Carry Like Mary: An emerging burning army of young people will usher in revival.

Carry Like Mary: A raging youth movement coupled with an aging generation of lovers of God will ignite a revolution.

I am coming out of a glory zone in Hillsdale, Michigan. At Camp Michindoh, the Eastern Region Open Bible Youth Ministries summer camp was rocking and burning from the very first night. I had a continual tremble and residual anointing radiating on me non-stop the entire week. I’m still experiencing it today.

The freedom to bring the messages of fire the Lord seared into my spirit was amazing. There was no conditioning or awakening the people—they were ready to explode from the first note the worship team played and the first word I spoke from the pulpit. The altars were magnetic as people rushed forward and couldn’t break away. They didn’t want to. They were finding freedom. They were meeting Jesus.

There is something about desperate, raw young people who haven’t been stricken by unbelief and relegated to humanistic dignity that often results from decades of disappointment. I’ll take their naivety and passion any day ahead of the human, secular wisdom, caution and apathy that many who are advanced in years often subscribe to. I’m looking for the abandoned, the zealots.

An environment like I experienced the last four nights catapults us close to revival. Church should be this hot—and hotter. We must refuse to tone down the activity of the Holy Spirit out of respect of those less hungry. We must stop inviting God to wait outside the church doors so the visitors don’t freak out.

The openness and vulnerability of these supernatural students created a powder keg of an atmosphere.

They were on the floor crying and groaning.

They were on their feet dancing and spinning.

A fire tunnel resulted in bodies laid out all over as God was healing, freeing, loving and empowering desperate souls.

You might think this is emotional nonsense. I believe it’s supernatural, holy and evidence of people who won’t take no for an answer. They will wrestle with God and will encounter him—and stale religion won’t stand in the way.

Others were experiencing intense deliverance. When demons manifest and a service gets messy, it can be a very good sign! Evil spirits like to stay silent and hidden as they dig their claws deep into their host, but when the heat and pressure of God’s presence escalates like it did this past week, they can’t help but to be provoked—and terrified about their future.

Young people were crying real tears. One young lady, obviously rocked by God in an extreme way, told me after the service that she had makeup on when she arrived. By the end, it was all washed away by tears of freedom.

Ladies all around had makeup and mascara streaking down their faces. Suddenly their appearance didn’t matter anymore. Suddenly Jesus did.

I’d love to minister at youth camps every week of the year. However, I am equally fervent in my pursuit to see adults awakened. You see, both are needed in the coming revolution.

CARRY LIKE MARY

Carry-Like-Mary-PaperbackGod suddenly woke me up one night and deposited an urgent mandate in my spirit. He said, “John, tell everyone you can that it’s time to carry like Mary.”

The revelation was hot and clear, and I was suddenly burning with a mandate that I couldn’t wait to communicate.

One of the key focuses of our ministry is to awaken sleepers and to call people’s God-birthed destinies out of them. It’s shocking how many Christians in today’s Church are hindered by a spirit of insignificance that convinces them they have little value and will have little impact in ministry.

The coming Church will be marked by bold, Holy Spirit-filled prayer warriors who burn night and day. They will be an explosive people who carry and release the fire of God into the cities of the Earth. There will be a regular tremble and a continual burn on them as they live in the supernatural realm in historic fashion.

Let’s check out the stories of a couple of people who carried God, Mary and Elizabeth. These are stories about history shaking carriers of God that turned the world upside down.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” Malachi 4:5-6

This prophecy was about John the Baptist who would arrive in the spirit and the power of Elijah. His goal? To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. This is a significant end-time Scripture! We will see, as the story continues, how God is preparing the generations to converge.

Now, at this point John the Baptist was not yet on the Earth. How would he arrive? Well, it’s quite simple. He would have to arrive the same way every other human ever had—he would be conceived, carried and then delivered. But, of course, there’s a bit of a problem with this scenario. Elizabeth, John’s future mom, was barren.

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Luke 1:5-7

So, Elizabeth had what was in her control taken care of. She and her husband both were righteous and blameless. They embraced holiness in the fear of the Lord. That set them up for quite a story. What was not in her control was the fact that she was barren. She was physically impaired. She could not conceive.

The coming Church will be identified by those who fear God and who walk uprightly—and who become conduits of God’s supernatural power.

As we continue in the story, consider Elizabeth’s predicament this way: she was old and barren.

Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. Luke 1:8-13

In the midst of a prayer-fueled church, there was angelic activity. The coming Church will be a prayer meeting first and foremost, and the supernatural, angelic activity will increase markedly.

Now, check this out:

…and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.   And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Luke 1:15-17

Now, that is the way to carry a baby! Elizabeth would be carrying baby John the Baptist who, in turn, would be carrying God! This mighty prophet of God, this carrier of the Holy Spirit, would be birthed from the elder generation. Now let’s look at Mary, the younger generation.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:26-33

Elizabeth was old and barren. Mary was young and a virgin.

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:34-38

Another impossible situation, another angelic encounter and another entrance by the Holy Spirit. Like Elizabeth, Mary was called to be a carrier of God.

If that wasn’t powerful enough for you, look at what happens next. Do you remember the prophetic promise in Malachi? The generations would again come together through the ministry of John the Baptist. This happened quicker than you might think.

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Luke 1:39-45

When the older and younger generations met, both carrying God (Elizabeth carrying John who was carrying the Holy Spirit and Mary carrying Jesus), there was a leaping of the baby and a greater in-filling of the Holy Spirit!

In this end-time generation, we are called to carry like Mary! There will be a leaping and a rejoicing and a great manifestation of the Holy Spirit when the carriers of God unite in faith and mission.

The burning fiery love of God in the coming Church of his presence will overtake end-time carriers who will impact regions all around the world.

Christ in Us

Now, this revelation causes everything to change. Christ, in fullness, is in you and me! That sounds impossible if you think about it. God, who created the universe fits inside of us fully! This should radically change the way we think and live.

Think of it this way. God knows everything. He lives in you. This means that every answer in the world is within you, correct? God knows the cure for cancer. I’m not talking about God miraculously healing someone of cancer, but rather, he knows the scientific resolution to this plague. He could enlighten a cancer researcher with the scientific blueprint that would once and for all end cancer on the Earth.

Do you understand what this means? The scientific cure for cancer is within you! The cure for cancer is in God, and God is in you. Of course, that knowledge hasn’t been activated and revealed, but the point is that the fullness of God is in us, and the power and resources of God are to be carried and released through us!

The powerful truth is this: We aren’t God ourselves by any means. We are weak and broken humans. However, that makes the truth so much more remarkable! We as weak, fallible people are carriers of an omnipotent God! This certainly opens up a lot of opportunities for God’s end-time army in the coming Church!

It’s time to carry like Mary, to unite the generations and to release the healing, awakening, consecrating fire of God in the nations!

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, o that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

Is your high school student ready to BURN? theLab begins soon!

An emerging burning army of young people will usher in revival…theLab is a training ground for this raging remnant!

FIRST: Tomorrow (Sunday) at Revival Church, I’ll be teaching on the next threat to revival: FEAR. Get ready to have fear broken off of your life!
Revival Church meets Sundays at 6pm at CENTRAL CHURCH, 1529 E. 12 Mile Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071.

SECOND: Don’t forget to apply for membership to Revival Church! This is an exciting time to lock in with a family of revivalists in Detroit whether you are local, or participate online! www.johnburton.net/membership


THELAB: MOTHERS AND FATHERS, SONS AND DAUGHTERS
Some churches have youth groups. We have a School of Fire.

TheLabHighSchool

For the very first time, theLab School of Fire is open to everybody in high school and on up. Only $100!

LEARN MORE AND APPLY TODAY! The next session begins January 20th!

God is marking the young generation with fire, and he’s awakening them into a prayer-fueled life of wonders.

theLab is a fiery and focused movement of revival that refuses to allow anyone, young or old, to live below their call and destiny.

CARRIERS OF FIRE

Elizabeth was barren and old—yet she carried a burning prophet who would prepare the world for the coming of the King.

Luke 1:15-17 (ESV) 15 …and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

Mary was a virgin and young—yet she carried the King of glory.

Luke 1:34-37 (ESV) 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

The two generations converged, the baby leaped, the Holy Spirit arrived and the world was shocked into freedom!

Luke 1:39-42 (ESV) 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

theLab School of Fire is an extreme and unapologetic movement of revival, and our mandate is to raise up carriers of fire who shock the world with the prophetic, burning word of the Lord.

TIME IS SHORT! Applications must be received no later than December 20th, 2012.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY TODAY!

False Grace & A Crisis of the Cross : Resistance to the cross is about to spike in the church

A crisis is coming to the church…in fact, it’s the church who must initiate it.

The cock is about to crow—where will you be when the crisis of the cross is reintroduced to the church?

Matthew 26:73-75 (ESV) 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

He invoked a curse on himself

From the Life Application Commentary: While Peter may have hoped to seem a natural part of the group by joining in the conversation, instead he revealed, by his speech, that he did not belong there. This was too much for Peter, so he decided to make the strongest denial he could think of by denying with an oath, “I don’t know the man.” Peter was swearing that he did not know Jesus and was invoking a curse on himself if his words were untrue. He was saying, in effect, “May God strike me dead if I am lying.”

Peter was running for his life. In the church today the prevailing focus is on our experience and the affirmation and protection of our lives and lifestyles. People go to church to enhance their lives. When their lives, or even their lifestyles, are threatened, people will begin to run for their lives. They will run to safety.

This clear and extreme denial of Christ will invoke a curse!

Jesus was so indignant about this type of reaction that he dealt with Peter in fierce fashion before this event even unfolded:

Matthew 16:21-23 (ESV) 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Peter denied the cross, and Jesus rebuked Satan who was working through Peter (who Jesus had just identified as the rock, the CHURCH!). He made the point clear: Peter was mindful of thing things of man and not the things of God. Jesus than said:

Matthew 16:24-25 (ESV) 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

A crisis of the cross

Apostles and prophets must step into their positions of authority and release a great crisis to the church!

This is a necessary crisis as it will result in the true, abundant life of multiplied millions. The offensive, bloody cross must return to the church—and now!

When Jesus was hailed as King at the Triumphal Entry, the masses converged. The focus was self. They wanted Jesus to save them, make their lives better. They were crying out, “Hosanna!” which means, “save us now!”

So, Jesus complied. The only way to save the ones he loved was to face death on the cross. Yet, the rooster crowed and the crowds scattered and turned on Jesus. His closest friends ran for their lives. One cursed himself in his denial. Another betrayed Jesus and hung himself.

Yes, it’s time not to snack on some bread and grape juice, but to eat his flesh and drink his blood.

When the cross is introduced in its full, bloody force again in the church, we will watch this drama unfold another time. People will flee from the church when focus changes from personal freedom to personal cost. Betrayal will skyrocket. Fear will grip those who haven’t surrendered all.

Where will you be when the cock crows?

The generations must come to the cross

Everybody ran for their lives but mom and son, Mary and John (along with Mary Magdalene) remained. The generations converged.

John 19:26-27 (ESV) 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Luke 1:17 (NIV) 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous–to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The elder generation must refuse to run. The younger generation must refuse to run. We must converge around the threatening, offensive cross of love. When we do, the harvest will come. The world is watching. The thief was watching and surrendered to the love that could only be revealed at the cross as the two generations deeply loved Jesus together:

Luke 23:43 (ESV) 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Any movement that doesn’t take place at the cross is a false movement.

This is one reason I’m so troubled by some events, certain unity movements in a city, pastors meetings, etc. If a pastor isn’t fully ready to resign his mission, to lose his salary, to surrender his sheep, to shut his church down, I have little interest in meeting. The cross demands everything. When pastors of a city gather around the cross and don’t focus on personal gain, revival will be at hand. Yes, many will be offended, but the Harvest will flood in!

False Love and False Grace

The false love and false grace doctrines must be exposed. These belief systems are causing Hell to continue to expand at an unprecedented pace.

These beliefs are centered around self. The focus is our benefits instead of cross of Christ and instead of the harvest.

I’ve heard it said that we as Christians no longer have to confess our sins. False grace.

Yesterday I was challenged to focus on love  and to redefine certain scriptural interpretations to make them more favorable to the homosexual community. False love.

Ignoring God’s holiness and justice in our lives does not equal grace.

Tolerance does not equal love.

True love and true grace are found at the cross of Christ. God’s intolerance of sin resulted in the death of his Son. There is no way he has suddenly become tolerant of those sins today.

Mark 8:34 (NKJV) 34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

Many in the church will be shocked to find themselves in Hell one day.

This is what God spoke to me after my life transforming encounter with the forces of Hell 21 years ago.

The false grace/false love messages are resulting in entire church congregations unwittingly buying a ticket to Hell, all while they lift their hands and worship Jesus and read their Bibles and pay their tithes. They have an imaginary salvation.

Jesus told five out of seven churches of believers in Revelation that they were lost, on the way to destruction. 5 out of 7 professing Christians were Hell bound! It’s horrific yet easy to believe that this ratio may be accurate in our churches today!

Leaders will most certainly be held accountable for this silent slaughter of God’s children.

It’s time to speak plainly about the truths of scripture, the severity of the hour and the mandate of obedience. Heaven and Hell lie in the balance.

Ephesians 5:4-6 (ESV) 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous ( that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

The passage goes on to say…

Ephesians 5:10-11 (ESV) 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

We must discern, and then expose darkness. We must not become so focused on pleasure and enjoyment, especially as Christians. In fact, we can’t be primarily focused on being entertained in the name of God. We must take up our crosses, discern what is pleasing to God (not to us) and expose darkness!

Check out this verse regarding focus on self:

Romans 2:8-9 (ESV) 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,

This is the risk the false grace/false love movement presents. This is the fruit.

Watch what happens when true grace is in the equation:

Acts 4:32-35 (ESV) 32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

So, we see those in the church had great grace! Does that mean God’s judgment and holiness is no more? No way. Check out a couple of people who also had great grace on their lives:

Acts 5:1-11 (ESV) 1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Their disobedience in a season of great grace resulted in great judgment. And, then, fear hit the church.

We need this fear of the Lord again!

If we are to avoid a repeat of this, we must renounce the false grace/false love messages and sound the alarm of holiness and death to self!

When the cock crows, will you be running for your life as you curse yourself or will you be at the foot of the cross as the blood of Jesus pours out over you?

Will you be using God for personal gain and experience his judgment or will you embrace the fear of the Lord?

A crisis of the cross is coming to the church again.