The Lost Glory Preface

"To me it seems as if when God conceived the world, that was poetry; He formed it, and that was sculpture; He coloured it, and that was painting; he peopled it with living beings, and that was grand, divine, eternal drama." - EMMA STEBBINS, 1816-1867

As we begin this new millennium, it's obvious that God is on the move in the arts again. Many prophecies over the last fifteen years or so have borne witness to this fact. In the last four or five years there have been many prophecies originating from all over the world that say there is a "new wave" of God coming, and that He is going to put artists, musicians and creative people in the forefront of this move of His Spirit. Given that, I believe with all my heart that this is the right time for this book - absolutely 100 percent.

THE BATTLE FOR TERRITORY

Any Christian with a basic grasp of New Testament theology will know that we are in a spiritual battle. A battle is mostly concerned with gaining or defending territory, a fight for ownership and territorial rights. As Christians we are involved in warfare with principalities and powers that are continually encroaching upon territory that is rightfully ours. We cannot afford to passively accept this state of affairs, but should instead be seeking to take the offensive and reclaim the territory that has been lost, because, in fact, we are actively involved whether we like it or not. The contested "territory" has even included a battle for the rights of the ownership of creation itself.

The atheistic and materialistic evolutionary philosophy that has pervaded western society strongly denies God's ownership of creation, while Christians continue to assert it. This particular battle has raged for hundreds of years and has been heightened more than ever by society's growing desire for a rationalistic "pick-and-mix" religion that only embraces the things it finds palatable. The battle for ownership of creation has also been extended to include the territorial rights of these things called "music" and "art" - even creativity itself.

This battle is in the understanding; it is taking place largely in the mind, as we discover shortly. The enemy has so far managed to pollute and darken the thinking of vast sections of the church, as well as countless creative artists. However, if we are to see a new wave of God's power that will harness the gifts and abilities of such people called to creative worship, we should not be surprised that these are the very people the enemy is keen on attacking and destroying. Our enemy, satan, hates and detests any God-inspired worship and worshipper, for they are a serious threat to the kingdom of darkness.

In Ephesians 1:17-18 we read this prayer: "...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding be enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."

Having our eyes opened to receive a revelation of who Jesus Christ really is, and who we are in Him, is absolutely vital to effective Christianity. Without such revelation it is impossible to make any progress at all, and we will pose not threat to spiritual powers and principalities. This scripture reveals to us by implication a favourite tactic of the enemy, to propagate spiritual blindness and cloud understanding wherever possible. It shows us that much of the battle will take place in the heart, mind and spirit of a person. It is a battle to gain understanding of our true identity in Christ - who we are, and what God has made possible for us. It is also a battle to discover our true purpose in Christ - the realisation of what God has planned for our life and the abilities He has given us to use for His glory.

Amidst the battle for creativity the church has suffered heavy losses among its creative warriors. It seems as though we have unwittingly cooperated with the enemy and wounded one another, as well as forgotten how to apply the many creative gifts God has given us to worship Him with. Creative people have been misunderstood, misused and estranged from the church for many years. The enemy must be very happy about this. He knows only too well the enormous potential for creative worship that could so easily be unlocked and released.

Max McLean said: "Creative men and women are in the church. Some express their art though music... but others sit quietly alone, waiting to be affirmed, encouraged, and supported. They are waiting for the body of Christ to understand and find room for the novel, the film, the play, the masterpiece ruminating within that could reach beyond the substructure and challenge the basic assumptions of our secular age and point the world to the ultimate truth."

How true and how sad! My prayer is that God will use this book to reveal the truth to you; to enlighten your mind and quicken your understanding, so that you may know the hope to which you have been called.

STOLEN PROPERTY

Artists and musicians are called to be part of an end-time army, marked by humility and brokenness, which will take back what has been stolen from the church and the kingdom of God. 1 Samuel 30 tells a wonderful story about King David the warrior. In this story he and his men have been away on a campaign. They return to Ziklag to find that the Amalekites have invaded, taken all their possessions, and kidnapped their families. David does a very interesting thing at this point. Usually, when someone steals something from you, your first reaction is to go and get it back immediately. However, instead of reacting instinctively, David goes before the Lord and prays, "Lord, shall I go after them?" God replies, "Go, you will get everything back." Going on a mission to reclaim stolen property because you feel aggrieved and violated is one thing, but go with a mandate from Almighty God, under His authority, to reclaim what is rightfully yours, is another matter entirely. You plus God is a majority!

So David goes into the Amalekite camp with God's approval and authority. He finds his enemies eating, drinking and rejoicing over what they have taken from him. The Bible says that David attacked them all day and all night and was absolutely determined not to give up until he got everything back. In the same way, I believe that God is raising up and end-time army who will have the same heart and spirit as King David. There will be a spirit in them that will want to go behind enemy lines and persist until they get back everything that has been stolen - music, the arts, entertainment, the media - all the things that have slipped out of the grasp of the church and have been counterfeited by the enemy. In order to fight this battle, however, these soldiers will have to be battle-fit, well equipped and know what their armor is. They must be armed with essential military intelligence - knowing their enemy, where he lives, his strategy, and where his camp is. I have written this book to try to address some of those issues.

Please come with me on this journey.

DAVE MARKEE