Archive for March 2013
Tonight at Revival Church : Pics from theLab University Graduation
Powerful worship, intercession and a teaching on the resurrection that will cause you to come alive—tonight at Revival Church!
But first, theLab students have graduated! A new generation of carriers of fire is emerging!
Last night was simply amazing as theLab University students graduated! I’ll share some pics below.
THELAB UNIVERSITY ONLINE
Have you checked out theLab University Online? Do so now! www.thelabuniversity.com/online
Our NEW twelve week online university launches on July 18, 2013 with an INTRODUCTORY TUITION PRICE of $100!
Now anybody in any part of the world can get equipped as an end-time intercessor, prophetic messenger and revivalist.
TONIGHT AT REVIVAL CHURCH
As a house of prayer our primary mandate is to contend in intercession—and we will do that in the Prep Room at 5:15pm. Join us in the sanctuary as we pray for Detroit and the nations!
At 6pm the prayer rolls right into a powerful night of worship and teaching.
I’ll be starting a series titled Four Fires. It’s one of the original, and most important teachings I brought when I first started traveling to Detroit. And, yes, part one includes a powerful resurrection message!
Revival Church meets at CENTRAL CHURCH, 1529 E. 12 Mile Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071.
PICS FROM THELAB UNIVERSITY GRADUATION
Catherine Mullins: theLab University Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs
A SIX MONTH SCHOOL OF FIRE
theLab University is coming to the Colorado Springs region this summer!
Experience six months of fire, encounter and equipping in the spiritually strategic city of Manitou Springs, Colorado.
THE COMING CHURCH
The theme: Equipping end-time prophetic messengers to prepare the way for revolution in the church.
There is a coming burning church that will reveal to us the shock and awe of the glory of God. The call to participate in this last days movement of revival is a weighty call indeed. Discover your key role in The Coming Church and how you can prepare to carry the life, love and fire of God into a desperately wicked culture.
WHAT TO EXPECT
thLab University is a powerful and unusual ministry experience that will result in freedom and equipping. Each monthly three-day event will include morning and afternoon workshops, personal prophetic ministry and training in prophetic warfare and intercession in the streets of Manitou Springs.
The evening public worship and training is designed for maximum impact as we encounter God in a deep place of intimacy and embrace the urgent and sober call as forerunners.
THE COST
- theLab University full six month session: $100
- Individual weekends (all sessions in any given month): $30
MAY 16-18 SCHEDULE
- Thursday 6pm: Prep Room (prophetic intercession)
- Thursday 7pm: Worship with Catherine Mullins + Teaching (FREE) (The Coming Church)
- Friday 10am: Workshop (positioning ourselves to receive revelation)
- Friday 2pm: Prophetic Impartation & Activation (personal ministry & spiritual adventure in Manitou Springs)
- Friday 6pm: Prep Room (prophetic intercession)
- Friday 7pm: Worship with Catherine Mullins + Teaching (FREE) (Revelation Driven Prayer)
- Saturday 10am: Workshop (the urgency of the hour)
- Saturday 2pm: Prophetic Impartation & Activation (personal ministry & spiritual adventure in Manitou Springs)
- Saturday 6pm: Prep Room (prophetic intercession)
- Saturday 7pm: Worship + Teaching (FREE) (Carrying the Fire)
THELAB COLORADO 2013 SESSION
- May: Thu 5.16.13 – Sat 5.18.13
- June: Thu 6.13.13 – Sat 6.15.13
- July: Thu 7.18.13 – Sat 7.20.13
- August: Thu 8.15.13 – Sat 8.17.13
- September: Thu 9.19.13 – Sat 9.21.13
- October: Thu 10.17.13 – Sat 10.19.13
Word from Julie Meyer : A Great Greater Awakening
Word from Julie Meyer
God is stirring His people to pray. God is raising up houses of prayer, prayer movements, and ministries who realize the great need for prayer and for having foundations of intercession firmly established before ministry takes place.
People are bowing their knee in reverence to our Holy God, believing that He gives more when we simply ask. God set it up that way – that we would be co-laborers with Him, joining Jesus the Great Intercessor. We are simply to ask – knowing that God is listening and answering our simple prayers (Isaiah 64:4).
The revivalists of old were men and women given to prayer. Before a Word was preached, the Heavens were stormed with prayers and petitions asking God to come, to act, and to move. We are now entering a new era – for never before in history has God moved on the hearts of people worldwide with such an invitation to intercession.
Across the nations of the earth, men and women, young and old, are giving their lives as a fragrance before the Lord in day and night prayer. Houses of prayer, prayer movements, and praying churches are arising worldwide with the revelation that God moves when His people simply ask.
A Great Greater Awakening
I heard a fresh cry exploding out of Heaven – an invitation for the nations to become part of the prayer movement that is blowing across the face of the earth like an unstoppable wave leading to a Great Greater Awakening.
I was told in the dream to study and look back to the 1700s and the first Great Awakening – for this is our story. We are invited to say “yes” to prayer – we are invited to all become part of the story.
I saw that many intercessors have grown weary and have become dull; therefore help from Heaven was sent to strengthen the heart of the intercessors, the prayer movements, and the houses of prayer that a glorious people would arise in unending prayers.
We are in a Revelation 3:1-2 time frame, ”I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain…”
God is inviting us to join His Son, the Great Intercessor, in prayer to birth His purposes on the earth. He is inviting us to be a part of the story line of the ages. We are to be vigilant, to keep careful watch over His promises and purposes through intercession, to set our hearts towards Him, and to turn resolutely in the direction of agreement with His Heart for these days.
I Had An Impacting Dream
I was in a deep sleep and the dream started with the President of our Bible College singing an old hymn called, “I love to Tell the Story.” His voice was like a mega phone awakening my heart to the old, old story. I had not heard this hymn in years since singing it as a young girl in the Methodist Church. He was wearing a blue suit and holding an old hymnal. His voice was loud. His voice was strong. He never stopped singing this old hymn throughout the entire dream.
As he was singing, these words and this melody awakened my heart all throughout the dream. It was as if the hymn was the backdrop to the entire dream.
Suddenly, I stepped into a scene where I saw seven ambulances all in a row with their lights flashing. They were lined up one in back of the other. There was great alarm in my spirit when my eyes beheld such a scene. (Photo courtesy: ABC News)
I noticed there were people on the sidewalk who were not that interested in the ambulances. Everyone was continuing to have their coffee and were talking – they were not looking at what was happening. People were just doing their thing and not bothered by the alarm that I felt in my body by the flashing lights. It was as if they did not even notice they were there. They were laughing and talking and having coffee, going about their day-to-day schedules.
Still the Song Was Arising
I love to tell the story. ‘Twill be my theme in glory. To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.
I went and looked in the first ambulance and heard the attendant say, “I cannot find a heartbeat” and I saw someone lying still on a gurney. I saw tiny, thin, and feeble legs. The attendant looked at me and said, “It’s the intercessors. We are trying to revive the intercessors.”
I looked in again and it was as if the eyes of my heart were opened and I could see on the inside, and their hearts were failing. For the promises of Revival were so long in coming, it was as if the promises became too long to wait for and they were giving up and their hearts were failing. So I ran to the next ambulance and the same thing was happening. I looked in and the attendant said, “I cannot find a heartbeat.”
As I peered into the ambulance I noticed that these attendants were not mere human beings; they were heavenly beings sent from the Throne of God. They were tall, they were large, they were glowing as if lit from the inside with fire. Could these be the messengers of fire we find in Psalm 104:4? It gave my heart great hope to know that God has sent His angelic help to restart the hearts of the weary, the tired, the hopeless, and the feeble. These were the intercessors who have fallen asleep, those who have stopped contending because it became too long to contend.
Suddenly, one of the attendants from the seventh ambulance at the end yelled, “I have a faint heartbeat, but it’s dull.” With those words, all the attendants leaned out of the back doors of the ambulances and they all shouted, “What did you do?”
The attendant in the last ambulance said, “Tell the old, old stories. For, as I began to tell the old, old stories, I found a faint heartbeat.” So the attendants of the other ambulances began to tell the old, old stories, and I began to listen to these stories.
Tell the Old Stories!
These stories went back to the 1700s. They began to talk about Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, John Wesley, George Whitfield, and Charles Spurgeon, and many others.
Suddenly the atmosphere was filled with shouts of, “I found a heartbeat, but it is dull.” I ran to another ambulance looked in, and this time I saw a faint movement. Suddenly, this Heavenly attendant gave an order, like a command, saying:
“Tell the old, old stories because the old, old stories are YOUR storyline, they are YOUR history, back as far as Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, John Wesley, George Whitfield, Charles Spurgeon…
…For the baton was passed from generation to generation. The prayer movements of this day are the answer to the prayers of those in the great storyline of the ages. There is a timeline of Prayer Generals from generations past and their prayer was that the Generals of prayer in ‘these’ days would arise; the prayer movement of ‘these’ days is the answer to their cries.
“You are in the storyline of the old, old story for their prayers begat your prayer. Put yourself in the timeline of the old, old story because the old, old, story – when told – will ignite the heart again.
Though it will start as a dull beat, when EACH person will see themselves in the timeline of the old, old story, that dull heartbeat will begin to get stronger and stronger. For these are your ancestors – the prayer warriors of the ancient days – who lifted their cry for ‘this day and this hour’ that a people of prayer would arise in the earth to welcome back the King of kings.”
Renewal in itself will not awaken dull hearts. But if you see yourself in the old, old story – the more you listen and put yourself in the history of the great storyline of prayer and revival – you will see yourself as THE ANSWER.
You are the continuation of their prayers. For the intercessors God is raising up today – the prayer movements in the earth today – are the answer to the prayers lifted up generations and generations ago taking us into the greatest awakening – the Great Greater
Awakening.
These are Your ancestors. YOU become the story, the plan, the answer, the Revival for today – then you will never go back to dull hearts.
And the Attendant Spoke Again
“Tell the old, old stories. Remember the old, old stories and see yourself in the storyline of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, John Wesley, George Whitfield, and Charles Spurgeon, and many others who were great men and women of prayer – Charles Finney, Maria Woodworth-Etter, Smith Wigglesworth, Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman…”
You are IN their story. Their History is YOUR history, for you are the answer to their prayers: for a glorious and praying people, a shining and praying Bride, would arise in the earth who love prayer; and this cry of prayer will birth the Great Greater Awakening to welcome Him back.
I Could Still Hear the Song Being Sung:
I love to tell the story ‘Twill be my theme in glory To tell the old, old story Of Jesus and His love
It was almost as if I could hear prayers that were prayed centuries back – crying out for those who would take the baton to begin to cry out again until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You are a part of the story. We are a part of the story. It’s almost as it we are the answer to the cries of prayer throughout the ages. (Photo courtesy:freehymnal.com)
Cries that said, “Let a people who love prayer welcome Him back.” Let a praying people lift their voice for revival – let a billion souls come into the Kingdom.
This is our story. This is our history. This is our season to take up the baton and pray, and then, watch revival spring up. We are in their storyline and they are in ours.
Aimee Semple McPherson’s life was marked by unprecedented boldness that said, “Let’s not waste our time quarreling over methods and doctrines.”. She accomplished what no man had been able to do and build a temple that seated 5,000 people and filled it four times on Sundays and twice weekly. This temple became the envy of Hollywood theater owners. She also ministered at highly sought-after healing services. She reached the unreachable and opened doors for Christ through which no man had gone before through the media. It is interesting to note that in the same year Aimee was launching her radio station, Kathryn Kuhlman was just beginning to preach as a teenager, and Maria Woodworth-Etter had just breathed her last breath at 80 years of age.
This is our story. This is our history and the joy of the journey ahead through prayer; and we put ourselves in the great storyline of the ages to welcome the Great Greater Awakening and to welcome Jesus the Coming King.
I Love To Tell The Story
Text: Katherine Hankey, 1834–1911 Music: William G. Fischer, 1835–1912
I love to tell the story of unseen things above, Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true; It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.
I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory, To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems Than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams. I love to tell the story, it did so much for me; And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee.
I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory, To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story; ’tis pleasant to repeat What seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet. I love to tell the story, for some have never heard The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word.
I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory, To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story, for those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest. And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song, ‘Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.
That was my dream..Julie Meyer IHOP–KC
Email: click here Website: juliemeyer.com
An extremely special end-time event TONIGHT at Revival Church: IHOPKC trained prophetic messengers
I’m BURNING! Two key IHOPKC trained prophetic messengers will be releasing prophetic decrees and teaching on The Coming Church TONIGHT!
Julia Palermo & Chris Ferguson will be tag team prophesying, teaching and decreeing the word of the Lord with me TONIGHT at Revival Church!
I’m SO ROCKED right now…something is absolutely going to explode at Revival Church tonight! Join us in the sanctuary at 5:15pm for targeted and passionate intercession, and then at 6pm for a special guest worship team, prophetic decrees and teaching on The Coming Church!
OUR GUESTS SPEAKERS:
CHRIS FERGUSON: Director of Pastoral Care, Internships at International House of Prayer Kansas City • Chris & Yvette Ferguson, have been married for over 20 years and have two children. They are currently on full time staff at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. Prior to joining IHOP-KC in October of 2005, the Ferguson’s were Associate Pastors at TurningPoint Community Church in Seattle, Washington. Chris has served 20 “Intro to IHOP-KC” Internships as Sr. Core Leader and Director of Pastoral Care. Coaching, mentoring and raising up the next generation of leaders in each of IHOP’s four Internships.
JULIA PALERMO: Founder & Director of Sojourners International •Julia Palermo is a raging furnace of revival who is only growing more focused and intense in her ministry. Prepare yourself to be rocked by a burning prophetic messenger that operates at a uniquely high level of maturity, passion and excellence. Julia is a sign and a wonder who will encourage your church into its destiny. ~John Burton
Revival Church meets at CENTRAL CHURCH, 1529 E. 12 Mile Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071. www.explorerevival.com
I regularly receive requests for theLab to be made available online…and that time has come!
This will be an extremely unique training experience and end-time community.
More info is coming soon…but in the mean time, check it out at www.thelabuniversity.com!
COMING JULY 18, 2013!
theLab University Online
Our NEW twelve week online university launches on July 18, 2013.
INTRODUCTORY TUITION PRICE of $100!
Your enrollment will begin immediately upon payment. The twelve week school continually rotates so you can jump in at any time.
Your enrollment includes:
- Twelve weeks of training on various subjects including the end-times, prophetic prayer, the coming church, the lifestyle of a forerunner, and the call for revival
- Various books, notes and videos to accompany each week’s class
- Monthly live classroom sessions
- Personal prophetic ministry
- Practical ministry assignments
- Daily access to instructors and fellow students in forums and chat rooms
- Life coaching and mentoring
- Much more!
theLab University Online Classes:
- The Coming Church – John Burton
- Becoming Unoffendable – John Burton
- The Forerunner Calling – Julia Palermo
- The Forerunner Lifestyle – Julia Palermo
- Prayer 101 – Fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit – Chris Ferguson
- Prayer 101 – Revelation of Intercession – Chris Ferguson
- Six Enemies of Fulfilled Destiny – John Burton
- Revelation by Meditation – Chris Ferguson
- Intro to the Prophetic – Chris Ferguson
- Intro to the End-Times 1: Urgency of the Hour – Julia Palermo
- Intro to the End-Times 2: Overview of the Book of Revelation – Julia Palermo
- Carriers of Fire – John Burton
Video: It has to stop! Competition, accusation and jealousy between churches
God forgive us for building kingdoms of man on doctrines of demons in your name. ~Brian Ming
IT HAS TO STOP!
Watch this short, raw video on the issue of competitiveness, accusation and jealousy in the church. It has to STOP!
When Amy and I first moved to Detroit and launched Revival Church we sent out 200 copies of my book Pharaoh in the Church to pastors in the Detroit region. The book is written to leaders and those who are called to lead the people of God into encounter.
In that book I deal directly with the issue of personal kingdom building & how it can be a threat to the advance of God’s Kingdom in a region.
Not shockingly, but sadly we only heard from one pastor. One.
When a new Kingdom building church arrives on the scene, the pastors of the region should celebrate their arrival!
PEOPLE, MONEY & REPUTATION
Too much energy is invested into keeping people, protecting our financial situation and enhancing our reputations as leaders—energy that can not be used for its intended purpose of going hard after revival in a region and leading people into encounter.
If we are serious about the city church exploding in life and power, we must be willing to lose people, lose financial security (salaries, benefits) and lose our reputation. Jesus was of no reputation, why should we be?
How can you deal with this issue? Have a healthy ministry policy!
HEALTHY MINISTRY POLICIES
- PEOPLE: Have a policy that any pastor, leader or other person can come into your church at any time, with no fear or guilt, and openly recruit anybody, even your staff, to leave your church and join theirs. The fear of losing people and the resulting spirit of competition will disappear.
- MONEY: Give regularly to other churches and pray for them to be blessed in a greater measure financially than your own. Giving always causes fear of financial loss to subside. Additionally, never hold back leading in a biblical direction with full unction of the Holy Spirit if key givers may get leave. Preach them out and trust God!
- REPUTATION: Die. Surrender. Go low. Be humble. Allow people to ridicule you, accuse you, attack you and discredit your ministry. This happens when you preach truth. If you are of no reputation, then when you lose people, money, influence or anything else, your ego won’t drive you whatsoever.
DISQUALIFIED
Gossip.
Here’s a definition: Any conversation about an absent third party that wouldn’t meet the approval of that person.
Gossip is biblically forbidden communication.
When I, as a church leader, hear anybody gossip about a former pastor they are immediately disqualified from consideration for leadership in my church.
Why? I can’t afford to give place to a demonic anointing in my church.
This is how important it is to honor other pastors, churches and leaders—and everybody else in the body of Christ!
What do you do if you hear someone gossiping about a leader?
I am personally blessed when someone displays their honor, love and faithfulness when they won’t receive gossip about me. But, it’s not about me…it’s about the health of the church and the church of the city we are called to run with. It really is a big deal.
PROPHETIC VOICES
Why is it a big deal? Many reasons. One that will become very clear as the end of the age develops is that the church is going to be shifted violently to calibrate with God’s end-time plans.
The announcement of the shift will come through people. Prophets. Apostles. Those chosen by God to move into a region and reveal with boldness what is changing.
These people will be a serious threat to the status quo, and if pastors rely on the status quo to keep people in position, their salaries stable and their reputation under their control, they will resist these prophets of God with ferocity.
This is why we need to develop a culture of celebration, humility and honor for other leaders, new churches and people who are in the body of Christ in a region.
If we don’t, crosses may remain on the steeples while Ichabod is posted above the doors of resisting, self-centered pastors flowing in the spirit of Pharaoh as they remain focused on building their own kingdoms.
FINAL THOUGHTS
God led Amy and my family to Detroit to see revival land. God is bringing many others here as well. Many others have been laboring here for years and have been prepared for what’s coming. Let’s do all we can to unite and take advantage of the amazing convergence in this critical end-time season!
Special Events: Powerful week of prophetic impartation, end-times teaching & more!
Chris Ferguson from IHOP and prophetic messenger Julia Palermo will be at Revival Church and theLab School of Fire THIS WEEK!
First: Listen to Sunday’s teaching on the Joshua Generation and hear about the shock that’s coming to our nation and the call of the church to move with passion into position! Listen here (notes will be included below): http://media.johnburton.net/7637627
THE COMING CHURCH
What is coming to and through the church? That’s the theme this week as very special guests Chris Ferguson and Julia Palermo minister in fire at Revival Church and theLab School of Fire!
THURSDAY: END TIMES TEACHING
Julia and Chris will be ministering prophetically over everybody in attendance, and then a key teaching on the end-times and the church’s role in the Tribulation will be presented.
This is a MUST attend event!
We normally charge $25 to audit a class at theLab, but we are opening this class to everybody at NO CHARGE! FREE!
Simply show up at 7pm on Thursday! Revival Church & theLab meet at CENTRAL CHURCH, 1529 E. 12 Mile Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071.
FRIDAY: INTERCESSION IN DETROIT
Julia and Chris will be joining theLab and other revivalists and intercessors at Apostle Londen Winters Ministries THIS FRIDAY, March 22nd at 7pm.
The level of prophecy in this ministry is high and the atmosphere is hot! Bring friends or come alone!
This special prayer event is being held at: 8316 Dexter Blvd., Detroit 48206.
SUNDAY: THE COMING CHURCH
Get ready for powerful worship and an unusual night of prophetic fire!
Chris, Julia and I will be tag team teaching on what we see coming for the church in the end-times.
There is a great shock that’s coming, and we need to be prepared for this amazing upcoming season in the church of our nation!
We begin with IHOP worship on the screen and intercession in the sanctuary at 5:15pm.
The service begins at 6pm. You can let us know you are coming and we’ll give you a FREE copy of my book SIX ENEMIES! Go here: www.explorerevival.com/plan-your-visit
JOSHUA GENERATION NOTES
http://media.johnburton.net/7637627
Joshua Generation
I. The Great Mission
a. Threefold Strategy of God
i. Salvation & Deliverance: The initial goal in the Exodus was to escape captivity. (inward)
ii. Intimacy & Offering: The secondary goal was to worship God in intimacy in the desert. (upward)
iii. Warfare & Possession: The ultimate goal was to take their new culture of intercession and worship into the Promised Land and conquer demonic strongholds on cities that stand in the way. (outward)
b. This is our focus at Revival Church: get you free, encounter God in intimacy, rise up as warriors and fulfill a mission. All three must be active!
i. The house of prayer must come before we take the city!
c. That’s the great mission, and now let’s look at a great mistake.
II. The Great Mistake
a. They had been slaves there for over 400 years, and God went to great lengths to deliver them from bondage.
i. They appreciated the deliverance, but they didn’t transfer their gaze from inward to upward, from them to God.
b. Shortly after their salvation form Egypt, due to their persistent unbelief that God would faithfully and safely take them into a land of their own, the Promised Land (Canaan–or Israel), God brought judgment and chastisement upon them (Numbers 13–14). He sent them into the desert to wander for 40 years. (This is most Christians!) All of the people aged 20 years or older were destined to die in the desert and to never enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief (Numbers 14:26–35, Hebrews 3:16–19).
c. The great mistake? The Israelites were known for their complaint!
i. What a legacy!
ii. Their complaining led to unbelief which led to wandering and then death.
1. If you wander too long, you will not see your promise!
iii. One of the most tragic mistakes we can make is to assume our attitudes and personal dispositions don’t have much of an impact.
iv. Check this out:
d. Numbers 11:1 (ESV) 1 And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.
e. 1 Corinthians 10:8-10 (ESV) 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
i. Dang! What is that! To be destroyed by serpents! Hard core! The Destroyer!
ii. Why? Just for sexual immorality? Grumbling?
iii. Yes, our attitudes and actions reap consequences!
f. Numbers 14:1-10 (ESV) 1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” 10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
i. Do not rebel.
ii. Do not fear.
iii. You would think the complaining would end…but no! Check it out!
1. Numbers 16:1-3 (NIV) 1 Korah …became insolent 2 and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. 3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD‘s assembly?”
2. Numbers 16:31-33 (NIV) 31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.
iv. This is getting serious!
1. Today it’s expected that leaders make it easy for people to follow.
2. I disagree. Leaders are called to lead you into the most challenging, risky and humanly impossible adventure!
3. We should make it easy for leaders to lead!
4. Paul said, Follow me as I follow Christ.
5. If you are going to follow apostolic leaders, you better have your running shoes on!
6. Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV) 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
7. 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 (ESV) 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
a. Apostolic leaders lead into a difficult, costly mission with a sharp prophetic edge.
b. Pastors mostly lead you into comfort, and there is a place for that… and apostles lead you into mission, into movement.
c. This is why churches are usually best led by apostles and small groups are usually best led by pastors, or the regional church led by apostles, and local bodies led by pastors. They must work together.
d. We equip people to work, to move, to fulfill a mission.
e. Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
f. It’s time to move!
III. The Great Movement
a. From the Great Mistake to the Great Movement.
b. From dead in the desert to moving into destiny!
c. The older generation complained, grumbled, sinned sexually, had idols, etc… but the younger generation was humbled, tested and disciplined by the Lord during their desert sojourn.
d. They were ready to move into their mission.
i. Only 10% of Christians know what their calling is…their mission!
1. This means that precious days are being lost wandering and surviving instead of advancing!
2. Just because you are moving, doesn’t mean you are advancing in your mission!
3. Psalm 107:4-5 (NIV) 4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
4. The only way to discover your calling is to be fully given to it!
a. This is why thelab and other ministry schools are so powerful.
b. It requires a complete surrender of time, dreams, comfort in a movement of radical unity!
c. God is isn't coming back for a church with scattered believers. He's coming back for a company of people with a common vision. ~Mike Bickle
d. The highest blessing, the commanded blessing, comes when God's people gather together in unity.~Mike Bickle
5. This end-time passage gives us the critical secret to fulfilling our mission.
a. Revelation 12:10-12 (ESV) 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
b. Salvation, power, the Kingdom, authority!
c. How do we live in that and conquer?
i. The blood of the lamb
ii. The word of our testimony
1. JFB: Their testimony evinced their victory over him by virtue of the blood of the Lamb. Hereby they confess themselves worshippers of the slain Lamb and overcome the beast, Satan's representative.
iii. Death to self
iv. This is such an important step…today most are looking for ‘life to self’…but don’t realize that life doesn’t come before death.
v. If we emphasize the benefits while ignoring the cost, people will run from Jesus when their cross is presented to them.
1. Romans 8:35-36 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
2. Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
3. John 12:24-25 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Those who love their life will lose it, while those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
4. Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
a. Die daily! It’s worth it because of the power of the resurrection!
5. 1 Corinthians 15:30-34 (ESV) 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
e. Our church’s key verses:
i. Joshua 3:4-5 (ESV) 4 …Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
1. Verse 4 is why we must embrace apostolic leadership—we have never been this way before…apostles are ‘sent ones’…they are pioneers.
a. You need a Daniel Boone leading you!
b. Despite some resistance from American Indian tribes such as the Shawnee, in 1775 Boone blazed his Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains from North Carolina and Tennessee into Kentucky. There he founded the village of Boonesborough, Kentucky, one of the first American settlements west of the Appalachians.
c. Boone was a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–83), which in Kentucky was fought primarily between the American settlers and the British-aided Native Americans. Boone was captured by Shawnee warriors in 1778, who after a while adopted him into their tribe.
d. Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 European people migrated to Kentucky/Virginia by following the route marked by Boone.
2. The only way we can survive such a dangerous mission is if we follow verse 5 instructions: Consecrate yourselves and prepare for wonders!
a. The call to movement means that we have to leave what is familiar into what is risky!
b. We can’t add God’s supernatural assignment to our human dreams. We have to leave our dreams and lay down our lives!
i. The non-negotiable price of supernatural mission is the surrender of convenience, comfort, and control.
3. Consecrate: Prepare, sanctify, clean, dedicate, purify
a. The older generation who died in the desert complained because they were lacking, and because they had unbelief.
b. Notice the remedy: The younger generation embraced a fasted lifestyle as they consecrated themselves…and also embraced ridiculous faith as they were called to step into the waters of the Jordan and march around the walls of a fortified city.
i. The requirements? Anybody can do it!
1. Don’t complain.
2. Be holy.
3. Believe.
4. Respond in extreme unity and precision.
ii. We are moving into the uncharted, impossible, not into the predictable and casual! Daniel Boone! Joshua! How about Peter Pan?
1. Peter Pan Jesus
2. It’s time to follow! To blaze a new trail!
3. Now, you have to understand, you are either living in the camp or dying in the desert!
a. You can’t just live between the two in some imaginary safe place.
f. Boldly following
i. If you really want to advance, you will have to literally face trouble and threatening situations.
1. There are giants to take down, city walls to march around.
2. “I've found that great leaders are comfortable making other people uncomfortable.” JD King
a. Look at Joshua. He was leading people into sure drowning in the river, sure defeat at Jericho!
b. Today we are looking for comfort when God is calling us to challenge!
c. 1 Kings 18:21-22 (ESV) 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
i. Will you follow those you are in relationship with, even if they lead you astray? Are you with the 450 or the 1? It’s time to lock in! Don’t be tossed around! Don’t waver any longer!
ii. If you live a decisive life, you will have to move, and you will have to break away from comfort and what is familiar.
1. Never be afraid to stand with the minority which is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority; always be afraid to stand with the majority which is wrong, for the majority which is wrong will one day be the minority.—William Jennings Bryan
2. A wrong choice results in death in the desert!
3. The following quotation is from the “Cadet Prayer.” It is repeated every Sunday in chapel services at West Point: “Make us choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be contented with half truth when whole truth can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when right and truth are in jeopardy.”
4.
iii. Ephesians 4:11-14 (ESV) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
d. The mission is not one of personal satisfaction, but one of full surrender.
i. If you are looking for comfort and personal satisfaction, you are primed to fall into whatever false-doctrine provides that.
e. You can’t just soak in the river!
f. You are either dead in the desert or advancing into destiny!
i. Revelation 3:1-2 (ESV) 1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
ii. Revelation 3:5-6 (ESV) 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
g. If you just soak, the river will carry you away into death:
i. The Jordan river flows to the salt sea, the dead sea!
ii. If you stay still, you will be carried away into death! The salt sea has no outlet. No movement! Death!
iii. The Dead Sea is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea.
iv. We are to be salt to the earth, not in our place of comfort! If we carry salt, we must move!
v. When Lot’s wife stopped advancing, she turned to salt. Sodom was located next to the Salt Sea, the Dead Sea.
vi. The only way to live as salt is to move! To obey!
1. Lot’s instruction: Genesis 19:17 (ESV) 17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”
vii. Not only can’t you complain, you can’t look back! You must advance!
3. Joshua 3:2-3 (ESV) 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.
4. God is raising up trailblazing leaders who carry the presence of God into the land of promise! Dare you follow?!
5. Joshua 3:9-13 (ESV) 9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”
ii. Joshua 6:1-2 (ESV) 1 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. 2 And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.
iii. Joshua 6:3 (ESV) 3 You shall march around the city…
iv. It’s time to move!
IV. Conclusion
a. If you want your city, you have to conquer your river.
b. If you want your Goliath, you have to conquer your lion and your bear.
c. If you are not interested in taking the city, you’ll waste away in the desert on the wrong side of promise.
d. If you aren’t interested in taking on Goliath, you’ll be bait for a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
e. We have no option. We must fight. We must believe. We must advance.
Audio & Notes: Are you ready for the tribulation & the return of the Lord?
Listen to this teaching from tonight’s class at thelab school of fire—The Lifestyle of a Forerunner.
You will get rocked as you listen to this teaching from thelab school of fire. It’s hot off the press—just a couple of hours old.
Are you ready to step into the calling of an end-time forerunner? Listen and find out!
LISTEN: media.johnburton.net/7547883
Additionally, here is a short audio about the most troubling end-time dream I’ve ever had. I shared this tonight, but stopped the recording before I did so. http://media.johnburton.net/2217865
The Lifestyle of a Forerunner
1. A Generation of Zealots
a. One of this ministry’s primary callings is to minister with a “forerunner spirit”. Forerunners prepare the way for the Lord by preparing people to respond rightly to Jesus in light of His Second Coming.
b. A description of the forerunner ministry:
I've been listening to Mike Bickle's series on the forerunner and the fasted lifestyle. Fasting of our time, food and money. He talks about how disruptive it is to give ourselves to God in a radical way. We are living in a prophetic time, we are a prophetic generation, many believe the generation before the Lord's return, and there is a call to radical, extravagant devotion to Jesus.
If we say Yes, we are blessed in the deeper things of God during this life and the one to come. If we say No and lock ourselves behind our safe religious traditions, we risk our hearts growing cold to the deeper things of God. We don't separate ourselves from His love, but we close the door to a greater awakening and walking in deeper revelation. Don't know about you guys, but I want a deeper revelation. The same ole same ole doesn't work any more.
But the radical, fasted lifestyle messes with our worlds. It's disruptive. It means eating less, spending less, sleeping less so we can get up or stay up for prayer. Worse, our pursuit disrupts the lives of those around us – our friends and families.
In Matthew 11:19, Jesus is preaching and reminding the people the religious leaders said John the Baptist had a demon, and they accused Jesus of being a glutton and drunkard. Bible believing, Bible preaching people are going to be offended at the radical lifestyle and they are going to call us crazy, demonized, drunkards and all sorts of things. Our reputations will be ruin, perhaps.
Jesus tells us we will be reviled because He was reviled. But, we will have what can't be taken a way – a knowledge of the Beautiful man. An experience in the pleasures of God, IN THIS LIFE. And I believe, walking in divine power and authority.
I've concluded: Prayer is a must. Not bless Aunt Betty prayers, but intercession. We cannot go on without it. We must pray the Word, believe the Word. We must dialog with God using His own words. It deepens our own understanding, our own revelation.
Giving, praying, fasting unlocks our hearts! Even our smallest effort. The writer of Hebrews understood this and challenges us. “Oh my stars, you guys still want milk? You could be eating steak by now.
c. We are in a transitional season between generations.
i. A prophetic generation is arising around the world who's daily lifestyle will look nothing like their parent's.
ii. Both ancient and emerging
1. Acts 2:43-47 (NKJV) 2:43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
iii. Forerunner- a person who goes or is sent in advance to announce the coming of someone or something that follows
1. Initiator
2. Originator
3. Pioneer
iv. John the Baptist was the forerunner- Matthew 11:7-10 (NKJV) 11:7 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 “But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 10 “For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.'
1. Luke 1:15-17 (NKJV) 1:15 “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also 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 “He will also 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 a people prepared for the Lord.”
v. Detroit is a forerunner city- we as forerunners are establishing a city of the future as God reveals his plans.
vi. The ministry of the forerunner, especially during transitional seasons like the one we're in, is one of the most important in the church.
1. For those who are forerunners
2. For those who are not
3. Forerunners must:
a. Clearly hear God's fresh Word
b. Accurately declare that Word
c. Warn others of what is coming
e. Apostolically prepare new ground
f. Prophetically see what God is doing and do whatever is necessary to prepare the body for what lies ahead
g. Isaiah 40:3-5 (NKJV) 40:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
i. We are also preparing the way for Jesus! The preparation of the arrival of a city of refuge, of a city of worship and of Jesus himself requires absolute focus, energy and passion.
h. Embrace the continual disruption to our rest, our focuses, our families, our relationships, our work and our pursuits- as God continually requires more of us, shakes us to the core and develops us into radical pioneers!
i. My call to die (YMCA)
ii. Becca was told that she would have to surrender her family to God if she wanted to accept her calling.
iii. Vision of her daughter on the dock
iv. The life of the forerunner, as with John the Baptist, is a life of lonely and zealous and continuous declaration.
1. They have surrendered their lives.
2. God asked Becca permission to take her life. He asked me permission to take mine. He's asking the entire generation of forerunners to die.
3. Mat 14:10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.
i. Report from the Forerunner School of Ministry
i. My Internship Experience: Do Not Despise the Process
As I sit down to write this paper and reflect upon the changes that have occurred in these last six months, I’m actually weeping because of my gratitude and amazement. I could never have imagined all that has happened in these last six months. As I read through my application testimony, I’ve realized that the girl sitting here today is not the same person that wrote that paper less than a year ago. God’s been busy…
I’m not going to lie; this was not a fun season of life. I’ve never cried so much, nor felt so lonely, nor felt like my very life was being sucked out of me with each passing hour in the prayer room (graphic, yet true). I had anticipated a breaking of sorts when I got here, Lord knows I needed it, but I did not understand the entirety of what I had signed up for. In the infamous words of Corey Russell, God got up in my business. Almost as soon as I got here, God took me out of the excitement and comforts of internship bonding and into a twenty-one day fast (promptly breaking my fear of fasting). It was clear that this season wasn’t about my ability to make good friends; God wanted me all to himself. In a place where every single false comfort and idol had been stripped away and only loneliness and barrenness remained (thank you, Dana Chandler for providing language for the groaning), I quickly realized that I had a deep fear of intimacy and animosity against God. I didn’t trust God. Actually, everything that I struggle with has its roots in distrust, is God really who he says he is? Will He really do everything he has promised? Can I really give him my whole life? God has proven faithful time and time again to answer my many questions.
This is what it all boils down to: I’ve fallen in love with a Man and he’s bid me come and die so that I may truly live. I’ve signed up for a life that’s different, wholly other than what the world thinks of as a successful life. I didn’t know that my life would be “ruined” when I got here. I didn’t know that there would be an unsatisfied ache in my soul that will remain all the days of my life. I didn’t know that I was going to be preparing for the last days and the return of my Lord and Savior, which was, by the way, one of the biggest shocks of the internship – my college education in theology did not prepare me for this message! I didn’t know the cost would be so great and that the reward would be far greater…here I go weeping again. As this internship ends, I find that I’m embarking on a great journey: To spend the rest of my life now and in eternity experiencing this man and his love and seeking out a comprehension of this God and his glory; what could be greater?
I've had a hard time giving language to all that has taken place in my life. What do you say when God takes you to a place of complete death to self, only to realize that what rises from the ashes is a hunger pang that can never be satisfied by anything less than the presense of the Lord. Guys – I'm ruined. I don't want anything but God. All else in this life is dim, dull and painfully worthless
j. Those who don't feel they are forerunners must:
i. Embrace their relationship with the forerunners in their lives
ii. Listen closely to the instructions of the forerunners
iii. Prepare for a drastic lifestyle change in the comings months and years
iv. Deliberately discipline themselves according to the Word of the Lord for this season
d. I've lived a strange experience in ministry
i. Since 1991 I have been burning with virtually the same message and have been both disappointed and shocked that so few in the church were eagerly responsive.
1. Calling prayer meetings as a youth pastor and everyone stayed in the foyer
2. Prayer walking in San Diego- less than 10 people vs. going to the beach- 40-50 people
3. In the church in Dayton every day after work for hours alone while most others barely made it 2-3 times a month
4. I found myself puzzled as I would proclaim the necessary and critical directives of God- pray hours a week! I'd get nods, smiles and some response… but much non-responsiveness.
ii. I wasn't alone in my pursuit, I knew that. I experienced first hand mighty people of God who also modeled such a lifestyle.
e. The critical relationship between the forerunner and the body
i. As I've discovered more about the forerunner ministry, the more I have understood the critical importance of an intentional relationship between them and the church.
ii. If you can't hear God, stay very close to someone who does.
1. Amos 3:6-8 (NKJV) 3:6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it? 7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. 8 A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?
2. We know that we should all prophesy, should all hear God… especially those associated with ministries like this as we are a team of forerunners and developing forerunners.
a. However, there is a special prophetic declaration that is being sounded through forerunners- and it's critical to heed that alarm!
b. The difficulty in this is that those who don't personally hear the alarm simply assume that it is not sounding, or that it is not for them.
c. The reality is that God established the prophetic ministry as a protective measure for his church.
d. It's very important to read the Elijah List, to listen to people like Chuck Pierce and others who are proclaiming the Word of the Lord for these end-times.
e. Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NKJV) 2:2 Then the LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.
i. The visionaries, the forerunners, write the vision down and the rest of the body reads and runs!
ii. John 1:14-15 (NKJV) 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.' ”
iii. John the Baptist said, “this was He of whom I said”… yet people weren't entirely ready for his arrival. Will the church be ready to respond to the word of the prophets? The forerunners? Is the church resisting or responding? Heck, are those who are called as forerunners resisting or responding!
f. Are you called as a forerunner? Someone who is establishing now what God desires to exist in the not to distant future?
i. If so, you will have the responsibility of proclaiming and establishing some difficult truths.
ii. You will have the responsibility of reordering every part of your life to ensure there is extreme time, energy and passion available to complete the mission.
iii. We as forerunners are living now as the entire generation of Spirit-filled believers will be living in a short amount of time.
1. We are praying hours a week, we are together in strategy sessions continually, we are maturing at a very fast rate, we are unified and organized as a holy military.
2. We are allowing extreme lifestyle pressure to hit us because of the severity of the prophetic call on our lives.
3. Isaiah 62:6-7 (NKJV) 62:6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, 7 And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
4. We must repent for our schedules!
a. We are called to order our lives in such a way that our mandate is carried out, not in a way that focuses on rest and entertainment!
g. The forerunner is simply announcing what will be the normal lifestyle of the normal believer in a short time to come.
i. This doesn't mean all will respond, but it means that those whose hearts don't grow cold will be those that do respond.
ii. Luke 8:16-18 (NKJV) 8:16 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. 18 “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”
iii. As we hear and shine the light of the Word of God, more and more revelation will come to us. It's the normal way of life for the believer- but we are living below the bar.
1. It will be the norm to be in church and ministry activities 4 or 5 nights a week.
a. Psalms 27:4 (NKJV) 27:4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.
2. It will be the norm for every believer to pray easily 15 or more hours a week (This lifestyle is already normal in Africa- Friday prayer meetings. We must look at this and understand we are lagging way, way behind God's norm for the church)
3. It will be easy to understand that the lifestyle God gives us is not there to bring comfort to our lives, which is the opposite of the mindset of the western church now.
a. The extreme problem in the church as we know it is that we assume it's there to make our lives better, that God's primary purpose is to comfort us… but it's an inaccurate idea!
i. When we find ourselves full enough, the prayer stops, the effort ceases, the pressing eases. We must push because of the magnitude of our mission!
ii. We will only fulfill our mission if we are bleeding and sweating and pressing in great unity every day of the week with smiles on our faces and fire in our eyes!
b. Our pleasure and comfort will come through intimacy and obedience.
c. Isaiah 58:12-14 (NKJV) 58:12 Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. 13 “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, 14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
4. The disruption of our daily lives will be embraced.
5. Romans 12:10-11 (NKJV) 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
6. Let's join with other forerunners around the world and establish now in our lives and in this city what is to come! Detroit is a forerunner city- one that will be devoted to God not only on Sundays, but 24/7! It will disrupt everything in our lives, it will demand much, and it is what God has called us to!
7. The way we live our lives now, as forerunners, is what we are prophetically declaring to the world- as we live so they will live. Is it enough?
2. John the Baptist
a. Characteristics of a forerunner's life
i. Self-denial- Matthew 3:4 (NKJV) 3:4 And John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
ii. Courage- Matthew 3:5-8 (NKJV) 3:5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…
iii. Obedience- Matthew 3:13-15 (NKJV) 3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
iv. Powerful Preacher- Mark 1:4-5 (NKJV) 1:4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
v. Humility- John 1:19-23 (NKJV) 1:19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the LORD, ‘ ‘ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
vi. Holiness- Mark 6:20 (NKJV) 6:20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.
vii. Burning Zeal- John 5:35 (NKJV) 5:35 “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.
viii. Honored by Christ- Matthew 11:11 (NKJV) 11:11 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
ix. Did No Miracle- John 10:41 (NKJV) 10:41 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”
x. Suffered Martyrdom- Matthew 14:10 (NKJV) 14:10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.
A new house of prayer for the Detroit region: Pastors, leaders, intercessors, musicians…
A house of prayer to break down competition and build up unity in the pursuit of revival in Detroit and beyond!
FIRST: The worship and teaching and atmosphere at Revival Church has shifted into prayer-fueled culture of extreme joy, faith and expectancy! I’m humbled!
Listen to last night’s message…Joshua Generation Part Two: http://media.johnburton.net/7468076 I’ll include the notes below.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Register for thelab school of fire Colorado!
Travel to Colorado for a six-month series events and conferences! You DON’T want to miss this fiery, prophetic shock to the Colorado Springs region! Visit www.thelabdetroit.com/manitousprings!
SECRET PRAYER
I was once asked by a reporter for Pray! Magazine a very interesting question.
The interview was about an underground prayer movement called Secret Prayer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In total, we prayed in over 100 churches in the city and God was uniting people in remarkable fashion.
Pastors, who sadly are historically nervous and territorial, were opening up their pulpits to our team—usually without ever meeting us first! We would arrive at 10pm on a Friday night and pray in fire for two hours. At times we’d have over 200 people from churches all over the city converging together to intercede for Colorado Springs until midnight every Friday!
With this unusual openness following our team every week, I was asked, “John, how is it that pastors, who are often resistant to one another, are coming together like this? Where is the contention?”
I responded by simply saying, “You can’t hate or despise someone you are praying blessing over.”
I was also interviewed by the Christian Examiner. Read that article here: www.thelabdetroit.com/secretprayer
CONTENTION IN DETROIT?
After four years, I’m no longer the new kid on the block. I’ve had an opportunity to check out the landscape of the church in this region, much like I did in Colorado Springs.
We have been in over 6o churches here, and have experienced much of the same freedom and fire that we did in Colorado.
I’m happy to say that there are many, many pastors and leaders who are humble, hungry and ready to lay it all down for the sake of revival in Detroit!
However, it’s also true that there are murmurings, contentions and division in the land as well.
THE REMEDY
Prayer. Continual prayer. Unified prayer. Fervent prayer.
We won’t oppose other leaders, churches and movements we are aggressively asking God to bless.
If we ask God to cause another church to grow faster than our church, have more money than our church and radically increasing impact, our own jealousies are diffused!
If we are willing to release the people in our church to move to another church, we will no longer struggle when transfer happens!
I’ve said before, at Revival Church and thelab, we have an open hands policy. We don’t own sheep and therefore it’s not possible for someone to steal them from our ministry. Anybody, any pastor, any leader can come to our church at any time and freely, with out any guilt, recruit anybody to leave our ministry to join theirs.
I’d encourage you to read another article I wrote about the Sheep Stealing Myth here: https://burton.tv/2011/09/06/church-competition-and-the-sheep-stealingtransfer-growth-myth/
THELAB HOUSE OF PRAYER
To break down a spirit of competition and jealousy and to promote a unified pursuit of revival in this region, we are inviting pastors and leaders to join with us in prayer—and to join in the building of a new house of prayer for the region!
thelab house of prayer is functional ever Sunday night at Revival Church, and the next step will result in an explosion of daily intercession, training and worship.
We are inviting intercessors, musicians, leaders, pastors, revivalists, prophetic messengers and others to partner in the development of this new regional ministry!
Contact me at [email protected] for details. We are ready to develop worship teams and intercession watches!
You can help us raise the remaining $40,000 by giving here: www.thelabdetroit.com/payment.
Audio + Notes: Do you complain or gossip? Don’t die in your desert!
Do you complain or gossip? Don’t die in your desert! Last night at Revival Church was heavily saturated by the Holy Spirit…listen now!
FIRST: The deadline to register for thelab school of fire is March 20th! www.revivallab.com
Joshua Generation: media.johnburton.net/7316237
There was a weighty, drunkenness of the Holy Spirit last night at Revival Church!
Greg Davis was amazing as he led worship…the flow of intercession and worship was insane!
The liquid love and hard core challenge of God was hitting us all… absolutely remarkable!
Listen NOW: media.johnburton.net/7316237
Here’s the notes!
Joshua Generation
I. The Great Mission
a. Threefold Strategy of God
i. Salvation & Deliverance: The initial goal in the Exodus was to escape captivity. (inward)
ii. Intimacy & Offering: The secondary goal was to worship God in intimacy in the desert. (upward)
iii. Warfare & Possession: The ultimate goal was to take their new culture of intercession and worship into the Promised Land and conquer demonic strongholds on cities that stand in the way. (outward)
b. This is our focus at Revival Church: get you free, encounter God in intimacy, rise up as warriors and fulfill a mission. All three must be active!
i. The house of prayer must come before we take the city!
c. That’s the great mission, and now let’s look at a great mistake.
II. The Great Mistake
a. They had been slaves there for over 400 years, and God went to great lengths to deliver them from bondage.
i. They appreciated the deliverance, but they didn’t transfer their gaze from inward to upward, from them to God.
b. Shortly after their salvation form Egypt, due to their persistent unbelief that God would faithfully and safely take them into a land of their own, the Promised Land (Canaan–or Israel), God brought judgment and chastisement upon them (Numbers 13–14). He sent them into the desert to wander for 40 years. (This is most Christians!) All of the people aged 20 years or older were destined to die in the desert and to never enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief (Numbers 14:26–35, Hebrews 3:16–19).
c. The great mistake? The Israelites were known for their complaint!
i. What a legacy!
ii. Their complaining led to unbelief which led to wandering and then death.
1. If you wander too long, you will not see your promise!
iii. One of the most tragic mistakes we can make is to assume our attitudes and personal dispositions don’t have much of an impact.
iv. Check this out:
d. Numbers 11:1 (ESV) 1 And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.
e. 1 Corinthians 10:8-10 (ESV) 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
i. Dang! What is that! To be destroyed by serpents! Hard core! The Destroyer!
ii. Why? Just for sexual immorality? Grumbling?
iii. Yes, our attitudes and actions reap consequences!
f. Numbers 14:1-10 (ESV) 1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” 10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
i. Do not rebel.
ii. Do not fear.
iii. You would think the complaining would end…but no! Check it out!
1. Numbers 16:1-3 (NIV) 1 Korah …became insolent 2 and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. 3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD‘s assembly?”
2. Numbers 16:31-33 (NIV) 31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.
iv. This is getting serious!
1. Today it’s expected that leaders make it easy for people to follow.
2. I disagree. Leaders are called to lead you into the most challenging, risky and humanly impossible adventure!
3. We should make it easy for leaders to lead!
4. Paul said, Follow me as I follow Christ.
5. If you are going to follow apostolic leaders, you better have your running shoes on!
6. Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV) 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
7. 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 (ESV) 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
a. Apostolic leaders lead into a difficult, costly mission with a sharp prophetic edge.
b. Pastors mostly lead you into comfort, and there is a place for that… and apostles lead you into mission, into movement.
c. This is why churches are usually best led by apostles and small groups are usually best led by pastors, or the regional church led by apostles, and local bodies led by pastors. They must work together.
d. We equip people to work, to move, to fulfill a mission.
e. Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
f. It’s time to move!
III. The Great Movement
a. From the Great Mistake to the Great Movement.
b. The older generation complained, grumbled, sinned sexually, had idols, etc… but the younger generation was humbled, tested and disciplined by the Lord during their desert sojourn.
c. They were ready to move into their mission.
d. Our church’s key verses:
i. Joshua 3:4-5 (ESV) 4 …Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
1. Verse 4 is why we must embrace apostolic leadership—we have never been this way before…apostles are ‘sent ones’…they are pioneers.
a. You need a Daniel Boone leading you!
b. Despite some resistance from American Indian tribes such as the Shawnee, in 1775 Boone blazed his Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains from North Carolina and Tennessee into Kentucky. There he founded the village of Boonesborough, Kentucky, one of the first American settlements west of the Appalachians.
c. Boone was a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–83), which in Kentucky was fought primarily between the American settlers and the British-aided Native Americans. Boone was captured by Shawnee warriors in 1778, who after a while adopted him into their tribe.
d. Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 European people migrated to Kentucky/Virginia by following the route marked by Boone.
2. The only way we can survive such a dangerous mission is if we follow verse 5 instructions: Consecrate yourselves and prepare for wonders!
3. Consecrate: Prepare, sanctify, clean, dedicate, purify
a. The older generation who died in the desert complained because they were lacking, and because they had unbelief.
b. Notice the remedy: The younger generation embraced a fasted lifestyle as they consecrated themselves…and also embraced ridiculous faith as they were called to step into the waters of the Jordan and march around the walls of a fortified city.
ii. We are moving into the uncharted, impossible, not into the predictable and casual! Daniel Boone! Joshua! How about Peter Pan?
1. Peter Pan Jesus
2. It’s time to follow! To blaze a new trail!
3. Joshua 3:2-3 (ESV) 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.
4. God is raising up trailblazing leaders who carry the presence of God into the land of promise! Dare you follow?!
5. Joshua 3:9-13 (ESV) 9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”
iii. Joshua 6:1-2 (ESV) 1 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. 2 And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.
IV. Conclusion
a. If you want your city, you have to conquer your river.
b. If you want your Goliath, you have to conquer your lion and your bear.
c. If you are not interested in taking the city, you’ll waste away in the desert on the wrong side of promise.
d. If you aren’t interested in taking on Goliath, you’ll be bait for a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
e. We have no option. We must fight. We must believe. We must advance.
Oops. Correction and a new house of prayer for the Detroit region…
Life with John and Amy is THIS Saturday March SECOND (not third) at 6pm!
Just in case there may have been some confusion, the community of revivalists meets this Saturday, March 2nd… which is TOMORROW!
See you there at 6pm! Bring food, friends, kids and anybody else you can find! Our house is at 64639 Tara Hill Drive, Washington, MI 48095. 
And, while I have you, I should let you in on a powerful shift that has taken place at Revival Church.
A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR THE DETROIT REGION : IHOP WEBSTREAM
No revival has come without a fiery, consistent foundation of intercession.
Soon, we will host intercession daily in our new mission base. But, we aren’t waiting!
Last Sunday we started gathering those who are ready to pray without ceasing and with fire in their bellies at 5:15pm for aggressive, fervent intercession in the sanctuary with the IHOP webstream video playing over us.
We then roll right into the worship service that has a mix of praise, intercession, worship and declarations throughout the night.
Of course, passionate teaching on revival and altar ministry will close out the night.
EVERYBODY PRAYING
I’m convinced that only those who are alive in the place of prayer, who are intimate with Jesus and deeply connected to his heart, will thrive, or even survive, in the end-times.
We are in the end-times right now.
Revival Church desires to see everybody joyfully alive and maturing rapidly in the place of prayer. theLab School of Fire, Revival Tribes, our worship experience and other focuses are fueled by people who pray.
These people (YOU!) will change the world!
We are always looking for praying people who are ready to take the fire to the cities of the Earth. We are taking intercessory warriors to Manitou Springs, Colorado SIX times this year. People who pray best understand the power they have to shock regions and nations!
So, come on out and get your feet wet at 5:15pm THIS SUNDAY!