Click on the video link above to hear about “A Change is Gonna Come”, the Gospel Stage Play!
Monthly Archives: March 2013
Gospel Stage Plays: Can God UseThem?
So many struggle with generational behavior patterns, habits, emotional pain from a broken past, rejection, and the like….. you may be feeling like you will never experience real change in your life. Maybe you know someone who suffers fr…om low self esteem because choices of their past have left them in a “hot mess”, but I tell you the Hand of God can bring change in an instant! In a moments time. What it took me 20 years to mess up, God can clean up miraculously! Come to our next Gospel stage play, “A change is gonna come” and experience an evening of poetry, drama, song and dance and at the same time, TRANSFORMATION! CHANGE!!!! At New Beginning Ministries on April 14th at 3 pm. We have a great cast from our church and surrounding churches. ALL ARE WELCOME!
NOW….CAN GOD USE GOSPEL STAGE PLAYS FOR HIS GLORY
Gospel Stage Plays are an excellent ministry tool for the Spirit of God to use in order to bring comfort, edification, exhortation and deliverance. A visual demonstration is very effective in pulling on the strings of the heart. Jesus Himself often used parables (Stories) to teach His disciples spiritual truths. The prophets often were used in dramatic ways to speak the Word of God.
So to answer the question in the heading, Can God use Gospel Stage Plays? The answer is “yes”. He can and does use not only plays but also other dramatic forms of artistic creativity to speak to His people.
Sleeping During a Storm!
And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being
covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep .(Matthew 8:24)
Ok, have you ever been in a situation where you felt overwhelmed with fear or with so much un certainty until you literally became “unglued”? Becoming “unglued” in frightening and troublesome situations is a common thing for the human race. So I wonder, how did He do it? How could Jesus continue to sleep during a fierce storm that was about to take His disciples and Him out? Well, you may be thinking…..”well He was Jesus, He was God in the flesh”. True that, but let us not forget that He was also Son of Man. Fully God, yet fully man. Jesus had emotions and humanity. He was made like unto man for the suffering of death! So, I ask again….what was His secret? What about the Apostle Paul in Acts 20:24? Paul had been given revelation by the Holy Spirit that chains and afflictions awaited him as he was about to go from city to city to preach the gospel. But he said in Acts 20:24 that “none of these things move me”. Paul kniew that he had an assignment from God.
The secret to enduring great trials and even fears and uncertainties of life is to rest in what the Lord has already SAID! We must spend time alone with God during evey season of our life so that we can receive a proceeding word out of His own mouth. This type of word is what sustains our hearts during the most difficult times. The spoken or proceeding word always lines up with the written word and is trust worthy. It is impossible to please God without faith. We must practice walking a walk of faith not only when times are good or fair, but even in despair, fear, danger, persecution, and any other situation or wilderness experience of life. I can remember times in my own life when I would be so overwhelmed but others would be coasting along as if they did not have a care in the world! It was not that they did not have trials, they had learned to respond in faith. They were bearing the fruit of the Spirit.
So the next time you have an opportunity to become “unglued”, remember Jesus, sleeping on a pillow in the lower part of a boat that was about to sink. Yes, in His humanity, He was probably tired from His ministry work, but the main point is that He rested! Let us rest in Christ during our fierce storms of life and pray for one another. Our lesson from Matthew 8:24 teaches us to rest. To be at peace. Read the remainder of the story of the situation and see what Jesus told the disciples when they woke Him up from His little nap. There is lots to gain from this passage.
Praise Dancers: God has given you a dance for each season of your life!
In the life of each believer, we go through seasons. Even as in the natural realm, so it be in the spiritual realm! Sometimes your season is a jubilant time of feasting, celebration, and joyous praise. If so, let the Holy Spirit birth a celebration dance within you. A dance of joy using all your might! Use your arms, hands, face, even your flags, tambourines, and streamers! Celebrate the goodness and blessing of our God!
But what if this is a time of extreme warfare, pressure, and lack? What season is this? What dance will He birth out of this? My, my, my! Let Holy Spirit birth a dance of warfare mixed with extreme praise and worship. If you are believing God for a breakthrough then He will give you a dance of great travail where you are pushing, contracting, spinning under a violent emotion, kicking, and in the end rejoicing!
Whatever your season, just dance! Dance your way into the Holy of Holies. Dance in travail until you birth something or someone into the Kingdom. Dance with such strength and might until you actually see yourself leaping over that high wall, running through that troop of enemies, and pulling down every stronghold in your mind! Stomp, punch, kick, leap, and twirl until you or your loved ones receive breakthrough! But most of all, no matter what season you are in or what type of dance He births in you while you are in that season, always end with a dance of worship. Ah yeaaa, the worship dance is the dance to dance no matter what your season. Do it in your private prayer closet or do it publicly, just do it This is a dance for HIM and about Him! Bow, lay prostrate, twirl beautifully, extend your arms and hand upward to Him, blow Him a kiss, or use signs with your hands and face to express your love to Him.
If you were helped by this Holy Spirit inspired message, please follow me on this blog and also leave a comment. I look forward to sharing with you and hearing from you. May God continue to bless you as you minister to Him
Called to Praise Dance
Are you called to use the art of dance as a means of worshipping God? What about using dance technique as a tool to minister to the Body of Christ? How do you know that you have been appointed by God to dance?
This is how you know that you are called to the worship dance ministry: God places a strong desire within you that does not go away. Even though the desire is there, there is still an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy that comes along with it. The whole idea seems to interrupt the “norm” of your entire life, or so you think. IF THIS DESCRIBES YOU, then the book, “So You Say You Can Praise Dance….Now What” is a must for your library. Go to amazon.com/author/denisecookgodfrey for more details on this very informative book.
Prase and worship dance is an excellent tool to use to bring forth worship to our Lord and King. It is also a great way to demonstrate the gospel message. The physical movement on the outside actually demonstrates what is going on inside the heart of the worship dancer. Remember, check out the book described above. You will be very glad that you did!
Help Is On It’s Way!
Many of us has already declared and decreed that 2013 will be a year like no other! A year of restoration, blessings, and exaltation. The proceeding Word out of the Mouth of God has even gone forth, providing a refreshing and joyous ray of hope deep down within the soul at a time in the past just before the new year arrived.
Well, the first quarter of the year is not even over yet and some feel as if they have been to hell and back and the enemy is, as it may appear, putting such a “squeeze” on us until it seems as if the hope is diminishing! Well, God would have us to know that He will complete the work that He started. He is full of mercy and He will not forsake the works of His own Hands! He will come forth because He watches over His word to ensure that it comes to pass. Take heart. Know that help is on its way. Even when a proceeding, or prophetic word from God seems to be delayed, know that it will come to pass in its own season. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Standing still is not literal. It means remain calm in your soul. Let the peace of God rule and reign in your heart and have faith in God during the darkest hours. He is faithful. Look back and remember His faithfulness from the past and trust like never before.
Hold on! Your future still looks pretty bright to me. Help is on the way.
Free You Mind!
Sometimes you have to wrestle with the spirit of your mind and force it to come into subjection to God’s Word when trying to get into that secret place of the Most High God! The enemy does not want you there, so he will send distracting thoughts. Don’t give up, wait in the presence of the Lord and worship Him, for it is for this purpose that we were created, according to Isaiah 43:7-
“Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him”. So the sum of it all is this: we must discipline our lives so that we can make time for worship. The mind must be renewed by the Word of God. So put on some slow worship music and enter in! He wants you there more than you know!
Break Me….Draw Me! Being Reduced to nothing in His Presence
Praise the Lord worshippers! Are you enjoying a close, bonded, and intimate relationship with the Lover of your soul? I thank God for the access that we have through Jesus Christ who has made a way for us to enter in without shame, fear, rejection, or works! There are many hindrances to “stepping into the grace”. The main one that I have seen and experienced is the revelation of just who we are in Him and that He (the Father) wants the intimacy. One hindrance is the lack of allowing “brokenness”.
Take a look at an excerpt from one of our books on worship and please feel free to share with me your thoughts on this subject:
CHAPTER THREE: BREAK ME, DRAW ME!
(BEING REDUCED TO NOTHING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD)
5Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Now that we have talked about the process of intimacy in our relationship with the Lord our Maker, we must focus on a very crucial part of that process. This process is so crucial because in order to really come into contact with a Holy God, we must become broken. How much do you know about truly being broken by God? I tell you, the whole thing does not sound good does it? That is because it is often very painful to be broken by God. I remember as a little girl, my mother would often get on to us regarding our behavior and if we ignored her or forgot and just continued to misbehave, she would say, “ok, I am going to BREAK YOU UP from that! I can show you better than I can tell you!” Ok, when I heard that statement, I knew that something bad was going to come next. When we truly come into God’s presence with a desire and willingness to become more and more like Jesus, God takes us through a breaking process that reduces us to nothing, so that we can see our true and desperate need for God’s mercy and grace to grow in Him. We must seek to mature in our walk with God. So He breaks us by allowing us to see Him first, and then He allows us to see ourselves. This causes brokenness within our spirits so that we can yearn for more and more of His grace in order for us to change. Brokenness equals transformation .
A Heart that Forgives is truly a heart that is HEALED!
Praise the Name of Jesus! Have you ever had a situation where you thought you had forgiven a person for some awful thing that was done or said to you but you later find out that you were really still carrying a lot of hurt and anger over it? Well, if your answer is “yes”, then you are not alone. This is a very delicate and sensitive issue in life. Even for the mature Christian, forgiveness can sometimes be a challenge.
We must first of all ask for the help of the Holy Spirit in some of those cases. Let’s face it. There are some things done to us and against us that is so horrible and wicked, until it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to really help us but, if we are willing we can do this! The bible teaches us that the love of God has been shed abroad into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So that means that we can love the unlovable, forgive the unforgivable, and also do it not only with lip service but also with fruit to back it up. When we forgive, we must know that it is a commandment directly from God! (read Mark 11:26) It seems unfair but it really is not. We all fall short and stand in need of God’s grace and forgiveness, so we must choose with a willing heart to forgive any and everybody that hurts us, hates us, or just does evil toward us.
I was out exercising early this morning and before I even started, I asked the Lord to speak to me just whatever He wanted to speak this morning. I began to walk and pray. Before I knew it, I was reciting what we call the “Lord’s Prayer”. Now, before I got past the part that says, “and forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors”, God spoke to my heart and said “THAT MEANS TO STOP KEEPING A RECORD OF THE WRONG”. Wow, I knew what He was talking about and even a couple of weeks earlier, He spoke through another person directly to me by saying, “Stop thinking about it”. Now, both words were speaking of the same incident. So, I received a corrective Word from my Daddy, my Father and my God and I am sharing it with you. Love does not keep track of wrong doing. It is not easily offended. We must strive to forgive and ask God to heal our broken hearts. This is possible with God.
Are you keeping track of all the past hurts that someone else has done to you? Does it still hurt like crazy when you think of the pain that you suffered behind the wrong doing? Well start by asking God to help you get over the pain. Some trauma will take time to heal but God is a healer. Next, choose from your heart to forgive. Even if it still hurts or you find that it is hard, expect God to give you the grace, or the divine enablement to do it. If you truly want to please God and be forgiven yourself for the things you have done, you must forgive. When you stand praying, forgive if you have bitterness against someone who has done you wrong. Look that person in the eye if you are around them and “smile”. Do something nice for them if this is possible. Keep asking God for help. Read scriptures on forgiveness and rebuke the spirit of strife and unforgiveness so that you can walk in freedom!
A heart that forgives is truly a heart that is healed by the ALMIGHTY GOD!!
Is it conviction or condemnation?
You know that feeling! The one where you feel so bad about something you said or done, or perhaps some poor choice that you made without really weighing the consequences. The truth of the matter is this: Christians make poor choices and they sin at some point or another. No Christian is immune to a “breaking point”. Ok, so what do I mean by a “breaking point”? A true “breaking point” in the heart of a believer is when you are broken and contrite because of sin.
Carrying the burden of sin is too heavy and it will break you. The remedy? REPENTANCE! The word is clear in I John 1:9, which was written to Christians. It simply tells us that if and when we sin, we are to confess our sins and that God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But what do we do with the pain and the burden of the sin? What about the remorse and the regret? Well, by faith, we must simply move on and know that God is not holding any grudges against us for missing the mark. This is sometimes easier said than done; however. The enemy will make sure that he holds a large bucket of condemnation over our heads to keep us off track and to keep us focusing on the sin, rather than the One who is the forgiver of our sins.
Ok, first of all, it is extremely important to remember that as a Christian, we must always be on guard and watch our attitudes and life style. We do not want to offend anyone by our actions and words. This is especially true when you are a Minister of the Gospel. There is a very high standard that we must portray. This is not only true because we have new Christians who are looking to us or may be we have people who follow our ministries or we Pastor a flock of sheep, etc, but it is also extremely important to note that satan is waiting on us to fail so that he can try to profane that Holy Name of Jesus. We wear that Name and have our identity in Christ. All of this is so true but at some point in time, we will fail and it is at those times when we must realize that we are to go through the season of brokenness and contrition, repent, and acknowledge our sin and weakness so that we will not appear to be “fake” or offend people.
Do not hold on to the sin. Go ahead and confess it even if it is to be done publicly. This is what King David had to do. Read Psalms 32 very carefully. As long as David kept silent about his sin, he “wasted away”. He was so broken until it made him sick! He finally confessed and forsook his sin and then and only then did he experience real peace and joy. Read also psalms 51. Both passages are great to meditate on when you are experiencing brokenness and a heavy heart due to sin. Your missing the mark may not be like David’s, but it still hurts.
Now, in my conclusion, do not let the enemy cause you to lose your joy because of condemnation! How do you know whether it is conviction or condemnation? Glad that you asked! Conviction is from the Holy Spirit and He will cause a burden and brokenness but He will not leave you in that broken state. He will also convince you that you are still a child of God! He convicts and draws you back into fellowship and allows you to go in peace! The enemy on the other hand will always bring the sin back to mind and cause you to feel so much alienation and enmity with God and with ministry. He wants you to be confused and feel as if there is no hope of moving on. Don’t listen to his lie! Go in peace and know that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus! If you are born again, then you are “IN CHRIST JESUS AND WALK AFTER THE SPIRIT”!
If you enjoyed this post, please become a follower today. Also, contact Minister Denise Cook Godfrey for more information on what Worshipful Ministries has to offer in the form of workshops, speaking engagements, e-books, and other exciting things that the Lord is doing in this season. May God bless you.