It was the summer of 2003. Some international friends and I
were having dinner and a wonderful time of fellowship when we ventured into a
very fascinating conversation about what we saw God doing in the world at that
time. We all knew that it was a divinely led conversation, as we could feel the
exhilaration of revelation. As we talked about what the Lord was doing in the
nations, the Church, and the media, I was trying to find words to describe and
sum up our discussion when I spoke out one small phrase that I will never
forget. I said this, "What I believe God is getting ready to do globally
is connect the Renaissance with the Harvest."
When I said this, it was like some kind of heavenly
electricity hit us, and it felt as if the Lord was saying, "OK, now you’re
really on to something!" We were hit with the immeasurable power of these
words, "Connect the Renaissance with the Harvest." Not only do I
believe that I will never forget these few words, but I also believe I will
spend the rest of my days laboring to see the great phenomenon of this divine
connection come into fullness in the nations. We are about to ride a wave of
God's Spirit like never before! (I will explain later what I mean by the term
"wave.")
Now, when I speak of the Renaissance, I speak of a second
great Renaissance that is coming. It will be a modern-day renaissance that will
dramatically revolutionize the world in a fashion similar to the first
Renaissance of the 15th century, which awakened and transformed the world. The
word renaissance literally means "the revival or the rebirth of the
arts." There is one great difference between this second wave and the
first one and it is this, this time around: the rebirth of the arts will result
in bringing great honor and glory to God and eternal benefit to mankind.
The first Renaissance was indeed revolutionary in every way.
Nearly every part of society was changed on a global scale, and although there
was much good that came out of this rebirth (or revival) of arts and of
learning, not all of the change that transpired was for good! The enemy got in,
as he does so well, and twisted things for his own glory. Although there
certainly was an explosion of inspiration and progress in the arts, literature,
science and culture, a sad and lasting result of the first Renaissance is that
"man" got stuck on himself. Instead of giving praise and glory to
God, men became enamored with themselves, much like Lucifer did when he tried
to eclipse the glory of God and attempted his failed mutiny in heaven. The celebration
of man's intellect, creativity and progress became the central driving force of
the movement and the end product was a very devastating thing that has now come
to be known as "humanism."
Humanism is a demonically inspired philosophy and way of life
that has penetrated virtually every aspect of western society. This exceedingly
egocentric perspective that excludes God has literally swept the globe with
devastatingly harmful consequences. However, this soon-coming second
Renaissance will bring great glory to God, and the extraordinary result will be
that multitudes of souls will experience God's goodness and will be swept into
the Kingdom of heaven.
Personally, I have already spent the last 10 years of my life
working hard to see the Renaissance and the Harvest come together. This has
certainly not been an easy task because, for all our effort, although
multitudes of spiritual seeds have been sown, there has been small success that
we have been able to see with our eyes. However, every time these worlds have
connected, the spiritual impact has been absolutely explosive. I have had a
glorious and unrelenting vision of what is going to happen when these two
worlds converge! When these two complementary realms are rightly linked, their
spiritual fruitfulness will be off the scale! The uniting of these realms will
produce the catalyst to one of the greatest evangelism movements the world has
ever seen, the Harvest! The time is now!
THE HARVEST
When I speak of the Harvest, I speak of the unprecedented Harvest,
the salvation of souls which will come at the end of the Age. This great
Harvest is now at hand! We can literally just reach out and touch it. There is
presently a massive change transpiring in the Christian music and arts
communities of the world. There is a new day dawning and we are coming out of
the darkness of both our selfish motives and the confusing, awkward, and tragic
mixture of worldly ways blended with the ways of the Kingdom.
In far too many cases, the past era was about sales (money),
but the future is going to be about souls (the true treasures of heaven). There
is a new bottom line being put into place in multitudes of creative people's
hearts, and it is this - a burning desire for God's highest glory and an
undying compassion for the supreme benefit of mankind, the salvation of souls
through Jesus Christ. Many are receiving and cultivating these new motives that
now dictate and fuel all that they do.
For decades now, the devil has been working overtime trying to
keep these two worlds apart. And, in reality, up until this point, he has done
a good job of keeping them quite polarized. He has been trying to keep
musicians and artists all wrapped up in themselves - seeking worldly
recognition and success and therefore in a perpetual state of confusion. I will
now prophetically use a southern American phrase that pronounces exactly what
is about to happen, "things are fixin' to change!" Now is the time!
Countless creative people are currently being loosed from the
torment of confusion, insecurity and the pride and are being infused with
Kingdom vision and values. As they are denying selfishness they are receiving
God’s merciful heart for other, especially compassion for the poor and for the
lost. They are the Lord’s vanguard and He is personally preparing them for such
a time as this. They will help lead the Church out of compromise and
complacency and back into the frontlines of the battle for souls… the Harvest!
NOT OF THIS WORLD
It is important that we first realize why the devil has been
so effective in keeping the creative people (and the majority of the Western
Church, for that matter) so incredibly disconnected from the Harvest. The
primary reason is because we, the Church, haven't been ready for the Harvest.
We have not had a heart for harvest as we should because we have loved this
world. 1 John tells us why a love for the world absolutely obliterates our love
and passion for the Lord and therefore the Harvest. "Do not love the world
or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is
not in him." (1 John 2:15) We have been entangled and encumbered with the
world. We have been of the world and not in it when our Father has called us to
be in it, but not of it. We as believers are not to be of the world any more
than our Lord Jesus was!
The sad reality is that we have not been crucified to the
world, but rather we have been enamored and enticed by it. We keep getting
lured and dragged away by the deceitfulness of riches, lustful pleasures, and
the worries of this world. God has called us to come away from, and to be
separate from, Babylon - the world's system and values. There must again be a
dramatic distinction between the world and the Church or there will be no
significant Kingdom advancement to speak of in our day. Praise God that we are
in a day when many are getting set free from the bondages and hindrances of the
past and are being healed and positioned for the frontline action of the
Kingdom.
Another reason why we have not been effective is because a
spiritual Harvest is just like a harvest in the natural in that they are
certainly both joyful times of reaping, but they also both require plain old
hard work. The Lord sends "workers" into the Harvest, but, as a
whole, the rich western Church has been remarkably complacent, self-absorbed,
and just plain lazy. Yet the Lord is requiring much from us who have been
entrusted with so much. He is rising up a new standard of people who are
willing to be living sacrifices. These are a peculiar people who are not afraid
to sweat, suffer, and lay down their entire lives for the King and His
purposes.
We are now entering into a season where we are going to begin
to see this divinely ordained connection of Renaissance and Harvest happen
before our eyes - on a global scale! The best news is that we all can be a part
of it. God's people are getting ready to get profoundly creative and
compassionate at the same time! So what will this look like?
THE RECENT WORSHIP REVOLUTION
Over the past ten years, there has been an extraordinary
worldwide worship revolution that has swept the Church. In many cases, it has
literally swept the Church clean. And this cleansing was greatly needed. Many
of God’s people have been purified, healed and refreshed through this newly vivified
worship as they looked to Him.
For many of the Church's young generation, extravagant worship
is now a normal part of Christian life. This was not the case just over a
decade ago. In many circles, especially in circles of musicians, worship was a secondary
form of creativity that was best left for Sunday mornings, and we were happy to
leave it there because that meant that we only had to endure it for one or two
hours a week. It was amazingly uninspired, uncreative, and just plain boring.
My, how things have changed, and are continuing to change! The Church is fast
moving from drab conformity and cheap imitations to colorful originality that
is fueled by divine revelation and inspiration!
This powerful resurgence of worshipful creativity has caused
people to look up again. God is getting our attention and our affection once
again. People are experiencing God's presence on an entirely new dimension and
the result has been that multitudes have fallen deeply in love with the Lord.
We have already tasted some of the first fruits of this blessed revolution, and
with the next, larger wave of the Spirit that is coming, there will be
unprecedented fruitfulness and unspeakable joy - for there will be Harvest!
THE DEVIL'S WORST NIGHTMARE
The devil is completely terrified of these two worlds coming
together, and he well should be, because it is a sign of his end. There is an
outbreak of heartfelt adoration and divine creativity that is now rising up
among believers around the world. The devil cannot stop this wildfire from
burning because it is fueled by the very winds of the Spirit of God Himself. So
his next best strategy has been to try to contain it. Where has he tried to
contain it? In the church, of course! Most of this worship revolution has, so
far, been in-house - in the Church! It has touched us but it has barely touched
our culture yet. And that is one place that the devil doesn't want this fire to
spread - into society and the massive Harvest fields of the world!
Renaissance and Harvest coming together is like the combining
of spiritual nitro and glycerin. It will be extremely explosive! The devil has
used his lethal weapons of perverted creativity on us, but this time it will
most certainly blow up in his face and many will be set free! He will try his
best to stop this great uprising, but he cannot stop it. This is what the
Spirit of God is now doing in every nation. I believe that there is a
groundswell of true worshipping warriors rising up from every nation.
A TIDAL WAVE OF CREATIVE COMPASSION
There is a new wave coming! This wave represents a mighty move
of God's Holy Spirit in the earth. I asked the Lord what this wave looks like
and He has shown me that it is actually two great waves that, once combined,
will make one enormous one. This one great wave that is the result of these two
spiritual tidal waves presently merging together is called Creative Compassion.
This speaks of the God’s creativity and the love being released in the earth
like never before. Creative Compassion is, in essence, the Renaissance and the
Harvest.
Knowing that the waves of God's Spirit come through His
people, I asked the Lord who would be the ones who could ride (or be part of)
this awesome wave. And then I saw a vision of what looked like many surfers who
were boldly running into the waters straight toward this awesome wave. As I
looked closer into the vision I noticed something amazing. These surfers were
not carrying surfboards; rather, they were carrying crosses!
Then the Lord spoke, "These will be the only ones who
will be able to fully ride this coming wave. These are my crucified ones who
truly carry their crosses. They are the ones that will have what it will take
to ride the wave because they have denied themselves and they daily choose the
way of the cross. They have turned from selfish ambition and worldly success
and they now live only for me, my purposes and glory. Because they have not
tried to save their lives, I have crowned them with the life that is truly
life. This life that they have carries my creativity. I am with them and I have
anointed them for such a time as this. I have been looking for a humble people
who I can exalt and I have found these dead ones, these living sacrifices, who
I will lift up for my glory by the great wave of my Spirit that is coming to
all nations. The cross that they have chosen has prepared them for Resurrection
life - the ride of their lives."
"Many others with selfish motives will try to ride it and
will not be able to." The Lord paused for a moment and then He spoke again
with the sound of great concern in His voice. "Some who will try to ride
this wave will be crushed by it."
OUTREACH WILL BECOME ART-REACH!
There is a new phenomenon that is about to be introduced into
the Church and into this world. It is called "Artreach." What exactly
is Artreach? Artreach is outreach, or evangelism, that is all wrapped up in
divine creativity. In this next era of the Church, Artreach will be the main
way that the gospel message will be transmitted to the lost. God is going to
use Spirit-inspired creativity and extend it through His people to reach far
and wide throughout the entire earth. "For the earth will be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."
(Hab. 2:14)
Before the end of this age, this glorious scripture will
literally come true! For generations now, many believers have wondered and
tried to imagine just how this phenomenon of the "knowledge of the glory
of the LORD" covering the entire earth as comprehensively as water covers
the oceans could actually be realized. We live in an extraordinary day when we
will see this come to pass. Although they have been greatly contended for by
the enemy, technology and all the modern means of producing and projecting
media messages and creativity still belong to the Lord. Even though much of the
media has clearly been in a vice grip of the enemy, it will ultimately be used
for God's highest purposes and glory.
The Lord has convincingly revealed to me, as He has to many
others, that creativity is one of the primary vehicles that He is going to use
to carry the Good News to the ends of the earth. However, this creativity that
I speak of is no ordinary creativity. It is not earthly or carnal. It comes
from another place, a divine realm. It comes from a hidden and holy place. I am
not talking about the spectacular (which can be produced by natural talent),
but about supernatural inspiration that is generated by the Spirit of God. I am
talking about nothing less than Spirit-breathed creativity.
THE BATTLE FOR CREATIVITY
Jesus said that "Spirit gives birth to spirit." God
is the Supreme Creator. He is the Originator of all things and of all
creativity. Satan, however is an expert at stealing and perverting creative
gifts that have been given to men and women. This is one of the primary ways he
perpetuates his insidious propaganda to the nations. Regardless of how the
enemy has used (or is still using) music, television, the Internet, and movies
to completely pollute the nations, God desires to use this modern media as a
means of saving and sanctifying the nations. Sound and sight mediums have now
become the language of our times. The Spirit of the Lord will dispense His
glorious message of love and salvation to mankind with anointed creativity. The
devil may rant and rave and spew forth all kinds of demonic and sensual
creativity into the world, but God, the Creator, will have the final word on
all creativity!
We are coming into a time when God’s people are getting ready
to become invigorated and accelerated with Divine Creativity! The Holy Spirit
is busy working behind the scenes in many creative centers worldwide such as
Hollywood, Nashville, Austin, Belo Horzonte, Zurich, Berlin, Vancouver and many
more other renaissance centers. God is intent on redeeming the arts for the
purpose of reaching hearts. Now, when I say "the arts," I speak of
all forms of audio and visual media. The arts and media have become one of the
most important battlefields between light and darkness… and the good news is
the Light will dispel the darkness!
For decades now, the secular media has looked like a great
invincible giant, but we must remember that, although he was surely big and
intimidating, the pagan giant Goliath of the Bible was ultimately killed with
his own sword. This will be true of the media giants of our day. Satan has
relentlessly used the arts and media to ravage and pollute the nations with
very innovative ways of exporting immorality and humanism and blatant idolatry.
WORSHIPPING WARRIORS - GOD'S SPECIAL FORCES!
The giant spirits that control the media will soon be
challenged and ultimately taken down as God's uncompromising warriors
fearlessly rise up and fight for His honor. Many of God’s faithful ones are
about to be sent into the arenas of the media to destroy the works of the devil
by raising up the standard of Christ in all that they do. The Lord is currently
assembling His Special Forces that have been prepared through rigorous training
and even through great failure. They are coming forth in humility and
brokenness. The giants of our times will again be slain by their own swords
that will be wielded with great faith and strength by none other than the
Lord’s worshipping warriors. The devil is fast losing grip of his own sword,
the secular media and arts!
These divinely inspired ones will do things in unconventional
ways because they will be led by the Spirit of God and not by the limitations
of temporal success, fame or fortune. They will be a pure and peculiar people
who will desire the praise of God and not the praises of men. They will
understand that there are few things that stifle and kill divine creativity as
quickly as selfish ambition and self-promotion.
To the world they will, perhaps, appear weak, foolish and
small, but there is no doubt that they will be exceptionally prophetic and
anointed. They will do everything out of their passion for Jesus and compassion
for their fellow man. And this prophetic anointing that will rest upon their
lives will be powerful in crushing demonic yokes and strongholds and setting
captives free.
These "dead ones" will be people who are truly
convinced of the fact that, apart from the Lord, they can do nothing. They will
have an "unselfish ambition" that boldly and joyfully propels them
into their cultures. They will have a passion to bring the brightest and purest
light to the very darkest places. Because they will have pure motives, the Lord
will be free to entrust them with His pure creativity.
They will not be distracted, limited or prohibited by the ways
of the world because they will not be of this world. They will have come from a
transcend place, a hidden and holy place with God. They will be given divine
weapons that will demolish strongholds, even over entire nations. They will be
God specially equipped apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors
who just happen to play an instrument, or sing, or dance, or act, or write
creatively etc. They will be God’s Renaissance Harvesters… God’s last day
Special Forces! They will bring great glory to God, inflict great damage upon
the dark Kingdom, and set multitudes free!
Like David’s mighty men coming from the caves, the Renaissance
Harvesters are emerging now! They know who they are, they know their mission,
but most of all they know and love their King!
