Where Does It Come From?

This is a post I recently read from Jeff Leake. I thought it was worth sharing...

During my message this weekend, I am going to talk about 'living out of your spirit' and not just out of your mind. For instance, effective prayer is birthed not just out of your mind but out of your spirit. Just for my personal study, I looked up the many New Testament references on living out of our 'spiritual center.'

Why is this important? So often we are living out of our own mind. We are trying to figure out how to make life work through human effort. Our dependence shifts to our own strength. We lean upon our own futile fleshly efforts.

The Christian life was never intended to be a mental exercise, nor was designed to flow out of the strength of our own effort or self-determination. God has created us to be spiritual beings. He is Spirit. He interacts with us on a Spirit to spirit basis. Consider this Biblical perspective:

WORSHIP FLOWS OUT OF YOUR SPIRIT

And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior... Luke 1:45-47

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. John 4:24

GOD'S WORK IS BIRTHED IN YOUR SPIRIT

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit. John 6:63

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.and they are life. John 7:38-39

PRAYER ORIGINATES OUT OF YOUR SPIRIT (the Holy Spirit partners with your spirit)

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26

I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 1 Corinthians 14:15

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Jude 1:20

AN EFFECTIVE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS LIVED OUT PARTNERSHIP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Galatians 3:3

And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:2

The challenge I am feeling is to live out of the Spirit more and more. This is especially necessary when the we are feeling weak or inadequate. We can either try harder or trust more. Lord, help me live out of my spirit today.

EMBRACE the Squiggle

A great new phrase I recently heard... "Embrace the Squiggle."

If you are desiring that your life goes from point A (where you are now) to point B (your final destination) in a perfectly straight line, then you are in for a lot of let downs. There is no such thing as a perfectly straight trajectory. The truth is, it will be one massive squiggle. You may go up, then down, then left, then right, then a few loops, then a quick stop, then a fast start, then some shaking, etc. But after all is said and done, you WILL reach the final destination. The key is to "embrace the squiggle" along the way! Trust that God is working in, through, and far above all the messiness of your life. Don't worry about trying to straighten out the squiggle, embrace it. I've heard it said, we need to get comfortable in the midst conflict.

We are commanded in the Scripture not to worry, which is negative meditation. We are also commanded to meditate on GOOD, NOBLE, and ADMIRABLE things ONLY (Philippians 4:6-8)!

Do it today!

Clarity's Only MAMA

This is a special blog shout out to the best new mother on the entire planet... my babe, my sweetheart, my darling, my bride, Jessica McKenzie Kollar. She moved across the country, left her family, left her home, moved to an office floor, and made it all GREAT... all while having a 5 month old first baby! Now she makes a wonderful nursery and play area in our bedroom all day every day for our beautiful nine month old Novi to thrive. She does this all while also keeping me in line day in and day out (a tough job for sure). She is a pillar. She is full of love and selflessness.

Thank you Jessica!!! You are AMAZING... and we recognize that!

The Spiritual Disciplines

These are a gift... a gift by which you can grow in the grace of God. Try one a day to start. If you take root below, you will bear fruit above.

The Spiritual Disciplines

as composed by Dallas Willard

The two categories are important. The first, “Disciplines of Abstinence,” are designed to help us remove destructive and unhelpful things from our lives through acts that force us to stop, wait, remove, or eliminate. The “Disciplines of Engagement” are intended to build the right kinds of attitudes and habits into our daily lives.

Disciplines of Abstinence
Solitude: The practice of spending time without any others or any distractions.
Silence: No noise or conversation. Just you and God.
Fasting: Abstain from food, media, entertainment, or anything else that occupies your time.
Frugality: Use your money for purposes outside your own needs for a time.
Secrecy: Do not allow anyone to know of the deeds you do or the money you give in order to avoid doing them for the wrong motivations. Only God needs to know.
Sacrifice: Stretch your sense of what you can do without for the sake of those who have less.

Disciplines of Engagement
Study: Memorize Scripture and expand your universe of biblical study helps.
Worship: Engage in corporate worship and include worship in your own prayer time.
Celebration: Practice being grateful and thankful both in your own relationship with Christ and with other believers. Express encouragement and thankfulness to others.
Service: Give your time to the church and/or to others. Ponder tithing your time.
Prayer: Take deliberate steps to pray regularly and with purpose. Praying through the Psalms is a good way to increase your “prayer vocabulary.”
Fellowship: Hebrews 10:25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Confession: Practice confessing your sins to trusted people who will pray with you and be spiritual allies.
Submission: Submit to the proper people in the proper ways—fight against the sin of pride.

Song and Free Writing

Well, our first performance art Clarity event (experiment) was a HUGE success in my book... and in the teams. We had a great turn out, the message came through loud and clear, and the vibe was excellent.

Earlier in the week I found incredible strength during a time of weakness through the revelation that Jesus literally IS the root of "my tree." (Isaiah 53:2) With Him as the root, I now have FULL access to the Living Water (the Holy Spirit) because Jesus is the perfect conduit. There is no limit the growth of the tree or the fruit that it bears with Jesus as the root! Below I've included the "free writing" (when you simply write whatever comes to mind without stopping) I did as a result of this revelation and the song that was born out of it...

FREE WRITING...

"Amazing sense of God... remembering relationships, experiences, times of drawing close and times of struggle, overwhelmed by a God who is always there and always gracious, always connecting, always pursuing me, why would this be, what is the purpose for this now, why such elation in the midst of difficulty, how is it possible, what is the reason... simply what he delights to do, simply his nature, simply his love and pleasure and sheer joy, like my times of worship and intimacy with my daughter, brings tears to my eyes even as I write this, unity and bonding, can’t be expressed ever, too deep, the union between father and daughter, husband and wife, God and me, why... again, his delight, Lord I’m so thankful and so undeserving... people wouldn’t think it possible to know such peace and security while so uncertain all around, such heaviness, yet with you, none, no unrest, roots deep, Jesus IS the root, deeper than I could ever dream or go, so certain, sure, foundation, hope, strength, power, fearlessness. pure joy that lasts. What is going on, how is this possible, could it really be divine truth is all around me and orchestrating all things, what a moment to be, a time to thrive, and chance to pour out, help, i can’t see, i need this, now, always."

SONG...

VERSE
Amazing sense of God, as all this grace is falling
In light of my failings, still all this grace is falling
Always connecting, always pursuing
always engaging, always compelling me

CHORUS
And now, it’s rising over my head and I can’t see the end
It’s digging under my feet and I can’t see the end

No ROOT No FRUIT

One of my favorite verses... "... take root below and bear fruit above." (Isaiah 37:31). The BEST way to bear fruit is to take root... no, the ONLY way to bear fruit is to take root. It's like when the flight attendants of a commercial airliner tell the parent to put their oxygen mask on first, then their child's. The best method we have to help and bless those around us is to put our "mask" on first. Focus on YOU growing closer to the Lord and those around you will too.

Here more this Sunday night at "SHI."

My Performance ART this Sunday...

This Sunday night, May 2nd, 7 PM, at Magicopolis theater, I will execute my first performance art piece in LA. This is the first time I will return to some of my early visual art roots in the past ten years. In case you are wondering, here's a couple definitions of what performance art is...

Performance Art Definition 1 - Art form that arose in Europe and the U.S. in the 1960s. The term describes an art that is live but operates outside the traditional conventions of theatre or music. Early examples represented a challenge to orthodox art forms and cultural norms by creating an ephemeral art experience that could not be captured or purchased. By the 1970s performance art was used as a general term to describe a multitude of activities, including happenings, body art, actions, events, and non-matrix theatre.

Performance Art Definition 2 - Although the emphasis in these loosely constructed, multidimensional programs may sometimes be on music, poetry, dance, political speeches, visual art, or other forms, there is something inherently theatrical about them because they are always performed. The very nature of performance art defies strict definitions, but in each case the artist's expression of an idea must take place before a live audience. A painting viewed is considered too stagnant for the genre, but a painting being created is performance art. While many pieces are sociopolitical, outspoken, controversial, and confrontational, there is much in performance art that is personal and intimate. Some involve a “cast” of artists while others are solo projects. The creator of the art and the performer are usually the same person, even if it is scripted in a somewhat traditional manner. And even as such theatrical elements as scenery, costumes, sound effects, lighting, dialogue, and songs may be used, often performance art occurs in found spaces in an impromptu fashion rather than in traditional theatre buildings.

See you there!