the writer and the rest

Look at us, living in an upside down kingdom.

There is so much at stake. . . souls.

There are so many at risk. . . us.

We live in an upside down world that desperately needs to hear the stories of Good News, to know that there is a grace that uprights a fallen world. We live amongst souls that are searching, longing to see the beauty and glory and reality of God. There is so much at stake, and we are the ones who are called to risk everything to reach this teetering world. We. Us. You. I. Called to reach the broken with His love and grace.

There is so much life to be found.

There are so many who need to encounter it.

And in an instant it can be found, with just the mention of the name of Jesus.

To every one of those longing hearts, there is a response, there is a story of grace and redemption to be found. There is One who awaits to respond to their weary heart and bring new life. 

And so, you, in this upside down kingdom, you with a keyboard, you making art, you making music, you were called into this Great Commission. You were called to make His name and His love known to the world.

There is so much at stake and so much at risk, and that is why the world needs your art, because it is all in story, and when it is Christ’s story being told through it all, that is when we will see it reach the nations and every pulsing heart.

But this task, this commission, this request,  it’s impossible. How do we, with keyboards and guitars and pencils and cameras go into all the world, reaching all the nations? Aren’t we all really just like Peter, absolute messes ourselves? I am.

BUT GOD. But God, what does He do? He fills the messes like Peter with the Holy Spirit, just like He did Bezalel. And we see it time and time again throughout Acts, that the phrase “filled with the Spirit” is always trailed by “they spoke with boldness.” (Acts 4:13; 5:29; 9:27).

How then, shall we, with mere instruments go to all the nations?

We simply follow the One who is leading.

We follow the grace He gives and the words that He speaks.

We simply follow.

Begin to pursue the Father and be pulled in closer to Him. That is where it begins, and when we are close to Him, that is when He is able to move through us, reaching this upside down kingdom.

Peter was filled with the Spirit. . . and so he spoke with boldness.

You, with a keyboard. . . you are filled with His words, so tell others His story.

You, with a guitar. . .  you are filled with a song that pulses to become worship unto our God, so share it.

You with a paintbrush, you with a camera, you as a teacher, you as a parent, your life is a masterpiece and it is reflecting the beauty of a brilliant Creator. All of it, every talent, every voice, everyone, it is all His creation.

What is more beautiful art than this?

So, when you make with words and when you craft with lines and when you click the shutter on the lens, you are an artist, looking for His beauty and glory, and as He fills you with the Spirit of God, He fills you with skill and ability and knowledge.

And through your art and through your story, He will heal a broken world.

Because when the name of Jesus is spoken, there is life, restoration, healing, and it floods in without warning. Its always hard not to leave unchanged after encountering the presence of the Sovereign and Holy God.  

This will be the light that will keep driving away the greying sky. And for each morning that the sun rises, again we will rise to this. We will do nothing less than rise, for there is far too much at stake.

The task before us, the request upon us, the commission given to us: it is not impossible. If we do not rise to this, with a fire believing that we are an Esther Generation, lit with the purpose that we are here for such a time as this, and ignited with a passion to reach those outside the gate; that which will be lost, will not just be a chance to change the world, but the souls that live in it. . . and that is immensely far too much to loose.

So, you living life, tell your story and speak it with boldness. For there is a world waiting to hear it, waiting to experience the testimony of God’s grace and glory for themselves.

Tell His story. . .they are waiting to hear it.