Raise an Army
When God asked me to raise an army of artists in 2005 I had no idea where the journey would take me.
The mandate was clear, but it came with no instructions on who, when, what, how … but it came with a clear why!!
Zechariah 1:18-21
18 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns.
19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?”
So he answered me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.
21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?”
So he said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but the craftsmen[a] are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.’
There is no doubt that this is an obscure passage of Scripture. Since Bill Johnson had spoken this message at DaySpring c.2004, it had grown in my spirit, and when (again at DaySpring) c.2005 Rick Joyner said “The arts belong to the Lord, and He is raising His army now to retake them”, my spirit soared in a life-flashing-before-your-eyes moment. This is my calling: to raise an army of artists for the Lord.
Zechariah 1:18-21 explains God’s solution to the powers (horns) bringing discouragement to God’s people (scattered) in the four corners of the globe. The craftsmen! The Hebrew[1] is translated craftsmen, artisan, engraver, fabricator of any material. What could possibly be the anointing on craftsmen that terrifies the enemy? That anointing is creativity.
My Mandate
My mandate is to awaken people to their creative identity in Christ. Creative people have long suffered more than a fair share of anxiety disorders.[2] The enemy targets creative people because he sees ‘like Father, like son’, and he knows God’s children were created to be creative, all created in the image of an immensely creative God. A child of God, who knows and understands their identity as one with holy creativity in any given situation, is unstoppable. The enemy is more terrified of us understanding our identity than he is of our salvation. Jesus came to restore THAT which was lost,[3] and it is more than ‘who’, the ‘that’ in this verse is our identity. My mandate is to raise an army of artists who know their identity.
In the pursuing ten years I ‘raised an army’ at DaySpring with the wisdom and guidance of both our senior pastors, David and Narelle Crabtree. DaySpring was fertile ground, well prepared in advance, and prophetic art flourished. This was during the time that worship art was reintroduced to church services across the nations and the label of ‘prophetic art’ began to be used.
David and Narelle taught us all to dream with God through their devotion and surrender to whatever the Holy Spirit ‘was on’. It is impossible to put into words the privilege of being in a supernatural community, with leaders of honour, who pioneer by establishing strong foundations decision upon decision, and ensuring ‘great heart’ is at the core of all we do. When leaders yield to the pursuit of holy creativity, and the creative artists yield to leadership, the results are extraordinary.
For the ensuing several years I travelled Australia, visiting all manner of churches, painting prophetically, motivating God’s intuitive artists, and teaching key Kingdom principles in countless prophetic art workshops to equip artisans to transform the culture around us. I believe artists shape the world, whether for ‘good’ or ‘not good’, everything you see was conceived in the mind of an artist before it manifested in our reality. I am dedicated to seeing artists today find their place in the New Renaissance and for the Church, once again, to be the great custodian of art. I am dedicated to releasing spiritually powerful art into our communities, art that will transform lives.
Your Mandate
As God-artists, do all that you can to represent the heart of God on your canvas through your experiences with the Holy Spirit. Love God, love people. He will minister to you what you need, trust His process. We learn who God is by watching Him in action. We learn who God is in our personal histories with Him.
We are in the Kairos time of the New Renaissance, a time of rebirth out of darkness. A time of ‘push-back’ against the humanism and popularism of human culture and a ‘push-forward’ into Kingdom culture. You will create paintings that come straight from the throne room. The Holy Spirit will guide you in all things.[4]
I pray that you will go further into prophetic art than you dreamed possible and create paintings that call people into their purpose and vision. May you become more deeply committed to worshiping the Lord, releasing His spiritual gifts as you go.
[1] James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong (1822-1894) New York. 2796. Transliteration ‘Charash’, phonetically ‘Khaw-rawsh’, short definition ‘Craftsmen’
[2] ParentCo, Dec 12, 2017, “Understanding the Fascinating Link Between Anxiety and Creativity”, https://www.parent.com/blogs/conversations/understanding-fascinating-link-anxiety-creativity-kids-sake
[3] Matthew 18:11 “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”
[4] John 16:13. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
