General
The ministry’s next phase : Developing our team
The vision is becoming more focused and we’re gathering together an expanded ministry team.
I have been trembling and awakened to a new place since the first of the year—since we have gone to a new place in prayer at Revival Church. I am SO EXCITED about the testimonies that are arising from theLab and other ministries. People are COMING ALIVE!!!!!
The purpose of this message is to call together an expanded and deeply connected and focused team of revivalists to join us in the ministry.
I’m raising up a brand new ministry team.
Some of you have been with us for quite some time—and I’m asking for you to sign up again… for a brand new and intense phase of ministry.
Here’s what the plan is:
- The Revival Church/John Burton Ministries team will be deeply involved in the dynamic and continually developing mission together several times a week.
- theLab—This is the primary mandate at the moment and must be the main focus for all of us. Those running with us as a part of the ministry team will be traveling from church to church together every Friday night. Additionally, it’s imperative to make every noon prayer meeting that you can. Keep in mind, I’m calling EVERY pastor, intercessor, revivalist and burning man, woman and child of God in Detroit to be at EVERY Friday night prayer meeting. We certainly need as close to 100% participation from those connected to Revival Church and our ministry as possible. We are modeling a part of the reformation in the church for the rest of the city.
- 1000 Intercessors—As we all do this together, we’ll be sounding the alarm for every person in the Detroit region that’s called to initiate revival to also attend theLab. We’ll be modeling this lifestyle of intercession and urgency to the region and all spreading the word and calling the 1000 leaders into position. The call isn’t to ‘sign up’ but to ‘show up’.
- Ministry Events (other venues)—An important element of the vision is to take the fire into other venues. The ministry team will be with me as I minister in other churches to impart the burning of the Holy Spirit, to cast the vision of theLab and the 1000 Intercessors and to pray throughout the event as I speak. This morning at Salt River was an excellent example. It was powerful and we had some of the people ministering revival as a part of the service. However, we were under manned. We’ll have to become more strategic as we plan on future events. It’s important for the entire team plus the entire church body to stay together to advance the cause of revival. **My heart was to have every person associated with Revival Church with us this morning to encourage Salt River… many people were missed… it wasn’t the same without you!!!
- NOTE: I need people to step up to handle certain roles such as marketing, setting up speaking engagements, working on travel arrangements, intercession, etc.
- NOTE: The next ministry event that we need every team member to serve in is the Fire in February event in Dearborn. We’ll be launching the event with theLab style fiery prayer and intercession. With only 60 people or so at Revival Church, we absolutely need every one to show up for each service. REGISTER at www.awakeningnet.us.
- Ministry Events (hosted by theLab)—This is a huge vision and it will require a huge team. Right now we need the team (which should be at least 30 people strong) to form and get to work searching for property, hosting prayer events, connecting with potential guest ministers, networking with other churches in the area, etc. Everything from small conferences to large stadium events will need everybody to work hard together.
- Revival Church—This is the briefing for the rest of the week. What is happening at theLab and at ministry events will be briefed on here, prayed through, etc. Additionally, the call to action will be sounded here and we’ll all ensure we’re on the same page and ready for our instructions and assignments for the rest of the week. This will be a place of wild and free worship, zealous prayer and clear impartation.
Contact me at [email protected] or 313.799.3473 to discuss your participation. This new team includes people that have been on my staff for quite some time and it will include many others who are ready to clear their calendars and invest with passion into the pursuit of revival in Detroit.
Audio and notes : Naming the Next Generation
Listen to a teaching on the power of our lifestyle—it can literally imprison our children—or mark them for greatness
What if we were required to name our children based on our own identities? On our own choices?
Imagine if we had to raise sweet little Bitterness or cute and adorable baby Apathy? How about tiny newborn Secret Sin?
On the contrary, we have the option to impart freedom and raise children with the names of Passion, Joy, Holiness and Fire!
Hundreds of years from now our great-great-great grandchildren will find themselves in prison with struggles that you and I passed down to them, OR they will find themselves marked with a fiery heritage of freedom. Our response to Jesus now will impact people we’ll never meet!
Listen to this teaching titled “Naming the Next Generation” at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/teaching and follow along with the notes below!
Naming the Next Generation
I. The response to a mighty call
a. The way we respond now to God’s call on our lives will result in extreme impact.
i. It’s going to leave a mark
ii. Proverbs 10:7 (ESV) 7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
iii. Deuteronomy 5:9-10 (ESV) 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
1. Our lives will impact many!
2. People not yet born… people who will live a few hundred years from now… will struggle greatly in life because of what we do on an average day in our mundane lives right now!
3. They won’t know why they can’t shake the curse of addiction… it’s all because of great grandpa or grandma from the early 2000’s.
b. We live in an age where morality is judged based not on absolutes but conditionally.
i. The homosexual agenda’s cry is that it hurts no one and that it’s rooted in love.
ii. Many are crying out for the legalization of marijuana—it hurts no one.
c. However, we see this same frame of mind in the church too.
i. The number of Christians involved in porn is staggering.
ii. Pre-marital sexual activity is common.
iii. A 1996 Promise Keepers survey at one of their stadium events revealed that over 50% of the men in attendance were involved with pornography within one week of attending the event.
d. Our sin, whether secret or public, impacts so many people that we’d shudder if we knew how many.
i. Can you imagine if Billy Graham decided to secretly embezzle money?
ii. How many up and coming Billy Graham’s have been moved to the bench, because of God’s mercy, due to their secret sin? Who is now out of reach of God’s love because they are benched?
iii. Your lack of response to God will impact many just like a life devoted to prayer and love… a life full of the anointing and fire of God… will impact many.
iv. Todd Bentley’s anointing impacted many, his sin impacted many.
II. We are naming our descendants
a. Our lives, our lifestyles, our decisions and our response to God’s call is resulting in the name for our children and their children. We are naming our descendants.
b. In Hosea, this prophet embodies this reality… he goes to ridiculous lengths to communicate God’s message.
i. Israel is prosperous, yet fallen.
ii. Talk about an object lesson… check this out:
iii. Hosea 1:2-3 (ESV) 2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
iv. Hosea was instructed to take a wife from Israel… to participate as Israel was participating so they would be without excuse.
1. It’s the same concept as your pastor walking into an explicit R rated movie… as you yourself and your family is sitting in the same theater.
v. Adam Clarke—Go join thyself in marriage to one of those who have committed fornication against me, and raise up children who, by the power of example, will themselves swerve to idolatry. And thus show them that they are radically depraved.
c. The prophetic act continues
i. Hosea 1:4-5 (ESV) 4 And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
ii. Now, check this out… this is the ESV version:
iii. Hosea 1:6 (ESV) 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.
1. Today we sometimes name our children based on hope or a prophetic word or a declaration.
a. Grace, Joy, Love
2. Here, a baby was named No Mercy.
a. What a tragedy!
b. Israel’s lifestyle resulted in the naming of one of their own, the daughter of a prostitute who was delivered to a prophet of God… No Mercy.
c. Read on…
iv. Hosea 1:7-9 (ESV) 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” 8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
1. Wow.
2. What are we naming our children?
3. Anger? Hatred? Apathy? Lust? Secret sin? Hypocrite? Rebellion? Witchcraft? Thief?
III. Restoration
a. This great prophetic act, in obedience to God, in response to love, will result in a great harvest.
i. Hosea 1:10-11 (ESV) 10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
b. Some believe the end times destruction of Israel’s enemies at Armageddon was God’s focus here.
i. God called a prophet in the mid 700’s BC to deal with an identity crisis that would be felt over 2700 years later!
IV. God is serious about identity
a. Isaiah 62:1-7 (ESV) 1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. 2 The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. 3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. 6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, 7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.
b. Revelation 3:11-12 (ESV) 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
God is the fuel behind Facebook’s success
Why is Facebook so successful? Could it be because of God himself?
Now, before you come out of your religious skin, or if the thought of God having any role in the success of something online makes you laugh, read just a little further.
It’s been said that we are living in an ever increasing social culture. Of course, we have social networks like Facebook, social media like YouTube and social shopping through Groupon.
Yep, this culture is social—but, I would propose that we haven’t transitioned into a social people, but rather something huge has happened in this generation that has facilitated the opportunity to visit a common craving that people have had since the very beginning—love.
Facebook is exploding because of people’s desire to be loved. People want to belong, to fit in, to matter—even if they matter to total strangers. Strangers, that is, except in what has become a very real and meaningful world online.
God is love. It was his idea. Love is so prevalent in the mission of God that it actually defines who he is. He isn’t in support of love. He isn’t simply loving. He is love.
And, every person who has ever been born has the same passionate desire—to find that all powerful force. People want to be loved.
We know in Scripture that it’s not good for man to be alone. All of creation was breathed into existence with that reality in mind. God is all about social networking… but his plan goes well beyond a human connection between strangers. There’s much more than sometimes interesting (sometimes ridiculous!) status updates.
The desire is real. The need for acceptance is strong. The hunger for kindness and a caring friend is extreme. And, if we simply believe, simply take a step toward the Lover of our souls, we won’t have to settle for the lesser things.
The sexual revolution was fueled by the mantra, “If it feels good, do it.” Today we can click on whatever or whoever we can find online that provides a momentary fix or a low level connection—a connection with something or someone who just doesn’t have what it takes to satisfy.
Yes, I believe Facebook’s growth is due to the love that God intended for all of us to experience. However, the only way to fall head over heals in very real, experiential and life-changing love is if we meet the one who by his very nature IS love.
That man is Jesus. I’d recommend ‘friending’ him.
God is the fuel behind Facebook’s success
Why is Facebook so successful? Could it be because of God himself?
Now, before you come out of your religious skin, or if the thought of God having any role in the success of something online makes you laugh, read just a little further.
It’s been said that we are living in an ever increasing social culture. Of course, we have social networks like Facebook, social media like YouTube and social shopping through Groupon.
Yep, this culture is social—but, I would propose that we haven’t transitioned into a social people, but rather something huge has happened in this generation that has facilitated the opportunity to visit a common craving that people have had since the very beginning—love.
Facebook is exploding because of people’s desire to be loved. People want to belong, to fit in, to matter—even if they matter to total strangers. Strangers, that is, except in what has become a very real and meaningful world online.
God is love. It was his idea. Love is so prevalent in the mission of God that it actually defines who he is. He isn’t in support of love. He isn’t simply loving. He is love.
And, every person who has ever been born has the same passionate desire—to find that all powerful force. People want to be loved.
We know in Scripture that it’s not good for man to be alone. All of creation was breathed into existence with that reality in mind. God is all about social networking… but his plan goes well beyond a human connection between strangers. There’s much more than sometimes interesting (sometimes ridiculous!) status updates.
The desire is real. The need for acceptance is strong. The hunger for kindness and a caring friend is extreme. And, if we simply believe, simply take a step toward the Lover of our souls, we won’t have to settle for the lesser things.
The sexual revolution was fueled by the mantra, “If it feels good, do it.” Today we can click on whatever or whoever we can find online that provides a momentary fix or a low level connection—a connection with something or someone who just doesn’t have what it takes to satisfy.
Yes, I believe Facebook’s growth is due to the love that God intended for all of us to experience. However, the only way to fall head over heals in very real, experiential and life-changing love is if we meet the one who by his very nature IS love.
That man is Jesus.
Three prophecies about video : You can help
The outpouring is drawing close in Detroit—and we’re ready to chronicle it all!
We have received three very specific prophecies about a video documentary on the revival that’s coming to Detroit and Revival Church.
- Michele Perry of Iris Ministries Sudan was with us this past weekend, and she was adamant that we needed to start recording our events.
- A ministry partner of Georgian Banov was with us and prophesied that he saw film crews in our building recording what God was doing in the revival.
- Another friend of the ministry saw the same thing… and felt a documentary, before and after the outpouring begins… must be made.
So, we need to get video setup in our services!
A lot of people have asked me when we’d start recording our services, and I believe now is the time.
We need some help from you.
In addition to a quality video camera with an audio input and the ability to connect to a laptop for live streaming, we need monitors for the worship team (God is growing our worship team!).
This should cost no more than $1500 total. We’d like to get the equipment this week… can you help us by making a donation?
We’d be so thrilled if you could! These are exciting times and we want to display God’s love and power to as many people as we can all over the world!
You can donate at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/donate.
Thank you very, very much!
John
This song is a taste of tonight’s soaking service
This song will move you to tears as the presence of God envelopes you.
Jenn Johnson from Bethel Church in Redding, California starts by explaining how the song was birthed, and then behind a piano sings it over the people. She calls it “The Mom Song.” Click the player below to listen.
We’ve been experiencing a surprising ‘open Heaven' the last couple of weeks at Revival Church, and with a great deal of expectation and desire we are setting tonight’s regular agenda aside.
Tonight is a night to soak as the Holy Spirit swirls over us like a whirlwind.
We’ll be soaking, reading scripture and stirring a prophetic atmosphere as God readies Detroit for a supernatural visitation of epic proportions.
BRING YOUR BLANKET (seriously!), a pillow, comfy clothes and find a place to camp out next to the fire of the Holy Spirit.
It starts at 6pm.
As usual, we meet in the First United Methodist Church building at 24036 Greater Mack in St. Clair Shores, Michigan.
ALSO, it’s time to REGISTER for the upcoming Michele Perry meeting!
Head on over to www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/events.
See you TONIGHT!
(Here’s another soaking ministry pic from Revolution Church in Manitou Springs)
New teachings now available
Hi!
I wanted to let you know about several new teachings that have been uploaded to our site.
Two new series, Extravagant Favor and The Presence Centered Church, are available FREE to stream or download.
Also, there’s a teaching I delivered to a group of ministry leaders in Colorado Springs on Saturday via Skype titled The Prophetic Life.
Lastly, a recent prophetic message titled My Personal Book of Revelation is ready for you too!
Head on over to www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/teaching!
Rescues in Haiti : Prayer simply works
Prayer works. If it didn’t, it would be foolish to spend time and energy praying.
Last night at Revival Church, and I’m confident at churches all around the world, prayers were released for the people of Haiti.
At Revival Church we specifically prayed for rescue. We cried out for trapped people to be miraculously found and set free.
I’m so blessed by this CNN report of several rescues since Sunday, six days since the Earthquake.
Check it out:
After 6 days in university's rubble, student's prayers answered
By Arthur Brice, CNN
January 18, 2010 10:42 p.m. EST
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) — Writhing in pain in the fetal position, Maxine Fallon prayed fiercely for someone to find her beneath the ruins of what was once her university. She forced herself to stay conscious. Her sister visited the leveled site each day in hope of hearing her voice.
"I had hoped I would be rescued," Fallon said.
The 23-year-old, first-year student was finally found and rescued on Monday, nearly a week after a massive earthquake flattened much of Haiti. She said she didn't believe anyone else was alive in the wreckage of the university.
She cried when asked about the smell of death surrounding her as she waited for help.
A CNN crew in the Haitian capital Monday was flagged to the scene at Universite G.O.C. as a Peruvian search-and-rescue team pulled Fallon out of the remains of the flattened school. Rescuers rushed to the scene after hearing reports that text messages had been sent from beneath the rubble, said paramedic Clever Sobrino, who added that rescuers would continue to look for survivors at the site.
Fallon was treated by a Peruvian doctor and taken to a U.N. treatment center on the back of a CNN truck. She was drifting in and out of consciousness, according to reporters at the scene. She was later transported to a field hospital in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville for further treatment.
Latest updates | Full coverage
Despite going days without food or water, victims have clung to life awaiting rescue, and successful recoveries from the rubble of Port-au-Prince have not abated.
Earlier, 6-year-old Jessica Hartelin was pulled from the rubble by local residents and rushed to a field hospital set up by Israelis at a Port-au-Prince soccer field.
On Sunday, five people were rescued from the rubble of a grocery store, officials told CNN, 24 hours after the effort to reach them began.
Three of the people trapped in the ruins of the Caribbean Supermarket — a man, a 13-year-old girl and a 50-year-old American woman — were rescued during the day by a joint New York fire and police department search-and-rescue team.
High-resolution photos of damage | Google map
Late Sunday night, a Creole-speaking man and woman were rescued from the store's ruins by teams from Miami, Florida, and Turkey. The man came out first, picking his head up off the stretcher carried by his rescuers and giving the thumbs-up sign. He said he had been eating peanut butter and jelly from the store to survive.
As of Sunday, more than 60 people had been found alive by rescue teams from the United States and other nations, Tim Callaghan of the U.S. Agency for International Development told reporters. American teams have rescued about 30 of those, he said.
Brit Hume : Fox News : Tells Tiger Woods to become a Christian
You will love this!
Brit Hume on Fox News shared his opinion on the Tiger Woods situation, and made the point that his Buddhist faith doesn’t offer the kind of redemption he needs.
His advice? “Turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.”
Thoughts?
Here’s the video:
What does God want for Christmas?
What a question!
I can hear people responding, “Uh, hello! He’s God. He can have everything He wants!”
Well, I know that God deeply craves a very real, reportable, experiential relationship with you and with me. Does He have that? Continually?
I’m confident Jesus yearns for us, via the enabling of the Holy Spirit, to actually love each other, to tend to one another, to really ‘do life’ together. (John 17:20-23)
We know the Bible tells us that God desires that no one perish (die without an intimate relationship with Him), but that we would all have abundant life. Do we all have this seemingly fleeting abundant life? No. Do some live and die without knowing God? Sadly, yes.
There are many passionate, fiery people in Michigan that I’ve been connecting with that are hungering more than ever for an outpouring from Heaven. We are contending for God’s dreams to come true—for very powerful joy, peace, strength and life to flood the people of this region.
I don’t know about you, but yesterday’s religious activities, formulas and hoops to be jumped through just won’t cut it anymore. We must experience God! He is not to be distant, confusing or more like a fable than a friend. He is real and he is alive!
He likes you and me! He loves it when there is legitimate connection. This is the way to live! It’s one thing to know about God. It’s an entirely different thing to know God! To be transformed by Him! This is what it’s all about!
Imagine a people who continually encounter the Lover of their souls. That’s a primary, all consuming desire of God. He loves us so deeply and wants to us to know Him so exhaustively.
What a Christmas that would be for our wonderful Savior.
I say, let’s do it. Let’s give God a Christmas to remember.
(This is an article I wrote for the Grosse Pointe News)