The Dancing Warrior Bride!

Chapter 2

Introduction To Dance: Understanding your Call to Duty

To truly be an effective witness in the dance one must first come to understand what God is calling them to. The ministry of dance is a priestly ministry and needs to be respected as one.

What is Ministry?
Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! send me.
” Isaiah 6:8

IT IS THE ANSWERING TO THE CALL ON YOUR LIFE

1. Ministry recognizes a need and has empowerment and ability to fulfill it; you must be able to see the lost, sick and brokenhearted around you and be driven by compassion to bring healing through your dance. You must also have the physical capability and ability to fulfill the call. This does not mean you have to have professional, worldly training or technique but you will need some form of rhythm.

2. Ministry makes God’s desires known to all; through your movement, you are releasing a message to others from the Father’s heart to those around you. You are used as a prophetic intercessor.

3. Ministry should flow prophetically (led by the Spirit of God); to do this, you must have an ear to hear what the Spirit of God is saying and an eye to see what He wants to have take place. Please see chapter three for more insight on prophetic dance and worship.

4. Ministry should focus on equipping the saints to make them ready for battle; your ministry should have a vision and mission statement; God will use this, as a bulls eye, to shoot for to obtain accuracy and focus in your ministry. There should also be a season of teaching and training before going out to the front lines of battle. It took 7 months before we ever danced our first dance in my first dance ministry. By doing this, it weeds out the people who just want to dance and be seen, from those who are really called to the ministry. Children may not understand at a young age the calling aspect of the ministry, so the leader will need to handle them differently than the teens and adults. This training season is imperative to the success and final outcome of your ministry. For example, look at these training sessions like the different stages of a pregnancy.

The conception period: Because of your desire to worship, your spirit came in to agreement with the Holy Spirit who deposited a deep desire to worship God in Spirit and in truth.

The gestation period: The first few months are the most critical for the healthy development of your new baby. If not fed the proper nutrients the baby could develop abnormalities, complications can set in and the pregnancy terminated. I call this a spirit of abortion. This can only happen if you are not willing to take a short season to become skilled in the Word, and have the mindset of “Hey, let’s just start a dance ministry” and in 2 weeks you’re upfront bringing forth movement. I cannot stress enough that during this period, releasing the Word of God to bring forth knowledge and understanding to your ministry is crucial. The Word brings revelation and sets a secure foundation to be built upon. This foundation cannot be shaken or crumble because it is built on Christ the solid rock, the Chief Cornerstone.

Also, think of your ministry as taking a season of your life to pursue a career; let’s say as a doctor. Before one can get a degree and practice medicine, there is an intense season of studying and training involved. Just think what it would be like if the American Medical Association would allow anyone who had the desire to become a doctor, to automatically start a practice and treat patients within 2 weeks! How much more should we, the people of God, flow in excellence in our ministries. There is a standard that has been set in the church today that is drastically lower than worldly standards when it comes to serving God. I am not sure why this is, but God is bringing a major shift for the equipping of the saints to the present day church to all who will embrace it. God does not desire for His sheep to be passive and dumb but to be transformed in to mighty warhorses! (Zechariah 10:3 says, “My anger burns against your shepherds, and I will punish these leaders. For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has arrived to look after Judah, his flock. He will make them strong and glorious, like a proud warhorse in battle.) That is what this book is all about; growing and maturing in our faith, giftings and callings so we can operate in a spirit of excellence that He so deserves. Let’s raise the standard in our ministries so we can send a clear picture to the world that we are a reflection of an excellent God!

Finally, the birthing process: During this process you will sense an anxiousness to bring forth this baby because of the labor pains and contractions (pain that is usually involved in ministry), but wait on the timing of the Lord. You will know when the baby is ready to be pushed out by the unity, love and oneness of the team. It is then the “Dancing Warrior Bride” will come forth in power!

5. Ministry communicates the purposes of God for the generation; your dances will need to give a clear picture of what God is saying to the people. We need to have effective communication in our movement. If our movement doesn’t match the words being sung it can actually lead to a spirit of confusion, therefore, your movements should be clear and precise.

6. Ministry is quality time spent with God and His Word; it is imperative to know who you are dancing for; first to Jesus then to His people. In John 15:5 Jesus said apart from Him, we can do nothing. This is a serious warning from operating in the flesh. We need to know the Word in order to dance the Word and are responsible to bring the Word of God to life through our dances. Just as a pastor preaches the Word by mouth, we preach the Word through the words of music and our movements. Most people unfortunately forget what they hear, but they won’t forget what they see. This is the power of the arts!

7. Desires that the ministry be Spirit (God’s) to spirit (congregation). Without the anointing of God, nothing gets accomplished and simply becomes a show or performance to those who are watching. You may wow the hearts of the people with your gift, but true Christian arts should always be directed to wow the heart of the Father.

THE CALL TO ANY MINISTRY IS A CALL TO LOVE, VISION, FLEXIBILITY, COMMITMENT, SACRIFICE, HARD WORK, CLARITY AND FOCUS. THE CALL TO DANCE MINISTRY IS TO BE AN “ATMOSPHERE CHANGER!

Your praise and worship should bring a shift in to the atmosphere of the congregation. Your calling in the ministry must always usher in a spirit of praise and worship where Jesus is the center of attention and the main focus. We must learn to worship Him in Spirit and in truth!

Throughout this chapter we will be taking some brief moments to do some prophetic self-examination exercises to help bring correction and alignment to any wrong motives and intentions of our hearts. Allow the Holy Spirit to do any necessary “surgery” so you can walk in total freedom.