Jealousy stalls out our destiny because it causes us to despise what we have been graciously given by the Lord in light of what someone else has been given. When jealousy is operating in our lives, we don’t steward and express the unique gifts God has given us to serve the Body of Christ; instead, we compare and compete to be better than one another.

God intentionally promotes others around us in different seasons to train us to honor and celebrate others. When we see favor rest on others, it tests our hearts for jealousy, and when we respond with celebration, we are set free.

This is an appeal to songwriters to explore the depths of writing songs that not only express the human heart but infuse the earth with the substance of Heaven. Perhaps you’ve never thought of songwriting as being intercessory. But, our songs can be a catalyst for “on earth as it is in Heaven.”

We are trekking the valleys, deserts, dark places, and mountains of life on our way home to all things new. Along the journey, our songs are opening wells (connection with heaven) in the valley of weeping (our present earthly reality).

At the foot of the cross, we meet the King who is the servant of all. On the cross, we see the Father, who was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. There Jesus, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without blemish to God.

All three Persons of the Trinity present on the Hill outside of Jerusalem that Friday, accomplishing the work that would redeem, reconcile, and recreate the cosmos. More happened in that six hours on Golgotha then we will be able to comprehend for billions of years.

As we evaluate the missiological philosophies, the most important thing to consider is: what is the fruit? It would be hard to look at a single indigenous church in this nation and say “nope, wasn't worth the fruit.”

The challenge to partner with local indigenous churches and pastors is immense. It is not easy but we feel so passionately that the difficult road, the way of the cross, will bear fruit thirty, sixty, and one hundredfold, both in this age and in the age to come.

If you had asked me eight years ago what I thought was to be the hardest thing that faces a person in the Middle East who follows Christ, I would have listed out a whole litany of things. Persecution. Cultural Stigmas. Christian crusaders and their history. Lack of community. Lack of resources. Family pressure. Politics. ISIS. War. Martyrdom. And to be honest, these are real and legitimate difficulties for the modern-day Arabs who find themselves following the Risen King in a region where he is decidedly regarded as a prophet who is not God and did not die on a cross.

However, one thing that has surprised me since learning to love and lead in the Muslim world, is that there is one difficulty that can be the greatest stumbling block of all; following a Jewish Messiah who has plans and purposes that He will see to completion for the apple of His eye, Israel.

Have you ever heard of the tabernacle of David? I promise you, we are going to stare at it for eternity. The Scriptures call King David “a man after God’s own heart.” He established a worship order that was at the center of his kingdom, it is filling the earth now and will fill all the nations before the Son of David returns to Jerusalem and establishes His throne in the midst of that same worship order.

When God looks for people to give assignments to, He doesn’t just look for skills and He’s not impressed by personalities. Heaven isn’t reviewing resumes and measuring salary sizes. There is one thing that catches heaven’s attention, one thing God is looking for. It's not the strength of their might, it’s not the level of their skill and not the scope of their intellect; first, it is worship. Why worship?