Connective Communication

Anyone who has ever stood to sing, teach or preach has wondered: "Am I connecting?" "Do they hear me?" "Am I making sense?" Corporate communication is a desperate reach into the lives of the listeners; a call to response. It is a scary thing to get close enough to touch and be touched by a multitude of fellow-humans. Most will choose to shout out orders from a safe distance rather than physically/spiritually reach their hearers. If you've been involved in public communication for any amount of time at all you have found yourself standing in a phone booth on the moon trying to communicate with earth. The temptation is to think: "with enough technology, I can connect wether I'm in the room or not!!" On the opposite end of the spectrum ministers are saying: "Jesus never used multimedia bless God, and I don't need any either!!" Which one is right?? Neither!! While no amount of technology could ever replace the face to face, voice to ear impact of human communication, you should utilize the resources available to you.

But for a moment let's think beyond the pianos, PA systems and powerpoint projectors; there is a third element that we will never be successful without. I'll never forget my dad's words of advice that he gives me over and over: "Son!! Preach with PASSION!!" Recently I discovered what that word truly entails. Passion is the synergy of Spirit and flesh. It is the third element of cooperate ministry that may go unseen and unheard, but never goes unfelt. We can be talented, anointed, accurate and eloquent; but without connecting God with everyday life we will never make a lasting impact. Go to the moon of modernity if you like. Bury your head deep into the traditions earth of if you want. Nobody is going to care what we have to sing or say unless we live what we're singing and saying!! Unless we bridge the gap between God and Man with passionate communication the lost will never be saved.

"When is what people are and do off the stage going to matter more than what they are and do on the stage?" "When is Godly goodness going to be more important to us than human capability?" Hard questions aren't they!! Rahdona dumped these questions on me right in the middle of my youtube playlist of favorite guitar instrumentalist. Suddenly I had the urge to check into Tommy Emmanuel's background, beliefs and moral code.

But beyond that our conversation went into the realms of The Church. When is ministry's stage presence going to match its lifestyle? If my generation could pick one thing to hate it would be "FAKE"!! Hypocrisy drives the millennials mad. Duel voiced preachers will never minister to the sons and daughters. Student's aren't concerned so much with age as they are authenticity. Just in case you haven't noticed, "vintage" is "in"!! So come on elder!! Just preach to us!! If you're being real, we'll listen!!

"At some point Heaven has to become so overwhelming that all we think about is: how am I going to get there?" This is a cry, directly from the mouth of a millennial, for a vintage message that is more than a video clip and a sappy story. Without those pure passionate ministries that our grandparents cut their teeth on we'll constantly battle questions like this: "Is Heaven really a place that we want to go to, or is it just an idea that keeps us from thinking about Hell??" What are you going to teach and preach Sunday??

JRP

A Man Beyond His Generation

The following is an audio message presented by the late J.T. Pugh. There is little that I could say that has not already been expressed about his impact upon The Church. Truly his words are ringing out in the lives of everyone who heard his voice. As a minister, it will be worth your time to listen and apply his words to your calling into The Kingdom!!

http://www.4shared.com/file/249583099/31d7b5ce/Creative_Leadership__JT.html

Jason R. Pearcy

The Disease of The Ages

It seems that each generation suffers the fate of being despised by their predecessors. While the visionaries maintain a firm grasp upon their own identities they empower the youths with purpose and responsibility, the visionless fulfill their inferiority complexes as they withhold themselves from students. On the other hand it seems that each generation commits the crime of disdaining it's predecessors. The wisdom of the elders, enshrouded by tradition, is discarded by the youth being labeled as irrelevant. This is not a new problem, however generational envy and disdain has progressed further and faster than ever before. For the sake of understanding, let's label this problem as "Generational Segregation" (GS).

Organizations that ignore GS seal their own dismal fate while the organizations that have diagnosed and solved this problem are on the fast-track to transgenerational success. I have come to understand that most every successful technique is an interpretation of Biblical principle and this is certainly no exception.

First of all please understand that God is transgenerational: "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"(Matt. 22:32). But God did not restrict his covenant to the founding Israeli trilogy. Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 7) at the conclusion of his transgenerational sermon for aligning the covenant of Jehovah with the ministry of Christ. The congregants Stephen addressed were convinced that God had restricted his covenant to the law of Moses, but Stephen understood that the promise was unto him, his children and all that were afar off (Acts 2:38). Not only did Jesus destroy the cultural barrier, He bridged the generational gaps as well. Never have we lived in a more culturally acceptive age; the pertinent issue in The Church is not ethnic divisions, it's Generational Segregation.

I believe that The United Pentecostal Church International is the greatest Apostolic organization in the world. I am not ashamed be a constituent and I refuse to disgrace and deface its heritage. However, I have come to understand that unless we purge our ranks of Generational Segregation we will never attain the purpose that God has has promised. I am shamelessly petitioning all elders, all youth and all that are in between to unite as never before. Wisdom, creativity, convictions, traditions, standards, anointing, giftings, talents, callings, dreams, visions and prophesies all have a place in The Church but are worthless without transgenerational application.

Color: a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect; "a white color is made up of many different wavelengths of light" The first time the word color is transcribed in The Bible (KJV) is Leviticus 13:55. But the Hebrew equivalent of the same is present in Genesis 3:5 and is transcribed as "eyes". In Leviticus the qualifications of leprosy were defined by the color of the infected area and in Genesis Satan was convincing Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit that her eyes would be open. There is a connection.

Eden was a black and white paradise. I'm not referring to the literal optical perceptions of the physical eye; I am referring to the moral perceptions of the spiritual eye. There was only one rule: don't eat of the tree!! If you do, you die!! No in between!! No grey areas!! Grey didn't exist in the moral color spectrum of humanity until the human eye got involved. Sin wasn't an option until Eve looked upon the fruit and she saw that it was pleasant to the eye. Satan generates and operates within grey areas consisting of black and white principles. In other words, determining the margins of morality is impaired when the grey areas are presented to the fleshly eye.

Jesus said: "If your eye offends you, pluck it out.." (Matt. 18:9). Jesus wasn't speaking of self mutilation but rather spiritual preservation. "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:" (Ps. 101:3) Jesus was emphasizing what the Psalmist had already said; whatever you're viewing that is destroying your moral resolve must be amputated.

The problem arises in the grey areas. Is it black or is it white?? Is it right or wrong?? The shades of grey are the most difficult for the eye to distinguish. This is where The Spirit of God comes in. "But ye have an unction from The Holy one and ye know all things." (John 2:20) John was addressing the issue of the Antichrist being present in the world. God in his omniscience came in the flesh to fulfill the law due to the fact that black and white rules alone would not work in a world of grey shades. This is why he simplified the law down to 2 all-inclusive rules then followed up by sending a comforter, an unction, to dwell within us. The Spirit of God dwelling within us is means by which His children sort through the shades of grey.

Leprosy is the typifier of sin in The Bible. Before the color of leprosy shows up on the outside it attacks the optical muscular structure. Satan will rid you of your moral perception before he manifests the disease of immorality throughout your person. While you may not have the color of crimson on your outer man, be certain that your moral resolve isn't clouded by shades of grey.