Jon Stotts

Life IS Ministry

2010-01-24T21:05:00.000-08:00

So have not wrote on here in awhile, but I am back to write something. I know that I may have a few readers on my blog, but one is enough for me to share with. I just love to write so that I can let my mind explode onto paper rather than implode and not get anywhere!

Anyway, 2010 is a year that is going to be filled with amazing events! We have lived in the 2000's for the first decade and I am proud to be a part of the new millennium! I just had my twenty-first birthday on the fifteenth of January and I am very happy!

Living Word Chapel is a great place to be. I have family, friends, spiritual fathers, and mothers! This place has cultivated an atmosphere that is of honor, love, acceptance, appreciation, love, love, love and did I happen to mention love? I am so blessed to start my marriage in a place like Living Word Chapel!

I have realized that my life is the ministry and I think that saying has become cliche! From what I have learned from my spiritual father, Pastor Randy Dean, life is what Christianity is about. We have made Christianity into this thing that we do. It has become a job, a hobby, an extra curricular activity, a place that we go two times a week to be really nice, etc... When really our lives are the ministry.

When we go about our day getting gas, shopping at the mall, getting groceries at wal-mart, working, or even going for that jog, what we do in those moments shows the world around us who you and I really are. Pastor Randy has said that the definition of holiness is being the same person no matter what situation or place you are in. When I am alone or around my wife is how I am when I am in public. Now there is a discernment on what is private or not, but the question that I am asking is, am I seeking Christ and Heaven on earth no matter where I am?

This is the life that we live, wherever we are we are seeking the Kingdom of God. Word says to Seek first the Kingdom! I use to wonder what God has called me to do in my life, become a musician, to become a graphic designer, web designer, youth pastor, video game designer and other things, but now I have realized that no matter where we are in life, just seek the Kingdom of God. When we are at Subway making sandwiches and we just absolutely HATE it, we need to stand back and check ourselves of why we hate it, and ask ourselves, "Am I seeking Christ and Heaven on earth?" That is living to what we are called, each day we have the chance to live what God has called us to do! It is ok to dream big and have goals, but we will not get there any sooner by not seeking Christ! In fact, God will get us there faster than we have imagined.

I now know that I am in the perfect place at the right time. I only get out of something as much as I put in. I am so happy to say that I am open to God guiding me wherever because I am trying my best to seek His will wherever I am. Are you?

Think about things in your life and how you affect those that surround you and how do they affect you?

Do you feel burned out?

Remember, if life IS ministry, and you are burned out from ministry, you are not making ministry your life because it is impossible to be burned out from life!

God Bless you.

Understanding YOUR Value!

2009-11-30T16:51:00.001-08:00

Pauperhood

If you think about it our mind has a lot of affect on how we think of ourselves! With all of the surroundings of what may seem to be “poor,” we somehow lose our identity and it becomes a big mess. We start to settle for less than what we deserve. We are not just special people, but we are created in an image of the one, true God.

Kris Vallotton says that a Pauper is born into insignificance and by that definition we cannot label ourselves as paupers because if we were insignificant than there would be no point to us at all! That only leaves the opposite of a pauper and that is someone who is rich and significant!

When we understand that we are significant just like Moses did, we gain total confidence in our lives and even in our actions. This leads us into a totally new spectrum that has the power to change this world. Like I said it is all in our head.

Kris Vallotton explains thoroughly that it is crucial for us to live in a prince mentality because when we have a pauper mentality we gain behaviors that can destroy the people we are trying to lead. If Moses had a slave mentality, could he have led the Israelites out of slavery? Can you give someone something that you don’t have?

You and I do not deserve to be treated less than royalty. We all deserve to be treated like princes and princesses. Your opinions matter, you have access to the highest place, you can ask for it and receive it.

Humility

This morning I thought about how we do have value and our place in this world is to not settle for anything less than the love of God. I know we aren’t out to prove to people that we can handle things better or different, but in all reality there is a huge difference in being either a pauper or royalty. I love Kris Vallotton’s chapter about Superheroes in the Sanctuary. Superheroes know their purpose and they know what they are capable of doing. Each of us deserves to have all the characteristics of a superhero. Each day we go out confident of who we are because we know we have a power invested in us to accomplish daily tasks. These tasks include catching someone from falling off a skyscraper, so to speak. But for some reason healing somebody just seems as impossible as saving someone from falling off a skyscraper. I say, we need to understand our greatness. When we understand our greatness it glorifies the creator.

You are all called to become greater than what you have ever thought you could be. Right now think about how great you can be! Is it hard? Can you look in a mirror and point out everything that you like about yourself? I challenge you, before you go to bed, go stand in front of a mirror for like 5 minutes and tell yourself the good things you see in you whether it is external or internal. Now if it was a couple years ago, I would probably be pointing a finger at a person and screaming at them, “YOU ARE SO PRIDEFUL! GLORIFY THE LORD AND NOT YOURSELF YOU WORM!” To me now I laugh at this, but I also weep because it’s still the mentality of a lot of people! Kris Vallotton does a great job explaining pride versus exaltation of God.

The price that Jesus paid on the cross determined the value of us! The fact that Jesus died on the cross for us is amazing because if we were insignificant, than Jesus died for nothing! I am so thankful that we are so valuable to God that He would give His own Son! I am not afraid to admit that I have value to God, well, probably because I am His favorite, but when someone dies for me I start to think, “Wow, they must have really valued me and saw something in me that was worth dying for?” So again, now when you look in that mirror before bed tonight or even when you are in the bathroom next, ask God, “What in me is so valuable that Christ died for?” I bet God can tell you a never ending list of characteristics of a royal person!

We need to stop demeaning ourselves and acting like it glorifies Christ even more. God has given the church a great call, and therefore it takes great people to accomplish it. If we fail to see our greatness, we will fall short of our call.

For a short example, I know that I can play drums. I have been playing for 7 years now and I know that I can play a lot better than I did when I first picked up a pair of drumsticks. So is it wrong to recognize that my skill has only increased to a greater level? Well no, if I were to constantly demean my music gift, I would not grow and overall I would not be able to be a part of blessing God with it. Kris Vallotton says that humility is not the absence of confidence, but it is strength restrained. Giving ourselves an honest assessment of ourselves before God is the only way to be truly humble!

Understanding true humility is only going to lead you into a life where you are not only successful, but you will end up at an amazing level of intimacy with Christ. Identifying who you are in Christ brings our Christ’s identity.

Another example: When we see an obstacle in our path, what do we do about it? We pray that prayer, “Oh God, give us strength and encouragement to make it through this tough time.” I am all in for asking God to help us in any way possible, but why does it take an obstacle in our path for us to ask God to give us something that makes us greater (temporarily) than before we prayed? In this method I see us just using God for when we need Him? Why do we only ask to become greater in tough situations? I want to always receive from God what will only make me greater! Again, we are significant and have value!

Standing Strong-- The Dogs of Doom bark loudest at the gates of your destiny.

When we are trying to create or even enter a royal culture, we sometimes, if not always deal with a battle. This battle mainly consists of the enemy trying to persuade you that the direction you are going in is not the best way. Sometimes we get easily scared into believing these misbeliefs and we end up in a place that haunts us and keeps us from glorifying the King.

What I am getting at is when we realize that we do have value, where that value comes from, and why we have that value, we begin to step into a new direction that changes our whole lifestyle. We begin to see a new light that hasn’t shined nearly as bright as it did before. This is a “perfect” place for the enemy. We are created to be bold. We are challenged to show our faith, but how intimate are we with God? Bill Johnson says, “You cannot go in faith where you have not gone in intimacy.” For example: You and your significant other know each other so well that you can finish their sentence without a doubt in your mind. Wait? So we are brides to Christ, is He our significant other? He is! We are not complete without Him. I want to know Christ so well that He knows what I am going to say next, I want Christ to know that my next words are going to praise Him that my next words are in faith with boldness and putting those dogs of doom back in their kennel!

Those dogs of doom like to bark, but their bite is nothing compared to what we have! Our value should be able to defy the fear of death. Standing strong may seem hard, but pressing on to knowing not just your call, but your royal call. When I first became a Christian I was too focused on life after death. Of course I would have made it to Heaven, but I would have missed out on so much. Now that I know my royal call, there is a lot more expected of me like healing people, blessing people, destroying the enemy, kenneling those dogs of doom, seeing more princes and princesses rise up, and seeing a culture infiltrate this world creating a world that is focused on Christ. Where everyone honors everyone regardless of anything! The fact that we can have a royal culture is so amazing!

Honor

I think a huge part in creating a culture of royalty is to honor until you cannot breathe! Being royalty we do have standards that help us keep this culture growing and to keep it focused on the truth. Constantly honoring others when they don’t honor us because who we think deserves honor could limit who really needs honor. By honoring all, Kris Vallotton says it shows that our standard isn’t determined by people around us. Also we need to do all this with a royal attitude. Living with these royal standards, the lifestyles of many will change into a royal culture.

What tends to happen when there is a culture of honor is mass intimacy! Just imagine knowing that the stranger you just walked by is focused on living in a royal culture. Trust then builds and you become more of a family. Right now I have spiritual fathers in this covering that are building me up. They have things that are prime examples of how I want to be. That is what a culture does. We all learn from each other, but most of all we gain what our forefathers have worked for without having to go through what they have already gone through. I cannot stress enough how crucial it is to love and honor each other no matter how much they pushed your big red button that says, “Do Not Push.”

Conclusion

We all have specific roles that influence everyone we pass by. There are expectations that we are called to live up to and standards required of us only to fulfill the will of God. Our mission is to show who our father in heaven is and to honor all so that a culture of royalty is created. Let’s show people the supernatural and witches that their levitation is weak, that the power of God is intense. I challenge you today to try to understand your value to God. What does God see in you? Jesus died for you for a reason! You are significant and rich! I declare pauper hood to be gone and I speak life to the culture of royalty to live far more greater than we could ever imagine! Today when you leave, leave with your heads high, your prayers answered, and your families healed! God is in a good mood and He is in love with you and you are His favorite!

We Are Called to Royalty

2009-10-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

Am I a Pauper or a Prince? I guess you could say that I entered this life longing and expected to become a prince, but my life started out with pauperhood. I guess you can say that I broke the laws of royalty,(usually only family are to fulfill the royal positions) which you and I know only the Kingdom of God can offer a gift so amazing!

I had the spirit of poverty constantly and barely any hope for happiness in my future.

But the thing about how God works is that, He isn’t out there to raise us up in a spirit of poverty, actually that is the total opposite. Let’s read in Matthew 7:7-8, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you, for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Now in my case when I was a child I couldn't help what my parents chose to do. How they lived their life obviously affected mine. But when we are at a place in our lives where we can make our own choices, God says that we can have anything, we just have to ask. This opens a whole new door to what relationship we have with our God! Our resource has no limits because it is from Heaven, we need to pray it down!

So how does this affect our lifestyle?

In Moses’ life we see that he was born into a family that was not royalty, but with a destiny that God had made out for Moses, it became possible for him to be raised as royalty. God needed Moses to be raised in royalty so Moses could understand his significance. When the time came for him to free the Israelites, he had overall showed confidence and power that a prince would have in God’s kingdom!

This is what I feel in my life! My lifestyle should consist of confidence and power because I am a prince. Things shouldn’t seem impossible if I constantly remember that I am a prince. I feel that my life in a lot of ways relates with Moses. My birth story.

And the good news that you and I can always encourage ourselves and one another is, is that we have defeated the slave mentality. Now because of our victory, the next generations and our children, get what we have and hopefully even more! The Inheritance flows.

But what I feel that is most crucial in all of this is that we always, ALWAYS need to remember our true identity! We are princes and princesses. Our Father is a King and He has an inheritance. In 1 Corinthians 3:21 it says, “So then let no one boast in men for all things belong to you.” When you are apart of a Kingdom that is over all other kingdoms, everything underneath, above, and around you are owned, possessed by the head Kingdom. To me this is overwhelming that I am an authority over this land, nothing else can claim it because a price was paid and I am a prince.

Another way that I look at our inheritance is that in John 14:12 it says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. When we read this we see that Jesus has a resource of how He accomplished things, so if we are to do greater things than Jesus, we need to go to that same resource and start asking our King for it to develop a Kingdom culture.

In developing a Kingdom culture I have noticed that a huge part in this is changing how our mind works and changing how our heart works. Our mind. In Romans it says that we are transformed by the renewing of our mind. When we pray for someone for healing, finances, relationships, and etc… What do we think about? Are we confident in seeing results? Do we believe in ourselves, or better yet, do we believe that our King wants to see this person blessed? One of my biggest revelations within these first 7 chapters is a great characteristic of royalty is that royalty knows that when they want something, they can get anything! There is no ifs, ands, or buts because in their hearts they want to please the King and represent the King and who He is. Their love for what they are doing and what they are capable of doing is so great!

Through renewing our hearts and minds we start living as royalty.

Conclusion

We cannot let the level of our disappointments become our level of expectations. God is way too good for us to settle for what we think we know. We have so many benefits from God when we press on to creating a Kingdom Culture.

This verse is what I like to call, “The Royal Lifestyle Promise”

Psalm 103:1-5

1Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

2Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And forget none of His benefits;

3Who pardons all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases;

4Who redeems your life from the pit,

Who crowns you with loving-kindness and compassion;

5Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

What I see that we get by being royalty in this Kingdom:

Authority, Power, Resource, Healing, No spirit of Poverty, True Worship, Divine encounters, inheritances, forgiveness, redemption, compassion, youthful hearts, grace, renewed minds,

There is only one Kingdom that can offer such divine, original, unique, and indescribable benefits, and that is the Kingdom of God. I believe that I am a Prince and I am no longer a pauper!

Starting Off!

2009-05-08T01:01:00.000-07:00

I have recently decided to take this blog thing on! I have been reading Pastor Randy Dean's blogs and I have been encouraged to start my own blog. I have noticed that writing is a great way to release what is in your heart or what has been on your heart. I need a way to, not just let people know things, but to honestly give myself a feeling of relief.

I also figured that this is a great way to share testimonies of what God is doing in my life and also even share what God has already done!

God has been working in me a lot lately and this seems like a great place to just "let loose."

Tonight is a great night. The temperature is perfect, not too cold and not too hot. But a lot is going through my mind. In just 50 days I am getting married to the most amazing woman in the world! She is seriously the sun of my day! I have excitment pulsing rapidly through my body! I cannot wait for June 27th, 2009!

Something else that I always think about is how my life has changed a total 180 compared to a year ago. I do believe that having Pastor Randy Dean as my spritual father has played a huge role in bringing me closer to Jesus Himself! I am so amazed by the love that Pastor puts out on everything and everyone that is in his way! It is such an encouragement to be a "son" of his and placing myself under his authority. Placing yourself under authority, who also seeks authority is going to create a good generational blessing!

I am currently enrolled in Firebrand School of Ministry, FBSM. Its a school that Pastor has had on his heart for a very long time and was just started fall of 2008. I was lucky enough to get in the school just in time. And thank you Lord for that because Firebrand has been such a huge impact on my life. Being in the most personal classes you could ever have, makes the classes feel so much more than a classroom.

well its getting late, so I shall share more of my complete thoughts later!

God Bless