Living a life out loud can be a various of different avenues. We observe diverse cultures incorporating this into their lifestyles, allowing for versatile applications.
I love to study Hebrew. I am working on a book for a children’s church called The Seven Ways to Praise. I highlighted Africa as an example of Tehillah, one of the seven ways to praise.
Psalm 22:25 says: From you comes my praise in the great congregation, my vows I will perform before those who fear Him.
Isaiah 61:1-3 says: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim the liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
It’s the Praise to the Lord that is the one that breaks through the junk we experience. Using the term “Spirit of the Lord” in Isaiah 61 gives me insight into the potential of our brains when we praise out loud. I’m writing a book about the Seven Spirits of God and how they govern our bodies, focusing on how the brain receives daily messages and helps us discern heavenly influences.
So, in unpacking Isaiah 61, from this viewpoint of my book, we are given messages from Heaven to anoint, bless, and proclaim open prison doors. We prophesy God’s goodness by using the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And the thoughts we receive from other teachings are washed in the bronze Lavar of the Tabernacle of Jesus.
In Africa, it’s a tradition to celebrate the passing of a person by dancing and singing songs. When it’s a season of mostly weeping, they know to take their sorrow to a different level to the God their creator! I visited Uganda, where even the poorest members gather in church to praise Him. Despite their hardships, they believe that their seven-mile journey to the church will bring the blessings they seek upon returning home.
That is the faith we should use on a day-to-day basis.
This is apparently my lesson for this week. Feeling frustrated by the persistent stagnation in this area, I’ve set out on a journey to liberate myself from the shackles of words uttered long ago. Lately, I’ve found solace in downloading books by Anne Hamilton. One was on the Spirit of Belial, which deals with the spirit of abuse. Here is the link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Belial-Spirit-Armies-Abuse/dp/1925380483
I have seen this in many churches and it has kept the church from living out loud.
I recently watched a 1981 interview with the Bee Gees on Donahue. Their music isn’t Christian-friendly by the church standards. But again, it’s a cultural thing as they grew up in Australia/England, so who knows what it entailed in that time frame? They did claim to be Christians when asked about the crosses they wore. Which caused an issue with the type of music they played.
Living it out loud is a tough road to follow if we look at various means of doing so. While we can talk the talk and walk the walk, living it out loud for an answer is getting to be harder. The language problem we currently face and the words we use are no longer aligned with our reality. The enemy has taken the verbiage we used and placed it in a way that is now offensive. What we know of as loving one another has been distorted because some churches do not adhere to what love truly is. This teaching has caused a rife in who Jesus is and was and always will be.
A church that protests against another church’s efforts to lead LGBTQ individuals to Christ falls short of demonstrating God’s love. Picketing the funeral procession of a gay man is not an expression of God’s love.
Yet they are the ones who are living out loud. The minds of those are not being purified. In my previous statement where I discuss the lavar, this is an example where the bronze Lavar of the tabernacle isn’t being used for purifying their minds from thoughts that are not heavenly thoughts. And it’s causing a rife in cultures that should never happen.
What can we do?
Look at the Jesus in the tv show The Chosen. In one scene of season 4, he’s scolding the Pharisees. Matthew 22-23 talks to the Sadducees and the Pharisees both. Jesus starts in Matthew 23: 1-3 “The Scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe what they tell you. They preach but don’t practice, so their actions don’t align with their words.”
Moses did not author the additional laws incorporated by the Pharisees and Sadducees into God’s law. Instances such as Jesus’ disciples eating wheat in the field and healing a man in the temple on the Sabbath underscored these disputes.
The church has missed its focus on living a life out loud when it uses the things listed in these chapters. And as Jesus states in The Chosen, “I’m just getting started.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWrsMfqu-zU
I have a Facebook page called “The Red Letter Teachings of Jesus Daily Devotionals” https://www.facebook.com/kingdomlifer/about that I created a few years ago. I had trouble getting past the 22nd and 23rd chapters when posting the devotions, so it ended there until I could get through them. It’s an excellent study and reading the book https://www.amazon.com/Hebrew-Yeshua-vs-Greek-Jesus/dp/097626370X helped me get through what Jesus was actually saying. My friends recommended this book, but I don’t agree with a lot of Nehemia’s views concerning his views of Jesus. It’s an “eat the meat but spit out the bones” type of thing. I love the research he did on the language issue between Hebrew and Greek in the first verse of Matthew 23.
Throughout history, language and beliefs have posed challenges for followers of Jesus. In contemporary times, particularly regarding what I term the ‘Church of the Seventies,’ we encounter groups like atheists who leverage passages from Matthew 22-23 to challenge us. We have moved away from the lifestyles of the seventies. Keith Green boldly called out the church, leading to the formation of a new group portrayed in The Jesus Revolution. Despite being overlooked, Chuck Smith’s teachings and connection with Lonny Frisbee sparked a movement to study the Bible in its original version.
Some years ago, I stumbled upon a video showcasing a local group comprising both Christian and anti-Christian members engaged in passionate debate. The Christian’s fervent arguments stemmed from their interpretation of the laws of Mose’s referenced in Matthew 22-23. In the video, the two groups engaged in their usual banter on the sidewalk. The anti-Christian participant was holding a gay flag, which kept getting blown by the wind, inadvertently covering their signs, which depicted graphic images related to abortion. One lady accidentally stepped on the flag, causing it to tear. Despite this, they adamantly refused to repair it. I cried, for I know my Jesus. Firstly, He wouldn’t have stepped on it. Secondly, if someone did, He would have repaired it. (I’m reading another book by Anne Hamilton called the https://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Leviathan-Retaliation-Strategies-Threshold-ebook/dp/B09RMVC37L). I can see this happening over the two groups.
I have spoken with the “Christian” group and inquired about their provision of aftercare for those who have undergone abortions. Regrettably, they stated they do not offer such support, citing that individuals “made their bed” and have others to assist them. However, this assertion is inaccurate. I am aware of individuals who have undergone abortions and lacked the comfort and support they desperately needed, considering it is a significant surgical procedure. They needed God’s presence at that crucial moment, even if they were unaware of it. Unfortunately, the church provided no help in these instances.
The church collectively set a boundary, but the Jesus Followers crossed it to reach out to those excluded. Our focus is now on spreading God’s love to all nations, including supporting churches that welcome the LGBQ+ community to experience Jesus’ love and compassion. They are reading the Red Letter of the Bible and seeing that they are loved by Jesus and He will fill the needs they desire, on their timeline, not ours. We need to stop judging who they are and just watch what God does.
We need to do better.
Together, let us embody the true essence of living out loud–a testament to love, acceptance, and unwavering faith in the power of redemption. For in embracing our differences and lifting each other up, we find the truest expression of our shared humanity.
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