WHY DANCE?




BECAUSE YOU ARE CALLED

Press in

I asked God what is your word to us regarding dance in Singapore.

He said, “PRESS IN”.

What is “press in”?
When you try to open a sealed plastic bag with only your fingernails, you push and push, the plastic gets thinner and thinner, as you’re nearing the end, you know it has to give, you apply the extra pressure to break through.
That is press in.

We need to press in to see our break-throughs for dance in Singapore.

How do we press in?
More pressure, keep praying, pray specifically and in faith. We know God has plans for us, we need to pray it into being, pray so that God’s reality comes to pass, that we may witness it and speak of it. Pray for those break-throughs.
Pray for your intimacy with God. Pray that dance people in Singapore will continue to be close to God and will hear Him and heed Him. Pray that God will raise up a generation of Christian dancers (some more men) and choreographers and teachers. Pray that God will open doors for his people in the dance industry but close the ones he does not want us to walk through. Pray for inspiration to come from God, pray that we will create His dances, teach with his love. Pray that teachers will disciple their students and nurture them in God’s ways and as dancers. Pray for God’s creativity to be released over his people. Pray for unity among the dance people.

How do we press in?
To press in is also to draw close to God. Spend time with Him, read His word, get to know Him and keep in communication with him. Keep praying.

In one prophetic website it said 2007 will be a time of moving from mission impossible to mission accomplished. So complete the preparations and be ready to see the fruition of God’s dreams for dance in Singapore.

I believe it. Do you believe? If you do then press in, press in. Keep praying and open the heavens.

A Dancer said: I Don’t Know How to be a Christian.
Now these words came from someone I regard as walking very closely to God. What she meant was that as a dance/choreographer she was confused as to how to be a christian dancer/choreographer. She asked another christian dance person and that person’s reply was, “that’s a silly question. Just be yourself.”
Dances don’t have to tell a Christian story, use Christian music or be overt, to be from God and for God. More often than not it is how we live our lives as Christians that makes the impact. Dance is an opening a chance to provoke thought and allow others to ask questions. There are many ways to make that happen.
Once again we return to the fact that we are all children of God and dance is something we do (not who we are, we are still just like any other person), it is our gift from God and our tool. We all put ourselves into our dancing and our work, so by being herself her love of God would naturally permeate her work, and especially the way she worked.
So for God to be obvious in our lives we need that intimacy with Him. I read on a prophetic website that there is to be a break-though in intimacy with God. So believe it and claim it and get close to God.




Dying to self.
Part I:
I said, “… this is so hard. I’m so confused I feel like a tree that’s been wrapped over by a climbing vine and the two are so intertwined I don’t know what to discard and what to keep”.
The fact is it isn’t a one shot deal. When we accept Christ we are immediately redeemed, but the dying of the old self isn’t immediate.
“That is why it is a daily process”, was E’s reply, “each day we wake up and figure out what to discard and what to keep. Keep, discard, discard, keep, keep, discard …”. Everyday we seek God’s guidance, perhaps that’s what keeps us close to Him.
Part II:
C shared that everyone always says that dying to self is so hard, particularly for dancers, because it is always about “me”, it’s so carnal, and self-centered. And yet, dying to self is the biggest blessing, particularly for dancers, because we always think we’re not good enough. We’re always striving for perfection, we’re always trying to change ourselves, how we eat, how we look, how we move… We’ll never be good enough - if we keep judging ourselves. Let God be the Judge.
When you see yourself through His eyes, when you die to yourself, you can finally be where you belong.
When you find confidence in your true identity, when you relax into God’s love, (you let go of false expectations and allow God’s visions for you become reality) you can move past your limitations and produce something truly beautiful.

WWW.DANCE
One day in church as I was listening to the sermon I asked God “Why Dance?” i.e. “What is the purpose of dancers?”
He gave me to Worship to be Warriors and to Witness, hence the WWW.Dance
Note that each of these areas is two fold.

Worship
(1) To minister to God- praising Him and delighting in Him so He may delight in you.
(2) To minister to man- being role models as worshippers, showing others how to praise God with your whole being, and to usher in God’s presence (rather like a lightning rod)

Warriors
(1) Offensive - to take for Christ, Dance as an industry and as a people group. The more territory Christian dancers cover the less space there is for unholy influences. We also declare that everywhere we place our feet we claim for God.
(2) Defensive – We protect what God has given us. The victories he has in store for us, we claim and protect through prayer. We protect our talents by consecrating ourselves and by being careful how we choose to use our art and our bodies.

Witness
(1) To See- to witness, as in see or experience what God is doing in our land and in our industry. We pray specifically for breakthroughs and people, then we can say we witness what God is doing in our midst.
(2) To speak- we testify as to what miracles we have seen. We show through dance and through our lives what God has done and is doing, so that all glory goes to Him, and people will be convinced.

Even as you read all of this, remember that before you are a dance person, you are first and foremost a child of God. God is more concerned with your relationship with Him than with what you will do for Him. Before he calls you to Worship, be a Warrior and Witness for Him, He first calls you to Himself.

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