Posts by John Burton
Dutch Sheets: Renewed Hope for America
Dutch Sheets: Renewed Hope for America
“Stay the Course”
Read the original article here: http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=12184
In recent visits to Arkansas and Mississippi, the hunger of the people, the release of revelation and moving of Holy Spirit far exceeded my expectations. These states are on God's radar – He is going to move there with the spirit of revival in powerful ways. I had an especially strong sense while there that many prodigals will soon be returning to Father. God is about to draw them back to Himself with an irresistible force!
I also heard Holy Spirit say, “Opposition, both from the Church and the world, will increase as we break out of normal. Religious spirits will insist on maintaining old structures and systems, and the kingdom of darkness will react aggressively to the spirit of revival. Don't be alarmed at this. Stay the course and resist the demonic pressure!”
The first step in resisting the enemy is being aware of his tactics. Keep your eyes and ears open and don't be surprised. Offensively resist his plans.
He Has Promised!
The Lord also said, “Strategies will begin to change for congregations, ministries and even businesses.”
Just as the strategy of the Lord for John the Baptist changed when Jesus began His ministry, Holy Spirit is about to speak new plans, ideas, activities and methods to those who are listening. Change is in the air! Listen carefully for His instruction concerning your ministries and businesses!
Finally, I heard Him say, “The Intercessors are weary. Breakthroughs are hanging from Heaven waiting for those who will receive a second wind and lay hold!”
The long season of praying for revival and outpouring has caused many to grow weary. Some have lost heart; others are simply tired and listless. We must pray for them, and each of us must stir ourselves into renewed intercession, encourage ourselves in the Lord, and receive renewed strength.
Let God's wind blow on you and lay hold to His promises! He has promised and He will bring it to pass!
Renewed Hope For America
I recognize that the mandate upon my life in this season is to restore hope to America and be a voice for awakening and reformation. The fear of the Lord compels me to carry out this mandate with steadfast determination. The Lord is so kind to continuously make it undeniably clear that this race I am running is one that He has clearly marked out for me, and the message I am preaching is precisely what is on God's heart for America at this time. The past few weeks have been extremely encouraging.
I met with a group of pastors in Louisiana last month whom, like many, are tired of business as usual. They are tired with of the lack of fruit, tired of competing with one another for members, and tired of losing the culture war for the soul of our nation. But they are also full of faith! This faith is motivating them to pray—really pray—and seek God together. With a burning desire to tear down walls that divide and debilitate us, they're holding joint services (on Sundays!), dreaming together and making plans to impact their region with revival and reformation. These church leaders are serious about being the Ekklesia!
Thereafter, I ministered in Canfield, Ohio and Beaumont, Texas, where we experienced powerful moves of God. Many leaders were present in each of those gatherings, crying out for God to bring awakening and reformation to America. These stirrings, and the desperation of leaders is encouraging. They are great signs of the kind of hunger needed to generate revival.
While in Ohio I received one of the strongest and most encouraging words I've been given in a long time. After hearing me teach on awakening and reformation, noted author and teacher, Dr. Myles Monroe, grabbed me—literally—and said:
“I now have hope for America!” He went on to say over and over, “You are right! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!” Then he said to me, “You are a reformer! Take it to the nation! You'll be called to Washington DC, to state capitols and to cities. They will seek your counsel and wisdom. You are called to reform this nation.”
I feel this word burning in my spirit. I am thinking, praying and processing through what he prophesied. I believe God has told me a new season of great favor is coming. Many doors will open into new arenas that will bring expanded influence and fruit.
I feel this is a word for all of us. The challenges of our era will be met by incredible grace and power. Position yourself now to receive this. Spiritual promotions are being prepared now for many. Move upward into yours.
Spirit of Awakening
I want to help you see what God is already doing in cities across America as the spirit of awakening sweeps across the nation—the unexpected in the least likely of places. As I travel from week to week, I am seeing an increased presence of the Lord as remnants of Believers pursue God with great intensity. I am witnessing miraculous healings, deliverances and profound prophetic revelation—even to the unsaved. There are major shifts in strategy taking place within the Body, and provision and favor is coming from unexpected sources. With great joy, I can also say that I am seeing the prodigals return home.
For the hope of our nation,
Dutch Sheets Dutch Sheets Ministries Email: click here
Dutch Sheets is an internationally known speaker and was recently named the Executive Director of Christ for the Nations Institute. Dutch is a successful author who has written many books including the best-seller Intercessory Prayer and his recent book, Dream. Dutch travels extensively, empowering Believers for passionate prayer and world-changing revival. Dutch and his wife, Ceci, reside in Dallas, Texas.
Dutch Sheets' Itinerary:
Note: Events are subject to change at the ministry's discretion. We suggest you always check first with the event contact listed here and/or directly visit their website for latest updates on each event.
June 12-13, 2013 (7pm) With: Dutch Sheets, Ken Malone and Rick Pino Crossroads Fellowship 605 State Road 66, Sebring, FL 33875 Contact: 863-655-0212
June 14, 2013 (7pm) Voice of Awakening With Dutch Sheets, Ken Malone and Rick Pino Redeeming Word Church 2800 West Prospect Road, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309 Contact: 863-229-2702
June 20, 2013 (7pm) Jump in the Refreshing River! Glory of Zion Ministries 7801 S I-35E, Corinth, TX 76210 Contact: 940-382-7231
A powerful, unusual model of ministry at Revival Church : Plus, Julia Palermo tonight
Does the American church have the desperation and the guts to return prayer to first place?
TONIGHT at 6pm! Julia Palermo is going to bring a potent message that will awaken your spirit! You MUST watch a short video of her preaching to a crowd of people—many of which were on drugs and radically demonized. The call is for the firebrands—the generation of youth to lead the prayer movement in Detroit and our nation! Watch here: http://youtu.be/EZ9CClOVNJE
Revival Church meets at CENTRAL CHURCH, 1529 E. 12 Mile Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071.
RETURNING PRAYER TO FIRST PLACE
When our worship leader recently moved on, I made a bold decision. Fiery intercession is every Christian’s most foundational calling, and in place of a typical musical worship environment, the atmosphere is now filled with passionate prayer, decrees and expressions of worship and surrender.
I’ve often said one reason the prayer rooms are empty is because prayer has been relegated to a secondary activity in the church. It’s usually an afterthought. It’s certainly not primary in our nation.
When fervent prayer is returned to first place, everybody in the church will be in the prayer meeting—because the prayer meeting will be THE meeting.
My wife asked me a question the other day that caused me to come alive:
We have Prep Room, which is pre-service prayer, from 5:15pm-6pm. We then roll right into an hour of corporate intercession as light instrumental music is played behind us.
Amy asked, “So, just what is the difference between Prep Room and the first hour of the service?”
Nothing! Nothing at all! I love it! Finally, prayer is the main thing in the church!
I often hear that prayer like this is not for the new Christian—they will feel out of place. That is a doctrine of demons that must be rebuked! The prayer room must be the first stop for every new Christian! It’s absolutely nonsensical to say that ministering to God is reserved for those who have been a Christian for a while! As a very young Christian, I was awakened in the prayer room. Prayer is not complicated, only costly. It is for everybody.
Will musical worship return? Yes, but only as it’s birthed out of burning, groaning intercession. There will be a tremble on the worshippers. Worship will exist in the realm of the Spirit and we will all sing from a place of brokenness, encounter and surrender.
John 4:23-24 (ESV) 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
OVERTURNING TABLES
Everything that takes precedence over prayer for the nations is about to be overturned in the church.
This shift in the church will be extremely offensive to those who don’t value connecting with God in prayer. Today’s system affirms a casual connection. In fact, church systems and programs are set up to remove responsibility from the people—to make it easy and costless for them to participate. This is our current American church culture, and it will soon be overturned.
I so often hear angry Christians mention how there should be no leader/laity division—yet, when the call to the body is sounded to serve like a leader, to pray like a priest, to do the work of intercession, to advance with passion and to be in position as a ready soldier, there is a spirit of resistance that often rises up.
I’m all for laity to serve as leaders—but it’s rare to find those who will actually do it. The cost is too high and the return on investment seems to be so low. (We forget that the return on our investment isn’t personal blessing but rather blessing for the nations—and the fruit of our prayer may not be fully realized by them for decades.)
The money changer mindset results in us focusing on self—on using church for personal gain, on expecting ourselves to be served or entertained or blessed instead of surrendering all and praying for the nations.
I’d encourage you to read my article titled God 2.0 where I address the danger of being a Money Changers Church here: GOD 2.0.
Today, worship teams lead while the body engages at the level they prefer. This is about to change—and those who want to be served rather than serve are at risk of great offense. This reformation in the church will change our expectations radically. The body won’t simply sit and soak as others sing over them. We will all do the work of intercession in a corporate setting. It’s not about receiving from God, it’s about ministering to him. This is pure worship.
This shift in the church will result in a violent assault by those who have their pet church focuses, relationships, levels of commitment and expectations threatened. Instead of simply showing up for a Sunday service and enjoying good worship and positive teaching, the expectation is now for everybody to go hard in fervent, violent prayer for the billions of people in the nations of the Earth who are nearing an eternity in Hell. Check out what happened to Jesus when he set the church in order:
Mark 11:15-18 (ESV) 15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
They wanted to destroy him. Their personal blessing was threatened.
PRAY CONTINUALLY?
If the scriptural call is to pray without ceasing, is it not strange that people so often run when the prayer meeting is called?
The thought of having a two-hour prayer meeting as the primary Sunday service shouldn’t be a strange idea at all if we are already praying the remaining 166 hours throughout the week. It’s simply an glorious corporate expression of what we should already be doing individually. Every one of us should walk into the church building burning, trembling, praying in tongues and coming out of perpetual encounters with God.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (ESV) 17 pray without ceasing…
I have extreme patience for those who are struggling to connect with God as they devote themselves to finding him. (Ask, seek, knock)
But, let me be clear—those who complain that they don’t encounter God, they don’t feel God’s love, yet do not devote themselves to wrestling with God in prayer until they break through are without excuse.
No amount of teaching, anointed worship music, positive thoughts or counsel from others will result in a life of encounter with Jesus. Only prayer based on the truth of the Word of God will do that. Others can help you learn about God, but you have to meet him on your own. And, meeting him doesn’t always feel sweet and happy. It will actually burn our flesh and crush every part of us.
Julia Palermo: “People want loving God to be an emotional experience, but loving God has a very practical expression. Obedience.”
John 14:21-22 (ESV) 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”
Intercession isn’t about emotionally enjoying God, though that can certainly happen at times. It’s about work. It’s about carrying the burden of God’s heart. This is what must lead our church services and our entire lives again.
Mike Bickle: The revelation of the Bridegroom filled with tenderness leads some to laziness because they have not seen the revelation of His heart of abandonment or His call for us to be abandoned to Him.
A CORPORATE REBUKE FUELED BY LOVE
God is so zealous about his Bride, his church, that a love-fueled rebuke is coming—and it will hit most every one of us.
The money changers spirit has so infiltrated the church that judgment is necessary just to save God’s precious Bride.
A critical correction is coming to those use the church as their personal blessing machine. In Revelation we see God lovingly rebuke the churches. It’s time for an end-time judgment to hit our churches. Judgment isn’t a bad God doing bad things to bad people. Judgment is an act of extreme, passionate love. Judgment draws the remnant to God, and exposes the pretenders as they run from God. It’s a wheat and tares reality.
Connecting in the church because of good friendships, good teaching, good worship, good programs, good children’s ministry, good environment—and disconnecting when any of that doesn’t meet our standards—is coming to an end.
The Upper Room mandate is upon us—we gather and pray. If prayer is there, so are we—every time the doors are open.
THE LOOK OF THE COMING CHURCH
Again, the 2 Chronicles 7 pavement people are the model of the remnant church. Acts 2 is a New Testament example of it—the whole house will be filled with the fire of God as every single person prays in the Spirit.
Acts 2:2-3 (ESV) 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
This is some of what we can look forward to—and what we can start working towards right now. God is building his church through his apostolic and prophetic remnant and it will be a white hot center of intercession for the nations.
- We will walk into the meeting praying in the spirit, trembling, in the fear of the Lord, often coming out of dreams of God.
- There is no concern for comfort, who likes us or who doesn’t like us.
- Our position in the church won’t matter—we will know our position is on our face in fervent prayer.
- The room may simply be a giant warehouse with a cement floor—it won’t matter. We’ll bring a blanket, throw it down and prepare to encounter God with other desperate people.
- When we enter the room, we hit our faces without prompting, music or no music, and start praying passionately in the spirit for the nations and the burdens on God’s heart.
- Kids may be right next to us, or in a similar environment in a classroom elsewhere. Either option will work just fine.
- An hour or two later, teaching will boldly call us to action as the Word lands on our burning hearts.
- Teaching will be mostly prophetic/apostolic. Prophetic alarms and decrees will be constant and extremely anointed.
- We will all respond to the instruction corporately and prepare to fulfill our assignments.
- We will return to the corporate gathering for intercession and apostolic equipping several times a week instead of waiting for the next Sunday.
- Between meetings our personal lives will be filled with prayer, reading the Bible, listening to sermons and fulfilling our ministries. We will have plenty of time to do that as TV, movies, entertainment and other cultural norms are put under submission.
Are you part of the remnant church? Are you ready to join a company of pavement people? Will you jump ship when the old wineskin is removed, or will you embrace the fresh fire of God in our nation? Are you burning hot for God? Or, are you lukewarm?
These are critical questions we all must answer. Do we attend church because of what we get out of it? Because people like us? Because we enjoy it? Or, do we understand our call to die, to surrender, to pray and to burn night and day?
See you tonight.
Prophetic dream: An increasing danger in the worship movement
You might be surprised at the danger in the worship movement and how we connect to it.
I had a prophetic dream that is extremely simple to understand—the prophetic warnings are being drowned out by casual spirits and, yes, even today’s worship movement.
Ezekiel 13:1-3 (ESV) 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the LORD!’ 3 Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
Ezekiel 13:6-9 (ESV) 6 They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the LORD,’ when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. 7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the LORD,’ although I have not spoken?” 8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
There is a rapidly increasing movement of people who are shutting their ears to any prophetic words that have any measure of alarm to them. The warnings are not wanted as they threaten the current structures of comfort and ease.
These people are at risk of a catastrophe that will mercilessly hit them and those who have been influenced by their messages of peace and safety.
There are true voices that must emerge and declare the word of the Lord in its pure form.
If we EVER temper a message in the pulpit, online or one-on-one in the hopes of maintaining an audience, we've become a 2 Tim 4:3-4 false-teacher.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 (ESV) 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Revival always includes the conviction of sin on the part of the Church. What a spell the devil seems to cast over the Church today! ~Billy Sunday
THE DREAM
I was the guest speaker at a church, and I was burning with an extreme prophetic message that I knew every single person must hear. Not only must they hear it, but they had to allow God to break and wreck them so they could become carriers of that burning message. God needed them to proclaim the word with boldness and brokenness.
It was time to begin the service, and I was on the platform feeling troubled and confused. I had about eight friends with me, people who were absolutely given to the message and who were standing very close to me.
Other than my friends, literally nobody was listening. Even the leadership was absent. People were dressed in shorts and flip flops and casual clothing and were just slowly walking around taking to friends.
My disturbance kept intensifying.
To my right there were a couple large garage doors and they were both open. People were moving out of the building and out onto the grass. It was a beautiful, sunny day.
As people kept leaving the building, someone walked close to the stage as I was preaching with unction and urgency, and he attempted to drown out the message by singing a worship song. It was a brilliant tactic. After all, it’s good to sing songs of worship in the church, right?
When he finished singing, the building was nearly empty. In my desperation to get the message relayed, I too went outside.
My friends and I left the building and stood on a small slab of concrete outside. I continued to preach, but it was as if I was nearly invisible and inaudible. From time to time people would wave and wink to me as an indicator that they are “with me” and to thank me for my ministry. I didn’t want their thanks. I wanted their hearts.
My friends pressed very close to me…so close that we were all squished together as a single unit as I kept preaching truth.
The people kept playing while we kept trembling.
I then noticed that some chose to climb a tree. When they decided to come back down, one of them fell just a couple of feet and those around them were alarmed and looked right me. They demanded that I leave my place and come over to help. I was grieved.
I did leave the concrete and tended to the person who had an extremely minor injury.
Distraction and a casual, playful, self-centered spirit overpowered the prophetic word of the Lord.
I then woke up.
THE INTERPRETATION
We live in a day where churches promote comfort and self-satisfaction. Coffee, personal ministry, blessing, programs and other lesser things are overshadowing the call to the cross. The alarm of the hour is not a welcome sound.
Casual spirits are driving the culture. The problem? The message of the cross is not a casual message.
The bottom line is this: A casual spirit will always reject a prophetic warning if it threatens their comfort. A prophetic spirit will always threaten something.
A.W. Tozer: I want the prophetic spirit upon me or I want to die.
In the dream it was significant that even the leaders were absent.
The pastors of that church should have been on their faces in deep repentance as they led their people into brokenness!
Nobody in that church had any concern about their own salvation (they should have), the condition of their city or the message of God. All was well. Peace and safety were the cries of their hearts.
My friends who were very close to me represented the remnant—those who are broken and surrendered and devoted to the call. They counted the cost and said yes.
Please keep this in mind—the remnant is an extremely small percentage of people in the church. Don’t presume that you have signed up as an end-time remnant Christian just because you go to church, love God and want revival. True remnant people aren’t only interested in revival, they are invested in it. To find a remnant Christian is actually quite rare, though every Christian has been extended that invitation.
WORSHIP
Possibly the most interesting part of the dream had to do with the person who walked up to me and started singing a worship song.
I believe we are in a place of both great hope and great danger in regard to worship in the church.
True worship is going to return to the church. That’s the hope. There is a great movement of groan and intercession driven worship and adoration to Jesus that’s coming. It’s not here yet, but soon can be.
The present danger is great, however.
The worship service can easily become the lazy man’s intercession. Please consider this point carefully! The church is to be a house of prayer for all nations!
I’ve been in ministry for over 22 years and it has grieved me time and again when people would come and go based on the skill, style and feel of the worship team, but are indifferent regarding the prayer focus. In fact, when the call to worship is sounded, people flock, but when the call to prayer is sounded people flee.
This is disturbing and it’s an indictment on the church!
We don’t attend a church based on it’s ability to appeal to our desires! My God! How far have we fallen?
At Revival Church we recently made a bold decision for our current season—when our worship leader moved on, I decided it was time to bring intercession back to first place.
Instead of sitting back or lightly engaging as someone else leads in worship, we are calling the entire body to pray with us boldly for an hour prior to the teaching. Fervent prayer has replaced musical worship! The experience of worship or any other thing can no longer trump the call to pray and to deliver the prophetic messages of God.
In fact, I’m confident that biblical worship will emerge from this platform of prayer and no longer will we casually connect to God when the music plays. Musical worship has taken a back seat to the word of the Lord and it will again be calibrated to God’s heart.
If you want to gauge the spiritual maturity of your team, call a prayer meeting. Develop a prayer culture. Bring prayer front and center where nobody can hide. It may be offensive, but it’s simply true that only the broken, hungry and maturing will remain. It shocks me that people can lead worship, pastor a church or function in ministry without a vibrant, all-consuming life of prayer! It is actually rare to find praying church leadership in America!
There are individuals who have never done anything for Jesus Christ, and I have no doubt there are preachers as well, who have never done anything for the God Almighty. ~Billy Sunday
“If we do not praise we shall grow sad in our conflict; and if we do not fight we shall become presumptuous in our song.” –Spurgeon
Worship leaders who don’t burn night and day in intercession need to take a critical break to rediscover the God of their songs. A fearful tremble and awe must return to worship.
PAVEMENT PEOPLE
In the dream I moved to a concrete slab outside of the building as the people were scattering and playing. I have been crying out for the last several months for the pavement people to emerge! These are people in the remnant who are not looking for personal comfort, affirmation or anything other than hitting the pavement in true worship.
2 Chronicles 7:3 (ESV) 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
I was on the pavement with my friends who were staying very close to me. I continued to preach in desperation as people were in the vicinity, but who were not at all provoked by the message. They were certainly not responsive, and, of course, they were in no place to become carriers of that fiery word for the nations.
Again, my grief escalated.
DISTRACTIONS
The types of distractions that the enemy will attempt to force on us are extremely hard to counteract.
First, it can seem strange and wrong to label worship as a disturbance or distraction. The enemy is often using worship, as I shared above, to provide people with a false sense of intimacy with Jesus, or at least a radically minimized encounter with him. If the music is good and even slightly anointed, and it feels peaceful or invigorating, then our job of honoring God seems to be done. We don’t have to go any deeper in Jesus. We are satisfied. It’s time to move to other things.
Additionally, the person that fell out of the tree was wounded, ever so slightly, and all eyes were on me to help. So, the corporate prophetic alarm ceased.
The problem? The person should never have been in the tree. They were called to the pavement. Their improper positioning negatively impacted the masses.
When we are close together, there is safety. Risk is minimized. Even when there is an issue, we can all stay together, in position as we serve one another.
Those in the Upper Room in Acts 2 certainly tended to each other as they were all on that holy pavement, that place of coming encounter and intercession for the nations.
Those who are scattering and playing instead of gathering and praying are loosely connected until crisis comes.
It’s time that we are “all together in one accord in one place” as they were in Acts 2.
A RESISTANT CHURCH
As it was in the days of Noah, so it is today. The alarms are resisted.
Matthew 24:37-39 (ESV) 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Do we not know that God is raising up prophetic voices to help us? Why would we reject the warnings?
It’s time we gather and pray. It’s time.
I asked a question on Facebook recently:
If your church cancelled everything for a year…cancelled children’s ministry, teaching, programs, pot lucks, small groups…and replaced those activities with prayer meetings, would you stay in your church?
One response rocked me. It encouraged me that the remnant is out there:
That’s when I’ll return to the church.
Friends, it’s time that we embrace a God that loves us enough to keep us from slumber, to shake us with warnings and to prepare us for the tragic and glorious end-time shocks that are coming to the Earth.
Julia Palermo | Intercession and Equipping Center
God spoke to Julia TODAY to drive from KC to Detroit IMMEDIATELY!
I’ve never been involved in such an exciting shift in ministry as the season we are in at Revival Church.
The next TWELVE MONTHS of deep teaching has been set, and our role as a regional intercession and equipping center is increasing in focus.
Julia will be releasing decrees this Thursday, and will also be teaching on Friends of the Bridegroom this Sunday!
Keep her covered in prayer as she travels on this important assignment…she is wholehearted in her desire to serve the mission in Detroit!
- THURSDAY 7PM
- SUNDAY 6PM
Revival Church meets at CENTRAL CHURCH, 1529 E. 12 Mile Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071.
THELAB UNIVERSITY
Have you seen the new video for theLab U?
Watch it here: www.thelabuniversity.com/video
Apply TODAY!
Colorado Springs conference! Catherine Mullins & theLab U This Thursday through Saturday
Register TODAY! Catherine Mullins and theLab University team will be in Manitou Springs Thursday through Saturday!
Evening sessions are FREE, but registration is REQUIRED!
On opening night, Catherine Mullins will be leading in intimate worship and I’ll be bringing a prophetic message: God 2.0
REGISTER HERE: www.thelabuniversity.com/manitousprings
- Learn more about Catherine Mullins here: www.catherinemullins.com
- Learn more about theLab University here: www.thelabuniversity.com
WATCH A BRAND NEW VIDEO!
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.
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED even for the free evening sessions.
The events will be held at RHOP, 12 Old Man’s Trail, Manitou Springs, CO 80829.
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)
God 2.0: A slicker, more user friendly version | Three churches to look out for
Unsatisfied with God? Upgrade to God 2.0!
The last part of this article will deal with different types of churches that millions of Americans are a part of—that are at significant risk. I challenge you to read this article in its entirety and prayerfully consider, in humility, whether you may have fallen into one of these at risk groups. I must also wrestle with this myself.
I’m disturbed. That’s not news, really, as I was created to carry the burden of God for the bride—his church. This results in a life of both continual joy and non-stop grieving—and never-ending bold calls of consecration.
The dissatisfaction with God in our nation has resulted in an attempted upgrade—a 2.0 version of God that meets our demands and fits the picture for the perfect leader. Always happy. Always nice to us. Always working to fulfill our desires. Not inconvenient. His personality matches what we expect in a God.
Exodus 32:7-8 (ESV) 7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’”
The previous verse reveals the motive of the people:
Exodus 32:6 (ESV) 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
The Hebrews were not satisfied with the current version of God, so their 2.0 upgrade was in the form of a golden calf—a god of their own design.
After all, God’s purpose is to perform as we expect him to, right? He is mostly interested in our desires to eat, drink and play, isn’t he?
My God, how far has the church fallen?
The Bride
Entire movements in our nation have upgraded God to their 2.0 version, and have successfully seduced millions of Christians to abandon the old, outdated, ancient Jesus. The arguments of the emergents have infiltrated the main line church in America.
Before I continue, I have to make an important point. When bold truth is revealed that threatens the status quo of the church, it’s common for those who are invested in that system to accuse the messenger of being unloving or unconcerned for the bride of Christ.
How opposite the reality truly is!
It’s deep, troubling love that causes those who are broken over the compromised bride to sound alarms and shine lights to shake and wake a church that’s in extreme risk of living forever without the Bridegroom!
We must be concerned not for the personal desires and perspectives of those who presume to identify with the bride, but for God himself and his desire for those who are lukewarm or deceived to pursue him with passion!
Josh MacDonald from The International House of Prayer said on a trip to Detroit recently, “This might be shocking to you but 1/2 of the church or more will probably fall away in the end-times.”
That, my friend, is why we must risk offense to let an at risk bride understand just what is at stake. Many in the church will be shocked to find themselves in Hell one day. That reality haunts me non-stop.
The False Bride
Do we understand that not everybody who calls themselves a Christian actually is? Again, that is why we have an urgent job as forerunners. The false bride, those who think they are Christians but are not, are at extreme risk of burning in Hell for multiplied trillions of years. Actually, forever. We cannot remain silent.
An immediate, and unbiblical response that many people have today is, “It’s not your place to judge.” How many times have you heard that defense from the secular camp? Now, we are hearing it from Christians when their pet sins, false doctrines or structures are threatened!
The accusation is that we are being cruel, unloving or presumptuous by dealing with this subject matter. Again, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
As Christians, we actually have a very serious responsibility to judge in love! It’s a part of our job description. Pure love of the bride will reveal all that hinders love!
We absolutely have a responsibility to urgently warn. To release messages of awakening. To talk about eternity, about Heaven and Hell. To call people to greater fervency. It’s love that demands this, yet so few are sounding alarms.
If I see a child wandering into oncoming traffic, I don’t really care so much about whether he chose to rebel by running into the street. I’m not thinking about his motives or his error of judgment. I just want to warn him so he isn’t crushed by a bus. Yes, it is that simple. It is that urgent.
At Risk Churches
With that in mind, I want to reveal some major church movements and expressions that are actually opposing the cross. The call of every single Christian is to hear God’s voice, to know him deeply and to intercede for the nations. You can gauge where the general church public is by calling a prayer meeting. The most elementary call for any Christian is to pray…and when Christians avoid the prayer room, it’s a revelation of just where we are as a church in this nation. Frightening.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if most people in the church in America are unsaved.
Leonard Ravenhill said he doubts that 5% of American church goers are actually saved.
I heard someone once say, who had a heavenly encounter, that only 1 in 1000 who die on any given day make it to Heaven. Possibly 99.9% go to Hell. That wouldn’t surprise me, and it grieves me beyond what I can bear. God 2.0 would never support this statistic. He is benevolent and unconcerned with our hearts.
Mike Bickle said that the false-grace message, which is one of the leading causes of people being deceived as a false bride, is more dangerous than the issue of abortion and 54 million baby’s blood crying out in our nation!
Listen closely! This is serious! My God, help us! Masses of people who are convinced that they are saved are actually following Jesus in an unsaved condition right now! Many more will fall away in the future! Who will warn them?
Before we look at the problem churches, we must consider this: We have to resist the urge to presume the current Sunday driven church structure is the biblical norm. If we think we’re functioning normally, we’ll resort to minor adjustments to that system as repairs are needed instead of the destruction of it in favor of the introduction of the biblical church.
When we truly understand this, we’ll devote ourselves to the removal of man made systems and give ourselves to the development of the new.
Most people alive today have no idea what revival is. They have never experienced it. They have no grid for it. So, we default to what we have experienced and try to build on that faulty foundation.
1. The Money Changers Church
In Matthew, the passage that deals with the money changers follows immediately after another type of church that we’ll discuss next—the Triumphal Entry Church. I find it interesting that these two stories are back-to-back, and that they are events that are closely situated to the drama of the cross. Simply said, the cross of Christ is not only foreign, but resisted.
Matthew 21:12-13 (ESV) 12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
The money changers church is possibly the best representation of the current American/Western church. This is a serious issue. This is possibly the most severe and violent reaction from Jesus to a situation when he was still on the Earth.
Note how aggressively Jesus rebuked and resisted the money changers. Why is this?
They were fueled by a spirit of religion. Religion defined is man’s attempt to use God and his church to get what he wants. They were using the temple for personal gain. They were thinking about their own needs and desires instead of ministering to God. They went into the temple with the expectation of leaving with more than they entered with. The call to the church is for us to enter with an offering. A sacrifice. We leave with less than we entered with!
Today, prayer is nearly dead in the church. Additionally, even in churches that support prayer, if every service was cancelled and replaced with prayer meetings, there would be a mass exodus of disappointed people who aren’t getting their desires met. In Acts, the “wait and pray” mandate was resisted by almost everybody. Thank God for 120 who weren’t waiting for a call from a pastor, a pat on the back or the perfect ministry center for their family. They showed up, laid down their agendas and changed the world.
I’ve said it probably thousands of times and I’ll say it again. Our false expectations of what a church should be are resulting in a defiled structure. The church isn’t a house of teaching, a house of evangelism, a house of friendships or even a house of musical worship. It’s a house of prayer first and foremost. The other focuses are important, but secondary at best. Would you stay in a church that prayed as their primary activity? Or would you get frustrated and leave if your demands weren’t met? Is it possible you may be functioning in a similar spirit as the money changers? You go to church to receive instead of to give?
Pastors know most would not stay, so they have all too often traded in their mantle of prophet for salesman. The church product has been altered, spruced up and packaged in a way to let the people know that they will receive the best bang for their buck if they come to their church.
This is grieving, and must end! I am looking for pavement people—those who aren’t looking for comfort, but will hit the pavement and cry out to God as they did in 2 Chronicles 7!!
2 Chronicles 7:1-3 (ESV) 1 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
Long ago as a young, first time church planter, my wife and I would often take visitors out to lunch after the service. I’d do my best song and dance to sell the Revolution Church experience to them. I’d ask what they were looking for in a church, and more times than not I’d encourage them that we’d get right on that! We’d be sure to sell them the product they are looking for!
My brilliant wife would get so frustrated with me! She wanted me to stop the nonsense and simply communicate our vision. Boy, was she right! I was acting in the spirit of the money changers!
I slowly changed my sales pitch. Instead of letting people know how much they would receive if they chose our church for their home, I was reveal the challenge and the cost. I’d let them know that we all pray together 10+ hours a week. We give financially in an extravagant way. We are fervent and burning and calling people into a radical lifestyle—to the cross.
I’d actually try to discourage them from participating if they weren’t on board with the vision! And, surprise! I got more response from that call than I did trying to sell the perfect experience!
2. The Triumphal Entry Church
Now this is church!
I’ve witnessed first hand how people will flood into an environment that’s full of celebration and exuberance. I enjoy those environments too!
I’ve also witnessed first hand how those same people—those who are dancing at the altar, going after a happy experience, will get sad when the call to the cross is preached. It’s heart wrenching.
The focus of the people at the Triumphal Entry is similar to the focuses in the other churches we are discussing. They wanted their lives to be better. Blessing and personal gain were their motives.
The word “Hosanna” literally means, “save us now.” The people wanted a king who would give them life in a kingdom that would be personally fulfilling. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that desire—unless that’s the extent of the desire.
Matthew 21:8-11 (ESV) 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Notice how there was a measure of sacrifice by the people. They gave their cloaks. They got to work and cut down palm branches. They were exuberant in their worship. I can imagine a spirit-filled environment where people are at the altar dancing and laughing and worshiping. I’ve had that happen in churches I’ve led many times, and it’s great! Many churches are growing with this very positive, happy focus—but, the growth is, in my opinion, often driven by people who will not stay the course if the cross is preached with boldness.
See, Jesus was willing to save them now. However, his methods were nowhere near satisfactory for a crowd of people who were looking for life, not death. Jesus chose the cross as the means to answer their prayers. This crowd of energetic worshipers switched quickly to energetic crucifiers.
I’m all for wild, fervent worship. I am a proponent of continual joy. We should dance and smile a lot. However, we can’t dismiss the burden of the cross and the call to die.
Don’t presume a church is alive just because there’s an electric atmosphere. Human energy and desire can create quite an environment. Wait and see who remains when the call to surrender is high, and the alarms of intercession are sounded.
3. The Rich Young Ruler Church
There is some relation between the Rich Young Ruler church and the Money Changers Church. In both scenarios, personal gain was the focus.
The Rich Young Ruler, however, possessed a sincere desire to follow Jesus. Notice how Jesus reveals this story is all about salvation:
Matthew 19:16-25 (ESV) 16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
I am convinced there are millions of people following Jesus in an unsaved condition. Pastors have affirmed people’s commitment to Christ and, in turn, their eternal security, all while, in many of those cases Jesus knew the deeper truth—they were not willing to surrender all. I believe the sinner’s prayer has probably led more people to Hell than to Heaven. Handled wrongly it gives people false-confidence in their position in Christ.
How many go to church each week, raise their hands in worship, pay their tithes and “follow Jesus” in a very public way, the same way the Rich Young Ruler wanted to—but are actually not saved?
Even Billy Graham admits less than 2% of people who make decisions at his crusades over the years remain true followers of Jesus. Wow!
If you are struggling with this and the truth of your own salvation, that’s good! That’s healthy! I don’t know where it started being negative for us to wrestle with that. Today leaders don’t want to upset people with messages like this out of fear of accusation and ridicule. We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling! The disciples in the above passage wrestled with it, and so should we. Let’s see what Jesus says next:
Matthew 19:26-29 (ESV) 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
The most controversial thing I’ve ever said just may be this:
I give myself about an 80% chance of making Heaven.
Is there any part of the Rich Young Ruler in me? Is it possible that I could fall away? It would be arrogant for me to presume that I’m exempt from the great falling away. I wrestle with Jesus and with my own heart—and I love that process.
Again, it’s healthy and necessary to work that out day by day. And, we need pastors and leaders who won’t skirt that tough topic out of fear of losing people who would rather be coddled. It’s possible that the best giver and most vibrant member of your church is on a track that leads to Hell. We can’t stay silent on this issue.
When you understand how deeply God loves you, it’s wonderful to wrestle with the difficult topics. It’s invigorating!
It’s critical! So many will be shocked to enter Hell. We see this proven in scripture:
Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV) 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
The Coming Church
I’ve written on this previously, so I’m going to be extremely short with this concluding point.
The coming church will be marked by:
- Everybody praying as their primary ministry
- Everybody ministering to God
- Praying in the Holy Spirit will be continual.
- We will be together most days of the week to pray, receive apostolic instruction and move out in unity to fulfill that assignment.
- We will arrive at church full and leave empty—after we’ve poured out to God.
- Friendships will be forged in the foxhole more than at potlucks and picnics.
- The cross will be central.
- Repentance will be continual.
- Freedom will be overwhelming.
- The bar of expectation will be high.
- It will be apostle led more often than pastor led.
Lets see an Acts 2 & 2 Chronicles 7 church arise!
New property needed: Revival Church & theLab
Revival Church & theLab University/House of Prayer are looking for a property to house our ministries full time
We currently share a property, and it’s working great, with one exception—we are unable to be in there 24/7! theLab House of Prayer will be functioning most every day, and theLab U will be back in session in July.
Please review our preferences below and let us know if you have a property that may work for us!
LOCATION
We are open to locate wherever the Lord desires. That being said, if we move further than 7 miles away, it would be considered a new church plant vs. a move. The reason? Statistically, people won’t travel more than 5-7 miles to the new facility.
Our current plan of action has us within that distance from our current location at 12 Mile and Dequinder in Madison Heights. (Possible locations include Warren, Ferndale, Royal Oak, Sterling Heights, etc.)
SIZE
If it’s laid out extremely well, we could get away with 4000 square feet, though we’d be more comfortable with 10,000+ square feet. We must have room for 100+ seats plus a large stage, altar area and sound booth. Additionally, we need an area for children’s classes and a nursery.
ZONING/READINESS
The property will have to be zoned appropriately and move in ready (with some minor exceptions). Additionally, we have to consider building codes that may require expensive and time consuming modifications that are appropriate for a church. A property that is already functioning as a church is our best bet. Additionally, the property must be air conditioned and have sufficient parking (at least 30 spaces).
PRICE
With a small down payment, and the need for a land contract, the total price will have to be no greater than $275,000.
Please contact me at [email protected] right away if you have any leads!
Next Week! Catherine Mullins: theLab University Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs
A SIX MONTH SCHOOL OF FIRE
FIRST: Have you applied for theLab School of Fire ONLINE? You can do so here: www.thelabuniversity.com/online
Hi!
I wanted to connect to make you aware of a very exciting and strategic series of events that’s coming to the Colorado Springs region.
God has been dramatically dealing with several people from Detroit and Kansas City to come as carriers of fire to Colorado six times in 2013.
Folks are taking off work and paying their own way to come, and serve the Pikes Peak region.
Since we are not local, we will need quite a bit of help spreading the word, gathering the intercessors, connecting with pastors and preparing for our first event in May.
Can you help? Evening sessions are FREE and we are also encouraging people to register for the entire weekend which will include prayer and workshops.
- Pastors: Can you gather people from your church and sphere of influence and register as a group?
- Intercessors: Start praying for these six weekend events and spread the word across the region.
- Everybody: Use social media and any other method to get the word out.
Please contact me if you have any questions. I can’t wait to arrive in Colorado next week!
John Burton: [email protected] • 719.231.6000
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
Deeply Grieved | Pavement People | Seven Mountains
A premature outpouring of God's spirit would result in people vacating their place of prayer to experience an adrenaline rush.
This nation is in a state of extreme emergency, yet few are responding with a lifestyle of intercession.
Let me say this clearly: If you are a Christian, deep, continual, strategic intercession is your primary daily calling!
As in the days of old, every time the church doors are open, we should be there ready to pray!
The 24/7 church is coming and we will soon find ourselves together in intercession most every day of the week! Will you wait for another bomb to detonate and for more lives to be lost or will you start your new life of corporate intercession THIS WEEK?
When this precedent of continual prayer is established, revival will eventually come. It may take a decade of continual prayer before God sees our devotion to keep praying without stopping when the outpouring comes.
►Detroit needs a house of prayer like never before, and EVERY CHRISTIAN must show up day after day to pray! Start now!
There is an emerging remnant of pavement people who understand this, who will forgo personal comfort and hit the concrete in prayer and worship as we saw in 2 Chronicles 7:
2 Chronicles 7:1-3 (ESV) 1 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
I have been continually grieved and disturbed for more than two decades of ministry by the lack of fervent prayer in the church. I literally can’t think of a single place in the world that I’d rather be than in the prayer room—even if it’s a concrete floor. The fact that calls to prayer are resisted with excuses of busyness, disinterest and the ever increasing cares of life is evidence that we still don’t understand a primary reason we are alive—to minister to God in personal and corporate intercession.
With that in mind, prayer rooms remain empty because we as leaders know people are averse to prayer…and we offer them alternate activities.
Instead of burning intercession for the nations, many use prayer as an attempt to achieve or protect their own definition of a normal life. When normalcy is stable, prayer ceases. If someone is sick, they pray for God to restore them to the normalcy of health. If they are short on finances, they pray for God to bring them to financial normalcy.
The problem with that is that prayer isn’t mostly about focusing on self and securing the life we hope for—it’s for deeply knowing Jesus and interceding for the world to experience the life that he paid the price for.
A CONFUSING EXPERIENCE
More than two decades ago, as a new burning child of God, I was met with confusion that is still with me today.
I was helping give leadership to a monthly regional youth event that was drawing around 100 young people for all over the Dayton, Ohio area. I’ve always believed the hour of prayer before the service was actually much more important than the service itself. (Anything driven by prayer carries extreme importance.)
I was truly confused each month as we sounded the alarm, spread the word, plastered signs in the foyer and let everybody clearly know that they were needed in prayer prior to the service. Each month we’d have 5-10 people in the huge sanctuary in prayer for an hour, while I watched a hundred people cram into a tiny foyer waiting for the service to start.
Was my promotion insufficient? Did I not make it clear enough? It was so packed in the foyer that faces were nearly squished up against the glass on the doors—right next to the signs inviting them to enter and pray.
I’ve watched this scenario play out time and again through my youth and senior ministry years. In San Diego I’d load up the bus with 50 kids to take them to the beach on Thursday, and then have 5 or 6 join me on prayer walks on Friday.
I will continually be confused and disturbed by the lack of passion for intercession—especially in a time of crisis like we are now in in America.
THE CRISIS IN OUR NATION
Last night at theLab House of Prayer, we prayed about the recent bombings in Boston, the earthquakes around the world and the explosion in Texas, and we interceded for Detroit. There have been many urgent prophecies and dreams about a nuclear level event downtown Detroit.
For those who only pray to achieve personal normalcy, there is little reason to fill the prayer rooms. Detroit is still standing.
However, even now, Detroit is not in revival. Even now there is suicide and murder in this region. Children are abused. Political corruption is extreme. An outpouring is no where to be seen.
Additionally, we are experiencing a Jeremiah 2 crisis. Check it out:
Jeremiah 2:4-8 (ESV) 4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the LORD: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? 6 They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?’ 7 And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. 8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.
The Breakdown
- Verse 5: There is a spirit of accusation against God on the rise in America. Today, people are finding much wrong with God—Christians and non-Christians alike—and the result is a move toward accusation and away from intimacy with him. A misunderstanding of God’s role in our lives will do that. If we expect him to perform for us instead of us responding to him, we will quickly become offended at God and turn to worthless things—and become worthless ourselves.
- Verse 6: Thanksgiving was nowhere to be found. God admits that he intentionally led them into a place of drought and darkness—and then led them through.
- Verse 7: America was given as a gift, a plentiful land with good things. Today, the land is defiled and the heritage of God is an abomination. Oh what we have forsaken!
- Verse 8: The priests did not seek the Lord! This is the state of the prayer movement! In a time of crisis, the priests (all of us) must continually give themselves to seeking God! Pastors are failing and prophets are sharing doctrines of demons in the name of God! There are a lot of “false positives” out there in the prophetic…hopeful messages that don't reflect what God is saying.
THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS
I personally don’t see the church fully taking over the seven mountains in this age as some do, but I do believe we are to have significant influence and impact, and to give leadership as God opens those doors.
This being said, the thought of an idolatrous church increasing in influence in the seven mountains should cause us all to shudder.
A consecrated, praying church that is intimate with God is mandatory!
Psalm 24:3-4 (ESV) 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
Today, much of the church is at the base of the mountain fashioning an idol, a god of their own design, while Moses met with God on top of it.
The prayer movement that’s focused on the heart of God will result in continual repentance as we allow God to search our hearts and burn up any idol or any desire for one!
Check out how serious God is about the call to ascend the mountain:
Exodus 19:16-25 (ESV) 16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” 23 And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
So, Moses ascended, and the people played. The prayer movement will absolutely separate out those who are truly devoted to God and those who are focused on self:
Exodus 32:4-6 (ESV) 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
Eat, drink, play. As long as the normalcy of personal consumption and entertainment is safe, the church will see no need to pray—all while the consecrated remnant, the pavement people, are on the mountain in the presence of God receiving instructions for revival and Kingdom advance.
My God. Help us.
Important: Your help with a special Colorado Springs event is requested
THE COMING CHURCH : THELAB UNIVERSITY : MANITOU SPRINGS COLORADO : MAY-OCTOBER 2013
Hi!
Something very interesting and urgent is happening this summer in the Pikes Peak region.
I want to do my best to communicate how critical this is, and how much we really need your help and participation.
Earlier this year I brought a team from Detroit and Kansas City to Colorado Springs to serve in the pursuit of tangible revival there.
The experience was the most powerful any of these extremely seasoned intercessors and revivalists had ever had. That’s saying a lot!
The impact was so overwhelming that every single person on the team is paying their own way (again) to travel and participate in the next event in May. I am beyond impressed and blessed that they are taking time off work and investing so much into a region they have no real connection to!
In fact, one young prophetic revivalist actually turned down an extremely prestigious job with a nationally known minister to be her personal assistant—the week after she experienced God so remarkably in Colorado. She said no to a guaranteed income and is now living fully by faith with near nothing in the bank—all for her call to both Colorado and Detroit!
We are looking for people in Colorado who have a similar heart and passion to partner with us!
We will be traveling to Colorado six times this year, and holding events each time.
►WE NEED YOUR HELP
Catherine Mullins will be leading worship Thursday and Friday on the May trip—and she needs some skilled musicians to volunteer to play on her team.
Our connections in Colorado Springs are limited, so we are scrambling to get the message out. Your help in spreading the word would be a HUGE blessing!
Additionally, we need to get the word out about the conference itself. Revivalists, intercessors, pastors and others who are praying for God to move in Colorado are invited!
►PLEASE CONTACT ME ASAP
This is happening in less than one month! Can you contact me asap and let me know how you’d like to serve? Again, we need:
- Skilled musicians (drums, bass, lead guitar, keys)
- Intercessors
- Promotion assistance (put the event in your church announcements, etc.)
- Group registrations (register your church)
You can see all of the info, AND register here: www.thelabdetroit.com/manitousprings
Thank you! It’s going to be an amazing year in Colorado!