On Sunday Living Streams learned from Jesus’ little brother about how Jesus lived. Jesus would become proximate and generous to a person’s pain. Jesus was obedient and sacrificial in whatever His Father asked of Him. And Jesus took care of the vulnerable.
On Monday we launched our Freedom class, where people will learn to hear Jesus’ voice, discover Jesus’ specific design for their lives, and remove negative strongholds from their lives. Watch out for these people — they gonna come out powerful!
On Tuesday many people came together to sit in a good and beautiful sadness. At Tina McEown’s memorial, we wept and reminisced. We cried out to God and leaned on each other. We confessed our confusion, anger and pain. And at the same time, confessed our trust in Jesus and hope in heaven.
On Wednesday we met for our last Kinetic Night dinner at Living Streams. We connected with our mission teams and strategized how to alleviate pain in our city. I pray each team will be guided and empowered by the Spirit of God. I pray each team will be able to come back with “Book of Acts”-type stories of how Jesus showed up in power and mercy. I pray each team will be clothed in humility and ‘agape.’
On Thursday we gathered business women and men from our city to foster relevant business relationships and hear transformative business content. We heard from the brilliant mind of a successful recording artist who has learned to navigate a most volatile industry over the last twenty years. He taught us how ardent faithfulness and endless refining can help us stay ahead of the curve in our industries.
And Friday, tonight, our sanctuary will be filled with the praises of King Jesus as worship leaders from twelve different Phoenix-area churches come together as one. The goal of the night is to usher in God’s Spirit to minister His wonderful gifts to His people, and to foster unity and humility among worship leaders. Everyone is invited. And, oh, the music will be excellent and deeply edifying.
I am constantly hearing that people are turning away from the evangelical community and the Christian Bible these days — and I do know of some who have taken that path. But I’m so grateful that at Living Streams we are experiencing people of all ages with renewed hunger and demand for the evangelical community and the Christian Bible.
Yes, damage has been done under the evangelical banner, and people have used the Christian Bible for political or personal gain; but I truly believe those are exceptions and not the rule. The evangelical church and the Christian Bible are still the single most dominant force for good that the world has ever seen. And like Mikey says (in that great movie Goonies), “this is our time.” Let us be the community of Christ, overflowing with mercy and grace. Let’s be people of “The Book,” but make sure we use the truth it contains to set people free, rather than burden them and manipulate them.
“Jesus lead on and I will follow. Jesus lead on, let Your love light the way.”
David