The Building Permit is the Father’s Blessing

In August, God gave me a dream that highlighted how he is building pure, high-quality works in this season.

All through the night, I saw scenes related to working on ministry. In one part, I asked another leader why they weren’t certified. And what they expected others to receive from them if they hadn’t received certification.

Ultimately, the main message of the dream was “The importance of receiving”. I realized that taking time to dwell with God and receive his blessing is the building permit many leaders need to break new ground in this season. Those who have taken time to receive throughout the pandemic are emerging this Fall with pure, high-quality ministry expressions of the Kingdom. They are not focusing on expanding a previous model, but are pioneers still working in semi-hiddenness to provide healthier resources for the generations of the nations.

Waiting Period

In many ways, August felt like a waiting period, a last time of strengthening and testing before things God will initiate this Fall.

In a specific context, I needed to wait 40 days (and am still waiting) for dynamics to shift. During this time of testing and transformation, God did a lot of heavy lifting.

• From Solitude,
  • Having complete freedom over how I develop friendships in Seattle
  • Having complete freedom over how I use my gifts in Seattle
• Accepting more readily that I may be further along in the internal work process than some
• Increased joy, gratitude, and freedom in hiddenness
• Increasing forbearance, faith, and dependence on the God’s timings
• Increasing gentleness, comfort with discomfort in navigating change or conflict
• Increasing hope and faith that God will provide “peace on all sides”.
  • Joshua 21:44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD helped them conquer all their enemies.
  • 1 Kings 5:4-5 ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. ⁵ And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’
  • 2 Chronicles 20:30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

Worship

This month was full of deep peace and rest. Half the time, I worshipped God privately and just gave myself time to enjoy his presence.

Names of God

Each month, I give God a name that aligns with scripture and how he revealed himself to me that month. This month, I spent the majority of time knowing him as,

• “Jesus, my Easy Company”

Verses

• Isaiah 51
• 1 John 1:8
• Romans 9:15, Exodus 33:19

Music

Media

Books

Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis

“That is why I often find myself at such cross-purposes with the modern world: I have been a converted Pagan living among apostate Puritans.”

p83

This quote reminds me of the solidarity I feel with Seattle, in demonstrating that Jesus doesn’t pertain to a specific Christian subculture, but is for all cultures and people. He has the range to meet them where they are. He doesn’t expect them to conform to overly narrow cultural standards (Colossians 3:11). Rather, Jesus invites them to belong to a Kingdom that has its own organizational structure and is built on relationships.

“From the first moment in the schoolroom at Chartes my secret, imaginative life beganto be so important and distinct from my outer life that I almost have to tell two separate stories. The two lives do not seem to influence each other at all. Where there are hungry wastes, starving for Joy, in the one, the other may be so full of cheerful bustle and success; or again, where the outer life is miserable, the other may be brimming over with ecstasy.”

p94

C.S. Lewis’s description of inner and outer life in his chapter “Rennaissance” is very clearly inspired by his experience of hiddenness and external visibility. And by the upside-down nature of life in Christ.

³ We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. ⁴ Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶ in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷ in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ⁸ through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ⁹ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

2 Corinthians 6:3-10

Lewis’s contrast between the outer and inner life reminds me of a dream I once had related to the internal healing and strengthening process. In a beach scene, I saw my inner self with Christ, vertically diving under the surface of the water in a shared direction. In the same scene, I saw an external version of myself walking horizontally into the water towards the Sunlight (God’s presence, holiness, etc). I received feedback from people around this time that I was visually lighter, lit up. But the part that God hid from most people was the deep dives I was taking with Jesus to receive clarity, peace, and hope for specific elements of life and ministry. Altogether, I cannot imagine life as I know it now without this process of hiddenness and recovery. The most important things are usually behind the scenes.

Rescuing the Gospel from the Cowboys By Dr. Richard Twiss

While I didn’t read this book this month, I kept reflecting on its influence on my leadership in August. I recognize the way that this community of scholars “gradually met, became friends, and coalesced into a relational network over ten years” (228) has become the inspiration for how the relational network design of Generations of the Nations. I loved how this group of scholars came alongside indigenous local leaders to develop culturally relevant discipleship, new traditions, and rituals rooted in their own cultures (45). This book demonstrates how relational leadership provides a safe foundation for innovation. It also demonstrates how when local leaders deeply encounter Jesus, they can lead the way in determining how to reconcile their nations to Christ. This degree of transformation and redemption is only possible through love.

The great sin against our dignity is answered by a love that brings arrogant violence to its knees.”

Richard Twiss, page 230

The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum

In this story, a boy named Ojo commits the crime of plucking a 6-leaved clover from the territory that belongs to the ruler, Ozma of Oz. The scenes related to his trial and sentencing demonstrate so much about mercy and judgment in the Kingdom of God.

“And am I a prisoner?”

“Bless the child! Of course.”

“Then why is the prison so fine, and why are you so kind to me?” he earnestly asked.

“We consider a prisoner unfortunate. He is unfortunate in two ways–because he has done something wrong and because he is deprived of his liberty. Therefore, we should treat him kindly, because of his misfortune, for otherwise he would become hard and bitter and would not be sorry he had done wrong. Ozma thinks that one who has committed a fault did so because he was not strong and brave; therefore she puts him in prison to make him strong and brave. When that is ccomplished he is no longer a prisoner, but a loyal citizen and everyone is glad he is now strong enough to resist doing wrong. You see, it is kindness that makes one strong and brave; and so we are kind to our prisoners.”

“Again, the soldier put upon the boy jeweled handcuffs and a white prisoner’s robe. Ojo was so ashamed, both of his disgrace and the fault he committed, that he was glad to be covered up in this way, so people could not see him or know who he was.

The inhabitants of the Emerald City were polite people and never jeered at the unfortunate; but it was so long since they had seen a prisoner that they cast many curious looks toward the boy and many of them hurried away to the royal palace to be present during the trial.”

Prayer Requests

• For peace on all sides

Increasing Flexibility and Integration to Navigate Change

So much of my experience this July had to do with transition.

It’s hard to describe, but I believe I am somewhere between 2/3rds and 100% finished with what I was meant to receive from specific contexts and seasons.

• Nearing completion in some tasks. For example, I just finished the writing portion of my doctoral thesis and am now in the editing stage!
• Fresh grace opening up for new contexts, ability to connect existing network, supply needed skills
• Fresh grace opening up for familiar contexts, with a deepened ability to steer well
• Fresh grace opening up for long-term partnerships, deepening and expanding relationships
• Fresh grace opening up for practical strategy and provision
  • These tools will give me the grace and flexibility to participate more fully in long-term assignments to specific regions

As I responded to transition this July, it became more important than ever to maintain lifestyle rhythms that allow me to rest, reflect, and enjoy this summer season. Preserving these rhythms has allowed me to give my best yes or no, depending on different opportunities to connect with people or serve my family this month. I’m very excited for the fall, but still trying to remain steadfast as God opens up new things.

Levels: Major themes this July Season

In July, I noticed increasing grace for discerning precisely what God was doing in different contexts. As I untangled my attention away from specific groups, I had much more bandwidth to finely parse what God was doing more broadly. I’m grateful for the increased ability to focus in detail on specific spaces and hold distance from places that have felt overstimulating.

• Across Levels: The Importance of Stewardship
  • A real sense of delight in those who are in the wrestle but advancing
    • Believing that there is a tangible reward for good stewardship, and that they will see the goodness of God in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13)
  • A real sense of grief over the many of friends, community members, and acquaintances who have not stewarded their portion of the puzzle during this pandemic transformation season.
    • Believing that God will give an opportunity to re-enlist for those still trapped in fear
• Personally:
  • Breaking free from Intimidation
    • “Stay in place as I shift it”
  • The last portion of polishing before the next stage of leadership. Grace for ease in integration.
    • Imagery and real-life experience of restoring jewelry, representing whole lifespan integration.
  • My focus is still on diverse local people who are pure of heart and have good character. Clapping my hands in in delight over those who are willing and able to go on the journey!
• Seattle: Increasing connection between different Christian groups, sense of acceleration building
  • This trend will continue through the summer for some truly awesome partnerships this fall
  • The sense of increasing flexibility, freedom from both locked roles and structures that aren’t helpful. The increasing flexibility will help Christians move fluidly to respond to regional needs in the Fall.
  • A ridiculous amount of buzz in random interactions around the city about Jesus, consistent across various contexts
• USA: Humility that makes room for new leadership.
  • My prayer: Vision large enough that sets the stage for the entire nation’s healing, not just a political victory for one side.
• Germany: New pathways to find Jesus opening up for individuals who are seeking life and haven’t found satisfaction in the world. God is restraining a critical spirit so that these fresh perspectives can enter in.
  • My prayer: Resilience for elders to course correct. Grace and wisdom for new community members to forgive their elders and recognize that their perspectives are still needed. For the new generation in Germany to take its’ place!
• France: Building anticipation, Runners prepared to run their race. Celebration!
  • So excited to spend time with my Generations of the Nations team in September/October! We are cooking up some fun things for our first retreat behind the scenes.
• Prophetic Movement: Anticipation rising, continued connection, new expressions being celebrated or shared in private.
  • New leaders: Dressed elegantly AND in utility gear. Capable of going on the journey while still holding the standard.
  • New community members: Hunger for truth without defensiveness, simplicity and purity of heart. Trust in the goodness of the Gospel, drawn to Christ’s character embodied in different streams. Currently experiencing birthing pains. God is drawing them to the right resting places and will certainly finish the work he started.
• Youth Movement:
  • Increasingly visible that the new wineskin of the Youth Movement will use different strategies and tactics
    • The importance of responding to children, teens, and college students’ interests
    • Teaching them to steer from the seat of their heart/will/soul toward Jesus
    • Grace is for Ministries embedded in the Church, no longer Parachurch ministries
    • I will be sharing more about all this in my doctoral thesis. I’m hoping to defend this Fall!

Worship

Names of God

Each month, I give God a name that aligns with scripture and how he revealed himself to me that month. This month, I spent the majority of time knowing him as,

• God, the Fixer

Verses

Psalm 73: 1-28

1: Surely God is good to Israel,
    to those who are pure in heart.

28: But as for me, it is good to be near God.
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
    I will tell of all your deeds.

Music

Questions

• Matthew 14: How did Jesus use the experience of teaching the disciples to walk on water through the storm to prepare them for the shaking events that directly followed?

Media

Books

Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler

While this book isn’t for the faint of heart, I could relate to the main character’s struggle to innovate something new. The message of endurance and leaning towards life is in this book for those with eyes to see.

“People followed me, though,” I continued. “And they didn’t only do it because they were convinced that I could help them get what they wanted. They followed me because I seemed to be going somewhere. They had no purpose beyond survival. Get a job. Eat. Get a room somewhere. Exist. But I wanted more than that for myself and for my people, and I meant to have it.”

Movies

The Time Capsule, 2022

I was 100% here for this romantic sci-fi that explored themes of aging, change, serendipity, and right timings. It started off a little weird but got progressively more charming.

Prayer Requests

• Continued Endurance
• Continuing to add robust friendships here in Seattle; people at all levels of the process who can go on the journey
• Excellent fruit as I edit my thesis
• Excellent fruit as I work with a friend to build Generations of the Nations a website

In June, I chose to rest as my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews visited Seattle. I was delighted by how my 15-year-old nephew has become an outstanding young man, and how good he is with his brother (5).

A visiting friend and priest in the Episcopal Church described signs of new life in her context. We really enjoyed comparing notes!

And the Lord honored my obedience to rest. He sent fresh clarity and grace for Chapters 4 and 5 of my thesis. While chapters 1-3 carry the tone of a humanities paper, these chapters’ style is more similar to a psychological research paper. I’m grateful for the support my network provided this month, and nearly finished with Chapter 4. I’m hoping to have a first draft of everything submitted to my advisor by September 1st.

Seeing New Fruit at Work

This month, I was amazed by new signs of life at work (Matthew 11:5-6). I saw the Holy Spirit operating at the heart level to mobilize leaders, establish more just systems, and catalyze people towards generosity, hospitality, and steadfast love. In all these things, he deepened individuals’ awareness of Jesus’s embodied character. Simultaneously, multiple work friends described a greater desire to connect with a local church or read the bible. I was stunned.

In the past, I have been touched by how similar the policies of my retail work context are to Christian social ethics. In general, workers’ well-being appears to be truly valued, and individuals are supported to develop healthy lifestyle rhythms. The company culture promotes servant leadership and dignity. Generally, there is a sense of incorporating individuals’ strengths. Those strengths are enlisted to support the needs of the community. The majority of managers make room for individual flourishing.

As a result, it is an atmosphere where people who are trying to pursue flourishing may be more spiritually sensitive to perceiving Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The genuine love that exists in the relationships with some of my coworkers has been mutually nourishing. I believe that the influence of that genuine love is softening and stirring people’s hearts to the embodiment of Jesus and his gospel. My coworkers are aware that I am studying at seminary and that my faith is woven into my life rhythms. But the genuine love in our relationships is what God is actually using to mobilize people’s hearts.

It feels like I am watching a microcosm/precursor to a larger move of God here in Seattle. The people being added to the Church are moved by the heart. They have a hunger for authentic spirituality and wholeness, and intrinsically assume that God is powerful. They are beginning to see the need for authentic spiritual community, which feels different to them than depersonalized religious structures. I believe that in and through these people, God is giving Seattle a new Identity.

28Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

29Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’g 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’h No other commandment is greater than these.”

32“Right, Teacher,” the scribe replied. “You have stated correctly that God is One and there is no other but Him, 33and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34When Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, He said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Mark 12:28-34

For the Church: Entering into a Season of Good Fruit

For many individuals who are already part of the Global Church, this season feels like a time of tying up loose ends.

The transition many communities are experiencing is like the crushing of a ripe strawberry. Some individuals will be released and cast into new contexts. There, they will refine previous seasons’ gifts and receive ones. Honoring the dissonance of the last season, God will gather them to others who are pursuing maturity and holiness. As they are woven with new places and people, they will weave together the new and the old.

He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

Matthew 13:52

Other people will be planted even more deeply into their regional and immediate contexts. These individuals will develop broader and stronger relational root systems. They will have the strength to build in diversity, depend on one another’s gifts, and develop distinct communal expressions of ministry.

To get people to their right places and timelines, God will continue to compare and contrast the presence of his Kingdom and the world. Across contexts, his light will expose unhealthy foundations and illuminate opportunities to receive new grace. As his Kingdom expands into unexpected places, he is intentionally undermining our preconceived, religious expectations. His goal isn’t to unsettle us but to align our bedrock to Heaven’s priorities. Each moment of dissonance is an opportunity to contend for spiritual humility and to catch a glimpse of his eternal perspective.

July for me Personally: Celebrated

In July, I felt God loudly celebrating where I’ve been and how far I’ve come. The progress I’ve made with school feels like one small glimpse of the amount of work the preparation process has taken. I felt him calling me to stillness, to fully enjoy the slow pace before he places me into a new work and/or church context.

I noticed him speaking through numbers about themes of completion and wrapping up loose ends. He also really drew my attention to inner healing ministry. He keeps growing my desire to outwork that ministry in Seattle.

Maintaining an Eternal Perspective

Lately, I have been increasingly connected to a prophetic ministry that has been outworking good fruit for *years*. Right now, they are taking greater steps to share direction and strategy for this next stage of the Prophetic movement. I am honored to be walking alongside them. I truly believe that their depth of character is appropriate for where the Church is headed and what the next generation needs of leaders. While others are only starting to be able to receive the harvest they’ve sown, it’s been satisfying to watch God celebrate them.

I still have so much room to receive from them. But watching their example has made me wonder whether, after 30+ years of ministry, I will continue to press into the “more.”

In times of greater visibility or external success, I hope that he will build my capacity to keep my eyes fixed on eternity. I hope that my life is a continual provocation to the next generation to keep going, keep digging, and desire more. I hope that we will receive even greater, not because we did anything to deserve it, but because we kept our gaze on Jesus. Yes, that we remained obedient. But more significantly, that God honors our deep engagement and pours out more.

Worship

Names of God

Each month, I give God a name that aligns with scripture and how he revealed himself to me that month. This month, I spent the majority of time knowing him as,

• “The Lord My Banner of Victory” (Exodus 17:15)

Verses

Warning Against Spiritual Pride

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ¹³ No temptation^[c] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 Corinthians 10, (10:12-13)

Endurance and Victory

11By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. 12And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.

35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

37They were stoned, they were sawed in two,f they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. 38The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.

39These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. 40God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:11; 32-40

Life

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

James 1:12

Music

Questions

• What reflection questions can support my friends in discerning timings? How frequently do prophetic people struggle to recognize spiritual timings because their daily lifestyle rhythms are dysregulated?
• How do I tithe in ways that sow regional breakthrough? Where does Seattle need me to invest to see greater, city-wide identity changes?

Simple Pleasures

Books

This month, I kept re-reading the Wizard of Oz series. I realized that God had protected me through redirecting me to this series when this month, the Seattle Public Library announced that they’d been hacked. Had I been more invested in other books, the disruption in services would have felt jarring. After Oz, I’m hoping to find another book that has heartier plotlines and characters, but as I finish up Chapters 4 and 5, it’s been easy reading.

Prayer Requests

• Clarity, direction, and peace in transition
• To receive the blessings he is sending in awe with my close community. For the blessings to be not just for me as an individual, but to carry corporate communal ripple effects and encouragement.

This month, I took a big risk for better hair, celebrated another birthday, and finished another chapter of my thesis! As of today, I am a little over halfway done and looking to keep building momentum.

“Continue to Hold”

As I spent time writing this month, God called me to remain steady instead of pursuing change. He helped me balance my desire for change and movement, and move from his pace of peace and rest.

At the beginning of May, I grieved over having to spend so much time simply doing the next right thing rather than being free. I responded by resting, remaining especially active on my days off, and remembering the bigger picture.

“Home base”

This month, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to live as though Seattle were a home base for ministry. Since moving here two years ago, I’ve been increasingly drawn to inner healing ministry and felt a burden for this region. As I consider what it might mean to remain here for the next 1-2 years, I am energized by conversations about spirituality. I see that there is room for the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to individuals who are longing for life, wholeness, and living water.

God of the Good Gift

James 1:17-18

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.b 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.c

As I waited this month, I remembered how God’s gifts are always perfect, fully formed, and good. He has perfect timing and knows what we can receive. As I feel this season drawing to an end and a sense of mystery about the next one, I’m glad that he remains faithful.

Worship

Names of God

Each month, I give God a name that aligns with scripture and how he revealed himself to me that month. This month, I spent the majority of time knowing him as,

• “God, My Overcomer”

John 16: 33

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 14: 27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Verses

Here are some verses I reflected on in May!

Psalm 34: 14

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

Isaiah 64: 5-12

You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
    who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
    you were angry.
    How then can we be saved?
⁶ All of us have become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
⁷ No one calls on your name
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
    and have given us over to^[b] our sins.

⁸ Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
    We are the clay, you are the potter;
    we are all the work of your hand.
⁹ Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.
¹⁰ Your sacred cities have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.
¹¹ Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
¹² After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?
    Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

Isaiah 28: 5-6

In that day the Lord Almighty
    will be a glorious crown,
a beautiful wreath
    for the remnant of his people.
⁶ He will be a spirit of justice
    to the one who sits in judgment,
a source of strength
    to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

Isaiah 29: 23-24

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
    no longer will their faces grow pale.
²³ When they see among them their children,
    the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
    they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴ Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
    those who complain will accept instruction.”

Music

Simple Pleasures

• Learning how to drink coffee
• Watching the apartment cats in neighboring buildings
• New alignments

Media

Books

Oz: The Complete Collection by L. Frank Baum

Once when I was in middle school and had read through all my library’s Wizard of Oz collection books, I vowed that as an adult, I would finish the remainder of the series. Rediscovering this series on Kindle has been an absolute delight! It was exactly the easy reading I needed to keep focused on thesis writing and enjoying this summer this month.

Movies

“Return to Me” (2000)

This month, I was reminded of the best of late 1990s/early 2000s humor in this sweet rom-com. The plot is playful and carries some elements of magic realism. Overall, it was a simple yet robust, fully-formed film.

Prayer Requests

• For clarity and direction to gradually rise in God’s timing regarding opportunities for this fall. For God to continue blessing me so that I will be prepared for new contexts!
• Grace to continue holding
• For God to establish maturity, purity, authenticity, and integrity in each of my alignments.

Intergenerational Alignments

This April, God highlighted how he is causing me to reap the benefits of the sacrifices wise elders made to bring reformation to the Church. It has been humbling and put me in awe. And it’s made me all the more passionate that the next generation will not have to repave highways that we paved in tears.

I rely on them to lead so I can play my part in this season. Rather than prematurely being rushed into being an elder, my piece of the puzzle is crucial in that I am meant to be a bridge between different generations and contexts. I can still lead in the role he’s given me, but in most contexts except Generations of the Nations, I don’t have to break new ground except to affirm what others are establishing. It’s a relief to see how well they respond to the needs of vulnerable people. Rather than taking on false responsibility, I can just focus on this intergenerational piece that is mine.

This month, I agreed with a friend’s prayer for the elders of a specific nation to be softened so they can receive new grace as easily as babies. As I considered how God is moving in an older generation of prophets, I saw willing surrender and transformation in Generations of the Nations.

In general, this year has been much more about strategically aligning with individuals than addressing entire communities. It’s a beautiful, peaceful thing to recognize that if we all continue flowing in the same direction, new expressions will emerge organically.

At work in April, God kept deepening a friendship with a younger prophet in her mid-20s. I began to see how Gen Z’s values in the prophetic may differ from Millennials, the Silent Generation, and more. As someone who straddles the boundary between Gen Z and Millenials, I am grateful to be a leader she can depend on. I can sense the Lord’s delight in her eagerness and joy; simultaneously, I am aware of moments when her value for truth may require caution. Despite being someone who values sincerity and makes a point of crossing boundaries to relate to diverse people groups, she is even more brave than I am. It’s a privilege and a gift to begin to see God moving in Gen Z within my region.

Celebrating Nobility and Maturity

This month, I saw God inviting individuals to undergo a leadership formation process reminiscent of Jesus’s life.

1. Surrender
2. Willingly putting oneself in a low place, humility
3. Jesus lifting you up
4. Grace flowing down to others from being seated in Christ, greater oneness

Though this pathway remains a choice, it is a training ground for embodiment. Allowing God to take you on this character-formation journey creates a kind of nobility. At this particular time, God is assembling communities of individuals who have gone through this inner formation and purification process to eventually dig new wells.

Numbers 21:16-18

¹⁶ From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:

“Spring up, O well!
    Sing about it,
¹⁸ about the well that the princes dug,
    that the nobles of the people sank—
    the nobles with scepters and staffs.”

Then they went from the wilderness to Mattanah [“Gift”], ¹⁹ from Mattanah to Nahaliel [“Inheritance”], from Nahaliel to Bamoth [“High Place”], ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah [“Peak”] overlooks the wasteland.

Recognizing the Nobles

At a time when God is still gathering individuals to the right places and groups, recognizing elements of nobility in others is a kind of confirmation that you are with the right people. In celebrating what nobility looks like, I think of the description of Jesus in Psalm 45. Just like Psalm 31, Psalm 45 can be interpreted on various levels.

Psalm 31	Psalm 45
Personal sense: Describes characteristics of noble character in women for friendship or relationships	Personal sense: Describes characteristics of noble men for friendships or relationships
Abstract sense: Describes the right role of the Church to Jesus	Abstract sense: Describes nobility in leadership (45:1-9) and who men and women are called to be partnership with Christ (45:10-17)

Rather than just thinking about the personal sense of Psalm 45, reflecting on the characteristics of nobility and maturity described in the verse can prepare us for this era of increasing embodiment.

Based on Psalm 45, Mature Leaders:

• 45:2 Speak in ways that “are anointed with grace”.
• 45:4 Value “truth, humility, and justice”.
• 45:5 Words that find their mark.
• 45:6 Do not just value God’s righteousness, but see its power to protect them.
• 45:7 Choose purity and receive joy.
• 45:8 Beautifully offer God a sacrifice of their lives, not despising the cross because of his surpassing worth. Demonstrate his restoration, healing, and comfort through God’s grace in response to their yieldedness.
• 45:9 Keep company with honorable women (both actual women and companions in general). In an abstract sense, they rely upon the Church vs. being too independent/isolated.
• 45:10, 13 Allow the Lord to delight in them, guard what is precious, and reserve their treasure for the right people and places.
• 45:11 Honor God.
• 45:12 Allow others who are rich in spirit to seek them out.
• 45:14 Keep company with pure and trustworthy people, sharing the benefits of their elevated place.
• 45:15 Enter into the high places as a community.
• 45:16 Create a shared legacy with Jesus. God’s character is formed and reflected in both Jesus and the Church.
• 45:17 The spiritual inheritance they pass onto others and their memory becomes a generational blessing.

Worship

Music

Names of God

Each month, I give God a name that aligns with scripture and how he revealed himself to me that month. This month, I spent the majority of time knowing him as,

• “God who Makes the Hard Ground a Place of Springs“

Verses

• Isaiah 58:6-14, especially 14
• Isaiah 60:17
• Reflecting on Moses’ Experience, Exodus 19:9, How God supported him
• Reflecting on Joseph’s Process, especially as it relates to timings, truth, and God’s initiative
• Desert or Hard Ground into a “Place of Springs”
  • Psalm 107:35
  • Psalm 114:8
  • Isaiah 35:6-7
  • Numbers 21:16-18
  • Isaiah 41:17-19
  • Isaiah 44:3-5
  • Ezekiel 47:6-12

Media

Movies

After Yang (2001)

The dance sequence in this movie is so bomb! The synchronicity of the family’s movements reminded me of recent comments from the Lord related to internal alignments and community.

Prayer Requests

• For now: To continue to be aligned and plugged into the right places. To continue encountering the individuals God wants me to meet.
• For the future: To have wise elders in each place God is grafting me into. To be able to play my part without false responsibility. To simply embody the right relationship with servant-elders in ways that allow Gen Z + Gen Alpha to play their part.