Company Keepers July 2005

It is so marvelous to see so many dance ministries emerging all over the world, proclaiming that Jesus Christ is our Lord and
Savior, and knowing that God is praised and glorified through the dance of His children! The blossoming of these ministries all
around (church affiliated or not) has been raising eyebrows and questions from the curious secular dance world. Some of these
anointed dance ministries utilize many different styles and techniques for the excellence of the Lord.

Ministers in dance (dancers, directors, choreographers) are stepping up to a higher level in their commitment in giving our best to
Jesus- with no surprise. We serve, honor and love our God Almighty for He inhabits our praises (Psalms 22:3). The anointed
dancer dances the powerful Word of God (Isaiah 55:11), with the purpose of salvation and edification of others. Through this dance,
the world gets to know Jesus and our job is accomplished. Sadly, the world uses dance as a vehicle to communicate art in a sinful
way for its glory. Some secular dancers are forced to dance messages of violence, depression, lust, rebellion, confusion and a
false joy in the name of entertainment. Others dance a form of dance so abstract, absurd and empty just for financial survival.

In either situation, the destructive message is given to the human spirit through secular dance for the sake of “art-making.” Thank
God for our blessed gift in dance and may we continue to improve in this area for His glory always. I have listed a few differences
below between anointed dancers and secular dancers, perhaps you can email us some more for our next issue. Please pray also
for the secular dancer’s salvation, so they too can rejoice in His anointed dance.

I often get e-mails from dancers wanting to know how to get started in dance ministry. They ask where to go take classes, if there are any
groups I recommend they join, etc. What is the process for entering into dance ministry? When I refer to dance ministry, I am not simply
talking about forming a church dance group and calling it a ministry. I am talking about ministering through the dance with the hand of God
upon you. How do you prepare or position yourself to go into the activity of ministry with the power of God actively working through you and
backing you up?

It is very simple: ANSWER THE CALL!!

Understand this: the pull you feel, the desire to pursue dance ministry- that bidding is the call of God to you. When someone calls out to
you, they want you to acknowledge that you heard them by coming to see why they called you. It is the same with God. In inciting that
desire in your heart, He has called out to you and extended to you an invitation—but not to DO anything, but to come and receive
something. When you initially feel that bidding, all He wants you to do at that time is come and see what He wants.

Many of us, that being Christians in general, respond incorrectly to the call of God. We get a glimpse of purpose and we think that it's time
to go and start at it. I did it too. We do not understand that this is how He calls out to us. Just because you heard the call does not mean
that you’re ready or equipped to go out and fulfill the purpose of the call.

Dancers ask me how to get started in dance ministry and they often seem unsatisfied with my answer. They want to run out and DO
something and I tell them to go sit and listen. We run to conferences and conventions, to classes on how to start a dance ministry. I have
nothing at all against that, as there is a lot of great and useful information there. However, that is not the proper initial response to God’s
call out to you regarding ministry in dance.

The information given at conferences and in classes can only give you practical information on how to work out what God has shown you.
It cannot prepare you to fulfill your assignment. I can teach you how to multiply and divide. But even in knowing how to multiply and divide,
if you don’t know what math problems the teacher assigned for you to solve, and you don’t apply what you know about division to solving
THOSE math problems, you have not completed your assignment.

The information given at conferences and workshops is designed to help you solve your assignment, to help you flesh out what God
showed you that you are supposed to do as a dance minister. But first, you have to have been shown something- and that only comes by
answering the call: Going to see what He wants.

Most of us have heard the scripture: “Many are called, but few chosen.” I always wondered what the difference was between the called and
the chosen. My Bishop explained it saying that the chosen are those who were called and waited to be sent. I understood that, but my next
question was: What is meant by “waiting?”

Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines “wait” as “delaying until the proper condition has come about; to stay expectantly for another to
speak or act. In Mt. 22:1-14, we see this statement regarding the called and chosen in context. In telling a parable, Jesus is likening the
kingdom of God to being invited to a wedding feast. The Spirit of God sends out a call to His people, individual by individual, bidding them
to come and sit with Him, to eat of His Spirit, to get full with His will and vision for their life.

Some of us hear the call, but we neglect to respond to it and continue on with our daily lives, just as the invitees did. Then others of us try
to get into the wedding reception, we try to walk in the call, but because we neglected to respond to the call to find out what the occasion
was, what the dress attire was, we show up improperly dressed, not suited for the occasion. We show up in ministry with no anointing, no
power, no purpose or direction- because we never went and got the details.

The word “chosen” comes from two Greek words and it means to proceed out of what was shown, what was disclosed, laid forth, and
described. You see, God calls out to many of us. But only a few of us actually go and spend time with Him and allow Him to show us and
describe for us in detail what He has designed for us to do and be. Dance ministry is not a cookie-cut ministry. We are all commonly
called to dance ministry, however, within our common call we have specific assignments. God does not intend to use us all in the same
way or send us to the same place to minister to the same kinds of people.

When God begins dealing with you concerning the dance, the first thing, the only thing you do is go and seek Him and inquire of Him for
further instruction, detail and clarity. Then, when He says “Go, and do it,” you go forth and do what He showed YOU. This way, you will
come out of that season of receiving with power and anointing. Otherwise, you get trapped in the copycat syndrome, looking like everybody
else’s dance ministry, because you did not get the blueprint for your own. Jesus did not immediately branch out into His ministry. There
was a season of getting acquainted with His call and assignment.

The power of God and His anointing are forms of provision, “pro-vision” meaning for the vision. If you don’t have the vision and are not
doing the vision, then you don’t need God’s provision.

God will begin to give you direction. He might tell you to join a dance ministry. He might not. He might have you start a dance ministry. He
might not. He may have you be a soloist or teacher. He might tell you to enroll in school or travel abroad for a season. There is no pre-
determined, seminary school-type method for ministering through the dance in power.

I encourage you not to act in haste and neglect this critical step. There will be time for your assignment. I would also encourage you to
invest in your vehicle, your physical body. Train and strengthen your body and perfect your skills through dance classes and exercise so
that you have longevity and you give God more to work through.

Last year, I sent my video footage, photos & music to a video editor to have my promotional demo reel updated on VHS. In the finalization
stage of my reel, I noticed something very interesting. As I viewed the footage on the computer screen, the original picture looked clear, the
colors looked vibrant and every detail was prominent. However, when I viewed a copy of the original footage, the footage looked slightly
altered, the colors were no longer vibrant and clear, but looked slightly discolored and faded. I asked the editor what was the reason for the
clarity change and he responded, “The original is always better than the copy. There are lines of resolution that make up a picture and
when a copy is made, it loses its originality. Furthermore, when you produce a copy of a copy, the clarity and quality gets worse.” I was
astonished with the results of my footage after duplicating my original material.

The Bible teaches us that we are a unique and peculiar people, a royal priesthood and holy nation (1Pet. 2:9), that the hairs on our head
are numbered (Mat. 10:30). Additionally, there are no two fingerprints alike, because God made us originals – His workmanship. As an
interpretive movement minister, it is imperative that you: 1. Know who you are in Christ. This will only come as a result of reading and
spending time in the word of God daily. 2. Seek the Lord, the ultimate Creator, concerning the moves that He would have you to do. God is
a living God and the God of all creation (Gen. 1). Evangelistic-wise, we can hinder the unsaved from getting a visual of what God is like
when we continue to copy.

Since God is the originator of creation, He will give you fresh insight on your choreography if you seek Him first. I can assure you, it will be
something new, creative and ultimately something that will give Him glory- which is one of our ultimate goals in ministering through
interpretive movement.

God gives many gifts that are to be stewarded properly, and most importantly to be used. Through the process of dying to self, suffering,
sanctification and consecration, God graces us with something very costly – the anointing. However, no two are alike. The danger of
duplicating someone else’s dance is the fact that you are copying what God instructed someone else to do, and thus copying someone
else’s anointing. Have you ever noticed someone trying to act like someone else? Perform someone else’s duties that God did not instruct
them to do? It looks pretty mechanical and unnatural, right? That is the result of duplication. Think about an authentic Picasso painting.
There are many copies that will cost reasonably less and look similar, but in actuality they are different. How? Because more value is
placed on the original than the copy (1). In Exodus 30:9, we see that God forbids strange (counterfeit) incense. There is a warning against
“imitating” the real.

Interpretive movement includes ministering the word of God in physical form with clarity, so the audience can understand what is being
communicated and DO the word of God. However, as something is copied over and over again, the clarity of what is being communicated
can become an issue. For example: In college, I took a communications class and we did an exercise that involved the teacher
communicating something to Person 1. Person 1 would have to repeat what the teacher communicated to Person 2 and so on.
Surprisingly, the story was communicated only ¾ right by the time it made its way to Person 2, and totally demolished by the time it was
communicated to Person 4. Also, while taking a creative writing class, we were given website tools and study references to help with the
creation of our papers. However, we were warned not to plagiarize our work or we would fail the course. The class could not accomplish
what it was designed to do if we was took someone else’s work and submitted it as our own. It would stunt our growth as creative writers.
Even in the world, there is a warning against imitation when it comes to creativity.

Let us remember, we must first commune with the source of all creation – God, and allow Him to give us fresh, new, creative and
innovative insight each time, so that we may communicate our message effectively through interpretive movement. We are born originals-
let’s not live and die as copies.