Messiah Culture

Critics Are Weak People

To criticize is one of the easiest things on the planet to do. I know, for I am guilty. We all are guilty of being a critic. Cause we are all weak. But we must come alive in a new kind of living. A life that finds the good in others and in circumstances. Spending energy to discover the good, to find God in the midst of the moment.

Father forgive me for the times I have allowed myself to be a critic. As if I have it all together and somehow thought I was supreme enough to cast judgement.

Now I think there is a difference in making a mistake and living life as a critic.

I have plenty of critics. It comes with the turf. 

I have met so many people who make criticism a huge priority. It consumes their speech and their thoughts. It actually dominates them. We have to criticize others in order for us to feel exalted. Some people think that finding fault is a gift. But it is actually very destructive, its a weapon straight from hell itself. It takes very little energy to find fault. If you are looking to be offended you will find it in everything. Cause your approaching life from the standpoint of a victim. It is so easy to be offended if your looking for it. But if your looking for the good, it's just as easy to find but much more rewarding and free.

Finding the good takes energy, its a true gift to release blessing towards another. The Apostle Paul said he wishes we would all prophesy. To prophesy is to hear from God about the good that is within another person and call it out of them. Its like seeing the diamond in another even when they might not see it themselves. To prophesy is to encourage and believe in another. What a gift! As we hear from God's heart concerning another and then being able to release that good word or encouragement into their very soul. What a gift. I agree with the Apostle Paul, I wish everyone at The Grove would prophesy! The scripture lays a great foundation and guidelines for this gift. It is important to understand, this gift comes with governance and application. Once established it is very powerful! We teach on these things at Rev School.

It is so American to criticize. Finding fault. I think it is all based out of jealousy and insecurity. Critics are weak people. Those who find offense will always find it until they shift their thinking and practice Kingdom principles.

God's Kingdom is not like America. Its exactly the opposite. 

May we come alive in what it means to be mature in God's kingdom. May we encourage one another. May we hear from God and know how to release a timely word!

O My Soul

I am learning to trust at deeper levels. I am growing in my dependance upon God as a Father. I am surviving and navigating through tough times right now.

As I remember something King David practiced I am encouraged and I have discovered this to be a weapon in battle times as well.

All throughout the Psalms there is this phrase "O My Soul" that is repeated again and again. Each time the writer is speaking directly to his own soul. Listen to some of these statements from scripture.

Psalm 42.5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 62.5-6 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

Psalm 103.1-3 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

Psalm 103.22 Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Psalm 104.35 But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD.

Psalm 116.7-8 Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling,

Psalm 146.1-3 Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.

It has been powerful for me to reflect upon these scriptures. To reflect and do likewise. I have actually been speaking to my own soul just like we have read about. There is something powerful about speaking to yourself, to your own soul. Commanding it to remember the goodness of God our Father. It sets a different rhythm. It wars against hell itself. The enemy always wants to target our weakest areas, the places we are most vulnerable. I have found it to be a weapon but that is secondary. The very practice of speaking to your soul actually aligns your thinking to match back up with the way God desires for us to think. So its primary function aligns our heart, mind, soul with the Father's desire.

When we live aligned with God there is no force in hell that can take us out.

A great song by Kristene Mueller called Praise The Lord has been very refreshing to listen to today. Thanks to Bud and Angie Holdcroft for lending me this album.

Are You Man Enough

No matter what circumstance you might find yourself going through, if you are man enough to live like this you will never be shaken again.

Listen to the heart of these actions. Actions that must be born in us from a deep level of passion. As new identity emerges along with it comes new actions. Here they are:

Walking blameless.

Doing what is right.

Speaking truth.

No slander on your tongue.

Do your neighbor no wrong.

Cast no slur on your fellow man.

Despise a vile man.

Honor those who love God.

Keep your oath even when it hurts.

Lend money without taking advantage of people.

Do not accept a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things will never be shaken.

No matter what circumstance you are experiencing. If you live in this manner you will only have one audience and that is the very one who breathed life into you. Jesus lived this way and he invites us to do the same. We screw it up all the time. But our pursuit must be to be men and women who display the very heart of God. As we transform and are renewed again and again the Spirit of God enables us to live as Christ. 

I've screwed it up a thousand times. But my heart is to repent and pursue the living God. In doing so his kingdom emerges and transforms us into new creatures where the old ways of living are dead and behold there is a new man walking the earth. A new man with a new identity. A new government and authority to conquer!

These thoughts come from Psalm 15.

We will be discussing this over the next few days!

Day 11 - Raise the Dead

Blog Post by Matt Dermody. One of the Warriors at The Grove!

The LORD reminded me of a song me and my old band, Send Benjamin, were working on years ago...the central theme was about recognizing being spiritually dead in some areas of our lives and by confessing those areas, we become alive in Christ again.  

Raise The Dead

Callousness has come and stopped the beating heart

Selfishness fills the void, but leaves an empty hole

We the victims of our inhumanity

We need the help of God to come revive our souls

Our razor tongue cuts the throat with brazen lies

Sin comes, pollutes the air and chokes our lungs of breath

We the victims of our man-made tragedy

We need the help of God to bring us back from death

Trapped in this coffin called life so ordinary

Locked in this paradox known as the status quo

We the victims of our own complacency

We need the help of God to let the prisoners go

Raise the dead, let the life re-enter

Raise the dead, let the light open our eyes

Wake from eternal slumber

No longer six feet under

Come on and open our eyes, let us arise.

Day 9 - Valiant Warriors Arise and Conquer

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, valiant warrior.

But in this very moment Gideon and his nation are crushed under Midian. The very last thought on his mind had anything to do with being mighty. So Gideon's reply is, "If the Lord is with us then why has all this happened? Were are his wonders we have been told about?"

Gideon continues to doubt... He needs proof that it really is God calling him mighty and asking him to deliver the nation from Midian.

Gideon actually doubts many times, he needs proof at every encounter of this story. God never rebukes him for this desire of proof. God is patient with him and even works with all the requests from Gideon.

Sometimes when you have been oppressed for a long time, its hard to believe anything good about yourself or the future.

I can identify with the words, if the Lord is with us then WHY has all this happened to us? What a great question. Very real and authentic. What does God do? As a Father he loves Gideon and encourages him every step of the way.

Before Gideon even encounters this angel something very important happened. The people cried out to the Lord. And he heard them... thus the encounter with Gideon.

There are so many things to take away form this piece of history. We will be writing about it all this week.

We asked the men of The Grove to come on stage last Sunday. We filled the entire stage with men and we asked them to cry out to the Lord. We asked them to search their hearts and see if there is anything that needs to be dealt with anything that needs to be torn down. At the same time we asked the women of The Grove to come up front and declare blessings over the men as they cried out.

What a powerful moment it was, God broke into the situation. Women were releasing blessing over the men. Just like God did through the angel to Gideon. The angel said, "The Lord is with you valiant warrior." He spoke blessing and reality over Gideon even before Gideon saw it for himself.

At one moment the ladies were so loud and as the men heard their blessing on them I saw men cry and break free. One of our ladies went even further and rose above everyone verbally as she was led by the Spirit. She poured it on and spoke such fierce truth. I could see men being encouraged. 

Then one of our men heard from God and coached all the men to cry out freedom. Yeah the same cry for freedom in the movie Braveheart. So the men cried out together in a LOUD voice FREEDOM!

The Holy Spirit was at work Sunday. We are entering into a new season. A new day at The Grove. I have had this phrase on my mind for a few days and I can see it happening now. A seed must go into the ground and die before it can produce life. In so many ways I identify with that phrase. The Grove has died to its own strength and now the Father is leading us in new life! It's a new season for us my friends.

I believe that God is giving us strategy to launch a men's movement within The Grove. Valiant warriors, arise and conquer! We must advance the Kingdom as one unit.

Day 5 - When do we repent?

This is a brief thought I have had recently. Obviously we repent when we have sinned. But it motivates me to look at it in two layers.

First repentance is a prayer, a conversation where I pour my heart out to God and express sorrow and ask for forgiveness.

Second, I can also look at repentance as the act of turning from sin at temptation. An act that keeps us from sinning.

To repent is to turn. So we turn after a fall but we can also turn before a fall. Both are turning.

Day 4 - T'shuva

I think we need to camp on the word T'shuva for a few days. In english it means repent. We talked about it earlier but I feel that the Lord wants us to soak it in.

T'shuva means to return, so when we repent we are returning.

The true journey in Christ is full of course corrections called repentance. Only the humble repent.

Let's talk about T'shuva.

When we repent, what does that mean? What imagery can we use to illustrate it? To what are we returning? How does this impact our mind, body and soul?

Let's discuss and inspire each other.

Day 3 - Own It

Nehemiah is weeping over the trouble he sees with God's people. As he prays he enters into confession of sin and wickedness. He repents for his people, his ancestors, and even himself for all the sin and wickedness they have committed.

So today let's own our sin and wickedness for ourselves, our people and our ancestors. Father we repent and we are sorry for...

Nehemiah also remembers that God is a covenant God. So he remembers the covenant of love that had been established. That if we return and obey the beautiful commands of God he will gather us and bring us to a dwelling he has chosen for his name.

So today we need to focus on owning our sin and wickedness. But also remember the covenant of love. Our covenant is a new covenant, Jesus paid for it on the cross. He paid for you on the cross, so that you could freely enter into God's throne in your time of need. Even when there seems to be no need we can enter and spend time with our Father. 

The word repent in hebrew actually means to return. Return to the one who redeems, the one who loves you!

Day 2 - What Causes You to Weep?

When Nehemiah heard these things...

He heard that those who survived the exile where in great trouble and that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down with its gates burned.

He weeps over the ridicule of God's people.

When we look at the current status of the church are there any reasons to weep? The church being God's people. Do you see anything in the church as a whole that is broken down and not what God intends for it to be?

I think we see plenty, based on all the church critics out there.

But Jesus gave his life for the church which is his bride and I pray that we are moved to weeping instead of criticizing. I am guilty of being a church critic. Let's be honest, there is plenty to pick on. But true faith motivates us to action or it is no faith at all.

It takes no real gift to see the faults of the church. But when we are broken over the ridicule we see in the church it changes everything...

Day 1 - Earnestly I Seek You

O God, you are my God!

That's how David writes. Take a minute and meditate on this, even shout it if you prefer!

No matter what is going on in my life, God is always my God or better read he is always my Father.

Earnestly I seek you;

My soul thirsts for you,

My body longs for you,

in a dry and weary land

where there is no water.

This type of pursuit of God goes far beyond our circumstances. It does not hang on the conditions of our current emotional state, on whether or not I feel like exalting God. I have learned alot today from this verse.

Just this one verse can change the dynamic of our families and marketplaces. Even when we gather on Sundays at The Grove, what would our time be like if everyone came because they where earnestly seeking God? Because there soul was thirsty for God's love in a dry and weary land? 

How would this change a marriage? If both husband and wife were earnestly seeking God together. How would it transform our children? How about the lost world all around us? What if they saw a church genuine and authentically seeking God with a deep longing and thirst?