In Honor Of Legacies I Will Remember

It was 11:05AM on a typical Sunday, about five years ago. As was the norm, I was running around from one end of the church building to the next, catching “hellos” and saying “goodbyes.” We were preparing to start our third morning service at Mt. Zion Church (where I was serving on staff). I had ten minutes until service started and was about to get positioned on stage when the familiar, Texas-branded voice of Leta Calcote called my name. We all called her Sister Leta formally, but I called her Yoda at home, because if there were ever a Jedi Master in the church, she wore the title well. What I didn't know was that this beckon was a moment that would awaken the next season of my life. She had never prayed for me personally or given me a prophetic word, but everyone who was somebody in this community of believers honored her as a seasoned prophetic matriarch in the house.  

She began to prophesy over me with great authority. The level of impartation had my body trembling. The words she began to declare were things that I was scared to utter from my own lips. They were secret hopes and dreams that I felt would be laughed at if I made them known. It's not that they were embarrassing; it’s that they were so lofty that people would have told me to take a hike. I couldn't believe the words she was uttering. I have received personal prophetic ministry countless times, but this was one of the few times it engaged the destiny for which I was born. It was precise, wise, and extravagant. I had never had anyone say such encouraging things and have them backed with personal belief from the one delivering the word. God was using this woman to elevate my perspective of myself according to who God had made me to be and it was one of the most affirming moments of my life to that point. Tears streamed down my face and after about five minutes, she said she would need to pray about the rest of the things she was seeing because she wanted to make sure they were accurate. She was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, too. We both sat quiet for a few moments. She then committed to be my prayer partner and promised that she would intercede on my behalf everyday. Once again, I was beside myself. I've never had anyone back up his or her words with actions that communicate I really believe in you (and it not come from my family). As I glanced at my watch, it was 11:13AM.  Those eight minutes would radically propel me into a season of discovery and ultimately birth the greatest season of my life.  

Fathers and mothers are anointed to promote and to elevate.  

This moment not only marked Melissa’s and my personal journey, but also the way we saw how prophetic ministry can impact a person’s life. This experience motivated me to seek out greater understanding of God’s thoughts toward prophetic ministry and how I could grow in my gifting. I remember feeling so honored that this saint would commit to be a personal intercessor on my behalf and also believe God’s thoughts toward me. My thoughts hadn’t changed. I had been thinking like this since I was five-years-old, but having someone like Sister Leta, with her honor and anointing, bestow honor on me elevated it all to a whole-notha-level. That’s what fathers and mothers do; they elevate things in a manner that a son or daughter could never do in their own strength. The timing of bestowing such honor is crucial and discernment is needed at its best in these moments. Fathers and Mothers know precisely when it’s time. It’s that time to release a blessing over the next generation that they could become the best God had designed them to become. Obviously, the choice to live in surrender as sons and daughters is foundational for this wonderful reward to produce life and not confusion. Jesus taught that whoever receives a prophet in their own name receives their reward (See Matt. 10:41).

There is a great responsibility on sons and daughters to honor and multiply.  

The recipient doesn’t earn inheritances; the giver earns them. Honor positions sons and daughters to receive inheritance, but their works could never produce the level of the reward they are given. Great responsibility comes with inheritance to multiply it and use in a manner that it would become greater when given to the next generation. I feel like the Lord, through Sister Leta, gave something to me that day. Something was imparted and it was an inheritance. Sister Leta and I were able to spend a considerable amount of time together after that experience, and she continued to sow into my life and help shape some of the things that she deposited. I received reward and now I have the responsibility to multiply it. Years and years of service given to the Lord built-up as a deposit into the people she gave herself so willingly, and there were many. In early-2013, Sister Leta Calcote went home to be with the Lord.

When sons become fathers and give a multiplied inheritance, legacies are birthed.  

Legacy is a word that has been highlighted to me often over the last decade, considering the season of life I’ve been in. A close friend of mine started a company with the word legacy in its title, and I remember asking myself if I really understood what a legacy was. Melissa and I were close to beginning to start a family and the whole understanding of what impact I would have on the generations after me began to ring in my mind. What was I going to leave to my seed after my life ended? My experiences with Sister Leta (and now many others) have radically shifted my understanding of the impact I have on those around me. I want both my natural children and spiritual children to do greater things than I do. The inheritances that I’ve received and committed to multiply will resource the advancement of the Kingdom of God. I’m responsible to represent and honor the deposits in my life.  I’m forever grateful for every person who sacrificed his or her life to birth something that I benefitted from.  

That which was given for my benefit now demands that I give all for those around me.  

I’ve had the honor to witness and support the beginning of another new legacy through the life of Laura Kymla, another Matriarch in the Kingdom of God who recently went home to be with Jesus. Her story, so well documented in her new book, Even Though I Walk Through the Valley, is being carried as a reward and an inheritance to all that she gave it to. I’ve been humbled to witness her seed take up the momentum and mantle of her life and forward it with such vigor and commitment. While I’m not her natural son, she left something inside of me, and with that measure I will represent her well. Melissa, Christopher, and Carmen (Laura’s adult children) speak with great conviction about the impact of her legacy now in motion. This conviction and commitment is what is making it a reality. It will require their all. There is a beautiful exchange that happens when sons and daughters do for fathers and mothers what they could never do for themselves and that’s being remembered. Inheritance resources the dreams of the young, and honor fuels the legacy that the givers of these treasured deposits would be celebrated even to the fourth generation. These values sustain great cultures and family units. They also influence and nourish various spheres of society. It is a foundation of being a producer and not a simply a consumer.  

Scripture says the world groans for the sons of God (see Romans 8:19). Why? Because they remember Him. Today I remember Leta Calcote and Laura Kymla… and I give my all.  

ATTN Gen X: Business as UNusual

As a sports enthusiast, I love watching and playing within good competition.  There's just something great about contending and fighting for what you believe in... even if it's that you believe your team is better than another.  One of the greatest traps to dominating teams losing big games is that they generate a massive lead early on and begin playing "not to lose" rather than keeping their edge of attack that brought their lead in the first place.  This is similar to the business as usual mentality that creates a trap of being caught by surprise by elements you lost respect for in everyday life.  Generation X is rising in the ranks of influence and we are at a pivotal time of transition between the baby boomers and their children.

Blockbuster Video.  Borders Books. Automotive Big 3. Major Record Labels.  Big Banks & The Fed.  Business as usual found these on their knees begging for mercy.  Anything that grows quickly with mass appeal always finds itself at a pinnacle moment of either transitioning into what is becoming a redefining season or business as usual.  It's life and death are predicated on the choices made during these critical moments.  Some are obvious, others catch you completely by surprise.

Mega-churches.  I know.  Before you assume my position... please continue reading.  This is not a church bashing written effort.  I'm completely FOR the church.  Let's just ask a few questions and explore where we honestly are at.

There are 56 million people attending evangelical (mostly protestant) services at the 300,000 locations of worship country wide.  Over 50% of christians in the US are attending only 10% of the churches.  These churches represent attendance marks of 350 people or more.   The rise of the mega-church has found a visibility for the church unprecedented to times in the past.  More people giving financially into the same ministries have allowed churches to pay for the expenses it requires to make a little bit of noise and as a result continue with the popular trends of big box saturation.    As a result we have 30,000 leaders each week speaking to the majority of the protestant church.  30,000 people is a big number of people, but in contrast that's a speaker:listener ratio of 866:1.  WOW.  What great influence a relatively small amount of people have with the church on a weekly basis to speak into their minds and spirits.  It really is a massive responsibility.

While you could see this mass appeal to mega-church as  unifying process of people gathering under similar heart and worship, it also creates a peaking that if a shift happens quickly, over half of the protestant church could be shaken in a moment.  How would the church respond?  The signs in the world are that voices are being lifted and the earth is shaking. We have enemies that can't be seen, cries for social justice and freedom are no longer faint, financial deficits that will haunt for generations along with poor energy habits draining our remaining resources. We have more education in the world than any other age and yet we have less answers.  How long can we (baby boomers?) just turn our head? While it doesn't take a rocket scientist to wax the evident times we live in, there is a distinct reality of what God has allowed to happen in the earth.  All the fruit is ripening... Darkness and Light.

While Baby Boomers (age: 47-65)  are the predominate supporters of the mega-church movement, Gen Xers (ages: 28-46) are rising in influence and are kind of a handful.  They are stereotyped as full of pessimism, devil's advocacy and the need for proof.  Whether just a stereotype or not, the question I want to ask is with the BBer's doing mega-church business as usual, where will the Gen Xers take the church?  Will they support big budget church?  Mega-Church has been predicated on man made kingdoms thru new communications with celebrity leaders.  While the individualism (thank you self esteem movement :/ ) of celebrity leadership appeals to Gen X, they also want it to be authentic.  They really are caught between two realms.  Do you continue the current pattern of "success" that you didn't lead or embrace the next generation who is already making a stamp for a different pattern?   Gen Y or Echo Boom (ages: 11-27) is massively known for it's broader compassion, communal mentality and awareness for social justice. Collectivism is on the rise. Due to inheriting the financial sins of their fathers with little awareness of how it came to them, we know they will abhor most of current systems used to get us where we are today.  Let's face it, we are already seeing financial and governmental institutions  crumble to the ground.  So the institution of the church... how will it respond in this season?  Will BBers empower GX?  How will GX respond?

It's a pivotal time in the church.  A time of when generational unity is needed like never before.  While I see plenty of gaps in the foundation of the mega-church movement, you can't deny it's influence and power of massive corporate gathering.  My challenge is to Generation X.  The "nothing" generation.  The victim mentality generation that generally is ticked of and in need of a lot of approval that BBer's will probably never be able to satisfiy.  Gen X - It's time to step up and lead.  There's an identity crisis on our hands and we MUST have resolve.  There's an audience like never before and we have a responsibility to take it to the next level.  We MUST know who we are in Christ and be willing to count the cost.  The generation below us is rising with unity and are a new breed of leadership.  How will we handle being in the paradox of what the boomers established and what GY is already establishing.   With so few people having such large voices (866:1), when we speak it will be heard.  Will we take the church to places of new life? Even if there is a shift out of business as usual mega-church, what does business as UNusual within the mega-church look like?

I have great hope  and love for the church, but I am not ignorant of it's inadequacies.  I pray that we as a generation, turn our hearts to the ONE who does have the answers.  We are here and we can not be distracted by business as usual.   The shift is beginning and leadership is going to be needed like never before.  We can not play to simply not lose.  We must be forward in our thinking.  Anchored in the word of God.  Resisting individualism by living in extravagant giving and unconditional love.  It's our time to choose.  Who will we be and what will we be known for?




Event: The Call with Lou Engle will be in MI on 11.11.11 .  It will be a fantastic effort of rallying the state of MI to prayer and break thru for our area.  There is a rally entitled The Power Of You for this effort that Transformation MI, EACHtoday.com and Mt. Zion have collaborated on  March 18 & 19th.  You don't want to miss these times of gathering.  They will be powerful!