The Worship Studio

Redigging the Wells

2010-05-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I'm always blown away by how the Lord chooses to align people and situations in the Kingdom to fulfill His purposes. Lately, I have been feeling a real unsettledness as it relates to my calling in Asheville and I began to ask the Lord about it. Nothing really came as far as a direct word or direction, but I felt a nudging to begin to research the history of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, the Craft Revival and the Settlement School movement of the early 20th century.

Being in Asheville, the center of the folk art and craft movement, I was able to visit the Folk Art Center up on the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday. I spent several hours reading, researching and plundering the wonderful research library they have onsite that has hundreds of rare and out of print books on the subject of handicrafts, art and what we call the southern highlands.

During my research yesterday, I literally began to weep while sitting at the table. The Lord started showing me in bold color the fullness of the purposes he has for me and The Worship Studio here in Asheville. Turns out, the whole arts and crafts revival that changed the very DNA of this region in the early 20th century was fueled primarily by missionaries - Godly people both ordained and lay - who had a vision for economic and cultural impact in the context of the Kingdom through art, beauty, craft and wholistic education. I couldn't believe it! The very thing the Lord had called me to a year ago - to raise up an army of artisans to reveal His Glory in the earth - to establish a center for training and ministry - to be a creative hub and prototype that would spawn other creative communities around the world - Literally, people in this area were doing it over 100 years ago with incredible favor and success.

John C, Campbell (pictured above) and his wife Olive Dame Campbell (pictured left) were two of the main pioneers in this movement. In fact, John was an ordained congregationalist home missionary who was sent by the American Missionary Association to southern Appalachia to minister to the 'mountain whites'. Rupert Vance, in his forward to the reprint of Campbell's The Southern Highlander and His Homeland said "This was a period when many felt that unless home missions, private church academies, and outside philanthropists were adequate to save the mountain people from stagnation and isolation, they could not be saved."

The model of ministry was for missionaries - some families and couples, but also many young, single women - to relocate and live among the people to minister through relationship and daily mentoring. These were passionate people who saw a desperate need to reach a people group and gave their lives to minister to them. Allan Eaton describes a common scene during this time around Allanstand (Francis Goodrich's outpost) as women gathering once a week for "sewing, chatting and for a short religious service." Upon John Campbell's death, it was his wife, Olive who picked up the torch and ran with the vision they shared - visiting the Danish Folk Schools, starting the John C. Campbell Folk School and along with other leaders, leading the movement to start the Southern Highland Craft Guild - unifying Appalachian artisans in a way that would be economically and artistically beneficial to them.

The incredible part for me about all of this is that because of the significant Arts and Craft Movement that really flourished between 1880 and 1910, the Social Settlement Movement, the Country Life Movement in England and the Social Gospel Movement in the US, people and entire organizations embraced the idea of art, craft and beauty as a valid way to impact people and shift culture - the same calling we embrace today with The Worship Studio. It seems around 1900, people began to get a vision for this type of social activist ministry and we started seeing workers migrating south to help revitalize the economy and culture through basic craft training and production. Quickly, whole denominations within the Body of Christ began to lay hold of the vision, sending missionaries, funding missions programs and sponsoring what were known as settlement schools all over Appalachia. By 1920, Campbell lists over 150 schools and academies like this all over southern Appalachia with backing provided by most Protestant denominations and wealthy patrons. LIterally within about 20 years, the whole face of a culture and economy were shifted because of people who had a vision for the Kingdom and shifting culture through creative expression.

Today, God is calling us to redig the wells that have been dormant in this region and around the country. What once started as a kingdom-focused ministry sponsored by the Body of Christ to equip people in their calling has now been turned over in large part to humanistic, government funded influences who resist the marriage of faith and creativity. We are praying for a resurgance and revival within the arts community that would shift culture and impact the lives of artisans in greater ways than even those early forerunners dreamed possible. We will see, as Allen Eaton said in the early 20th century, "Pioneer Centers" raised up that will spawn other creative communities all over the world with a passion to integrate wholeness of the artisans, the ability to engage the Holy Spirit within creative expression, mentoring by master artisans and skill development. Just like the John C. Campbell Folk School, Allanstand, the Fireside Industries of Berea and Arrowmont, among others, God is raising us up for such a time as this in the Kingdom to release His Glory and impact culture around the world in unprecedented ways.

Riding the Wave of His Presence

2010-05-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

I love this short video clip about famous surfer, Laird Hamilton because it speaks to the very core of who we are as artisans in the Kingdom of God. There's a quote at the very end that says of Laird "No one had ever ridden as Laird rode on that wave before. It was the imagination of dealing with that unimaginable energy and coming up with the plan spontaneously - he couldn't practice!"

God is calling us as artisans to that same place of imagination and creativity in order to take a mountain that's so big, no one has ever dared take it before - the mountain of arts & entertainment. He's calling us through our creative expression and the expression of our lives to release the Glory of God and impact culture around the world. He's looking for those artisans who are willing to risk it all for the thrill of conquering in His kingdom. He's looking for those who have dreamed of a moment like this, where their actions and the actions of those around the would forever alter the fabric of history in this realm.

The story of Laird Hamilton is not that he reached some long sought-after destination but rather the culmination of everything that he was, knew and had experieced prepared him for this perfect wave on this perfect day. It wasn't that he wasn't looking to go conquer that particular wave that day. In fact, he probably thought it was just another day on the water like he had spent many days before.

The same is true for us. Conquering the mountain of arts & entertainment and impacting culture is not some destination. Rather, it's about doing what you do every day as an artisan in the Kingdom and then all of a sudden waking up to the reality that you're right in the middle of the biggest moment of your life. It's the day to day journey of life, community and creativity that prepare us for these moments of destiny. Whether you're just beginning this journey of creativity in the Kingdom, or you've been preparing your whole life, I'd like to offer some sign posts for the journey to help guide you down this road of destiny.

Ride the Waves
One of the most important principles to learn in the Kingdom is that God creates the waves - we ride the waves. Arthur Wallace once said "If you would do the best with your life, find out what God is doing in your generation and fling yourself into it." Any time we get into creating the wave, manufacturing the circumstances, stirring up the momentum it likely leads us to moving outside the Spirit. Don't hear what I'm not saying though. God's looking for dreamers - those who will go for it - but all under His strategic guidance.

Every wave we experience in our life - creative or not - is seasonal. It's up to us to learn how to embrace the season we are currently in so we can fully experience and cooperate with what God is saying and doing now. When we try to operate the other way, by manufacturing situations or momentum, we become easily frustrated and blocked both spiritually and creatively. The Jesus model is to love us in relationship, show us the mysteries of God and then reveal greater works to us.

¹⁹ Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

It's All About Balance
When you're riding a wave, the focus of your attention has to be about balance and forward momentum. You can't stand still on wave or you'll get crushed. The same is true creatively. You'll die as an artist if you don't learn to move with the Spirit of God and connect to the source of all creativity.

The balance we do desperately need as His creative ones is learning to flow in the right things at the right time. I'm typically an all or nothing kinda guy, so balance doesn't come naturally. If I am going to pursue something it's usually at the expense of something else. The Lord's plan for us as artisans is to be so tuned in to Him creatively that no matter what He calls us to - art, family, an upcoming show, volunteering at church, community events, work, a new project - we are able to flow in the grace and creativity He is releasing for that season. Again, our job is not to create the wave but to cooperate with it.

Beyond Practice
Lastly, I believe the Father wants to take us to a place in Him that's beyond practice and the rudiments of our creative medium. His desire is that we trust and flow with Him in the realms of life and creativity where it's impossible to practice or prepare.

This may seem unnatural to you, but it's exactly the story of Laird Hamilton and of Jesus. Both worked their whole life - listening, looking, percieving, preparing - Laird with the flow of ocean waves and Jesus with the flow of His father. Then, at the right time, with no real notice, they find themselves on the ride of their life where everything they are doing is the culmination of their entire experience.

For us to go to the levels in God that is required for us to take dominion over the mountain of arts & entertainment and really shift culture, it's imperative that we learn to go beyond what we can do naturally. We must learn to operate in the supernatural creative flow of the Holy Spirit. That's the place where the Kingdom and God's power are simply flowing out of you. Whether you're eating lunch, creating or talking to a friend, you're flowing in the Kingdom and the Glory is being revealed in and through you. It's what I call the 'shadow anointing'. Just like the disciples when they walked down the street and people got healed when their shadow fell upon them. The disciples didn't do anything per se but just be who they were in the Kingdom and boom - a normal everyday event like walking down the street becomes a supernatural explosion of creativity and healing.

I encourage you as a fellow artisan in the Kingdom. Pursue the deeper life in God and in the Glory of His presence. Learn to flow in His rhythm and together we will see an army of artisans arise!

"Christian" Art or Prophetic Art?

2010-05-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

A mistake made by many in the church today is to label only creative expression that is ‘family-friendly’ or ‘g-rated’ as “Christian art” or God-inspired; when in fact, the Father has chosen to use artists to express His heart throughout the generations in a variety of ways – some easy to understand and some difficult. I encourage you in the Lord to become increasingly comfortable with the prophetic nature of your work so that when the Lord speaks, you are able to respond, without any religious preconception of what that response will be.

With Signs & Wonders Following
In Mark 16:17 Jesus said:
“17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

A natural outflow of walking in the Kingdom as a believer – and all the more so as an artisan - is to see signs and wonders following you. The Bible is full of illustrations where the power and presence of God was on people, in places, & on things. If Paul can send a handkerchief full of the power and presence of God and see someone healed, then so can you! Your work carries the very power and presence of God. Let faith rise and expect signs and wonders to follow your work! By faith, begin now to expect the release the voice of God through your creative expression!

For more information on engaging the Holy Spirit in your creative expression, visit http://www.theworshipstudio.org or http://www.gatheringofartisans.com

Develop Your Prophetic Voice through Art - Part 2

2010-05-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

Beholding His Beauty
It’s often been said, “you become what you behold”. The more you behold Him in worship and through His Word, gazing upon His beauty, learning to hear His voice and dreaming with Him, the more prophetic your creativity becomes. It’s a natural outflow of your relationship with the Father. One of the powerful models we see for this is in the life of King David when he expressed his heart to the Father in Psalm 27:4 by saying “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”

There’s a great song that the band Jesus Culture does called “King of Wonders” and it has a line in it that says “the more we see , the more we love you.” The presence of God is addictive! The more you see Him, the more you want to see Him. The more you hear His voice, the more you listen for it! God designed you that way – that your hunger for Him would never be satisfied! He’s endless in beauty and glory. The minute you think you’ve seen it all, He’s like “BAMM!” - here’s another facet of my beauty! As a creative one, you are wired to want to tell others about God’s Beauty and reveal His Glory through your art. It’s a divine setup!

For me, one of the best times I hear the Lord is when I’m weaving a basket, looking for natural materials in the woods, or alone at my keyboard writing a song. Use those times in the creative secret place to invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you! He’s waiting!

Your Unique Expression
Often, people want to lump us together under the bland title of “artists”, but when it comes down to it, each one of us has a very different way of expressing our heart and the Glory of God. That’s the beauty of the Kingdom! What the enemy does to most of us – usually early in our artistic pursuits – is begin to sow doubt and unbelief in our hearts with junk like “you’ll never be as good as them” or “who do you think you are? Your art doesn’t look like theirs – it will never sell” or “Your stuff is too weird for commercial appeal.” And so before you’re even out of the gate, the enemy kills the very creative spark that God gave you as your own unique facet of His Glory. If the enemy is doing that to you, recognize it as a lie from the pit of hell and begin to declare God’s love, favor and creativity over your life!! Learning to wield the sword of His Word is the only way to gain power over the enemy in this area. You’ve got to know what God says about you so you can recognize the lies of the enemy and refute them.

What Do You Love?
I’ve always been fascinated with Appalachian folk art. For some reason, when I get up into the hills of North Carolina, Tennessee, North Georgia or Kentucky, I have this intense feeling of “these are my people”. It took me a while to understand that my love for basketry and folk art was God-given, not just some hobby I picked up along the way. Once I started to embrace and explore the possibilities for my unique expression in the Kingdom, the Father began to fling open doors of opportunity that intersected with my passions. I’m now involved in creative business ventures with people I was connected with prophetically that came through my love of kudzu – my primary basket weaving medium. The Father also picked us up and moved our family strategically to the center of Appalachian folk art – in Asheville, North Carolina. God loves to blow your mind if you’ll just trust Him enough to walk in your calling. (I could tell you the same kinds of stories with my love for graphic design, writing and leading worship.)

It’s important to really embrace the uniqueness that God’s placed on your life and art because it’s the very thing that He wants to use you in the most. It’s also the thing the enemy will come after the most in your life and seek to destroy. Part of developing your unique prophetic voice is diving into the uniqueness of your expression under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and asking Him to permeate every fiber of what you create. As you follow His lead, the Father will begin to setup divine appointments and strategic alignments in the Kingdom you never thought possible simply because you trusted Him enough to listen to His voice, follow His lead and step out in your uniqueness.

Once you are connected to the Father through His Word, intimate worship, hearing His voice and pursuing your unique artistic expression, you are on the road to seeing God blow your mind! He’s just waiting for you to open up the door so He can flow through you! The Father’s desire for you - His artisan - is to co-labor with Him in the Kingdom – doing the things that He wants to do in the earth – inspired by His creativity and Spirit – walking in daily relationship with Him. His Word says clearly in Joshua 1:3 “I will give you every place where you set your foot.” In the context of taking the Kingdom everywhere you walk, the Father chose artisans to serve many different functions - some you may be comfortable with and others you may be more reticent to accept.

Develop Your Prophetic Voice through Art - Part 1

2010-05-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

As one of God’s creative ones, you have been called to show forth the greatness and majesty of His name, just like the anointed Biblical artisans who have gone before us. Bezalel and Oholiab were chosen among all the craftsmen in Israel to make the finest furnishings for the Tabernacle of Moses. The sons of Asaph, poets and all the musicians associated with the Tabernacle of David revealed His Glory through song and spoken word. There were even thousands of craftsmen called upon by Solomon the build the Temple where the Glory of the Lord came down in a cloud and overwhelmed all the people. Throughout history, artisans have been the ones called upon to reveal the story of the Gospel, the imagery of the Church, the power of the promise of salvation.

As you embrace your own calling as artisan in the Kingdom today, you must realize that it’s more than just one who reflects what has happened – retelling the stories of history. There is indeed great value in recounting the deeds of the Lord and telling the stories of what God has done. However, as a reflector of the Glory of God, He calls you to show forth not only what has happened, but what is happening and what will happen! As one who is called to be ‘in-tune’ with Holy Spirit and the voice of the Lord, you’ve been uniquely equipped to prophesy to the world the purposes of God in your generation.

Transmitting the Power of God
It’s important to understand that prophecy is not just the communication of mere information. Prophetic utterance is literally the transmission of the power of God through revelation by the Holy Spirit. The word prophecy comes from the root word for light or illumination and we must understand that Jesus is the one providing the illumination. Prophecy is a supernatural way of communicating given to you by the Father to be a light in the earth and to be witness to the lost so they will come to know Jesus. Just as the 2 witnesses in Revelation were called Lampstands, so are you called to burn with the fire of God and bring illumination to a dark world!

Mark Nysewander a spiritual giant in my life said recently in a message at Riverstone Church “We are a lampstand that holds the fire of God, the fire of His message and the fire of His presence. And at the end of the age, when things are very dark and the anti-Christ is moving and judgments are falling - in that darkness, against that dark background will be the brilliance of the prophetic witness of the church! Because in that moment we will display the Light of His Message and the Light of His Presence.”

Your creative expression has no choice but to be prophetic when it’s Infused with the power and unction of the Holy Spirit. Speaking the “now word” (rhema) of God into the earth at an appointed (kairos) time, confirmed by signs and wonders following comes naturally as you take time to explore intimacy with the Father through worship, His Word, the Spirit and community with other believers. It’s only then that the creativity of your hands and heart will reflect the fullness of God’s Glory.

Hearing the Voice of the Lord
The first step in developing your prophetic voice as an artist is getting in touch with your ability to hear the voice of the Lord. In my own journey and in the lives of the countless artists I’ve worked with over the years, this happens as a result of focused, ‘on-purpose’ times with the Father in worship and soaking in His presence. As you sit at His feet, read His Word and gaze at His beauty, the voice of the Lord becomes stronger and stronger.

In 1 Corinthians 12, the Bible talks about the Gifts of God. What we call the “revelatory” gifts include personal or corporate prophecy (a word of encouragement, exhortation or edification) for an individual or group; the word of knowledge – this is someone knowing a specific fact about someone else which they would have no way of knowing in the natural. God has revealed this to the individual to build faith in the receiver or to bring healing, deliverance, or encouragement that God is handling it!) The last one is Word of Wisdom. This is when an individual is able to give you the exact counsel needed in a situation which is birthed from the heart of God.

While these are three scriptural gifts the Lord has given to speak to us, He also uses other important devices. You may see mental images or pictures, sometimes called visions. Most are in the mind’s eye, although some see actual scenes before them. (Think of Peter seeing the image of the clean and unclean animals in an open vision) You might see mental images of words written above a person or hear them in your spirit. (Think of Daniel interpreting the words Nebuchadnezzar had seen on the wall in his dream-Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin (Dan.5:25)

You may be journaling and realize your notes have changed into God speaking a specific thing to you. Others may be speaking to you in general conversation, and then you again realize they are speaking directly to your heart and God has set this up to give you a message or some specific inspiration.

God also speaks through dreams. Both believers and non-believers may experience this. (There are many throughout the Bible). God will also use many things which may seem odd- a billboard, a license plate, the wording on the side of a truck.

The most important thing is that you desire to hear from God and expect that you will. It’s ok to desire to prophesy and to grow in that gift! In fact, in 1 Corinthians 14:1, Paul says “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” Ask God to attune your senses and your spirit so that you will not miss what He is saying. Feast on His Word (Revelation 10) so you give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to illuminate His voice inside of you! (In a setting where you are devoting time alone to hearing Him, praying in the Spirit, listening to good worship music, and prolonged periods of silence help create an atmosphere where He can best be heard.)

The Vision of The Worship Studio

2010-04-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

The Vision for The Worship Studio: Raising Up Artisans to Reveal God's Glory

During a season of crying out the Lord for revelation about my calling and my place in the Kingdom, the Father woke me up 2 mornings in a row at around 3:09 am -3:10 am. The song that was playing in my head was a song by Jason Upton called “Lion of Judah” where it says “Raise up an army, raise up an army, raise up an army like Joel saw!” On the second morning, I went to my studio and opened up the Bible to Joel 3:09 (NLT) and sure enough, here is what it said:

9 Say to the nations far and wide:
“Get ready for war!
Call out your best warriors.
Let all your fighting men advance for the attack.
10 Hammer your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Train even your weaklings to be warriors.
11 Come quickly, all you nations everywhere.
Gather together in the valley.”

And now, O Lord, call out your warriors!

12 “Let the nations be called to arms.
Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I, the Lord, will sit
to pronounce judgment on them all.
13 Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.[a]
Come, tread the grapes,
for the winepress is full.
The storage vats are overflowing
with the wickedness of these people.”

The Lord told me I was to go to the nations, gather the warriors and the weaklings – the master artisans and the emerging artisans – and raise up an army of artisans to reveal His Glory in the earth. He showed me how in this passage of scripture, warriors and those that saw themselves as weak were being called together to take whatever was in their hands – the normal tools of their trade (plowshares & pruning hooks) – and turn them into instruments of war. The Father then showed me that this movement of artisans was pivotal to His end-time purposes of bringing in the great harvest in our generation.

Camp Out By the River of God
The next morning, the Father woke me up again early. While I was praying, the Lord told me to go to Ezekiel 47 and I began to read about the Healing Waters and the River of God. In this passage the Lord describes how there are mighty trees planted by the water, how they yield fruit every month and how their leaves are for the healing of the nations. That’s when the Lord told me that our job at The Worship Studio was to “camp out by the river of God”. He said He would plant master artisans like mighty oak trees in The Worship Studio and their shade would bring comfort and rest to emerging artisans as they gathered around. Then I looked up and saw the wind blowing through the trees. The Lord told me that these master artisans – mighty trees – would spawn many branches (artisans) and fruit (art). He said “And every leaf will sing a little different, paint a little different, dance a little different as the wind of my Spirit blows through the trees. And the leaves will be used for the healing of the nations.”

With these 2 clear mandates from the Lord, The Worship Studio was born. Since then, God has continued to clarify the vision and strategy for ministry.

The Purpose of The Worship Studio Movement
The Worship Studio is:
• An Equipping Resource for Artisans
• A Catalyst for Creativity in the Kingdom
• A Hub for Creative Communities

Our vision is to encourage and equip artisans to form creative communities committed to fostering personal wholeness, engaging the Holy Spirit in their creative process, artistic skill development and releasing the Glory of God through creative expression.

The Strategy of The Worship Studio Movement
God has given us a 3-fold strategy for ministry in order to effectively lead artists into the fullness of what God has for their lives and creativity. The strategy includes: Wholeness, Prophecy & Creative Skill.

• Wholeness
God desires for all people to walk in complete freedom and wholeness. Through loving community, relationships, healing ministry and accountability artists will come into a deeper measure of wholeness in their life.
o "10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" John 10:10

• Prophecy
As artists are coming into wholeness, we encourage them to hear and engage the Holy Spirit in order to understand His desire for their life and creative expression. Out of those encounters with the Lord, artists learn to respond to the voice of the Holy Spirit through their life and unique creative expression, revealing the Testimony of Jesus in the earth.
o "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10

• Creative Skill
In the spirit of Bezalel & Oholiab & the musicians in the Tabernacle of David, we encourate artisans to minister skillfully before the Lord as they create and worship through creative expression. Through mentoring and training relationships with master artisans, participation in learning opportunities and practice, we will train artists to become master artisans within their chosen medium.
o "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship." Exodus 31:2-5

How Does It Look?
Our desire is to see creative communities established all over the world who share the same DNA, commitment and passion to raising up an army of artists to reveal the Glory of God in the earth as we do. God is mobilizing all of us for His purposes in our generation as we form this network of creative communities around the world. By design, every artist and consequently, every creative community will be a little different depending on the artisans God uses to establish the community and their collective passion.

The first studio we formed, in Canton, Georgia (NW Metro Atlanta) is actually a working artist community with art classes, monthly worship opportunities, classes & workshops and more located in a physical building on 2 acres. Other communities that are springing up are simply groups of artisans who gather at a local coffee shop or home to discuss their faith, art and life. The beauty of being a part of an artist community is that each community can be as unique as the artisans involved. The sky is the limit!

We are currently working on the development of a school in Asheville that will serve as the headquarters for The Worship Studio, including worship, training with master artisans, workshops, seminars, conferences and retreats, personal ministry and mentoring. Our dream is that God would raise up an epi-center of creativity and anointing that would be a deep well of blessing and healing for artisans around the world.

What About You?
Are you passionate about seeing a creative community form in your local area? For more resources on forming a creative community in your local area, please http://www.theworshipstudio.org/about/communities

To be a part of The Worship Studio Community, we simply ask that you align your creative community with the values outlined on the website above, including:
• Our DNA for Ministry as described in our Vision & Strategy
• Offering the “Artisan” Series in your Community
• Fostering Creative Community Among Artisans
• Collaboration & Support Among Communities

Relentless Pursuit

2009-12-01T05:01:00.001-08:00

Let the relentless pursuit of my life
be the Glory of Your Presence
Your fame above all else
Your mercy to the nations
will flow like rivers rushing
down majestic mountains high
covering all our sin
as your Glory passes by.

by Matt Tommey

Pope tells artists beauty can be a path to God

2009-11-23T05:02:00.001-08:00

By Daniel Flynn

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict met artists from around the world in the Sistine Chapel on Saturday and urged them to inject spirituality into their work, saying contemporary beauty was often "illusory and deceitful."

The Pope told the gathering of hundreds of painters, sculptors, architects, poets and directors, held beneath the vaulted ceiling of the chapel painted by Michelangelo, that he wanted to "renew the Church's friendship with the world of art."

"Beauty ... can become a path toward the transcendent, toward the ultimate Mystery, toward God," Benedict said.

The Vatican said it invited some 500 artists to the event, regardless of religious, political or stylistic allegiances.

More than 250 accepted, mostly from Italy, including singer Andrea Bocelli and award-winning film composer Ennio Morricone.

Amongst the other guests were Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid, whose Maxxi modern art museum has just opened in Rome, and F. Murray Abraham, the American actor who won an Oscar for his role as Salieri in the Mozart film, Amadeus, in 1985.

The Pope told them that in a world lacking in hope, with increasing signs of aggression and despair, there was an ever greater need for a return to spirituality in art.

"Too often ... the beauty thrust upon us is illusory and deceitful ... it imprisons man within himself and further enslaves him, depriving him of hope and joy," he said.

Against the backdrop of Michelangelo's vast fresco of the Last Judgment, which adorns the chapel's altar wall, Benedict lamented that the once-close cooperation between the Church and the artistic community had weakened.

"Faith takes nothing away from your genius or art," he said. "On the contrary, it exalts them and nourishes them."

Saturday's event marked both the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's 'Letter to Artists' in 1999 in which he spoke of the Church's "need for art," and the 45th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's original meeting with artists in 1964.

After a number of spats between the Vatican and artists in recent years, including a controversy surrounding writer Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, the latest overture to the artistic world is being driven by the Vatican's new culture commissar, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi.

In a sign of efforts at reconciliation, the Vatican has said it will participate in the 2011 Venice Biennale, one of the world's major art festivals held every two years.

Practical Steps to Engaging the Holy Spirit in the Creative Process

2009-08-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

It seems the passion of my life has been to create and to be immersed in the creative process. From the time I was a little boy until today, my desire to create has taken me down many paths from making mud-pies and makeshift army forts as a child, to songwriting, leading worship, graphic design, marketing consulting, basket weaving and a deep love for Appalachian-style fine craft. For most of my life I have to admit, I felt a little ADD – feeling like a jack of all artistic trades and yet a master of none. Only recently have I come to a more full understanding of who I really am as an artist and been able to embrace it. Not only embrace it, but able to fully engage the Holy Spirit within the creative passions of my heart to see Him show up and reveal the Father in new and exciting ways!

Stuff It
For most of my life, I tried to stuff my creativity into a religious box. Being a Christian and sensing a call to ministry early in my life, I blindly went down the road of ‘Christian service’, hoping to find the fulfillment of a life’s calling and creative outlet. What I ended up with was a lot of frustration and confusion about how my calling was to be worked out within the Church and the Kingdom. Never would have I described myself as an ‘artist’, only a functional title like musician, pianist, singer, or worship leader. Even the visual artist in me was reduced to just functional tasks within ‘ministry’ – designing media presentations, brochures or various printed materials. It was all in a neat little box, but God wanted to bring me to a place where He was breathing on ALL my work, flowing in my ALL art and allowing me to touch His heart through ALL my creative expression in the wider context of His Kingdom.

I have to admit, half of me has always been a closeted artist. The musician/worship leader/songwriter part of me has easily been on display in the context of the Church. Even the graphic designer part of me, from time to time. However, there was a side to me that very few people ever saw. The side that loved to get up early on a cool fall morning, put on my overalls, boots and ball cap, grab my garden clippers and head off into the woods on a treasure hunt. I’m a basket weaver. From the time I was a teenager, I have loved to walk in the woods, alone, searching for natural vines and other materials to weave baskets. At times it’s been artistic and at times therapeutic. All the time, that process for me has been deeply spiritual – and yet it’s the part of my artistic expression that I was the least comfortable. I mean honestly, we’re talking about basket weaving here! First of all, most guys don’t consider that the “manly” thing to do. Secondly, how many jokes have YOU heard about basket weaving as the favorite activity of mental patients. Thirdly, as someone ‘busy’ with ministry, how could I justify spending time on what seemed like a meaningless hobby when I should be ‘working for the Lord’ and serving my family? (Can’t just feel the religion all over that? Yuk!).

As I’ve grown as an artist and as one who is called to walk with artists in their journey of faith in the Kingdom, I know all to well that my story is the story of thousands. Ones who love the Father and desire to serve Him, but feel misunderstood and marginalized by religious mindsets and preconceived notions of what is spiritual and valued by the Father. How is it that the times I have heard and engaged the Holy Spirit in my creative process have had little to do with Church, ministry or organized religious activity? Rather, it has been in the quiet moments walking in the woods, enjoying the kudzu-covered hillsides of north Georgia and creating something beautiful out of crusty, gnarled vines that I have sensed His pleasure the so deeply.

Light Bulb Moments
It’s funny. I’m still getting comfortable with this title of ‘artist’. Just a few weeks ago, I was leading worship at a large youth camp in South Carolina. During the course of the week, I struck up a conversation with the camp nurse. She sat at the leaders table and we shared about our lives, interests, hopes and dreams. One day I talked about being a worship leader and songwriter. Then later on I’m sharing about the clients I am working with as a designer and marketing consultant. Later in the week, she saw me sitting on a log outside the lodge weaving a basket out of kudzu and wisteria vines. Another day we discussed my passion for raising up artists and The Worship Studio (an artist community I lead with a team of other artists in Canton, GA). By the end of the week, she just laughed and said ‘So, Matt, what do you do for money?’ I had to chuckle and say ‘Well, a little bit of everything – however the Lord brings it’. In that moment, she said something very profound to me, which I have to admit made me feel a little uncomfortable at first. She said “Well, you’re quite the artist aren’t you?”. I thought for a moment and then like a rush of wind in my spirit, the Holy Spirit said “Yes you are, and I love it!”.

What the Lord began to show me on my own journey as an artist in the Kingdom is that I’m not like everyone else, nor am I supposed to be. The very sensitivities and creative spark that He’s put in me is the very essence He wants me to explore with Him. His desire is not for me to jump on some corporate treadmill, get a dead end job and have a ‘hobby’ on the weekends when I have nothing else to do. He has created me as one who is a creator – a co-labor with Him in the Kingdom – a dreamer who desires what could be, sees what others miss, loves beauty, appreciates detail, and senses His presence at the most inopportune times. I am an artist.

Ramping Up
During a recent season of healing and brokenness in my own journey, the Father began to really show me how to walk with Him as an artist and engage Him on a deeper level creatively. It came after a job loss. I was a worship pastor most of my career. In 2003, I left full-time ministry during a mess at the local church I was serving. God was working on all of us, and honestly, God needed to get at some places in me that He couldn’t get to in the context of church. Long story short, I started a design firm, grew it pretty large over a period of about 5 years, made a lot of money and then lost it all – I mean all. I floated for a little bit, worked some odd jobs and then settled in a corporate job at a major multi-billion dollar technology firm doing sales and marketing. I did well there, even won a lot of awards, but was never fulfilled. The whole time I was crying out for God to rescue me from ‘cubicle hell’! He was working something deeper in me.

During that season, I had come to the place where the Lord was opening up doors for ministry again as a worship leader. Conferences, retreats and even some interviews for worship pastor position at some large churches around the country flowed in. I was getting antsy. Part of me wanted to escape. The other part of me really wanted to engage creatively again. After almost a year at the company, I was laid off in a massive corporate downsize because of the economy. I was faced with a choice – jump back into a dead-end job that will pay the bills or lay it all down and let God do what He was going to do. For me, it was one of those Paul moments where I was like “Why not just go for it? I can’t lose anything more than I’ve already lost. And who knows, God might just show up this time!”. He did, and in a powerful way.

Popcorn
During this season of waiting, the Lord told me several things. First, he showed me a picture of a huge field with mountains, the sky and a breeze blowing through the field. Then He said “Don’t look for a job, your provision will come like popcorn.” As I looked at the field again, popcorn started popping everywhere and He said to me “I’m turning up the heat and pouring in the oil”. The next day, people started calling me out of the blue for websites, logo designs, and other design projects. Before I knew it, I had 6 clients and was making more money that I was when I was working fulltime in cubicle land.

Right after that, the Lord had me start seeking Him in a more intense way. My wife and son would be out the door in the mornings by 6:45am. I’d grab my coffee, go downstairs in my studio and begin to seek God. I’d lay on the floor, worship, cry, read the Word, journal, walk around, intercede and anything else He told me to do. Then, before I knew it, lunchtime had rolled around and I’d eat lunch. Then I’d go over to my church and seek Him some more in the prayer room. This went on for weeks. All I was doing for most of the day was what I call ‘soaking prayer’ – literally just laying in His presence and allowing His love to wash me and renew me in a deep way.

Pretty soon, the Lord began to pour out great vision for my life, my art, my destiny as a father to artists and even business opportunities that I had not even dreamed of. It was during this time that I began to see how the Lord wanted to connect the dots with His presence and my creative expression.

1) The Secrets of the Kingdom are our inheritance (Luke 8:10)
There are things that God wants to release in the earth – secrets – that He will only reveal to those who diligently seek Him and who desire His kingdom, not their own. He is the source of all creativity. He already owns everything. He knows everything. Every problem, challenge or issue that’s in the world today He already has a solution for – He’s just looking for some passionate lovers of His heart that He can reveal those to.
2) Filled and Skilled (Exodus 31:1ff)
The Father loves craftsmen and artists. Since the beginning of creation, He’s allowed people to walk in creative authority in the earth with Him, under His inspiration. All throughout the Bible (Tabernacle of David, Building of the Temple of Solomon, Tabernacle of Moses, etc), God speaks of filling artists with the Holy Spirit and endowing them with skill in artistic expression for the purposes of beauty and prophesying. He’s doing the same thing today – filling artists with the Holy Spirit and teaching them how to involve Him in the creative process. The result is not just art for art’s sake, but co-laboring in creative expression that literally carries the presence and the power of God – prophetically declaring His purposes in the earth. God Himself is a multi-faceted Creator, and loves sharing
His nature with those who care to partake.

3. I’ve also noticed during this season that as I put my focus on becoming more skilled in my craft – whether that be design, music or craft – I sense the presence of God much stronger. Skill brings freedom; specifically, the freedom to respond the the Holy Spirit in a unique expression of creativity. Without skill, I believe we limit our ability to co-labor with Him in the Kingdom
Excellence is an honor to Him, and a more accurate representation of who He is. Sure, God can ‘boom’, give us the skill. However, I’ve found the Father is much more about the journey to skill and the process of development than He is the end result we so desire. We come to know Him and ourselves better in the process. It is astounding!

3) Focus on the Kingdom brings Creative Inspiration
Jesus said “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you”. If you need anything added to you, seek the Kingdom. Whatever you need in your life, seek the Kingdom and seek His presence. When we connect our desire to Him and His heart, all the things that we need in our life suddenly begins to manifest. Connection to His purposes unlocks a divine flow in our life where we are able to walk in prophetic expression in every area we put our hands to.

I’m walking now in creative expression in areas I never thought possible. For example, the Lord is showing me new ways to create vessels using gourds, scripture, color and hand-tools. I’m writing new songs, learning new designs for baskets, creating new work for clients. The divine flow of creativity is causing my worlds to collide. To be honest, it’s quite freeing - to know that God is free to move through all of me at any time using many different creative expressions of my life.

4) Extended Time In His Presence Yields Extraordinary Creativity
God has wrought into my being the understanding that time with Him and in His presence yields much more than I could ever do on my own. It refreshes me, centers my heart for the day and causes me to listen for Him in ways that are different than what I can experience in the day-to-day busy-ness of life. The Father longs to give good gifts to His children – to dote on you – to make you smile – to give you the desires of your heart. We have to choose to be with Him. When we do, He stands ready to pour out such love, inspiration and creativity on us that once we experience it, we will never desire to go back to life as usual.

So many artists, myself included, never think about actively engaging the Holy Spirit in their creative process. It’s just ‘what we do’. However, now that we are His, so is our expression – but not in some robotic way. This idea of ‘more of Thee, less of me’ can cause us to be self-depricating, falsely humble artisans. If God wanted less of you He wouldn’t have created you. As Bill Johnson says, “He had none of you before He created and you and evidently He didn’t like it!”. God created you with His heart for creativity. He wants you to desire Him and explore the creative expanse of life with Him. He desires you to co-labor with Him in your creative expression so that your art becomes a prophetic declaration of the Glory of God in the earth.

PRACTAL STEPS TO ENGAGE THE HOLY SPIRIT
Most of you artists by now have skipped ahead to this section by now! “Just tell me how to do it and let me get back to my studio!” These are by no means steps in a formula to wrangle the Holy Spirit into your creative world. Rather, these are signposts that have helped to direct me on my own journey toward actively engaging the Holy Spirit in my own artistic expression.

1) Intentional Intimacy
I’ve found in my own life that the Holy Spirit likes to move in people who know Him, recognize Him and desire to be with Him. That being said, if you want God to invade your art, first He’s got to invade your heart. He wants a heart that’s completely His, a desire that’s for Him and a mind renewed with a Kingdom mindset. Facilitating intimacy is really as easy as setting aside time with Him just to be with Him. When I started this process, I thought I would go downstairs to my piano, play, worship, sing and wait on the Lord. In fact, the Father had other plans. He had me play CD’s and sit quietly in silence most of the time journaling my thoughts on paper – something I had never done before. What that did for me was take me ‘off my game’ and put me in a raw, unfamiliar place where I could really hear from the Lord without the normal ‘ministry’ or ‘quiet-time’ routines to which I had become so calloused.

2) Desire to Hear from Him
This goes a much deeper than just wanting to be with Him. It is not wanting just to talk to Him, but to hear Him. When I began to sit with the Lord in His presence and He really began speaking to me, I was blown away. A lot of the stuff He would tell me didn’t make sense. Most of it was vision – BIG VISION – of what He wanted for me, my life, my art, my family, my business. He began raising my vision to His vision, which can be scary. For me, it took me out of my comfort zone of what seemed normal into a ‘dreamers’ mentality. Instead of looking at natural circumstances around me, or trying to figure things out based on my experience, my skill, or the people I knew, I began to dream about what was possible. Pretty soon, my desire to hear from Him became insatiable! I went from being nervous about it (mostly because I was dealing with shame issues from my relationship with my own dad and past sin) to excited and anxious to hear from Him. Once I began to know Him, trust Him and understand His heart for me, my heart was undone with gratitude that He really did love me. He wasn’t mad at me – and He’s not mad at you. In fact, He’s in a good mood! He loves you with an everlasting love! He’s for you and wants to prosper you in His Kingdom today! Get this in your heart and you’ll spend a lot of carpet time with the Father, weeping in His presence.

3) Dance the Dance
Once you’re in the place where you are hearing from the Father, spending time in His presence and letting Him love on you, just dance the dance! What I mean by that is fully engage in the dance that He’s dancing with you! He wants you to swing your head back, kick up your heels and dance passionately! Take a chance and trust Him. Believe that what He has promised you will come to pass. Begin to create and pursue your artistic expression with new zeal and abandon as He inspires your heart. Pretty soon, you’ll become a conduit for the Holy Spirit to pour His presence through to touch the earth. The lives of thousands will be changed because you chose to dance with the Father!

7 Mountains of Culture: Arts & Entertainment by Johnny Enlow

2009-06-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

Listen Now to this MP3

Warp Speed...

2009-06-03T05:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, so when the Lord told me back in April of this year that he would launch this work by September 2009 with everything it needed to be successful, I have to admit, I was like "Did I really hear you on that, Father?" But it seems I did.

Everywhere we turn these past few weeks, the Lord is BUSTING down the doors, opening wide the gates of provision for us in every area. Churches are excited about partnering with us, artists are beginning to see the vision and we've even been offered the opportunity to take over an existing art gallery with access to an 800 seat theatre and art center. It's just incredible what the Lord is doing!

Our first events will be late summer and then this fall - Glory Encounter Weekends, where we will worship, teach, engage in creative expression and minister to the hearts of artisans. Stay tuned here to find out the latest and register for these events!

Evangelicals Neglect of Art

2009-05-25T05:27:00.001-07:00

This was a great article I wanted to share! Really speaks to our calling as The Worship Studio...

http://scottwkay.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/evangelicals-neglect-of-art/

3-Fold Strategy for The Worship Studio

2009-05-22T12:59:00.001-07:00

Ray Hughes - Symphony of Heaven

2009-05-19T04:38:00.000-07:00

God on the Mountain - A Weekend In Kentucky

2009-05-18T04:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I spent time with friends in Kentucky at a conference... it was totally unexpected how it all worked out, in that I never planned to go until I got a 'be there' email on Tuesday of last week. Through a friend of a friend, I had an opportunity to meet with Ray Hughes and share the vision of The Worship Studio and also some other cool stuff the Lord is doing with Kudzu... I'll tell you later :)

The best part was this: i get there 2 hours late, enduring a rainstorm and 7 hours of driving on Friday night only to realize that 1) the place I'm supposed to stay is 'unavailable' now and 2) Ray Hughes is not going to be there. WHAT!? At this point in the journey I'm so used to this I just laughed and said "ok Lord, what are you up to?" Turns out the friend of a friend had arranged for me to meet Ray for a private meeting in southern Kentucky on Sunday after church. So I spent Saturday at the conference - hung out with Ron Block (the baddest banjo picker in Nashville and plays with Allison Kraus), lead worship at the conference and eat some INCREDIBLE Kentucky barbecue that they smoked in the ground on Saturday. Pretty awesome!

So I got up at 530am to drive 3.5 hours to meet Ray Hughes Sunday morning - got to the church (Faith Temple in Middlesboro, KY) and found out that he AND Ramy & Brian were leading worship that morning! It was awesome! I introduced myself to Ray and he said "ahh, the king of kudzu"! He asked me where I wanted to eat and said I had 2 choices: mexican or sonic - but we'd have to sit in the car if we went to Sonic. LOL! Typical Ray :)

That afternoon, I had an incredible time getting to know Ray and his wonderful wife Denise. We were both able to share about our journey and then I got to share about The Worship Studio. I went through the whole journey and all the prophetic confirmations we've had over these last few months about this work. There was an incredible connection made in the Spirit with Ray Hughes and I thank God for such a Father in ministry to walk with us on this journey.

So, you never know what God's got for you when you walk into a situation but it's always good and it's always better than what you could have made happen on your own!

Artist Testimony from Scotland

2009-05-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

John Lowrie Morrison interview: Love, faith and clarity
ScotlandonSunday.scotsman.com
May 10, 2009

It bursts through a break in the brooding sky above Argyll, floods through his Knapdale studio and refreshes what has been the view from his easel these last ten years, writes Paul Forsyth. "Light," says John Lowrie Morrison when asked what it is about the west coast of Scotland that makes it unique. "I love the way the light affects the landscape. You don’t get the same bright colours, the same intensity anywhere else in the world."

He should know. Scotland’s leading contemporary expressionist has fairly trotted about the globe, taking to its every corner the landscape from which he has made a living.

People rarely feature in Morrison’s painting. He doesn’t want them to detract from the landscape. Only the mark of man is included, an open gate or a ladder against a wall. He is often told by admirers that his work reminds them of their childhood. "There is a spiritual quality to the west coast, and not just because of the Christian influence on Iona and the islands. It has a connection with nature. A lot of people tell me they are not religious, but that my paintings give them a spiritual feeling. That’s because they are expressing God’s creation."

He attended Sunday school from the age of four, but it wasn’t until he was 21 that religion changed his life. The catalyst was a visit to the Tron Church in Glasgow, where Cliff Richard appeared in a dramatisation of the crucifixion. "Suddenly, your eyes are opened and you realise, gosh, this is the way I should live for the rest of my life," says Morrison, who has also painted religious figurative scenes based on biblical text. In Mull this summer, where he has another studio, he plans to do more.

His decision to leave Glasgow 36 years ago was the making of him, personally and professionally. "The city is man-made and can be quite aggressive, too edgy for me. The country can be edgy as well, but it’s a different edginess. I like the weather, the transience of the whole thing, the way nature changes all the time. You don’t really feel much of that in the city. I feel closer to God here, closer to creation. I love the way you can see the mark of God on the landscape, and also the mark of man. I play with that."

He also communicates the word of God. In the early 1980s, when his local minister was taken unwell, Morrison was asked to deputise. Later, when he was preparing to take a service at Bellanoch, a "lovely wee Highland church" down by Crinan Canal, he says he felt a call to the ministry. He registered for part-time leadership in the Church of Scotland, training for five years. He now provides pulpit supply around Argyll, taking services about twice a month.

He says there is more enthusiasm for religion on the west coast, especially in the remote areas, where churches have healthier congregations and a lick of fresh paint, but he still worries about its future. Morrison is one of the youngest members in his parish. "We don’t have the young people coming any more, and that’s our future. I love organ music, singing hymns, but a lot of young folk can’t take to it. People move away and, although they still have beliefs and feelings, they are not drawn back. My son, Pete, goes to Destiny Church in Glasgow, which has thousands of young people in it. It’s a huge church, quite evangelical and charismatic. More young people are going to these kind of churches than mainstream. They are springing up all over, and that’s where they will go unless the Church of Scotland changes.

"The whole way of doing it, what is preached, the way it is preached, needs to change. You have to draw people in, which a lot of ministers are not doing. The training of ministers needs to change so that they have a 21st-century view of the world and spirituality. The older people don’t want change, and you can understand that, but it needs to happen. Unless there is a spiritual revival as they had in Lewis many years ago, unless young people are brought back in, I don’t know where the Church of Scotland is going to be 50 years, even 25 years, from now."

Synergy at St. Arbucks

2009-05-14T04:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was at Starbucks sharing the vision with a pastor friend of mine... good times and great feedback from them! I went through the whole story about how God's birthed this thing, confirmations, scripture, etc... the whole story. When we got up to leave, this lady behind me says "Excuse me, i didn't mean to easedrop, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation about raising up an army of artists. I think we should talk... I'm the vice president of an Arts Training Academy in South Africa and what you're talking about doing is exactly what we're doing in Capetown South Africa!" WHOA!

Needless to say, i about fell out in the floor! The ministry is called Hope2Africa. We stood around and shared a while and were both very encouraged by what we sensed the Lord was doing!! Just another incredible confirmation on this exciting journey he has us on!

Strategy From the Prayer Room

2009-05-13T04:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was praying in my studio as usual.... I've been really seeking the Father for alignment and wisdom in this whole process of birthing The Worship Studio. My prayers yesterday got really intense - warfare - and focused on the mountain of the arts (ala "Seven Mountains of Influence in Culture"). I was praying for authority in this realm and for the Lord to begin showing me secrets to taking this mountain for His Kingdom. Here's what I got:

"If you can change the art, you can change the fabric of a culture"
The age-old discussion centers around the function of art - does it reflect the culture or does the culture reflect the art. Either way, art and creative expression have a major affect on the world system - the way we think, move, live, interact, believe, trust, learn, etc. We can change the very fabric of culture through invading the arts and changing the conversation. I'm talking about artists in every genre of expression who are actively hearing from the Lord and creating - then allowing God to strategically place their expression within the culture for maximum impact in the lives of people and leaders around the world. This is not a small task, but God has all authority in heaven and in earth - and as co-laborers in His kingdom, so do we.

"You become what you behold - the way to affect the hearts of man is to change what they behold - change the equation - Beholding the Glory "
There's something about beholding - imbibing through the eyes - that has a much greater effect on us than just hearing or just feeling. 2 Corinthians 3:16: "But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the Glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" The principle is there - what we behold is what we will become. If it's true for the Glory of God, then it's true for sin and destruction - behold/focus on/look at/turn your attention to the things of this world and that's what you will become. Transformation happens through what we focus on. The more we can get creative expression infused into the culture that is wrapped in the very Glory of God, the more opportunity people have to be transformed by His presence.

The first thing the enemy always does is to get people to 'look' at something counterfeit - to draw your eyes away with desire (ie: adam & eve, Jesus in the wilderness, Israelites/Golden Calf, Ashrah Poles, Idolatry in general) - BUT God has designed us for desire and for visual enjoyment. He wants to communicate His Glory through the senses as well in a manner that will glorify Him (ie: the tabernacle of Moses and David, The Ark of the Covenant, The Cross, The Fish, The Shell, Christian Symbolism in general.) There is a movement in the Body of Christ called "Christian Hedonism" which purposes to help people understand the enjoyment of the presence of God. For too long, the church has reduced relationship with Jesus and His Glory to a list of rules and regulations - when, the whole time God has been desiring a deep, passionate, vital love affair with us. The ploy of the enemy is always to take a little truth, sprinkle it with lies and get us to turn our attention to 'something better'. In reality, it's God who came up with the idea for us to "look" at Him, to gaze upon His beauty, to behold His Glory.

Look at the story of David - Man after God's own heart - King of Israel - Worshipper extraordinaire who's main desire was to what? "One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple." The main desire of His heart was to Gaze - to Behold - to Look upon the Lord. So what did the enemy do? He took that God-centered desire for the Glory of God and turned it toward and idol - Bathsheba. Satan sold him the lie that 'hey, if you like beauty - then you'll LOVE this!" - a counterfeit expression. Look at the mess that came out of that one and the mess that continues to come out of that same scenario day after day in the lives of believers around the world.

For too long desire for beauty and the longing to look upon something exciting, glorious and adventurous has been seen as trite and unspiritual. God is calling The Worship Studio forth with an army of artists to reclaim this mountain of beauty and desire in the church AND in the culture.

A Central Hub of Creative Collaboration

2009-05-08T04:37:00.001-07:00

As I was in worship this morning, the Lord showed me a hub and had me draw it out on my white board... a circle in the middle with a series of 7 circles around it... each outer circle had an arrow going to and from the inner circle. Defined, a hub is "a hardware device that is used to network multiple computers together. It is a central connection for all the computers in a network... Information sent to the hub can flow to any other computer on the network."

I sensed from the Lord that we are going to be a hub in the Spirit that will be a central connection point for the arts and artists in our city and region. For too long, many artists have been known to be territorial, selfish & builders of their own kingdoms. I believe the Lord is raising up The Worship Studio to be a connection point for the arts for collaboration among all the artists that are currently functioning alone or without much support - to be a community that will love, support, protect and call forth the hearts of artists to take their place in the kingdom.

The main role of a hub is to make connections that yield greater impact. As we serve to connect artists in the Body of Christ, the power, effectiveness and Kingdom impact we desire will increase. Our job is not to control or manipulate, but to connect. As artists come into the hub, they will bring their unique gifting and share that with others and vice versa - each time, the value of the hub grows as a hotbed of creativity and connection. We will begin to see collaboration among artists and artistic disciplines like never before, creating unique works that show forth the Glory of the Father.

The Glory Of His Presence

2009-05-07T05:56:00.001-07:00

This morning the Lord blew me away in His presence. For about 30 minutes, I laid sobbing in His presence - His Glory invaded my studio as I was worshipping this morning and overcame me. I was undone like I have never been undone before - and caught off guard really. His Goodness, His Glory, His Great Love for me and for His people!

The Lord started showing me about His Glory - that The Worship Studio is to be a place where artisans can come and "camp out by the River of God" in His Glory and there be refreshed, renewed, healed, released and protected. This encampment will be a Holy Place where we will experience and open heaven of God's creativity and Glory - a place where He will dwell in power and in His beauty. People will come from all around to experience Him and see His Glory revealed through His beloved ones.

My heart beats fast for the vision to come to pass... I long for His appearing and for the manifested Glory of His Presence in our midst! Come Lord Jesus - Pour Out Your Love - Lavish Your Love On Us!

Taking Shape

2009-05-04T04:10:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks, I've sensed the Lord say we're in a season of praying and sharing... sowing the vision into the lives of like-hearted folks to see what happens! I've been blessed and encouraged by the response of people who I've shared the vision with.

We took time on Saturday, even in the midst of a spring thunderstorm to trek on up to Canton, GA and a local art gallery up there called "Downtown Mission Gallery", right off the square in Canton. It's a Christian Art Gallery run by Patricia Reeves and several other local, Christian artists. The work was beautiful and the space they have was just great - a gallery, large workshops, etc... really cool space! I stepped out on a limb and shared the vision of The Worship Studio with Patricia, who I had never met before. When I told her the Lord said we would be raising up an army - gathering the warriors and the weaklings - the master artisans and the emerging artists - her eyes lit up! She said "Wow, the Lord told us when we started this gallery that we would be raising up an army of artists". WOW!

God seems to be quickly aligning us with like-hearted men and women to see His vision come to fruition! I want to see more - more alignment, more synergy, more divine appointments, more provision, more vision, more favor! Everything we need to see this vision come to pass, I want more of!

Right now, I sense the Lord saying that we are in the 1st of 3 initial seasons:
1) Praying for Revelation & Sharing the Vision with like-minded people (Spring/Summer 2009)
2) Micro Events to gather the artisans and build awareness of what God's calling us to (Fall 2009 / Winter/Spring 2010)
3) The Launch - stepping into the vision in a full-time capacity (Fall 2010)

My prayer right now is that God would unite us with people who have like vision or either an openness to the Vision God has placed within us to see artisans raised up and the Glory of God released in the earth through the arts. These may be pastors, worship leaders, master artisans, business people, patrons who want to sow into the ministry, etc... In addition, I'm asking the Lord to align us with several organizations in a 'sponsorship' type of relationship, where they recognize, support and promote what God's doing in The Worship Studio within their organization and circle of influence.

Let's continue to seek the Lord for His leadership and vision - also for creative dreams and revelation of what 'could be' when there are no limits, walls or barriers on the Spirit's creativity unleashed through His children!

It's Definitely God

2009-05-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

The other night Matt called me on my way home from work to go eat some BBQ so being creatures of habit we all met (Myself, Lynn, Matt and Tanya) at Williamson Brothers BBQ. Those of you who know us know we are creatures of habit.

The conversation inevitably turned to the Worship Studio. Lynn started talking and talking and talking. Don't get me wrong, it was ALL good and it was ALL God.

She went on about ways to manage and run things with a group of people who have no agendas, egos or preconceived notions about anything at all. I really wish I could remember what all was said but I feel like it was a God appointment and Matt got to hear some things he needed for confirmation and maybe a few ideas to boot.

Things are moving and it will be exciting. Maybe we should start recording and archiving our meetings.

The Journey Begins

2009-04-28T05:50:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the awesome opportunity to have great friends over to my house to begin to pray into the vision God's given me for The Worship Studio and raising up the artists! We shared our hearts, our unique journey's that brought us to where we are now and our dreams for the future. It's always so cool to me how God brings people together with like vision to accomplish His purposes in the earth. We were all blown away by the divine synergy in the room last night.

Tom Tanner, my pastor at Riverstone Church, preached an incredible message on Sunday on the vision of our church, where we were going and who we were called to be as a body. He referenced a sermon he preached years ago about 3 kinds of churches/people: wave watchers, wave riders and wave makers. Wave watchers are the people who like to be around the waves, chase the waves, run away from the waves, complain about the waves, comment on the waves and examine the waves. Wave riders love the adventure of riding the waves - they love to get wet, and get in the middle of the water. They love the adventure of riding the waves of life and God.

Wave makers on the other hand are many times never seen. Waves don't begin on the surface - they begin in the depths of the ocean with groanings and rumblings way out at sea. Eventually what the earth has been groaning and rumbling for produces waves that are seem miles and miles away on the surface for others to enjoy. Tom believed that we were such a church. That analogy struck me in relation to The Worship Studio. That's who we are called to be - wave makers.

There are so many artists out there who are wave riders - who long to use their giftings in the adventure of the Kingdom of God - but for most, they have no venue, no place, no opportunity to flow both skillfully and prophetically in the Glory of God. Our role as The Worship Studio is to begin, with the power of the Holy Spirit, to create a wave - a tsunami - that will elevate the vision, the arts and the artist within the Body of Christ to a place where they can flow in what God's calling them to do - reveal his Glory in the earth! We know full well that we are groaning and rumbling in the depths right now for generations to come that we may never see. We're praying and laying the foundation for a work that will have lasting impact. This is the work and the passion of our lives - to see the Glory of God revealed in the earth and to see the arts and artists redeemed for the purposes of God's Kingdom.

So the journey begins... it's overwhelming, the vision God's given us as a leadership team - and yet, we don't want it any other way. If it was too easy, it wouldn't be God! The the vision arise!

What is Prophetic Worship?

2009-04-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Growing up as an evangelical Christian, there are some words I just never used... prophetic was one of them. Seemed kinda spooky, out there and unattainable. Over the last few years in the Body of Christ, especially as one who falls on the charismatic side of the theological fence I've seen alot of things people called "prophetic".

Through some searching and hopefully some discernment, I think I have a healthy understanding of what being prophetic really means - especially as it relates to creative expression: to hear the voice of God and translate it into an understandable medium - sometimes a 'word in season' - sometimes a 'thus saith the Lord' - but for the artist, it's hearing the voice of God, sensing His Spirit and yielding to His moving through your unique creative expression. I believe there are things that God wants to communicate in the earth that will never come to fullness without the yielding of creative people - artists who know they are prophetic and desire to release that through the arts.

I saw this article online at http://www.theworshiparts.com/worshipartsblog/ and thought I would share here... how simple! :)

"In its basic definition, prophetic worship is speaking, singing or acting under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord which, in turn, shows our complete surrender in worship to Him (God). Prophetic worship is meant to allow God’s reflection to be seen in us so that others may respond and come to know him.

To prophesy [or be prophetic] simply means to speak, sing, write or act under divine inspiration…nabiy’ (1 of four Hebrew Old Testament words) & prophēteuō (Greek) are common original language words found in scripture.

To worship means to bow low, express respect, or lean forward [as to kiss the hand]… shachah (1 of three Hebrew Old Testament words) & proskyneō (1 of eight New Testament Greek words) are common original language words found in scripture.

A further biblical study of the Old and New Testament prophets, as well as those who operate in prophetic giftings, would reveal the controversial nature of the prophetic…. although this is not always so, prophetic people often cause disturbances….Jesus certainly did!

Prophetic worship is a way to live life so that God’s heart, words and voice are made obvious to those around us."

My heart for The Worship Studio is that we would raise up a generation of artists who, under the influence of the Holy Spirit and able to hear His voice, will respond to Him through their own unique creative expression. Let's not let words scare us or push us apart. A divine, prophetic connection to the creative heart of God is available now for all of us who seek after Him through worship and creative expression!

I Love to Worship You

2009-04-24T04:18:00.001-07:00

I love to worship you
With everything I am I love to worship you
From deep within my heart I love to worship you
To be with you and gaze upon your throne

I love to be with you
To waste my life in worship just to be with you
With no other agenda but to be with you
To pour my life of worship at your throne

I love to hear your voice
Confident in you I love to hear your voice
I tune my ears to listen and I make my choice
To wait on you and bow before your throne

I love to worship you
Abandoning my fears I love to worship you
Giving all I am i love to worship you
To join in heaven's song around your throne

Copyright 2009 Matt Tommey

Here in Your Presence

2009-04-22T04:36:00.000-07:00

The stillness of your presence is refreshing to my soul
When everything inside my heart longs to take control
In quietness and rest I will receive and be made whole
The stillness of your presence is refreshing to my soul

I worship you here in your presence
I worship you here in your glory
captivated still by the glory you reveal time and time again

Hearing your voice, singing your love song
Feeling your touch as you dance over my soul
Here I am whole, Here I am free, Here I am yours...
Here in your presence

Copyright 2009 Matt Tommey

Cathy Little & Matt Tommey - In Concert

2009-04-20T08:06:00.001-07:00

Like Minded Folks in the Kingdom

2009-04-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

Check This Out

The Mountain of Worship

Dan Wilt - The Essentials

The Swirl of Kingdom Connection

2009-04-20T06:30:00.001-07:00

When the Lord begins to rebirth vision in your heart, it's not always how you think it will be. In fact, it's usually from a totally different perspective. One of the things God's doing right now as He births The Worship Studio is reconnecting me with people I've known in the past but for whatever reason have been disconnected from. One of those cool people or couples is Sharon and Michael Angel. Their website is here http://www.michaelangelart.com/

It's been a while since I last spoke to Michael and Sharon, so I checked out their website to see what God had been up to. The collection of abstract paintings Michael has done immediately drew my attention. The bold colors, the bold swirls flowing across the canvas. I love it! This collection in particular reminded me of how God's kingdom works.. it's not just about some boring, linear path - get saved, follow the rules and get out of hell. It's about a dance, a journey, a winding road with bold colors swirling us through this life and the next. It's about the relationships we thought that were lost now coming back around. It's about the dance of His Spirit with us!

I am sensing more and more each day that's what The Worship Studio is all about - connecting people to the dance of His Spirit through creative expression. Facilitating experiences through the arts where people really know - with all their senses - the power, glory and majesty of God. To desire more of the dance and to look with expectation toward the Glory that is to come as we flow in Him!

Take a second to visit the website and see what God's doing through their incredible art! What's God saying to you?

Hearing God Under The Azaleas

2009-04-04T17:21:00.000-07:00

Well, today was a very fruitful day! I cleaned out and trenched around all my flowerbeds, prepared my daylillies and roses for the spring, cut my grass and put out 20 bails of long needle pinestraw! Needless to say, the yard looks great! One of the things I wanted to do today was to take out all the old pinestraw and replace it with new... freshen things up, etc...

There I am, literally under an azalea raking old straw out from under there and the Lord tells me to use the old pinestraw to encircle my trees and crape myrtle. So I begin to take all this old, nasty pinestrawy mess with leaves, straw, sticks, etc and put it around these trees. He started showing me how using the old nasty straw would serve as a reservoir of water for the trees during the hot summer weather. And it looks pretty cool too :)

It became so clear to me this morning under the azaleas in my front yard... in our life, there's plenty of junk we've all gone through - stuff we'd rather forget about and yet the stuff that has to some extent defined our life. The Lord showed me that there is a season in each of our lives when He will give us the grace to go under the 'pretty blooms' of our life and allow Him to clean us up from the hidden stuff. He so desires to redeem what once was nasty and use it as a reservoir of life for someone else. I'm continually amazed how the brokenness in my own life is used by God to provide strength and encouragement to others who are struggling with the same circumstances.

I pray tonight that the Lord would give you the grace to let Him clean up the junk and let Him redeem it and restore you for His Kingdom purposes in this generation!

The Worship of My Life

2009-04-01T03:25:00.000-07:00

It's funny where the Lord has me right now... this balance between ministry and marketplace. A divine tension is having to exist in my life whose purpose is to keep me tuned in to the Father for every piece of the puzzle. The focus of my heart is really to have His Kingdom revealed through me on a daily basis, whether that be as a marketing consultant or a worship leader, a dad or a husband. Am I the kind of man God can flow through easily?

For most of my life I've not been easy to flow through. I was prideful, calloused, scared, fearful of how people would perceive me... always covered up in some mask. But God's healing that woundedness in my heart. He's bringing me to such a beautiful place of trust, rest and worship in Him that makes all that other stuff just fade away. It's all about the cracking open of this, what Watchman Nee calls "The Outer Man" and allowing my Spirit Man to come forth in a beautiful and uninhibited way where I can sense God's delight and His love for me.

I guess we're always wrestling with that tension, huh? That is, how much of my life is really 'me' and how much is really 'Him through me'. As I've wrestled with in my own journey, I've found a couple of things that are making the worship of my life produce beautiful fruit. The first is this: The More I'm Around Him, The More I'm Like Him. That seems obvious but for me, it was always a struggle. I love to 'worship' or sing/play worship music, but to have a regular 'quiet time' with the Lord never seemed to be a something that I connected with. I guess I'm ADD in that way. However, during this recent period of brokenness in my life over the last few years, the Lord has caused a deep hunger to rise up in me... a hunger where my first thoughts in the morning are "I wonder what God's going to say to me this morning?". His presence in me is so real... and the more I'm with Him, the more I've noticed my emotions, my reactions, my desires, my temperament, and the worship of my life are reflecting Him. I literally turned around the other day and thought "Wow, I've not felt like this in a LONG" time... free, happy, fulfilled, unpressured. It's not that circumstances in my life have changed all that much - it's that the focus of my life is shifting. I'm learning to live in the Glory Zone - the zone of creative flow, supernatural love and peace, and the place where I'm in constant communion with Him.

The second thing that's wrecking me right now is recognizing His heart for me. My relationship with my dad was not great growing up, although I know he did the best he knew how. I praise God that He's restored that relationship today. But for a lot of years, my idea of 'father God' what really screwed up. Internally, deep down, below my conscious thoughts, I believed the same things about Father God that I believed about my own dad - his love is conditional, his moods are unpredictable, if he knew the real me he wouldn't love me, he's ashamed of me, etc. Again, through this recent season of brokenness in my life, I've found my Father's heart for me is anything but conditional. In fact, He loves me with an everlasting love that goes beyond any circumstance, brokenness or season in my life, It's only through coming to the end of myself - riding until the wheels fell off - that I've been able to really let down my guard and let God in. Until then, I still has some semblance of control in my life where I thought I was driving, I could call the shots. I am so grateful for the brokenness God has allowed in my life because it's brought me to the end of myself and given me a radical desire to pursue the things of God like never before. And the coolest thing is, the things I thought were dead in me - my "heart's desire" that I thought was gone forever - God is stirring and rebirthing in my heart. He's orchestrating a beautiful symphony of circumstances and divine connections to place me right in the middle of where He wants me to be.

So the worship of my life has become like an alabaster box - a life of brokenness poured out to the Father that He's using for His Glory. Daily I pour out my life to Him and let Him direct the flow of my life where He wills. The funny thing is, I'm flowing now in places I always dreamed of, yet was never able to reach on my own. Convinced of His unfailing love for me and endless mercy in my life, I press on.

http://www.imeem.com/people/CmrdBPH/music/gyrDGXpF/julie-meyer-alabaster-box/

TheWorshipStudio - Part 1

2009-03-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

What's In A Name?

2009-03-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

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!!

I See A Place...

2009-03-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

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....

Jut Rip It!

2009-03-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

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 Heart of Asaph: Fathering the Artists

2009-03-27T05:29:00.000-07:00

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!