Adoration

Now is the time to trample the enemy,
to shake out the dust,
to put off the heavy boots.
Now is the time to dance,
to fight,
to battle the enemy.

Don’t relent
Don’t pull back
Don’t let go

What you have been fighting for is here.
What you have been seeking is near.
What you have longed for is at hand.

Don’t relent
Don’t run
Don’t let go

Now is the time to dance!
Awaken!
Arise!
Ascend to the inner chambers and dance before the Lord.
Dance on behalf of your brothers, your sisters, your neighbors.
Now is the time to dance like you’ve never danced before.

Have you ever met someone who is so confident that they can open themselves up entirely to you?

Someone so humble that you can feel the honor and respect radiating from their body?

Someone so loving and accepting that their arms open wide to you no matter how much crap you’ve rolled in?

Someone so sure of their purpose that their is no doubt or confusion in their choices; they are completely set on the goal before them that they follow it without compromise and in perfect integrity?

Someone whose eyes burn with such fierceness that you can feel the heat and intensity burning when you look at them?

Someone so bold and confident that you can’t help but follow their footsteps?

Someone so fun and enjoyable that you could spend hour upon hour with and not realize the next day has dawned?

Someone so wise that your ears hang on every word that drips from their lips?

Someone so talented that you stand in awe, immobilized, at their skills?

Someone so honoring that you feel like the world revolves around you when you’re with them?

Someone so powerful that you know no matter how fierce the storm or intense the affliction no harm could ever come to you?

Have you ever met someone like that?

One step after another;
One foot in front of the other.
An army marches forward.

Worship cannons fire
ammo that doesn’t tire.
An army presses upward

Hell’s gates falls back
shadows of darkness crack.
An army moves onward.

A Lion is roaring
the enemy is shuddering.
An army is marching forward!

A people are praying
a King is listening.
A harvest is the reward.

Could it be! Could it be!
The time to fear is no more.
A place to sleep, a place to rest – No more!
Now is a time for war!

You were made for this!
You were made for victory!
You were made for freedom!

No more fear.
No more shackles.
No more chains.
No more walls.
No more distraction.

You were made for Him!
You were made for victory!
You were made to conquer!

Trample the enemy!
Overrun his camp!
Destroy his works!
Set the captives free!

Lately I’ve been reading a book called “Marketplace Christianity” by Robert Fraser. One of the premises of the book is that 97% of Christians are not called to occupational ministry (Pastor, overseas missionary, worship leader, etc…) but that the vast majority are meant to be in the marketplace. God has given each one of us unique passions and abilities that more often than not have nothing to do with the being a Pastor or Missionary. When we follow that passion, whether it be building furniture or fixing cars, we are worshiping God because we are fulfilling the passion and desire that he has placed in us and as a natural extension God will open up opportunities to be an example to others.

There is a great pearly gate.
It is tall and strong.
It can not be moved by the hand of man.
The doors are solid oak.
They are framed in gold.
They are doors that forever stand.
These are the doors of the heavenlies.
These are the doors of the great I AM!

There is a generation standing outside the gates.
They do not force their way.
They do not rely on the hand of man.
This generation is on their knees.
They send forth a battering ram -
They shake the doors.
They beseach the King,
They cry out!
They do not cease praying.

The rain drenchs their heads.
The snow covers them in chills.
The flys bite their skin.
The dogs nip at them.
They do not stop, for anything.

The great doors they rumble.
The hinges are loosed.
The great I am cannot refrain.
His people are calling! He is coming!

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. 

I’m walking along
blazing a trail
making my own way.
But, someone has already formed my footprints!

I’m hacking a path
straight through the thicket
leading to my destiny
Yet, someone has already formed my footprints!

I’m pushing through
overcoming obstacles
reaching for the prize
But, someone has already formed my footprints!

I’m losing my way
lost my compass
having trouble seeing in the dark.
But, someone has already formed my footprints!

I get down on my knees
exhaustion weighs me down
I find laid out before me.
Someone has already formed my footprints!

David, who overcame Goliath and killed lions with his bare hands

– merely a shadow

The Israelites, who walked over a sea on dry land and slaughtered the Canaanite giants
– merely a shadow

Noah, who built a boat to hold two of every animal and withstood a storm that rearranged the continents
– merely a shadow

Boaz, who gave of his wealth and loved the widowed unconditionally
– merely a shadow

Hosea, who married a prostitute and accepted her back time and time again
– only a shadow

Jesus, who could not be contained by death and now lives
– the Real Thing

What a celebration!
What a dance!
What a time will be had!

When the great King
When the passionate Lover
When the Son of the Lamb comes

Multitudes upon multitudes of heavenly hosts.
All the Saints from “let there be light” through “It is finished.”
Every friend of Jesus – will dance with abandon.

Every shackle
Every chain
Every fear
Every pain – Cast off.

And we will dance!
With our feet, our hands, our hips, our hearts,
we will dance.

1500 by 1500 by 1500 miles of heaven
filled with a celebration that lasts the ages.
And we will dance.
Oh, how we will dance!

The Potter Generation. I heard this term used for the first time a few weeks ago. It is of course referring to an entire generation of kids that have now grown up at the same time as J.K. Rowling’s Potter books have. For those kids (and adults) who have been hooked on Potter for the past 10 years (the first book was published in 1997), this is an exciting time as the final Harry Potter book is just about to be released. The question most people seem to be asking is will Harry Potter die in the end. I must admit I’m a little curious, but the question that plagues me even more is why is Harry Potter so popular? What is it that draws kids and adults so easily into the Potter realm? Fortunately, I found the answer to all these questions (Although not the answer to whether Harry dies or not).

I was reading “Waking The Dead” by John Eldridge and suddenly found myself struck by the answer to Potter’s popularity. From the very beginning of the Potter series, young Harry is whisked out of the ordinary mundane things of life and into an extraordinary and exciting adventure where Harry plays the key role. Wouldn’t you love to be whisked out of the daily grind of work and responsibility and into an exciting world where you are not only part of an elite group but one of the most important people there? We all long for something more in life than just the nine to five. I don’t know about you, but there is something deep inside of me that calls out for more. My heart yearns for a chance to be courageous and stand up to a Voldemort, to climb tall mountains, to stand in the face of death and conquer it, to love with an incomparable passion…

Lately and frequently, I have been asking myself, what makes me alive? What are the things that when I think about them my heart begins to pound and I can feel adrenaline rushing through my veins? So while everyone else is asking whether Harry lives or dies, I’m going to be asking myself what brings me to life.