Life, Light, and Pressure

Thanks for your prayers.

This year
the twelve days of Christmas
symbolic of the Kingdom of God coming into the earth;
and the eight days of Hanukkah,
the feast of the Dedication of the Temple:
a repeat of Sukkot, the feast of God dwelling with us,
are happening at the same time.

The Lord whom you seek
will suddenly come to his temple
and he will purify the Sons of Levi.
God is with us.
The Word became flesh,
the true light has come into the world.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness cannot overcome it.

This is also the last Friday of 2024.
Normally I write an email to recap the year,
recount how much growth
and increase has happened
and share some of my hopes and dreams for Belonging House.

2024 was a year of intense pressure,
challenges
and changes in me.

And as a great writer has said,
Your inner life determines your creative output.
I wrote a book that is getting
impressive reviews on Amazon.

In 2006 God said "leave the old ministry model behind."
And he would show us a new way to do ministry.
Part of the new way is going open source.
And some of the new way is finding a way to fund Belonging House
that is not the old non-profit model
and not commercial Christianity.

I have been on my knees
crying out for wisdom.

Pressure changes you,
and that change produces
a new anointing,
a new focus,
and new fruit.
The fruit of the Spirit
never goes bad.

One thing is really clear:
our culture has no leaders.
Recent events have revealed all the folks with
"cred" in the Christian arts world
aren't leading,
but following.

Once upon a time
Christians did not respond to the culture,
they made it.
This year
I am focusing
my efforts on raising up
forerunning tough artists
who can go into crumbling
institutions and systems
and begin rebuilding.
We are promised
that the Kingdoms of this world
will become the Kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ.

We are called to build a throne for Jesus
in the earth,
a place where he sits
where he rests,
and where he rules and reigns.

Merry Christmas,
Happy Hanukkah,
and a Blessed New Year.