Epicology: The Study of Epic

For the past couple weeks, I have been battling with music ideas and vision.  I know where my heart hurts with passion for the sake of Jesus Christ being glorified, but how to place myself on a life long journey in the correct direction seems a little more difficult…committed if you will:)

 

Anyways, I am constantly in a state of recruiting musicians from craigslist.com, campuses and many other venues.  I meet with new musicians almost on a daily basis and am continually building relationships with others.  Building a worship band for a new church is one of the hardest things to do considering we don’t have the multitudes to pick from in our church body, and when one recruits musicians, he is also recruiting church members.

 

So…I have been meeting many musicians.  Period.  A very select few have been tingling in the back of my head.  2 that don’t attend Epic Life Church, but seem to repeat the same words to me that my heart is lead towards…phrases like, “I want to do nothing less than change the world via music”, “It hurts to not do music”, “This music needs to be brought to the dark”, “What I wouldn’t give to put sweat and blood into a band focused on Jesus’ vision for us”.  So, I began to think and pray about the ways to be wise, not selfish, and also most effective in my ministry.

 

This last Sunday, a musician I met a couple weeks ago came to our service.  I was excited because I knew he was a professional sound engineer for 30 years and played keys/synth professionally for many years as well.  Long story short, this guy (now my friend:) asks me if he can take me out to lunch.  Hiding my excitement, I said, “yes”.

 

While at lunch, he begins to explain to me many of the things that he has been praying for and his heart for creating music to invite people into the presence of the Lord, and began using many  earlier phrases that linger in my brain.  Long story short, he asks me to consider some things…basically telling me that he wants to start a band with me.  hmm.

 

I’m not trying to go too long, so long story short…I’m gonna start this band with these guys, all of which whom have toured for years, played professionally, and are significantly older and more skillful than myself, and yet for some reason, these doods see me as a leader.  funny.

 

Anyways, we are going to start writing and playing together very soon.  We are still in need of an electric guitar player, which we are praying for and really seeing how the Lord will guide us with this.  This could get super interesting/ exciting.

 

Funny enough…I hung out with a stellar electric guitar player tonight who I am just getting to know, and he asked in general while we were driving with a bunch of guys, “I wonder if Epic Life would let me play for their band”, and I turned around and said, “well, you could ask the guy who makes the decisions for that”.  (I was referring to myself:)

 

oh…ps…I entitled this “project”: [Epicology] just because it sounds sweet, and our entire team is all about creating something epic, but at the same time, never wanting to get to a place that we can refer to our creation as completed, thus we are always in a state of growing and learning…and thus, “the study of epic”.

Queen Anne Waitress

I was down at Seattle Pacific University this afternoon having lunch with a student I met.  The conversation was incredible but what was so inspirational was what happened with our waitress.  So, Allison (our waitress) comes up to our table obviously holding tears back, and so we asked her if she was doing ok.  Immidiately, she broke in to tears explaining something that was a little difficult to understand considering she was sobbing…then she just walked away.

 

It all of a sudden became one of those moments when you realize that you are not accidentally there.

 

Allison, came back, sort of…embarrassed if you will.  She quickly poured us more water, and turned around to walk away.  Before she completely turned around, I softly grabbed her arm, and turned her around, and said,”excuse me, what is your name?”.  After telling us, I ask her if she wouldn’t mind articulating what she was trying to say earlier so we could understand her heart ache.  Of corse, she broke down again and quickly explained her story of one of her friends who’s cigarettes caught fire while he was sleeping and died last night, and how she just found out.  She then stopped, and looked at Ben and I and said…”you aren’t accidentally here are you?”.  I then asked her to grab a chair for a brief moment.  Allison pulled up a chair and I held out my hand cueing her to place hers into mine, and I asked her if we could pray for her.  She continued crying and said that that would be ok.  Before I started, I explained to her that it is moments like these that challenge us most in life, because it brings out a side of our God that is most difficult to understand.  But with the loving fire of the Holy Spirit in my eyes, I looked her dead in the eyes and I said,” His reasonings are far beyond our understanding, but what I do know, Allison, is that everything He does in your life, everything that He allows or takes away in your life is to draw you closer to Him”.  And I encouraged her to draw close to her God in these times.

 

obviously, this was a powerful encounter because the Spirit of God was present, but the thing that is most inspirational, were the things I was praying earlier for…To be able to be in places that the Lord has lead me, to notice opportunities that the Lord desires to use me in (and to partake in them), and for people to know our meeting is not accidental.

 

Praising God: Breakin’ it down fo’ REAL Part 1: Raising Hands

So as a worship pastor, I have many more questions about worshiping and praising the Lord than I do answers:)  Sooo, I’ve  entitled this series “Praising God: Breakin’ it down fo’ REAL” as my attempt to ask myself some questions as to why I do some of the things I do to praise God, to ask God what is the most effective way to be praising Him with my body, and finally to just brainstorm and research some of the thoughts that come along.

So, I encourage the reader to partake in this series with me.  Maybe, to take to heart something that has been learned, to ask yourself the same questions, to debate some of my thoughts, or even to ask a question that you may have in relation to the blog or just in general.  The goal of this series is to possibly bring to attention things that need to change (maybe in the church and in one’s heart), to NOT do things just because it works for others or because “That’s just the way things are”, AND…HECK…to bring a more authentic offering to Jesus Christ our Lord.  These are things that I am dying to learn and equip myself to bring to my Church Body.  Here we go…

Raising Hands:  “Why do Christians raise their hand(s) when praising God?”

As I began to look through the Bible for examples of people raising their hands towards God, I found that most circumstances were directly related to people praying.  Here it turns out that back in Biblical times, lifting of hands generally signified prayer.  In fact RARELY did the lifting of hands accompany praise towards God.  Interesting.  So, where does it come from?

The perspective I think we are missing here is culturally.  In Biblical times, CULTURALLY, the lifting of hands signified prayer.  Today, from my perspective, the bowing of heads and closing eyes is what signifies prayer for our time (personally I think our culture is beginning to lean away from that being the only means of signifying prayer…sorry, off topic).  So I began to brainstorm some of the reasons why people in general raise their hands in our culture.

First thing that came to my mind:  asking a question in class.  Hmm.  Well, I get this feeling that all those people at church gathering probably don’t have a question (some 2:) due to the fact that nobody is calling on anybody:)  So, I think that’s out.

Second, I remembered this time I was assisting my Dad in moving logs for a camp fire.  He told me to hold out both of my hands so he could stack the logs in my arms.  My arms had been out-stretched to receive what my Dad wanted to give me.  Now, physically, I don’t see a lot of “logs” being placed into the arms of the praiser (apparently praiser is not a word…so I call that it is in this series), but I CAN see it being an act of accompanying the receptive heart of the praiser.

Third, (and probably my favorite) I thought of the Huskies game I just watched with some friends.  The whole time we were just sitting there watching.  But, when the Huskies did something that was amazing, the whole room jumped to their feet with their hands flailing in the air.  Now THAT, my friends, is a celebration.  Do I see flailing hands at church?  Yeah, sometimes.  Like a football game?…mmm…not really.  I CAN see jumping to our feet and flailing our hands in excitement as a means to accompany our celebratory heart towards God.

Forth, I was working at the Book Store as a Loss Prevention Officer and saw this student walking out of the store with merchandise he had not purchased.  As I approached him to detain him for shoplifting, he stepped back to swing at me and my fellow LPs and I had to wrestle this dude to the ground and he WOULD NOT give up.  Finally this Police Officer runs up, pulls out his gun and screams, “Get your hands in the air!”.  Amazingly, the student came to a complete halt, slowly stood up and placed his hands in the air…no longer fighting.  In our culture, raising our hands can signify surrender.  I CAN see the praiser praising God with his/her hands accompanying a heart of surrender towards God’s will.

Fifth, I saw this kid playing with some of his friends the other day.  He then stole a toy (or maybe it was like tape or something…sorry off topic again) from one of his friends and bolted away.  Now this child’s coordination was fair at best.  Long story short, he took a digger into the concrete.  His response:  He got up with a blood curdling scream and ran in circles seeming to look for something.  He finally discovered his Dad, ran directly to him, and raised both his hands high in the air signifying his desire to be picked up and taken care of.  I CAN see the praiser praising God with his/her hands accompanying a heart of need and desire to be taken care of towards God.

Sixth, I went climbing with a friend of mine a couple months ago.  We went all the way to the top of this mountain, and sure enough, the top of this thing had a cliff like no other.  So, what did I do?  Well, naturally I ran to the edge threw my hands in the air and screamed at the top of my lungs  (and I threw some rocks off) Not so much in an act of celebration or any of the above, but more because of the sense of freedom!  It was like my body was responding like that because it sensed radical freedom!  I CAN see the praiser praising God with arms accompanying his/her experience of God’s freedom that He brings to His people, in all kinds of things.

I think we can all see that there are many reasons people choose to raise their hands in a church gathering, but I think the challenge here is not so much choosing which is right or wrong for me, but how does my praise towards God fit with the culture I am in, what are ways it needs to be culture-clashing, and are my hands AUTHENTICALLY responding/ accompanying my heart of praise towards God?  Another thing I think we need to keep in mind is that the raising of hands does not signify praise towards God.  The heart does, and people can’t see that…that’s between you and God.  The way people respond with their bodies should only be their bodies ACCOMPANYING their heart of praise towards God.  That’s a difficult pill to swallow considering I know there are times I just lift my hands because everyone else is even though I have no desire at that time to praise God due to my selfishness.  It also, makes me think of the times I experience revelation or closeness to God when I am all by myself.  Basically, I run around the house half-naked, screaming, my heart beating like a mad man due to so much love hemorrhaging from my heart that I can’t contain myself in praise towards God.  Now, there should be a respectable means of praise towards God in a church (clothes on), but I think this leads me to my next question…  you’ll see:)

please respond

Continued Prayers Please…

Sean is going to be leaving on a trip to alaska for 2 weeks and so aaron and i wanted to get a sean a korean/english bible so he could have it with him while he was traveling.  aaron ordered the bible and praise the Lord it came in yesterday!

last night i went over to sean’s house with the bible.  when i got there, he was excited to see me and he lead me to his room.  he started showing me new songs and replaying old ones that moved his heart which we normally do because music is our biggest form of communication.  as our hearts were softened through chris tomlin, jeremy camp, and falling slowly youtube music videos, the night progressed towards Jesus Christ.  we began to talk about the baptism that took place.  he began to explain to me that he wants to do that so bad but he doesnt know if he has the strength or the guts to do it.  i was then given the opportunity to speak more clearly on exactly what baptism represents and the purpose for doing it.  I began to explain that there is a time in a christian’s life, whether it be gradual or instant, that he or she has to ask Jesus Christ to come into his/her heart to change it and that that is what brings brand new EPIC life to a human.  As we talked, he was looking at me with awe.

Sean began to explain to me that when he first met me he only had $400 in his bank account, But because of that extreme kindness and generosity i was showing him, he told me he wanted to empty his bank account and everything he owned into my hands because he loved me so much and he felt like he could never pay me back.  BUT he than began to explain that tonight he understands why david is so kind…he said that he now knows that it is not david being kind but it is GOD inside of david being kind and that he desires to give everything he owns into GOD’s hands because it is Him who he loves so much and could never pay back.  I then said, “how did you know that?  i never told you anything like that!”.  He said he knows!  he said that he was just realizing it right now because GOD was opening his eyes.  He stopped and said…i think it is time that i allow God into my heart.

He asked if i would explain exactly how to do this and if i would lead the prayer so he could follow.  i explained how to do that through prayer and encouraged him to talk to GOD like He is a human…to be himself and yet to respect His greatness.  So i prayed for sean that his words would be what they need to be and that they would represent what is going on in his heart.  after that, sean opened up to THE LORD!  he was talking directly to him and he explained everything that he was experiencing in the past couple months and how he knew it was HIM, GOD.  after telling Him that he wanted to give everything to Him, he then asked if God would come into His heart.

directly at that moment, sean became extremely, strangely, uncomfortable.  he looked up at me and he couldnt get the words out.  he couldnt explain what was happening to him and he kept on getting extremely frustrated about what was happening and that he had no means of explaining what was happening to him.

honestly, it was scary.  i new it was evil, and i new it was an attack but i didnt understand how this could be or the extent of it.  Sean finally could get the words up to explain what was happening.  he told me that for the first time in his life he understood that there was a God, and he explained that by making a sphere with his hands on the outside of his body (like holding a ball).  but he then explained, while still holding onto the “ball”, that as he was praying, he could see into his heart.  sean then looked down at his own chest and said, “who are you?”.  he said he then realized that for the past 20 years satan had been ruling his heart and that he never even knew that he was there.  he then explained to me that the reason he felt so uncompfortable was because he didnt think that satan was that bad, and that, he thought he was living a full life.  he explained to me in a way that the life he is living right now doesnt fit what the “ball” demands.

I then got the opportunity to explain that the heart can only have one master.  i lifted up my hands, each having one finger pointing up representing two different masters.  i showed him that by putting one to my chest and the other out in front of me was  the only way a man can live.  i put both to my chest and explained that this is not possible.  i then explained that if a person desires for the GOD of this universe to enter into him, he has to rid of the master that rules now and give full control to the real master.

we ended up talking forever about it and he pretty much ended with saying that he knows the path that he is on now doesnt seem that bad but will lead to stealing, killing and destruction, and that GOD’s path will lead to full life, but it was so hard for him to see right now.  he said that he feels like he stepped in front of a fork in the road and that he needs to choose one way and only one way.  he seemed scared, and he asked if i would be praying for him during his trip.  the night was terribly late, and needed to come to an end.  we hugged like there was no tomorrow and looked into each others eyes like Christ was glowing on each of our faces.  he said he was going to miss me and then ended with…oh by the way david, i am gay.

Sean seemed to take great pleasure in my facial expression due to his laughing until it hurt and him trying to explain that he really wasnt gay:)

anyways…what happened in sean’s heart is supernatural.  period.  if sean has the God of the universe in his heart is not for me to decide, but is for me to pray about, and i am asking that you would pray with me as well for sean as he is gone.

May Jesus Christ reign in the heart of sean.

Please Pray

For those of you who actually read these blogs i am asking for prayer.  a couple posts back under the title of “Atheism’s “Grasp”" i talked about a dear friend who has been continually experiencing the tangible splendor and majesty of the Lord for the first times in his life.

A little over a year ago, before we had left to plant a church in seattle, i had been living with mason on his couch for a while and it was amazing!  the memory the Lord has brought back to me was a very specific night at his place.  I remembered waking up in the middle of the night and feeling like i had to pray this very specific prayer:  it was so clear that i had to pray for a future friend that did not know the Lord, and i could see very clearly that we were going to meet; me as a believer and him not as a believer.  it was clear that our friendship would grow…a lot.  so much so that i would consider him one of my best friends…even though he didnt know the Lord.  But then i could see that there would be an instant where his life would be given to Christ Jesus and because of that our friendship would flourish even more.  That was what was consuming my brain as it was still dark, and that is what i prayed about for a while, overwhelmed, excited and not fully understanding it…and then i went back to sleep.

For those of you who dont know what the story is with Sean…well…it is pretty much being explained above.  I met Sean on the bus as an atheist and for the past few months our friendship has been greatly growing.  He has been having radical experiences with God and it has been the greatest pleasure of my life to express what my everlasting Father has done in my heart.  in all this time, Sean has been salivating over the words the Spirit chooses to speak through my mouth.

Last night was our first time as Epic Life Church that we got to baptize a 29 year old seattleite friend who accepted Christ into her life earlier this last week as a family down in the puget sound.  It was incredible!  pretty much our entire family was there!  Keith spoke directly into this girls life.  this girl gave an AMAZING testimony.  After being dunked in the water and 40+ people (including random beach people!!) witnessed a new life transformed…Sean came up to me, and very blatenly said, “i understand what is going on”.  He told me that he accepts everything that keith says through the bible, that he accepts the words that that girl spoke, and he grabbed my hand and looked me in the eyes and said that he wants to become a christian now.  He told me he was scared and he knows that there is much he has to learn, but he asked me if sometime soon he and i could go into the water like keith and that girl did and he asked if i would dunk him to show his friends his new life…

so, after i was able to speak to Sean because of awe and…well…just that supernatural moment, i said yes…..

please pray as Sean, maurice (my keyboardist who “ironically” speaks korean as well)  and i come together to develop a deeper understanding and bring greater clarity to Sean’s heart about what the next steps are to look like and that he would understand them.  please pray that his friends who are not believers would come to his baptism when we have it and that the Lord would begin to use Sean as a tool at that very moment for his friends.  please pray for the strength of the Lord to be strong in him during this season of his life and that the enemy would be silenced as Sean begins to take in the words of TRUTH from the mouth of TRUTH HIMSELF, Jesus Christ.

Jesus…be glorified.

Seduction

The other day i was watching some music videos just because i am always moved through all kinds of visual and aural “sensations” that bring inspirations and honestly i believe that is a way the Lord speaks to me as well.  anyways…i stumbled on a song called “say” by john mayer.  i began to listen to it and found myself weeping.  the song seems to encourage people to say the things they need to say to others rather than just assuming they know it or holding things in that just build up inside even though we may be the type that that stuff just “breezes” through us.  it spoke on time being unpredictable and that maybe we should be putting ourselves in a state that meditates on the things that maybe we would be regretting not saying if that person(s) were to be all-of-a-sudden gone.   it a powerful and convicting message that lead me to think that the encouragement that is so easy to hold back and the small misunderstandings/ disagreements that are so easy to hold in are also sooo easy to fix and sooo easy to give, but satan has this strange way of not only knowing that saying those things glorifies the Lord, but also SOMEHOW making them seem like they are difficult, making them seem awkward, reminding us that they may not “deserve” to hear that encouragement because it would lead us to humility.  so many stupid things he puts into our head.

While all this was happening…i was getting goosebumps, being emotionally stimulated, my heart was becoming like jello and was literally being seduced to something.  as a man that knows and desires the Lord He was the one romantically drawing me to himself BUT for someone who does not share that desire, that seduction is a crazy powerful still…but where?  while all this supernatural romantic seduction was happening…all of a sudden, the face came to the screen.  the beautiful john mayer himself.  i literally fell in love with that man at that moment.  IT HIT ME!  i understand why women can be so draw to a man like that especially considering they tend to me more “emotionally” driven then men.  when all of a sudden you put a face to that seduction…WHO CAN RESIST!?  at that moment i realized exactly HOW powerful the tool of music is.  the Lord created it with that kind of seducing power because the Lord literally is drawing people to Himself and will use whatever He can…might i say pure and holy seduction that melts the hearts of His people to Himself?

my prayer at that moment became this:  Father…i ask that Your hand would be in the making of such POWERFUL seductive music.  I ask that You would use me to create that goosepimpley supernatural kind of music.  however long it takes i dont care…with whomever you choose to bring to me, and with whatever instruments You choose to use I DONT CARE i just desire to be anointed to create that kind of music… BUT Father…when that anointing is granted, may whomever is listening be able to see the TRUE face that is seducing them.  somehow, somehow may they be able to see the face that is supernaturally drawing them to themselves, and may THAT be enough to completely surrender a LIFE to Jesus Christ.

Atheism’s “Grasp”

If I am beginning to learn anything about Christ and the Holy Spirit, it is that He does what He wants, when He wants, to whom He wants, through whom He wants, whenever He wants, wherever He wants and however He wants…and nothing…might i say it again…nothing gets in His way.  It is just unbelievable that THAT is the God that is inside of me, that i have surrendered to be submitted to.  The more i really learn His voice, what He desires and how to respond to it…the more LIFE i will truly experience AND an understanding of what it means to be behind a God who truly IS unstoppable.

Last night the guys that i have been leading worship with were asked to lead the minnesota missions team, that came out to seattle to help out, into an intimate time of worship and thanksgiving.  and ya know…it was just one of those days that you wake up and there just seems to be a cloud around your head, hindering your eyes to see anything except how sucky your day is.  

I walked into the night exhausted.  BUT i had a friend who wanted to come and hear the kind of music that i create.  This friend of mine just happened to be an atheist i had met on the bus a couple weeks ago.  He would always tell me that God sort of seemed like a foolish idea to him especially considering he really didnt even need one but he liked that i was very interested in his heart and in the way that he thinks.  

The temptation of a worship leader is to think that only people who understand worship and who have any kind of relationship with Christ can partake in a night like last night.  What i seem to forget is the the very first sentence in this post.  

The night, due to no other reason except that the Holy Spirit came to be glorified, was awesome.  When we finished, all i could think about was what my friend had been thinking, how he was effected, was he ok or was he bored out of his mind?  

 

i went and sat right next to him as everyone proceeded to talk.  i asked him how he was doing…and he just sat there.  after about 30 seconds of silence, here is about what the first sentence out of his mouth sounded like:  i…um…i………ah….i am…just……i am just lucky….lucky to be here….ah…….just……lucky to have met you.  he began to tell me that for 20 years of his life he had never known a real true christian, that everything about the night was glorious…that he had never experienced something holy before, that every word that was coming out of my mouth was glorious, beautiful and holy.  he told me that the entire night his skin was standing up.  as he continued to talk in this state of awe, my heart continued to whisper to God saying, Lord, he is speaking about You and i dont even know if he knows it, may You show him where that is coming from and claim Your glory.  He contiuned to repeat himself over and over again.  he began telling me that before the night started that God just wasnt an option for him but that he couldnt not take what was going on inside of him into account.  He said that he felt like he wasnt open to a God before but that now a large portion of his heart has to reconsider it.  

He was so excited.  he looked at me and said i still dont know if there is a God, but that if there is, He created you for tonight so that I could experience Him.  He just smiled, sighed and fell back into the pew with his hands behind his head and said, “hmm…this feeling isnt so bad”.

 

I encouraged him to talk to the Lord tonight and ask Him if He was real.  he then got excited and seemed to have recieved a revelation like that WAS the next thing to do!  he then asked me…then what?  if He does reveal Himself to me in a way that i would understand, than what do i do?  i then told him to ask Him why He created you.  He was so excited and said that he will do that.  

 

What can bring our God down?  What can separate Him from His people knowing and experiencing the Life He promises?  …nothing, literally.

 

please pray for Sean (is his name).  the Lord is drawing him to Himself and desires to set him free from the world that he might step into true life and understand his need for HIM.

Worship Part Seven-o: Empowerment

in these last few weeks with worship, we have been making a lot of progress in the freedom Christ is bringing to worship Him and making worship a time to adore the splendor and holiness of the Lord and to celebrate everything He brings into our lives.  i have been praying about new and necessary steps that i can begin leading our body into, thus initiating a more pure atmosphere for a night dedicated to the glory of the Lord.

our music seems to be getting better as time goes on.  it is still very raw, but the depth of it, both spiritually and physically are growing.  this week i decided to ask an individual to play the synth for me.  i felt this would play a vital role in allowing the Spirit to almost “linger”, if you will.  as He choses to move through music, the synth almost allows for Him to not be cut off song to song.  (that’s a whole other conversation though).  long story short our new synth player was also our power-point person.  

last night i had a good friend of mine speak some powerful truth into my heart.  he told me that he feels like a mexican jumping bean ready to be a needed part in our church but doesn’t know how to initiate that.  he began to tell me that a lot of the girls we have in our church have great voices and that i should invite them to lead with me.  i told him about the girl i asked to do synth and he said…wait…isnt that the girl who does power-point.  ”yeah”, i said.  he was almost begging me if he could take her place.  he said he just wanted to be a part of the night somehow that was needed and important.  his words to me struck a chord in my heart.  i told him that i received the words he was saying and that they were good.

that same night, i sat down and began to pray about how and what the role of empowerment looked like for me.  all of a sudden, i was brought to the attention of these two little girls who love to play the tambourine and dance while worship but never know when it is appropriate.  i immidiately called their father and asked if i could have them come to our practice so they could help me lead our body into worship.  he said that his girls were listening to his conversation and that they were bouncing off the walls in excitement.  (you could hear it as well:)  

the act was so simple, yet the hearts of these girls were exploding!  it just revealed to my heart the desire we share to play an individually specific role in bringing glory to Christ.  i have much to learn in this area, but the Lord has spoken and i am taking steps in allowing this empowerment process (and need) to take place.  yeah!

Worship Part Six-o: The Weapon of Adoration

so i have been in the process of reading the book captivating, borrowed to me by julie baumgart anywhere from 2-4 years ago:)  julie…i am taking this slow:)  ill get it back to someday, but i still need it for now because there is a lot to it…i feel, as a man, like i am entering into this untouchable, didnt know existed, “you’ve gotta be kidding me”, awe inspired realm called the heart of a woman.

to be 100% honest here…before begining the book, i thought:  seriously…ive heard it talks about the need for woman to be known that they are beautiful…great…”you’re beautiful”…book done.  but as i enter into it…wow…the heart of a woman opens up a vast unknown territory of the heart of God Himself.  it didnt even occur to me that the Lord placed His image differently in both men and women…meaning everything that i see in my heart that represents the Lord is only a portion of the way His heart pumps.  there is a whole other captivating half to it that i have been missing, what seems to be my entire life, that has been placed in women.  

to bring it back to what i desire to post about is this: the Lord’s awesome desire to be adored in His beautiful by His people and what His beauty brings to His people.

i fell upon the story of Jehoshaphat defeating Moab and Ammon in 2 chronicles chapter 20 today.  basically, the land that jehoshaphat leads and lives in was given to his people from the Lord!  BUT they hear that moab and ammon are pissed and on their way over to take their possessions and land.  the men bring a council together to discuss what they are to do.  all of a sudden the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel and the Lord speaks through him saying that they are not to be afraid but to basically pick up the only people they have and send them towards the killers.  the Lord states that the battle is His so leave it to Him and trust Him.

basically, they dont have much of an army (that just the feel i got from the text) in the eyes of the world, BUT the next morning,” jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: 

       “Give thanks to the LORD, 
       for his love endures forever.”

notice what they are doing…they are not bringing out all of their armor…they are not even begging the Lord to deliver them from the enemy…AH!…they are adoring the splendor of His holiness.  mmm…this seriously softens my heart.  literally an army of men adoring the beauty of the Lord.

what does it bring?  the two armies against them turn on each other, slaughter everyone and no one is spared.  all they did was place their hearts on what was good and dwelled in the splendor of the King and pleasure was brought to His heart, thus He dilivered them from their enemies.

DO YOU NOT SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE!?  not only is the beauty of the Lord overwhelming in the way that it is awe-inspiring in the way that it leads His people into righteousness, BUT when His desire to be delighted in is authentically desired by us…the enemy is SILENCED!  he CANNOT be heard, he CANNOT be seen, and he CANNOT work.  

oh beauty…what an incredible gift to the heart of man that begins and ends with the Lord.  my understanding to enjoy His beauty, to be inspired by it and to just dwell in it honeslty feels like i have been missing out!  

thank you Father for Your revelatory nature…and…thank you women:)  i have yet to discover so much more to the heart of our Lord by hopefully some day entering into the heart of a woman designed to join my flesh.  wow…

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

Matthew 15:21-28 (New International Version)

 

 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”

 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”

 ”Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 

>  so check this out…two things that stuck out like a soar thumb to my heart in this passage were the extremity of selflessness and humility that the canaanite woman seems to portray and the passionate pursuit Christ has for any and all of His children.

i guess ill elaborate:)

 

ok lets kinda get a perspective here just to see the bigger picture.  if you read a couple chapters ahead, you find (no surprise) Jesus beginning to step on a lot of toes (especially the pharisees).  basically it is almost like you can feel it in the text…tension is rising, pharisees are becoming more and more pissed, and john the freekin’ baptist was just beheaded.  as far as everything we can see and hear from the pharisees, if Jesus continues to do what He is doing…well…desire to kill Jesus was probably pretty high (just my guess).  obviously the timing is not correct for Jesus to be crucified because His death was of perfect timing and…well…it didnt happen in this chapter:)

so what does He do?

Jesus withdraws from israel…outa sight outa mind…almost like He is looking to cool the heat in israel just so His death can be precise.  AND, as we already know about Jesus, He is an INCREDIBLE multi-tasker.  not only is His mind fully aware of the timing that His death needs to take place but He is on another mission to teach His disciples a lesson and show His (might i add awesome) heart to a very specific, non-accidental woman.

Where we at now?  we are in the region of Tyre and Sidon…aka Gentile Land! (not israel)

so this canaanite woman hears Jesus has come to where she is.  what does she do?  at first it seems like the typical “Jesus encounter”…she cries out to the Lord for mercy.  BUT the picture i want you to see that comes with more understanding as the story goes on is the woman’s extreme selflessness and humility.  first and for-most, what does she say to Jesus?  ”Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”  DO YOU SEE WHAT SHE IS ASKING FOR!?  this woman is begging for the Lord to have mercy on her that He might heal her daughter.  from the beginning, she aint there for herself, but her joy and desire begins in the betterment of her daughter.  her ONE chance to speak to the Messiah (the God she KNOWS she is unworthy to approach) she presents ONE thing to Him…her daughter.  what an awesome picture of authentically placing others above yourself.

What does Jesus do after this woman pours her heart and soul into proclaiming her desire to the Saviour of the world?  He decides to say nothing.  JESUS!  WHAT ARE YOU DOING!  THAT DOESNT SEEM LIKE YOU AT ALL!  …ya know…Jesus continues to blow my mind in how strategic His ways are just to teach and draw others closer to himself, whether it be through…well…anything He wants because He sees the bigger picture.  the thing we can ALWAYS bank on is that everything Jesus does is perfect.  period.  so if it seems crazy or we dont necessarily agree with what Jesus says or does, we better as hell get out of our foolishness and lean on truth.  and what better truth to lean on than TRUTH HIMSELF (John 14:6)…the one and only JESUS CHRIST!  (sorry kinda a bunny trail:)  

so it seems crazy right?  but we know Jesus does everything perfectly and with a purpose…so we must look into it.  

so what happens next?

His disciples came to Him and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”  oh silly disciples…how you imitate our humanity so well:)  anyways back to the woman.  what is she doing?  well she is obviously crying out a lot…so much so that the disciples seem to be getting annoyed (i think it is safe assumption that she was persistent:)

so after the disciples whine to Jesus about this woman, what does He say?  ”I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”  …WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?  what about russia, bolivia, or for goodness sake what about AMERICA JESUS!?  the cool picture we begin to receive from what Jesus is trying to teach us is that Jesus, though the Saviour of the world and possessing a mindset that is world-wide,  was given one job while He was on this earth: to minister FIRST to the lost sheep of israel (as prophesied all through the old testament) (keep in mind, geographically, where we are at).  SO, in knowing this, it helps explain the response Jesus gives after the woman comes to Him a second time, getting on her knees before Him and crying, “Jesus, help me!”.  

Jesus responds in saying, ”It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”

my first reaction was once again…Huh?  ya know, it would be nice if you would stay on topic here.  BUT, if you meditate on it for a while, the picture sort of becomes clear.  Jesus’s purpose is to minister only to the lost sheep of israel…or the children of israel.  i think what He is trying to say is that it is not right for Him to take what is rightfully the lost sheep of israel’s and toss it to who it is not meant for.  (now this could be taken in a lot of ways, but keep in mind that Jesus’s long term plan is world-wide but His purpose while on earth is for the lost people of israel).  NOW GET THIS!  not only in doing this does Jesus show the disciples and the woman that He is a man that stays true ONLY to what the Lord calls Him to be doing AND He tests and challenges the woman’s faith in her belief that He is the Messiah,  BUT what comes next shows God’s greater heart for each and every one of His children.  almost like He is trying to tell us that He will always stay true ONLY to the Father’s will, BUT the Father’s will is one in the same when it comes to ALL of His children…almost like His children TRUMP everything if you will (but we also have to keep in mind that Jesus also chooses when it is ok to extend mercy).  (that whole paragraph felt like a mouth-full).

ok to move on…take a look at this…though it is harsh, Jesus basically calls this woman a dog because she is not in the boundaries of israel.  now, it is obvious that the woman knows what Jesus is referring to and that His life is meant for the people of israel because immediately, from the beginning, she refers to Jesus as “Lord” and “Son of David”.  she knows there is a Messiah to come, and i get the feeling she knows His very focused ministry as well, because she does not become offended by what Jesus declares her to be (according to the law) but rather accepts it and states: ”but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  this woman HUMBLY takes the position of the dog and CONTINUES to lean on her faith.  almost like she is saying in a round about way, “yes i know i am a dog and that i am not part of the ministry that You are called to while You are on earth, but i believe without a doubt that You are the Messiah, the One to come, my Saviour, that i will take whatever i can get from my Master.  You can reject my plea over and over again but that cannot take my faith away that You are God”.  no one can be that persistent and take that much crap from that many people for a person other than herself unless she believes with ALL OF HER HEART.  talk about passing the test with flying colors.  

Now, once again, Jesus BEAUTIFULLY brings everything together.  He states: ”Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”  He tests the woman, teaches both the disciples and the woman about the importance of doing ONLY what the Father calls us to do, BUT also shows His abundant mercy He is dying to give away to ALL of His children.  

What an incredible God.

(know that these are just my thoughts…if you are reading this, ask for the truth in it.  i am not a scholar:)