Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Melodies from Heaven

As a musician at IHOP, I hear a lot of talk about the idea of musicians and singers pursuing and receiving melodies from heaven. Of course, heaven is musical! The book of Revelation describes the thrown of God and the music that is constantly surrounding the thrown. Of course, this is amazing, and of course, who wouldn't want to hear the music of heaven!

As I learned more about it, I myself began to seek the Lord regarding the music of heaven. As a musician consecrated to the Lord and using my talents to worship, I began to diligently ask the Lord to impart to me divinely inspired melodies and progressions. For many years I did this, separating myself from demonically inspired (a.k.a. secular) music and committing my music to the Lord.

There is great truth in the fact that all music has a root to its inspiration, whether out of human creativity or spiritual inspiration, every composer has an allegiance. Music is either inspired by the Holy Spirit and the beauty of Jesus or it is inspired by darkness to promote darkness, if even at an incremental level. A perishing composer cannot produce any other kind of music, plain and simple. Therefore, the consecration of our ears is essential, even moreso for worship leaders!

Back to my story, for years I consecrated myself to the Lord and asked earnestly for a melody of heaven. I heard stories of musicians and singers who had received divine melodies that they had no inspiration for, or that had a special power to break strongholds in the spirit. Again and again I've heard of musicians pleading with God to inspire them, but I think in some cases, this process has carried to a fault.

I remember one day I was playing in the prayer room and the Lord was obviously moving in the room and nearly the entire room was engaged in energetic worship. I remember praying "Lord, give me a divine melody from heaven!" And thinking, "If only I had a prophetic melody right now to really take it to the next level." Then I felt a conviction come upon me and the Lord spoke to me. He said, "Why not play from the inspiration of your spirit, which is subject to the Holy Spirit? Are you not worshiping me, and is your worship not as good as any other? Then the greatest melodies are that which are of genuine heart and not what you received from some other source." Suddenly I realized, I had spent so much energy pursuing a 'divine' melody from who-knows-where that I neglected to actually engage my heart in worship before the Lord.

It is not the goal of the musician or worshiper to "tap into" someone else's inspiration, even if that person is an angel or some heavenly being. In truth, Biblically, the role of lead worshipers passed from the angels to humanity after the fall of Lucifer. And since the angels do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in their inner man, in stands to reason that our greatest musical inspiration comes from our own heart cry, of course connected to the Holy Spirit that dwells in us.

I do not see in Scripture any example where a prophetic musician received all of their inspiration from anyone other than their own spirit engaging with the Holy Spirit. The cry of the Spirit and the Bride that say "Come" at the end of the day is a partnership between our own song aligning with the movement of the Holy Spirit on the earth. Psalm 149 where the believers "make melody" rather than "receive melodies," and execute justice on the nations through their worship. And Isaiah 30 where at the end of the age, the worship that arises from the church actually releases the judgements of God, but it says nothing of heavenly melodies being released. Rather, I believe that the church is finally going to learn how to worship in spirit and in truth, with grace and supplication, and that the Lord will anoint their weak worship.

There are two worship movements at the end of the age, an epic spiritual showdown in the realm of music between worshipers of Yahweh and worshipers of the Antichrist and Satan. The key is not restlessly seeking divine melodies in hopes that we will one day be powerful worshipers, but that we rend our hearts to the Lord and engage in a life of the Spirit that results in God placing a divine endorsement on our music. God wants real, genuine worship from the heart of a humble people, not just that we seek and seek and seek for an angel's melody.

And the funny thing is, He'll actually give us divine inspiration with supernatural power once we rend our heart and truly give ourselves to wholehearted worship. Amen.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

New Current Need

I've added a new section to the Partnership pages of our web site called Current Needs. These are one-time gift needs to help us overcome obstacles that arise that are outside our normal monthly budget and fundraising. This is also a place that we will post praise reports from when the current need is met, so we can rejoice together!

The latest entry comes from this week:

"A new(er) car. Logan has a 1995 Infiniti that has needed fixing every month this year and has been costing us much needed money and time. Molly drives a wonderfully reliable Hyundai that we are sharing at the moment, but once Samuel is born, we will be hard pressed without 2 cars. If you know of a reliable, economical, affordable used car for sale, or would like to give towards this need, please let us know! All gifts are tax deductable. Thank you! "

Fine Art Photography

Over the course of the last year, I have gotten a little into photography sort of as a side hobby. I don't really want to make a career as a photographer, but I thought that I might just put some of the best photos I've taken up for sale over time to give people a chance so support us creatively. Youth ministry is definitely my primary focus, especially since I am in full-time ministry, but I put up some photos just for fun and hopefully you'll enjoy them as the gallery grows!

What I enjoy about photography is documenting the glory of God found in nature, scenery and people. You'll find that all of my prints have corresponding theme verses, and Limited Edition prints even come with the verse on a metal plaque in the frame! I really enjoy relating my photos to Psalms, or other passages about the greatness of God. Some of my photos are taken with a verse in mind, and some verses are found after the fact.

One idea I have that I think would be a new twist on photography would be to photograph scenes from Psalm 23 and put them in a book. I find this much more challenging than just taking a lucky picture and calling it art. I want people to actually receive revelation related to the verse through the photograph, and remember the verse every time they see it.

Because it's all about Him!

So, if you like, take a look at my gallery!