Wisdom, through one man, changed a nation. This wisdom made manifest not only in decisions but in creative release actually took the breath away from the Queen of Sheba (2 Chronicles 9:3-4).  I look forward to the day when the sons and daughters of God embrace this reality and the church in wisdom with creative release takes the breathe away from the world that surrounds her.  

Although there is no  4 step program to creativity or guaranteed formulas which will ensure that we get that God idea that we need these are some practical things I have put into place in my life that have and do help me.

1)      1. Prayer. The Aramaic word for “prayer” means “to set a trap.” We often think of prayer as words we speak to God and sometimes we forget He really does want to talk back.  Prayer is the place where God ideas are conceived and captured. This would also be a great place to add, praying in the Spirit, since it is the Spirit that desires to tell and show us those things “eyes havn’t seen and ears havn’t heard” (1 Corinthians  2:9-11).

2)      2. Mental stretching. Of course I start with reading my bible because I want to be into His mindset. But I also read about things I know nothing about to get out of my mental routine and do some cerebral stretching.

3)      Location. I often struggle to be productive behind my desk. I love the people I work with and my desk is ok (chair could use some work) but often for me to think out of the box I need to be out of the box.  Sometimes change of place equals change of perceptive. 

Somewhere in our journey we stop creating the future and start repeating the past. This is not loving God with all o our mind remember the creativity of the creator is in you, release that wisdom!

The Rising Sound

The Bible tells us that, "In the beginning God create the heavens and the earth" and His first known words were "let there be light." This light that was released from the mouth of God was the very essence of who He is, the light of His glory. Remember the Sun and moon, stars and so forth did not come until day four.

I say that because in releasing His glory, light He was also releasing sound. Light and sound travel through the medium of waves. Moving light waves are called electromagnetic waves and the wave length determines the type of light it is. As humans we only see we're only able to see 3% of the entire light spectrum and part of the 97% which is unseen to the human eye. Within the electromagnetic light there exists a range of wavelengths called radio waves and within those only a small percent is what we can hear. Essentially, we know that all these forms or categories of light and sound exist within the same spectrum. I said all of that just to get to this point, When God released His glory, "let there be light," He was also releasing sound or proclaiming the beginning of sound, in this instant music was born.

"Let there be sound" or "God is (light) Sound" are very true and biblical statements. When God breathed His life into us and created us in His image, that very same sound He released in the beginning (glory) He placed within us. As we can see from creation, sound has the ability to change everything. Think of movies how sound can make a scene loving or scary, the moment is dictated by the sound.

Throughout the generations the spiritual climate of God's people has always had a musical (sound) indicator. With every revival , there has been a release of a new sound (a fresh revelation Him). The sound changes as God's people respond to what He is doing and saying.I write this only to say the onslaught against this generation is to "steal, kill and destroy" the sound of heaven stored in the hearts of this generation. There is a sound that scares the enemy, a shout that silences the avenger.

Balam was hired to curse the people of God but every time he tried he blessed them. The way the encampment would have been set up and from Balams view it was in the arrangement of the cross. You can't curse a people living in the power of the cross! He also noticed something else about those people living in the cross, "the shout of the king is among them."  Balam couldn't curse but he did tell the king how to lead them out of the cross and lose their sound. Immorality, Idolatry, and more (wrong sound) lead them out from the cross and silenced their sound.

There is an onslaught of pornography, casual sex, destructive music, poisonous paradigms all meant to steal or silence the sound of an emerging generation but as the Lord spoke and light (sound) went forth and has continued until this day reminding us of the truth that light expels darkness and darkness cannot triumph over light, God sound, the shout of the king is rising all across the land in the hearts and lives of those who have determined to be silent no more and to release the shout of the king.

I believe we are on the verge of a another new sound being released!

The Comforter or the Punisher?

When the ministry of Jesus was rolling and there seemed to be no end in sight, He told His disciples that He had to go but He would not leave them alone (John 16:7). He didn't say, "I want to keep and eye on you guys, you have a habit of getting into trouble and doing dumb stuff so I'm going to leave and send you "The Punisher" to keep you guys in line," and neither did He say, "I have to make sure you don't mess up my plan so I am going to send "the Controller." No, Jesus said He was sending one like Himself, a helper, a councilor and a reminder.

The Lord is not looking to punish or control you, He is looking however to empower you and walk with you to navigate this great freedom He has given us. The word tells us that it was and is for FREEDOM Christ has made us free and He wants to help us navigate that freedom and if we mess up or miss it along the way He is there to come along side and call out the best in us.

How do you view the Lord, Punisher or Helper? 

A New Mind for a New Year

Matthew 9: 14-17                                                                     

This passage contextually is dealing with fasting but beyond the surface I believe there is so much more. Part of the more I believe is in there is a teaching on paradigms.

Jesus says, “You can’t put new wine in an old bottle”. New wine is going to go through changes, it is going to aerate, ferment, within the skin it will develop pressure and because the old wine skin is no longer malleable, it is no longer flexible the pressure causes a problems, it will bust and both are wasted. New wine has to be placed in something flexible, malleable, something that can handle the changes and pressures that will take place through the stages, something that has the ability to make adjustments.

Jesus is telling them that the problem they were having with Him is that He came to bring new wine but their religious framework of thinking is so antiquated and outdated that it would burst them to receive what He was getting ready to say and do. There is no pouring without a new paradigm. The only way to experience new wine and not burst is to change the wineskin, or to change the way you think.

Every year during this time there are always lots of decrees and proclamations made. I remember that I was suppose to “Get more in 04”, “Come alive in 05”, “Get it fixed in 06”, “Manifesting heaven in 07”, Go through the gate in 08”, etc...

 What happens is that many people gather together, they talk, they even pray the new things being said, they are hungry, ready to receive a new slogan in hopes that this year will truly be different than the one they just went through yet 1 month, 2 months into the new year they discover that they still needed more in 04, nothing came alive in 05, it didn’t get fixed in 06 and we look bewildered and disappointed that these things did not come to pass as we had thought.

 For many it is because they have faith in the wrong thing. Faith cannot be in a watch night service, stroke of the clock, or the latest slogan it has to be in the Lord whom the bible says, “daily loadeth us with benefits”, every day is an opportunity from the Lord if we would sieze it, if we would maximize the moment and stop waiting for a certain day, time always placing in our future that which God has for us today by the renewing of our mind!

There is no need of us having a new year, with a new slogan if were going to go into it with an old mindset. If it is going to change its not because of a calendar day or a clock, if your going to come out from where you have been and experience something new, you have to come out head first! True Resolve will come from true repentance which is a change of mind. If He can get our heads out everything else will follow!