Monday, March 30, 2009
What's In A Name?
I've been reading books that have been on my shelf for years... ones I kept thinking "yeah, I read that... i got all that". Whatever! The Lord is bringing some great revelation to me from the classics. One of those classics on my bookshelf is called "The Lost Glory: Moving Toward God's Plan for the Restoration of Glorious, Creative Worship." by Dave Markee.
So I'm praying this morning and the Lord says "49"... 49 what? I don't know... i fumble around in my Bible and then that book catches my eye. I opened it to page 49 and it says "Discovering Your Destiny and Purpose". Cool! I start reading, it's good stuff and then it gets to the end. Dave Markee says this: "If you make a study of your name it may provide an important clue to your destiny in God. However, having received some revelation from God on this, don't be surprised if you think "I couldn't be more difference from the name God has given me. Your Destiny and Calling will always be resisted."
That word really resonated in my spirit so I thought, "hey, i have 20 minutes or so before I have to get Cameron ready for school... why not?" So, I started googling my name: Matthew James Tommey. Here's what I got:
Matthew: Gift of God
James: May God Protect and Holder of the Heel
Tommey: Small Mountain or Hill
The name Tommey is actually one of many derivations from an Irish word, Ó Tuama, which refers to a town in Ireland called Tuam in west-central Ireland. Stay with me.... this is good. :)
I started researching the city of Tuam and here's the story from Wikipedia..."The history of Tuam as a settlement dates from the early 6th century. Legend states that a monk called Jarlath, or Iarlaith, who was a member of a religious community at Cloonfush some four miles west of Tuam and adjacent to the religious settlement at Kilbannon. Jarlath's life became uncertain as he wished to travel. Eventually, Jarlath's abbot St. Benignus of Kilbannon told him to "Go, and where ever your chariot wheel breaks, there shall be the site of your new monastery and the place of your resurrection". Jarlath's wheel broke at Tuam and he established a monastery there. As was typical with early settlements in Ireland, religious sites became established first and towns grew around them. Likewise, Tuam grew up around the monastery and has kept the broken chariot wheel as its heraldic symbol."
Just like my life, I too came to a place where "I was uncertain and wished to travel".... to get out of here, to run from the calling of God. And so I, like Jarlath ran hard until the wheels of my chariot broke. It was in the place of brokenness that God restored Jarlath and me... and it was in that place of brokenness that he chose to birth new vision and erect a ministry that would impact the kingdom in a huge way.
The other cool thing about this? God told me a couple of months ago that my calling was for "Ministry and Marketplace, both fulltime". It says about the town of Tuam that to this day it's known as a commercial centre for both festivals (art) and markets (business).
God confirmed to me today that my calling is 1) a gift to the Body of Christ 2) a protector of the artists as a father who would raise them up and 3) birthed out of the place of brokenness for both ministry and marketplace, that out of that he will shake the kingdoms of the earth.
I want to encourage you today.... find out who God has called YOU to be and go for it... what an adventure!!
So I'm praying this morning and the Lord says "49"... 49 what? I don't know... i fumble around in my Bible and then that book catches my eye. I opened it to page 49 and it says "Discovering Your Destiny and Purpose". Cool! I start reading, it's good stuff and then it gets to the end. Dave Markee says this: "If you make a study of your name it may provide an important clue to your destiny in God. However, having received some revelation from God on this, don't be surprised if you think "I couldn't be more difference from the name God has given me. Your Destiny and Calling will always be resisted."
That word really resonated in my spirit so I thought, "hey, i have 20 minutes or so before I have to get Cameron ready for school... why not?" So, I started googling my name: Matthew James Tommey. Here's what I got:
Matthew: Gift of God
James: May God Protect and Holder of the Heel
Tommey: Small Mountain or Hill
The name Tommey is actually one of many derivations from an Irish word, Ó Tuama, which refers to a town in Ireland called Tuam in west-central Ireland. Stay with me.... this is good. :)
I started researching the city of Tuam and here's the story from Wikipedia..."The history of Tuam as a settlement dates from the early 6th century. Legend states that a monk called Jarlath, or Iarlaith, who was a member of a religious community at Cloonfush some four miles west of Tuam and adjacent to the religious settlement at Kilbannon. Jarlath's life became uncertain as he wished to travel. Eventually, Jarlath's abbot St. Benignus of Kilbannon told him to "Go, and where ever your chariot wheel breaks, there shall be the site of your new monastery and the place of your resurrection". Jarlath's wheel broke at Tuam and he established a monastery there. As was typical with early settlements in Ireland, religious sites became established first and towns grew around them. Likewise, Tuam grew up around the monastery and has kept the broken chariot wheel as its heraldic symbol."
Just like my life, I too came to a place where "I was uncertain and wished to travel".... to get out of here, to run from the calling of God. And so I, like Jarlath ran hard until the wheels of my chariot broke. It was in the place of brokenness that God restored Jarlath and me... and it was in that place of brokenness that he chose to birth new vision and erect a ministry that would impact the kingdom in a huge way.
The other cool thing about this? God told me a couple of months ago that my calling was for "Ministry and Marketplace, both fulltime". It says about the town of Tuam that to this day it's known as a commercial centre for both festivals (art) and markets (business).
God confirmed to me today that my calling is 1) a gift to the Body of Christ 2) a protector of the artists as a father who would raise them up and 3) birthed out of the place of brokenness for both ministry and marketplace, that out of that he will shake the kingdoms of the earth.
I want to encourage you today.... find out who God has called YOU to be and go for it... what an adventure!!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
I See A Place...
As I begin to explore what could be with TheWorshipStudio, it's so cool how the Lord begins to arrange a synergy of events. I call it 'the perfect storm'. So many things in my life right now are coming into focus. Things that were dead are now being resurrected and coming back to life stronger and more focused that ever. So it is with the vision for TheWorshipStudio.
Around 2001-2002, I was serving a local church and God began to give me a passion for raising up the artists - artists that would minister before the Lord in His house and in the world both skillfully and in the prophetic Spirit. We began to walk down the road of developing such a program, where anointed artists would mentor younger artists in music, drawing, painting, sculpture, writing, dance, drama, etc. The vision was there and even part of the structure was there, but the timing was not right. Since then, the idea has laid dormant in me - until now.
I see a place, a physical building where artists are coming together to be raised up, mentored, fathered, and released in the power and presence of God to minister through their unique artistic expression. A place where we are raising up artists to minister in the prophetic Spirit and with skill. After leading worship and training worshippers for most of my life, I believe that skill releases freedom if it's taught within a Spirit-led context. All skill just leads to performance. Freedom only many times has no foundation. Together, they become an powerful tool that the Lord can breathe on and produce incredible results. The goal here is to raise up artists who are the best of the best at what they do and who also are so in tune with the voice of the Lord that they are able to literally respond the voice and direction of the Lord through their artistic expression.
What would it look like if quilters designed and sewed quilts for the sick and when the sick were covered with the quilts, they were healed - overcome by the presence of Jesus? What if a peice of art painted during a prophetic vision was able to bring people to repentance immediately just by looking at it? What if the sound of a new song could break the heart of the most calloused man just by hearing it? This is what I'm talking about... signs and wonders... an army of artists totally sold out to the purposes of God in their generation, committed to reveal His Glory in the earth through their unique artistic expression.
The Lord keeps showing me that this IS a true forerunner ministry, in the same vein of the 24/7 prayer movement. It's all about preparing the way of the Lord - making ready a generation for His return through prophetic declaration and revealing His Glory. I'm excited about what the future holds....
Around 2001-2002, I was serving a local church and God began to give me a passion for raising up the artists - artists that would minister before the Lord in His house and in the world both skillfully and in the prophetic Spirit. We began to walk down the road of developing such a program, where anointed artists would mentor younger artists in music, drawing, painting, sculpture, writing, dance, drama, etc. The vision was there and even part of the structure was there, but the timing was not right. Since then, the idea has laid dormant in me - until now.
I see a place, a physical building where artists are coming together to be raised up, mentored, fathered, and released in the power and presence of God to minister through their unique artistic expression. A place where we are raising up artists to minister in the prophetic Spirit and with skill. After leading worship and training worshippers for most of my life, I believe that skill releases freedom if it's taught within a Spirit-led context. All skill just leads to performance. Freedom only many times has no foundation. Together, they become an powerful tool that the Lord can breathe on and produce incredible results. The goal here is to raise up artists who are the best of the best at what they do and who also are so in tune with the voice of the Lord that they are able to literally respond the voice and direction of the Lord through their artistic expression.
What would it look like if quilters designed and sewed quilts for the sick and when the sick were covered with the quilts, they were healed - overcome by the presence of Jesus? What if a peice of art painted during a prophetic vision was able to bring people to repentance immediately just by looking at it? What if the sound of a new song could break the heart of the most calloused man just by hearing it? This is what I'm talking about... signs and wonders... an army of artists totally sold out to the purposes of God in their generation, committed to reveal His Glory in the earth through their unique artistic expression.
The Lord keeps showing me that this IS a true forerunner ministry, in the same vein of the 24/7 prayer movement. It's all about preparing the way of the Lord - making ready a generation for His return through prophetic declaration and revealing His Glory. I'm excited about what the future holds....
Friday, March 27, 2009
Jut Rip It!
The other day I was leading worship at a church in Woodstock.... the pastor was talking about how, when she was a kid, she had to take Home Economics and they had to make a skirt. At the end of the semester, they had to wear to skirt to school. Over the weeks as she made the skirt, there were times when we sewed things incorrectly and thought - well, it's not that bad, I'll just fix it in the end. The problem was, she never got around to it. The last day of class came and the skirt that looked 'pretty good' didn't fit her at all... the seams were sewn wrong, the zipper was messed up and the skirt kept riding up in the back! She was so embarrassed but had to wear it anyway.
The pastor said she was reminded of Medea when she says "RIP IT! Just RIP IT!". She should have just ripped out the mistakes in the beginning when she knew what was up and just fixed it. But because of her own pride and procrastination, she chose not to. In the end, she was forced to wear the dress in embarrassment.
How many times have I done that in my own life... i hear the Lord saying "RIP IT" and yet, I just keep on going like nothing's wrong. Just like there's a pattern for a dress, there's a pattern in the Kingdom and we're called to pattern ourself after the pattern of heaven. If we want signs and wonders, victorious living and the presence of God in our lives, there are going to be some things that we just have to rip out... get violent about and just rip out!
For me, it's the continuous battle to trust God's love for me and being willing to lay down my pride. Instead of feeling taken advantage of, or feeling like I'm the victim, I'm choosing to ask the Lord "What are you doing in this situation?" "What are you trying to teach me here Lord?" In that posture I grow in Him. Otherwise, I walk in my own strength, my own wisdom, my own good ideas, which typically get me into trouble.
I'm just learning to listen, trust Him and when I need to, rip it.
The pastor said she was reminded of Medea when she says "RIP IT! Just RIP IT!". She should have just ripped out the mistakes in the beginning when she knew what was up and just fixed it. But because of her own pride and procrastination, she chose not to. In the end, she was forced to wear the dress in embarrassment.
How many times have I done that in my own life... i hear the Lord saying "RIP IT" and yet, I just keep on going like nothing's wrong. Just like there's a pattern for a dress, there's a pattern in the Kingdom and we're called to pattern ourself after the pattern of heaven. If we want signs and wonders, victorious living and the presence of God in our lives, there are going to be some things that we just have to rip out... get violent about and just rip out!
For me, it's the continuous battle to trust God's love for me and being willing to lay down my pride. Instead of feeling taken advantage of, or feeling like I'm the victim, I'm choosing to ask the Lord "What are you doing in this situation?" "What are you trying to teach me here Lord?" In that posture I grow in Him. Otherwise, I walk in my own strength, my own wisdom, my own good ideas, which typically get me into trouble.
I'm just learning to listen, trust Him and when I need to, rip it.
The Heart of Asaph: Fathering the Artists
I've been an artist and a worshipper my whole life. Within the last 5 years, I've become a dad. It's only now that I've really begun to sense God's heart for raising up a generation of artists who have fully given themselves to the purposes of God in their generation. Artists maybe more than any other group of people are longing for fathers and mothers... people to love them, pour into them, encourage them and to pull out of them the destiny God's placed on their life.
The Lord woke me up a few nights ago 2 times at around 3:10 am with the verse to a Jason Upton song running through my mind "Raise up an army, raise up an army, raise up an army like Joel saw". I finally got the message and went to see what the Lord wanted to say. Joel 3:9 says "Get ready for war! Call out your best warriors! Let all your fighting men advance for the attack! Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors." I sensed the Lord showing me that a significant portion of the calling on my life is to raise up an army of artists - prophetic artists - who worship God with their life and allow Him to flow through their art. I see artists who desire a powerful manifestation of the power and presence of God through their art. We're to gather our best 'warrior-artists' and even those who are 'weaklings' and train them together. It's the whole thing about "turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers'. As we raise up artists, we need to bring those who are already soaring alongside those who are just beginning and let the impartation begin! Good musicians attract good musicians. You get better at your craft when you're around people who are where you want to be.
Artists are funny. I know, I've been one my whole life. We can be emotional, hard to get along with, up and down, touchy... but when we allow the Lord to come in and redeem the sensitivities that he's created us with, we can touch his heart like few others can. The very sensitivity the enemy wants to exploit is the sensitivity Jesus wants to redeem for His purposes, to hear His voice, to communicate His love to the world.
We are in a war - a spiritual battle - where we battle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities - and the arts is a major battleground. The Church for too long has abandoned our post in this mountain of influence. I believe as the restoration of the arts comes back to the Church, it will usher in a powerful move of the Holy Spirit, allowing the Glory of God to invade the earth in a way that will touch the deepest places of the hearts of men and women. Is it a movie, a painting, a song, a poem or book... is it a quilt designed and sewn through prophetic inspiration? Who knows. All I know is that God is a God of redemption and invasion. He wants to take those things that he's given us love for and use them to pour out his love and Glory through to touch the world.
Can you see it? Can you see a generation of prophetic artists rising up? Can you see an art show where people come and are overwhelmed with the power and presence of God - receiving healing and deliverance just by coming into contact with Holy Spirit inspired art - a painting that touches them - a song that unlocks their heart - a sculpture that draws them to their knees in awe of Jesus?
God has given me a heart for artists - the heart of Asaph - to raise up worshippers who minister skillfully before the Lord, who Love Him and each other deeply -who are sold out to His purposes in our generation - who desire to see His Glory manifested in the earth. Release the artists Lord!
The Lord woke me up a few nights ago 2 times at around 3:10 am with the verse to a Jason Upton song running through my mind "Raise up an army, raise up an army, raise up an army like Joel saw". I finally got the message and went to see what the Lord wanted to say. Joel 3:9 says "Get ready for war! Call out your best warriors! Let all your fighting men advance for the attack! Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors." I sensed the Lord showing me that a significant portion of the calling on my life is to raise up an army of artists - prophetic artists - who worship God with their life and allow Him to flow through their art. I see artists who desire a powerful manifestation of the power and presence of God through their art. We're to gather our best 'warrior-artists' and even those who are 'weaklings' and train them together. It's the whole thing about "turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers'. As we raise up artists, we need to bring those who are already soaring alongside those who are just beginning and let the impartation begin! Good musicians attract good musicians. You get better at your craft when you're around people who are where you want to be.
Artists are funny. I know, I've been one my whole life. We can be emotional, hard to get along with, up and down, touchy... but when we allow the Lord to come in and redeem the sensitivities that he's created us with, we can touch his heart like few others can. The very sensitivity the enemy wants to exploit is the sensitivity Jesus wants to redeem for His purposes, to hear His voice, to communicate His love to the world.
We are in a war - a spiritual battle - where we battle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities - and the arts is a major battleground. The Church for too long has abandoned our post in this mountain of influence. I believe as the restoration of the arts comes back to the Church, it will usher in a powerful move of the Holy Spirit, allowing the Glory of God to invade the earth in a way that will touch the deepest places of the hearts of men and women. Is it a movie, a painting, a song, a poem or book... is it a quilt designed and sewn through prophetic inspiration? Who knows. All I know is that God is a God of redemption and invasion. He wants to take those things that he's given us love for and use them to pour out his love and Glory through to touch the world.
Can you see it? Can you see a generation of prophetic artists rising up? Can you see an art show where people come and are overwhelmed with the power and presence of God - receiving healing and deliverance just by coming into contact with Holy Spirit inspired art - a painting that touches them - a song that unlocks their heart - a sculpture that draws them to their knees in awe of Jesus?
God has given me a heart for artists - the heart of Asaph - to raise up worshippers who minister skillfully before the Lord, who Love Him and each other deeply -who are sold out to His purposes in our generation - who desire to see His Glory manifested in the earth. Release the artists Lord!
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