Creating Culture (Part 1)

It’s a new year! I realize I haven’t written in this blog in about seven months, and so much has happened. I married my amazing wife, bought a house, among many other things! I finished reading a great book, but more on that later. Today, I’m starting this new season of posts with a commentary on creating Kingdom culture.

“Culture” is actually a fairly new sociological concept, but we can trace its roots all the way back to when groups of people started to move as one, for whatever reason. Personally, I love looking at different church cultures, the different ways people experience and live out the heart of God. I love seeing groups that are committed to holiness, prayer, worship, healing, discipleship, evangelism, training, the prophetic, all on different levels. But it’s all good! I love seeing people encouraging each other in the things of God, and that’s ultimately what makes culture happen.

Let’s dive in! In my research, I found two definitions of culture:

  • An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning

  • The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group

Capacity for thought and learning

Reading into the first definition, we find a dependency for creating a supernatural culture: the individual capacity for spiritual learning.  This is the renewed mind of each individual.  A willingness to repent, to change both the way we act and what we believe, is key.  At our core, we as members of the body of Christ must receive the Holy Spirit.  He teaches us to repent, “to say no to ungodliness.”  He opens our eyes, and He produces virtuous fruit in our lives. (One incredible thing about spiritual learning is that we don’t need a huge intellect to comprehend the things of God. Small children can understand. People with extreme brain injuries can receive a renewed mind, because it’s ultimately a miraculous gift.)

Set of shared… everything

Looking at the second definition, we find an action point in creating culture: sharing.  Under this model, those of us who have more must give to those who have less. It’s the process of creating a culture of love and generosity. For example: the Apostles laid hands on new believers, and they received the Holy Spirit(Acts 8:17). Evangelism is simply the sharing of the good news of Jesus. Reading in Acts 2:42-47, we find that the church had “everything in common,” because they were devoted to learning and sharing with each other. There’s joy in the midst of it all. It’s a beautiful thing.

Carrying His heart

A key in Kingdom Culture is faith–really believing what we believe.  But faith in what?  As Christians, we know that our faith is in God, His love for us, the gift of Salvation in Christ, forgiveness of our sin.  We must believe in Jesus, and not only that, but shape our entire value system around Him as Lord.  So, if Jesus is Lord of our group of people, and we call Him that, if God is our Father, and we call him that, we should value the things that are on God’s heart.  What does He value, and what are His goals for humanity?  Righteousness and holiness; freedom from sin, sickness, hopelessness and bondage.  Maturity.  Intimacy.  Power.  Humility.  Love.

Generational blessing

To spread culture, spiritual leaders must model their faith publicly.  Full of the Holy Spirit and unashamed of the good news of Jesus(His death and resurrection, present lordship and coming reign as everlasting King), they act out of the value they have for Him and His Kingdom.  Sharing these values produces discipleship, which produces more mature leaders, able to skillfully share as well(2 Tim. 2:2).  If done well, this produces exponential growth of Jesus’ Kingdom/Family.

More to come!

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”–2 Timothy 2:2

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by Joel Hansen on April 9, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Joel Hansen on April 9, 2013

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/creating-culture-part-1/

I Want to Live

Pages turning,
Ashes burning,
And I’m learning,
TODAY is JOY.

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”–Romans 12:18

written 4/26/2012

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by Joel Hansen on September 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Poems

Posted by Joel Hansen on September 3, 2012

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/i-want-to-live/

Drink

Drink of His Spirit,
And you will never thirst.
For nothing else compares.

“Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.’”–Matthew 26:27

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by Joel Hansen on May 31, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Joel Hansen on May 31, 2012

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/drink/

The Book

The words of the Book resonate inside me.
Shall I say them?
Shall I do them?

“Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”-James 3:18

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by Joel Hansen on April 19, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Joel Hansen on April 19, 2012

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/the-book/

Oil and Fire

While praying at the court a couple weeks ago, I had a vision.  In it, I saw several angels lowering down a giant pink water balloon from Heaven.  It was slightly wider than the distance between the two flag poles.  When it was lowered down from the sky, the edges of the balloon touched the eagles on the tops of the poles, popping the balloon.  Inside the balloon was not water, but glistening oil, pure and untarnished.  It completely soaked the court building, filling every crevice, saturating the stone.  Then, like long wispy tufts of light, streaks of fire began to rain down.  Slowly but brilliantly, the oil caught fire.  Fire was also coming from the bodies of us who were praying, and a kind of reverse fire waterfall was created as the oil dripping down the steps was lit up from the base.  The fire didn’t burn high and scorching, but it remained, everything lit with the continually burning flame.

Here is the revelation I received from the picture: oil is the key to sustained revival.  The oil represents intimacy and relationship with God.  Oil is a gift from God that we can bring into every situation.  We have received it.  We are the ones who have treasured it, and we have the authority to expose it to the atmosphere around us.

People talk about being “on fire for God.”  But what happens when we burn out?  Oil, intimacy, is what keeps us burning.  In the place of prayer, worship and encounter, sometimes we can literally reach up and catch the fire of God.  But how do we carry that fire into the dark?  We must light our oil lamps and carry the light of God into those places.  That fire will shine brightly, and if the oil keeps pouring in, the fire will burn for eternity.

“Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly.”–Leviticus 24:2

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by Joel Hansen on February 29, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Bound4Life, Visions

Posted by Joel Hansen on February 29, 2012

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/oil-and-fire/

The Inner Man

It’s easy to set up external structures for your life.  Go to school, and they’ll teach you how to think.  Go to work, and supervisors will dictate how you act.  Go to Church, and the structure of the service will facilitate your encounter with God.  But what about when systems fail?  What do you have left when all you have is yourself?

Community is a great thing, especially Christian community.  We really do need each other, to lift each other up and give encouragement.  Tasks that only one person can’t do, a group of many can do easily.  Yet, a community can’t save anyone.  As great as our leaders are, individuals must make decisions for themselves.  God is not a puppet-master, and we are not puppets.  We are sons and daughters with the ability to make powerful decisions.  When testing comes(and it will), we each have the responsibility to make right choices.

An old pastor of mine once told me that he believes a lack of self-control is the number one issue facing the Church today.  From what I’ve seen, I believe it’s pretty high up there.  The Holy Spirit is the one who teaches us self-control.  If we’re relying on our knowledge, our intellectual tact, we will fail.  Self-control is a dynamic series of right decisions we have to make every single day, and successful execution of that control (fruit) will only manifest from the close personal relationship we each have with God.

Deep down inside ourselves, we have an internal structure called character.  That character is tested, tried and grown through conflict and glory, and it gets stronger every step of the way.  Every act done in faith is nourishment.  Every heart-cry of love is a stepping stone.  Every testimony of God’s grace further solidifies that truth we hold in our deepest part.

As we grow in maturity, our inner man becomes mighty.  Our goal as believers is to grow up into the image of Christ.  We must be people completely confident in who we are, knowing our God-given authority, character, responsibility and love.  So as a family of brothers and sisters, we move forward.  At the end of the age, we will truly be the spotless bride of Christ.

“In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?  ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’”–Hebrews 12:4-6

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by Joel Hansen on January 13, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Joel Hansen on January 13, 2012

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/the-inner-man/

Watching and Waiting

“Sit in your yard and watch the leaves fall,” said the message in my Dove chocolate wrapper.  It was New Year’s Eve, and the message was supposed to be a fun suggestion, perhaps a small resolution easily kept.  But it was the middle of winter!  The leaves had already fallen, and it was cold outside.  Plus, my yard isn’t anything to write home about: just a tiny patch of grass with a short brick wall outlining it.  We didn’t have any lawn chairs, and the doors and windows of our inner-city row house were barred–an indication of a neighborhood that was anything but savory.  Still, that message whispered simply of peaceful times.  Maybe next fall, I could see that promise fulfilled.

Who knew that the fulfillment of that vision would come just one day later, on New Year’s Day, 2012.  I had just driven home after a glorious weekend of fun.  It was Sunday night, and it was time for a good night’s rest.  I found a great parking place, just across the street from my house.  After waiting a few seconds to soak in a few more notes of music from my radio, I shut off the engine and went to the back seat.  I pulled out everything that had sustained me over the weekend: my sleeping bag and pillow, my unused change of clothes in my duffel, my book bag with Bible inside, leftover salmon and green beans from New Year’s lunch.  Taking them all to the door, I remembered one thing I had missed.  I went back to my car, grabbed my jacket and locked the doors, not realizing that my keys were sitting in the back seat.  I had locked myself out.

Upon discovering my mistake, I quickly called my roommate.  I had an extra car key in my room, so I wasn’t worried about calling a locksmith or anything drastic like that.  I just had to wait for my roommate to come home.  So I waited.  I found myself sitting on my front step next to a pile of luggage and bedding.  It was dark, but the street lights illuminated the DC street.  I looked up and saw the trees, a few leaves still remaining, clutching the branches tightly as the strong breeze danced through them.  I remembered my message from the night before.  How interesting, I thought, that I might witness the exact thing which last night had seemed so unlikely.

I watched and waited.  One minute turned into two, which turned into three.  Minute after minute, my expectancy grew, but the orange leaves continued to hold on.  They were the strong ones, the last few remaining after one long year.  I continued to sit in peace, the fifty-five degree air cooling my lungs while the Spirit soothed my soul.  Finally, gloriously, a sizable gust shook the branches, and several cold leaves drifted to the street below like a curtain of natural confetti.  I became a witness to the fulfillment of a dream.

That was just the first day of 2012.  What more does this year have for all of us?  What promises will be fulfilled?  If January first was any indication, I believe we are in store for incredible things.

“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so.”–Genesis 1:14-15

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by Joel Hansen on January 2, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Joel Hansen on January 2, 2012

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/watching-and-waiting/

Conformity

The world puts a lot of pressure on us to stand out, “break the mold.”  Even in our Church culture, so much emphasis is placed on dreaming big.  It’s dangerous to try to dream like that without having a proper perspective.  If we don’t dream with God, our aspirations will be skewed and our vision tainted by selfish desire.

Recently, my heart has been kindled anew with a holy desire for conformity.  You see, there is a man, a new man, who is me.  God created me with gifts, talents and purposes.  I want to know those things and mature in them.  I was created to be like God in holiness and righteousness.  It’s already been birthed in me.  The more I conform to those ways, that brilliance, the very image of Christ, the more fulfilled I am.  It’s the way I was designed!

Rebellion is a very subtle spirit.  It gives false promises it never keeps.  It silently whispers, “This is a good thing.  This is fun.  This will help you,” while step-by-faltering-step it leads you away from the heart of God.  What futility of mind is that deception!  We must cast that thing far away if our desire is for true greatness.  Every hint must be removed.

It takes a lot of humility to submit ourselves to God, to surrender to His will.  Honestly, it takes a complete laying down of our lives.  But I am sure we’ll find, after all the death that must happen, that this new life in Christ is infinitely more glorious than anything we have ever dreamed.  What depths of love and peace and joy are there to be discovered!  I will declare that my glory is His glory!  All my love belongs to Him!

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”–Ephesians 4:15-16

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by Joel Hansen on December 30, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by Joel Hansen on December 30, 2011

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/conformity/

Weddings

Yesterday, my cousin was married to an amazing man.  I haven’t officially met her husband yet, but still I know he’s great.  She did marry him, after all; I trust her enough to make those kinds of good decisions.  It was an incredible ceremony: lovely, sweet and funny; sober and spiritual.  Their promises to one another were kind, sincere and genuine.  Their love for one another was so evident in their eyes.

I’ve been thinking about another wedding: the great day when Jesus comes back to His pure Bride.  I am a part of that Bride.  My worth is measured by the value the Groom places on me.  In this marriage of earth and Heaven, all the angels look at Jesus and ask, “What is this woman worth?”  They see the answer in His tender touch, the kindness in His eyes, His words of love.  On the other side of the aisle, all of the earth asks the Church, “What is this man worth to you?”  They look for the evidence: the faith we have put in Him.

What kind of beautiful dress have we put on?  Have we become righteous?  The point of throwing off those filthy rags, repenting of sin and living in truth and love is much more than just getting tickets to Heaven.  We are literally becoming more beautiful every day, more worthy to be called the Bride of Christ.  I want to be around the ones who are serious about this beautification process.  Together, we can collect the bows, the lace, the fabric.  The most beautiful man in the universe is to be ours forever, and we are to be the most beautiful bride.

“‘Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; is was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’–for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”–Revelation 19:7-8

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by Joel Hansen on December 18, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by Joel Hansen on December 18, 2011

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/weddings/

Good Music

A big dream of mine that has been developing for a while is to create some really good music.  I was listening to a secular artist the other day, and I wondered to myself.  “Why can’t I make music this good?”  I quickly checked myself.  The truth was, the song was not good.  Not in a righteous kind of way.  Truthfully, it was effective.  The song did was music was supposed to do: open up the heart and reveal things, stir up the soul, set it in motion.  That secular song was greatly moving, but in a depressing way.  It wasn’t good.  It didn’t fill me with hope or life.  It didn’t draw me closer to God.

I want the best.  I want good music.  I believe that music can absolutely be well-produced, well-written and filled with holiness all at the same time.  It doesn’t have to be a “Christian” copy of some secular trend.  It doesn’t even have to be popular, but it has to be powerful.

Creativity is an incredible gift that is so often wasted.  I hope to live a life that calls out, with clarity and excellence, the pure songs of my heart.  I want to inspire the people around me to do the same!  We won’t write music glorifying selfishness or pride or promiscuity.  We have been destined to glorify our Creator by doing the same thing He does: creating beautiful things.

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!”–Psalm 92:1

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by Joel Hansen on December 15, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by Joel Hansen on December 15, 2011

http://joelhansen.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/good-music/

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