Posts by John Burton
Special event with minister from India this Friday at Revival Church
Prepare to get ROCKED this Friday at 7pm. Pastor Samuel Tatikonda will be at Revival Church.
FIRST: Tonight (Sunday) at 7pm at Revival Church we will continue in worship & equipping. There has been an unusual glory of God that has been manifesting on Sundays lately…and it arrived last night as well. Something supernatural is happening!
The easiest way for you to understand just what you are getting yourself into this FRIDAY is to watch some powerful videos of Pastor Samuel Tatikonda ministering in India.
I’ll include a video of a service that I would love to be a part of! (In fact, I have an open invitation to minister there…come on God!)
Then, I’ll share a video of Pastor Samuel delivering a young man from a demon.
BRING THE KIDS
Bring the whole family and anybody who needs a jolt of fire! We will all be together in a wild atmosphere of prayer and ministry!
Shocking dream reveals the need for revival
A shocking dream will make it clear how critical it is that we gather and contend for revival.
I recently had a dream that shook me to my very core. I’m currently revising my book The Coming Church to include what follows:
The Submarine Dream
My wife and I were in a military grade nuclear submarine following behind a second submarine that contained my Father and Mother-in-law.
I was analyzing the situation, trying to gain understanding on what exactly were were doing while my wife was playfully looking through the periscope. Both submarines were staying at the surface of the water, and they were being used as tour vessels. The atmosphere was playful and carefree.
After a short time everybody was done playing and we decided to park the submarines alongside a long pier. We climbed out and walked down the pier and onto an ocean side boardwalk. There were people everywhere enjoying a beautiful sunny day. The restaurants and shops were full of activity.
We walked onto the sandy beach which was about one hundred yards from the submarines.
As we gazed out over the water, both submarines suddenly began leaving. They headed out toward deeper water.
My in-laws immediately started running into the water giving chase to the submarines. As they did, I was thinking that it was impossible for them to get anywhere near to the fast moving vessels and I didn’t understand why they had tried.
Then, my wife ran into the water as well.
What I saw next can’t easily be described in a way that is true to the emotion I felt. The water immediately began erupting as if a powerful hurricane was upon us. I was terrorized as I frantically tried to devise a plan to help. What I saw next drained every bit of hope from my being. A whirlpool opened up underneath my in-laws and sucked them under. Then, a second whirlpool took my wife.
I was screaming for help. A few people gathered around but could offer no help whatsoever. I called 911 and all I heard was this recording, “We can’t send help for an hour. We can’t send help for an hour.”
It looped over and over. I knew that THIS was the hour. I couldn’t wait! The emergency was upon us.
As I stood on the beach, hopeless, the scene changed.
Only a few days had passed yet it was now bitterly cold and the water had frozen over. There was at least ten feet of snow on top of the ice.
I started moving slowly, though as quickly as I could, through the snow in the direction of where the whirlpools were.
I started digging ferociously and what I saw next will forever be seared in my memory.
It was my wife, frozen. She was gone.
I ran back to the boardwalk and into a restaurant. I saw someone who had tried to help previously behind the counter of a sports bar. He was a volunteer firefighter in addition to working at the restaurant. I yelled, “Help! Help! I found her! I found her! Come quickly!”
He just casually said, “Sorry man, I’m working.”
What? I couldn’t believe what I heard. I said, “No, you don’t understand! I found my wife! I need help!”
He just said, “Sorry.” and then looked at a customer and said, “How can I help you?”
I ran back to the snow where my wife was buried. I thought that maybe, just maybe, since she was frozen that there was a chance she could be revived. I’ve heard of people freezing and their heart beat is slowed to almost nothing before being brought back.
As I was thinking about this I looked down at her, and there was a paper right next to her frozen face.
I picked it up. All it said was, “Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die.”
Then I woke up.
Interpretation
When I woke up I was shaken to my core.
As I started to pray and analyze the dream, the following is what was highlighted to me:
- The submarines: Vehicles represent ministry, and I believe the submarines represented the church. The church is not meant for casual play at the surface of the water. It’s a military weapon of war designed to move into the deep as it advances toward enemy targets. When the submarines left on their own, that represented the truth that the church will most certainly advance on its mission with or without us. We can be left behind as we continue our focus on entertainment and leisure if we so choose.
- My family: Of course, this was a hard core part of the dream. The first reaction is to do everything I can to ensure those close to me are doing well and burning hot for Jesus. Beyond that, symbolically I feel they represented familiarity and presumption. It’s very easy to presume those who are close to us are most certainly doing well in their relationship with Jesus—and then to model our lives after theirs. What happens so often is that we can adopt their pace and their level of passion instead of staying locked in, on alert and advancing in the fire of God. The pressure of maintaining civilities and false-unity can result in a marginalized, lukewarm, casual disposition.
This verse best represents what I am communicating:
…I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Revelation 3:1
We must be careful not to presume that we are alive and that others are alive simply because of the preceding reputations. There are many people with both a spiritual legacy and a name for being zealous who are doing little more than playing—and it’s possible that those people may be some of our closest friends, family, pastors and other personal heroes. Don’t measure your life by their grid. We must calibrate to the truth in scripture that will bring light to every issue of our heart.
Then, we can be true awakeners. If we think people who are are asleep are already awake, then we will have no need to step into our roles as end-time prophetic messengers.
- 911: I was sounding the alarm in a variety of ways including by calling 911. I also ran into the sports bar looking for help. Both rejected the alarm. It’s clear that the hour is now for awakening though even those trained as emergency responders won’t see it. What was the alarm? Those that have a reputation of being alive are dead! Wake up!
- The storm: It was sudden, violent and really out of place. It didn’t make sense, but it wasn’t obligated to explain itself. If we would have been in the submarines AND in the deep, the storm would not have touched us.
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; Matthew 24:36-38
The Call
So, what’s the call?
It’s simple, and it’s directed to the church, to those who are to be in the deep:
Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Revelation 3:2
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3:4-6
God instructed me to wrestle with Revelation 3:1. I've been burning hot for Jesus for over 20 years, yet, is it possible that my devotion is not as deep as I might think? Yes, it is possible.
God didn't accuse me of being dead. He didn't reveal that my passion was false. He simply wanted me to always consider the possibility that my reputation will always be at risk of being more intense than my reality.
…I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Revelation 3:1
It's time to go deep, to be awake and alert and then to awaken the sleepers…many who may have a reputation of being very much alive…but are not.
It’s time for revival. This is the hour.
Detroit needs you: Prayer event with Family Life Radio & Winter Jam at Joe Louis Arena
Impact lives THIS SATURDAY as we pray over the Winter Jam event with Family Life Radio!
First, I have some exciting news: theFurnace has a new radio show that will air on 1440 in Detroit during drive time, 4:45pm, Monday through Friday!
The first show is THIS MONDAY, so be sure to listen in! You can stream it online if you aren’t in the Detroit area here: http://rdo.to/WDRJ
Detroit needs YOU!
5000 cards arrived yesterday, and now we just need laborers to pass them out THIS SATURDAY, February 22nd from 4-6pm at Winter Jam!
The concept is simple—we will walk and pray as people line up outside for the concert. Then, after we pray for a random person, without them realizing it, we will simply hand them a card and say, “We just prayed for you, is there anything else we can pray for?” That’s it!
Family Life Radio is promoting this Prayer Jam on air, and we are believing for a turnout of people who are passionate about revival in Detroit!
At 4pm sharp, meet us at the main entrance to Joe Louis Arena.
Keep in mind, you will need to park and walk, so leave sufficient time!
If you don’t want to interact with people, that’s OK. Just walk with us!
This will be a powerful event!
You can listen to an interview on Family Life Radio here: http://www.myflr.org/john-burton-hope-hero-february-2014/
Then, after the prayer event, you are invited to join us for our Saturday night service at Revival Church! It begins at 7pm!
Revival Church is located at 26091 Sherwood, Warren, MI 48091.
Live video • theFurnace.tv • 16 Dangers of the Positive Christianity Movement
TONIGHT at 10pm on theFurnace.tv • 16 Dangers of the Positive Christianity Movement
Revival requires that we know and embrace God as he is—in his tenderness and in his severity.
There is a seductive yet extremely dangerous movement in the land that refuses to acknowledge God in any other fashion than good and happy.
Tonight at 10pm EST I’ll be discussing this. (And, yes, Nia will certainly make another appearance.)
You can participate via the chat room and I will address your comments and questions live on the air.
Head over to www.thefurnace.tv/live and get ready to encounter Jesus!
Stop the prophetic nonsense
Stop the prophetic nonsense
STOP THE NONSENSE
Someone just needs to say it—it’s time to stop the prophetic nonsense that’s inundating the church today.
I am one who radically affirms modern day prophetic revelation. I teach on it, I’ve written on it and I live it. We should absolutely be experiencing critical and timely dreams, visions and revelation. In fact, we need to live a true prophetic life in a much greater way in the end-times. Our very lives should be driven by revelation.
I’m honored to be traveling to Haiti in a couple of months to teach on the prophetic in a ministry school there. I fully expect God to manifest in substantial ways as we all grow deeper as hearers and proclaimers of God’s messages.
That being said, the fear of the Lord must be continually on us as we stand as God’s mouthpieces in the Earth. The coming revivals that will hit cities and regions must be preceded by bold and accurate voices that prepare the way of the Lord.
The prophetic culture that has taken form in our nation looks little like the one two thousand years ago where a bold wilderness prophet prepared the way of the Lord.
We must have unapologetic calls to repentance and holiness in the spirit of John the Baptist! We cannot expect revival if we don’t have Elijah style prophetic confrontations with the spirit of the age!
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, g‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” Jer 23:16-17
Instead of warning the people of the Earth of impending disaster, so many of today’s supposed prophets are building their ministries by promising blessing after blessing—always just over the horizon, in the not too distant future.
Any prophetic voice that doesn’t reveal the dread of the Lord and the call to turn from wickedness as a part of their ministry is a prophetic voice that cannot be trusted. They are not credible.
THE SUPERBOWL?
I about came unglued when I heard about prophetic guarantees that a certain team would be winning this year’s Superbowl.
This is madness! How dare we use the fearful gift of God’s very words to guarantee the outcome of a game? A game!
Can you imagine John the Baptist setting up his fortune teller booth and predicting the outcome of chariot races? It’s insanity—and it’s inexcusable. We must stop the nonsense.
BALAAM
They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. 2 Peter 2:14-16
The prophet’s madness!
If you want to pack out a conference, develop a reputation of a Jeremiah 23 prophet. Refuse to mention anything challenging. Don’t rebuke. Don’t call to repentance. Don’t highlight the negative. Have a plastic smile on your face and cause everybody to feel great about their condition. Tell them God is thrilled with them and they are primed for massive reward, even if they are walking in compromise and darkness. Embrace the greed of Balaam and form your prophetic words just right so people will give extravagantly to your ministry.
If you want to be accused and despised by most, weep and cry at the state of the church and the world. Develop a backbone of steel and let the fire of God rage in your gut. Let the fire burst out of your mouth as it shocks the sleepers out of their coma!
You probably won’t have a worldwide ministry that draws multiplied thousands, but you will be an obedient servant.
We have become so afraid of coming across as negative! My God! How has the fear of man so bewitched us?
Give me an angry prophet with fire in his eyes and brokenness in his spirit any day! We must be angry—exceedingly angry! The fury of God’s wrath rests on a wicked people, and the church is selling sugar that’s laced with a drug that will put this generation into an eternal sleep!
REVIVAL?
The topic of revival is what drives me probably more than any other.
While I absolutely affirm various signs and signals that can indicate regional activity of God, I must admit that I’m growing more troubled at the imbalance growing focus on natural indicators of supposed revival.
I stated five years ago when I first arrived in Detroit that revival was not near. I was actually shocked that so many people were so convinced that God was about to pour out in this region. The prophesies continually revealed that revival was imminent.
I was talking with a prominent national leader last week about the state of revival in the Detroit region. He had been very active over the previous several years in the effort to rally the church into revival readiness in this region. I shared with him that the spirit of revival has nearly disappeared. He agreed. I believe we have actually fallen further behind in the pursuit of revival than we were five years ago.
I don’t believe key indicators of revival in a region are materialistic prosperity, natural revitalization or economic gain. It’s mass repentance. Period.
I am not looking at anything other than a sleeping, compromised church and a wicked secular culture with tears in my eyes. The cry is REPENT! Wake up!
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
How is it that we can presume we are where we need to be for revival to break out? Are we letting God search our hearts and crush our resistance to his leadership?
I was interviewed on Family Life Radio today on my book 20 Elements of Revival. I explained to them that I have yet to find a single church that has proceeded beyond element number two.
The first element is agreement. We must be agreed as they were in the Upper Room. They were in one accord. They were also in one place. Element number two is an extreme devotion of time. We must gather together continually as we put the rest of life on the shelf and cry out in repentance and intercession! Without unity around the call to repentance and intercession, we can’t presume to have even taken the first step towards revival!
Now do you understand why it is simply nonsensical to prophesy that revival is right around the corner?
Of course, God can do anything he wants, and certainly there are pockets of Believers in this region and around the world who are contending, repenting, interceding and hungering for God to move—and that is significant. However, there are over 19,000 cities in our nation and NOT ONE of them is experiencing revival! That means we are zero for 19,000! We are doing something wrong—19,000 times!
Revival will be preceded by anointed, love driven, sharp preaching on righteousness. The prophecies must include the coming doom for those who resist God! Warnings must go out to the masses! We can’t just tell people God loves them and that he has a great plan for their life! Come on! We must warn of the wrath the unredeemed are under, reveal the reality of Hell and call them out of condemnation into the light!
CONCLUSION
I will be discussing all of this and more in just under four hours from right now.
Watch and participate LIVE at www.thefurnace.tv/live at 10pm EST.
The times we are in a dire, and we need true prophetic voices who not only reveal God’s blessings, but his severity as well.
Fresh prophetic message: I’d like to strongly encourage you to head out to Revival Church tonight…
If you are local, join us at Revival Church OR if not, stream LIVE tonight at www.thefurnace.tv/live!
I will be bringing a sudden prophetic message that God deposited into my spirit last night.
I’ll discuss two spiritual giants who were wildly successful in their missions—but who were both disqualified because of their hearts and emotions.
I believe you will be set free from struggles that have locked you down as God brings this piece of revelation to life for you!
Revival Church is located at 26091 Sherwood, Warren, MI 48091.
Prayer begins at 6pm (join us!) and the service at 7pm!
MEDIA
A major emphasis and focus of our ministry is to reach the nations with the message of revival.
Even locally, everything is setup to minister in a primary way to those who are listening and watching to our various events online. This ministry in Detroit is focused on the cities and nations of the Earth!
PLEASE head over to www.thefurnace.tv/live TONIGHT at 7pm and listen to our worship, intercession and this key teaching! The event is intentionally fast paced and broken up into two teaching segments, with worship and decrees before and after! It will rock you!
See you tonight!
God Redefined: A reformation of understanding who God is must come to the Church
I’m on a personal journey to discover God—as He truly is—and what I discover will certainly trouble me.
It will trouble me because I'm absolutely confident that his fear is going to hit me more than it ever has… and I will have to guard my heart from offense when the parts I so value are revealed as a distortion of who he truly is. But, in the end, it will be glorious!
We have to put on our big boy and big girl pants and have a tender heart covered by very thick skin as we eagerly welcome calibration to God’s Word.
We must read the Word as it is, in context! I’m shocked at how quickly very clear scriptural truths are dismissed without reason by those who are threatened by what it says.
For example, how can we not read Revelation 9:15 and not have it violate the common, modern definition of Godly love?
So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Revelation 9:15
That’s an offensive verse! How does that mess with your definition of a loving God? He killed mankind throughout biblical history, OT and NT, and that greatly impacts how we view God!
I so crave to read verses like this and devour it, let it get deep into my spirit so my understanding of God can be made more vivid. If I resist that process of study, I put my position in Christ at risk as I replace him with a misrepresented version of him.
The Bible tells us to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith. ~Paul Washer
I regularly talk to God about this. Am I truly in the faith, or have I bought into religious superstition and tradition that satisfies my desire for spirituality?
In this journey I’m quickly discovering that the Word of God will radically offend me if I don’t allow it to enlighten me. The God of the Bible is strikingly different than his representation in much of today’s church.
When you preach truth, it will cause people to either thank you or hate you. Pure truth is costly to handle and receive. It’s dangerous. It’s freeing.
The very traditions and perspectives that we have grown up with in the American church must be placed on the altar as we allow God to reeducate us. We must have the knowledge of God, and it’s time that we finally get deep into God’s Word again!
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! Mark 7:9
thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” Mark 7:13
This journey has ramped up for me over the last two years, and my message and mission have become so clearly defined that I have had to repent in tears over leading a church with a care-free culture that was devoid of the fear of the Lord. I was shocked to life and brokenness during a Bay of the Holy Spirit event in Detroit—and it was then, as a vision of millions of people hanging in the void between Heaven and Hell opened before me, that I knew everything was going to change for me and my ministry—drastically.
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Romans 10:1-3
Romans 10:1-2 sums up the short period of time when I was leading a vibrant church here in the Detroit region that was electric and experience driven. We launched Revival Church correctly, and experienced some phenomenal moves of God, but I distinctly remember thinking at one point well into the church planting process, “People are so locked in to the happy, care-free culture of celebration that we better just ride this wave for a while.” That is what I had to repent for. I was irresponsible for perpetuating a culture of positivity while ignoring God’s severity. What was resulting was no longer God moving as much as we’d like to think. I believe we became inward focused, looking for spiritual high after spiritual high.
What people call a great move of God is often just emotion. ~Paul Washer
Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. Romans 11:22
We have to embrace both God’s kindness and his severity. I was focusing on his kindness while forsaking his severity, for this short period of time, and I became so broken and convicted that I simply could not continue that way.
The shift resulted in a focus on the core DNA of my heart, and a fuller acknowledgment of scriptural truth.
That shift is continuing for me, and it has me in the grips of God’s empowering grace—I am yearning for revelation not based on experience first, but on the timeless, pure Word of the Living God. That’s the journey that will cause trouble as it already has and will certainly continue to threaten the sacred cows in the church today.
SOURCES OF FOOD AND LIFE?
In Hinduism, the cow is revered as the source of food and symbol of life and may never be killed.
The sacred cows in the church are going to be violated when truth in scripture is trumpeted, and that has already and will continue to cause problems. These sacred cows are relied on by many Christians as their source of food and life, of feelings of security, safety, love, etc.
Since I started this journey of biblical study, my eyes have been opened afresh, and my spirit awakened as God has revealed violations of clear, orthodox biblical truths that the church has embraced with much eagerness. As one who fell into the trap of perpetuating a culture of positivity at the expense of the highlighting the cost and God’s severity, I understand how seductive it can be.
It’s time, with a humble spirit, to tear down our father’s altars. When we do that, people’s source of food and life will be threatened, and the reaction will be extreme, no matter how humble our heart is.
When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” Judges 6:28-30
Most people will shrink back from such a bold approach due to the cost. It’s difficult when the accusations start flying. After all, such a seemingly arrogant move stinks of personal ambition and hatred—when in fact Gideon was acting in love, according to the instructions of God. I’ll talk more about the radical misunderstanding of what love is below.
Do you understand the cost I must pay to say that American Christianity is almost totally wrong. ~Paul Washer
Because our gospel message has been deficient,our disciples are now deficient & the American “born again” Church is deficient. ~Michael Brown
THE FALSE-GRACE REACTION
By far, the teaching that resulted from my journey in the Word that has elicited the greatest number of comments is on false-grace.
Many times a day, most every day, I’m receiving emails, Facebook messages and other comments on this message—and about 95% of them are positive. People are thanking me for sounding the alarm. I’ve received many testimonies from people who have been set free from this deception. That makes it worth it for sure!
It’s so important that we don’t hold back truth out of fear of accusation. People who are buying into false-grace are literally in extreme and immediate danger!
We care more about our friendships than we do about our friends. We hold back truth to save those friendships. ~Francis Chan
Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. Romans 11:22
The remaining 5% or so of those who respond to my articles, videos and comments on false-grace, sadly, are often extremely aggressive and even hateful in their communication. The reason? They have put their faith in an unscriptural sacred cow instead of the fearful truth of Jesus.
They have so identified with their sinful nature that they cannot imagine Truth actually setting them free. Their only hope seems to be a grace that covers up their failures. In fact, accusations are often hurled saying the rejection of the false-grace message reveals one’s hypocrisy since they are trying to call people to a standard that they have determined nobody can reach. Teachers of true grace are called legalists, though all they are doing is letting people know the standards Jesus himself established.
Grace enables us to obey. It really does. It’s empowering, not burdensome.
And, thanks to God’s mercy, when we do fail, we can respond to God’s love and get back up! We should never refuse to preach truth and affirm the biblical standards because we struggle living up to it! It’s in our weakness that he’s made strong! When we admit that we cannot do it in our own strength, God is glorified!
One of the most difficult parts of repentance is to repent of your good deeds – it is much harder than repenting of your bad deeds – to repent of your self-righteousness, which is far more offensive to God than your unrighteousness. ~David Pawson
It’s actually God’s mercy, not his grace, that covers our failures. It’s an expression of God’s deep love for us! It’s true grace that enables us to live a righteous life.
The false-grace issue is volatile enough to split churches right down the middle, and I believe that it will actually be the distinguishing factor that reveals clearly the authentic and the false church in the end times.
THE FALSE-LOVE CONFUSION
Love. We don’t understand it.
There's been an overemphasis on the love of God (in teaching). It was not the message of the apostles. Only 35 out of 35,000 scriptures in the Bible are about the love of God. ~David Pawson
I have been increasingly troubled in my spirit with the misunderstanding of what true, biblical love really is. I mean, my friend, it is so radically different than we understand it to be—in fact, God’s expression of love can very often look like hatred! This is biblical truth, and it’s hard to handle.
I wrote another article on the false-love movement, so I won’t rehash it here. But I do want to speak to it to a degree.
I was so appreciative of a short video I stumbled upon by David Pawson. I am including it here, and the seven minutes it will take to watch it just might change your understanding of just what love is. Please, by all means, watch it. Everything he’s saying is what has been jumping in my spirit for months. He just does a much more brilliant job of communicating it!
After watching the video, you are provoked I’m sure.
This is the type of scriptural revelation that I’m talking about! We misunderstand God which results in misrepresenting God!
Entire churches and movements are sitting on a compromised foundation that’s made up of misrepresentations of God and his Word!
We really don’t know God! We must humbly admit this!
We’ve grown up in churches that have taught about God’s love in massive portions, so any movement that doesn’t focus on it in that way seems unloving, and is dismissed. My God!
We must dive into the Word of God again, as if we’ve never read it before.
Just today, my wife was reading through John chapter 3, and was taking note of the severity of God. (Very interestingly, she read it just before she watched the above video!)
She then read the commentary in the sidebar that was written by an extremely popular author. The author was actually contradicting what the passage was revealing! This isn’t surprising since John 3:16 specifically is so often misapplied, but it does give us a sobering mandate to study to show ourselves approved.
My wife said, “Maybe I need to stop reading the commentary and just read the Word.”
Yes! Read it first, and then use commentary and various Bible helps to see if they either confirm and illuminate what the scriptures reveal OR contradict it.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
We must return to orthodox Christianity. It’s time we read the Word as it is. As I do this, it’s stunning how contrary we are to it. I’m wrecked and I’m being transformed.
As we are in the Word, we will discover often disturbing but always liberating insights on fear, eternity, Hell, grace, love, God’s nature, his feelings toward different types of people, salvation and much more.
We must break off the gods of personal satisfaction, selfish ambition and personal gain that so many of today’s theologies have empowered.
Any impatience, self-will, religious ambition, the compulsion to do for God, and the need to be recognized and acknowledged, will never be a glory unto God. -Art Katz
Our hearts must be continually inspected and pure, humble, broken…as we dive back into the Word and see just what God originally communicated.
I challenge you to read the Word, in context, without the lenses of pop-theologies of today, and see how different God ends up appearing to you!
When that happens, tell the world. It’s time to shine light on our hearts first, and then on the religious darkness in America.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Should we reject fear in all forms? Does God affirm certain types of fear?
We can damage our relationship with God if we reject all forms of fear.
All too often I hear voices rising up aggressively against any form of fear, or what they would define as fear. That rejection is resulting in the eradication of core, foundational, scriptural truths—verses, principles and even the words of Jesus are ignored or twisted to serve an unbiblical view of love.
God used both positive and negative motivation when calling people to him—both his tangible love and literal fear are motivators to keep us in him.
If we reject healthy fear, or the fear of the Lord, we will sometimes quickly and sometimes gradually fall into a lukewarm, compromised state.
I want to invite you to read my book The Terror of Hell. I have made it available for FREE online. You can see it HERE.
I came out of that God given encounter with terror at such a high level that I almost went mad. Literally. The extremes in the spirit realm are so intense, both positively and negatively, that our natural man cannot handle it.
The fear I experienced in that encounter was from God. It was horrifying, but necessary. It was appropriate. It has never left me.
THREE TYPES OF FEAR
Healthy Fear
Healthy fear results from a analysis of a situation and a reaction to keep us out of harm’s way. The analysis can be well thought out and detailed, such as the development of a plan to save for college and complete a degree program to avoid the threat of poverty. It can also be instant and reactive. I remember falling asleep at the wheel and suddenly realizing I was veering into oncoming traffic. My heart skipped a beat and I was scared out of my mind. I pulled over and slapped my face and reenergized myself!
We also see the call to healthy fear cover to cover in the Bible as God provides warnings of tragedy, such as being eternally separated from him in Hell. Just as we would have a healthy fear of poverty or falling asleep at the wheel, it makes no sense that the principle wouldn’t be applicable regarding Hell.
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Revelation 3:1-3
If the church is asleep at the wheel, someone needs to sound an alarm that impending doom is drawing near!
But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Luke 12:5
Note that the above verse isn’t talking about a reverence for God, but rather it’s saying the be very afraid of where he can send you!
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. Matthew 5:22
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14
Again, it is healthy to receive the warning of such a horrific possibility. It is absolutely healthy to fear Hell just as it is healthy to fear burning your finger on the stove.
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:41-42
It’s impossible to dismiss healthy fear and still read and receive the truth in scripture. Time and again God shocks us with insight into a horrible possible future for those who are not truly his. This healthy fear results in a deeper analysis of one’s commitment to Jesus. It no longer is possible to be casual in our relationship with him.
The parable of the talents is an excellent picture of healthy fear.
“‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Matthew 25:28-30
Jesus was using healthy fear as a motivation to live productively, with focus and sobriety. Interestingly, Jesus’ reaction to the lazy servant was due to unhealthy fear that caused him to bury his talent! Let’s take a look at that.
SLAVISH FEAR
The lazy servant exhibited slavish fear, when instead he should have had healthy fear of Hell on his mind.
“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,' he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' Matthew 25:24-25
He was afraid. That was slavish fear. His focus was on self-preservation instead of honoring his master, and that focus on self resulted in a very destructive type of fear.
Slavish fear kills love. This is the type of fear that is being addressed in 1 John:
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18
Love involves the self giving of one for the highest good of another. ~The New Unger's Bible Handbook.
When we truly love, our focus is not on our punishment, it’s on the object of our affection! If we lack love, we will fear punishment because we are selfish and inwardly focused.
Perfect love does not drive out healthy fear or the fear of the Lord. But it does absolutely drive out slavish fear.
Slavish fear is a self-centered expression that comes when we are overwhelmed with the thought of personal loss. The fear of man, for example, is slavish fear. We become overprotective, defensive and self-preserving, which results in extreme timidity as we distrust those we presume have the power to hurt us. Slavish fear manifests as anxiety, dread and panic. It’s crippling.
Slavish fear results when we feel powerless and threatened. This is where the love of God comes in! We surrender control to him from a place of faith and love and slavish fear begins to dissipate.
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. Luke 1:74-75
This verse reveals the battle to be free from slavish fear, from fear of our enemies, as we live in the fear of the Lord.
FEAR OF THE LORD
Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. Exodus 3:6
My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws. Psalm 119:120
The love of God and the fear of God are inseparable. The fear of the Lord results in us living a circumspect life from a place of loving devotion.
“If you love me, you will obey what I command. John 14:15
John Bevere had the privilege of meeting with Jim Bakker of PTL fame in prison after his conviction for mishandling money. John asked Jim, “When did you stop loving God?” Jim replied, “John, I never stopped loving God. I stopped fearing God.”
Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil. Proverbs 16:6
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Proverbs 8:13
He whose walk is upright fears the LORD, but he whose ways are devious despises him. Proverbs 14:2
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. Proverbs 14:27
Experiencing God’s love is insufficient (and radically incomplete) if it doesn’t result in the fear of the Lord. God’s love draws us close and the fear of God keeps us on guard. Fear of God is a fountain of life!
Often it is presumed that the fear of the Lord simply means reverence of the Lord. That is a woefully incomplete definition. Time and again, the fear of the Lord is translated as reverence and terror!
The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, Isaiah 8:13
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. Acts 9:31
In Acts 9:31, the word “fear” translates not as reverence, but as terror:
Transliteration: phobos
(to be put in fear); alarm or fright :- be afraid, + exceedingly, fear, terror.
When God makes himself known, terror will strike. How could it not? The voice of the Father resulted in terror in the disciples:
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don't be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. Matthew 17:5-8
I think it’s interesting that this was an expression of the Father’s love! God the Father was expressing his love for his Son, and the result was terror! Again, what else, in such an overwhelming encounter, could be expected?
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. Psalm 19:9
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A must read segment from the book “not a fan” by Kyle Idleman
This segment from the book “not a fan” is so important—it will change the way you look at church and evangelism.
Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman
It’s a Thursday afternoon and I am sitting in the church sanctuary. It’s empty now, but Easter is only a few days away. More than thirty thousand people will likely come to the weekend services, and I have no idea what I’m going to say to them. I can feel the pressure mounting as I sit there hoping that a sermon will come to mind. I look around at the empty seats hoping some inspiration will come. Instead there’s just more perspiration. I wipe the sweat off my brow and look down. This sermon needs to be good. There are some people who only come to church on Christmas and Easter (we call them “Creasters”). I want to make sure they all come back. What could I say to get their attention? How can I make my message more appealing? Is there something creative I could do that would be a big hit and get people talking? Still nothing.
There is a Bible in the chair in front of me. I grab it. I can’t think of a Scripture to turn to. I’ve spent my life studying this book and I can’t think of one passage that will “wow” the Creasters. I consider using it the way I did as a kid. Kind of like a Magic 8 Ball, you ask a question, open up the Bible and point on the page, and whatever it says answers your question. Finally a thought crosses my mind: I wonder what Jesus taught whenever he had the big crowds. What I discovered would change me forever.
Not just as a preacher, but as a follower of Christ. I found that when Jesus had a large crowd, he would most often preach a message that was likely to cause them to leave. In that empty sanctuary I read of one such occasion in John chapter 6. Jesus is addressing a crowd that has likely grown to more than five thousand. Jesus has never been more popular. Word has spread about his miraculous healings and his inspirational teaching. This crowd of thousands has come to cheer him on. After a full day of teaching, Jesus knows the people are getting hungry, and so he turns to his disciples and asks what all these people will do for food. One of the disciples, Philip, tells Jesus that even with eight months’ wages, it wouldn’t be enough money to buy bread for everyone to have a bite. From Philip’s perspective, there really wasn’t anything that could be done. But another disciple, Andrew, has been scanning the crowd and he tells Jesus of a boy who has five loaves of bread and two small fish. Jesus takes the boy’s sack lunch and with it he feeds the entire crowd. In fact, the Bible tells us that even after everyone had their fill, there was still plenty of food left over. After dinner the crowd decides to camp out for the night so they can be with Jesus the next day. These are some big-time fans of Jesus.
The next morning when the crowd wakes up and they’re hungry again, they look around for Jesus, aka their meal ticket, but he’s nowhere to be found. These fans are hoping for an encore performance. Eventually they realize that Jesus and his disciples have crossed over to the other side of the lake. By the time they catch up to Jesus they’re starving. They’ve missed their chance to order breakfast and they are ready to find out what’s on the lunch menu. But Jesus has decided to shut down the “all you can eat” buffet. He’s not handing out any more free samples. In verse 26 Jesus says to the crowd: I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Jesus knows that these people are not going to all the trouble and sacrifice because they are following him, but because they want some free food. Was it Jesus they wanted, or were they only interested in what he could do for them? In verse 35 Jesus offers himself, but the question is, Would that be enough? Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Suddenly Jesus is the only thing on the menu. The crowd has to decide if he will satisfy or if they are hungry for something more. Here’s what we read at the end of the chapter: From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him (John 6:66). Many of the fans turn to go home. I was struck by the fact that Jesus doesn’t chase after them. He doesn’t soften his message to make it more appealing. He doesn’t send the disciples chasing after them with a creative handout inviting them to come back for a “build your own sundae” ice cream social. He seems okay with the fact that his popularity has plummeted. As I sat in the sanctuary surrounded by thousands of empty seats, here’s what became clear to me: it wasn’t the size of the crowd Jesus cared about; it was their level of commitment. I put the Bible back in the chair in front of me. I cried.
God, I am sorry. Almost as soon as I said it to him, I knew it needed to go further. A few days later on Easter Sunday, a crowd of thousands gathered and I began my sermon with a choked up apology. I told the crowd that I was wrong for being too concerned with what they would think and how many of them would come back. I think over the years my intentions were good; I wanted to make Jesus look as attractive as possible so that people would come to find eternal life in him. I was offering the people Jesus, but I was handing out a lot of free bread. In the process I cheapened the gospel. Imagine it this way. Imagine that my oldest daughter turns twenty-five. She isn’t married but she really wants to be.* I decide I’m going to help make that happen. So, imagine I take out an ad in the newspaper, put up a billboard sign, and make up T-shirts begging someone to choose her. I even offer some attractive gifts as incentives. Doesn’t that cheapen who she is? Wouldn’t that make it seem that whoever came to her would be doing her a favor? I would never do that. I would set the standard high. I would do background checks and lie detector tests. There would be lengthy applications that must be filled out in triplicate. References would be checked and hidden cameras installed. If you want to have a relationship with her, you better be prepared to give her the best of everything you have. I don’t want to just hear you say that you love her; I want to know that you are committed to her. I want to know that you would give your life for her.