 Really, really excited to be able to have this gathering. I feel like, I mean it's funny, it's been two years since we've been together. But just in the developments the last two years it's crazy how much I have bought in even at a deeper level for the importance of the gathering of the saints together. And whenever we think of that scripture, and I think this is right, I mean we first think of our local church and our congregation that gathering together. But I right now have that perspective of the need to be gathering together with our global church brothers and sisters and the gift that we have in the internet to be able to connect and have the perspective of what God is doing in the earth. And we need it right now more than ever. And you know, the enemy's strategy is going global. And when the enemy is putting out a strategy, it's hitting in one place and then through the proliferation of the internet you have that go all over the earth like crazy. And Daniel talks about it, the time before Jesus comes back people will run to and fro and knowledge will increase. And so Daniel is seeing this time before Jesus returns where there's, you know, you see sin spread in a moment globally but what an insane opportunity for the church to be connected to what God is doing and the themes of what God is doing. And so it's so valuable for you to spend time and gather with different brothers and sisters outside of even your local congregation because there's just an awareness of our need. And man, I feel like, you know, the famine in the land is for the word of the Lord right now. You know, we are in a time where there is a true famine of the word of the Lord and it's manifested in a lot of confusion. And we see it with rates of congregations and churches and those that have been dropping in numbers of people in full-time ministry or church attendance and all of those things. And it's a result of just, there's just a spirit of confusion. People are confused. I don't know what God's doing. I don't know what the enemy, you know, I don't know what part is the enemy destroying us. What part is God? What part is flesh? Like, we don't really know. And there's this, you know, the enemy is trying to bring a strong spirit of confusion and, you know, the gathering together of the saints because we need one another. We need the clarity and the revelation that one another has. So good job. Give yourself a hand for being here this conference. Man, we need to be learning from one another. I'm going to, you know, it's probably intriguing when you saw my title of praise and poison. You know, what are we talking about? And yes, this is going to be just a breakdown on poison just in general. Just the effects on the human body. I've been studying that as a doctor recently. No, I'm just kidding. Not at all. This has been something, and I've been going back and forth on this workshop of going, you know, really practical. And I just felt like the Lord wanted me to share what he's been speaking to me and what he's been putting on my heart for the worship movement and what's happening right now in the body of Christ. And I do think just to give a quick shout out that Jeremy Riddle's new book, Reset, I feel like put language to a lot of what we have been feeling and something that he talked about that I want to call attention to is there is a battle right now for worship between the true worshipers and the industry of worship. And it's a battle. And it's, you know, I don't need to go into a ton of that, but we have to be aware right now and, you know, my belief is that in this hour where there is a lot of confusion, that the role of the worship leader and the role of the ability of somebody who cannot just help lead people into the presence of God but provide prophetic clarity to discern the word of God and also the ability to lead people into that place of worship and the idea has begun shifting in the body of Christ where we've seen our worship leaders maybe as those who are there breaking open their own alabaster jar like Mary of Bethany. And there's kind of this enjoyment of the worship leaders' worship and sacrifice and almost this idea of their fragrance fills the room and that's good enough. And what I believe is happening is worship leaders are turning into worship disciplers that are discipling people and their congregation to offer their worship. And I believe the most mature expression of worship that's arising is when the congregation comes to a point where there's such a maturity in the spirit and there's such a maturity in the word of God that the team and the leader actually has to lead less and the spirit takes over and all of a sudden the room starts doing what Paul says where everybody's coming with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. I think some of us have experienced that moments, right, where all of a sudden choruses are coming out of the congregation and you can feel the team is like, whoa, we're now following the lead of the Holy Spirit in that moment and there is this understanding of we need everyone's voice, we need everyone's song and it's not just for the select few and I really believe that it's a really exciting hour for worship. It has been an exciting hour. We've been in a wave of just an explosion of worship and prayer that I believe is a fulfillment of Acts 15 of Jesus even confirming what is said in Amos where I will rebuild the booth of David or I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which was of course speaking of day and night worship and prayer and of course we're not looking to an actual rebuilding of a booth and it doesn't say I will rebuild Solomon's temple in that scripture and there's a whole piece on that I won't go into what he's hitting there is this global tabernacle of David which was these musicians and singers and David had this revolutionary idea of hey what if we brought the presence of God into the tabernacle had musicians and singers and we worshiped with the presence of God in the middle and it was unceasing and David unknowingly we don't think David had a throne room encounter but he answered the prayer of Jesus when he said on earth as it is in heaven and we love saying on earth as it is in heaven and we rarely stop to actually think well what's actually happening in heaven right now well we want on earth what's in heaven and it's like great well what's happening in heaven well I don't know God's there and so it's probably good stuff like yeah that's great he's there and there's no more sickness yeah those things are the effect of the presence of the king but what's actually happening in that place and David recreated the throne room he had elders and worshipers and they were singing they did not rest day or night and they were declaring holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty and David I think unwittingly just because he was a man after God's own heart actually did on earth as it is in heaven and you know the church and seasons have grabbed that and it's come and it's faded but that prophecy I will rebuild the tabernacle of the tent of David and the earth is what's happening that's why there's a prayer movement and a worship movement exploding we didn't manufacture this there wasn't like 10 leaders got together like dude we should make worship a movement like this would be awesome this is something that spirit led and we are kind of stepping into the next season and I really do believe that in this time just an explosion of song and worship and I think even songs and congregational worship in cities beginning to arise more than it has just in recent history where God is writing songs and music in cities and regions and it's not necessarily just you know and I'm believing God for he's going to do stuff through radiant church but I believe that the Lord is looking at regions and places where he's going to release songs and music and sound from these areas and it's going to be outside of just kind of our traditional understanding and so in the midst of this I want to talk about praise and poison and so go ahead and turn your bibles sorry Isaiah 42 we're going to go on a little bit of a journey not the band journey although I do love journey so no hate there I do love journey but it'll be a different journey maybe the same journey as well we'll see where it goes Isaiah 42 verse 8 I'll kind of read the scripture and then set it up a little bit I am the Lord that is my name and my glory I will not give to another just want to read that verse again I am the Lord that is my name and my glory I will not give to another nor my praise to carved images behold the former things have come to pass and the new things I declare before them they spring forth I tell you of them first observation I just want to put out and we talk about the new things the Lord is releasing if the new thing that we are saying God is doing is not resulting in God receiving more glory and us decreasing in our glory then I submit that it's not actually the new thing it's our new thing God's new thing always results in greater glory and manifestation of what he's doing and then we have this seeming I'm going to read it all together and we have these verses that seemingly don't fit together but I think it's if we look at it prophetically it's giving such a clear picture of what God's doing right now Isaiah 42 I'm going to read certain verse 8 I am the Lord that's my name and my glory I will not give to another nor my praise to carved images behold the former things have come to pass and the new things I declare before they spring forth I tell you of them sing to the Lord a new song and his praise from the ends of the earth you who go down to the sea and all that's in it you coastlands and inhabitants of them let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices let the villages of Qadar and habits let the inhabitants of Selah sing let them shout from the top of the mountains let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praise in the coastlands the Lord shall go forth like a mighty man he shall stir up his zeal like a man of war he shall cry aloud yes shout aloud he shall prevail upon his enemies I don't know if you're like me but this whole passage is like seemingly these hard turns God's saying I'm doing a new thing you know my glory and then all of a sudden it's this picture of us singing and worship going forth and I like to picture you know the scene in Star Wars you know when they've defeated the evil empire and they show all like the nations and all the Ewoks and everyone are just like party and then it shows like the new world it's kind of this fun picture of like you know the islands and the coastlands everyone's singing what a sweet time in the presence of God and then it's like you know the Lord shall stir himself up like a mighty man of war he'll prevail upon his enemies destruction death it's like this hard turn and we're like whoa I liked where we were at now I'm scared I'm very scared and you know I've always been a bit perplexed by this passage but I'm seeing these things go hand in hand in such a powerful way and even this description I've talked about this before but the Lord shall stir himself up like a man of war what that is speaking of is you know when hand to hand combat was a thing you know you'd have soldiers and they would you know they would get drunk they would get and they would do like you know what football players do they're punching each other like you know they're just doing everything they can do because they're stirring up their adrenaline because they're about to go in battle and if their adrenaline is not like at max then they're going to get destroyed and so they would stir themselves up with shouting and and you know speeches and whatever they could do just kind of stir up their zeal in these moments and then they would go out and here's the picture of what is happening to God the Father and then Jesus in heaven as we are singing this new song globally he is likening that to a man of war getting drunk getting hit getting stirred up to that point where he's like I can't help it anymore I have to go and prevail upon my enemies this new song of what's being sung and he starts with saying it's about my glory I will not give my glory to another but he doesn't when he when he says I will not give my glory to another what he doesn't say is now everybody else just take a back seat and sit there and I'm going to just do the rest and Kevin Prash says it so beautifully and the song it's one of my favorite lines but he sings that line you said you would not give your glory to another and then he says but we are not another we are your beloved and this passage of when he's saying I will not share it I will not share it with idols but his heart is bursting to share his glory with his bride and now you see this new song is what the glory of God being released in the earth and it's this fulfillment of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea and so this expression of his glory going forth in song and then the Lord stirring himself up like a mighty man of war and prevailing and I think we lived in a pretty cushy time in America and we haven't really needed the Lord in our minds we haven't really needed the Lord to stir himself up like a mighty man of war and that's because we've been so isolated and insulated and I say and forgive me I'm not just doing this for shock value but we don't think man I need the Lord to break in like a warrior right now but you know what there's 10 year old kids who are all over the earth in sex trafficking and they actually need a warrior to come back and break in right now they don't have 50 years of nice time for they're desperate for a deliverer to break in right now and we've been mostly comfortable so we're like yeah I mean it'd be nice if God broke in but we don't really need it and now we're starting to live in a time where we need it right Christianity is being pushed to the margins the narrative of you know what it means to be a Christ believing Bible believing Christian has really facing some of this attack from the outside but it's the setup for the Lord to do the new thing which is releasing his praise all over the earth which is the release of his glory which will cause him to come back and vindicate vindicate his people and we get to be worshipers and worship leaders and songwriters and those who are creating this atmosphere all over the earth like this is the narrative that we get to be a part of and we are seeing I believe that's what's happening is the people of God are singing and worshiping God is stirring himself up and I've just felt this phrase just in the midst of I mean to be honest like there was lots of points last year where I was like God what is happening like are you really in control like it you know like I'm singing these songs like God you've already had the victory it's already yours it's not even a battle because you know you aren't even rivals because there's no rival and I'm like man I know you said you've already won but right now it's just it's kind of looking like a come from behind victory at the buzzer like this is not the victory that I was expecting to see it looks like we're getting the crap kicked out of us to be honest God like what is happening right now and you know there is that testing in the midst of you know a difficult time but I felt the Lord say this phrase in the midst of that as I was feeling the weight of just the darkness and division in our nation and what was having compromise in the church and just the political issues and the injustices in our nation coming out and like Lord like what are you doing you're still in control and I just I heard the Lord just say this phrase it's my turn now it's my turn now and this idea of the Lord waiting and being patient to act and move on behalf of his people in his church but I believe that that's what we get to be a part of right now we get to be part of this this singing generation that is bringing worship to the coast lands in the different places and that we are going to see God move in unprecedented ways and I'm filled with more faith for revival filled with more faith for the church honestly right now like I really am I feel more excited for the future of what God is doing in the church in America than I ever have before even though it's it's been a difficult time but I believe what the scripture is prophesying is something that we're going to really see and so I want to dive into this idea a little bit out of Exodus of God doing a new thing singing a new song and then release of greater glory because we have already seen this play out one time well many times in scripture but we'll look at at one story this is one that I feel like the Lord's been speaking to us and speaking to me and so I'll bring you into my own conviction and make you miserable like me and I'll feel better about myself because you'll be in it so thank you for volunteering yourself for that but this scripture in Exodus is actually the first time we see in scriptures where the new song is referenced and it's always in parallel with a song of deliverance but I mean simply put when God does a new thing the people of God sing a new song and so you have this moment where God reveals himself as deliverer in just this insane way right like he brings the people to the place where it's like this is the end of the rope he leads him to the red sea and it's like God what are you doing like you just let us to the worst place possible and to be honest I think if we're honest like that's how we feel a bit right now like God like I know you're leading us here but it looks like there's a sea in front of us and it looks like there's an army of Egyptians behind us and it looks like we don't have any weapons and it looks like there's really no other scenario here but we're going to get slaughtered and I think if we're honest we feel a little bit like we're being led to that place right now and I think in a sense we are and you see in this the scripture obviously I don't need to go into it the red sea parts people go across but one part that maybe we missed some time is that's the moment where Mariam grabs the tambourine and starts prophesying and gives definition and this is what the Lord has done this is what our response will be and song spreads to the people of God and they sing this new song that again gives clarity and definition to the new thing that God is doing and that is what as worship leaders and prophetic singers in this hour we need to be giving clarity and definition through song and what God is doing in the earth right now because even in the midst of that time honestly when they're crossing that red sea there's probably some moments where this is cool but man are we out of the woods? this could collapse on us what is going to happen and you see Mariam just saying now is the season to rejoice and she shifts the atmosphere with her worship and she brings the spirit of rejoicing that gives definition to that moment of what God is doing and so I'm going to kind of move quickly through some of the narrative but you have Israel comes on the other side they still don't have much identity as a people and so the Lord just speaks I bore you on eagle's wings and I'm the Lord your healer I'm bringing you out of the wilderness to heal you and then he he begins to speak to them about who they are and I'm not going to go into two minutes of the scriptures but in essence he's saying you were created I brought you out in the wilderness not for your own freedom but to worship and for me to display my glory and a lot of time we love seeing the deliverance part of the Exodus narrative but the deliverance was just what needed to happen for them to walk into their destiny which was for them to be stamped as a people for the glory of God that God wanted to reveal himself and his glory to his people and so he begins to do that and he begins to give the context what is it going to look like well we're going to build a tabernacle and I'm going to set apart my leaders I'm going to set apart my priests to minister and so go ahead and turn to Exodus 28 I'm just going to read a couple of scriptures here in Exodus 28 now take Aaron your brother and his sons with him from among the children of Israel that he may minister to me as priest Aaron and Aaron's sons I love verse 2 just the phraseology here and you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother for glory and for beauty verse 3 so you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans who I have filled with the spirit of wisdom that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him that he may minister to me as a priest verse 4 and these are the garments which they shall make a breastplate an ephada robe a skillfully woven tunic a turban and a sash so they shall make holy garments for Aaron and your brother and his sons that he may minister to me as a priest he goes on in this chapter six times he emphasizes the same thing that he may minister to me as priest when God says something once it should be enough when he says it twice it's like wow that's a lot of emphasis when he says it three times it is like stamped so many times it's like you better be listening paying attention to this in one chapter six times he gives definition to what Aaron's role is supposed to be and he says he is a priest to minister to me and what we see happen in this story as well Moses is receiving this revelation from the Lord Aaron is down with the people and we don't see anywhere where we're we don't see anywhere where Moses is saying yo I'm going up Aaron I'm putting you in charge of the people and you just go ahead and take care of things and so this is the context I'm going to read Exodus 32 and we'll kind of jump into some of the language here so Exodus 32 when the people saw that Moses delayed everyone say the word delayed when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain the people gathered together to Aaron this idea of what are the people of God going to do in delay we are in a season of delay where we're like God I don't know what's happening it's kind of scary I don't know and we don't have definition there's confusion and we thought that you would give us more clarity before right now there's this test of what we will do in delay because the delay is is a funny thing because it's saying Moses delayed but was Moses delayed on God's time was God late in this scenario now God's timing was perfect and here's the interesting thing interesting thing that I want to point out to you Aaron wasn't necessarily put in this position to lead the people but the people were gathered to Aaron well let's give a little bit of history on this I'll be brief you know I would love to launch in just like a four hour thing on this because this stuff is making me excited I'm not going to do that to you don't worry you're going to get lunch but Moses and we see Moses interesting six times God gives Moses the command you speak and six times Moses tries to get out of it he goes no no no you don't understand I'm not good at it they won't listen to me I don't have the authority I don't have the cloud I don't have the skill and God commands Moses every single time you be the one to speak and finally because Moses refuses God gives him an out and says fine you can use this stuff and I'm going to let Aaron speak through you I'm going to allow this now this is a case study on Moses and who knows how these things work in the sovereignty of God but it's interesting because what was the thing that kept Moses out of the promised land he took the rod and he struck the rock when he was supposed to speak to it so God told Moses things will happen when you speak and Moses says no and he says okay well you can use your rod but my intention is for Moses to be the one to speak to the people and Aaron's role was never given to you by God initially as you're the one who is meant to speak so in Moses's fear and cowardice he put Aaron up and Aaron was speaking in front of the people but here's the issue Aaron didn't have the revelation Aaron didn't have the intimacy and Aaron wasn't created to be one to lead the people God said six times Aaron is supposed to minister to me as a priest why is he in front of the people all the time and in the midst of crisis because Aaron was talented Aaron spoke well and Aaron assumed that his natural talent put him in the position where he was supposed to lead the people of God in that moment and I want to say this carefully because we have a lot of people in here with amazing gifting and God is using gifting in such a powerful way but the people of God right now in the church have little discernment between who is speaking with revelation and clarity and who just has gifting the people man we love to gather to the talent and the gifting right if they sound right and play the part and look the role and have the followers on Instagram surely they have the word of the Lord for the hour and the people just rush to gather to the one they know with the skill to speak and Aaron because he was outside of the role he was supposed to be in he caves to the pressure of the people because he loves the praise of man more than he loves the praise of God the stinging rebuke of Jesus about the Pharisees when he says they love the praise of man more than they love the praise of God and Aaron in this moment in this season of delayed glory Aaron doesn't lead the people astray he's not leading the people the people are leading him because he's out of position before the Lord he's before the people so he doesn't have the revelation and clarity and weakness he gives the people what they want and the people worship and create a new glory which God says I will not share my glory with another if you think I'm sharing my glory with that golden calf you're wrong and God comes down and gives a demonstration of his power that shakes things in people's perspectives and minds so clearly and it was about a year and a half ago the Lord was speaking this phrase to me and I was praying I'm not going to go into the whole bit and the whole story but I just was really going through a season of just feeling insane heaviness depression and just so many different weights and in this moment of tenderness with the Lord I'm feeling his presence and the Lord saying like Caleb you're asking for deliverance but the depression and anxiety the heaviness of what's happening it's not it's not the poison it's just the effects it's the side effects the anxiety and depression is the side effects and the praise of man and the love of the praise of man is the poison and pride is the plague and he actually spoke this in January the month before COVID started hitting off where he said you're trying to ask the free of this heaviness but it's just a symptom the symptom is the heaviness the poison is the praise of man and pride is the plague and the Lord began to speak about Lucifer he said, Lucifer what happened to Lucifer for one moment he thought a thought that stole glory from God and what happened he sunk like a rock because we were not designed to create we were not created to hold the weight of glory the word glory the kabad the weight of God we were not meant and Satan tried to grab that glory for a moment and he sunk like a rock down to the earth and what happened he crawled on his belly the weight literally pressing him down on the earth and the Lord said there's a plague across the people of God amidst worship and it's the plague of pride and we're sipping from the cup of the praise and rejection of man instead of drinking from the glory of God and he gave me this prophetic picture he said it more directly it wasn't like a you people or the church I mean it was me it wasn't a this would be great for the church I got this under control it was like you and he actually said you've been sipping from the cup of the praise and rejection of man and then he said this phrase on your lips this cup is poison but poured out to me it's praise and he showed me this picture of this cup but I was holding this cup that was like the size of like a popcorn bowl like this massive mixing bowl and it was like this cauldron and I saw myself and I was going on logging on to social media and all of a sudden I was all into this cup was flying in the thoughts and opinions of man about me about other people other things and I'm having all these interactions with people and it has a tangible physical representation in this bowl that's filling up and as the day's going on it's getting heavier and heavier and as it's happening I'm drinking of this cup and I'm getting sicker and sicker and sicker and the Lord just begun he began to deconstruct some of just my thinking around how I was taking in the praise and rejection of man and so I'm going to say it briefly it's going to sound heavy and hear me this was the Lord speaking in kindness but he just kind of asked me this series of questions and the first one was did I tell you to get a smart phone and I was like that's a good question and in this moment when he's speaking I'm seeing all these things and I'm remembering this moment where I get the iPhone and just like anybody else like if you watch the original Apple keynote it's like 27 minutes into the keynote that he actually starts talking about like apps and connectivity and the chance that we'll be able to interact in the way that we're but when he's talking he's talking about like you have your phone and your calculator and like one or two other things and you have basically you don't need all three items you just need one and I don't even think Steve Jobs knew how fast just giving the power of this technology would evolve like I didn't think we knew and we just became this massive social experiment right where all of a sudden social media starts coming out and it's exciting and it's new and we're all none of us like signed up for where it is today and if we went back 10 years ago we'd be like holy cow what happened because no one was leading it no one was in control it was just it's almost like we were duped into this idea like we were signing up for one thing and it became something without us even paying attention to it and what the Lord wasn't saying to me he wasn't saying like you're never allowed to have this or whatever he was just saying when I command something I give you the grace to walk it out but you just kind of took it for yourself and so you're kind of blaming me a little bit why do I feel heavy why do I why do I feel distracted why do I feel self-hatred why am I insecure why you know God you've done this to me why don't you fix it and God's like well let's just start at square one did I command you to take a step in this direction that kind of led you to this place and I was like no you know and then the Lord asked me like what's the good that's come out of having this and it was sincere and I was thinking of being able to connect with all these people and you know being able to watch you know you know Elevation releases this worship song and I click it and it's anointed it's powerful and I get ministered I'm thinking of these these really great things and you know and then he says well what's the bad that's happened from it and in that moment I'm playing you know all of this you know whether it's time wasted or all these things that have just crept into my life that has created this heaviness and this was before the social dilemma documentary came out and the narrative even in the last year and a half has turned dramatically as we're starting to see holy cow it's a crisis in our teenagers our teens are killing themselves this is dangerous like we're giving teenagers loaded guns you know and we're not teaching anybody how to use it because we don't understand but this was before this narrative what started kind of hitting just in the earth and in this place like you know the Lord's like if I you know if I speak something I'll give you the grace and the empowerment to walk that thing out but because it has these good things it must be good for me and the Lord's like that's not how I work like I don't give you a command and it's like man you're gonna do these things can be awesome but you're also gonna sin a lot and it's gonna have all this stuff but the good is gonna outweigh the bad that's not how God works that's not how the kingdom works and then the last question he just asked he just said now what hasn't happened because you've been on that and that was the moment that I just I started breaking down a bit because I could see moments within family and friendship but ultimately it was this praise and this adoration and this connection with the Holy Spirit that I had sacrificed and the Lord said you've traded connection with men for communion with God and he's like you were never intended to have hundreds of interactions and to be inundated with the thoughts and opinions of man for every moment of every day for thousands of years it's like you interacted with like five people in a day you had like five conversations and you filter through those and now just from where everything is at there's so much noise and the opinions and thoughts of man are just everybody's thought and opinion is flinging through the airways and we can't go on I mean we can't watch a freaking sports game without being inundated with what culture is telling us is right and wrong it's just this endless barrage which is the spirit of witchcraft it's the confusion that's part of the confusion of the hour is man's thoughts and opinions which I want to submit to you is it's what man's glory has to offer like when we're talking about giving glory to God we are talking about giving him our thoughts opinions, our words and our affections when we give God glory when we are giving that to one another we're creating this heaviness and this weightiness that's weighing us down and it's crushing us and again he speaks this phrase you've been sipping from the cup the praise and rejection of man on your lips this cup is poison but poured out to me it's praise and he shows me this almost practical picture of like I have this cup this cauldron this massive bowl and he's like this isn't what you're supposed to have you're supposed to have this like cup and I see myself holding like a little cup and it was like you know a lead worship and I step off stage and there's two or three people that are like hey you know that was great or that was terrible you know one or the other like we have this moment right like we get off stage and it's like you know hopefully people are saying nice things so I feel great about myself or maybe they'll say and I'll feel terrible and the Lord's like it's the praise and rejection of man drinking it is poison either way we don't just need positivity positivity is not getting this out of anything in fact I think the flattery has become more deadly to worship leaders and the people of God than the criticism the flattery and that drinking of that cup and so I had this picture and it's exactly what Corey I mean you know you hear these things and you're like oh that's a nice saying and then you realize like hey maybe Corey Tenbu and this person who you know I don't know was incredible and a poet and led in like the most insane time in human history and came out of this holocaust we might want to listen to what she has to say but she talks about every time she gets a compliment or an insult she just puts it in her pocket and then she goes before the Lord and she presents this rose and it's beautiful to the Lord and she's like both the praise and the criticism and that was the thing it's like man criticizes you man praises you it doesn't matter you're putting in this cup but you're not drinking it and you're holding on to this cup and if we get these massive bowls and we're getting hundreds it's gonna weigh us down but we just have this cup and then we get before the Lord and we're like man you know I led worship senior pastor loved it youth pastor hated it like this person loves it all of this happening Lord the good the bad what I did right what I did wrong everything I am I just poured out as your feet is worship and the Lord's like you are giving me the glory I can take it I can handle the glory and that's where the Lord can really receive glory from all men whether the thoughts and intentions of man are pure if we choose to give God that glory and we give him that praise and we see in this incredible story what ends up happening is God moves and we think of the golden calf moment but we forget right after that what happens is God reveals his name and instead of revealing his name as I am the Lord God super angry at you for screwing up he says I know you screwed up but I want you to know my name when God showed him his glory his glory was the revelation of his name as the Lord God gracious merciful and he uses this word the has said of God the loving kindness the word that David says over and over again he goes I lean on your loving kindness your has said your covenantal love that you have set your love on us that does not have to do with our actions and behavior you love us because you love us and he reveals his glory and we see this incredible story where the people of God joined together and you have the artisans and you have the leaders and you have the priests and they're gathering and the people offer themselves up freely and you have this creative movement where they're making beautiful garments and they're making this beautiful tabernacle and they're making the priestly garments and in this moment of course we have this dedication and when the people of God are ready give themselves the glory of God comes down and he rests amongst his people in that tabernacle and we remember the golden calf story but we forget that the story ends with God's glory coming and resting amongst his people but what was the difference is the first time the leaders that were supposed to be priests ministering before the Lord gave the people what they want and the second time they gave God what he wanted and I want to draw that distinction because we have this idea of we initiate giving God what he wants we're like if we give it to him and it's sincere then it's what he wants and I don't need to speak into that too much but God was pretty insanely detailed as far as like listen this is what I want you to do this is what you're created to do this is what I want you to make this is how I want you to make it and this is what I'm going to do if you're obedient to me and we have kind of all too easily measured the success of our worship by the praise and rejection of man essentially rather than giving God what he wants and what he's focused on and we can't be in that position where we're in front of the people and we're so consumed about giving them what we think they want instead of being consumed with giving God what he wants and what he's looking for and I do believe there's a shift coming and what's amazing is what doesn't happen is God's like now there's no playing field everybody's the same and there's no talents and there's no giftings and everybody's just kind of in the same place like get rid of all of it the issue wasn't that people were talented and gifted the issue is they were not where they were supposed to be they were not obedient we do need the artisans we do need the leaders who are gifted and have the ability to speak but it's that they are in the position that God has for them and I want to submit to us that we see ourselves we are now a nation of kingdom we're a nation and a kingdom of priests you know first Peter talks I mean Hebrews talks about it first Peter talks about it I mean it's one of the revelation talks about it it's one of the clearest pictures of who we are the priests were the Levites they were the chosen ones who were set apart for glory and for beauty and they were ultimately to minister to the Lord well now you're a Levite you are a priest which means you aren't primarily to minister to people first now the priestly ministry does involve ministering to people but the priority man it makes all the difference and if you would ask most worship leaders in America and say who are you primarily ministering to they would say are people congregation but you know whoever and that's not bad we want the heart to minister to people but God says six times for these Levites these ones that he set apart and he says they don't minister before people first they give them I want my glory I want my beauty I want garments I want roles I want them to be anointed to minister to me and this is where we need to be called back in the church and our worship leaders like that to me is the shift that needs to happen in the body of Christ and for us worship leaders if we are ministering to and before the people we will just create golden calves we will give the people what they want and the people when they have what they want will create something in their own image that they think is pleasing God but is actually going to poison them what happened to that golden calf anyone remember it got melted down and then what happened they drank it and then what happened they were poisoned when we drink the glory that was meant for God it will poison us and kill us and I just I want to say it clearly like in the worship we're poisoned right now I'm sorry but we're in a crisis of depression, anxiety and insecurity that I have never seen and I'm not talking about just a couple people I'm saying most of you know I know a lot of people in the worship movement I'm part of that and I'm standing before you saying I feel part of that sickness I've been drinking that in and I've been getting convicted and I know you know the people that are successful and unsuccessful they're drinking the same cup it doesn't matter if it's praise or rejection it's the same poison and it will ultimately kill you and the only solution is to pour out that cup before the Lord and to actually give him the glory that was due his name and I think that idea of worshiping before the Lord and what does that mean and I think that that priesthood that idea is that the priest didn't get to go back to his normal house and take his normal car to live in his normal neighborhood and he just you know he did his 8 to 8 job where he ministered before the Lord and before people and then he went home the Levites they didn't get any possessions they didn't get any houses they didn't get any inheritance they didn't get to pick how much money they made because the Lord says I am their inheritance and I think the obsession with all of those things of making sure that we are positioned in the right place of care of ourselves it's creating to this poison that we are drinking instead of just seeing like Lord we are priests before the Lord we are these ones who minister before the Lord as priests and in so doing we are not acting as the priests so that they can stay in that way we are actually calling people into their priesthood and their ministry and there is coming an hour and I think that's what's happening now we are writing songs that when people hear their sound they are unlocked and they become a worship leader and they become a priest there is a story I tell and everyone who knows me is sick of this story but I don't care because it's awesome and some of you haven't heard it but it was one of these there was a moment there was this bald eagle who had an injured wing so they got this bald eagle they brought it to a conservation place I don't know those things very well sorry if that offends you and they nursed this eagle back to health so they do this big press moment there is people from the newspapers that are there and they are going to release this eagle and everyone is so excited great job everyone super healthy wing so they open the cage and the bird just sits and they are like okay like shaking the cage a little bit alright we got the cameras here do anything and the eagle is just chilling because it started that the eagle was in the cage but over time the cage was in the eagle and the eagle had gotten comfortable just sitting and perching and being cozy and safe and so like 10-15 minutes go by and at one point there is this other eagle that soars overhead and it lets out just that scream that only an eagle can let out that I am not going to do it I was going to do it but I am not going to do it alright I will do it there it is so this eagle lets out this scream and when the eagle hears the sound he hears the sound of what he was created to do and be he gets up and he begins to soar and we have this idea that we are entertaining birds and cages that are just supposed to listen to us and I think we need to have this picture of us as priests walking in who we are called to be and we start releasing these choruses and sounds that hey we are not here to entertain you we are not here for you to listen to us you hear the sound that you were created to release yourself and they release their sound and our churches aren't I hope the day comes where it's hard to hear the worship leaders because we can't turn the mics up loud enough because the congregation is just singing and filled with song because that's where God is saying I will not give my glory to another but I will share my glory with my bride who is singing a new song the praise from the ends of the earth and in that context where it's not one nation singing it's not America singing it's not Israel he's saying the villages and these little town places and these islands and every nation is singing the song then I will stir myself up like a mighty man of war and I will prevail upon my enemies because I'm not acting on behalf of one person I'm responding to my bride and just the last picture that I want to leave us with before I pray something that I think about all the time but Mary this woman who Jesus says I'm about to suffer and die and the disciples everyone else is they're debating what does that mean they're confused it doesn't make sense and Mary in the climate of that confusion just offers the most expensive costly things she has and the thing that I love to think of is you know this spike was so potent you know like it wasn't like ax body spray that was just like a little you know like he smelled like you know like a high school locker for like 10 minutes and then left now this this was thick oil Jesus didn't take a shower seven times before he went to the cross when Mary poured that on his hair and his feet it would have been an overwhelming fragrance and so think about Jesus goes into this passion week and he's rejected by Jerusalem he cries and says Lord you know you've rejected me and I wanted to gather you like a hen gathers her chicks but you the whole place rejected me the leaders rejected me his own disciples Simon rejects him and his best friend Peter rejects him and he's experiencing all these rejection and in those moments he would have been able to just take a breath and he would be able to smell the fragrance of one woman's worship who wasn't afraid to pour her adoration on him in the context of confusion and when Jesus was on the cross seeing all the multitudes of people he could smell the fragrance of one woman who was not rejecting him but was loving him through this and Revelation 12 and 13 shows this picture that your prayers and worship have a physical manifestation in heaven right now they are going into a bowl and the last picture of what we see that happens in the throne room before Jesus comes back is this bowl that it gets filled up to the top and it doesn't sit there as a trophy but it gets poured out and the fragrance of the worship and prayer fills all of heaven and Jesus is putting on his robe that he's going to wear before he comes back to the earth and the first time Jesus came to the earth and he went to the cross and he smelled like the fragrance of one woman's worship the second time when Jesus comes back he's also going to smell like a fragrance but it's going to be millions of people it's going to be your worship it's going to be your prayer the fragrance of your sacrifice that he will wear and bring he will stir himself up like a mighty man of war and he will return to the earth smelling of the new song smelling of the worship and the prayer and the fragrance that's being poured out that's why we have to see ourselves as worship disciples we have to get out of that performance mentality we have to get out of the understanding of I'm here just to just create an environment for people to receive and I love the environment for people to receive we need that environment but some of this shift to priesthood ministry is like man we have lots of moments to receive in church when you're receiving the word of God that's a great time to receive but when we get to church on weekends we're not in receive mode Paul says everybody come with a Psalm hymn, a spiritual song like we're coming in with pent-up worship on the inside of us and when we get together we are all as a priesthood, a nation of priests we're bringing before this incense and this worship and we're bringing glory before the Lord and that's the glory that we get to lead people into right now that's the honor that we get to have as worship leaders and right now I see so many worship leaders dropping like flies and it's because we have we have the weight of the praise and rejection of man is poisoning us but we are missing the greater glory that the Lord wants to release we are missing the fact that the Lord coming and resting on his people in glory is what we were created for we were made for his glory and we can't just think of that in an abstract way like no we were made for his glory to come and rest the story of history is God rested among his people at the garden David was about having a resting place where God could rest and then it says in Revelation 21 the tabernacle of God is with men and we are his sanctuary forever this story is about creating a resting place for the Lord on the earth the resting place is for him and for his glory and that's what we're doing we're prophesying of that day and we're calling other people to step into what they're calling is so I got two minutes I'm just going to pray for us let's just go ahead and stand as we we close and kind of let's extend our arms and Jesus we just begin we repent for stealing your glory Lord we have been stealing your glory we've been drinking from this cup Lord from social media for from our worship from our albums from our music from our songs and unknowingly we've been poisoning ourselves the praise of man has poisoned us and on our lips this cup poisons us but if we just take that cup and pour it out to you it's praise and Mary instead of drinking the praise and rejection of man in that moment when they criticized she didn't even hear it because her eyes were so fixed on Jesus and Jesus you were the one who responded because Mary was so filled with the glory of God there was no room for the praise and rejection of man so Lord we repent we need the healer Lord we are like the man at the pool of Bethesda Lord where we have been sick and in this condition for a long time and we feel like we have nobody to help us nobody can put us in the pool and somebody always beats us and there's no way for us to leave this place we're just stuck in this heaviness Jesus you're the one who saw the certain man and you just said do you want to be made well and Lord we say we want to be made well Lord and we are burdened that your worship leaders all over the earth are experiencing more insecurity mental illness depression anxiety than almost the world in some places and Lord we desperately need you to deliver us Lord we want our lives to be about your glory we've tried the praise and rejection of man and it's left us poisoned we've tried to make golden of our own skill and ability we've tried to build our own things in our own name and it's just been ground to powder and we've drank it and it's poisoned us but Lord we're longing to be the people of Isaiah 42 that we're singing the new song your praise from the ends of the earth there's this explosion of this priesthood ministry where we are created for glory and for beauty and to minister to you and so Lord we just ask that you would call us back to our first place to be priests to minister to you God let the weekend not be our primary place where we worship Lord but let that be the overflow let our cars be filled with incense let our showers be filled with incense Lord let the moments in our days Lord be the moments that we are acting as priests and then when we stand before the people in those rare moments Lord that we would have courage that we would not be like Aaron that we would not give the people what they want but that we would be in the roles that you've created for us and that we would give ourselves to being the person you called us to be that you would have your glory God have your glory God ask even right now from the weight of the past season to fall off and be replaced with the weight of the kabad of the glory of God you said put on the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness Lord this is an hour we need the garments of praise the garments of praise are the priestly garments and the praise is the glory of God and so put on the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness I just even feel right now in the spirit that heaviness is even how we lead and I really believe that one of the next expressions that is going to be released in worship right now is the joy of the Lord because right now being heavy intense is not holy being holy is being different it's being set apart it's being other than and right now the world is depressed and heavy being holy doesn't look like being intense and sad all the time being a holy people looks like being a joyful people but God we can't do it on our own the joy of the Lord is our strength and Lord we are in need of a strengthening so God I just ask for the joy of the Lord to be released God let it bubble up from the inside of us Lord let it not be manufactured but Lord that you would release a oil of gladness over your people that it would confuse the world what the heck are they doing worshiping and dancing and there's nothing to celebrate why are they so excited because the joy of the Lord is our strength God I ask that this conference you would fill us with your joy Lord we've wept through the night the weeping has lasted for the night now we ask for the joy to come in the morning Lord we've wept with you in the garden Lord we've wept in the place of feeling the heaviness and the weightiness of the sin around us but now Lord release the oil of gladness the joy that's set before us so let it bubble up on the inside of us even right now Lord just ask for the joy of the Lord