Archive for February 2011
theLab pre-launch starts now!
The Fireplace is launching! Brian Simmons…
Do you want monthly outpouring meetings in Detroit? Response requested
If the response is HOT, pastors in Detroit are considering planning monthly outpouring meetings in Detroit.
**Send me a quick email at [email protected] (by 2pm today if at all possible!) if you are interested in participating in monthly events—I have a meeting with some pastors today from 3-5pm, and we’ll be discussing the level of interest, the prophecy behind it and the timing.
Everything that happened at the Fire in February conference is leading us to believe that God is preparing his church for a very unique and heavy manifestation of his presence in Detroit.
Here’s what we’re looking for:
- Pastors and leaders who will rally their churches and invest their time and resources into this movement
- Hungry people who will spread the word and participate at a high level as we pursue revival together
SHOULD THE CHURCH BE ALIVE?
This movement absolutely depends on the response of the church to be together on a city level. People can’t be alone, and churches can’t be alone.
I was watching the TV show I Shouldn’t Be Alive the other day, and a warning for the church jumped out at me.
The show is a dramatization of life and death situations—people lost at sea, climbers injured on Mt. Everest, etc.
This show was about a man who decided to go rafting alone in a remote part of the Grand Canyon. His raft was lost and he was alone, wet and freezing in the night air. He had a small fire that he was working hard to keep burning.
Then, the narrator said, “If he falls asleep, and the fire goes out, he will die.”
There it is.
Here’s the breakdown of this clear message to the church:
- We can’t be alone. Our individual church pursuits are important, but only as they fit into the larger city church mission. Instead of wondering how we can reach our local church goals, we must start asking the question, “What must I do to help fulfill the greater city-church mission.” The local congregations must gather together regularly with the greater city church in prayer and mission advance.
- We can’t fall asleep. To be asleep means that we are not alert, focused and engaged in what is most demanding. We seek comfort and relaxation ahead of advancing toward the fulfillment of the mission. It’s possible to be wide awake to finding friends, climbing the corporate ladder, being entertained and also to anxiety and fear and stress…while being numb and disengaged to prayer, ministry and mission.
- We can’t let the fire go out. Simply, we must be burning continually. We have to be people that pray in the Spirit, who know God deeply, who are wrecked, undone and full of the never ending burning of the Holy Spirit.
If we are alone, asleep and without the fire, we are near spiritual death. If we gather together continually, stay on task and are alert corporately and burn as a single unit, Detroit will encounter God in power.
This vision of monthly outpouring meetings, along with weekly prayer gatherings will ensure we’re not alone, we’re wide awake and the fire is hot and getting hotter.
**Please let me know if you are ready for a movement like this in Detroit.
I’m accessible. Here’s how you can contact me:
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/johnburton
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/johneburton
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/johnburtonministries
theLab Internship : Monthly revival events in Detroit
Check out the developing plan for facilitating the move toward revival in the Detroit region.
The last prophetic word I received before leaving IHOP and Kansas City for the new mission in Detroit came from a pastor and friend from World Revival Church—the ministry that hosted the Smithton Outpouring. The word was something like:
“John, you are a fire starter. You ignite the fires of revival when you minister, and now God is calling you to build a fireplace. He needs a place to host and facilitate that fire so it continues to burn hot, so it doesn’t die out.”
I often wondered how I was to do that. Then, Brian Simmons rocked me this past Saturday morning when he said, several times, that the Detroit region was to be a fireplace of God’s presence.
You see, my calling and focus in Detroit is very much regional as opposed to local. Revival Church is a regional prophetic center of revival. My heart is to see the fire of the Holy Spirit burn all over the greater Detroit Metro area.
Additionally, I have been feeling strongly the need for a monthly event, much like The Ramp in Alabama, in Detroit for quite some time. Now, that plan is starting to come to pass.
So, we are investing significantly into the regional revival strategy. Here’s some of what is coming:
- theLab prayer—We’re calling 1000 intercessors to gather with us each week as we pray in a different church somewhere in Detroit.
- theLab internship—We are raising up a team of revival minded, prayer fueled people who are interested in serving the coming outpouring. We are in pre-launch right now and are inviting those who want to join with us to show up at our next meeting (We meet at IHOPE every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from noon-1pm, ever Friday somewhere in Detroit from 10pm-midnight and at Revival Church Sundays at 6pm). We’ll have an info meeting in March, then we plan on launching in June. Contact me for more info at [email protected]. Also, visit www.revivallab.com.
- theLab sponsored/endorsed events—Pastor Joe Sazyc is giving leadership, along with several other pastors, to a new monthly gathering. The fire is simmering, and we will be stoking those flames once a month in a worship and teaching mini-conference once a month somewhere in Detroit. The Fire in February Conference started something that words cannot describe. I’m still trembling! Stay tuned… we’ll announce the schedule as we develop it.
I’d love to hear from you! What do you think? How would you like to participate?
I believe theLab internship will go a long way in covering the monthly events in intercession AND in serving the events practically. A well oiled machine, a unified team of revivalists will be working together each month to serve the mission of revival in Detroit!
Of course, there are other key movements under way as well including EACH, 24FLOOD, IHOPE and several others. We’re behind all of them and can’t wait to see how it all will come together!
This is very exciting! Contact me at [email protected] and share your thoughts!
I’m trembling… the fire is falling in Dearborn
I can’t stop trembling… the fire is simmering and God is moving.
If you are not burning right this very moment in the shock and awe of the fear and the fire of God, and have an option as to what you are doing tonight, should you:
- Stay home
- Go to a movie
- Hang with the family
- Relax
- Cancel life, find out where encounter is happening, and get there FAST
Choose #5! The fire is burning very deep at the Fire in February conference!
Catherine Mullins just walked in and is scoping out the place for tonight’s event.
I just got back from a pastor’s lunch and prayer event, and, oh man, I’m shaken.
The question was asked, if the people involved in carrying the fire to this region would stay for an extra two weeks, would we show up? Would the people of Detroit show up?
Man, it’s time! It’s time! We absolutely have to cancel as much of life as we can for the sake of contending for revival together.
Show up tonight early. The place will fill up fast. The prayer room before the service will be packed as well. The fire will start burning very, very hot in just a couple of hours… prayer starts at 6:30pm.
The service is free tonight… and we’ll be staying after for more prayer until around 1am.
Let’s go church!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Fire!!!
John Burton interviewed by Apostle John Roberts
Listen to this interview from earlier today—I discuss the mission in Detroit, revival and much more!
(Did you know New Testament Christians are called to martyrdom? Watch the latest teaching video at media.johnburton.net)
FIRST—Have you registered for this weekend’s Fire in February conference? A 50-year revival in Detroit has been prophesied by one of the guest speakers—a revival that is to begin in February and March! Register NOW at www.awakeningnet.us.
Here’s a text I received from Pastor Joe Sazyc about the event:
Joe Sazyc: Hey all. I'm trying 2 get 2 the office, but on phone all morning w speakers! THEY'RE calling. THEY'RE sensing something extraordinary. Brian just told me “James & I want u 2 know. We r ready 2 fly back Monday if something breaks out!” R U READY 4 SOMETHING LIKE THAT!
SECOND—theLab and Revival Church are providing the intercession covering for the conference. We need YOU to show up 1 hour prior to each session to pray with us. Look at the schedule on the website at www.awakeningnet.us.
Earlier this afternoon I was interviewed by Apostle John Roberts of Faithquake. I discussed the strategy for revival in Detroit, the new internship theLab, the prayer movement and other key topics.
You can listen to the interview at www.faithquake.org.
ALSO, be sure to watch last night’s teaching video about theLab Staff. It’s a powerful message about radical advance. You can watch the video, listen to the audio stream and/or download the teaching notes at media.johnburton.net.
Here’s a portion of the notes:
1. The word witnesses (Acts 1) is the Greek word mar-toos, which means martyrs!
2. The mandate was not to witness, but to move out as martyrs, as people who embraced the most extreme level of commitment, of sacrifice and with full devotion to continually consider the cost and to pay it!
ii. We have a mandate to gather people with this level of commitment, 1000 intercessors to pray together every Friday night in Detroit—a portable portal.
iii. theLab Staff will be trained to give leadership to the intercessors.
iv. We will be moving out in apostolic power to bring transformation to Detroit.
theLab Staff : Cool confirmation : You are invited to apply
We are developing our launch team, and YOU are invited!
In this message:
- Amazing confirmation
- The Vision
- The Requirements
- The Plan
At noon prayer yesterday we prayed for two specific things:
- That there would be a rapid response to the call
- That people would respond from other nations
When I got home from prayer, Amy handed me a letter (snail mail!) from The Netherlands. He wrote, in broken English,
“I have heard about the teachings of Rev. John Burton… I desire to receive more information… I desire to come in contact with them who walks in the way that Rev. John Burton have teach. I don’t have email possibility. Thank you very much in advance.”
Amazing! No internet, no email yet God use him to send a confirmation from the other side of the world!
Then, later that day, I received a message from someone in Australia asking how they can participate.
That’s rapid, and that’s international!
The Revival Church staff is leading the charge in the development of theLab staff, and others have already come on board with us. It’s still very much in development, but here’s some of what’s being prayed and thought through:
THE VISION
The vision is really what it has been since we’ve arrived in Detroit. To gather together burning revivalists, intercessors and prophetic messengers who will carry the fire of the Holy Spirit to Detroit and the cities of the Earth.
We are very aggressively calling together 1000 intercessors to gather every Friday night in prayer, and theLab staff will be leading them.
Additionally, theLab will be developing a monthly large scale event where we’ll bring in anointed men and women of God to infuse life into this region.
THE REQUIREMENTS
In order to join theLab staff, there is a mandatory level of participation (you basically have to be extremely available and ensure theLab is your primary ministry focus several times a week).
- Arrive by 9:45pm every Friday night for theLab prayer event and be ready to impart into the church leaders and others through prayer and the transfer of our key values of intercession, prophecy, intimacy and deliverance.
- Attend every noon prayer meeting. The only excusable absence is for those who have to work during the noon hour. Those that have a job MUST still attend at least one noon prayer event. The noon prayer meetings are critical as we debrief, listen to God for further strategy and pray together.
- Attend Revival Church’s evening service (when we move to Sunday mornings, people who are on theLab staff who attend other churches will attend their own morning church service, but they will be required to attend the Revival Church evening service(s)). This service is the primary briefing for the week and it’s a time of deep prayer, corporate worship and impartation.
- Attend weekly training sessions. This has yet to be developed, but we plan on developing a ‘school of the Holy Spirit’ where we will train people in the core values of theLab so they can, in turn, impart them into others.
- Travel locally together when I’m ministering in another church or when theLab is serving in a particular function. The team will join with me as instruments of fire as we infuse churches and conferences. An example is the upcoming Fire in February conference where theLab has been asked to provide the intercession coverage for each of the event’s services. (be sure to register at www.awakeningnet.us)
- Traveling with me outside of the region (more than 2 hours away) will be optional, but is still encouraged.
- Participating in other ministries is allowed, but theLab must be your primary commitment. If there is a conflict between ministry schedules, it’s required that you fulfill your commitment to theLab.
- You will have the opportunity to serve in a variety of ministry functions at theLab. Administrators, teachers, singers, worshipers and others will be needed to run the ministry.
Keep in mind as you evaluate whether you can participate or not—these are minimum requirements, and are not optional.
THE PLAN
- We’re in the development stage right now, and we need as many people to jump on board during the pre-launch as possible. You will help pioneer and form this new ministry of revival!
- We are considering 4 or 6 month semesters/trimesters.
- The pre-launch starts immediately. Simply show up at the next prayer meeting and/or send me an email at [email protected].
- We’ll be training in the prophetic, intimacy, intercession, reformation in the church and other key focuses.
- theLab staff will be giving leadership to the 1000 intercessors who will be giving leadership to the entire region.
- This is open to anybody who is a deeply committed Christian, and who will be honorable in their commitment to the team and the mission at theLab.
- For those moving from other states or nations, you will be fully responsible to secure housing, transportation and the necessary finances to live in Detroit.
- **SPECIAL: those who join us in pre-launch any time in February will be exempt from any tuition that we may implement at launch time—for life! (this does not include costs for conferences, materials, etc.)
Contact me at [email protected] for more info or to apply!
The ministry’s next phase : Developing our team
The vision is becoming more focused and we’re gathering together an expanded ministry team.
I have been trembling and awakened to a new place since the first of the year—since we have gone to a new place in prayer at Revival Church. I am SO EXCITED about the testimonies that are arising from theLab and other ministries. People are COMING ALIVE!!!!!
The purpose of this message is to call together an expanded and deeply connected and focused team of revivalists to join us in the ministry.
I’m raising up a brand new ministry team.
Some of you have been with us for quite some time—and I’m asking for you to sign up again… for a brand new and intense phase of ministry.
Here’s what the plan is:
- The Revival Church/John Burton Ministries team will be deeply involved in the dynamic and continually developing mission together several times a week.
- theLab—This is the primary mandate at the moment and must be the main focus for all of us. Those running with us as a part of the ministry team will be traveling from church to church together every Friday night. Additionally, it’s imperative to make every noon prayer meeting that you can. Keep in mind, I’m calling EVERY pastor, intercessor, revivalist and burning man, woman and child of God in Detroit to be at EVERY Friday night prayer meeting. We certainly need as close to 100% participation from those connected to Revival Church and our ministry as possible. We are modeling a part of the reformation in the church for the rest of the city.
- 1000 Intercessors—As we all do this together, we’ll be sounding the alarm for every person in the Detroit region that’s called to initiate revival to also attend theLab. We’ll be modeling this lifestyle of intercession and urgency to the region and all spreading the word and calling the 1000 leaders into position. The call isn’t to ‘sign up’ but to ‘show up’.
- Ministry Events (other venues)—An important element of the vision is to take the fire into other venues. The ministry team will be with me as I minister in other churches to impart the burning of the Holy Spirit, to cast the vision of theLab and the 1000 Intercessors and to pray throughout the event as I speak. This morning at Salt River was an excellent example. It was powerful and we had some of the people ministering revival as a part of the service. However, we were under manned. We’ll have to become more strategic as we plan on future events. It’s important for the entire team plus the entire church body to stay together to advance the cause of revival. **My heart was to have every person associated with Revival Church with us this morning to encourage Salt River… many people were missed… it wasn’t the same without you!!!
- NOTE: I need people to step up to handle certain roles such as marketing, setting up speaking engagements, working on travel arrangements, intercession, etc.
- NOTE: The next ministry event that we need every team member to serve in is the Fire in February event in Dearborn. We’ll be launching the event with theLab style fiery prayer and intercession. With only 60 people or so at Revival Church, we absolutely need every one to show up for each service. REGISTER at www.awakeningnet.us.
- Ministry Events (hosted by theLab)—This is a huge vision and it will require a huge team. Right now we need the team (which should be at least 30 people strong) to form and get to work searching for property, hosting prayer events, connecting with potential guest ministers, networking with other churches in the area, etc. Everything from small conferences to large stadium events will need everybody to work hard together.
- Revival Church—This is the briefing for the rest of the week. What is happening at theLab and at ministry events will be briefed on here, prayed through, etc. Additionally, the call to action will be sounded here and we’ll all ensure we’re on the same page and ready for our instructions and assignments for the rest of the week. This will be a place of wild and free worship, zealous prayer and clear impartation.
Contact me at [email protected] or 313.799.3473 to discuss your participation. This new team includes people that have been on my staff for quite some time and it will include many others who are ready to clear their calendars and invest with passion into the pursuit of revival in Detroit.