Keep It Real By Tim Hughes

How Do We Maintain Our Heart Values As A Worship Lead?

As a worship leader, the most important thing is your heart, your attitude and your values. There is the danger that if you’re doing a lot of upfront “stuff,” the upfront stuff becomes the focus, and the hidden life can be neglected. That’s a very dangerous thing.                                                                        

I think for leaders generally, it is so important to have those people in your life to whom you’re accountable, who can speak into the things that you do, and who can ask those tough questions. Personally, I’m so grateful for those friends who will sometimes ask me the hard questions, like “Tim, what’s your motivation?” They may say, “Tim, what you’re doing now – I’m not so sure that’s a such good thing.” It’s tough to take but it’s wonderful because it keeps you real and reminds you what it’s all about. Accountability helps you to focus on the important things – focus on God, and on maintaining your relationship with God. I’m a child of God first, and that’s the most important relationship to me. That’s the difference.  

How Can We Better Facilitate “Spirit-led” Worship                            

In our churches, we have too many song leaders and not enough worship leaders. I think the difference between the two is that a worship leader is trying to see what God’s doing, and follow that. A song leader just plows through the songs without thinking of much else. We’ve had times in our church recently where God’s intervened in a time of worship just poured out His Spirit and the whole meetings been “hijacked” by God! It’s absolutely amazing. We wish He’d do that more and more.  In those moments, God suddenly makes it clear what He wants to do among His people in that time of meeting together. That’s an exciting thing, but there is also a responsibility for the worship leader and the worship band. It is the responsibility to prepare themselves, to get their hearts ready, to get the songs that they’ve practiced and rehearsed ready. Then they’re ready to go for it in those powerful times, and to be open to what God wants to do. 

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO WORSHIP TRAINING AND TIM HUGHES                                                           

15 Signs Your Church Is in Trouble By Perry Noble

1. When excuses are made about the way things are instead of embracing a willingness to roll up the sleeves and fix the problem.
2. When the church becomes content with merely receiving people that come rather than actually going out and finding them…in other words, they lose their passion for evangelism!
3. The focus of the church is to build a great church (complete with the pastors picture…and his wife’s…on everything) and not the Kingdom of God.
4. The leadership begins to settle for the natural rather than rely on the supernatural.
5. The church begins to view success/failure in regards to how they are viewed in the church world rather than whether or not they are actually fulfilling the Great Commission!
6. The leaders within the church cease to be coachable.
7. There is a loss of a sense of urgency!  (Hell is no longer hot, sin is no longer wrong and the cross is no longer important!)
8. Scripture isn’t central in every decision that is made!
9. The church is reactive rather than proactive.
10. The people in the church lose sight of the next generation and refuse to fund ministry simply because they don’t understand “those young people.”
11. The goal of the church is to simply maintain the way things are…to NOT rock the boat and/or upset anyone…especially the big givers!
12. The church is no longer willing to take steps of faith because “there is just too much to lose.”
13. The church simply does not care about the obvious and immediate needs that exist in the community.
14. The people learn how to depend on one man to minister to everyone rather than everyone embracing their role in the body, thus allowing the body to care for itself.
15. When the leaders/staff refuse to go the extra mile in leading and serving because of how “inconvenient” doing so would be.

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCHLEADERS.COM AND PERRY NOBLE. 

Perry Noble is the founding and senior pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, Greenville and Florence, South Carolina. At just nine years old, the church averages over 10,000 people during weekend services and is launching another campus in Columbia, South Carolina. Perry is convicted about speaking the truth as plainly as possible. A prolific blogger, he’s also the author of Blueprints: How to Build Godly Relationships.

Charlie Sheen, Tiger Woods, and What It Means to Fall from Grace By Steven Furtick

I always used to associate the expression, “fall from grace,” with major acts of sin. Enormous failures. Significant falls.
People who fell from grace were people like Ted Haggard, who lost his church and nearly lost his family after admitting to a homosexual affair after years of speaking out against homosexuality.
Or Tiger Woods, who had an affair that cost him his family and tens of millions of dollars.
Or Charlie Sheen who…well, pulled a Charlie Sheen.
So falling from grace was where you had an affair. Cheated people. Engaged in an addictive behavior. Melted down in public. In general, had some kind of an enormous moral failure and lost everything. Your reputation. Your family. Your livelihood. In the case of Charlie Sheen, your sanity.
That’s what I used to think. And if you were honest, it’s probably what you associate falling from grace with as well.
But we’re both wrong. That’s not what it means. The true definition is astonishing. And infinitely more threatening, convicting, and relevant to most Christians than the stories of the men above.
If you go back to where the phrase comes from in the Bible, here’s what you read:
You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4).
Crap. Ted, Tiger, and Charlie can no longer be our punching bags for falling from grace.
I understand why they are. They’re easy targets. They warn us of the danger of falling into sin and ruining our lives. And if we’re honest, they make us feel better about ourselves. But here’s the truth: Most Christians aren’t in danger of pulling a Charlie Sheen or a Tiger Woods or a Ted Haggard. We’re in danger of something far more deceptive and equally offensive to God.
And that’s living as if we have no need of His grace. It’s believing that all of our good deeds actually put us in a better position before God. That because we’re not Charlie, Tiger, or Ted; we’re closer to God, even if only by an inch.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Even if you read your Bible everyday and now have it memorized in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and the 1611 KJV.
Even if you never have an affair.
Even if you live a life that makes the Pharisees look like cat-strangling, coke-snorting, Wiccan worshippers.
Even if you have it all together.
When Jesus comes back and every knee bows and every tongue confesses that He is Lord, your head won’t be one centimeter higher than Charlie’s. Or Tiger’s. Or Ted’s. Or anyone else’s.
The quickest way to fall from grace is to think that there is an ounce of your life that isn’t dependent on it. Every step that you take to be acceptable to God in your own effort apart from Jesus and the cross is actually a step away from God.
Don’t fall away from grace. Ted needs it. Tiger needs it. Charlie needs it.
But so do you. And so do I.

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCHLEADERS.COM AND STEVEN FURTICK

Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church, an incredible move of God in Charlotte, NC with more than 6,000 in attendance each week among three locations. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Sun Stand Still. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Holly and their two sons, Elijah and Graham.

10 Church Leadership "Everydays" and "Foundationals"

Have the church leadership thrown away their manners, their beliefs and their standard?
If you feel me speaking to you, I may very well be!
1. You don't order people to do work or serve somewhere. You don't own your congregation and do not have the right to make them do something. So telling them things like, "you better do this" or "you have to do this" or "you will be doing this"is not an option for you. The power of suggestion and asking is in play. If they have made a commitment you roster them and get confirmation.
So don't forget the P's and Q's that your parents taught you!
2. You don't tell the team that these are the rules now and not remember to apply them when someone else comes into the picture or someone fights or forgets it. Stand by the decision you make and the vision you have and get the church to understand why it is important to do certain things, and how to do them.
3. You can't "expect" your team to be inspired by themselves. You need to inspire them. Encourage them. Bless them. Thank them. Tell all of them how their contribution and effort play an integral part of church growth.
4. Don't make decisions for them. Your church is filled with people not robots, people with feelings, time schedules, likes and dislikes. I highly doubt anyone wants you to tell them how and when to live their lives. Again, suggestion is key.
5. Don't take advantage of those that are more shy or on the quiet side when it comes to speaking their mind. Be a leader who gives them an opportunity to speak up, make their own mind about something and gives them the time to make that decision.  Don't be a PUSHOVER. A leader who will encourage the person to be honest with their feelings, belief systems and brings up leaders even if they seem to be the quiet type.
Your passion for God must not make people want to run away from you but rather see it as a desirable quality. 
6. Stop being a gossiper. I find it insulting that I have to say and see this but it stands true to some that come to you and tell you something wrong or bad about another person. Then go to the other person and say something about you to them. Stop being a back stabber. Let your words be few when it comes to this. Be wise and please do not think that people have not noticed when you are doing it.
As a leader you must know that you are being watched and people will take you for your word(s).
7. Stop being jealous and stop enabling the competition spirit . Stop wanting to be someone else. Just because I can sing doesn't mean I can be or make me want to be Darlene Zschech. I rather be me and allow God to work through me. So stop being jealous and stop trying to "out do" someone who is at your same level of serving at church. Whether it is between worship leaders, preachers or pastors. Be yourself and make yourself available to God so He can do amazing things through you.
8. As leaders we all have a platform whether it is huge or small. When you are serving make sure you are not doing it with a mirror in front of you. This life of servanthood isn't for yourself. It isn't for you to feel good, to check whether you sound and look perfect and better than another. It is so that the church can get closer to God, find themselves in Him and allow Him to work on their hearts so they can grow and become who God has called them to be. So when you are up there it is SO NOT ABOUT YOU.
Work for God, not for yourself. I have seen my share of people fall off their high horses when they don't get this very foundational rule.
9. Evaluating a leader's performance and telling him/her how they are doing is not criticizing them or telling them that they are not valuable but that they have potential and you want to see that growth in them.
When the pastor I was interning with, gave me a very genuine, honest evaluation and said I had to do better, if I grumbled and mumbled under my breath, I would not have been able to learn from him and grow as a leader myself. It is a day I will always remember as someone took the time to care enough to tell me. So be an adult when dealing with each other. Stop hiding from your responsibility to improve and grow your leaders and stop being a baby when you have to hear it and deal with it.
Be an adult, submit, learn and see God manifest in more amazing ways than you can imagine.
10. Preparation, learning and rehearsing are keys to anything we want or need to do. Whether it is an event, church service, prayer meeting, worship, leadership, preaching, don't think it as not important cause it will affect not only you but your team and your church eventually.
Don't be selfish and not care. Make sacrifices so that what you put out on your platform is only your best. After all, everything you do, you do for God, right? Be ready to put in the effort and stop making excuses of being busy. If at work you have to prepare, if at home you have to prepare, if at every relationship you have to work, then it is very obvious that when you are doing things for church you have to prepare.
So even if God changes you agenda by surprise you are prepared for Him to do that as well.

Side Note:****
This post was formerly known as "Things Church Leaders Need to Get Straight", but some guys felt it was too harsh and some felt that it should not have been said this way, but here's the thing I had to hear it, see it, experience it and live under it. And I know that a lot of people feel this way, it is our responsibility to bring change where it is needed so our church can be healthy and strong and the people that come there will feel at home, safe as they should always feel than feeling attacked. So I hope that all that read this will see my heart behind wanting the best for everyone and bringing to light the things that matter. Much love to all! 

How to Keep Criticism in Check by Steven Furtick

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” 
Genesis 41:41-43
If you saw Joseph in his prime, you’d probably think, “Oh, that must be nice.” Or negatively, “He’s sold God out, and all he cares about now is power and money.”

Really? Here’s the backstory:
Betrayed by his brothers and thrown into a pit. Then sold into slavery. Then falsely accused of rape by his master’s wife. Then thrown into prison. All this over the course of thirteen hellish years. And the Bible says that through it all, God was positioning him to save a nation and his family.
Jealous now?
Critical now?
We’ve got to be very careful about being jealous over other people’s blessings without knowing the backstory. It can be so easy to look at someone who’s in a good position or a church that’s really successful and be envious of what God has given them. Or be critical of it.
But you don’t know the road that person had to take to get to where they are today. You don’t know the price they’ve had to pay to get their church to where it’s at today.
They might have had to go through hell. Just like Joseph did. And they might have been faithful through it all. Just like Joseph was.
Would you still want their blessing if you knew the backstory? Would you be willing to go through the same thing to get it? Would you be as critical if you knew the whole story?
God’s blessings were never meant to trigger envy or suspicion.
Don’t waste any more time being jealous of someone else’s blessings. God has given you exactly what you need to do exactly what He’s called you to do.
And don’t be critical of other people’s blessings either. God’s given them exactly what they need, too.
Don’t envy where God has taken other people. Stop lamenting the hand He’s dealt you. It’s better than you think.
So good, in fact, that there’s someone else in the world that would probably be jealous of it.

All Copyright belongs to Churchleaders.com and Steven Furtick!

Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church, an incredible move of God in Charlotte, NC with more than 6,000 in attendance each week among three locations. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Sun Stand Still. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Holly and their two sons, Elijah and Graham.More from Steven Furtick or visit Steven at www.stevenfurtick.com

8 Things That Will Change You and Your Church by Perry Noble

1. Ask God to absolutely set you on fire…to ignite you with passion that consumes you so that you are not merely working in a job but fulfilling His vision for your life.  People who work a job make a living…but people who are fulfilling their passion/calling make a difference!  (See Jeremiah 20:9)
2. Make the decision that you are going to lead out of CONVICTION of the Holy Spirit rather than theCONVENIENCE of doing what is easy rather than what is right.
3. Beg God to allow you to see people the way He sees people.  I think one of the fundamental problems in the body of Christ is that our eyes no longer see as His eyes see!  However, if we take off our “church colored glasses” and begin to see the world the way HE sees it…it changes EVERYTHING!  (See II Corinthians 5:16)
4. Make the decision that you don’t have to have all of the answers before you obey the voice of the Lord.  I once heard Francis Chan say, “When I read the Bible, it makes perfect sense not to know what is going to happen next!”  THAT might be one of the most freeing statements I’ve ever heard!  Hebrews 11:1 and Hebrews 11:6 have been HUGE for me personally in this regard.  YOUR church can do EXACTLY what God has told you to do…GO FOR IT!
5. Understand that everyone is NOT going to understand you…and that you can’t make it your goal to make sure that everyone understands and approves.  (See Galatians 1:10 and Proverbs 29:25)

6. Quit running to the online audience that will never darken the doors of your church to seek their approval.  Enough said!
7. PRAY BOLD PRAYERS for your church!  The early church prayed for boldness…we pray for safety.  The early church prayed for people to come to Christ…we pray for Sister So-and-so’s hangnail!  The early church prayed for the church to expand and the Gospel to advance…we pray that we can keep our churches small and safe.  Let’s BEG God for things to happen in our churches that are UNEXPLAINABLE and UNDENIABLE so that HE can receive ALL the glory!
8. STOP trying to be everyone else and be who God called you to be…your church should be a result of responding to the REVELATION of God and not the IMITATION of others!

All copyright belongs to Perry Noble and Churchleaders.com

Perry Noble is the founding and senior pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, Greenville and Florence, South Carolina. At just nine years old, the church averages over 10,000 people during weekend services and is launching another campus in Columbia, South Carolina. Perry is convicted about speaking the truth as plainly as possible. A prolific blogger, he’s also the author of Blueprints: How to Build Godly Relationships.More from Perry Noble or visit Perry at www.perrynoble.com

Are you driven by Emotion? Or Character?

Earlier, I shared this statement from Dick Biggs:

The greatest gap in life is the one between knowing and doing.

Life would certainly be easier – and success more simple – if all it took to achieve was to KNOW the right things and DECIDE to do them, right? But I think it’s more accurate to say that a decision is just one bookend of achievement. The other is discipline. Decisions can only help us start. Discipline helps us finish.

That’s where character comes in. Emotion might drive us to make a decision. But character is what keeps us going, even when it gets hard.

In Developing the Leader Within You, I wrote about some differences between character-driven and emotion-driven people:

Character-driven people…

1. Do right, then feel good.
2. Are commitment driven.
3. Make principle-based decisions.
4. Let action control attitude.
5. Believe it, then see it.
6. Create momentum.
7. Ask, “What are my responsibilities?
8. Continue when problems arise.
9. Are steady.
10. Are leaders.

Emotion-driven people…

1. Feel good, then do right.
2. Are convenience-driven.
3. Make popular decisions.
4. Let attitude control action.
5. See it, then believe it.
6. Wait for momentum.
7. Ask, “What are my rights?”
8. Quit when problems arise.
9. Are moody.
10. Are followers.

The late Louis L’Amour is one of the best-selling authors of all time, with over 300 million copies of his popular western novels and short-story collections sold. When asked the key to his prolific writing, he responded, “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”

The caution sign.

"Caution: Do not cover" said my new twenty dollar fan heater. It is probably the best twenty dollars I have spent. I switched it on and got comfortable in my bed. My plan was to leave it running for ten minutes, switch it off and then go to sleep.
But the warmth was so incredible, in five minutes I probably looked like a blob in my bed. I woke up the next morning sweating. What scared me  was that my quilt had managed to get on top of the heater (I had placed it too close to my bed, so that my hand could reach it without me having to jump out of bed to turn it off). Within a second, i freaked and pulled the quilt off the heater cause I was reminded of what the caution sign had expressed.
Recently I pondered on this incident and felt God speaking to me through it....

Some of my friends prayed over me the other day and said "Sharon, God is waiting for you to jump. Don't you trust Him?" Honestly, I don't think I do. I want to, but it freaks me out. What if I get hurt again? And this time it would be God that hurt me, who would then mend my broken heart? I was tired of the excuses of life, family and friends. I didn't want to give 'all of me' to anyone cause then I was assured that I wouldn't be hurt. I would be okay. Just okay!
How annoying is that I would just be okay? What a mediocre way of living! I would never experience fully what God had planned for me. As I only gave a little part of me, I would only receive a little back.
It's like choosing a delicious slice of cheesecake at your favorite cafe. You would only get a little piece instead of a whole slice cause you chose not to pay the full price so as to receive that big delicious creamy slice of cheesecake. In all reality, you would get nothing. Feel like you're missing out? That is exactly what I had been doing to my relationships especially the one with God.
God then spoke to me and said I had placed that caution sign on myself. I didn't mind the few seconds of warmth but I was scared to go all in for God and spread the fire in me. The book of revelations was pretty clear when it said God couldn't be bothered by those that had warm faith. In other words, He said chose Me or this world. I rather you had an opinion, whether right or wrong than not have one at all. This indicated a state of confusion which is not from God and I couldn't represent Him with that character in me.

How much more can He give. He gave everything and we still ask for more?

It's time we took the caution sign off ourselves and said "Here I am, set me on fire for you and send me"

Questions I would then have to answer:

Do I let  the caution sign remain?

Do I want the whole slice of cheesecake?
Do I choose a few useless seconds of warmth in my relationship with God or go all in for Him?
Do i choose life to its max. or a mediocre "okay" life?

What do you choose?

God's Kingdom culture Part 4:The Gift of discernment:Part 1

God's Kingdom is not filled with weak little kittens. Yes we are cute but not weak! We are soldiers. Vicious beings, lions of the kingdom that are being prepared to tear down walls and stand against the enemy's prowls. I wonder if you remember me talking about being peace makers. Yes, God has called us to be peace makers but He has also called us a Justice generation and we will stand up and fight for the weak, the abused, the mocked at, the hurt because we once were one of them but today are ready to bring upon this land what He has purposed for this land i.e. Justice.
No form or plan of the enemy will prevail. We have been given authority to stand and cast out in the name of Jesus.
When I was a baby in the Lord, I wondered why people talked about being violent in our faith. I was always the peace maker and would never confront anyone. I would simply have a conversation with them and solve the issue through very standard ordinary measures and methods.
Recently we had a situation where my housemates realized that there was the spirit of Jezebel operating in our house. Read 2 Kings 9-12 and study it to understand what the spirit of Jezebel looks like. We think that cause we live in this day and age; spiritual things are very awkward, unnecessary and a little useless to our generation. What we don't realize is that the end is coming and soon. The enemy is trying to fill hell with our kind. the human kind. the ones with souls. There is a constant warfare going on in the spiritual realms and we have to be sensitive to what The Holy Ghost is trying to do so we can bring home as many as possible. The spirit of Jezebel is cunning and manipulative. Lying consistently to your face with the mask of beautiful innocence, makes you look guilty and as the wrong one time and time again. It brings you to a place of depression and wants for you to feel incompetent and completely inadequate so that it can have that power and authority over you so that you will function as it gives orders.
THE BLOOD OF JESUS has covered us and released us from things like this. HIS NAME has healed and restored us to be able to recognize, stand up and fight for Justice because He paid a very painful and horrible price for this. It is now in our turn to receive it and walk in that victory.
It is just like being in court, you have your defense lawyer fighting for your freedom. The verdict is in, you won the case. But you realize that you still feel like you have to defend yourself cause you feel convicted of guilt. Convicted of something you didn't do or the fact that the price has already been paid for but you still are fighting a won battle. You may have walked out of that courtroom but you feel like you don't own your freedom cause in you mind you still feel guilty.
Another example could be about being in a relationship. The guy or girl, makes you feel unworthy, useless and with no value. He/ she gives no time of day for you when you are in a mess and is never around when you really need them. They lie to your face telling you of their lack of time and all the people that are counting on them to hang out with them. They will tell you that they will be there but when it is time and you really just need someone to talk to they won't be around. They will make you feel inadequate and incompetent. Sometimes they will use your conversation or any private feelings you disclosed to them in confidence against you, You feel like you need to now get attention and value from them to feel loved, comforted or for you make a move forward, a step upward in life. They are so smooth with their words, look completely innocent and make the situation look like they are the victim and that they need to held and cuddled when actually they manipulated and twisted the situation around to make you feel like you hurt them and you are completely to blame and is going to be in debt of doing whatever you can to "win" them back.
I know this cause I was in a relationship where I needed the family member to appreciate me and give me my value back. Wrong! no one other than God can give you that value. Cheapskates will always tell you that you are loser and steal you of your joy, love and give you in return misery, depression and so on.
The same thing happened with our housemate where that person lied, manipulated and always made us feel smaller in every situation. But then two people rose and God revealed to them. This person is my friend but the spirit that is operating behind this person is not my friend. That spirit is my enemy and I will not allow that to take over my life, my emotional status and my physical health. No. God's Kingdom is filled with mighty vicious beings who have the spirit of discernment, that can smell the enemy tricks and are armed and ready to fight and bring justice.
Spread the word and get prepared!

Heart for the House

"The Love of God cannot be measured but can be demonstrated" - Biju Thampy (Founder of Vision Rescue), Hillsong Offering Testimony.
This is such an awesome thought and completely true statement!
We were in a class with Aran Puddle (a staff and worship pastor at Hillsong). He was saying how we are only capable of describing God metaphorically. When we say something like "let your glory be revealed like the light of the sun"it is a metaphor. We as humans have only human terms or metaphorical words that can describe God. I thought about this one congregational song we sing here at church and the line goes like this, "And His glory appears like the light from the sun".  I then had a conversation in my head. "If God created light and everything in this world then how can "His glory" be like the light from the sun... that makes no sense. That almost sounds like we are degrading God or undermining who He truly is. But then I understood what Aran Puddle was talking about. It is not wrong theology or a lack of creativity and truth in the songwriting. It is because we are only capable of metaphorically giving a small glimpse about His majesty and about His awesome, gorgeous, pure and beautiful character.
I think that is pretty cool that we at least have those metaphors and those words to sing than being completely wordless when we come to worship. What do you think?
So instead of measuring how much love can be in this song or this church, lets start demonstrating, shall we?
Let's not be critics but admirers and supporters of what The Church is doing and is capable of doing in Him, through Him, for Him!
Along the same lines, we need to be a reflection of His love for and to His kids, His church, His love, His bride!
We as His kids can demonstrate what is in His heart for His people. We can show what it is like to live in His will. In His love. In His joy. In His peace.
We can be the stepping stone, the stretched out hand, the rope, the pillar that others can hold onto.
I am so impacted by what Biju Thampy is doing in India to help the kids of the streets of Mumbai. He explained how these kids dream to be able to live in the slums someday because they live on the streets. He said and I'm sort of paraphrasing "Lets not get these kids to the slums but get the slums out of them." Their dream and expectation is to get to the slums. Why not help, educate and release them to be bigger than they ever expected or imagined?
We have the chance to be a part of young people's dreams and projects like this and I believe in it completely and its potential.
The way to do it is to get connected to your local church and be a part of their dream and vision to impact and change the world! And if you feel like your church can do more, then become a part of their team and create ideas on how to get the resources and how to go about doing what is in His heart and your heart for those souls out there.
If you want to be a part of Biju Thampy's vision for kids of Mumbai you can go to Vision Rescue's official page.
Spread the word!

God's Kingdom culture Part 3

Along the lines of God's Kingdom Culture...
I have to say that I am very proud of a friend of mine, through the good and bad times she listens to the voice of God.
She was headed home after a long and wearing day of babysitting. As she drove along she was hit by a car. It took her a few minutes to put together that she had been hit. Slowly she got out of the car and checked the boot side. Minimal damage which is a completely God thing. She looked towards the car that had just hit her and was flabbergasted at the fact that the lady that had hit her hadn't even bothered to get out of the car. She walked towards the other car and knocked on the window. The lady rolled down the window. She had a cold face on and asked my friend if the car had damages. To which my friend said, not much but the point is that you hit my car and laughed in shock at the lady's behavior. The lady then burst into tears and explained what a rough day she had had.
My friend that was now running on adrenaline, but listening asked if she could pray for her. As she finished praying, the lady looked at her and said and I am paraphrasing "I sat in the car and said God if you are real,you have to show me. Life can't get any worse for me" and then she hit my friend's car. Talk about an awkward God moment.
My friend said "Now you know, do you wanna become a Christian?" and she said yes.
What I want to point out, out of this incident is two things. Obedience and surrender. On the other side of her obedience, there was a woman's broken heart waiting to be restored. On the other side of her surrender, she giving up her wants, was the new beginning for this lady.
On the other side of Jesus' obedience to His father was the salvation of the world.
Yet again we are brought back to my previous blog: self sacrificing attitude. God switched me on to help one life. God switched my friend on to bring salvation and comfort to another life. Imagine how many lives we can change if we all switched on or are listening to His beautiful spirit and quiet voice?

Spread the Kingdom culture!

God's Kingdom culture Part 2

I would love to talk about another aspect of God's kingdom culture.
We'll call it the self sacrificing attitude.
I woke up this morning with some insanely loud music coming from my living room. If you guys know me, then you know my housemates. It made me start of with a crappy attitude. I had a headache and all I wanted was some peace and quiet. I became so self consumed that all I could think about was what I was wearing, my hair, my make-up and myself. I had a pretty easy morning since all I had was an hour of chapel( we have worship and preaching like a normal service only its for the students in college). As I was worshipping I felt God asking me to surrender and as I did so, I felt His spirit refreshing my energy and my spirit... like a part of me was being renewed and washed.
The rest of my day was lazy and fun but it involved a lot of unnecessary noise and i kept asking people to shut up... literally!
The noise got louder and the crowd got bigger, till finally my friend invited me to go to Mars Hill Cafe with her. The crowd followed but they got more tired, which means they got more quiet, which obviously is a good thing.
After the hour of fun, laughter, crazy pictures, and winding down we headed back home.
We parked in my driveway, pulled our seats back and chatted. At this point it was just the two of us girls, which obviously means girl talk. I complained about my humanness and how pathetic I felt sometimes. How much I needed of this and that. How much more I could have. How I desired more love. I looked at her and said I know God has equipped me for much and I am headed that way but doesn't mean I'm not human and don't want other things, physical things, emotional things etc.
We chatted and departed since our beds were calling out to us. As I entered through my front door, I was told that one of my housemates was sick and having cramps. In short, the next two hours were filed with praying and calling different doctors to find the best way to resolve it.
I felt like the Holy Spirit was taking charge and was diverting our selfish minds to help others that need us and off the things off this world. It was an awesome moment of praying and seeing the miracle. The thing about God is He will Never... let me say it again... Never ever forsake us. For this woman who was sick, God had ordained perfect timing, the right people with the contacts and thinkers that will make wise and right decisions.
My heart was broken for what God wanted me to do. As we finished we felt her finding peace and rest and knew sleep would add to the good of what the Holy Spirit was doing.
I have a natural tendency to become the mother and boss of everybody... soon and very very soon people were heading to bed since it was nearly 12:30 in the morning or later. I was helping Grace, this lady's daughter to get ready for bed and I heard the lady again moan in pain. So I went to the room, switched on the light and helped her. For the next hour, I massaged her body till she told me she felt the strain and stress leave the muscles cause she was having cramps all over.
I sat beside her bed to begin and God suddenly spoke to me said, "David had a skill, him playing his instrument made the demons within the King leave him. You have the skill to massage (it's a natural talent in the family), now massage those ligaments or those muscles till the pain leaves. I asked Him to make me efficient and to give me strength to do it for however long it takes. I spoke in tongues and the Word of God and she started confessing with me and I could see on her face that the tension was being released. After about an hour, i just placed my hands around her leg and spoke rest to it. For about 20 minutes I sat still, and I felt her body rest and getting comfortable. The tighter her sleep got, the more peaceful I felt. I then walked out of the room and now at 2:40 in the morning, am just praising God for using me while overlooking my sin. It's like He switched me on. The real me. The caring, loving, independent and strong-willed and "whole" me.
Another aspect of God's culture is His self sacrificing attitude. I hope you have pictured Him already up there on that horrible cross bringing salvation to humanity. This revelation and incident has brought an immense amount of peace and joy to my spirit, body and soul.
God switched me on to help one life. Imagine how many lives we can change if we all switched on or are listening to His beautiful spirit?
Spread the Kingdom culture!

God's Kingdom culture

I was walking down the road towards the food court. My stomach was grumbling and crying for food. It was four in the afternoon and I hadn't bothered to feed it. A friend had joined me in the fifteen minute race between classes. As we walked down we talked about our last meeting and the moments that made our cheeks ache and eyes water. We were LOL'n ( the IM term for Laughing Out Loud). During the conversation, the question popped up so where exactly are you from? Are you from India or Middle East? Yes, well Indian from Abu Dhabi. She asked if I had my share of curry for the day. To which I nodded and gestured we are walking to the food court. hello! but i was gonna buy sushi. It's all still asian!

I have understood that we need not take small comments like that personally or think oh my word what a racist!
We all make fun of each others' cultures, habits, lifestyles, dressing etc. I want to build my generation to be light on the non-important things of life. I make fun of you, you are so welcome to make fun of me. There is obviously a difference between making fun or fooling around and bluntly trying to make the other person the smaller one in the conversation.

I love my Indian people and I love where I was born and brought up. I love both. I don't choose either because for me I see the people. For me its about the people. It's about their welfare and helping those that are in need.
I have never differentiated people according to where they are from because God never did it when he created us. He didn't create a certain kind for His glory and a certain kind to dishonor and abuse. We are all created for His glory and His purpose. He loves us. So I adapt the God culture. The culture of God to love and treat people the same and with value... that is my culture.

The God or kingdom culture is to invest into people and to raise them up. I am firm believer in people and I know that everyone out there has some sort of talent and is capable of a lot more than they are given credit for by other people or depending on how they rank themselves.

I love to see a company of people from different countries, different cultures, different lifestyles come together and love each other and invest into each others' lives. And you know what? I see it everyday at college.

Spread the Kingdom culture!