Posts Tagged ‘nation’
False Human Rights | They are destroying the church and our nation
Does a moment go by that we don’t hear about some group or movement making demands for their supposed human rights?
My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy
What happened to this? What happened to America? What happened to the church?
John 15:13 (ESV) 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Today we are absolutely overwhelmed by the constant, self-centered shouts of those who demand that their country—or their church—gives them what they believe is rightfully theirs.
It’s a false human rights movement.
The RIGHT to abortion. The RIGHT for same sex marriage. The RIGHT to be equal. The RIGHT to be heard.
It’s a sickening, selfish focus that is driven by human desire instead of a willingness to take up our cross and die. How often have people left churches because their supposed rights weren’t addressed? How much dissention is in the workplace because people are looked over in favor of another?
I’ve said it before—today, when people’s self-centered pursuits are rejected, they abandon relationships, leave churches and cause division, but when Jesus was rejected, he didn’t abandon people. He didn’t forsake the church.
He let people kill him so they might be saved. He died so the church could thrive.
My point in this article isn’t to address specific issues as much as it is to deal with a deadly demonic spirit that is extremely advanced in its progress in the destruction of the church, and thus, the nation.
A SPIRIT OF ENTITLEMENT
This spirit is pervasive in our nation, and, unfortunately it has infiltrated the church to such a degree that it has altered the very DNA. Today people attend church with expectations of how they should be treated instead of a plan to lay down their lives for the sake of the mission. There is a predetermined checklist of items that they presume they are rightfully entitled to. If those demands aren’t met, then trouble is initiated—just as the enemy planned.
This spirit of entitlement convinces us to look inward and fight for our perceived rights. It’s fueled by pride that results in the pursuit of personal attention, gain and satisfaction.
Isaiah 14:12–15: How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Lucifer was focused on self—entitlement. This pride resulted in destruction beyond anything we could measure. He fell and weakened the nations simply because he was focused on self!
America, are you listening?
Because of Lucifer’s attitude, millions of people have been destroyed, the Holocaust terrorized a generation, an ancient flood destroyed the masses, 55 million American babies have been murdered and Hell is growing in size to hold the increasing number of people who will live there for eternity.
Yes, a spirit of entitlement destroys.
Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 11:2: When pride comes, then comes shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
Proverbs 18:12: Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility.
TAKING ON OFFENSE
When entitled people gather together, you have a union. Here in Detroit, this is understood well. There are certain expectations that must be fulfilled by leadership, or, those in union will threaten harm to them or the organization. This concept isn’t hard to understand. Often on the news we hear of school teachers or bus drivers who are in a union, and when their demands aren’t met, they strike.
When an entitlement isn’t met, offense is the result—and when people are in union with another who has been offended, they very quickly take on that offense—and, again, it is deadly.
We see this happen in churches all the time. Offended people have friends, who, unify with them and come into agreement with their arguments.
Of course, it would be very easy right now to start considering all of the secular benefits to actual unions. We could discuss how the playing field is evened and the way leadership treats the working class is improved by holding them accountable.
But, I’ll say this very clearly—this spirit of false unity, entitlement and offense has no place in the church. And, our nation would begin down the road of healing and strengthening if we all stopped making demands and started serving, loving and following Jesus and the principles of scripture.
An offended people will destroy a nation. A surrendered people will build a nation.
As an example, the spirits of entitlement and offense drive the abortion industry. False compassion, demonic in nature, is one of the tools that is used to gain sympathy and support for that movement. The threat is that we will come across as unloving, uncaring people if we oppose that movement. The same is true with the homosexual agenda. False love results in accusations of homophobia and hatred for those who don’t support their movement.
As Christians, we are handcuffed as we are forced into a position of affirming our love of these people, and if we don’t, they win the debate.
Our only weak, predictable response seems to be, “We love the sinner and hate the sin.”
BOLDNESS!
We as prophetic voices in the church must brake off intimidation and fear of man! Keep in mind we are wrestling against demons, not humans. What is difficult is when humans embrace the lies of the demons, we who stand for truth can come across as attacking those people. So, many Christians avoid any appearance of conflict at all.
LISTEN CLOSELY: People are going to enter into Hell today! If we don’t have bold prophetic messengers rise up in the spirit of John the Baptist, in the spirit of David and other historic Godly warriors, millions upon millions of people will actually, literally go to Hell! If it’s rare to make it to Heaven, and common to enter Hell, how can we sit back and avoid a violent conflict with those forces of Hell? We cannot!
Matthew 11:12 (ESV) 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.
Check out this commentary on the above scripture:
Greek: biazo (GSN-<G971>), to use force, to force one's way into a thing. The idea here is that before John the kingdom could only be viewed in the light of prophecy; but now that it was preached, men were pressing into it with ardor resembling violence or desperation. They appeared as if they would seize it by force (Mt. 11:12; Lk. 16:16). It expresses the earnestness that men must have in getting rid of sin, all satanic powers, the world, and in standing true when relatives oppose them (Mt. 10:34-39). Dake's Annotated Reference Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments of the Authorized or King James Version Text.
This is where we are now! Let the fire-branded, love-driven warrior bride arise!
When David killed Goliath, it’s true that he killed a human, but he was actually fighting against a demon that was manifesting through a human. David didn’t sit down in a coffee shop to passively, casually discuss the dispute with Goliath. He was ready for a violent assault against the kingdom of darkness.
He made clear what the situation was and what was to be done! How easy it would be for David to be accused of not loving Goliath! But, the truth is that David loved God first (Luke 10:27) and was fully invested in partnering with him. Human arguments would have to meet the fierce decrees of the child of God! Fear-driven false humility was not an option for David. David was on a mission of salvation—the salvation of God’s people.
1 Samuel 17:26 (ESV) 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
David was bold! Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? He was calling out Goliath’s immorality and his lack of consecration to the Lord.
Come on church! Quit cowering in false-humility and rise up in the greatest love this nation has ever known! It’s time to declare the word of the Lord to the uncircumcised enemies of the Lord in America!
But, beware, many in your sphere, in the camp of the Lord, will also be intimidated by your love driven boldness. The prophetic, apostolic anointing often results in jealousy and accusation against the one advancing fearlessly. Accusations of pride will always accompany those who are willing to live radically by laying down their lives for the Lord.
1 Samuel 17:28-29 (ESV) 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?”
His brother attacked him! I’m sure he felt conviction as little brother David was going to do what every other person should have done—deal with the uncircumcised Philistine with expediency!
Will you raise your anointed, prophetic voice, or will you seek a false sense of peace? Remember we are to be peacemakers not peacekeepers! We cannot keep peace were there is no peace!
We have no obligation to passively form our words in such a way that we will be heard. It’s time to bring a shaking to this nation—before it is literally destroyed!
1 Samuel 17:41-46 (ESV) 41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel…
It’s time that we go after the anti-Christ spirits that are overtaking our nation! We can no longer use human arguments. It’s time that we are anointed in the boldness and power of the Holy Spirit! We aren’t to prove our love, we are to love—and true love brings true problems in the pursuit of liberty for a nation! We see this cover to cover in scripture.
LET ME BE CLEAR: I DEEPLY LOVE BUT DO NOT CARE
I will say it very, very clearly. I RADICALLY love those who are advancing humanistic agendas, even though you may not believe me. That’s your battle, not mine.
Jesus loved people though he would not bend to their demands. He cared about their emotions, their hearts, their eternities—but, he didn’t defend himself. He let his accusers kill him. Who was the one who cared and loved when he was lifted up on a cross that day?
In an attempt to break the church out of a passive, false-love driven debate over holiness and morality I will say this very clearly:
I DO NOT CARE ENOUGH, young woman, about your career, your comfort, your supposed right to independence or the crisis and cost a new baby will bring to your life to affirm your plan to kill your baby. You are not entitled to comfort. You are not promised happiness. I challenge you to lay down your life for a baby that God thought enough about you to entrust its care to.
When you wave a coat hanger in the air during an abortion rights protest, you are declaring that you have more compassion for one who would intentionally harm someone than one who is being harmed. The answer to losing access to ‘safe abortions’ (how is intentional murder safe?) is not to head out to the back alley to abort the baby yourself with a hanger—it is to have the baby and love it with selfless passion! The answer is so simple!
I DO NOT CARE about a supposed right to sexual freedom, gay or straight, that results in a devastating lifestyle that is bringing destruction on our nation. Decrees of holiness must return to our churches and nation again!
I DO NOT CARE about equality in our nation if it results in climbing over people who are in our way or forcing them to affirm our self-centered position. It’s time that we lay down our demands, surrender our agendas and quit manipulating systems in a selfish pursuit of personal gain. It’s time for humility to reign in America again!
Christian leaders I honor you deeply and pray for you and I do understand the pressures you are under. However, I DO NOT CARE about personal agendas, self-centered ministry projects, your self-assigned titles or ego-driven programs and will not unite with those who embrace them. Your legacy and history in the city is meaningless unless it results in a future of Holy Spirit freedom for desperate people. I will expend energy, time and money to run with you if you are humble and passionate about the plans of God in the region. Let’s slow the flow to Hell together.
Philippians 2:4-8 (ESV) 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
I CARE ABOUT THE HEART OF GOD and his overwhelming love for people—and the fact that Hell is swallowing millions of them. I care about the clear truths of scripture. I trust in God’s wisdom and I refuse to allow humanism to gain the upper hand in the debate. I care about bold prophetic messengers who will lay down their lives and open their mouths and shout truth from the rooftops.
Today, not tomorrow, it’s time to die to self and run to the battle as the spirit of Goliath is threatening to destroy us. It’s time for the circumcised, consecrated lovers of God to take back America.
A super rough draft of the first 50 pages of my new book, The Coming Church
The Coming Church is a revelation of what God is about to do in the church of our nation—read the first 50 pages now!
FIRST: Tomorrow, Thursday, January 31st, at 7pm I want to encourage you to audit theLab class Revelation Driven Prayer! Pay $25 at the door (cash, check, credit card) and learn how to hear the voice of God and experience a life of 100% effective prayer!
Revival Church and theLab meets at CENTRAL CHURCH, 1529 E. 12 Mile Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071.
The Coming Church
Many have been asking for a sneak peek, so here it is! It’s a very rough draft, so if you notice any grammatical edits that are necessary, I’d love for you to alert me via email at [email protected]. Enjoy!
(I’ll include the first short segment below, and then you can download the PDF here: www.johnburton.net/files/docs/TheComingChurchp9-53.pdf)
~ One ~
The Encounter
Spiritual encounters, whether they are visions, dreams or visitations can go a long way in preparing individuals, groups, and even nations for the otherworldly, dramatic and critical shifts that God is setting into motion. Of course, we know in scripture that spiritual things must be discerned spiritually, and it’s important to understand clearly what’s being communicated. We also know that all dreams, for example, are not necessarily spiritual dreams. That must be discerned. I challenge you to stay up until 3 AM and then eat a bucket of hot wings, a can of Mountain Dew and a half a gallon of ice cream and see what kind of crazy images dance around in your head when you finally fall asleep. Experiences like that won’t shake nations. However, the encounter I had absolutely must.
I had a vision of the soon coming church. For me, a spiritual revelation, a message delivered directly by the Creator of the world, is usually very easy to discern. It’s rare that I have to go to someone seeking out an interpretation. The scene and the message are almost always extremely vivid and revealing. I immediately understand what the players and the atmosphere and the story line are attempting to communicate to me.
This particular encounter was no different – in fact, it was so striking, fearful, engulfing and overpowering that the imagery and message will keep me trembling in my spirit forever.
In order to appreciate the magnitude of the message that was communicated to me in the vision, it will be helpful to understand the context. If you can imagine, at least to an incredibly small degree, the picture of the church that God himself sees, it shouldn’t be a stretch to realize the picture of the church that we see on the Earth clearly cannot match up. Meaning, when God drew up the glorious church leading up to its launch in the book of Acts, that diagram that was before him looks little like the church we see today. God’s church looks little like the church we have come to know.
Acts 2:1-3 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
Do me a favor and read that passage in Acts chapter 2 one more time. I want those three verses to dive into your spirit and shake you up. When God started diagramming the church, this is what he envisioned — this is where he started. When you compare this passage of Scripture with descriptions of the modern-day church as we know it, it seems like were comparing apples and oranges.
I’d like to ask you to read the passage one more time. As I’m writing this, I feel the Spirit of the Lord starting to burn in my inner man. Let me pray for you right now just before you read it again:
Mighty God, I pray the burnings of your Spirit would be transmitted into your friends heart. Give them a glimpse into the supernatural yet strikingly real realm of the church. Give them the capacity to release old paradigms, structures, traditions, mind sets and cultures as they come alive to the reality of the church as you see it. Amen.
Okay, go ahead and read the passage in Acts chapter 2 one more time.
Acts 2:1-3 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
Is it becoming a little bit easier to understand just what the church should look like? You see, as God designed and then launched the church, it was literally blowing and burning and every one of them in that upper room experienced it. As we begin to embrace the truth that passages like this are not science fiction, and that they communicate actual phenomenons that are to be normal for us as Believers, it will become easier to leave behind what we know and press toward the soon coming church. We will suddenly find ourselves so deeply dissatisfied that any thought of maintenance becomes quite insane.
Now, keep in mind that this fiery reality was communicated to us by Jesus, by the Word. This passage is the Word of God, not simply a descriptive, historical report. So, God’s plan is for the church to be a supernatural raging furnace of Holy Spirit activity.
I have heard it said that the only thing more powerful than the Word of God is tradition. The traditions of man overpower the greatest power in existence — Jesus Christ himself. Do you feel the weight of that? Is it possible that we need to embrace the fear of the Lord again? The thought of allowing man-made concepts, structures or agendas to push aside and nullify God’s plans seems ridiculous. Yet it happens with stunning regularity every day all over the world.
Mark 7:13 …making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down…
Of course it’s true that the definition of the church cannot be limited to one perspective of one segment of the greater structure. It is certainly true, as is revealed later on in Acts chapter 2, that the healthy church will include wonderful fellowship, breaking of bread, powerful preaching, discipleship, evangelism, prayer and other critical activities. However, what we see in the church today is a lot of activity, even good activity, but usually without the tangible burning and blowing of God’s Spirit.
Read more here: www.johnburton.net/files/docs/TheComingChurchp9-53.pdf
Ready to be challenged into revival? Listen to this sharp message from Sunday night!
It’s time. Judgment is coming. Crisis is continual in our nation. It’s time to take action and launch revival.
Sunday night at Revival Church Julia Palermo shared for about ten minutes on the call to revival, and I followed with a sharp and challenging message of extreme action.
We started the service by watching a heavily anointed video from the Brownsville Revival. You can see it here… it’s one of my all time favorites: http://youtu.be/4aix9SlcLrE
This is the next teaching in the series Ten Threats to Revival.
Here’s my personal notes so you can follow along!
1. As long as we are content to live without revival, we will! Leonard Ravenhill
1. If we refuse to live without revival, we will shock everybody we know with our zeal and fervent, strategic work.
2. We must break the go to work on Monday, go to church on Sunday pattern. It’s not enough!
2. Let me start by saying this: If Noah had not picked up a saw and a hammer and labored for upwards of 100 years, we would not be here.
1. Genesis 6:13-14 (ESV) 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
2. Genesis 6:22 (ESV) 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
1. Jesus is coming soon!
2. Matthew 24:36-44 (ESV) 36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 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. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
3. It’s time to get to work!!!! Crisis is coming! Jesus is coming!
3. First, we have to understand what the goal is.
1. The goal is not to live a better life.
2. The goal is not to have increased happiness.
3. The goal is not to convince God to love us.
4. The goal is not to convince ourselves that God does love us.
1. Do we not know this? The Bible is clear!
2. Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1. We have to simply know that and get to work!
2. Don’t let your feelings drive you!
1. If you don’t feel loved, you feelings are lying to you!
2. Take your emotions captive! Demand they respond to truth!
5. So, what is our goal? Full blown Revival!
1. Just look at what’s happening in the world! Earthquakes, a freak storm… the world is growing darker… the witchcraft highest holy day this year is the same day as the presidential election. Our goal is revival! We must work!
6. None of us in the room has the goal to simply attend church, worship and grow personally.
1. It is unto something! There is MUCH more! Loads more! The hours of our day are to be stuffed full of revival focused activities.
1. I mean, read revival books, study the Word, pray with fire, write revival articles, stir yourself up, get the word out, gather people together, lead the charge!!! You!!!! Plant a Revival Tribe!!!!!! Go!!!! Jesus is coming again and time is running out!
2. This is why it’s shocking to me when the church of Detroit says they are hungry for revival, but they don’t respond to the corporate gatherings, to the prophetic calls to pray.
1. What kind of work am I talking about?
1. Be in the church every time the doors are open.
2. Be at prayer at 5pm.
3. Refuse to ever be casual, refuse to lose your fiery edge!!!
4. Go to the critical regional revival events.
5. Give financially, fund churches, finance the prayer movement.
6. Be at every corporate prayer event. (The Awakening Conference, Nathan Morris, etc.)
7. Step aggressively into your calling, into your ministry.
8. Pray like a freak moment by moment! Have dreams and visions! Pray in the Spirit!
9. Live by faith… I mean, crazy wild faith.
3. Colossians 3:23-24 (ESV) 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
4. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.
5. Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
6. Colossians 1:28-29 (NIV) 28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
4. A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.~ Charles Finney, Lectuires on Revivals of Religion
1. Revival requires obedience.
2. “Today's church wants to be raptured from responsibility.” Leonard Ravenhill
5. Fate:
1. Something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot
6. Destiny:
1. A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control
2. An event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
7. Many people tend to believe that they have little effect on whether revival breaks out or not.
1. They may say things like, “Nothing will stop God if he wants to pour out in a region,” or “If God wants to bring revival, he will.”
1. Wrong!!
2. The chance for revival if we live life as usual must be under 5%.
3. If we respond, it’s 100%.
4. We are apostolic people… Jesus left, his work is done… we can’t gaze into heaven waiting for Jesus to return!
5. Now we are ‘sent ones’… people with a mandate to aggressively impact the world.
6. You cannot sit in this church and avoid the inconvenient challenge to get the work done.
2. A belief in fate minimizes the radical importance of our disciplined participation.
1. 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (ESV) 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
3. Additionally, the many prophecies that have been revealing God’s plans for an outpouring in Detroit are conditional.
1. In order to see them come to pass, we must involve ourselves in the process.
2. As Mike Bickle says, “Prophecy isn’t a guarantee, it’s an invitation.”
1. The Great Commission!
2. We must do the work!
3. There is a fervent, holy striving that must return to the church.
4. Luke 13:23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”
And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
1. If being saved is hard and requires striving, we have to know that our part in revival will require even more.
2. Strive–The word signifies to “contend” as for the mastery, to “struggle,” expressive of the difficulty of being saved, as if one would have to force his way in.
3. Matt 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
1. From cover to cover in scripture, man had to do it!
2. We are commissioned and empowered by God to do it!
1. Noah had to build the boat.
2. Moses had to confront Pharaoh.
3. Paul had to start churches.
4. Peter had to preach.
5. Jesus had to die! And, we do too.
1. We have to pray, serve, feed the hungry, win the lost, do the work.
2. If you are called to translate the Bible like Brian Simmons, you can't just sit back on the couch and wait for the biblical knowledge to overtake you!
3. You study!
Are solemn assemblies working? When will God pour out in our nation?
Are solemn assemblies the answer to revival?
First, I MUST encourage you again to listen to one of the most important messages you may hear this year. It’s spreading around the internet… listen and share it with everybody you can. Listen here: https://burton.tv/2012/10/01/listen-now-a-sudden-outbreak-of-the-spirit-of-revival-in-detroit-last-night/
Charisma Magazine just posted a great article on the effectiveness of large corporate prayer gatherings and solemn assemblies. You can read that article here.
As I shared in my previous post, there have been many prophecies about stadiums in Detroit being filled with intercessors and revivalists. I agree with that prophecy.
I agree with Jennifer Leclaire, the author of the article on prayer rallies in Charisma Magazine, that large corporate prayer gatherings and solemn assemblies absolutely do work and are wildly necessary.
She said, “I believe every prayer lifted to heaven in the name of Jesus makes a difference. I believe every intercessor’s Spirit-inspired utterance is making up a hedge of protection around this nation. I believe if the prayer stopped, the skeptics would start asking us to pray again.”
I couldn’t agree more.
We need the stadiums full, but, there is a much more challenging and costly strategy that revival is tightly hinged on.
The church must become a house of prayer again, and the corporate body must live a life of such extreme sacrifice that the prayer house is filled most every day of the week.
Yes, the price is our time and the costly surrender of our American lifestyle and the eradication of the cares of life.
Again, let me make it clear:
The average American Christian who works a 9 to 5 job, who has kids in sports and school programs, will need to shift most everything in their daily schedule and gather together under key apostolic and prophetic leadership to pray and respond to instruction most every night of the week.
The stadium level prayer events must happen, but, they won’t have lasting impact if we don’t also live a disciplined life of white hot, deep corporate prayer most every day.
We often talk about Easter Christians who only attend church on Easter and Christmas.
I want to offer a comparison. Today we have event Christians who trust in the conferences and stadium events to carry them and to advance the Kingdom on the Earth. That strategy alone won’t work.
We must pray together continually.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47 ESV)
I’ve said this countless times, and I’ve written about it in my book 20 Elements of Revival: The 24/7 church will arise again and Christians will gather together every day to pray and contend for Kingdom advance.
I don’t know if it will take a national calamity or if it will come as the church suddenly awakens, but the 24/7 church is coming—and it will require a passionate, disciplined, undistracted people.
Ephesians 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance…
As we are driven by faith, pray ALWAYS in the Spirit…persevere and stay alert, we will establish a biblically normal church: A house of prayer that’s filled continually with zealous, surrendered Christians who feel the weight of the hour and intercede with passion for the nations.
We can’t meet in a stadium once a year and hope for revival. It’s time to gather together with the fear of the Lord provoking us into intimacy with God and bold Kingdom action.
THE CITY CHURCH
When this biblical model has matured, we’ll see it function on a city level very powerfully.
The apostolic/prophetic leadership of the city will call regular corporate prayer events and the entire city church will show up. Stadiums will be filled regularly.
Then, between events, the local expressions of the city church will be together day after day in prayer and response to local apostolic instruction.
I want to encourage you to order 20 Elements of Revival as I go into detail on the structure of a revival ready city church.
You can order it for print or Kindle at www.johnburton.net/resources.
An offensive church
There’s a way to develop a church that will provide extreme opportunity for offense—and also the promise of great power.
FIRST—the situation in this nation is extremely serious. Pray with us for favor and open doors to get the prophetic message of revival, reformation in the church and city strategies out to the masses. Some have come to us feeling we must get on the radio or on television as soon as possible. If you can give toward this, please do! www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/donate. (15 minutes a day on a popular radio station in Detroit will cost around $2400 a month)
AN OFFENSIVE CHURCH
In a hyper-grace church world, the type of message that I was rocked with on Sunday night might be dismissed or even renounced. Our ministries have become conditioned by the perceived needs and demands of the seekers instead of the demands of scripture for radical surrender. Even when discussing the concept of revival, most believe that it will enhance their churches, while in reality revival brings us back to the cross—and anything in our churches that doesn’t embrace the cross will be crushed.
Revival, when it comes, may actually result in many churches closing down under the pressure of the offensive demands of the cross. Other churches will remain open but lose a lot of lesser committed people. Finances might plummet. Everything will be at risk. If we want God more than we want our churches to grow and our own personal security, then get ready for our paradigms to be violated and calibrated.
At Revival Church Sunday night, God wrecked me.
He said that churches could be birthed and developed from one of three different places:
- The Board Room—In Acts 15 we read about the Jerusalem council. The simple parallel here is that we can meet and discuss how church should be done. Come up with a great plan, follow clear wisdom, appoint leaders and let them run with a plan of action.
- The Upper Room—This one surprised me when God started talking about it. Of course, I love the idea of functioning out of a white hot atmosphere of prayer and prophecy. My book 20 Elements of Revival outlines this in detail. However, it’s true that there’s a certain temptation to participate in a movement that has the hopes of some power encounters, signs and wonders. We can inappropriately focus on the outward explosion while forsaking the true cost of participation. We can have upper room style conferences and churches that gather together the masses, but we’ll have limited impact if we don’t consider the next place that God spoke to me about.
- The Cross—Where two or three are gathered, He is there. This was never more literal than at the cross. The offensive call to full surrender, to the terrible cost of the cross, must sound louder than any other alarm. It’s rare to find churches that emphasize the extreme cost of a life in Christ. The call to the cross is inconvenient, extremely costly and wildly offensive—and few will respond. Many are called, but few are chosen. Our churches must be driven by repentance, by surrender to a fearful call. As we launch our churches with people who refuse to scatter (remember, even devoted disciples ran away from Jesus when confronted with the cross!), and with people who actually sit at the foot of the cross in the face of severe threat to their very lives, it will be a church that cannot be stopped.
STOP TRYING TO GROW HUGE CHURCHES—AND YOU MAY FINALLY GROW A HUGE CHURCH
The point? Start the development of your church, and continue it’s process, from the cross. Raise the bar as high as Jesus did. There’s a false doctrine in the church that rightly emphasizes that Jesus paid the price that we could not pay, but wrongly communicates that we have no part to play in the process.
I’m radically concerned that MANY, MANY people in the church…in really great, Spirit-filled churches, have chosen to avoid the cost of following Jesus, the cost of the cross (Jesus isn’t the only one assigned to a cross—we are as well), the call to deep intimacy, and due to a false grace message are convinced of their salvation when, in fact, they are not saved.
If we build churches around the cross, the crowds will be VERY small. Maybe only a few. Only two were at the cross with Jesus. But, the resulting victory and power will explode the church into the nations.
Then, we’ll move into the upper room, and into the board room as the Church develops in wisdom and power.