Hello My Beautiful Friends,
The Kingdom is rising and a new renaissance has begun. As I dive into the deep waters of God’s Holy Spirit and take you along with me, I want to say, “thank you brave warriors.” To the storytellers in one form or the other, we are on this wild ride together. It is our time to rise and pierce the darkness by bringing brilliant, beautiful ways of expressing Jesus on screen and through art, and all kinds of media and storytelling. I don’t think the Lord is upset one little bit by the fact that we’re not creating films anymore like the famous 1956 American Epic Religious Drama, “The Ten Commandments.” Many of us have likely seen it dozens of times growing up and it is a nostalgic experience to watch, not at all to be diminished. But, this is what I know with sure confidence, the Lord is looking for His modern day creatives to lead people to seek out Jesus and the Bible. TV shows like The Chosen and films like The Shift weren’t created to be compared to anything else. As Christians we’re supposed to stand out with our artistry and unique expressions. There is beauty in all of us as creatives for the Kingdom of God, and it’s important to follow our God-given creative mandates. Together we can pierce the darkness of the media and entertainment world, bring real Truth and creativity to people attached to their screens. When the Lord asked me to help him “display the beauty and uniqueness of His bride” I couldn’t have fathomed the wilderness journey, the growth, the fortitude, the sacrifice, or the faith it would take to continue to see Megamorphosis through. I believe that Dallas Jenkins and Brock Heasley, Brent McCorkle, the Erwin brothers, or any Christian creating something substantial in the Kingdom, has these, “I-can’t-go-on” moments. Personally, I have had to make hard choices in this issue on what stays and what goes, what is for now and what is for later. But I am more committed than ever to cultivate and curate beauty and stories, for His glory and in His timing. This is what it takes to complete the work of the Kingdom—spiritual fortitude, and an immovable stand for excellence. This is my promise to all of you—to display the beauty and uniqueness of His multi-faceted Church, which is His diamond, and His bride. I rely on the anointing of Holy Spirit to accomplish the work of displaying the Kingdom through creative agency and the cultivation of quality content.
I’m so grateful that I intimately know my Father in Heaven, and although it is impossible to be perfect, I am a woman of excellence and live in pursuit of Christ’s heart and Truth. I wrestle (as we all should) with the Bible, not regarding its validity, as I am fully persuaded, but on viewpoints and dividing it rightly. I approach the Word of God soberly, knowing the grace of the Lord is tremendous if I innocently misunderstand scripture. Why do I say this? In this season the Lord has me on a difficult and humbling quest of understanding beliefs, rituals, and practices of “cradle” Catholics and charismatic Catholics and their expression of worship or devotion. This all began with covering The Chosen the last few years and Jonathan Roumie, who is a professed born-again Catholic. In the last several years I’ve watched God use Dallas and Jonathan as clear catalysts to bring unity and healing among Catholics and Protestants, although I don’t believe it was intentional or planned, but rather evolved.
Please realize—I can claim no denomination, although I do have preferences in styles of worship. I am a devoted woman of the Word of God—and honestly, I hate titles because I hate division. I want to be known by my love—a distinguishing factor of the 1st Century Church (and I believe one for the end times Omega Church, a word I heard from Holy Spirit).
This past spring I felt led to go to the Catholic Church for their Easter Vigil. In this assigned season of sojourning Catholic theology and experiencing beautiful distinctions within the body of Christ previously unknown to me, He said these words to me: “Look for Me in every church I send you.” The candles in the sanctuary were all lit that evening when I walked in and I saw a massive Jesus hanging there. I felt such a spirit of awe. I could have stayed in that one moment forever. I was taken into wonder (however not a hypnotic sense to be sure) by the beauty of the cross. I felt Christ and was moved with such enormous gratitude. Admittedly, what followed, with total transparency, seemed to me to be a lot of pomp and circumstance and it was uncomfortable for me. But, I remembered what the Lord said, so I closed my eyes and just listened to the Liturgy. And there in those Words, Christ was found.
What I have discovered has caused me to repent for my uneducated and prideful assessments, which mostly are nothing more than my personal preferences or style. This Kingdom place—Megamorphosis Magazine—is a non-sectarian publication where there are many beautiful expressions of true Christianity and ways of worship. Without question, the book of Revelation points to this absolute Truth in the letters to the 7 churches. Nearly all of these churches had something that Christ was against and something he found honorable. We constantly point to “losing our First Love” because it is most important to remember why we follow Christ.
If we lose sight of that we can lose sight of pure motives. We honor our devoted brothers and sisters in Christ, while simultaneously being immovable on our biblical understanding of Christ and His Resurrection, the Trinity, the Cross, His kingdom that is and is to come, and His Gospel of peace and salvation. Other areas will have to remain areas of disagreements for some, however they are not disqualifiers of authenticity or devotion to our ancient Christian faith. “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:12, ESV).
Even the word “worship” creates a specific picture in a Christian’s mind, but reality is I can sit on a beach and escape into the presence of God and experience intimate worship as much as a devoted Catholic can by reading together the scriptures during mass on Sunday. Granted, liturgy is the “public form of worship,” but for me, a simple Bible woman, I see that the Lord said it’s good that we fellowship together … “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV). There is fellowship in the Catholic liturgy and there is fellowship for a Protestant, and that practice can also look very different: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42, ESV). Today, this can happen on a beach, in a park or in a coffee shop. It’s the practice of our faith and the teaching of Christ and the disciples that matter. Location and building is irrelevant.
“That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (I John 1:3). A Catholic Christian defines Liturgy as “public worship—the work of Christ and that of the Church, the Body of Christ. By virtue of our participation in Christ’s work as members of the Body, we also participate in the divine life of the Trinity, an eternal exchange of love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This action—liturgical participation—is our right and duty by baptism (SC 14).” I dare say I am not arguing a point of doctrine, but rather devotion. The world does not need a new Jesus Christ, even though the enemy is working tirelessly to create one. Rather, the world needs to see new and unique glorious glimpses of the Ancient One, that has perhaps not been displayed with as much beauty or focus as we creatives would like. I believe wholeheartedly, that this journey in recent months has been to have my eyes opened to a beauty of the kingdom of God, dimensions of the diamond I had not seen before. Many Christians have been hung up on things that are not nearly as important as being unified through Christ’s cross and the Trinity. Many wounded Catholics and Protestants are being called home. I believe Christ is doing something magnificent that will reform the Church as we know it into a living organism that truly loves and distributes grace. Ultimately, I believe these will become unstoppable and unashamed. These words are bold and could seem contrary to what we see happening around us. However, my response is the Lord started His Church with a bunch of misfit disciples that judged each other and came from different upbringings and social statuses—imagine what could be possible with a bunch of Catholic and protestant misfits that decide to go against the grain, let go of the pains of the First Reformation, so that a second one could distribute massive grace.
I consider the “Fear of the Lord” a great gift and a guiding light. I pray fervently for it as I am on a passionate and relentless pursuit of His kingdom displayed. I believe the Lord is taking many of us Christian artists on a new journey of creative glory and a new renaissance has begun. It is being birthed out of humility and surrender of the creative arts as it pertains to pointing the world to Christ, exposing the darkness and bringing glory to the earth.
What the Lord is burning into my spirit is His desire to see a unified body, a Church that is not to be misjudged as a one-world religion. That would be the plan of the enemy, a mixed up gospel that is a blasphemous and false christianity, a christianity that proclaims love, but is a “love trap” (a term I heard spoken by David Wilkerson of Times Square Church). This is the epitome of the great deception of the enemy to allow sin to permeate the body and take it over under the guise of love and inclusivity. This is already rampant in the world church and growing expediently. It is also the deception of the enemy to keep us so busy with conspiracy theories, misunderstandings of beliefs, judging all churches instead of realizing that when we walk in any Christian church, we don’t know who is really converted, surrendered, or saved. If our heart is right, should we not seek brotherly love above all, even above evangelism? Biblically speaking all you have to do is read John 17 to know the answer. Displaying true love between brothers and sisters in Christ is the one thing the world is waiting to see and it is the one thing that will draw men to Christ. It could be a John 17:21 moment and Christ’s own prayers to Father would get answered—“that they may be one as We are One that the world may believe You sent Me, and the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that the love that You have loved Me would be in them, and I in them.” The Lord told me that Megamorphosis would be a “catalyst for unity” and I ask for your prayers as I continue to dive into these dangerous and sobering waters where I often feel ill-equipped, and yet I am called. Much Love,
Jenene Stafford