The Power of the Spoken Word

Blair Linne: We have heard the voice of freedom . . .

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: This is poet Blair Linne.

Blair:

How He calls prodigal daughters out of darkness
   pulling them away from heavy-handed grasp of bondage
   unlocking chains of being weak-willed and demon filled,
   as well those late nights when we are willing to eat temptation up like ice cream
   straight out of the container . . .

Leslie Basham: This is the Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth for Monday, May 2, 2016.

Nancy: Here at Revive Our Hearts we're committed to providing in-depth teaching that's solidly biblical, remaining true to God's Word. That's an awesome responsibility, and we don't take it lightly.

Today, we're going to hear from a kindred spirit in that mission. But instead of Bible teaching, our guest's main focus is a creative presentation of those same biblical truths. Sometimes artists can help us see the old, old story in new ways, and can help us remember the wonder of the truth of God's Word.

So, for the next few minutes, I hope you'll listen as my friend, Blair Linne, gives us a poetic account of the life of Jesus. Blair delivered the poems you're about to hear at the True Woman '14 conference, and her poems were a real highlight for everyone who was there.

I'm excited to let you know that Blair is returning to True Woman! She'll be a part of Cry Out! True Woman '16. The conference is coming to Indianapolis, September 22–24. Blair will be developing all new work for this conference.

So let's listen to get a feel for the power of her spoken word poetry. The first poem, which she shared right at the start of True Woman '14, focuses on our Savior.

Blair:

Jesus. . .
In the pre-existent Godhead three in One,
All praise to the Father and Spirit
and . . .
Can I take a moment to exalt the Son?

He has no beginning. Neither will He fade.
See, I KNOW why the caged bird sings . . . because Jesus broke the chains.
And the nightingale hums a glorious tune which echoes through eras of doom.
It's the only hope, why we couldn't elope; had to patiently await our Bridegroom.
Son of God. Son of Man.
Worthy of all Praise!

It was prophesied The Root of Jesse would come:
Messiah who saves. Creator of all things. Image of the invisible God.
He is the True Word manifested in the flesh.
Jehovah Tsidkenu—The Lord our Righteousness.
Before Abraham was . . . before Moses received the ram . . .
before day separated from night . . . He is the true light.
He was there, since He is The I AM.

Yet He headed South,
left his aeonian house
to come in the form of a tender babe,
by way of a virgin's womb.
There was no space in the room
so a Savior was delivered amidst cattle and hay. In His living He modeled perfection . . .
Immaculately displayed submission . . .
Showing, He is the Way.

Keeping each command faithfully
holding fast to His divine mission.
You see, He constantly retreated to pray,
Showing humanity's need for the Father
He bears with us in sympathy, refused to respond sinfully.
Where Adam failed, The second Adam completely conquered!
Came as a carpenter but was crafting more than a chair out of wood
but a mercy seat, nails through His feet with a hammer allowed by God.

It was there on that day when His body was torn
our substitution was fully secured.
Our Lamb of God, with a face like flint,
Gulped down wrath mere man couldn't have endured.
They thought He was done when He said it is finished
not knowing His blood would scream from the ground
testified to His innocence, much greater than Abel
that God, He was able to turn it around.

So in three days
The Son who reigns, was raised for one race,
and now raises us in His Son rays to shine on us, His grace.
Ascended to the right hand of the Father

He's our Federal Head, of the church.
We bow because He is our Shalom,
our Advocate who removes our curse.
Our Shadow from the heat, Tree of Life, Corn of Wheat,
Rock of Ages, Fruit we now bite,
He is the Manna that we eat. He is the Light, our High Priest.
In the night, He's our triumphant knight.
The Lion of Judah will return, reigning gloriously
and all things placed under His feet.
Every knee will bow and every tongue confess
that He righteously reigns victoriously.
Many men will try to hide when He shatters the sky
shows King of Kings and Lord of Lords on His thigh.
But He will judge perfectly
separate the chaff and wheat
since He is too Holy to allow sinners to just slide by.

And satan will be destroyed in the fiery lake.
We will say, "Away with that snake."
Since Christ has crushed his head exhaustively 
he will no longer be able to tempt
the penalty, power and presence of sin
will be demolished forever we will be free. 

He has prepared a place for us with no more pride, no more lust,
so that we can enjoy Him our Treasure in Love
through His Gate we cannot wait
we will forever seek His face
with no more heavy weights keeping us away from things above.

So, dear Alpha and Omega,
please completely captivate us
show us Your glory so that we may rightly revere You, our Faithful Friend
be utterly amazed by Your wonder
Your Righteous Word, a roaring thunder
we bow before You now. Hail Jesus, our Amen!

Nancy: That's Blair Linne, helping us be amazed at the wonder of Jesus! She recorded that poem at the True Woman '14 conference.

We'll hear more of her poetry in a minute, but we wanted you to hear some of the heart behind these poems. Blair talks about what it was like to be a part of the True Woman conference.

Blair: I was just honored to be asked to be a part of this conference. I've been hugely blessed by the ministry of Revive Our Hearts. To run into Nancy—and her invite me to come here—I just thought, What a privilege and an honor! And it's been a blessing being able to be a part this weekend.

Nancy: And Blair was a huge blessing to those of us who participated in True Woman '14. That conference brought together women from a great diversity of backgrounds, all coming together to worship Jesus!

Blair: I think that it highlights the diversity and the unity that we have in Christ, right? That all tribes, all nations and tongues that are going to be before the throne worshiping God—we get a little sense of that here on earth.

So it's been a privilege to be able to present spoken word, Christian poetry—which is becoming a bit of a movement nowadays—and to highlight the worship and the Word that was presented. It highlights God's diversity, and the beauty that is in God.

Nancy: I think you'll see that same diversity in God's kingdom this fall, at Cry Out! True Woman '16. You'll hear the Irish-tinged worship of Keith and Kristyn Getty. You'll also hear from Dr. Russell Moore, and Steven Kendrick (producer of the War Room movie), Janet Parshall, Mary Kassian, and our guest today, Blair Linne, will be there as well.

Let's listen to another one of her poems from True Woman '14.

Blair Linne:

Have you seen Him?
Do you love Him?
Will you give up all to serve Him?
Do you know Him?

Here comes the Lamb of God, passing by robed in splendor
angels bowing at His feet.
Trembling in complete surrender

The heavens sing, clouds sway to the ancient of Days
the core of the earth knows the Lord's worth and erupts in praise
every tree, fruitfully blowing in the wind
they know all things hold together through Him

And yet, The Christ condescends not for the trees, elements, animals, or wind
but out of love, descended like a dove to make sinners His friends.
But, we prefer a theoretical knowledge
and mankind is determined to examine natural things
while neglecting opportunities to know the King of kings.

We prefer a theoretical knowledge, our degrees from Bible college
when the kingdom of God is so close at hand
we would be changed if we would be still and acknowledge the Son of Man

He has spoken through His word that He is the Word
we can commune with Him our daily food that He willingly serves
but we'd rather spend the time on a blog reading something we overheard.

Rather than wrestling with God through these pages of truth
wrestling not to win but so that we will always lose
if necessary, walk away with a limp or a thorn in our side
So that we will humbly surrender any temptation to pride

Can't be content, tweeting quotes from men who labor in the presence of The Most High
we settle for secondary revelation and wonder why we're so dry.
Shallow like a bonsai waiting for a "like"
rather than an eternal love from the one who gave His life.

See, Jesus Christ is jealous for His glory
before this globe was structured, He was crafting a supernatural story
Starring His mercy, co-starring His grace
directed by the hand of God.
Truth is, we should all be on our face

not on youtube . . .
rather lights, camera, action as we zoom into
His crucifixion
the only sacrifice which does suffice
should motivate our contrition and set ablaze our delight

not gathering information to add to our "spiritual resume"
but digging in our heels to comprehend
the depth of His majesty every day.

Not reading the Bible to sound spiritually deep
but savoring His Word because His truth is oh so sweet.

Have you seen Him?
Do you love Him?
Will we give up all to serve Him?
Do you know . . . Him?

Personally.
Not heard it through the grapevine
that His grapes were crushed and poured out wine.
Have we tasted His blood and eaten of His flesh
Experienced His power to exchange His life for our death.
See we were dead
worse than in a grave
enslaved by legions of demons
the prince of the air had us depraved
a spiritual death which transcends the flesh creating an eternal heat wave
which we rightly deserved but while in our sin,
God graciously chose to save!

Now we have peace and serenity
Since we are no longer an enemy of the Trinity.
Free to get on our knees
confessing "Lord I believe."
as we put off sin to cleave to His divinity.

Counting it all loss for the sake of Christ
Anything gained in this world cannot be compared
to the fact that we have been paired with, made heirs with
His holiness who chose to spare us with
Himself.

He gave us Himself as our treasure
we have the privilege of loving Him, our pleasure
from the moment we were born again until forever ends
which is never!

Have you seen Him?
Do you love Him?
Will you give up all to serve Him?
Do you know Him?

Nancy: That's Blair Linne, asking a crucial question for all of us—Do you really know Jesus? She brought her spoken word poetry to the True Woman '14 conference, and she'll be joining us at the next conference this September.

As we prepared for True Woman '14, Blair was struck by the emphasis throughout the conference on prayer.

Blair: It's been wonderful leading up to the conference to be able to pray with all of the speakers . . . to have prayer calls . . . and to cry out to God on behalf of our own need for God (that we need to apply even the words that we're presenting to others, to ourselves), but also to cry out for these women and just to have a heart for the women, these over 8,000 women who have come seeking the face of God and who have come with so many circumstances going on in their lives. 

It was wonderful just to pray for them, to intercede for them, and to believe God that He might minister to their specific needs. That's been our heart, and we've been praying the whole way through. And I've seen the Lord minister to so many women! I've been so encouraged by that.

Nancy: Prayer has always been a big emphasis leading up to and during a True Woman conference. That will be especially true this year at True Woman. Our theme this year is Cry Out! Why this theme?

I don't have to tell you that we're living in days that are increasingly dark—here in the United States and around the world as well. Throughout Scripture, throughout history, when things have seemed the darkest, God's people have often called out to Him with a desperate cry.

That's what we hope to do when we gather together in Indianapolis, September 22–24. We're going to cry out to God on behalf of the desperate needs we see in our nation and in our homes and churches.

Now, I believe this not only a desperate time, it's also a time of great hope! Because we have a God who hears, and we have an opportunity to watch Him work in our day as only He can do.

So, would you gather with us to cry out to the Lord for such a time as this? Today is the final day to get on early discounted registration. To register and to get more details, visit us at ReviveOurHearts.com. 

Now, let's get another taste of what we'll hear at True Woman '16. Here's spoken word artist Blair Linne at the end of True Woman '14.

Blair:

We have heard the voice of Freedom.
How He calls Prodigal daughters out of darkness
Pulling them away from heavy-handed grasp of bondage.

Unlocking chains of being weak-willed and demon-filled
as well, those late nights when we are willing to eat temptation up like ice cream—
straight out of the container
unsettling how we can't contain her (our flesh)
but amazing how Christ's power constrains her.

Remember, we have communed with Fullness.
How He resuscitates us when we are left impoverished
heals our greatest need.
Sometimes allowing physical suffering to link arms with us
so we might fall into the everlasting arms of Him in whom we trust.

Our Pool of Bethesda, who revives us
when our fossil faith is dirt dry like brittle bones in Sahara
when the feast feels far removed and we chew on emptiness intimately
like the red velvet rope separating the poor on Thanksgiving
not knowing that God has prepared everlasting food for you,
through His Crimson Cord, He is so giving
the Eternal Meal is here since the Bread of Life is near!

Never forget! We can say we have sweetly tasted Fruitfulness.
regardless of our circumstances
persecutions, difficulties and imprisonments—
We can STILL preach Christ for the sake of reaching the nations
and bear pleasant fruit despite our trying situations.

Never forget, we can summon our Savior when we return home
and find our soul surrounded by serpents
when love remains dormant in the belly of our heart like dried cement.
We can refuse to choose to listen to her lies whispered down the hallways of our mind
her slithery acoustics
which speak of independence.
She says although we are saved, our actions cannot change.
She serenades us with make believe—
crazy the things she tries to make you believe
But Jesus made us so it's HIM we MUST believe.

True women.
As we soon scatter from here, like seeds blown in the wind
returning to our ordained battlefields,

May we walk away as warriors. Women willing to war against wickedness since it was won by
the One who is Worthy—our Wonderful Counselor when the Word's body
was engraved by wrath on wood.
May we walk away and wake up tomorrow . . .
and every day thereafter clinging to His Word,
Bring praise to His name
since Jesus fulfills each of the three—
He is freedom, fullness, fruitfulness—
you see He is our life-giving Tree.

He has never been bound or given to sin,
He is the one who is eternally free.
His Holiness testifies to His purity.
He was the only One perfectly able to uphold the law
when He chose to become sin, it was out of love for His bride,
although they put Him in the grave, we can now say He is alive! (Amen!)

And He is the epitome of fullness. The origin of all goodness
never empty or needy didn't make man because he was lonely
He is the One who is eternally complete
why would the one in Whom all things hold together, need to sit at someone else's feast?
when He owns all things.
They all will bow before Him since He is intrinsically whole
has food to eat, that to us is unknown.
He feasts on Himself, since He is God, alone.

He is the most fruitful of all.
Always displaying the fruits of the Spirit, since they originate in Him
He resurrected because death couldn't hold him
since the wages of sin wasn't owed to Him.

He will never be bound, His throne is pure all around
can't even tempt let alone have a bitter bone in Him.
He is love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness,
faithfulness, self-control, goodness, and forbearance
He is a beautiful harvest.
His virtue is inherent.
His Holy attributes are marvelous!
He's free. He's full. He's fruitful forever.

That's the way it has been and will always be . . .
So may we find ourselves hidden in Christ our Treasure
Becoming True Women who are full, fruitful and free!

Bless you!

Nancy: That's spoken word artist, Blair Linne, inspired in that poem by the byline of Revive Our Hearts: helping women find freedom, fullness and fruitfulness in Christ.

Blair was such a great encouragement to the women who gathered at True Woman '14. I'm excited that she's going to be joining us this year, at Cry Out! True Woman '16.

I'm so grateful for the way the Lord has used the books and the teaching of Revive Our Hearts to be an encouragement to Blair in her spiritual journey.

Blair: Yes, the Lord has definitely used Revive Our Hearts in my life. When I first became a believer, I was discipled, and we walked through the Seeking Him book. So that was my first introduction to Revive Our Hearts and to Nancy.

From that, I began to also listen to some of the radio broadcasts online and be ministered to . . . just a personal revival. I was always pointed to Jesus, and I appreciated just the humility I was encouraged toward. Later, hearing the Brokenness series (I remember having it on my iPod at the time) I was able to watch that series and be thoroughly encouraged about the need to be broken before God.

And then, I remember receiving the book Lies Women Believe and thinking, Oh, maybe I'll be able to relate to one or two lies or so. But the Lord literally used that book to minister to my heart. There were just so many lies that I believed and I need to hold onto the truth!

So that was just a huge blessing to my life as well. And then True Woman 101. . . I had the privilege of actually endorsing that book, and that was another huge encouragement to just be challenged on womanhood. The questions that were asked challenged my heart!

So, the Lord has deeply, deeply used Revive Our Hearts to really impact my life.

Nancy: And this is pretty amazing to think about, that listeners just like you have had a big effect on Blair's life. And now, as a pastor's wife, a mom of three, a spoken word artist and speaker, Blair is affecting her generation for Christ.

How have our listeners affected Blair? Well, the only reason Revive Our Hearts was able to provide her with resources as a young believer was because of the prayers and the financial support of our listeners.

You've made it possible for biblical teaching to be piped into her earbuds day-by-day. And there are so many just like her—thousands of women getting daily, biblical teaching through Revive Our Hearts and then passing it on to others.

In order for that kind of effective ministry to continue, we need to hear from you. Over the summer, donations to this ministry typically decrease, as people get busy and they're away from home, etc.

But the need for women to hear biblical truth is greater than ever. We don't want to decrease ministry at a time when we're seeing so much moral decay, when violence is tearing apart our cities, when good is being called evil and evil is being called good.

I think this is a time that represents a huge opportunity to see God work in ways that only He can do. We want to be faithful to keep calling women to cry out to Him and to get to know Him better through His Word.

We especially need to hear from you this month. It's the close of our fiscal year, which means we wrap up the accounting books and set the budget for the next year of ministry. Your contribution now will make a big difference in our effectiveness over the twelve months ahead.

Some friends of this ministry know how important it is to end this fiscal year in a healthy position, so they are doubling the gift of every podcast listener during the month of May.

If you appreciate getting Revive Our Hearts online each weekday, and you'd like to continue receiving the program, would you make your gift now by visiting a special page that we've set up just for our podcast listeners?

The web address is ReviveOurHearts.com/podcast. When you support the ministry with a gift of any size, we'd like to say thanks by sending a CD that my husband and I have listened to over and over again. It's calledGreat, by pianist Jan Mulder, along with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Would you pray about how the Lord would have you support Revive Our Hearts at this crucial time in May? The needs in our world are great, but hope is real and the time is now!

Leslie: Thanks, Nancy. Do you know how powerful your prayer is? Tomorrow we'll discuss the need for people just like you to cry out to the Lord in prayer for our nation and our world "for such a time as this."

Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.