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The Scribal Anointing
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Theresa H. Johnson
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Theresa H. Johnson
THE MINISTRY OF POETRY
©
Copyright 2002 Theresa Harvard Johnson
For Permission to Redistribute Contact
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Recently, the Lord has been ministering to my heart about the writing
gifts of Christians. So often, we become so consumed in what we believe
is our "GREAT TALENT" that we forget our true call, and even the purpose
for the gifts.
There are several very important things we must remember as Christians:
1. We must remember that poetry writing is not OUR gift! This
magnificent gift and all its flavors belong to God, and have been given
to us by him.
2. We should be thankful for our gift of poetry. The poetry we write
should minister to us and bring tremendous light, wisdom, and comfort to
others.
3. God did not present these gifts to us to simply allow us to entertain
others. Instead, they are ministry tools used to help spread the good
news of the Gospel for Kingdom building.
4. Christian writing should heal, comfort, encourage, correct, warn,
instruct or otherwise carry the message of the Gospel to God's people.
Writings should always line up - without question - with the Word of
God. It is okay to be light hearted and humorous, or event preachy or
serious if that is the voice you write from. The ultimate goal, however,
will always center on Kingdom building.
As poets, we must be mindful of satan's strategies and tactics. He often
uses lust - the element of our flesh that seeks acceptance, achievement,
popularity, glory, and praise - to pull us from our God driven destiny
and back into the world. We must pray constantly that God keeps us
humble, and remind ourselves that we have been entrusted with very
specific assignments. Yes, every prophetic poem is an assignment! As a
result, those God has intended to be blessed by your poem will indeed be
blessed.
We MUST never chase the gift! Instead, we MUST chase the father!
By allowing God to speak poetically through us, it is necessary to have
an active prayer life, a spirit of humility, and be in a Jesus preaching
church where the spiritual man is constantly being fed with the WORD.
Think of it this way, the Word can't come out of you if Word isn't going
inside of you. The bible says God gives us shepherds after his own heart
to guide us.
Also, we should not compare our gifts to the gifts of others! Poetry is
as unique as we are as individuals! If I read a poem, and it doesn't
prick anything in my spirit ... perhaps that poem was not meant for me.
It does not mean it was a poor poem only that it did not appeal to me at
that particular place in my walk toward Christ. Someone else may read
that same poem, and find an answer to a prayer inside. Just remember,
there are people whom God will send your way that ONLY you can minister
to - no one else! We are all unique - yet one body - in the ministry of
poetry/spoken word.
We must always write to glorify God. After all, we want him to be well
pleased with us. We want to be good stewards over EVERYTHING he has
given. We want to walk out our destiny and purpose through him.
To God be the Glory! May peace be with you.