John and Jesus

I haven't been following the Christian music scene as closely as I had in years past so I was a little late to the game as it relates to Hawk Nelson's frontman John Steingard made his now infamous post about no longer believing in God.  Before I could find an opinion on all of it I wanted to hear from John himself as most of the noise about it was vague and well, lets be honest, Christians love to make stuff up and tear each other to shreds... been there, done that.. so I wanted to hear from the horses mouth... and I did that by watching a very good interview with John where he made his case in a very powerful and compelling way.

John told of having a moment that challenged and changed him where he was made aware of suffering children who were often dying lonely and abandoned and he just couldn't square how God would allow that sort of thing to happen while appearing to bless others so abundantly. The apparent hypocrisy from Heaven was too much for him to process but as usually happens when i get involved, I didn't just hear what John said, I also heard what God was saying with, through and about John... so if John happens to make his way here to my humble blog, here is what I want to publicly say to John...

John,

Let me first say thank you for sharing your talents and gifts with the world as you have so far. I was never a big Hawk fan until a few years ago when I saw you guys in concert in Columbus, Ohio and man, even though you were an opener for the Newsboys, you guys simply stole the show. There was an undeniable anointing on the music itself and God's Presence rested on your collective efforts. I like what you said in your recent interview about not letting our personal experiences be diminished by your new found season of searching... that is wisdom for sure.

I'm sure you are aware that there have been a pretty long line of people who have come and gone in the Christian music industry over the decades. For many of those people the hypocrisy of the industry itself got to be too much. For others the burden of fame itself did them in while still others  couldn't square the teachings of Jesus and the Bible with their own sexual appetites.  When I heard your sharing, I didn't get the feeling that any of those things applied to you.  In fact, I was a little suprised at the humility in your voice after hearing how harshly some have painted your recent comments.

As a prophetic voice in the modern body of Christ, here is what I heard as you shared...

The Lord is not put off or upset with you at all.  In fact He is the one setting all of this into motion. Your public questioning is a very real reflection of the private questioning in the hearts of countless other believers who simply did not have the courage that you do to stand up for what you believe is right.  Through your own perception you view this as something of a a departure away from God but it is not that at all.  It's much more of a personal challenge from God taylor made for you. The questions that have brought you to this place... are not yet answered in your heart and mind... and that is a good thing because answers hide from us and as you said in your interview, the normal "evil is in the world" answers just didn't ring with you this time...

God is saying to you personally John, you have been given a special invitation to no longer learn about Him, to no longer sing about Him, to no longer lead others about Him.. but instead this time the invitation is to get away from the human realms and begin to explore the PERSON of the Holy Spirit for yourself.  God has baited your heart with questions that no man can satisfactorily answer. Only hearing answers directly from the Holy Spirit Himself will bring you peace and resolution.

So many years have been spent being about the work of the Lord... now the Lord has issues a holy "hit" on you, a term I use when God targets a person for an individual and unique encounter with Him alone.  I personally have had two of these in my 50 years.. so they are not common, but they are life altering and that is what is happening right now. Your desire for order in the Earth is absolutely God's desire as well... but that is what God is using to get you in the door to meet with Him alone.  Once you are alone with Him and conversations begin back and forth, He will speak such deep things to you about HIMSELF that it will bring resolution to your questions and reveal a new, fresh chapter and season of life for you.

I prayed if I was supposed to share any scripture with you and the only verse I felt to share was Philippians 3:12... my paraphrase of that verse to you right now would be this...   "it's ok that you are shaken and don't have the answers because you are about to be overtaken and captured by the person of the Holy Spirit who has set his sights on overtaking and capturing you." It's really a personal manifestation of the lyric "you can't face this kind of Grace and leave the way you came".  It will be like stepping inside of Love and Grace together.. and even those two words will be redefined to your human understanding. 

I believe in you John and I bless what God is doing here in all of this. Most of the world is judging or not understanding... don't sweat them at all, just know those of us who see with spirit eyes see what's really happening and we bless you as you journey through life.

Thanks for reading.

​M-

---