Question: Why is it when im workin on a car or under a sink and my jeans go alittle 'too far down" i hear the comment "plummers crack", but when a well endowed woman unveils her top in her profile picture it is "acceptable"? Ive seen many on this site. Dont these christian women know those are for their future husbands eyes only? To be honest, i dont appreciate getting hit with i would describe as "soft porn" on a christian site. i think CDFF should tighten their standards.
AND... i womt say how many photos ive seen and when i meet the woman,she looks like the mother of the woman in the picture. Im sure perhaps men do it too.
With the first worship CD "Come Away With Me" complete and released, i found a longing, a desire, to go deeper in my walk and intimacy with Christ Jesus. This first CD was a lesson of what it means to be intimate with the Lord... to laugh with Him and cry in His arms.
I moved to Oregon recently for those moments with Him in His most beautiful, quiet places in the wilderness... the beaches, the waterfalls, the mountains... the places Christ Jesus Himself went to be alone and pray to the Father.
Upon arrival i was met by a brother in the Lord much like me. James. he is like my twin brother, its scary sometimes. But what He has shared with me absolutely turned my life upside down...and now i'm right side up. for the first time in my life i think.
A friend, James took me to Bethel Church in Redding California, some 3 hours from my new home in Klamath Falls. He and his wife Cymdy have allowed God to work through them to minister to me like i've never been ministered to before. Between the John Sanford Elijah House DVDs and the Katie Souza healing School DVDs that were provided by my friend in Dallas, Andy...and then James' explanations of the new revelations of the new testament like i've never seen it before... well, sometimes all you can say is... wow. I didn't realize i had one foot in "grace' 9the new covenant... and the other foot in law (old covenant).
When i saw Jesus Culture at Bethel and then again at Generation Hope here in Klamath Falls... well... like i said, sometimes all you can say is... wow. I realized that while recording "Come Away With Me", i was trying to keep it topped off so as not to rustle the feathers of the different "kinds" of Christians. but i longed to be able to give Christ my all. then Jesus Culture showed me what it was like to do just that while in a deeper place of worship.
So Lord, bring on the fire... the next one, there'll be no holding back. And i can't wait. the first song is writter, its called "Deeper".
Ive come to realize that Christ longs for intimacy with His bride as much as we, His bride, long for intimacy with Him. That was a stunning revelation. And so He takes me out alittle deeper everyday... and calls me to come out on the water with Him.
And yes, Lord, i will come.
I'm planning on a trip to my favorite waterfall this weekend, Toketee Falls, weather permitting of course... the amount of snow we've had i hear is very unusual. I cant help but think it is a sign... for He is truly washing me white as snow... He is cleansing His bride... removing the spots, wrinkles and blemishes... The Father is preparing the bride for His only Son.
And so i wait, falling on my knees, fighting battles around me i can't see... an available vessle of water that He is changing into wine. And so i pour myself out and pray it touches the lives of others who have that same longing.
As the Lord brings others across my path and i plan and prepare to combine the fine art (www.ToddLThomas.net) with the new music, i just lay it all down at the foot of the cross and ask God to place His anointing on it. because without Him, well...
No, i can't earn His love. I can't make amends for my sin through works... only the precious blood of Christ Jesus can wash away the wretch that i am and raise up the warrior Christ in me...
I'm learning to fly. Someday soon i know i will soar above the haze of this world...I hope you will come soar with me... I love the view from up here...
To know Him, the power of His resurrection, sharing in His sufferings.
1 Thessalonians 5:10-18:
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Joy comes from living a life of unceasing prayer... never ending conversation with the Lord, as if He is always by your side...because, well... He is. It is relationship. I've been seeking more joy and love in my life lately, and have found myself sorely lacking in trusting God enough to seek intimacy with Him. I don't want to wait until tragedy strikes to find myself with no choice but to trust Him completely, so i started praying...hey, here i am God, take me, take all of me.
I'm finding the deeper im willing to go in love and intimacy with the Lord, the more love flows in and out of me and effects every part of my life and my being. Being a worship artist, that means stop worrying about what others think, worrying about offending someone and love on God and let Him love on me. I guess i was guarding my heart from possible rejection as if what others think or say matters.
Guarding your heart can feel safe but sometimes we miss the Lord in the process. Its like cholesterol meds... they kick out the bad stuff but also the good...That can become extreme...I've said here lately since i arrived and visited churches in southern Oregon that the church leaderships seem so intense about keeping an eye out for wolves to guard their flock that they turn into wolves at the same time and spook the sheep that come in looking for pasture.
Another thing that has come from this transforming work of the Holy Spirit in my life has been that i've learned its ok to feel, deeper than i have allowed before. It's ok to express myself and not worry about how others respond. I think i did this to accomplish some kind of self control. Well, i'm certain if God were psychologically diagnosed, He would be branded as crazy. He is with us in our deepest sorrows - the desert. He is with us in our highest highs - the mountaintops. He has been through them all with us and been afflicted by His church just as we have been by others and ourselves...and He created us with these highs and lows...in His image...it comes down to how we respond to adversity, and that is affected by just how deeply we love and trust God.
I've been going through the experiences of a broken romantic relationship process recently. As i was talking to God about it, venting is more the word, i cried out to the Lord why wont she ever be intimate with me, have i not loved her with my whole heart? God responded "I know how you feel, why wont My bride be intimate with Me? Did i not give My Son as a sign of My love for her? Why won't YOU be intimate with me?"
Ouch
So i've stopped whining His ear about that broken love relationship and started whispering in His ear of my love for Him. Wow. It absolutely opened the floodgates of heaven in my spirit man. Im not saying, do step 1, then 2 and 3 and you'll have... and then He'll give you...no... there's no formula. No 10-step program to intimacy with God. Sorry. Just get alone with Him and listen for His still small voice. And when we, a cell of the church, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, get it right, you will be amazed at the snowball effect on those around you... family, friends, your own outlook, your church, and its ever expanding.
If you break your foot, does it affect the rest of your body? Of course. Your arms have to use crutches, you can't carry things with your hands because they are occupied with the crutches, your legs can't put pressure on the wounded foot. The other foot has to take the majority of the weight. The hips get sore from shifting the weight to one side. That doesn't mean those other parts are broken too though. We are the body of Christ. Where one church hurts the rest of us are affected. And we have one standing in the gap for us... Christ Jesus... When the church practices Christian capitalism - judges, competes, even condemns another church, another brother, a fallen saint, we have just shown the world we are no different or better than they are so why would they want to seek the God we say we serve? They are watching.
I understand one might consider the conservative approach. Our comfort zones are... well... comfortable. Safe. I can tell you though that i hear God calling His bride out of our boats, out onto the water... into the deep and into His arms like never before. That gift of intimacy and passion is crying out for the love and intimacy our bridegroom longs to have with us. God sees us through the precious blood of Jesus, and in that we are made beautiful inside and out, just how God created us to be...
A bird with wings was meant to fly, not sit in a nest and marvel at the other birds flying by. God wants to wreck our lives for Him. He wants us to fully understand the new covenant His Son signed with His blood. he wants us to stop building our kingdoms within the Kingdom, stop building monuments to ourselves and our accomplishments...
buildings that come with huge mortgage payments that put pastors into slavery to those who are wealthy and give much...buildings that sit empty 6 1/2 days a week while the homeless sleep under bridges and in campsites in the cold night air. Where are the adult bible colleges? Where are the ministries to the homeless? Why are they funded by the government? When did it become the taxpayer's responsibility to do the work of the church? Does the Word not say to bear up one another's burdens?
God longs to take you/the church out into the deep waters, where deep cries out to deep...where you will be blessed beyond measure, beyond your wildest dreams...
where your planting (ministry) will bear an orchard of fruit trees for the Kingdom. He wants to transplant you by a river of living water where you'll produce a harvest for the Kingdom and drink of the waters of His river and never thirst again. And the tree in the middle of the river, with the leaves for healing the nations will bring you, the bride, and this once great country back to life again.
I just want to ask your forgiveness. Our generation has let you down. We have dropped huge debt on you, left many of you without fathers, and tv's to babysit many of you while we engaged in our own selfish desires.
But God... He is your Jehovaj Jireh your provider and He can cover our sin with His blood, making a way for you where there seems to be no way.
But God... In Psalms it says He is in His Holiest of Holies to be Father to the fatherless.
But God... there are those, such as Bethel Church in Redding California who have internet programming to connect you with truth of the Gospel, life, light... and bands like Jesus Culture reaching your generation to lead you into warfare through anointed praise & worship.
Artist, singer-songwriter and photographer Todd L Thomas. Stepped out of the boat and into the water and jumped into the arms of Christ (into full-time ministry)... quite a chellenge and the warfare can be intense, but i was given a gift of eternal life. Christ hung on a cross in my place. How can i not want to share that gift? When someone's life is touched, there is nothing like it in this life on earth.
I'm a fan of Jesus Christ. And i cheer on the saints as we battle through this life here on earth. Singles are the most neglected "group" of believers in the church today. And the divorce rate in the church shows it.
I was a fan of sports at one time... big Cowboys, Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers fan. but free agency and insane salaries took the fun out of it. It has become a world of idols. After years of disappointment as a Texas Rangers fan, they went to the World Series this year.I didnt watch a single game. I did glance at the final scores.
With all the suffering in this country, id rather pay for a meal and hotel room for a homeless family with children then support a bunch of grown men playing a kids game. OK, yes, we all need some liesure time. So i jump in my jeep and drive to see God's creation: waterfalls, beaches, mountains... to get away and pray and be refreshed. It spares me from watching sports programming with commercials usually containing soft porn.
I grew up in my walk a great deal during the Toronto Blessing movement from what was once a Vineyard Church. It was amazing as that movement of the Holy Spirit seemed to conceive love songs "to" God instead of "about" God, and at times to His bride from God.
Since then there has been a great move in praise & worship... CFNI, Jason Upton, Jonathan David Helser...
Well enter in Jesus Culture. A band of college students learning how to produce and minister deep worship music has taken it to a new level. The Joshua generation prophecies are being fullfilled before our eyes.
A couple songs i'd like to recommend (video and audi available on YouTube) are "You Wont Relent" and "Where You Go I'll Go". Bring a box of Kleenex and make a place on the floor...
