Generosity /// 001

Melissa and I are going to share some videos occasionally.  I hope to create a more open window into our everyday with God and how we apply big concepts into small situations.  Here's a conversation on Generosity.  Enjoy!

The Color Of The Pen Is... RRRRRRRoyal Blue

I've had quite a few people come to me recently wanting to know how to walk out truth in their life.  In the midst of wanting to grow in our understanding or contribute to the global conversation on faith, how do we not live in deception? I love the scene in the movie Liar Liar where Jim Carrey is wrestling with the pen trying to say its red when it's really blue.  The context of the movie is the Jim's character can't lie about anything and he's at his wits end trying to break the truth.  (Movie Clip: with language) Wouldn't it be nice if theology worked the same way?  That if it wasn't true it would be impossible to say?  Lately there has been an increased awareness of what the end looks like. It's loudly being conversed in our movies, music, books and facebook posts.  No matter Darby and Scofield's inspiration in the 1800's about a "rapture" to get out of earth or the recent reigniting "conversation starter" by Rob Bell on universalism, many questions are being asked about what we should believe about the end. Society's common motivations for even asking questions about the end have been produced out of the desire to want to make sure that they're safe or they made it in the club with all the benefits.  It's motivated out of a fear or rejection and not relationship.  I don't know about you, but in my experience people who are afraid and self aware aren't usually able to see things through a healthy perspective and can ask narrow questions. While what we believe about the end matters, we have wasted a lot of energy trying to prove absolutes for eternity with no position able to be held without concern. When it comes to big topics like this, how do we know what to believe and make sure we're not "off"?

We Have To Ask Better Questions

The art of question asking is truly a gift.  We had a great question asker join the senior management team of Generation ONE for a strategy meeting recently.  It helped reshape what we thought we knew about a few topics and I'm very grateful.  Having a small worldview is a catalyst into narrow thinking and question asking.  As a generation of globally conscious and socially just leaders come of age, it's demanding that we see the gospel as a message that meets the world, not simply advance agenda's with the most money or loudest microphone.  The church has found itself in many theological stances that look like trying to hammer a nail with a porcelain plate. Building a kingdom perspective requires us first to know who God is. We can't walk in our partnership of kingdom mission until we understand kingdom vision. While it's nice to know what we're going to do, allowing that to define who we are doesn't work.  It's not authentic as it undermines the priority of design over function.  The most important question to ask is who God is and what He is like before I ever attempt to interpret what He's doing or where we're all going. This is absolutely not possible without a close personal relationship with Holy Spirit. 

God Is Not Schizophrenic

If you look at the church today, you'd have a hard time not believing God suffers from some type of psychosis disorder.  I'm not belittling anyone who deals with this, I'm saying we should be able to trust that God is consistent in His nature and that it's a sure thing.  The church as done a poor job representing that. If what we believe isn't consistent with the nature of God, why would we believe it?  Is it law or grace? Is it universalism or predestination? Is it slavery or sonship? Is it love or fear? Is it rest or wrath?  Is it peace or war? Are we under the old covenant or the new covenant? Is it what I feel or what I read? Do my actions affect my justification? Or is it simply faith? Is it a poverty gospel or a prosperity gospel? Are we to be missional or at tractional? What is God really like? These important questions don't need our opinion, but truth walked out as wisdom.  Many absolute messages have been advanced under the name of God and most of them end up in dogmatic traffic jams. When truth isn't processed with the spirit through application, wisdom will vanish.  Defining God's nature is changing how we live and our overall purpose for life.  If there's no fruit in your life of encountering God for who He says He is on a daily basis, you might want to ask yourself if you really believe. What we believe about alpha determines omega. Mark Twain said the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you discover why.  Jesus' message starts with being born again... because it changes your understanding of why you are here.  If you don't know what or who you are, you'll be "tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine."  It's time for us to KNOW God with a reality of God being present not just theological propaganda.  If God is the same yesterday today and forever, we must have a value system that embraces the whole of scripture without contradicting His nature in the midst of it.

The Word Is Greater Than Scripture

One of our greatest challenges as a 21st century believer is the interpretation of the bible.  Lets face it, the bible says a lot that contradicts itself (according to our interpretation) and it can get really confusing. The bible was written a long time ago.  The word (logos) was in the beginning but the scripture  (graphé) was a response to the word (logos) written by inspiration.  Scripture is a collection of books written by numerous authors, now translated and retranslated and then translated again to the 10th power. You want to test your faith? Read church history.  Do research on the origins of scripture translations and see how "holy" the motives and agendas were for the versions even existing. Do research on the people that were collected to create new versions by the rulers of their day and find out what they were committed to in life.  The game played with scripture historically was that who ever holds the right to interpret wins. If you were looking for power, decrees were made that only you were in charge of interpreting and then you had people interpret the way you preferred. You now could kill, steal and destroy and declare it "God's Will".  Is God able to work all this humanity out for good? Of course, but we need to turn on our brains and not assume we have everything we need to understand what we read in front of us.  We need to be students of logos and graphé. The bible, history and community with Holy Spirit as well as one another is going to bring us to greater levels of revelation. 

Let's Stop Echoing Religious Propaganda And Get Informed.   

While I've proposed a real challenge in scripture, it doesn't mean we throw it out or even greater, maintain a default position of doubt.  Jesus committed Holy Spirit to the disciples to teach and lead them in all things. What would it look like to believe the same for us today?  What if Holy Spirit can teach us and lead us in all things? There is a radical remnant of believers who are doing this as well as turn on their brains, utilize better historical resources and ask better questions.  It's exposing some of the brainless traditions of religion that were never God breathed in the first place and it's changing the face of the church. We need a radical commitment to understand scripture in origin.  Some of the most important questions we can ask before trying reading scripture are: Who is the writer? Who is their audience? When was it written and what cultural dynamics would be relevantly presumed in the writing? This pursuit of context today is presenting offensive perspectives to widely unchallenged ideas we've deeply embraced about God. Are we willing to go to a higher place with greater revelation if it means letting go of old wine skins?  Interpretation that keeps me comfortable, makes me feel good, gives me manipulative power or serves my exclusive agenda is going to be a diluted interpretation.  The desire to be in control or even greater "be right" has robbed the church for centuries. We've torn down our brother, rejected our neighbor and destroyed our place of influence in the world because we were short sighted, insecure and immature. It's time to grow up and go on to perfection.

Am I Wise Or Right?

The need to be right was something Jesus constantly dealt with when pursued by religious leaders of His day.  Solomon understood that without wisdom (logos, rhema and graphé applied in relationship), what was true could bring death as much as it could bring life when out of context. Anything we say can be twisted to serve another agenda as even the devil used scripture. Our passion today as a new generation of leaders needs to be not the education thru biblical knowledge alone, but to study & supplicate that we would know the author. Intimacy with God in His presence is where we'll find our answers validated.  If the core value of deception is isolation we can easily end up with right information but still be wrong. If we understand who God is from being face to face, we'll understand His motivation, His heart and purpose for mankind. We can't have theology that contradicts His nature. Rapture? Universalism? Predestination? Eternal Damnation? Heaven right now? Supernatural Lifestlye? Wisdom says I have to consider all sides and ask what looks the most like Jesus while not undermining who He is or who we're becoming. Truth is never absolute but always held in tension. I believe if the core value of our theology is reconciliation (The only title for Jesus' ministry) and not separation, we're going to discover a relational wisdom like never.  Will you be a theology puppet? Or will you decide to give your life to knowing the author that you could speak on His behalf?

  

What We Believe About Jesus Matters

Jesus wasn't American, Republican or Evangelical for that matter.  He was a Jew and their king.  In our fast paced society, monarchies seem like simply fairy tales because the values and functions of life represented don’t connect in modern times. Obviously we know that these "fairy tales" actually reflect the state of much of recorded history. During the time of scripture being written, this was the structure of society - Kings and Kingdoms.  As we read the New Testament, Jesus uses this language heavily to describe His purpose and function in the earth. Phrases like “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” are spoken of well over 100 times. Why is this important? The kingdom of God represented an entrance strategy of the culture of heaven being revealed in this life. Many people simply get it wrong. They get the nature of God wrong, the context of Jesus’ words, and the purpose of why we’re all here interacting with the kindest being that has ever existed. If we’re to walk in understanding of who Jesus was and how to exemplify him today, we must understand the environment, atmosphere and cultural dynamics of the King and His kingdom.  

The Bible Wasn’t Written To You 

It’s important to know that Jesus saw Himself as a king. It’s important to know that all of Israel longed for a king that would lead them to prominence and out of tyrannical control. The concept of a “good king” was something they had seen successfully demonstrated in only short stints as a nation, while most of their existence was found in idolatrous kings or in slavery to other empires. This makes the message of the scriptures a challenge for us to understand. I love Brian Zahnd’s commentary on the fact that the bible wasn’t written to our current society or western civilization. It was written to a group of people hardly established as a nation with their common history wrapped in more despair than hope. The bible was written to slaves. If there’s a people group we can identify with in scripture it’s the Roman Empire. As a nation, the US is a “super power” that dictates much of the values and guidelines of the world, just like Rome did in that time. Hard to understand where a writer is coming from if you’ve never been in the writer’s shoes or in the shoes of the writer’s audience. What I’m saying is that if you are an American or a citizen of democratic nation with modern trappings it’s gonna be hard to relate with scripture.  The “what” of scripture seems moderately accessible, it’s the all elusive and subjective “why” that seems to get us lost in translation. Why does Jesus coming as a king matter?

The King Was The Sign Of Hope

Jesus, while not received by some, was the great hope of Israel. Seeing Jesus as a king in the context of what kings were in their day allows us to understand the great hope He represented, not simply a desire to exert authority over slaves. Finally the king they hoped for since the days of King Saul over 1000 years ago was here. The Israelites were looking for the man Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied about. He was the hope that the law would be satisfied and they could rise up as a great nation. (Today Jewish wealth represents 30% of the global economy while only commanding 1% of the global population, I’d say they’ve prospered in the last 2000 years) Jesus’ legitimacy as their true king and savior was measured not in His teachings, self proclamation or even His miracles. The be the great king of Israel, He would have to defeat death. His defeat of death sealed His authority over all darkness becoming the prime example of what God’s love and authority in action looks like. Egyptian roots to authoring the role of king in society always attached a deity to the role. Many of them professed everlasting life and control of the earth.  None of them defeated death. The hope He represented wasn’t just for the Jews but for all mankind.  Jesus gave himself to death because of love FOR us, His resurrection legitimized His love moving THROUGH us. He demonstrated a more excellent way that was greater than any king in history had shown. Jesus was modeling how to govern the heart through unconditional  love and relentless hope.  His defeat of death solidified that He truly was the King of kings and His unique message was the restoration of all things. If you were an Israelite of that day, your mind was blown at what He proposed through His example. Ruling through peace and not war wasn’t exactly what they had in mind. 

On Earth As It Is In Heaven 

In the most revered prayer in the history of mankind, there’s the phrase “your kingdom come, you will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Wrapping our minds around the kingdom of God coming to earth in our post modern society presents it’s challenges.  We’ve never lived in the age of kings, we’ve never needed rescue from a dominant empire (Americans are the dominant empire of today) or known what it was like for a whole kingdom to invade another kingdom.  This phrase isn’t proposing war. The King is a person and His kingdom coming to earth is His dominion being exercised. Our greatest purpose has been to have dominion on the earth while “being fruitful and multiplying” in every thing we do. The kingdom coming to earth is not about a new dictator controlling everyone, but creating a new way of life established thru a a culture.  Culture is created when a group of people share common values as a way of life. Much of society’s culture is shifting today with the rise of social activism, the break down of corporate America, big government and of course the family unit being not intact. Jesus came with a desire to influence, serve and bring peace.  He was the king with a donkey, not a white horse and army.  (That part comes later)  Yet He came with radical power and authority. Jesus was the perfect picture of the kingdom of God coming to earth.  It was power through love and authority through surrender. One person can influence but a group can change the culture as early adopters of new values in action. We are called to shift the culture of earth to look like heaven by adapting our Father’s value system and living it out. 

We Were Made In His Image

“His Image” was the name of the first Youth Group I was ever apart of. I didn’t realize that even at that age my identity was being shaped to believe that I could be just like my heavenly Father.   Dualism wants to suggest that all things spiritual happen outside of the earthly realm, but the truth about Jesus is that He was fully God and fully man. He was a picture of what we were to expect for ourselves. A people that with Christ dwelling in us could begin to shift the way people live and ultimately what they believe about eternity. We were made in His Image and likeness.  Not being like Jesus in our current state demands many questions. Do I believe Jesus is truly a king? Is He in charge? Do we believe in Jesus’ ministry? Do we believe He actually resurrected? Do we believe He defeated sin and death? Do we believe He was the first born among many brethren?  Do we believe we were made to be like Him? Do we believe that all things continue to be possible thru Christ? What we believe about Jesus matters. It helps to shape the purpose of why we exist, how to live and how to treat other people. The kingdom isn’t going to invade by imposition.  It’s a movement of believers deciding to believe in the full capacity of creation and demonstrate the culture of the kingdom in THIS life just like Jesus did.  

To Deny The Impossible Is To Declare Self Rule

I’ve been labeled a seeker of signs and wonders, leading people only to the hand of God.  If His face is the goal and you found the hand, Bill Johnson says just look up because you’re really close. Cessationists want the wonder of God to be limited to what we read (embracing Father, Son and Holy Scriptures as their trinity) but to deny God’s power is to declare self rule. The King’s rule and decree demands His will be honored and in motion.The King’s will is executed by His rulers, which is those made in His image. A “believer” lives out what they believe.  Simply put, if your life doesn’t demonstrate what possible under the King’s rule, maybe you don’t actually believe you are called to rule on the earth as ambassadors of Jesus‘ ministry in reconciliation. What does the reconciliation of people to the Father look like? What does “Your will be done” look like in action in this context? The answer to this question is your greatest responsibility. Reconciliation will be produced out of radical unconditional love. That love is expressed when we as “believers” actually believe in the full potential of a love that can win the world.  Compassion, love, hope, faith in action produce the greatest transformation you can witness.  When the King’s will or “on earth as it is in heaven” is in action the blind see, the poor are fed, cancer is erased, wrong things are made right and the world is restored to it’s maker. If signs and wonders aren’t apart of our life, we’ve believed a lie. The lie that our ministry looks nothing like Jesus. This is the greatest agenda of darkness and it currently has a stronghold of the church.  

Faith Isn’t Needed For The Possible, But The Impossible 

So who’s decree will you implement? The decree of the king? Or you own ideas that reject who God says you are and what your purpose is on earth? While it’s comfortable to explain situations from a distance or approve through observation, that’s not faith, that’s voyeurism. Faith was given for the impossible, not for the possible. Your identity empowers you to not just be saved from your past or guarantee paradise someday, but to live out a dynamic life of purpose and transformation in THIS life. This life doesn’t matter if we’re just trying to get out of here, but the kingdom of God is an entrance strategy not an exit strategy. Believing in who God says I am doesn’t just let me feel loved or for the grace crowd - be free. It empowers me to look, act, think, see and be motivated as my Father in Heaven just as Jesus did. Remember, faith without works is dead. When I believe and live this way, the will of the Father is being executed and Heaven is being realized in this life. Heaven is designed to come to earth through you. It’s time to dwell with understanding and action. All Hail King Jesus.    

So What’s The Problem?

The simple truth about life is that things come our way all the time that create challenges.  Are these challenges problems or opportunities? A renewed mind understands that there aren't any problems in heaven and if we took "heaven's perspective" we would realize that God has a solution for all things. Finding God's solutions starts with right believing which in turn raises our level of hope.  A hopeless situation is a Godless situation, so how does God see our lives and circumstance?  I have to be honest, I have a hope i.v. supernaturally injected in my veins.  All my life I’ve been that person to see things half full and just believe that something good would come out of a big mess that could be staring me straight in the eye.  Even when I’ve found myself in situations I created that were seemingly “hopeless”, I still believed good things could come out of it.  I’ve been told this was resilience and determination.  I’ve decided it’s relentless hope and a gift from Heaven that I've chosen to partner with.  I’ve been trying to crawl into the eye of God all of my life to see situations the way He sees them and I believe that He’s given me that exact opportunity, to live a life full of relentless hope.    

My current perspective is setting up my future experiences.  

What we believe about God shows up pretty quick when we’re in crisis.  I can remember back in ’04 I suffered a pretty serious sports injury.  I took a line drive in the face while playing softball.  I was diagnosed as having a tripod fracture with an orbital blowout.  It’s a common hockey injury for all you Red Wings fans (Steve Yzerman had a similar injury the same month in the ‘04 Stanley Cup Semi-finals) reading.  It’s a brutal injury to say the least.   At the point of injury and coming aware of what had actually happened, I started asking myself questions like if I would be able to see again, if my face would be marred all my life etc.  It’s funny how quick these things roll through your mind.  I knew I was helpless as I lay there on the ground waiting for the ambulance.  I decided that the best thing I could do was to welcome Holy Spirit and I began to speak in tongues and releasing peace over myself.  (When we speak in tongues we edify our human spirit!) The guys were all gathered around me and pretty concerned.  I remember them asking what I was saying and one guy telling me afterward that he was touched so much by my desire to rely on Holy Spirit in that moment while navigating all the wide emotions.  Even in my injured state I was setting the tone that Papa God was present and we had the opportunity to be aware of Him.  His hope was my reality because I knew the truth about my situation before finding myself in it. The truth was - God was greater.  

Hope is qualified by truth and truth is centered on who He is.

My level of hope is completely connected to how much I’m willing to see things according to His perspective.  I mentioned in a recent post I wrote that while we don’t ever want to be focused on our spiritual enemy, it is a reality that we have an enemy who is looking to steal, kill and destroy.  His greatest tactics are found in deception or rather seeing things according to his perspective.  Our foundation of truth is essential in living a life of hope in all things.  While most Christians would say that they believe the bible, it’s a radical choice to put how the bible teaches us to think in motion.  Many believers try to just find a scripture they think is the exact situation they are in and whatever outcome there is in scripture will be their outcome.  I don’t believe scripture always teaches us specifically what to think as much as it teaches us how to think.  This is a mature perspective that allows us to live out truth in the greater context of God’s nature rather than in the limitation of a few examples of peoples lives before us.

What would it look like to have relentless hope for our circumstances?   

What if the problems or challenges in your life are an invitation to experience God’s goodness toward you?  If God’s nature allows Him to be all knowing and also the provider at the same time, it sounds like this would be the recipe for unlimited breakthrough. While God isn't in the business of enabling problematic cycles in our lives, He is a good father who loves to see His children succeed.  Part of that success is what we're able to get from Him that we can't be for ourselves and the other is what is developed in us by going through the circumstance.  It's not about enduring hardship, it's the opportunity to experience who He is and see things the way He sees them. The more we become like Him, the higher our hope becomes.  The greater the breakthrough in our lives, the more benefit there is even for the people around us.

What is the truth about your situation?

Once again, what you believe about your circumstance will easily define the result.  What is God’s hope level for situation, your life and your relationships?  How does God see it?  What if your level of hope matched your heavenly father’s?  What could become  possible?  Let’s believe God’s best, take the risk of living a radical hope filled life, believing we are never alone and will never be forsaken.  I would recommend Steve Backlund's devotional book Higher Perspectives.  It's full of truth relating specifically on how to overcome hopeless situations.  Life comes out of the tongue and we say what we believe.  In the devotional, Steve does a great job creating declarations that match our believe system and these declarations will change your life. Let HOPE rise

Identity Theft: Stolen or Given?

I read a comment on a social media status update the other day discussing the topic of identity. The comment basically stated that if everyone would just get their eyes off who they are in Christ, and turn simply to who God is, that it would somehow fix what they believe are problems with the message of identity. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how human nature thinks throwing out the baby with the bath water is a solution finder – throwing out the whole message of identity, dismissing it as a “selfish” topic. I think there’s a massive need in the body of Christ to know who they IN Christ. Comments like the one I read are generally statements of ignorance. Knowing who you are in Christ is founded on the expansion of God’s nature as a greater reality in your life. You can’t know who you are unless you understand what/who you were patterned after, and the message of identity is never separate from this understanding. Confusion in identity is centered on lies that set in to try and steal from us our dominion and authority on the earth as heirs. We don’t have to choose between powerful believer or powerful God; it’s both. A “powerless believer” is an oxymoron, and it is the enemy’s greatest weapon. It is mediocrity as its best. There is so much more, and as I stated in my last post, I have a healthy dissatisfaction that is pushing me to discover the fullness of the kingdom as my present reality.  

I believe the church has suffered from a bad case of identity theft.

I’m not a big “enemy” guy. The devil this, demons that and the infamous “I’m being attacked every day” stuff has never sat right in my spirit. I found early on that a devil-conscious reality brings a lot of devil and not very much Jesus. Although, the trap in this stance is thinking the enemy isn’t real and that we get to skate by scott-free. There is a need to understand the enemy has come with an agenda to steal, kill and destroy. I believe his greatest position is getting us to believe we aren’t made in the King’s image, and that we don’t have authority over him. The only authority the enemy has is what we give him. Jesus said that God was greater in Him than Satan on earth, and then he invited us to “abide,” or simply stay, in this reality of God’s greatness. When we aren’t walking as a powerful companion, the alternative looks like a shameful beggar outside the city walls with no invitation to the table. When we accept this identity as a weak, filthy-rags, disinherited, confused and powerless orphan, we’ve become a victim of identity theft. Our name and authority is being used in a way it wasn’t designed to be. The difference between the modern era of credit cards getting compromised and this spiritual picture being created here is that we’ve literally given the enemy permission to take it.  With this comes access to our authority, dominion, inheritance and brings condemnation, confusion and especially the lie that we've been separated from Father God.  Who would invite a group of hoodlums into their home at midnight and then call themselves victims?

Much of what we feel victimized by actually looks like faith mispositioned rather than stolen goods.  

How would the earth respond if 25 percent of faith-declaring believers of Jesus Christ actually believed that Jesus was the first born among many brethren? If He’s the first, who is the second born of the King? What if 15 percent actually believed they were fearfully and wonderfully made in His image and likeness? It would mean they have a present reality of what His image and likeness looks like, and transformation of every sphere would be on display. This is the substance that will change the world, and Jesus showed us as one man. How much more if we all banded together and took our place as sons? God hasn’t called us to do something ordinary, but extraordinary. Jesus declared that all power on heaven and earth was in His name prior to giving the great commission. Why do you suppose He prequalified His last words to the disciples with this bold statement of His ability? I believe it was because He wanted them to realize that “going” wouldn’t be possible without identifying Him as the power source. This power doesn’t come into our lives because we think we’re filthy rags or just a poor beggar hoping to get the scraps off the table. To be able to handle power, it requires great responsibility, understanding and maturity.  

It’s time to chop off the false humility jargon that is pervasive in the church.  

Fear has set in the church, and we are so scared to acknowledge the divine design of companionship and authority that God has invited us into. Can power ruin someone?  Of course. Can thinking too highly of yourself bring you to your knees? Been there, done that. But, just because power mispositioned can get you hurt, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a right position. Declaring we’re nothing and that anything good in our lives is only God takes away our responsibility to say yes and to lay our lives down. He doesn’t break in and hot wire the car. He comes in through the door after knocking. True humility allows for us to be confident in what we were designed to do, but it always lives in surrender to who God is as the power source. Demeaning the painting doesn’t honor the artist. False humility says, I’m not responsible or powerful, but true humility says I’m powerful because of Him. You can’t have authority and not be in charge, the same you can’t have self-control and then blame God if the outcome is messy.  

We need an encounter with perfect love that casts out fear.  

It’s time to put away childish things and embrace love as a more excellent way. Knowing who we are in Christ as sons is the beginning of transformation. Romans says don’t be like the world, but be transformed in the renewing of your mind that you may prove the perfect and acceptable will of God. We can’t just say what we’re not; we have to be renewed, and then walk it out. The revelation of identity as a son begins with understanding who God is. To have an upgraded perspective of the church, we need an upgraded perspective of ourselves. To have an upgraded perspective of ourselves, we need an upgraded perspective of God. Graham Cooke says the most powerful prayer you could pray is this: “God, what do you want to be for me today that I’ve never known you to be?” Pray this prayer, and then I challenge you to believe that what He shows you about Himself is what He believes about you. He is who you are like.  

Healthy Dissatisfaction

I recently started a message out by stating some things that I was unwilling to settle for. My message was about heaven’s government and its impact on how we as the local church express the kingdom of God here on earth. When we believe that the kingdom of God is being established today on earth, it changes what we can believe is possible. I speak with a lot of passion and conviction when sharing on this topic because I’ve experienced many diluted or mediocre forms of Christianity … and I know there is more. These past experiences created a dissatisfaction in my heart that, for many years, I thought needed to be suppressed and just tolerated. As I’ve grown in maturity as a believer, I’ve found that God has given me these healthy dissatisfactions – to push me to not simply tear down what I saw, but to push into the unseen. When such passion is channeled appropriately, it can be a catalyst for radical transformation. Criticism, negativity and dishonor bring confusion, but pursuing love, excellence and honor creates a momentum that defies odds and makes comfortable things tremble. This healthy dissatisfaction has pushed me to take the greatest risks of my life, and it’s yielding the greatest season of my life. It’s become one that has defined Melissa and me.  

Heaven and earth’s beautiful dance …

Life can only come out of this tension of dissatisfaction when we have a foundation of knowing God’s design for mankind. Much of Western thought is based off a Greek value system of believing that deities were exclusively good, enlightened, and the earth as well as its inhabitants were inherently evil. While the curse of sin is real, we weren’t made in its image, and it has no authority over our lives that we didn’t give in the first place. When we accept Father’s love and profess Christ as the messiah who rose from the dead, we eliminate the authority of Hades over our life. This restoration is heaven and earth being reunited. What becomes possible when heaven begins to interact with earth? It creates big questions that require the leading of the Holy Spirit to walk out. I love the picture of a husband and wife dancing as partners the waltz or tango. There’s a tension needed in the hands, arms and shoulders when dancing together that allows for leading and communication. It creates momentum to spin or push out for a moment of beauty. Jesus communicated this tension in His prayer to Father when He said, “On earth as it is in heaven.” They are meant to be one, and we get to live in the tension of allowing heaven to lead us in all we do. Beauty is found in the embrace of this tension of now and not yet.  

Changing our perspective …

We live in this tension every day. We have decisions to make about whether we will settle with what is being decided around us, or if we will push into a higher perspective and believe for greater things. I’ve decided to believe in greater things, and I’m seeing them all the time. What is the determining factor in what you believe is possible? Do we just believe what we’ve been told? What we heard in psychology classes 10 years ago? Or, are we willing to accept that what God says is possible really is? We can either have a common worldview, or we can have a kingdom view. If earth is to be as heaven is, it demands the question what is heaven's culture like? What does a kingdom with King Jesus on the throne actually look like? It definitely looks like something.  

This is the beginning of a point of no return.  

If you study scripture and see the 85 plus times Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God interacting with earth, it starts to build a longing in your heart for the unthinkable. It starts to demand transformation on levels only possible if God were present, and guess what … He is. Through us. Many have created small views of God because they are waiting for Him to come down and do His “I’m God and I’m in control, so get out of my way” thing, but that’s not His plan. His plan is you. Just you. Jesus was the example, and we are the ambassadors of this example of reconciliation of the whole earth to Himself. When you believe Jesus’ words, you begin to have a healthy dissatisfaction with what you currently know and begin to be willing to jump into the unknown. The unknown of radical love, endless peace, unspeakable joy and relentless hope. It’s the realm of embracing mystery, miracles and immediate breakthrough that always ends with, “It could have only been God.” The more I realize who God is and what His design for me actually looks like, the more l lay my life down to see His reality become my own. This is what I say yes to and is indeed good news. Hopefully I’ll never be satisfied …