Interview with Shayne White, member of Grace Fellowship

What do you do for a living, Shayne?

I’m a massage therapist.  I have owned my own business for about a year.   Before that, I was homeschooled, and was part of a band with my family, where I played harp.  We went around performing a lot, so I was making money through childhood.  But that was a long time ago.

You were part of a band with your family?

Yeah, it was celtic music, and it was called Distant Oaks.  We played all around northern California.  Being homeschooled, we just got into that because my mom was always into music.  We were always hanging around when she was doing it, so we just got right into performing even when we were young. 

How old were you when you started performing?

I was nine, actually.  Distant Oaks officially ended a couple years ago when my mom passed away.  Jared (my brother) and I had our own projects doing electronic music with synthesizers and stuff, but we didn’t play the harp and recorder again until we started playing for the church, last year. 

How has it been to play in the worship band at Grace?

It’s been different.  The music itself is totally different from celtic music.  The other aspect is the focus is not on our performance, but on seeking God, almost like we’re doing a prophetic thing on stage.  It’s been a good experience.  It was kind of hard at first because whenever I’d play harp, I’d think of my mom a lot.  But God got me through it, and now I’m really enjoying being in the worship team.

Editor’s Note: this was written by Hali Lenox over on our Facebook group, and I loved it so much I wanted to share it with you.

Truth is such an awesome thing. Sometimes it seems to me that as Christians we are swimming in a sea of truth. We hear sermons and special speakers. We go to classes and schools to learn more truth. It is exciting and truth is well… beautiful. It doesn’t look or smell like anything else. And it makes me feel good to hear it.

But Truth is meant for more than that. It’s design and purpose is to shake me to the core. It is to be the tool for repentance and closer relationship with God.

What I’m grappling with these days is being a hearer AND a do-er of the Truth and not treating it like a tasty meal or treat. “Oh! that was good, moving along now!” Truth is not to be skimmed over.

It is the sword that shapes me.

As I read the Old Testament (which I would prefer calling God’s Word Part 1), it has become increasingly evident to me just how much God was trying to tell His people that He was about to send His Son, the Messiah (which we call the Christ)! Not only that, but giving clues—some merely vague hints, some statements so obvious a blind man could decipher them—as to the Messiah’s family, the time of His birth, what He would do, and would would happen to Him. The Pharisees had to have amazingly hard hearts not to see all these prophecies coming true around them and in front of their very eyes!

Many Jews are still waiting for the Messiah to show up, but that’s impossible, for the Messiah can no longer be born on earth according to the descriptions laid out in the scriptures. For they listed many criteria that must be met in order for the Messiah to be born, and everything has changed following A.D. 70.

Here’s one of the obvious prophecies:

“I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: When your days are over and you [David] go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.” (1st Chronicles 17:10-14)

It’s interesting to note that God said My Son. So the Messiah would obviously be a descendant of King David, as is further confirmed here:

“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse [the father of King David], Who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:10)

Which also proves that the Jewish Messiah would extend God’s chosen people to include the Gentiles as well, which is confirmed here:

“Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” (Psalm 117:1)

Can anyone claim King David as their ancestor today? I don’t think so.

As to the nature of His birth:

Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isaiah 7:13-15)

…and where he would be born:

“‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.’ Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel. And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and this One shall be peace.” (Micah 5:2-5)

So the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and “she who is in labor” of course is referring to His birth out of Mary, after which time He would begin His work.

Then there are numerous scriptures describing, in detail, His crucifixion…such as the verse saying He would be pierced…and how he would be bruised…but I cannot list them all here!

Here’s a subtle insight into His desire for His people:

“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6)

…which only makes sense when you read:

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

The conclusion from those two statements is that Jesus, the Messiah-King, would remold us from the inside out, so that we would no longer do what was right in our own eyes, but that we would choose to do what is right in His eyes through the leading of His Spirit!

Another theory some Jews have is that because of their wickedness and sin, God revoked His promise to send His Son, and there will be no Messiah at all. But the scriptures contradict that, too!

“If [David’s] sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, if they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: his seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me; it shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky.” (Psalm 89:30-37)

When you read the Book of Daniel, you will read that God sent Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (a Gentile, no less) a dream that He would break the power of the kingdoms of the earth and begin to set up His everlasting Kingdom during the fourth earthly kingdom to arise from Babylon onwards. That fourth kingdom, the divided kingdom, was the Roman Empire. So not only did God prophesy His Messiah, He also prophesied the division and demise of the Roman Empire (which history confirms). Again, we’re long past that time period now!

And Jesus’ words often echo the Jewish Scriptures:

“You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Lev. 11:45)

“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48)

It can’t be any clearer, can it? But just in case some still didn’t believe, God worked His raw Spirit power through the Church:

“And they [the Apostles] went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” (Mark 16:20—emphasis mine)

That confirmation of the Word through the accompanying signs and wonders is no less important today than it was then; indeed, because of widespread atheism and materialism, it is even more important. When we see God alive and well today through healings and prophecies, it confirms that He was alive and well thousands of years ago when the scriptures were written and that He knew what He was talking about!

I’ll bet that most American kids only know about Pocahontas from the Walt Disney movie. I’ve never seen it, but I know enough about it to know that it had almost nothing to do with reality other than a couple of names. For one thing, she was only friends with John Smith, not a lover (she was a girl when she met him, and he was a grown man). She instead married John Rolfe and had a son. For another thing, she became a Christian, which I’m positive the politically-correct movie forgot to mention.

Granted, she accepted the Lord only after being kidnapped and raised by English people, and one wonders if she did it out of obligation, not desire. Not too much is known about her personal thoughts on life and the spiritual realm. One thing is certain, and that is that even after growing up and becoming a free woman, she chose to remain among the English and not return to her tribe, though she always worked for peace between the two people groups.

And now I’m getting to the point of this little essay…the fact remains that Pocahontas did become a Christian, and since she truly did leave her former pagan beliefs behind and turn to the Lord of Heaven and Earth, that means she’s in Heaven with Jesus right now. This did not really occur to me until a couple of nights ago when I was thinking about Pocahontas (I’d been reading about her on Wikipedia) during my before-bed prayer time. Suddenly the Holy Spirit came to me, and I had a vision of Pocahontas…with Jesus behind her! She looked like a fresh teenage girl, looking happy and at peace, and Jesus’ hands were on her shoulders. I couldn’t see His face, only His hands and a white robe. Then I heard Him speak:

“Pocahontas is My loved one. She left her family and her home to be with Me.”

Wow…that was pretty amazing! I’ll never be able to think of Pocahontas again the same way. The story usually goes that she caught ill in England and died, and that was the end of her. But it wasn’t…she is in paradise with Him, living more fully than ever before.

She ventured outside of her well-known comfort zone to embrace the beliefs of foreigners she knew not much about. God is challenging us all to do the same thing…break out of our own comfort zones with our houses and our conveniences to seek after Him. God rewarded Pocahontas with eternal life…he will do the same for us.

And what does this have to do with Grace Fellowship per se? We’re all part of God’s family, and at some point we’ll meet Pocahontas face to face! What other religion on earth can claim anything as amazing as that?

As I sit here in this cafe downtown, I don’t feel as hip as the other patrons.  Or as alternative.  Or as free-spirited.  It feels like I’m providing them with a subject to stare over their shoulders at, like older sisters.  To forget my akwardness, I look through a very tall window at my side. 

A teenage girl out the window is talking with a circle of friends.  She smokes a tobacco pipe easily.  There is something about her that I want - an ambiguity, a normalcy, a community, a tobacco pipe.  She is a young girl doing as old men do.  She is a beautiful connundrum. 

They look dirty, rumpled and artistic.  The circle of artist friends I’ve read of in writers’ books look disappointingly homeless through a window frame.  some lean against a nearby tree.  Some sit on the concrete with dry weeds in the cracks. 

Some of the most awesome spiritual giants look disappointingly homeless in person.  Who knows if they really are homeless?  Who knows if they stepped, or fell into such dirty sneakers? 

I bought a pair of red high heels today.  They are to match a dress I will wear to a wedding.  I don’t know the couple though.  The bride is a business associate of my husband.

Is it terrible of me to buy shoes for a stranger’s wedding, when Jesus was more like the kids on the cement?  In the Bible story, Martha hosted a dinner party for him.  With flustered feathers, she lit candles, served hors d’oeuvres and entertained guests.  She may have even bought red high heel shoes for the occasion.  Her sister Mary was sitting on the floor with dirty sneakers.  She was on the floor with Jesus, the guest of honor.  Jesus told Martha, in a manner of speaking, that her red shoes would not last as long as Mary’s sneakers.  Dirty sneakers on the floor with Jesus were better than new heels in honor of Jesus.  Mary was with Jesus.  Martha was around Jesus. 

Now, I think my red shoes look great.  I relish dressing up  to celebrate, oh, anything!  I’m trying to reconcile both aspects in my mind.  As I wrestle the issues down, I suppose I shouldn’t try to build a theology on my shoes, as pretty as they may be.  Lord, can you help a girl with red high heel shoes?

I’ve been reading this fantastic autobiography of Derek Prince, written by Stephen Mansfield, and it’s truly an amazing story how Derek went from atheist with all the book learning in the world and British upper class power at his beck and call to dedicated, Spirit-filled Christian serving the needy and the poor thousands of miles away from any place he normally might call home. If you’re interested in Derek Price’s life — perhaps you’ve been reading his books or hearing his sermons for many years — you owe it to yourself to read this book.