I believe we are on the verge of an cultural Renaissance where true christianity will become relevant for a season. One that will truly glorify God and effect culture in a way that has not been seen before. Here is an article by Shawn Bolz written several years ago which I believe shows Gods heart for the years ahead. Imagine paintings that release healing to the admirer or art that releases a supernatural experience to the onlooker that reveals the Kingdom. The possibilities are endless. I hope to be a true "Renaissance Man" and paint anointed scenes like this someday!
The Artistic Renaissance Spirit is Being Released
The Renaissance Spirit Is Being Released In the great renaissance period of the Middle Ages God used creativity, art, music, and science to bring society out of a dark age. He wanted to bring people into a higher way of thinking and advance the world for His purposes. He used the creative arts to forerun culture. Music and science not only imparted culture faster then the church or politics could, they also developed areas of society that were previously completely overlooked.
Great Art Brought Great Perspective It was the first time people's eyes were open to SEE the word. Great artists were commissioned for the first time in history to paint a living picture of Biblical truth. They defined to the world for the first time what heaven, angels, biblical stories, and even Jesus Himself might look like. It birthed in all of Western society a deep personal connection to the truth of God. They were no longer limited to just the readings of the church, services, and their own imaginations. A great example is Michael Angelo's Sistine Chapel, which granted a walk through of the entire Bible for the most common men to see. There were now projects that inspired hope and devotion, like never before, that imparted kingdom culture.
The Scientific Boom Many modern scientists began to define true science that helped progress the minds to grasp the deeper meaning of life for the first time. Technologies were invented by men and women who were given the grace to become great progressive thinkers. Some of these Renaissance men and women probably felt as though they were born very much outside their time. They thought years beyond the time they lived in and were able to see the world through a much more mature, progressed lens than the average man. Many faced horrible persecution for believing truths that seemed basic to them, but were revolutionary to the world.
The Modern Renaissance Men and Woman are being released Again there is a renaissance being released that is going to bring society out of a dark age. The whole world is about to progress further into maturity and advancement. The forerunners of this great change will once again be in the music, art, and scientific arenas, which God has consistently used throughout history to prepare hearts for social transformation. He uses these areas to preach and impart justice, love, and an ability to be willing to adapt to the ever-changing world around us.
There are many people being released right now into the entertainment industry, who have invitations to become great inventors, musicians, and artisans that will shift, what we call, the secular venues. I went into a vision and saw God looking down at the earth. He wasn't looking at the church and then the secular world as though they were divided. He was looking at His Kingdom and everywhere it was affecting the earth. Sometimes this was clearly within church structures, but equally important, the influence was in secular areas and industries. I realized through this that many people are being invited to think past the calling of the church structure alone and that the great commission is to preach the good news to the entire world. God is releasing the Spirit of Heaven to come down to earth and be the Spirit of Renaissance upon men and women.
Imparting Culture He is releasing renaissance men and women who are going to help forerun the transforming of society through bringing a release of a new culture, a higher Kingdom culture onto the earth.
The whole world is searching for what mature love looks like. What does a thirty-year old marriage look like? What does a healthy father to a son or daughter look like? What is brand new love supposed to look like? God is raising people up in the music and the entertainment industry to tell parables through music, television, and movies that answer these moral and social dilemmas in the nations. Everywhere from Hollywood to Bollywood, God is beginning to anoint the efforts of Christians telling true stories.
Many of those being released to tell the stories are not using the gospel message directly, but instead they are preaching Christ, sometimes using words. To put it another way, they are Christians doing kingdom minded projects that can affect society, not Christians doing church projects. This is important to understand because Jesus told many parables that imparted a new way to think and a new understanding of kingdom. Those stories also imparted a culture and way to live. He didn't always explain these stories to everyone, sometimes the interpretation or preaching only came to the disciples, but the stories stood for themselves as powerful tools.
God Wants to Speak through the Entertainment Industry
What would happen if the greatest love songs of all time on VH1, MTV, and the radio came from Christians, who were in love, which painted a picture of what true love looks like? What would happen if we showed the value of the life of an unborn baby through showing real stories in epic movie formats about the life of a child and the struggle of the parents over that unborn life? What if you made a beautiful, but tragically real movie about abortion that could be seen in movie theaters around the world that wasn't meant to be edutainment, but a true parable? How much more would it preach the message of life than many of the other outlets the pro-life movement has tried to use?
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words As I saw this, I looked in the Spirit and I was in an art gallery looking at a masterpiece. I knew it was a picture that had not yet been created yet. I could feel that God longs to partner to artists on the earth to bring forth new masterpieces that will once again bring enlightenment. The picture I looked at was absolutely amazing; as I stared it spoke to me on many levels. I heard the Lord say that old phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words, and these pictures will be worth a thousand sermons.
The Store House of Heaven and the Creative Power of God! I had an encounter again in a place that I call the storehouse of heaven. It is the parabolic place that I have seen before where everything has already been prepared and provided that would be needed here on earth to give Jesus the fullness of His glory. The place I went into was the room of creative miracles. In this place I was looking at aisles and aisles of body parts all destined to creatively grow on someone who was missing them here on earth!
In this same area of creative miracles though, I could see that the same power that would create a limb or internal organ is also the same power that will release creative art projects, new sounds, scientific breakthroughs, and inventions! This is amazing that it takes the same virtue and power to heal as it does to be creative; furthermore, we have the same access to bring forth renaissance projects as we do to bring forth healings!
Co Creators with Christ God wants to add His nature (2 Peter 1:4) to our abilities to release Kingdom projects that will impart culture. He wants this culture to prepare us for societal transformation. People in every industry are going to be gripped by amazing projects that will not only show the reality of God to impact peoples lives, but will leave lasting impressions of that reality by the activation of new technologies, sound, art, and entertainment, that will move society into a new and higher place.
I pray that God makes you one who will be filled with His virtue in your gifting and talents, that you could forerun this great move of God by imparting a higher culture. I pray that your eyes will be opened by the Spirit of Revelation on how to access that great store house of heaven and become one who not only prays for heaven to come, but participates with the process! May you become a Renaissance Man (or woman)!
Written by Shawn Bolz
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