False Walls, False Words, and False Alliances

What is going on in the good ole USA? How can we interpret our current world and national church issues in light of scripture? This was my prayer recently before the Lord. As a Christian and as an American and as a Woman, and as a person of African descent, I am troubled by the direction our country is happily dancing towards.

As I was praying, the Lord brought two scripture texts before me to read: Isaiah 30, and Ezekiel 13. He said, "This is where we (as a people ) are. If we want to have outrageous church, we should be outrageously honest about the State of the Union and the state of the Body of Christ. I won't go into the Biblical text here because I want you to read it for yourself. Ask God to confirm His Word, indeed, he is already doing so, through ministries like EX Ministries and Jonas Clark Ministries. God is speaking this Word so that we will not be surprised. I will do as he instructed the prophets of old: to write it down, put it in a book (Isaiah 30:8).

So, I'll give it to you straight, no chaser:

Many are prophesying out of their mind and heart, and following their own spirit
Many see lying falsehoods and lying divination
Many have spoken empty, false, and words of delusion
Many are operating in a seducing spirit, promising peace, especially to Israel, when there is no peace
Many are making men to hope and hope for a word to come and confirm a false word they have given

We (the American Church) have not gone up into the gaps and breeches as we should

We have not built a wall of intercession to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord

We have built a flimsy wall and daub it, coat it with false words thinking that it will hold

The Lord will send an overwhelming rain, hailstones, and violent winds even of His Spirit, will come to tear down these false walls. People are in prayer, but they are not praying the prayer of intercession but the gospel of bless me, give me, enlarge me

God is coming to deal with the builders of false walls, walls of intercession that do not cover, and that do not build the Believer. He will bring it down, He will expose the foundations of it, and those who built it, God says they will perish along with what they built. Woe to the Women Prophets who create deceptions and merchandise to capture humanity.

Why is this happening? Because you profane me for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, slaying those who should not die, and giving life to those who should not live by your lies (Ezekiel 13). Much LYING has been told to the people of God and underhanded payments to keep the "sheep" marching to the slaughter. God is coming for those whose palms are greased with filthy lucre.

With LIES you have made the righteous sad and disheartened, strengthening the hands of the wicked that he should NOT return (turn away from wickedness) because the false prophets have promised the wicked life.

Even now your nation (USA) seeks to align itself with Egypt, much like the children of Israel. (Isaiah 30) You carry the riches off to a people that cannot and will not profit. You attempt to trust in the shadow of Egypt.

Even now, those who are aligned with Egypt (naturally and spiritually) say to the Seers, "Don't SEE! Prophesy to us illusions, smooth sayings. Cease holding up the HOLY ONE in front of us!Get out of the way of righteousness!"

__________________________

As the days continue, we will see more of this attitude unfold. You will see the apostate church grow, and you will be forced to raise up a standard or be drawn into the parade of ungodliness and compromise. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We will take our stand on the wall, and join with others who will intercede, and pray, and follow the instructions of the Lord. The time is coming when no man can work. We must utilize the time we have to spread the Gospel. When the enemy comes in, LIKE A FLOOD the SPIRIT of the LORD will lift up a standard against Him. I encourage you to seek the Lord. He needs an outrageous Church to carry the Gospel without compromise!

Blessings!

From Visioneering to Volunteering

³² Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. ³³ And after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles^.34 However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there.^{] 35} Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Acts 15:32-35 NKJV

______________

Churches are organizations primarily staffed by volunteers. Organizations staffed by volunteers require the most leadership of any group. As such, you must have good leaders. Most of the volunteer's incentive second to feeling called to a particular area of ministry, comes through the vision of the leadership and the level of enthusiasm and clarity in which it is presented. Most leaders consistently report the Parieto Principle as common: 20% of the membership or partners in their local church body does 80% of the work. So, why don't more people serve? The reasons below may not be what we want to hear, but if we will see change, we must deal with them. 

1. No one has asked them. I have come across many who hesitate to "infringe" on someone else's territory, and so they wait until they are asked before they will serve.

2. Fear of responsibility. Worrying about over committing, they do nothing. 

3. Suffering from Burnout. These are those who may have served in many areas of leadership for years as the 20% who now feel the need to simply rest and be fed and let someone else take the reigns. They may be new to your ministry and may have played an active, foundational role in a previous ministry.

4. Political Wrangling. There may be "pillars" in the ministry who are unwilling to change, share responsibilities with new volunteer, or receive fresh ideas. They use intimidation and bullying which new volunteers will not want to be apart of, keeping their area of ministry status-quota and keeping new volunteers out.

5. Ignorance of Biblical Paradigm for Ministry.  The priesthood of the Believer must be modeled. (Ephesians 4:11-12). God has given every Believer at least one spiritual gift, and he has given us all to be evangelists through the ministry of reconciliation. If you have been taught that you are supposed to come hear the preacher and that is it, then you would not see a need to supply or apply yourself to the service of the house of the Lord.

6. Personal Busyness. Many are simply preoccupied with their own personal agendas. Many play defense with their calendars and are not willing to give up leisure pursuits or time in order to meet a need in the house of the Lord. The ultimate loses out to immediate pleasures. As a single person, the time you give to the Lord is invaluable and is commended (1 Cor 7).

7. Feelings of Inadequacy. May may feel untrained, ill-equipped, or not gifted enough in an area to serve. If you are in a ministry that demands an audition for any place in the ministry, you can walk away feeling inadequate. This can turn many away feeling unqualified to serve in the house of the Lord. I have met many gifted, qualified, rude servants in the House. Our heart and character should be as excellent as the works of our hands.

8. Uninformed. Many leaders simply assume people know what opportunities to serve exist within a ministry. Put it in writing. Put the contact person, and minimum skills required to serve, whether training will be offered or required, and the amount of hours involved on average in serving in an area of ministry, and meeting days, times, places. These are necessary. There is nothing like trying to get involved and you are not offered the basics.

9. Personal Detachment. It is very hard to serve when you do not own the cause, the vision, or the ministry. Many cannot see the "big" picture or catch the vision if it has not been Cast well. 

10. Lovers of Self more than Lovers of God. Some simply do not desire to serve because it brings no attention to them, to their personal ambitions. If there is no personal benefit, then you cannot count on them to participate, lend their hand to it, or even notify their sphere of influence. 

Know that these are the reasons the Lord pointed out to me, and I am sure you have a few of your own. I've been serving in ministry in some capacity or another for the last 15 years and these have been the most common reasons I've personally seen, experienced, or felt the impact of when serving in ministry. 

So...what can be done to Mobilize and Motivate those who simply want to be the "Invisible Few in the Last Pew, Who walk out the door, finding Nothing to Do?"

Here are a few things that I know work, that I have seen as effective in ministry. 

1. Contact New People within the First 48HRS. The technological world has really taken away most excuses for connecting with people. You can call, email,text, FB, Twitter, Skype and set up a time to meet with new people, or send them an e-flyer of ways to get involved in serving. I like face-to-face, others like social networking. The point is to connect.

2.  Offering Hands-on Training. Model Servant Leadership. Very few people woke up as geniuses with a natural aptitude for what they do. Somebody trained you, so reciprocate by training others.

3. Match ministry opportunities with spiritual gifts.  There are many free spiritual gifts assessments online for those who have not really examined what they are good at, or where there strengths are. You may be used to doing something (i.e. organizing for everyone around you) that may turn out to be a spiritual gift (administration). For example, if you write music and original songs, you could volunteer to put songs up for praise and worship, but you gift would be best put to use by working with the Praise and Worship Leader, Minister of Music, in writing fresh, Biblical music for the team. You should desire your best and highest use in serving.

4. Publicize and Keep Ministry Opportunities Up to Date. If a ministry opportunity has been filled, it should not be announced as still open. Here is my pet peeve: DO NOT say you want volunteers for places in ministry and when volunteers show up, you make excuses not to Utilize them. This is called false advertising and happens quite a bit in religious circles. We should be specific about what kind of volunteer we are looking for and we should be honest if we are only looking for people we like, who look like us,are our personal friends, or family to fill a role. We should not label that as "volunteer needed" positions. 

5. Make ministry involvement a part of Partnership or Membership. It should be understood that all hands are needed on deck in order to fulfill the vision of the House. Those who hesitate to get involved should be asked why. It may be one of the 10 reasons above.

6. Create Entry-level positions. For example, if I am new to Sound & Media, I should have some training, and if I am completely green, I should start out with minimal responsibility and maximum encouragement. You do not want to set anyone up to fail. Placing me as an observer in different sections of  Sound and Media with the ability to watch and learn how to problem solve allows me to get comfortable in the environment and see how my training is applied in the field (i.e. Sunday or Mid-week service).

7. Teach and Vision Cast. Rehearse the Vision, write the vision, post the vision, hand out vision cards, print vision shirts, and incorporate the Vision principles into your message. Teach, teach, teach, the Vision of the House. Emphasize that EVERYONE has a gift to use, and all are important to Christ and what he wants to do in your part of the world through your assembly of believers. (See our initial scripture)

8. Develop Realistic Commitment Blocks of Time so there is Balance. People need to be able to share the burden or the load. Never give one person the ability to sink the ship if they cannot have their way. I recommend 3 leaders sharing leadership (a 3-fold chord is not easily broken). Our Natural Government does this (Legislative, Judicial, Executive) and God does as well (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Many churches have suffered from the "superstar" syndrome. People should be able to enjoy their family time, take vacations, and not feel "controlled"  while serving in ministry. One helpful way to do this is alternating blocks of time (ex. serving for  3 months) or days of the week. I believe cross-training individuals also helps so that those serving embrace growth and change and can fill in if emergencies occur.

9. Rotate Positions to Make Room for New People. If I never gain experience in an area, how can I be expected to perform as well as someone who has had 10, 15, 20 years of consecutive service? The answer is, I cannot. This often becomes the bane of your existence for someone trying to fill the shoes of someone who has gone on to be with the Lord, who has moved away, who has decided to resign from their position and wants to see what you can do (but mind you they did not train you). I can talk about it because I have been there! It is not the BEST way to learn. So, rotate, Leaders, Rotate! Apprentice new people so that when a changing of the guard occurs, you are not starting from scratch. You will save your ministry a LOT of headaches in the process.

10. Applaud EVERYONE who is making a difference in your ministry. Often times we fail epically at this as the Body of Christ. We might give more praise to our "besties" or our family members, but the person who comes every Sunday, on-time to open the sanctuary is just as important as the person who comes in five minutes before service and has everyone laid out with their angelic voice. I'm telling you, THIS IS HUGE with GOD. Be thankful for those out-front, behind the scenes, online members and givers, and all those Interceding for you. You can never be TOO THANKFUL. 

As you think on these things, I would love to hear how you are implementing them and what has been the impact in your life and ministry. I challenge you if you are a Pastor, or Senior Leader to poll your ministry and ask them to assess you in these areas. May you go, and grow to become the Outrageous Change Agents that God wants to use in the Earth.

I'm counting on it!

Is There Not A Cause? TheCall Virginia

Tonight, hundreds will gather for prayer, worship, and a solemn assembly in a Pre-Call rally in Warrenton, Va. The focus? To cry out on behalf of our nation, to use praise, prayer and worship as a weapon of warfare. TheCall began in 2000, with Lou Engle spearheading solemn assemblies across America. It is a summons for the Believers across the United States and other countries to pray, fast, repent, and offer God sacrificial worship.

The emphasis is on collective worship and prayer and does not focus on promoting anything or anyone but the Lord Jesus Christ, as our solution to National & Personal sin. All are united to cry out for God's revival and Awakening in our Nation in the spirit of Joel 2.

http://vimeo.com/41484801 I encourage you if you are in the area to join us tonight or join us May 22-26 in Fredericksburg, Va for the event. For more info on tonight's event, go to www.gotfaithnow.com . Click the video below to hear about the Vision of TheCall. or visit TheCall.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7KWnEpAbEo&feature=player_embedded

Resetting The Stones & Kingdom Worship

Many have been speaking of the shift that is taking place in the Body of Christ. We can sense it, we can see evidence of it, but many have not been able to really put a name to it. We know that false Christs are here, as they have been in every age, but we also know that as they prepare their false church, God is readying his Glorious Church, The True Bride of Christ. This Bride comes from every tribe, tongue, ethos, and language group but communicates one message: Jesus is Lord, The Father, Son, and Spirit, are one, and you must repent and be born again to enter into this Kingdom not made with hands. The Kingdom Age is here and your church-as-usual- clothes will not fit.

Revelation 22:17

¹⁷And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

The Spirit (God in the Believer) and Bride (The Global, Eternal Body of Christ from all Ages of Humanity) say, Come. They invite us to the greatest party ever: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

A Divine Dream

Recently (January 28, 2012), I had a dream that God gave the interpretation to. I have also shared this with other leaders who live a credible life and can judge spiritual matters. We know in part, and we prophesy in part. No one has the full interpretation on the Word of God but God himself. God created the Body in such a way that we should recognize our need for each other to really grow into the full mature Body of Christ that God intends. As I share, I believe that this dream will confirm for some and explain for others similar revelations about The Body of Christ:

I had a dream about a wedding band. It had many sections to it and diamonds in each section. Then the ring began to separate in sections, the framework begin to crumble. I thought maybe it was a fake ring, but as it crumbled, the stones fell out. I picked it up. The stones were real diamonds as I held them up to the light. The dream ended.

As I was in service, worshipping the Lord (January 29, 2012), the Lord replayed the dream to me and the Lord said, “This is what you saw;”

“The ring represented the structure of church and the symbol of covenant. The stones were the Body of Christ. The structure was crumbling, but the stones were real and genuine. The stones, the living stones (THE CHURCH) were good. They needed a new setting. I am resetting the stones. The church will go through a period of resetting into a more fortified structure that can hold the stones. Some things in the foundation have caused the crumbling. I am resetting the foundation so that it holds the stones.”

I believe God is resetting the structure, the Apostles and Prophets so that His Body may function at full capacity. In that re-setting, God is also doing a work in how we worship.

Whether you have sensed the shift or not, the structures that held church together is cracking. And God intends for it to crack. He will not put new wine into old wineskins. He told the disciples at Passover, “I will not drink the wine again until I drink it new in heaven with you.” As he demonstrated and showed a principle of the Kingdom at his first miracle of turning water to wine, Jesus is reserving his best for last. He is pouring out His best wine, The Outpour of the Holy Spirit in a Global Outpouring on the Last Age.

Late last year, I was in prayer and was taken up into the Spirit. I saw saints dressed in white robes. They were setting the table for the Marriage Supper. They surrounded the table, their arms were locked around each other and they were singing. The sound was unlike anything in earth. The Lord was speaking but he sounded like a shofar. I could hear them singing,

Jesus is coming

Jesus is coming

Jesus is coming

Back from God

Be ready

Be ready

Jesus is coming

Back from God

It took me about an hour to really recover and come down from that encounter. I shared this encounter at a Women’s conference in June 2011. I can still hear them singing in my spirit. Listen, you may not believe in encounters with God, but one thing is sure: Jesus return is imminent!

I asked the Lord about the sound I heard in heaven. He said it was a sound from a different order, a different priesthood. He said it was after the order of Melchisedek. It Is the Kingdom Sound. Now, if you have been near any church or worship conference, everyone talks about the Davidic order, the Levitical order of worship and how important it was and is. Don’t get me wrong: this order has certainly enriched, empowered us, and served the purpose to reveal God to us in worship, to open the heavens, but I am only relaying a message: With the Kingdom Age there is coming, and indeed is already here, the establishment of Sound coming from God’s prophetic men and women who are ministers of worship, indeed we all really are called priests and kings in the presence of the Lord. The sound that God is stirring up is not to build a fan base but to minister to God and God alone. I asked God to further explain and he took me to the following verses:

The Greatness of the New Priest

²⁰ And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹ (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

“The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek’

²² by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.

²³ Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. ²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

Here are some things God told me about why worship will change, and why it will begin here:

Jesus’ priesthood is not patterned after the Levitical, but after Melchisedek

But this leads to a WHY? Why is it NOT patterned after the Levitical order or the pattern David set up?

David’s pattern was a foreshadowing of heaven’s pattern. He instituted a pattern of night and day worship where those minstrels and singers were to worship the Lord by course. Even in this, they worshipped by shifts. In heaven we won’t need to worship by shifts. We will worship forever without tire, weariness, or other things our flesh is subject to.

So, why IS Jesus’ priesthood not of the old pattern? Here are some reasons taken directly from scripture:

·         His priesthood is eternal

·         His priesthood is incorruptible

·         His priesthood is unchangeable

·         His priesthood is undefiled

·         His priesthood is separate from sinners

·         His priesthood is higher than the heavens

·         His priesthood operates on a single acceptable eternal sacrifice

·         His priesthood is not weak through fleshly operation

·         He has been perfected forever

So, the Lord had to break it down for me. If we worship from the Levitical, what we offer God can never meet the above. As the Holy Spirit shifts us and allows us to put our ear to heaven, when we sing what heaven is singing and play what heaven is playing, rather than writing and singing and playing out of the soulish realm, we enter into worship that is eternal, incorruptible, unchangeable, undefiled, separate from the sin nature, and we step into the presence of Jesus, after the order of Melchisedek.  Our worship allows the place where we sit (in heavenly places) to begin to interact and encounter this earthly realm and things begin to visibly shift in the natural.

You may ask, does that mean the Levitical pattern that David set is wrong or is no more? I would not say it is either. I would say that God is releasing us to worship Jesus in a better covenant. I look at what has happened to the Levites. The commercialization and merchandising of music ministry into Gospel industry has done what was only inevitable: corrupted what should be for Christ alone. No, not everyone has let stardom go to their head, but the fame and fanfare and attention that was once God’s is now for distribution sadly in too many instances. But God is raising up kings, priests, prophets, teachers, evangelists, pastors, apostles, who are after the heart of God, a band that knows if they have Won Christ, and no Grammy, yet have his attention, it is enough. I won’t point to any one group of people that are operating in this flow, because I am not trying to point out or give credit to any particular movement, but it is happening. People are hungry for God. They are desperate to get in His face  to see themselves in His eyes; to be a part of the worship happening in heaven. To experience their heavenly seat while completing the assignment God has given them in this earth.

As a songwriter, psalmist, and minstrel when God calls on me, I want to offer up to God that which is eternal. I want to sing His heart back to Him, nothing less. It means I must be willing to shift in my thinking to pursue His mind. I encourage you to read and reflect over the verses above. Ask yourself, If the Levitical model ended with Christ, why are we so bent on remaining there? Ask God to take your worship life and show you what rituals you’ve instituted for the sake of ritual. Ask God to allow you to hear what they are singing in heaven. You won’t be the same. Here is the picture of heaven’s worship:

Revelations 4:8-11

⁸And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

⁹And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

¹⁰The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

¹¹Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Day & Night worship, falling down is a good thing, your crown of achievement is thrown at his feet, and you know your purpose: to bring pleasure to God forever. This, my friends is the Kingdom AGE! Let’s go up together!

The Ghetto Anointing

⁴⁷Because thou served not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; ⁴⁸Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. ⁴⁹The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; Deut.28

²⁷And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing Isaiah 10:27

Ghetto- Any section of a city in which many members of a minority group live; or to which they are restricted by discrimination

Ghettos were originally formulated to identify, isolate and annihilate the Jews

God said to me,

I have released a Ghetto Anointing. I have released an anointing to free people from False Identification, Isolation, and Annihilation. Ghetto is not a person, it is a spirit. I have sent the anointing to destroy it.

I have been thinking about this issue for years, but God brought understanding and clarity to it.

Let me paint the picture for you:

I was born and raised in the Ghetto. I was the recipient of discrimination. It was played out in many ways. Discrimination means to be treated unfairly. It can happen in covert and overt ways. Discrimination in the ghetto comes from many sources and directions. It can come from Family, Friends, Law Enforcement, and Educational Systems. In the ghetto there is no escape from discrimination. You feel it. You experience it, and you begin to accept its restrictions and limitations without some form of divine intervention

Discrimination can have many faces:

It can be found in the way you treat the bastard child

It can be found when a school counselor decides the highest you can go is community college

It can be found in even making it into higher education and getting stuck with loans because no one told you were eligible for scholarships

It can be found in family members who say, “You’ll have 6 kids and never finish high school”

It can be found when you are profiled by law enforcement because your vehicle is too nice for the hood

It can be found when other people envy your desire for learning and destroy your materials

It can be found when mothers and grandmothers school their daughters on how to milk the system

The year I graduated high school, out of the hundreds that should have graduated, only 14 of us made it out of high school (13 girls/1 boy)

The last time I returned, many of my male friends had already died.

·        Some had been killed in shoot-outs and crossfire

·        Some had been murdered over drug deals

·        Some had died from lung cancer as a result of years of pot smoking

They never reached 40. They lived in the ghetto on the principles of the ghetto, that get glamourized by people who never lived there, or if they did they have now moved onto suburbia, selling an image that kills through ignorance, and doing it without conscience to the next generation!

This is why the yoke must be destroyed!

This capitalization off the ignorance and destruction of young people is about money, not morals. For some, the Ghetto-ization of American Youth is BIG BUSINESS! They make prey of the innocent with doctrines of devils, bearing the mindset:

·        As long as I don’t live there

·        As long as my kids don’t go to school there

·        As long as I don’t vacation there

I can turn their ignorance into a cash cow

They create the culture of violence with the Ghetto-Fabulous doctrine but they don’t have to see the effects of be immersed in what they created.

 God spoke clearly,

I have released a Ghetto Anointing. I have released an anointing to free people from False Identification, Isolation, and Annihilation. Ghetto is not a person, it is a spirit. I have sent the anointing to destroy it.

As I sought understanding, this is what He shared:

He has released the anointing to free people from

 False I.D.’s

·        The labels, prejudices, stereotypes placed upon you by men and the systems of this world have been cast off by God – He says you are his righteousness through Christ Jesus! (2 Peter 1:1)

From Isolation

·        The systems of this world that work in tandem with our sinful flesh nature bring separation from God, but God is calling us to reconcile with him so that he may set us apart unto himself

·        From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. (Psalm 17:14)

·        The message of salvation and grace are available to us through the reconciliation by the Cross

From Annihilation

·        The enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life and that much more abundantly (John 10:10)

God went on to say,

I’m doing away with the celebration of Ghetto

Ghetto in our culture has been normalized. At one point, ghetto was unfavorable, detestable, seen as something uncivilized, and something not to be associated with. Now, it’s the cool, hip, thing to be. Ghetto-fabulous lifestyles are promoted in music, in television, in movies, in commercials, this urbanization of the ungodly. The motto of the ghetto life, Get high, get laid, get paid, get revenge, is popularized and made acceptable, The celebration of death, suffering, and destruction, have been idolized and the anthem of Get Rich or Die Trying, has been glorified as the good life.  But God says, it’s coming to an end!

God’s releasing His anointing to destroy the culture of death and to pierce through the Kingdom of darkness. He’s releasing you and me with the power of the Cross, the bloodiest event to destroy this yoke, this war on Urban communities! It’s time to take your Hood Back!

The Gospel of Christ frees us from discrimination, limitation, intimidation, when we have VISITATION from God! The Gospel takes the Hood mentality and transforms it! We no longer live after the flesh, but after the Spirit of God! Grace empowers us to live beyond what happened to us, around us, our parents, our siblings, our hood

The Family of Christ is the New Hood. I don’t have to be beat in, sexed in, or take another life to become family! We are the Body of Christ and God is mobilizing us in this hour to take back the Hood! I asked, “Holy Spirit, to give us insight into ways to take back our communities”

The Holy Spirit said,

The enemy has stolen from the Hood for far too long!

·        Too many pharmacists have become drug dealers

·        Too many lawyers have become criminals

·        Too many doctors have become addicts

·        Too many inventors have become creators of evil

·        Too many teachers have become original gangsters

Too many gifts have turned into curses through Ghetto Mentality

The enemy seeks to keep the HOOD in steal, kill, destroy mode, to turn America into a Nation that devours its young, to steal dreams, kill babies, and destroy the hope of the future generations
But the devil is a LIAR!

God urges me to challenge you in 5 ways:

1.   Don’t be silent (Esther 4:14) You are in the Hood, your hood for a reason! You are a gatekeeper for that community in a hostile territory

2.  Educate yourself- don’t wait for someone else to do it, to give you the upper hand God’s people perish for lack of knowledge, not lack of passion, or lack of prayer. We must know what to pray, when we are not praying in the Spirit; Knowledge is power and the “power (stake) holders” will always limit the dispersal of knowledge to the poor. You must go get it!

3.  Organize and Connect with those of Like Faith, who know Good can be done in the Hood. Pray together, study together, seek God for your Hood

4.  Get to know the Decision-makers for your community- make yourself available and begin to demand better for your Hood. Ask the hard questions

5.  Find three young people (under 21) who you know are without spiritual guidance; motherless, fatherless, and begin the process of discipleship; Listen to them; ask them to tell you how they see the community and what needs to change; what injustices do they see? What ideas do they have? Invite them to become a part of the solution

God has given the anointing to destroy systematic discrimination that restricts the Hood. He wants to:

Provide better Physical quality of life

·        Better health

·        Better food

·        Better environmental conditions

·        Better living conditions

We must offer the Bread of life if we will see this transformation!

Provide better quality of Spiritual life

·        By personal revelation and relationship with Jesus

·        By creating places to worship, right in your community

·        By taking the restrictions off your expression of worship

We must offer the Living Water, the source of our life to see community change

Provide better quality of Relational life- This is the heart of God

·        To end infant mortality

·        To end genocide by abortion

·        To provide care to mothers and widows

·        To care for the orphans (children with incarcerated parents)

·        To end the single parent epidemic

·        To promote sexual purity and integrity from young to married

Provide better quality of Intellectual life

·        To end the cycle of debt

·        To counsel on stewardship

·        To empower people to find and retain emplo

·        To bring healing and resources to the mentally challenged

·        To end high school dropout

This is not an exhaustive list, but God’s Anointing has an answer and plan for FREEDOM from every Yoke!

This is a call to take back your Hood!

Not by violence, but by discovering the vision God has planned for your community and then demonstrating the love of God to those around you who lack direction and are filled with hopelessness! The ethnos are coming together for the cause of Christ. Let me remind you once more of what God is equipping His Believers to do:

I have released a Ghetto Anointing. I have released an anointing to free people from False Identification, Isolation, and Annihilation. Ghetto is not a person, it is a spirit. I have sent the anointing to destroy it.

God calls you forth to receive his anointing for the part you will play in piercing the darkness and bringing light and the power of the Holy Spirit into your Hood! You want to have Outrageous Church? Let the Outrageous God transform your Neighbor and your HOOD!

Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8)

Blessings

Outrageous LOVE

Imagine being dragged before a crowd of people, mainly haters and having all your personal business put before them. Take your most embarrassing moment, and picture it being aired on CNN. Get the point? Well, the Woman caught in adultery had her BNN (Bible News Network) moment when she was drug before Jesus, and likely hurled at his feet for her behavior. The obvious sentence for a woman so disgraced was to be stoned to death.

So? What you have done if you happened by? Would you have joined the crowd? Would you have shook your head in disgust and murmured to yourself, "She's getting what she deserves for being with someone else's man," or would you have covered her, and faced possible death along with her?

Here's what Jesus did:
^1-2 Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. ^3-6The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
^6-8Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
^9-10Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"
¹¹"No one, Master."
"Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."

Jesus forgave her IN PLAIN SIGHT. If they were outrageous enough to bring the accused in the middle of Bible Study, Jesus was outrageous enough to silence her accusers out in the open. You see, Jesus doesn't hide his love or forgiveness for us. He doesn't promise us behind closed doors a love he is ashamed of in light of our sins. Religion exposed her. Religion brought her to Christ, expecting judgement. Jesus, full of Grace and Truth spoke, and His Love covered her. When we are caught red-handed in the wretchedness of sin, Jesus clears us with his red-hand. No one is sure what Jesus was writing. Maybe he was writing the Pharisees many acts of internal sin. Maybe he was writing the names of her lovers who may have been the very ones casting her down. In the end, Jesus, the sinless one who could accuse her, wiped the slate clean. His Outrageous Love is still wiping the slate clean today.

Don't let the crowd, the religious, the whisperers, the jeers stop you from recieving and walking in His Outrageous Love. Many are not walking in their full potential because perfect love has not cast out fear. Fear of dislike, fear of ridicule, fear of rejection, fear of not meeting an unrealistic expectation. I dare you to get toe to toe with Jesus, who knelt down with you, and stood up for you. Accept his clean slate! How can you show your gratitude? When guilt tries to assail you and label you "caught red handed", just remind the devil, there was another red hand that reached out; the loving sacrifice that Jesus made cleared you of the charge!

Want to have Outrageous Church? Just remind yourself of God's Outrageous Love!

Blessings!