NCCA Flagging and Banner Design Ministry

God can take all things and transform them and use them for His glory, plans and

purposes. Part of my testimony is of how He uses my flagging for a higher purpose in His

kingdom. I was first taught how to flag by a friend of mine while I was still in the Party

Circuit Scene.

I had seen flaggers perform at a Pride celebration in 2001. The beauty of the

flags, the choreography, and the flaggers drew me in and took my dancing to a place

it had not been to before. I had been dancing on boxes and in cages in night clubs since

the eighties. Now, I could add flags to that experience. My friend taught me how and I

enjoyed them for many years. However as time passed, I knew I was moving away from

the party scene and being drawn to a different kind of life. I moved to the suburbs and waited

for whatever was coming next. I missed dancing and flagging more than any other part

of my old night life. God, however, had a surprise for me.

I first walked into New Covenant Church of Atlanta in the fall of 2005. I had no idea what

to expect and there were many things that took me by surprise. The style of the worship

music, the raised hands and people praying in their prayer languages were all new to me.

But down in front and to the right were two people waving flags as banners much like I

had been doing in night clubs! I was both thrilled and a little weary at the same time. I

was thrilled because I enjoy flagging and it was familiar to me in a sea of unfamiliarity. I

was weary because I wondered just what a "gay church" was and was afraid it would be

too similar to the gay world I was trying to leave behind. If there were flags, I wondered,

would there be attitude, drama, cruising and the like. In those moments I asked God if He

was kidding me by placing me here. He told me in no uncertain terms that no, He was not.

I should sit down, stop judging these people and look for why He had brought me to that

moment in time. I did as He said.

There are many reasons why we flag in church. There are reasons spelled out in the

Bible but there are also reasons to be drawn from in between the lines and from our life

experiences. From the Old Testament we know that when God's people broke camp and

moved to a new location, each tribe moved together and in front was the tribes standard,

or flag of identification. Whenever an army went into battle, the Levites went first and so

did the banner carriers. The purpose in this was to show an identity as a people unified, a

nation. In warfare, whether carried in front of an army or placed high on city walls, flags and

banners let the enemy know who was approaching or attacking. So, the first two

reasons for flags and banners are in regards to the identity of a people's unity and as a

warning to the enemy that an army is prepared for battle.

There is another nature to waving flags and banners that is described in your Word and we

have experienced in our lives. In the Bible when a king moves through a city, or a

warrior that has been successful in battle, the people gather in the streets in expectation of

seeing the king or warrior. They have palm branches or flags, or scarves or anything thing

that might draw the attention of the victor. The attention drawn is two fold. First, it

congratulates the person for his victory that cannot be approached personally. Secondly,

the person waving might hope that the person he so admires might look on him and

recognize his loyalty and admiration. We know this too from sports games. When we are

proud of the accomplishments of our team, we stand up, we shout, we smile and laugh and we

wave our banners. We let the world know that we unified in victory.

Prophesy is a word spoken or an action made that speaks out or demonstrates the Word of

God. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, so when we speak life into someone's

life, we are prophesying. Likewise, when we perform an action that illustrates a kingdom

principle we are also prophesying. Taking communion is an action that demonstrates or

fellowship with Jesus, our faith in His deity and our unity as believers. This is

prophesying. So too then, when we wave flags and banners are we demonstrating the victory

we have in King Jesus. We are letting the enemy know that we are a unified people, a

victorious nation and that our identity is in King Jesus.

The Word calls God "Jehova Nissi" which means God is our banner. Song of Songs

describes a wedding and the banner over us is love. So when we flag, we are expecting His

presence. When He shows up, we are prepared to wave a banner that says we love you and

worship you. If we enter a room to pray, intercede and participate in spiritual warfare,

we can prepare the atmosphere by prophetically waving a banner that declares the victory in

advance by faith. We can demonstrate in that natural what takes place

in the spiritual.

We are a nation. We find our identity in Jesus Christ. We have victory in spiritual warfare

because of Jesus' victory over death on the cross. And when we see our King, we stand up,

we shout, we smile and laugh, and we wave our banners. What joy in knowing that He

might look at us, see us and know that we love Him!

And finally, all through out God's Word we read about people who love their king

performing for him to show their love for him. We want to make him happy. Part of how we

do that is in song, the playing of instruments and dancing. Dancing with flags and banners

is one more way that we can show our King that we love Him, that we bless Him, and that

we honor Him. We can use the creative gift of song and dance for the glory of our Savior.

God has taken something from my past that I enjoyed doing for myself and self centered

reasons and turned it around for His plans and purposes. He has given me a new place to

dance with flags and a new audience of One.

He has given me and any flagger a creative gift that we can return to Him as a love

offering. And in doing so, let them enemy know his rightful place, under our feet!