A throne in the earth - christjohnotto.space

Drip

christ john otto

Drip

by Christ John Otto© 2018 Christ John Otto, all rights reserved.www.belonginghouse.org

scripture quotations are from the The New Jerusalem Bible. New York; London: Doubleday; Darton, Longman & Todd, 1985.

for Glenda

thanks for holding

my feet to the fire.

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This book is not free.

Please share it with at least 2 people you think need to read it. That's the price of this book.

If it really touches you please share quotes from it with others, of course noting "by Christ John Otto."

And if it REALLY impacts you, buy me a cup of coffee at belonginghouse.givingfire.com

Thanks for being generous.

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Table of Contents

Why 8King 22Throne 36Culture 44Drip 56Home 72

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Why

I have been working with artists for over 12 years.

Before that I was planning on becoming a priest,

but my plan was diverted.

In order to make money I worked as a freelance artist. From that experience I learned a lot.

I learned that God never wastes anything.

Every twist and turn is for a purpose. Every new adventure

is part of your learning, and part of your endless becoming.

So back to the past 12 years.

In those 12 years I have seen arts organizations, and Christian arts ministries emerge and multiply.

In the beginning I was excited.It was great to no longer be a forerunner.After years of people trying

to make me normal, I gleefully embraced everyone.

Because it's no fun running ahead of the pack,

When you really want to be part of the pack.

I soon learned an important lesson.

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Two people can use the same language, but mean very different things.

When God called me to this, I knew there was a specific "Why" to the calling.

To raise up a throne for Jesus

in the earthto establish the government of God

and prepare the way for the return of Jesus.

That's the "Why God is raising up artists today" for Belonging House, the organization we started.

But soon I discovered that the “why” for others was different than the “why” for me.

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We used the same language but we were walking

on different roads.That's not a bad thing.

It just means we are in different tribes.

The best way to kill yourself is to give 80 percent of your energy to people who only care about 20 percent of what you do. Lots of creative people work hard to please people in places where they don't belong.

And the best way for other people to kill you is to make you join their tribe even if you don't fitbecauseguiltniceness"Christian Unity"or that's what you "should do."

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I once had a secretary who would say:Don't should on me.

Jesus never said should, try, or be nice.

And so I kept walking, much of that time alone.Because, at the end of the day, Jesus is going to judge you on how you carried out the thing

He asked You

to do.

If he called you to make widgets and you go become a missionary, you are not fulfilling your calling.

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And if Jesus called you to be an artist, and you gobecome a preacher,and you go to prayer meetings, you did not fulfill your calling.

Good things are your enemy. They always keep you from the best.

Good things always come with shoulds

attached.

So back to the "Why."

I believe that God is calling us to raise up artists who will establish the government of God.

The government of God is about freedom.

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It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.

And when an artist gets free they can set other people free.

That's a powerful thing. Thats the point.Full stop.

Jesus wants to fill the world with free people

so he can rule and reign in freedom.

Jesus trusts you.Yes, that's radical.

Freedom is not rebellion or lawlessness.

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Freedom doesn't mean you get to break all the rules or "stick it to the man."

Freedom doesn't mean you can do whatever you want whenever you want.

No, that's not freedom, that's license.

Freedom is being unlockedfrom the shackles of slavery.

Freedom is being able to make your own decisions.

Freedom requires greater responsibility.

And of course,Freedom is not free.

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Christ became a slave so you could become a son.That means, male or female, you have all the benefits of the first born male heir in a wealthy Jewish family.

Have you ever been to a New York Bar Mitzvah?

That's pretty good.

That means you get a lot of benefits.

And a lot of responsibility.In other words,

it's not about youor your destiny.

It's about the destiny of planet Earth.

The government of God is a family of freedom.

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And you have been given the power of imagination to put ideas into the minds of others.

You have been entrusted with the power of “could be.”

You can help others see the invisible and envision the impossible.

You can tell stories about things that "normal" people never dreamed of before.

You can show people what heaven looks like.

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You can imagine new inventions that can cure the ills of society.

You can satisfy the longing for beauty that is in every human heart.

This is why Satan hates you.

You uniquely bear the image of God and you have

the real power to destroy

Satan's empire.

You see, beauty has the power to destroy lies.

Truth can be twisted.

Goodness can be redefined.

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But beauty is always beauty.

When it's not, its ugly,

and even a little child and a fool

knows what ugly is,

even if an intellectual calls it beautiful

all day long.

That's why some of you have been abusedsome of you struggle with addictionsome of you believe you will always be poorand some of you are waiting for permission.

I'm here to tell you today you have permission.

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Its time to pry open the "wedge of freedom" in your heart and start building a throne in the earth.

That's the why.

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King

Jesus is the king of the kingdom.

Let me say that again. Jesus is the

King of the Kingdom.

It's funny how people forget. And the kingdom is not a personal empire or a personal vision. It isn't even a ministry!

God can use a vision to build the kingdom, but often the vision becomes an empire, and then a funny thing happens.

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It stops being the kingdom.

Jesus is the King of the Kingdom. When Jesus came, the only thing he said he was going to do was establish his kingdom.

And that's what he did.

He said he cameto make the blind see,

the lame walk,the deaf hear,

tell good news to poor people, and give prisoners back their freedom.

There's that word again.

Oh, he also said he came to fulfill the law and the prophets.

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There are a lot of laws in Leviticus.

One of those laws says that if you are a leper you can never go back into your village, or be with your family again. Where ever you go you must cry "Unclean, Unclean!" so people will stay away from you. Unless you get cured. Too bad leprosy was incurable.

It was a good law, because leprosy is contagious.

There are a lot of funny stories in the Gospels. Jesus did a lot of funny things. He was walking around living like he was the King of the Kingdom.

And people paid attention.

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One day he heard a leper shouting "Unclean, Unclean!" and instead of walking the other way, he walked right up to him.The leper said,

"If you are willing, you can heal me."

Jesus said, "I am willing!" and healed him right there and then.

Suddenly the former leper had freedom to go into the village and kiss his mama.

Which he did.

There's that word again.

But a funny thing happened after that.

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It says that because of the crowd, Jesus could never go into another village again.

Just like a leper.

He fulfilled the lawby taking it upon himself so you would never have to try, be nice, or should.

Don't you want to have a king like Jesus?

Another funny story happened because Jesus couldn't go into villages anymore.

People came out to see him in the middle of nowhere.

You know, where there are no supermarkets

or fish and chip shops.

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It was lunch time and everybody was listening to Jesus talk about his Kingdom, and they forgot what time it was, until their stomachs grumbled.

Now if it was today, the preacher would have said,

"Fasting is good for you."

But Jesus didn't do that, he took a little boy's lunch and fed over five thousand people.

And he saidthis was better than the manna in the wilderness, because He was the True Bread, and if you ate of this bread you would have eternal life.

Don't you want a king like Jesus?

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And there is another funny storyabout after Jesus taught his disciples how to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, and talk about freedom. Some other people liked what the disciples were doing, and they started healing people too,

in the name of Jesus.

The disciples were very upset and they said, "Those folks are not in apostolic succession, and they are healing people illegally."

(That's not what they said, but you know

that's what they meant.)

Funny how control isn't freedom.

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And Jesus said, "Who ever is not against me is for me."

Jesus understood tribes, and that uniformity is not unity.

And a very funny thing, he trusted those outsiders. He never tried to get them to join the disciples, sign a statement of faith, or get credentials. He never asked them who their covering was, or what stream was their flow.

Jesus trusts people.You don't have to do what everybody else is doing in order for Jesus to be King.

Don't you want a king like Jesus?

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Jesus is the King, and the kingdom is not a democracy.

The closest thing we see to a democracy in the Bible is when they drew straws to pick a replacement for Judas. I'm sure that Matthias was a very nice guy, and I am sure that Peter had good intentions.

But it wasn't the kingdom.

Nobody knows what happened to Matthias. (Maybe you do, if you do, let me know.)

Then the Holy Spirit came and Peter stopped being a foolish politician,started healing people, and preaching that Jesus was the King of the Kingdom.

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And Jesus picked a replacement for Judas. You may have read some of his books, his name was Paul.

You see, Jesus is the king.

Oh, there was another time when the Israelites voted to not go into the Promised Land. That didn't work out so well:

they all died in the wilderness

after wandering around in circles for 40 years.

You are probably asking, "I thought this book was about why God was raising up artists.Why is he telling me all this Sunday School jazz?"

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You, gentle reader, are called to help establish the government of God. This chapter is a civics lesson. This government is a kingdom. And this kingdom is all about the King.

And you are not only part of the kingdom, you are part of the Royal Family.

The Holy Spirit inside of you made you an heir of the Kingdom, and you have authority to use your influence. God has given you freedom to walk out your calling with no limits so that the Kingdom would get established.

Remember freedom and responsibility?

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You have a duty to let Jesus trust you enough to begin acting like him.

Healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and preaching the good news about freedom.

You cannot do it on your own.

But Jesus, the King, in you, can do it through you.

You don't have to try to do it. He trusts you enough to do it if you let him.

And like I said earlier. The more freedom you have, the more freedom you can give to others.

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Because it is for freedom that Christ has set you free.

Don't you want a king like Jesus?

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ThroneMany pages ago I said God was raising up artists to build him a throne in the earth.

That's the Why.

I get phone calls,letters, texts, instant messages, and questions from curious onlookers all the time.

And without fail, most of them ask the same question.

"What is a throne in the earth?"

William Shakespeare wrote amazing things.

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In his play, Richard the II, a speech by John of Gaunt begins: "This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle,"

He was talking about England. But he was also talking about

a throne.

A throne is the dominion or the jurisdiction where a king has power.

It is more than geography. It is the limit of influence. And Jesus is calling youto increase his influence in the earth.

Let me say that again a different way.

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Because you are part of the royal family, the Kingdom is your family business.

And you, as a good royal, need to always work on behalf of the monarch, and you need to always increase and expand the interests of his throne.

And here is another interesting bit.

Jesus is coming to sit on David's throne.And he needs an army to build it.

I bet you didn't know that David was artistic.

He was.

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He sang,wrote poetry, danced,coordinated large arts events,funded and was artistic directorof an orchestra and chorus,designed musical instruments,and planned multiple building projects, including the new temple.

I bet you never heard a sermon about it.

And God promised David that one day someone would sit on his throne forever.

And His kingdom would have no end,

His influence would forever increase,

and He would rule the nations.

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I like how the Jerusalem Bible says it:

Wide his dominionin a peace that has no end,for the throne of Davidand for his royal power,which he establishes and makes securein justice and integrity.From this time onwards and forever, the jealous love of the Lord of Hosts will do this.

That was from the ninth chapter of Isaiah.

God is looking for helpers to extend his royal influence:

the sound, shape, color, light,

and story

of his rule and reign.

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He wants everyone to know just what kind of King Jesus is, and what kind of Government he plans to establish.

So you, artist, creator, designer, maker of beautiful things, are called to establish dominion.

Remember all the things I said about Jesus in the last chapter?

Those things are the qualities that he wants to release in the earth through you.

And not just through you,

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but through the stories you tell, the dances you dance, the songs you sing, and pictures you make

(and the millions of other ways people create).

Why?

To establish the kingdomand to help people know the King.Because a world whereJesus is King is really what everyone wants.

And so they can get a taste of freedom.

Because one taste makes you want more.

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Culture

When I was a kid, I would sit down after schooland watch I Love Lucy.

Everybody loves Lucy.

I'm not sure why, but one day Lucy and Ethel took a part-time job at a chocolate factory.

They had one simple task.

Chocolates rolled down a conveyor belt and the girls had to put the chocolates into boxes.

Simple.

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That would not be funny, so they began to speed up the conveyor belt, and soon the chocolates came so quickly that they were forced to put them in their pockets, and into their mouths, and in their hats. And soon, there was a mess of chocolates, boxes, and two exhausted women.

Sometimes God speaks through old TV shows.

Culture is like that conveyor belt. Many people think that if you want to influence culture, you need to influence politics, and they focus all their energyon the voting box.

In the culture factory, the voting box is just like the box for the chocolates. The chocolates were all made by the time they got to the box.

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I don't know why, but some people love politics.

Politics ain't government.

Politics is two opposing sides jockeying for position, so that their side can have power over other people.

It's a high stakes game, power over people.

Remember what I said about control?

So politicians lie.Politicians make compromises without principles.And politicians form factions and alliances.We call these parties.

Paul talks about this in several of his letters.

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He made a list called the "works of the flesh."It included witchcraft, sorcery, gossip, sexual immorality, murder,

and making political parties.

God's government is not having power over people. It's about order. And it's about freedom.

How does God govern?By creating culture.

That's where you come in.

What is culture?

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At the core of cultureis art, food, and stories created by a group of people.

When God called Israel out of Egypt, did he give them a political system?

No.

He gave them holidays, directions about what foods to eat and how they should be prepared, and a lot about the artistic design of the Tabernacle.

Culture sets Jews apart even to this day.

Pastrami and Passover makes them different.

Culture is who you are.

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Seth Godin describes culture this way:

People like us do things like this.

When you go into the culture factory, there are carts full of raw materials: national history, important events, family recipes, and holiday traditions.

The first stop on the conveyor belt of culture is your grandmother's knee.

I remember the first rhyme I learned:

I had a little turtle who lived in a box,He swam in a puddle,

and He climbed on the rocks . . .

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This was my introduction to culture. I learned songs, stories,nursery rhymes,and proverbs.

Like, "fish and company stink after three days."

Ben Franklin said that. That's my culture.

Eventually a child goes to school.Hopefully the school will instill in the child a love for the arts, and the finest things culture has produced.

When I was five I saw my first painting

by Marc Chagall.

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School opened my eyes to Bach, Shakespeare, DaVinci, and a host of other amazing creators. This was more culture.

In high school I copied

Albrecht Durer.

And thenthe mass media, entertainment, and popular music also create and shape cultural values and attitudes.

For good, but often for ill.

All the while we have been rolling down a conveyor belt.

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And too often, at the very last stop, is a group of Christians.

Some have signs and bullhorns.

Others have leaflets. Some are giving speeches.

Hmm.

Remember what I said about control?

and power?and freedom?

They are standing between you and the voting box.

And since they were absent at every place along the way, everything they say

is foreign, and some of it is offensive.

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Unlike Lucy and Ethel it ain't funny.It's messy,Nasty, and usually doesn't sound like the Kingor his Kingdom.

The salt did not preserve or flavor.

It has lost its saltiness.

The light was under a bushel, and when it came out all it did was blind.

God wants to shape the culture of the earth. The best way to shape a culture

is to give people stories worth repeating.

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Imagine creating something that becomes part of culture and sets the standards for a generation that has not been born.

That's government.

Imagine a culturewhere men respect and honor women,where women honor and respect men,

where children never fear abuse or neglect,where there are no locks on the door at night,

where neighbors lend a helping hand,where families remain intact and thrive,

where business and industry succeed,where there is no graffiti or litter,

where everyone assumes the best of others, and where everyone does to others

as they would have others do to themselves.It has happened before.

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You can't achieve this at the voting box.

And sadly, many politicians

do not want this kind of world

because it gives inadequate

opportunities for financial gain

and career advancement.

But you can impact culture and determine the speed of the conveyor belt.

You can provide the raw materials for the culture factory.

And you can be for something.

That's government.

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Drip

I like the Bible.

If you want to really change and be transformed, spend your spare time reading the Bible.

The more you read the Bible the more you discover that it is a love letter, and that most of it is interconnected to other parts.

That's pretty remarkable, since it took over 2000 years

to compile and create.

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No it wasn't dictatedand dropped out of heaven,

and the real bookswere not suppressed by the Vatican

no matter what some people on TV say.

It is amazing how this old book speaks to me about my daily life, every day.

In the second chapter of Isaiah there is a picture that has jumped out at me recently:

The mountain of the Lord's house

will rise above all the mountains of the earth,

and all the nations will stream to it. And the nations

will walk by the light

coming from the mountain.

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Nations will stop making weapons,

and give up studying war.

I paraphrase.

Later on in the 25th chapter, Isaiah mentions the mountain again.

On this mountain the Lord

will make a feast of rich food,

wine, and juicy fruits (that's what it says).

He will wipe every tear from our eyes,

and death will be destroyed forever.

And then later on, in Revelation, it tells us

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there will be a city on that mountain, and there will be a river running out of it. And the kings of the earth will bring the glories of their nations into it.

Hmm.

That sounds like culture to me.Art and food.

From the Bible's perspective, there is one mountain. The mountain of the Lord's house.

Some people say that Isaiah meant the temple,

but I think, since the plan was to create

a large royal family

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with Jesus as the King.It's a house. A big house on a mountain.

A castle I suppose.

(and since we are royalty, we each get a room.

I guess that's why Jesus said

he has gone to prepare a room for us in his house,

Wow!)

When you climb that mountain, you soon discover that there is a river flowing through the wilderness, and it gives life to everything on the mountain of the Lord's house.

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This mountain is culture, and the center of the government of God.

Someone may have told you

that culture is made of seven mountains.

And somehow four of them relate to politics.

The Bible says there is one mountain, and it is all about Government.

Jesus is the King of the Kingdom.With a big Royal Family.Feasting on the Wealth of Nations.Basking in the Glories of Every Culture.

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The best of the best of the best of the best.

And a river runs through it all.

In nature, water does an interesting thing. Water changes terrain. Water supports life. Water seeps into cracks in rocks and splits them. Water dissolves minerals and nutrients to feed plants and trees. Water turns to ice, and water turns to steam and makes clouds. Water touches everything, and water changes everything it touches.

But nothing changes water.

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In the Bible water is the image of the Holy Spirit.

And you, creative person, need to be full of that water.

Remember, it's about government,

and the interests of the king, and expanding the royal family.

But, if you are an artist, and if you have been steeped in the world's culture, you are not going to make a difference for the kingdom.

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You see, man's ways are not usually God's ways.

And people work from the outside in, not the inside out,

like God does.

You need to be like a sponge and get into the River. You have to get saturated with the water of the Holy Spirit. You need to be permeated with the Bible, so you know the stories of the culture of the Kingdom, and so they impact you when you aren't thinking about it.

That's called being renewed on the inside.

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Then, when you are all wet, you begin to drip. That drippiness is what makes you different, and everything you create will also be drippy.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

And everywhere you drip, you will drip a bit of the culture of the kingdom, and it will change the terrain. It will nourish everyone who is hungry. It will split rocks, and it will determine the future.

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And you won't have to stop telling your story to insert a sermon, a cross and a dove, or the sinner's prayer. Because your story will drip. It won't need some plastic gimmick to be Christian.

That's why Christian movies suck,

by the way.

You won't need to try to make a second rate project Christian with the Christian bait and switch.

You know,

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when people go to a movie to hear a good story

and forget about life for a while, and instead

get told a mediocre story with a sermon at the end.

That's bait and switch, and it's dishonest.

And Christians do it all the time.

And the guy who thought

he was going to a movieand spent good money

says, "I will never

do that again. Christians cheat to get converts."

I digress.

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You need to drip.

That's the result of being in the River.

That is, being full of the Holy Spirit, and transformedfrom the inside out by the renewing of your mind, begins to make you different.

And you won't have to try, because you

ARE different.

It's the water on the inside that's different from the swill oozing out ofeverybody else.

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And what's dripping out of you, if you do excellent work, will be noticed.

And you won't have to stop

and quote the scripture, and you won't have to stand

at the end of the conveyor belt and shout.

Your excellent work and the water dripping out of you has changed the eco-system of culture, and where ever you go you give life.

And all that life brings healing to people,

families and nations.

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It's all about culture, on one mountain, the government of God.

Go get wet,really,really,

wet.

Read your Bible,

pray "Come, Holy Spirit."

And go and drip.

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HomeThis has been a book about why God is raising up artists across the earth.

Why? Because God wants to make the kingdoms of this world the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.

That's from the Bible, and also Handel's

"Hallelujah Chorus." Maybe you never noticed.

That's culture, by the way.

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God's plan is to transform the earth, so that when Jesus returns to reign he will find a place that feels like home.

The plan from the beginning was to create a home. A home where God and man could live together in love.

Yes, I know,

that's radical.

God wants to establish his Kingdom, and God's government is all about freedom and responsibility.

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There's that word again. Freedom.

You get to be free from everything holding you back and be a member of a royal family.

There are endless benefitsand many responsibilities.

The biggest responsibility is to be like Jesus.You can't try harder to be like Jesus.You can't be nicer to be like Jesus.And you definitely should not be like Jesus on your own.

You have to give up your control and let Jesus rule and reign through you.

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That means closing your mouth,stopping and waiting, and not doing anything until Jesus is Lord.

That means Jesus is the boss.

But I think that by now you know that letting Jesus be boss is probably better than you and your vision, mission, career goals, and success.

Jesus is an awesome boss,

and the benefits are amazing.

But to do this is radical.

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And it is dangerous.

You see, although this isn't politics, it is revolutionary.

Some people want to keep their power, and their control over other people.

Remember what I said about power over people and control.

That ain't freedom.

Even some people who say they are Christians want power over other people.

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Power is a dangerous drug.

And you wield a dangerous arsenal of weapons.

You have the weapons of creativity.

You can paint pictures and let people see what you see.

You can tell stories of great adventures that awaken the heart.

You can write songs that people remember and release life.

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You can design better tools to improve life.

And you can help people imagine a better world for themselves and their children.

Remember, an artist is the only one who can get free and then help others get free too.

And freedom is the foundation of the Kingdom.

There's that word again.

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And a lot of free people are hard to control.

Especially a bunch of virtuous free people who have been inspired to see the Good, the True, and the Beautiful everywhere.

Remember, this is why there is a war over the arts, and a war over culture.

Whoever directs culture not politics

determines government in the future.

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This is why some people want to control which words you are allowed to say.

And this is why, when some people get power, they line up all the artists, writers, and thinkers and shoot them in the head.

They do this first, you know,

usually before they start rationing

all the food.

Because a free imagination is a dangerous thing.

And the King is coming.

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And the King's greatest weapon is a bunch of free thinking people making beautiful things that make life better.

That's a threat to the status quo.That means change.And it means the end of Satan's empire,

and the end of all his useful idiots.

As I said before, the stakes are high. And it's a fight to the death.

So this book is about to end.

Maybe you are relieved.

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I hope you see now, why God is forging a global arts movement.

There are songs, and sounds, that the world aches to hear.

All of creation is groaning for the Royal Family to start acting like one.

To exercise dominion, and advance the government of the King. Because everyone wants a King like Jesus.

They just don't know it yet.

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And you, through excellent work, are going to show them.

Not with a sermon, but with your life.

The days of struggling artists in the back of the church are coming to an end.

And the days of creators advancing the government of God are just beginning.

A story in a magazine that describes the culture of heaven.

A poem at a reading that makes people hunger for something more.

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A dance that moves the audience to see the unseen.

A movie that awakens the desire for the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

It's not about you and your destiny.

It's not even about making a living.

Although these things are important,

and God does care about them.

No.

It's about the future of the human race, and the survival of planet earth.

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It's about setting up the throne of David and expanding the influence of the Kingdom of Jesus.

So that when he comes he will know he's home.

And we will be ready, and there will be many waiting to take up residence in the castle we have built together on the mountain.

Making art, and eating food, and showing off the glories of the nations together,

in Freedom.

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If you want to know more aboutChrist John Otto

his books or his workplease go to

belonginghouse.org

Fear not God can be trusted.

Thanks for sharing this book with 2 other people.

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