The moment I got off the ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm I was met with inclement weather starkly contrasting the sunny days of Finland. The absence of sunshine notwithstanding, such excitement filled my spirit in anticipation for what God was going to do throughout the week. Hannah scheduled a last minute meeting for the worship team of New Life to come together and “just be” in Papa’s presence. No rehearsal. No agenda. Only encounter. I sensed that God was going to do something very unique in our midst… something different than “the norm”. So in preparation for the meeting that night we did what any Spirit-led people would do… we went to the mall and got haircuts. Just a little trim actually. But while I was sitting in the chair I could feel this spirit of heaviness come and rest on me like a wet blanket. The yawning just wouldn’t stop. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon I felt like curling up and sleeping the rest of the day. Recognizing this was not normal fatigue I began to pray and put on “the garments of praise”. Hannah shared with me about the strategy of the enemy to keep people subdued by the spirit of religion. Isn’t that how it’s always been, though?

Religion is man’s attempt to reach God. But Jesus is God’s attempt to reach man. Settling into a form of godliness only gives the illusion of righteousness by making us feel that we’re doing something substantial for God. We forsake the life that Jesus gives because we refuse to come to Him. Instead, we stand at a distance communicating by our attitude and posture, “It’s okay God. We got this.” Compound that attitude by millions of people in a city and the result is one of orthodoxy lethargic in nature and in desperate need of being disrupted. I’m reminded of what Jesus said to the Pharisees and Lawyers of 1st century Israel,

But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.” - Lk. 11:46

This attitude is the essence of the religious spirit. To be weighed down in the name of God by the burdens of the traditions of men only creates a society void of any real vibrancy and shine. Yet WE WERE MADE TO SHINE! To shine with the abundant life is the core motivation of why Jesus came to substitute His life for ours. Not to make weak people strong, or poor people rich, or even bad people good… but to make dead people alive was, and still is His goal. All other motivations are secondary to God’s primary desire for us to be nourished again by eating from the tree of life.

So arriving at New Life that night, I felt such joy and excitement as I met new friends. Among them were Tjebbo and his wife Ans, true heroes in the faith, true spiritual parents. They were there to facilitate the meeting and we sensed right away that the Spirit of God wanted to speak to us. The”proceeding word” was coming forth. Just to be in the presence of His voice was our only desire. So Hannah brought the musicians together, explained the heart and vision for the evening, and after some preparation we just started praising. There were no words on the screen. We just wanted to put Jesus on display. It wasn’t too long before the Holy Ghost started moving people to sing and dance to the song in their own heart. It was such a cathartic release of God’s glory in us, a purgative drug that liberated us to express the emotions of our Holy God. At one point during the meeting I glanced over and saw Hannah dancing before the Lord like a mad-woman! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone dance the way she did that night. There was such a “Davidic” anointing on her. Afterwards she said, “I couldn’t stop moving my feet!” As God moved, we moved. He called us higher and deeper in Him that night. To exhaust ourselves in the presence of His love was our sacrifice of praise.

During a time of listening to God’s voice I saw a vision of guitar pedals arranged in the shape of a rectangle. There must have been about twenty or so, an assortment of sounds and colors, ordered perfectly. However, the top-right corner was vacant. I asked the Lord why the corner piece was missing and He said that everything was there except for the “power source”. It was interesting that it was the corner piece, which reminded me of the “precious cornerstone”, Jesus, which all of our hope and faith rests on. He shared with me that everything was nicely and neatly ordered but without power being sent to and through each pedal their sound would not be heard. As people got up to share what God was showing them I came forward and shared my vision. While doing so I was quickened with what Paul wrote to Timothy concerning the last days:

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” – 2 Tim. 3:1-5

What a tragic state to live in!!!… having the appearance of fellowship with our Heavenly Papa but not knowing the power of His unfailing love. Paul doesn’t suggest it, he commands Timothy to “avoid such men as these.” Jesus told us that the “Kingdom of Heaven is within”, that it comes from the inside out and not the other way around.

After a few moments another “Jesus sister” got up and shared that God was calling the body of Messiah to “come out of the box”. She shared the first few verses from Ps. 149:

“Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, {And} His praise in the congregation of the godly ones. Let Israel be glad in his Maker; Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre. For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.” – Ps. 149:1-4

Afterwards there was such a surge of God’s presence. In the wake of that revelation came a breaking “out of the box” that was the custom. Our praise became the “high praise” Ps. 149 goes on to describe. Each person began to dance before the Lord with reckless abandon. Each had their own expression to God. It was a beautiful time.