That's the Way We've Always Done It
Why The Green Food Coloring
That's the way we've always done it
I was serving an Interim Pastoral position at a Presbyterian church about 20 years ago when one Sunday I felt the Lord tell me NOT to print a bulletin. This was not an offensive request to me. I didn't mind following where Holy Spirit would lead and was not afraid to "wing it," and the message was about Holy Spirit anyway, so it seemed like an apt exercise. Upon arriving at the sanctuary that Sunday morning, there was obvious discomfort among the crowd. The deacons were all unsure of what to do with nothing to hand out, and the congregation members ranged between puzzled and irritated and everything in between. We proceeded with the service, and I led the entire thing with no preprinted path to follow. It seemed everyone politely obliged, until the next morning, when the complaint department (our church secretary) became overwhelmed.
The loudest, rudest complainer was from a lady whose "family had been in this church for generations, and this is not the way we do things here!" I had the church secretary assure her it was a onetime exercise and that the coveted document would be there again next Sunday. When I took the pulpit the next Sunday, all parishioners had their bulletin, and I looked over to the place our complainer usually sat–and there she was–SOUND ASLEEP! I literally laughed out loud, had to regain my composure and lead the rest of the service.
We inherit from the generations before us. It comes as family traditions, faith practices, lifestyle habits, genetic impact, mannerisms and many other things. They flow in our life and influence our choices daily. Most we are completely blind to, like a programmed computer, we walk through life doing it "the way it's always done." But what if it's time to do it differently?
What if our inherited religious practices and traditions have left an entire generation asleep in the faith?
Is it time to move out of what we are comfortable with in controllable religion and the predictable worship and jump into the unknown embrace of true freedom in the Spirit?
Have we just fallen asleep?
ABRAM–GO!
When God called Abraham, he had to leave his father's house, his family, and the only land he had ever known to go into a Land of Promise he had never seen. God did not give him a brochure and sell him on the idea with a sales pitch. He just told Abram to GO, and Abram did. By obediently walking his journey of faith, Abraham broke out of generational darkness and into a journey of light. The bible records that three generations, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all had personal Yahweh encounters as they led the people of God into national identity.
ESTABLISHED A TESTIMONY
Psalm 78 tells us that in the personal encounters of the patriarchs, "God established a testimony" (verse 5) which was to be taught to the future generations, that they may know hope in God. They were to tell their children about their encounters to teach them to know Him as they had. However, in Psalm 78:9, we read that "The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God's covenant and refused to walk according to his law." Somewhere down the generational line, people stopped, ignored, or disbelieved the established testimony of God's greatness, resulting in a generation labeled cowardly in battle.
What if God is actively moving in the Kingdom upon not just the individual believer, but orchestrating a GENERATIONAL SHIFT?
Where are the pioneers who are ready to answer the GO of God and leave their generational darkness?
Is it time for the current and next generations to have Yahweh Encounters that change the course of history?
Should our testimony of Yahweh be on a daily trajectory of the awesomeness of God, or is it just one time at bible camp I got saved?
AT KADESH
When Moses rescued Israel from Egypt, being a slave to a taskmaster was all they knew, and it infected them throughout every generation. As they journeyed through the wilderness, free from slavery, their mindset remained limited to a life of servitude and cruelty. When standing on the banks of the Promised Land (established with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) conquering that land was not in their mental capacity as a possibility. When God sent the 12 spies into the land, 10 came back with a negative report. This led Israel to reject God's plan and promise out of cowardice and unbelief. A generation that saw God do miracles in Egypt, saw the Red Sea part, saw the enemy destroyed, was so captivated by their generational fear that they could not see the victorious land, they only saw what scared them. This generation would die in the wilderness.
Where are the generations who have seen God move miraculously?
Where are the Joshua and Caleb's who want to move with the Spirit of God and conquer unknown territories?
Why would we want to die in the wilderness?
Then the LORD said: …none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it." (Numbers 14:20-24 ESV)
LIME PICKLES
My husband's grandmother made the absolute best potato salad. We have the recipe; we attempt to make it, and we get close, but she just had a knack. One ingredient in her potato salad is called "Lime Pickles." Made from a specific type of cucumber and bathed in an insane amount of sugar and many, many drops of green food coloring. These pickles make the dish. I decided last year that I was missing Grandma's Potato Salad. So I pulled her recipe, found a farmers' market that had the proper cucumbers and began the process.
As I was gathering all my supplies and preparing for pickle making, I wondered why Grandma's recipe called for green food coloring in a ridiculous amount. Being someone who has food sensitivities, I try to watch what goes into my mouth, not to mention the RFK Jr. has us on a quest to Make America Healthy Again! I asked why the green food coloring. No one could tell me. I inquired up my family line about their opinions of the green food coloring and all anyone could remember was that my dad's mom used massive red food coloring for canning apples. Grandmother recipes handed down the generations, dutifully followed by those who came after them, no questions asked.
Until I asked why?
It's time to ask the LORD the why's.
Why do I think this way?
Why do I respond this way?
Why do we do it this way?
The LORD God is moving upon the generations in advancing the Kingdom. We need to be those who acknowledge the giants in the land, but focus on the great Big God we follow and take the land, occupy the land, and worship Him in the Land. He has wonderful promises for each of his people, and they have a corporate purpose and generational impact for your children's children!
God is speaking to YOU!
Calling YOU into a NEW encounter with HIM!
Calling YOU into a deeper walk of FAITH!
Calling YOU to ESTABLISH a generational testimony!
Will you Go---or do you need a bulletin to find your way?
Blessings,
Kammy