Passionate worship will seek manifestation in various forms: song, dance, painting, music, books, film.
These forms will carry the tangible presence of God, the way worship music already does to us now. It will powerfully transform individuals, families and cities.
In the past decade, we learned about our identities as sons and daughters of a passionate loving Father.
We saw the immense treasures which were hidden deep in ourselves and in others.
In the next decade, we will learn the intricacies of our identities as it relates to others. We will learn the uniqueness of every relationship in our lives, and will teach our relationships to flourish.
The diverse parts of the body are coming together as one through love, honor and submission. Unity is diversity and codependence.
Two weeks ago, I had just finished my final projects, and was feeling a strong need to get away and be alone. As some of you know, my life has also changed dramatically since the start of December.
I felt overwhelmed, but as I walked through the forest alone with Him, I knew He was right there with me. That was all that mattered. In that moment, I felt completely satisfied. My life was fulfilled. I realized that it was only out of that fulfillment and overflow that my life would shine. It is not the other way round, for accomplishments can never fulfill me. Only He can.
I swam deeper into the moment with Him. I thirsted for more of Him, but I felt like I hit a ceiling.
Then, God said, "Son, I'm not holding anything back."
"In fact, I believe you can take more than you believe you can. I do not hold things back thinking that you cannot handle My fullness. There is no Ceiling, only what you think is the ceiling. I'm only here to break your ceilings."
"Son, you have held nothing back from Me. Why should I from you?"
"I want you to fly, to surpass others, to surpass Me, to be yourself."
I saw the sky, with no ceilings, where we could fly as we were made to be. We were not afraid that others would be threatened by our new freedom. And we would encourage those who are younger than us to fly higher than we have ever dared to go.
When I think about the past decade, a few things stand out. Let me begin with this prophecy by Jack Hayford in 1999 (thanks David for the video!)
2000 - It was a year of Awakening, not just for me, but for many other people. The verse for this year is
"In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy." @Acts 2:17-18
2006 - It was a year of Breakthrough. Many people came to know the Lord, but more importantly, there was immense breakthrough in intimacy and identity.
2009 - God was teaching us to Shine.
2010 - God was teaching us to Dream.
In the past decade, we saw the manifestation of Prophetic Culture. Culture, in the sense of what Clayton Christensen says below about cooperation in corporations. "They embrace priorities and follow procedures by instinct and assumption rather than by explicit decision."
The theory arrays these tools along two dimensions—the extent to which members of the organization agree on what they want from their participation in the enterprise, and the extent to which they agree on what actions will produce the desired results. When there is little agreement on both axes, you have to use "power tools"—coercion, threats, punishment, and so on—to secure cooperation. Many companies start in this quadrant, which is why the founding executive team must play such an assertive role in defining what must be done and how. If employees’ ways of working together to address those tasks succeed over and over, consensus begins to form. MIT’s Edgar Schein has described this process as the mechanism by which a culture is built. Ultimately, people don’t even think about whether their way of doing things yields success. They embrace priorities and follow procedures by instinct and assumption rather than by explicit decision—which means that they’ve created a culture. Culture, in compelling but unspoken ways, dictates the proven, acceptable methods by which members of the group address recurrent problems. And culture defines the priority given to different types of problems. It can be a powerful management tool.
It became very natural for people to release prophetic revelation in the church.
We also saw the manifestation of Worship Culture. People were undone.
This helped to lead people into their identities as sons and daughters of God. We learned to be okay with our weaknesses, okay with making mistakes and taking risks, and to expect God to release blessings and provision in our lives.
We learned about the intensity and audacity of the Grace of God, the Goodness of God and the Love of God.
We learned about the immensity of our Destiny.
We saw the beginnings of Kingdom Supernatural Culture.
All this is going to be the foundation for people to go after their dreams in the next decade.
As we move into 2011, I feel excitement rising up in me. I remember being on a ski trip with Jeremy and Jerald in March 2010 where God started telling me how exciting the next ten years are going to be. He showed me how ten years ago, when I first got to know Him, I had no idea where I was going to be today. I could not have imagined it turning out this way. I have seen Him accomplish many things. They are beyond my wildest dreams!
God says that it is important to paint a picture of the future. We may not know exactly what is going to happen, but He wants us to hope and to dream. Without vision, the people perish.
I'm going to share nuggets as I get them. You will find links to them on the side bar.
Continuing in the topic of what greatness is, here is a snapshot from an article by Clayton Christensen (Harvard Business School) sent to me by a friend.
It is really humbling to hear this from someone who achieved considerable success in his life, then wrestled with death and came back with a clearer view of the purpose of life.
Choose the Right Yardstick
This past year I was diagnosed with cancer and faced the possibility that my life would end sooner than I’d planned. Thankfully, it now looks as if I’ll be spared. But the experience has given me important insight into my life.
I have a pretty clear idea of how my ideas have generated enormous revenue for companies that have used my research; I know I’ve had a substantial impact. But as I’ve confronted this disease, it’s been interesting to see how unimportant that impact is to me now. I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched.
I think that’s the way it will work for us all. Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people. This is my final recommendation: Think about the metric by which your life will be judged, and make a resolution to live every day so that in the end, your life will be judged a success.
The thought that the future of all his countrymen lay in his hands entered his mind. He has to succeed, or his people will suffer. Courage drained from him. Who is he to think that he can liberate his people? What if there was someone else more suited for the job?
God spoke from beside him, "Do you not think that I can take care of My people? Even if you try and failed today, I will still protect you and My people. But if you don't even try, then we have all failed."
"Turn around," said the Lord.
David turned and saw the army shivering in fear behind him. "There is no one that is strong enough to overcome the giant, not even you." He continued, "For if there is, then you don't need Me." He looked into David's eyes, "I am looking for someone who believes that I can."
David shivered. What a privilege, what an honor, to be a vessel of the Living God. He worshiped.
