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Jake Hamilton, a Jesus Culture music artist, recently released his first CD.  If you haven't heard it, he plays harder rock that's all about falling in love with God and bringing revival.  Above all, the song that speaks the most to me is titled "The Anthem."

Each generation has a choice.  Many choices.  Ultimately, we can choose to leave a greater spiritual inheritance for those that follow us, or to fall farther away from God.  As for my generation - for me - I want us to fall back to a place of pure worship for our King, and to bring personal and corporate revival.  I want our generation to shake entire nations.  To win entire nations for God!  This is not easy.  I'm convinced that following God is the hardest thing anyone can do on this earth.  In order to do this, we need to wake up out of religious complacency and spiritual death!  Romans 13 tells us to know the time - the hour has come for us to wake from our sleep.

So let's focus on the first commandment.  Love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might.  Run at a full sprint and don't stop.  Be more afraid of rotting out from complacency than burning out from running too hard.  This is the one thing that matters.  There is no greater commandment.  And so it goes - This is the anthem of our generation, here we are God, shake our nation!

The Anthem

I can hear the footsteps of my King
I can hear His heartbeat beckoning
In my darkness He has set me free
And now I hear the Spirit calling me

He's calling wake up child it's your turn to shine
You were born for such a time as this
He's calling wake up child it's your turn to shine
You were born for such a time as this
Such a time as this

And I can hear a holy rumbling
I've begun to preach another King
Loosing chains and breaking down the walls
I want to hear the Father when He calls

He's calling wake up child it's your turn to shine
You were born for such a time as this!
(x4)
Such a time as this

This is the anthem of our generation
Here we are God, shake our nation!
All we need is your love,
You captivate me!
(x4)

I am royalty, I have destiny,
I have been set free, I'm gonna shape history!
(x8)

I'm gonna change the world! (x7)

Lyrics are copyright Jake Hamilton

I've been thinking a lot about God's gifts lately.  Yes, the spiritual gifts described in scripture, but also every other gift He gives us.  Specifically, I've been thinking about gifts we ask for.

I've been going through a lot of change lately - positive change.  I've come to realize how important it is for me to understand the Father's great love for me, and to learn to love Him more as a result of that revelation.  It's really all that matters.  I've come to understand that because of His great love for us, He loves to give gifts!

As I've been spending time thinking about the gifts that God gives us, I have been pondering the gifts He's given me, as well as the gifts that He has given people I know.  Which of these gifts were given without asking, and which of these gifts did I or a brother or sister of mine ask for?

As I began to think about specifically asking for gifts, God told me something that I believe to be extremely important.  He showed me that people I know, some of whom I am very close to, as well as myself, have a painful feeling of guilt when we ask God for gifts.  "It's selfish," we might say.  "How could God possibly want to heal my small headache or slight cold?  It's selfish to ask for something like that when there are people with so much more need in this world.  I could be praying for them instead of asking God for things for myself!"

I completely understand this.  You see, God showed me that the reason we feel guilty about asking for things from other people is because when they give to us they end up with less, by the standards of this world.  I don't know about you, but I sometimes feel guilty asking someone to give me something, because it means they have less (again, by this world's standards).  Because our relationships with people influence us so greatly, we ask things of God in the only way we know - thinking He has less when He gives to us.

Here's the kicker: when God gives us gifts, He does not have less as a result; He has more.  The reason for this is simple.  God is a giver of good gifts, and only gifts that benefit His Kingdom.  So when He gives us a gift, it benefits His Kingdom and He actually gains by giving away.  This is how the economy in the Kingdom works.  Jesus tells us that we may only keep our life if we have lost it first, and that we may only keep what we have given away.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:7-11

"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." Luke 9:24

The reason we feel bad "taking" free gifts from God is because we have not yet accepted the spirit of adoption.  The spirit of adoption says that we are adopted children of God.  We are part of His family and have authority in His household.

If a family adopts a child and they have not yet accepted that adoption to mean that they are indeed a full part of that family, they are likely to ask permission to do simple things around the household such as grabbing some food out of the fridge.  But if you have adopted children who know that they are part of the family, and you've just gone to the store to buy a dozen yogurts, they will have no problem raiding the fridge and eating every last one.  This is because they know they have authority in the household, because they are a part of the family.  The yogurt is in their fridge which is in their household, so they know it is for them.  This authority is more difficult to understand, accept, and walk in, for adopted children than for children born into the family.  But if we know we dwell in the house of the Lord, why do we have a problem even getting a small snack from the fridge?

The Father of Heaven loves to give gifts abundantly to His children.  He finds pure joy and gains the gift when He gives it away!  Gift-giving in the Kingdom of God does not make sense to this world.  How can you give a gift (and appear to be losing the gift when you give it away), but actually receive as a result?  That's how the Kingdom works.  Never feel guilty asking for gifts from God.  He has an endless supply of yogurt to give - He created it, after all!  Ask away - just remember that there is a difference between wanting and asking!

Pouring out love

It's been an exciting few months of 2009 - God has been showing up more and more as many of us have been seeking him with more passion as He reveals His great love to us.  We've been experiencing breakthrough on so many levels, corporately and personally!

I want to share some stories of what God did here last week.  I am in continued amazement!

Heaven opened up

Last Friday, as we gathered as a community to seek God, He showed up in many ways that are difficult to describe.  People on our campus were saved, healed, and set free as God's hand reached down to us from heaven!

It all started during our pre-service prayer gathering.  There is a group of people (about 7 of us) that are on the "official" prayer team.  We offer people prayer up front after CCF on Friday nights.  We begin by meeting from 5-6pm to pray and worship.  At 6pm, one to two bible study groups (we call them cores) join us for our pre-service prayer.  As the prayer team, we're privileged to have the opportunity to minister to the cores that come.  We long to see them have a deep encounter with God and to experience an outpouring of His love!

After some worship near the beginning of the prayer meeting, someone from the prayer team felt a small nudge from the Holy Spirit.  He asked if anyone in the room recently injured their right ankle.  One girl said she sprained her right ankle recently and was going to ask for prayer that night when she came to the pre-service prayer.  What a coincidence (but not really)!  A couple people prayed for her, and she got completely healed!  She was also able to overcome some nervousness and share the testimony with our community of about 400 people later that night.  Praise God!

Later, during CCF, a few people from the prayer team shared words of knowledge during the closing worship - promptings by the Spirit to call people out of the group to receive prayer for specific healing.  There were specific words shared for people with pain in the right side of the jaw, a left wrist injury, someone feeling a spiritual "block", and maybe even more (I got caught up in praying for people!).  Right after I shared a couple words, I wasn't able to pray fast enough for people that were coming down.  At least four people came down with jaw pain, all from recent wisdom tooth removal or pain due to lack of wisdom tooth removal.  One person with a tweaked left wrist also came down for prayer, as well as people with spiritual "blocks", a person with stomach pain, and people seeking prayer for other things!

Let me backtrack just a bit - as I was holding the microphone, waiting for another brother to finish sharing something, I felt the presence of God come upon me more powerfully than ever before.  My right leg started shaking.  Not violently - more like twitching and giving out every once in a while.  The Spirit and love of God was so thick in the room.  You could feel it.  Everyone we prayed for expressed partial (some seemed to be very surprised!) or full healing!  We also had a few people baptized in the Spirit on Friday, as well as about 7-10 people saved in the last two weeks!  Glory to God!

God is certainly moving in this place.  I can't express my excitement of what is yet to come!

This is an incredible song written by Jenn Johnson.  Right now it is my prayer, with a focus on the first verse.  God, what can I do for you?  What can I give to you?  What kind of song would you like me to sing?  Show me, O Lord, and I will follow you.  I will only do and say what I see you do and hear you speak.  My entire life is yours.

A little longer
w/m by: Jenn Johnson

What can I do for you
What can I give to you
What kind of song would you like me to sing
I’ll dance a dance for you
I’ll pour out my love to you
What can I give to you beautiful king

Cause I can’t thank you enough
I can’t thank you enough

Then I hear you sing to me
You don’t have to do a thing 
Just simply be with me and let those things go
It can wait another minute
Wait this moment is too sweet please stay here with me
And love on me a little longer
Cause I’m in love with you

I recently spent eight days in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, spreading the gospel for Christ.  It is an area of the city that is less than one square mile in size, with approximately 30,000 residents.  The population density in 2000 was nearly 45,000 people per square mile.  It has a very large homeless population and is known for its diversity and very high crime.  Just in this month, March of 2009, there have been at least four shootings.

As I settled in for the week and hit the streets, God broke my heart for His people.  I longed for them to know Him.  Although they suffered in the flesh, I hoped that they could all see, perceive, hear, and understand the good news that God had for them.  Throughout the week, I struggled with many things that the enemy was trying to speak to me.  It ranged from the enemy trying to bring me down with struggles happening in my personal life, to him speaking to me that I had no place ministering to those in the city and that it wasn't what I was made for.

As the week went on, the struggles continued.  But satan suffered huge blows and suffering when fears of mine were broken and I was able to preach the gospel to hundreds of God's children.  Urban ministry isn't quite what I had expected.  What did I expect?  I couldn't really say for sure.  It was different, which I had expected.  Seeing as clear as day some of the extreme needs that people have such as housing and food was a constant reminder of who my real provider is.  If you simply walked down the street with a box of food, the interest of those around you would be piqued in no time at all; something as simple as food, which I take for granted every meal.

Will God call me long term to the inner city someday?  Sure, it's possible.  He certainly called me there for a week, why couldn't He call me there longer?  There's a reason I was on this trip (many, I'm sure).  In the Tenderloin, He did great works in my heart when I wasn't even realizing it.  I look at things a bit differently now.  I'm sure God will use this trip to change my heart well into the future.  But if it's one thing He's changed already, it's that I'm ready.  When He calls, I will answer.  No matter the cost.  No matter the discomfort.  No matter the difficulty.  I will follow Him wherever He leads - into the darkest city in the world, to the most uncomfortable bed, to the least amount of money.  Here am I!  Lord, send me.

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"  Then I said, "Here am I!  Send me."  And he said, "Go, and say to this people…"  Isaiah 6:8-9

There was recently an article posted on Daily Mail about a place called Gobekli Tepe.  Gobekli Tepe was discovered by a Kurdish man in the rolling plains of Turkey in the summer of 1994.  The site, described by some as the most important archaeological site in the world, is believed to be the possible location of the Garden of Eden found in the story of Genesis.  The site contains many large stone pillars with carvings on them.

In Genesis, the Garden of Eden is said to lie where four rivers meet.  It is widely accepted that two of these rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates.  Gobekli Tepe lies between both of these rivers.

Is this the true location of the Garden of Eden?  I don't think anybody is sure, but the topic is still very fascinating to learn about, realizing that there is always the possibility it could indeed be the place where Adam and Eve once lived in the garden .

Gobekli Tepe on Wikipedia.

It's pretty clear that when it comes to giving, many people would rather keep things to themselves.  So, it is easy to understand that when someone is fundraising for some type of charitable donation that people are much more likely to "donate" when they get something in return.  A few examples include bake sales, car washes, benefit banquets, etc.  This is understandable in the secular world - we are so caught up in materialism that it is difficult to be a giver when we don't immediately (if ever) see a return on our investment.

But take a step outside of the secular world for a moment, and step into the greater Kingdom.  We are called to be givers, so why do bake sales and other fundraisers work so well even within the church?  Do we finally realize how bad those raising funds need them, and take the cookies or washed car because it's offered, or is what we get in return really an incentive to lure us into giving?  I know I'm guilty of wanting the baked goods.  Yes, I could have given to a cause weeks ago, but now there is pie!  If I give money I get the pie, and justify the high cost because it's going to a good cause.  But that's something that isn't right in my heart.  I wasn't in it for the giving, I was in it for the pie.  This isn't the kind of cheerful giving God wants.  Is it possible to cheerfully give, and accept something in return which is ultimately lowering the amount of your donation?  I'm not convinced a truly generous church needs to have fundraisers.  But, we are imperfect.  How do we become more generous givers, giving away what has first been given to us?

“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."  (Matthew 6:2-4)

When Jesus was with his disciples in Gethsemane, He gave some of the most valuable instruction in the history of the world.  It's easy to read these verses and write them off as something you're familiar with, but I'd like to suggest that within them there is something often overlooked that holds tremendous value and importance.

Jesus In Gethsemane

Watch and Pray

Onething08, a youth conference organized by IHOP (International House of Prayer), recently came to a close in Kansas City, MO.  During the final session in the four day conference, one of the speakers, Stuart Greaves, was encouraged by Lou Engle to share a troubling story.  Unfortunately, this is an example of one of the possible outcomes when we don't obey God's Spirit when it prompts us to do something.

The Story

Stuart has a good friend that owns an apartment complex.  His friend was leaving town and asked Stuart to take some time off work to watch his complex, so he agreed.  While he was working at the complex, a man of middle eastern decent approached him and asked him for help with a washer and dryer.

"Sure, I can help you with that," Stuart said.

While assisting the man with the washer and dryer, he felt a stirring in his spirit and sensed that he needed to share the gospel with him.  However, he remembered of a book he recently read that said all you need to do is be consistently friendly to Muslims and they will eventually ask you questions about your faith.  In the current day, he now strongly dislikes the book.  He let it get the best of him and he passed on sharing the gospel with the man on that day.

Later, while reading scripture, he came across a passage in Acts that greatly convicted him, where Paul says that he is innocent of the blood of all men because he has not hesitated to share the entire will of God with them.

Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.  (Acts 20:26-27)

This scripture is saying that if we are hesitant to share the gospel with someone that does not know it, then we are responsible for their blood on our day of judgment.

Even after this passage convicted him, he watched a Bible video on Acts sometime later.  The same passage came up and it convicted him yet again.

He later found out that after his friend had returned to his apartment complex, it was swarmed with many police.

"There was a terrorist staying in my complex," his friend told him.

It turns out, the terrorist was the man that Stuart did not share the gospel with on that day.  He went to a nearby gun shop and purchased a gun, taking it to the Empire State Building.  He shot and killed six people that day before turning the gun on himself.

Stuart said that he will never forget that man's face.

Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

How does God speak to you?  What keeps us from hearing God?  I'm sure there could be a million different things that could get in the way of us hearing God, but all of these things center around the same problem: thorns.  Thorns prevent us from hearing God.  In Mark chapter 4, we are told that three things choke the word: cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in.

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." (Mark 4:3-8, NKJV)

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;  and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” (Mark 4:13-20, NKJV)

Cares of this world are things that are often necessary for life in the societies we live in.  These things include school and work.  These are not bad things.  However, they can become a large hindrance if we get so wrapped up in them that we forget about the most important thing of all; a relationship with Christ.  Often times the cares of this world can invade our lives so much that these things become a drug to us.  We can become addicted to busyness.  We end up having a life jam-packed full of things to do, yet somehow it doesn't seem like much of a life.

The deceitfulness of riches is related much to our trust in God.  If we let riches deceive us, we ultimately lack trust in God and believe that our big screen TV, trip to Hawaii, or brand new car will somehow satisfy us greater than any non-material possession that God could give us.  We couldn't be more wrong.  Growing up in a materialistic culture, this is exceptionally hard to grasp.  We would much rather have mediocre instant gratification than the greatest prize of all that we cannot yet see.

The desires for other things can be defined as anything that distracts us from a purposeful relationship with Christ.  Often times these things can be sinful, but they are certainly not limited to sin.  An addiction to television, sports, business or any other thing lacking an eternal purpose can be just as distracting from God as an addiction to drugs can be.  We simply cannot keep living day to day focusing on the future, believing that some day we'll change.  The time is never later, the time is always now.  Each day we let pass where we don't create some kind of eternal purpose is a day lost in this world.

By far, the biggest reason we have difficulty hearing God is that we're not listening, or we have selective hearing.  It's absolutely crucial that we build a daily relationship with Christ.  Everything else in our lives flows out of the health of that relationship.  We have a choice to make.  Live life without Christ, or live life for and with Him.  If we choose the latter, we must be fully committed and fight the good fight.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. (1 Timothy 11-16, NIV)