Deeply Grieved | Pavement People | Seven Mountains

By John Burton | April 19, 2013 |

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) ¹As 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. ²And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. ³When 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) ⁴Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. ⁵Thus says the LORD: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? ⁶They 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?’ ⁷And 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. ⁸The 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) ³Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? ⁴He 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) ¹⁶On 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. ¹⁷Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸Now 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. ¹⁹And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. ²⁰The 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. ²¹And 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. ²²Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” ²³And 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.’” ²⁴And 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.” ²⁵So 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) ⁴And 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!” ⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” ⁶And 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.

Posted in Revival and tagged 2 chronicles, 7 mountains, christian, house of prayer, intercession, outpouring, pavement, pray, prophet, prophetic, revival, seven mountains, thelab

The coming shift in the church away from senior pastoral leadership : The Coming Church

By John Burton | April 13, 2013 |

Possibly the most shocking shift coming to the church is the transition away from senior pastoral leadership.

The church army became a nursery. We want to play all day and cry for our needs to be met. Grow up! ~Isaiah Saldivar

I’m currently writing my next book titled The Coming Church, and I am continually stricken by fear and trembling as I communicate what is about to hit. The coming fire will be consuming everything that is outside of God’s design. The coming church will look so different than the church of today that we will find ourselves speechless. Everything man-made is going. Everything that God deems good but outdated is going. The coming church will be a defined by fire and it will repel the lukewarm and religious—as it draws in the hungry and desperate.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST:

I continually hear people eagerly declaring that they are done with church as usual. Their heart is for God to move in and explode in power. I count myself as one of those people. However, the shift necessary to see this happen will upset what has been setup, and that price may be too costly for most.

Consider the radical differences between the United States Marines and a spa.

Today, the church structurally has the makeup of a spa that is setup to draw people in via programs and promises of personal attention. The coming church will function like a military that is setup to draw people in compelled by the magnitude of the mission. They will not show up to be served by to serve.

People join a spa to be nurtured and enjoy life with themselves in mind. People join the military to serve unto death with others in mind.

False Expectations

After 22+ years of ministry my opinion is that one of the weakest links in the church today is false expectations—expectations perpetuated by leaders who want to fill the pews. Let me explain.

In the local church context today, most want to connect in the place that will meet their expectations. There is a predetermined set of expectations that people enter the church with, and If those expectations aren’t met, negativity creeps into the camp. So, today, people won’t continue in a church if it doesn’t offer what they want, and pastors can’t imagine the thought of losing them, so they adjust course and focus on giving them what they expect.

In the Western church, the pastoral office is the natural office to lead a church that’s fueled by people’s need for nurture. After all, it’s presumed that pastors, by design, are the ones to meet the expectations of the people. They have the heart to do so. Therefore, pastoral leadership is widely embraced by those who are more inclined to receive than to give.

Does that sound like American culture? Does a consumer mentality have its touch on most every area of our lives? Absolutely, and, it has nearly overtaken the church, and we as leaders have left that problem largely unresolved.

What happens now is that pastors are overwhelmed with connecting with people, feeding them what they prefer and ensuring they are attended to—and that has compromised the strength and outward mission of the church.

Now, of course, helping people is absolutely appropriate and necessary, and pastors are the ones best equipped by God to do that, but this ministry was never meant to be the primary function of the church!

Today, churches act much like hospitals. Their key function is to deal with the wounded. In reality, they should look more like MASH units! Soldiers who are wounded in the mission are quickly stitched up so they can get back to the war!

God is raising up people who want to get challenged, not fed. ~Isaiah Saldivar

Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV) ¹¹And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

The nurturing, equipping process is important, but it is not the goal! Notice that the equipping is for a reason! To work! Additionally, we have every opportunity and responsibility to feed ourselves instead of relying fully on the church. Today there are countless teachings online, in books, on CD’s and more. There is no excuse for any of us to rely on anybody else for our nourishment. We should not be showing up to the church empty waiting to be fed. We should arrive full and overflowing with the richness of the Word that we have fed ourselves with that week!

As an prophetic apostle, my focus is over the horizon. It’s on just a few narrow topics. I need everybody on their face praying, and I’ll do everything I can to teach them how. I want everybody going after regional revival, and I’ll teach week after week on how they can do that. I prophetically have a pulse on the church and I’ll constantly relay that information to the church so they can respond. But, they will have to take it upon themselves to learn most everything else. Of course, I’m not the only teacher in my context either. Others can and do impart knowledge and revelation, but it is still limited and it’s still required that we devour the Word ourselves.

Today, pastor led churches nurture and feed as the goal so much of the time without casting the vision that they are about to call everybody to pick up their weaponry and move out to battle!

The coming shift will result in less feeding and a higher bar of committed and focused response. The problem? Pastors are not the ones best gifted or called to lead this transition. The pastor led church is functionally compromised.

Simply stated, the church is out of biblical order.

Apostles and Prophets are Coming

Prophets announce, among other things, the coming governmental order and apostles bring the order.

1 Corinthians 12:27-28 (ESV) ²⁷Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.

These offices are listed in order of importance and function in the church.

Life Application Commentary: Paul specifically ranked them as first, second, and third to show their prime importance above all the other gifts.

ESV Study Bible: First… second… third… then seems to be a ranking of importance or benefit to the church, with apostles being primary and then prophecy and teaching also contributing greatly to building others up.

Rich Murphy:

The apostolic ministry is actually the first one that our Lord, Jesus, established in the New Testament church.

Lk 6:13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles.

Why did Jesus establish the apostolic ministry first? Because it was to be the foundation of the church government in the New Testament, as the priesthood was the foundation of the ministry in the Old Testament. So, without apostles in the ministry, the ministry gifts are literally without the necessary foundation.

Eph 2:20 And (you) are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.

There are governmental levels in spiritual realms. These are called “principalities, powers and rulers.” Each has a different realm of authority, a different authority level, and a different manner of operation.

Eph:6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Likewise, we have different levels of authority in the different ministry gifts. Here is where the apostle's authority is truly needed. At times, a pastor is confronted with different types of spiritual attacks. Without the spiritual covering of an apostle, he can be battling against powers and rulers that he is not actually anointed, or prepared to battle against. With the apostolic covering, he is able to draw upon the apostle's anointing, understanding, and experience in these battles. Instead of fighting alone, he has the spiritual support he needs.

Jonas Clark:

The current structure or model of church ministry revolves around the pastoral paradigm (model) of ministry. A paradigm is a structure of ministry that serves as a model or pattern. It's astonishing but the word pastor, Greek poimen is only mentioned once in the entire New Testament. From one occurrence in scripture we have built thousands of pastoral churches. Yet there were no churches ever built in the New Testament by pastors. Even the one started at Antioch soon received Barnabas as an apostolic leader. Barnabas was a sent-one (apostolic gift) from the church in Jerusalem.

In reality we have created a structure of church services that is designed to bless, nurture and comfort attendees. After all, that is the dominate grace on the pastoral ascension gift to comfort, bless, nurture, protect and lead to still waters. There is nothing wrong with being a pastor. What we are discussing is the transition into an apostolic model of ministry that enables us to be more effective in establishing and advancing the Kingdom of God.

Let’s face it the pastoral-only model of ministry is not working. We need something that is more effective and that’s going to be the apostolic model of ministry that we are experiencing today, the new apostolic prophetic church.

There will always be a set man over a congregation. Scripture says, “Let the Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation” (Numbers 27:16). Apostolic ministry models may have a plurality of leadership gifts working together to equip believers known as a presbytery but there will always be one set man that is ultimately responsible before God to apostle a church.

The Holy Spirit is going to restore an effective structure of ministry that will empower you to raise-up strong sons and daughters in the Lord that will take the battle out of the church and into the city.

Apostolic ministry gifts are spiritual master builders that carry the revelation of Christ governing Church. As Paul said, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon” (1 Corinthians 3:10).

The Purpose of the Church

The church is not a house of teaching or a house of evangelism or a house of friendships. The very purpose of the church is prayer! It is a house of prayer for all nations! If someone in the church is resistant to the call to pray corporately, they can’t consider themselves to be a functional part of the church.

This is a huge problem!

In today’s church very few live a lifestyle of prayer. In fact, most pastors don’t either!

Leonard Ravenhill said: Pastors who don’t pray two hours a day aren’t worth a dime a dozen!

Mark 11:15-18 (ESV) ¹⁵And 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. ¹⁶And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷And 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.” ¹⁸And 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.

We are in a Mark 11:15-18 season in our nation. In that situation, the people were using the church for personal gain. They had expectations of personal benefit. They entered the church with the expectation of leeching off of it, of using it, and leaving with more than they entered with. This is a defilement of the church!

The call is to go into the church with the expectation of leaving with less than we enter with! We bring an offering, a sacrifice! We minister to God!

This is critical! Pastor led churches more easily seek to give people what they expect out of the church. Now, please understand me. Pastors are God ordained! But, when they function outside of their appropriate governmental position, it brings disorder. The same would be true of any of the offices. You probably don’t want a prophet trying to nurture people! Thank God for pastors!

The House of Prayer

In the coming church, everybody will pray as their primary ministry! Yes, everybody!

This means a great offense is coming as suddenly those focused on their own expectations and who are resistant to the call to prayer will have nowhere to go!

The governmental order in the church will require a mass exodus of uncommitted, unwilling hearts as intercession takes first place again. This type of dramatic shift requires the skills of an apostle to pull off.

You might presume that intercession is to be reserved for the mature, for those who have graduated from the equipping process. No! No! No!

The best equipping center is the prayer room! If an 18 year old pimple faced young person fresh out of high school with no experience, no knowledge, no wisdom can join the Marines and fight for our country, he can do the same in the prayer room!

Again, there is a place for pastors to nurture people like this, and, in fact, we need pastors not as senior leaders, but as smaller group leaders who can invest time into individuals. They need to prepare them quickly to respond to the coming instructions from the apostles and prophets. It would make sense to have serving with an apostle maybe ten to twenty pastors for every one hundred people in a church.

Islamic prayer: The second pillar of Islam is salat, the requirement to pray five times a day at fixed times. Children are often required to fulfill this daily requirement by the age of 7.

If a mosque can be jam packed full of people praying early in the morning on a weekday as happens in our area, and if children as young as 7 are praying five times a day in that system, certainly an all consuming, Holy Spirit fueled life of prayer for a Christian is not hard to imagine at all!

Act like priests!

When you stand as a priest before the Lord, you aren’t representing yourself, you are representing others in corporate identificational prayer. ~James Goll

You are a priest, and that means that you have a job to do. You are a priestly intercessor before God and the call is to pray individually and corporately continually!

In the coming church, under apostles and prophets, we all will show up and pray! That is church! Church services will be prayer meetings again!

Personal expectations will be replaced by assignments to serve, give, pray and lay down our lives! We won’t show up with our prayer lists or our own issues but rather we will represent the nations as we invest into them in prayer.

We are all priests and we all carry extreme authority! This is church at its best!

The Simple Blueprint

Apostles and Prophets

The shift: Corporate leadership will shift from pastors to apostles and prophets primarily. Instead of merely relaying information, messages will be mostly challenging and directive with a clear expected response as the body is rallied to fulfill a corporate mission together. They will lead with the expectation that the entire unit will be moving in step with them as they fulfill the vision of the church in unity.
The difficulty: Those that are averse to responding to prophetic instruction or who simply want a ‘pick me up’ each week to help them make it to the next Sunday will suddenly find themselves well outside of the vision of the church. There will be costly calls to serve, give, pray and function as a priest before the Lord, and that will be unappealing to many. The new aggressive, fast moving military will be challenging to say the least.

Pastors

The shift: In the coming church, pastors will mostly be relieved of primary church leadership responsibilities and will be released to spend most of their time one-on-one with people and in small groups.
The difficulty: Pastors who are senior leaders will be asked to relinquish their positions, their salaries and their influence in favor of an apostle God is calling them to serve under.

The Body

The shift: Many programs of the church will be eliminated, possibly including children’s ministry, youth ministry, drama, etc. and will be replaced by prayer meetings, training and outreach.
The difficulty: People will have to change their expectations and make themselves ready to serve by growing intentionally on their own in a significant way each day. They probably won’t have close, direct access with the leader and will have to trade personal desire for close friendship for a readiness to respond to the sound of the alarm.

The Culture

The shift: Most services will look more like prayer meetings than anything else. Everybody will spend the bulk of the service ministering to God in intercession and community will surround that emphasis.
The difficulty: The desire to be entertained and overfed will no longer be met. Mostly receiving will change to mostly giving. Rapid maturity will be required as apostolic leaders move ahead aggressively in a rapidly and ever changing culture of ministry to the nations. Those resistant to growth or to change won’t easily find a place to connect. Additionally, relational community will occur only around the mission. The prayer meeting will be the gathering point for friendships to develop. People looking for these types of connections will be disappointed if they aren’t willing to jump in the bunker in a risky mission with their fellow soldiers. Gladly, the pastors will be in the bunkers with them.

The Lost

The shift: Seeker churches will quickly fade away as the fire of the Holy Spirit rages in the houses of prayer. The lost won’t be relationally converted as much as they will be converted by fire. We will trust God’s wisdom as in Acts 2 and allow the fire of God impact a region. The prayer room will become the place of choice to bring the lost.
The difficulty: Everybody will have to drop most everything and tend to the fire in the house of prayer. To ensure the atmosphere is supernaturally charged, everybody in the church will be spending hours a day in the prayer room together. False salvations will drop to near zero as they won’t be based on a simple prayer but rather on an encounter with the God of fire.

To Conclude

It’s important that I do say that many current pastors are actually gifted with apostolic and/or prophetic offices. They will help lead the shift!

We will all have to trust God as our personal finances, plans, dreams, influence and structures are threatened. God really does have plans to prosper us even in this dramatic, unsettling shift!

Posted in The Church and tagged apostle, body, church, God, house of prayer, jonas clark, leadership, offices, pastor, pastor led church, prayer, priest, prophet, shift, structure, the coming church

Video: It has to stop! Competition, accusation and jealousy between churches

By John Burton | March 20, 2013

God forgive us for building kingdoms of man on doctrines of demons in your name. ~Brian Ming

(http://youtu.be/leedwHInzfQ)

IT HAS TO STOP!

Watch this short, raw video on the issue of competitiveness, accusation and jealousy in the church. It has to STOP!

When Amy and I first moved to Detroit and launched Revival Church we sent out 200 copies of my book Pharaoh in the Church to pastors in the Detroit region. The book is written to leaders and those who are called to lead the people of God into encounter.

In that book I deal directly with the issue of personal kingdom building & how it can be a threat to the advance of God’s Kingdom in a region.

Not shockingly, but sadly we only heard from one pastor. One.

When a new Kingdom building church arrives on the scene, the pastors of the region should celebrate their arrival!

PEOPLE, MONEY & REPUTATION

Too much energy is invested into keeping people, protecting our financial situation and enhancing our reputations as leaders—energy that can not be used for its intended purpose of going hard after revival in a region and leading people into encounter.

If we are serious about the city church exploding in life and power, we must be willing to lose people, lose financial security (salaries, benefits) and lose our reputation. Jesus was of no reputation, why should we be?

How can you deal with this issue? Have a healthy ministry policy!

HEALTHY MINISTRY POLICIES

PEOPLE: Have a policy that any pastor, leader or other person can come into your church at any time, with no fear or guilt, and openly recruit anybody, even your staff, to leave your church and join theirs. The fear of losing people and the resulting spirit of competition will disappear.
MONEY: Give regularly to other churches and pray for them to be blessed in a greater measure financially than your own. Giving always causes fear of financial loss to subside. Additionally, never hold back leading in a biblical direction with full unction of the Holy Spirit if key givers may get leave. Preach them out and trust God!
REPUTATION: Die. Surrender. Go low. Be humble. Allow people to ridicule you, accuse you, attack you and discredit your ministry. This happens when you preach truth. If you are of no reputation, then when you lose people, money, influence or anything else, your ego won’t drive you whatsoever.

DISQUALIFIED

Gossip.

Here’s a definition: Any conversation about an absent third party that wouldn’t meet the approval of that person.

Gossip is biblically forbidden communication.

When I, as a church leader, hear anybody gossip about a former pastor they are immediately disqualified from consideration for leadership in my church.

Why? I can’t afford to give place to a demonic anointing in my church.

This is how important it is to honor other pastors, churches and leaders—and everybody else in the body of Christ!

What do you do if you hear someone gossiping about a leader?

I am personally blessed when someone displays their honor, love and faithfulness when they won’t receive gossip about me. But, it’s not about me…it’s about the health of the church and the church of the city we are called to run with. It really is a big deal.

PROPHETIC VOICES

Why is it a big deal? Many reasons. One that will become very clear as the end of the age develops is that the church is going to be shifted violently to calibrate with God’s end-time plans.

The announcement of the shift will come through people. Prophets. Apostles. Those chosen by God to move into a region and reveal with boldness what is changing.

These people will be a serious threat to the status quo, and if pastors rely on the status quo to keep people in position, their salaries stable and their reputation under their control, they will resist these prophets of God with ferocity.

This is why we need to develop a culture of celebration, humility and honor for other leaders, new churches and people who are in the body of Christ in a region.

If we don’t, crosses may remain on the steeples while Ichabod is posted above the doors of resisting, self-centered pastors flowing in the spirit of Pharaoh as they remain focused on building their own kingdoms.

FINAL THOUGHTS

God led Amy and my family to Detroit to see revival land. God is bringing many others here as well. Many others have been laboring here for years and have been prepared for what’s coming. Let’s do all we can to unite and take advantage of the amazing convergence in this critical end-time season!

Posted in The Church and tagged apostle, church, churches, city, competition, detroit, encounter, God, jealousy, Kingdom, ministry, pharaoh in the church, prophet, region

Be the Buzz: A practical guide on how to follow your leader and fulfill your ministry

By John Burton | November 5, 2012 |

God is identifying an emerging army of end-time leaders—discover how to respond to this critical call.

I had a meeting with two of my several amazing leaders at Revival Church last night—and I felt impressed to share some practical tips on how you can be equally amazing as you serve in your ministry.

theLab School of Fire is a three month school that trains people to grow fast, run well and to serve with passion in the ministry God plants them in.

OUR CRAZY DNA

I believe we are seeing some great leaders emerge at Revival Church because of our wild and crazy DNA, not in spite of it. It’s a thrill ride and a challenge to run with someone like myself. The pressure cooker that is Revival Church is openly revealing those who are responding and being formed into the next wave of leaders in Detroit!

To help you understand our context, I’ll share some of the primary vision points that will reveal the challenge of serving in a ministry like this. The challenge, for those who take advantage of it, leads to rapid promotion, favor and honor.

Revival Church is an apostolic and prophetic church.As an apostle/prophet with a regional and national focus, we are leading from that edge. The constant focus around here is reformation, revival and regional impact which means we are always shifting and redirecting in our methods as we pursue the ultimate goal. Following a prophetic leader is a challenge to say the least. The vision is always expanding and the methodology is always changing which requires that everybody involved is ‘instant in season and instant out of season’. New projects are often initiated well before old projects are completed.
Revival Church’s message isn’t locally limited.I say often that I’m a one string banjo. We are all about revival on a regional and national level. So, what this means is that those in our church will be hearing the same revival thread in our messages over and over again. We are intentionally focused and limited instead of diverse in our teachings. I understand that the messages I deliver are mostly for the region and nation, and the primary vehicle we are using is the Sunday evening Revival Church service. I’m certainly preaching to those in attendance, but I’m equally targeting those who will be hearing the message online. If I have to say the same thing over and over until those in attendance have it memorized word for word, that’s OK as long as the message is impacting those who are listening in our target areas around the world.
Revival Church, by design, does not give all five of the offices equal attention.This is not to say that we don’t value all of the offices, but it does say that we know who we are and who we are not. In the current church structure the presumption is that all five offices must be active in every local church. That’s not true. First of all, that’s not realistic for smaller churches. Secondly, in scripture we know the church is identified by the city, not by the local expression. The five-fold offices must be in effect in the city church, which will require that we as leaders are OK with people in our church participating in other local churches that are anointed in another office.
Revival Church, again by design, is not a Pastor led church.The current Pastor led church system in our nation has resulted in a lot of false expectations that are placed on leadership. This is one of our greatest challenges. Again, it’s not that we don’t value the Pastoral office, we do. However, our focus, time, energy and resources are not to be used to focus at a significant level on developing pastoral ministry. Interestingly, the presumption might be that without a strong pastoral focus that people can’t easily grow. It’s quite the contrary around here. We are raising up people who are growing at a faster pace than I’ve ever witnessed—and these people are self-motivated. When they notice a struggle in their lives, they proactively take steps to resolve it. False expectations can lead people to presume I as the Senior Leader will be fulfilling the role of pastor in their lives when, in reality, I’m not a pastor at all. This is a challenge to communicate and it can often feel like rejection to those who want close and constant access to me. However, it’s not rejection at all. It’s simply that a prophet/apostle interacts very differently with people than a pastor does.
Revival Church has an unapologetically high bar of commitment.We believe the 24/7 church is coming, and the call around here is to start modeling this emerging church structure. Additionally, we are launching 50 new churches in this region alone, and we are asking everybody to consider how they will participate in this mission. Everybody here has the goal of changing the Detroit region and working toward revival.
Revival Church has a vision that demands we expand and look outward. There is much that feels undone in our local church due to our focus to continue expanding in the region. We refuse to wait until everything is perfectly in place and mature before we move out and launch other ministries and projects.

HOW TO FOLLOW YOUR LEADER AND PREPARE YOURSELF FOR PROMOTION

If people can learn how to follow leadership with crazy DNA like we have at Revival Church, you can certainly do the same in your church.

Remember, the greatest servants make the greatest leaders. And, leaders who take their mission seriously are on the lookout for the rare few who will be the next great leaders in the church.

Your leader (Pastor, Prophet, Apostle, etc.) is looking for armor bearers, not in title but in function.

Definition of an Armor-bearer: An officer selected by kings and generals because of his bravery, not only to bear their armor, but also to stand by them in the time of danger. — Easton's Illustrated Dictionary

In my book Covens in the Church I point out that most people think leaders should make it easy for people to follow them. I disagree. People should make it easy for leaders to lead them. Why? The very call of leadership is to lead people into the challenging, threatening new land of promise. True leaders make your life harder, not easier. They challenge you to your very limit so you can fulfill a naturally impossible mission.

I wanted to make this as raw and practical as I could, so here it goes!

Understand the vision. Do you know what the vision of your leader is and is not? If there is any confusion at all, seek out a clear, definitive explanation. Then, memorize it. Repeat it to others. Often. At Revival Church, my vision is most clearly outlined in my book 20 Elements of Revival. All of our leaders are required to read this book and then work hard to implement it. I continually teach on the vision here so everybody on board has it in front of them week after week.
Don’t attempt to tweak the vision.Vision by design is limited—extremely so. Remember, your church is not supposed to dilute their vision by diverting energy and resources to your vision. You must follow your leader’s interpretation of the vision as the vision will come directly through him.
Don’t try to fit your vision into your leader’s vision.We like to think that our vision will complement our leader’s, and sometimes it will. But, sometimes it will not. Some personal endeavors can threaten the vision of the house while others can strengthen it. Find out from your pastor what category your vision fits in, and refuse to pull back or take on offense if you discover it doesn’t fit in the current season.
Resolve problems.I tell my leadership team that I expect them to deliver resolutions to me, not problems. In fact, when someone is known for recognizing and highlighting problems to me, it’s an indicator that they are not ready for leadership. Generals don’t report problems without taking on the responsibility to take care of business.
Don’t have false-expectations.“My leader should be doing…” Fill in the blank. There are many things people want their leaders to spearhead or to give attention to, but it’s not his place to do so. I often hear people come to me with great ministry ideas and I almost always place the ball back in their court and encourage them to make it happen. It’s not your leader’s job to run with your vision, but if it’s complementary to the vision of the house, he can open the door for you to run with it yourself. I remember sitting in a class with Dr. Peter Wagner and Dutch Sheets one day. Dutch is an apostle. I don’t think he has a pastoral bone in his body, yet he at the time was leading a church in Colorado Springs. He’s one of the most important voices in our nation, in my opinion, and his attention had to be given to that. Peter Wagner said that day to everybody in attendance, “If you are sick in the hospital or in need of counseling, don’t expect Dutch to show up. That’s not his role.” Expect your leader to fulfill his function and his vision, not the function you want him to, or even a function that desperately needs to be filled by someone else. Just because there is a great need with nobody to meet it doesn’t mean it defaults to your leader.
Champion your leader’s cause. This is a big one. If you want to be received by leadership and experience on-time promotion, you must champion your leader’s cause. The alternative is to be a threat to his cause, which will result in stalled personal development for you. Know your leader’s vision inside and out—and refuse to promote any competing viewpoint. This will require you set aside personal doctrines or ministry philosophies that are contrary. You will also have to confront those who are negatively impacting the vision. Few people are truly able to do this, but those who are most usually experience great favor and rapid promotion.
Never gossip—ever. You do not have the right to discuss frustrations, disagreements or negative analysis of your church with anybody in the entire world—except your leader. If your church doesn’t focus on evangelism to the degree you think it should, for example, it would take a spirit of treason for you to discuss your frustration or disapproval with others. Keep in mind that the Absalom spiritis alive and well in the church today. Also remember that your church, by design, is lacking in many areas so they can focus intently on their God given vision. Many people will come to you in the hopes of gaining a sympathetic ear as they voice their concern about the church. Don’t receive their complaint. Don’t listen to their frustration. Stand firm and communicate without apology the vision of the church. Let them know the vision is not up for debate. My leader in Colorado is a rock star in this regard. When people came to him with their concerns, he took them by the hand directly to me so they could share their issues! Guess what, people stopped going to him with their gossip.
Be faithful.I don’t look for people with great giftings, I look for faithfulness. Ask your leader what his expectations are, and go overboard fulfilling them. Be at every service. Lead the charge. Model extreme, sold-out faithfulness not only to Jesus but to the leader he placed in your life.
Openly respond.When he’s teaching, let everybody in the building know you agree and are ready to respond. Shout amen! Don’t get distracted. Don’t text. Don’t post to Facebook. Be obviously engaged. One of my favorite worship leaders is Catherine Mullins. She’s a good friend too. I often tell people that my favorite part of her ministry isn’t her worship leading, but, rather, the way she immediately sits in the front row after worship and actively engages in the sermon. She shouts, she has her Bible open. She changes the atmosphere from her seat. Powerful.
Address him and his wife with respect.I’m personally challenged regarding titles. On one hand, I really don’t like to call myself anything other than John. I’m OK with others calling me John. But, I also understand what it means to honor authority and to recognize that person’s role in your life. The greater challenge is that I’m not a pastor, though people do call me Pastor John. That’s OK with me, and in fact, it feels more appropriate than for people to call me by my first name. The most accurate title would be Apostle or Prophet John, but with all of the goofy and prideful demeanors that can come along with a title, it’s a bit uncomfortable. So, how do you relate to your leader? Simply, with respect. Use a title if that’s expected and show your respect in other ways if it’s not. Remember him and his family on birthdays, on Pastor Appreciation Day, anniversaries, etc.
Understand that you can disqualify yourself for leadership for a season.I’m a very active listener and watcher. You may not think it’s fair or right, but leaders analyze people, in love, and with a sober spirit. They are mandated to protect the mission God entrusted to them. As one who comes alive when ‘the least of these’ are awakened to their destiny, and as one who has a lot of grace when it comes to failure, trial, error and weakness, I also am looking to see who’s rising above the rest. Your leader will have his own set of tests. For me, as an example, gossip will quickly disqualify someone, until the issue is resolved and repentance is clear. I have to ensure my leaders are fully on board and that they don’t threaten or compromise the mission. This doesn’t mean that I don’t love them. Not at all. My grace level is high as they grow through their challenge. I still see them one day leading significant ministries and changing the world!
Don’t require your leader to say things twice.Leaders have expectations that are necessary for the development of the ministry. I am always impressed and will give favor to those who respond to my requests without the need to say it again. I don’t have the time to repeatedly make the same requests over and over. Understand, this is usually simple stuff… but, not insignificant stuff. Don’t make the mistake of presuming a simple request is an insignificant one or one that can be ignored altogether. As an example, in theLab we have a call to excellence that includes never being even one minute late to any class or event. We say, “Early is on time, on time is late and late is unacceptable.” Those who respond to this call the first time have my attention.
Undergird him much more than you pull on him.Leaders are looking for those who lessen the burden of the vision, not those who add to it. Of course, we are to help, as we can, the leaders on our team. However, all of our energy can’t continually be tapped by resolving problems. The job must get done and we have to ensure distraction is at a minimum. Be the one who is vigilant in resolving issues so you can hold up the arms of your leader as he goes to battle.
Love, honor and pray for him.A few of my leaders specifically communicate with me on an ongoing basis sharing how they are praying for me. They also usually pull me aside before the Sunday service to pray for me, to break off any attack and to stand in the gap for me. This is greatly appreciated and needed.
Don’t use your church for your own ministry platform.I learned this lesson myself over 20 years ago. I started serving in a church that I thought was a great place for me to establish my own ministry. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my ministry was not welcomed by the leadership in the way I thought it would be. I wasn’t championing their vision, I was using them to fuel my own. Big mistake. I was humbled (humiliated is more like it) one day at a staff meeting. I was serving in the youth department, and was starting to have quite an impact. At the staff meeting the pastor said, without even looking at me, “John Burton is not someone we are considering for the position of youth leader in this church now or in the future.” I was mad, but years later I understand. I wasn’t truly there to enhance their vision, I was there to leech off of them. Lesson learned.
Grow intentionally on your own.Come to every service stronger than you were in the last. Take it upon yourself to work out spiritually so you can be an ever increasing benefit to the work of the Kingdom.
Financially invest in the vision.Go beyond the tithe. Give extravagantly to the endeavors and projects that are initiated in the pursuit of a fulfilled mission.
Refuse to take on offense.True ministry provides opportunity for offense continually. Don’t fall into it. Don’t get offended when you aren’t recognized, when you aren’t listened to or when you aren’t valued the way you think you should be. Don’t take on other people’s offense either.
Model expected behavior.A spirit of entitlement can easily hit emerging leaders and church staffs. The presumption that we don’t have to participate at the level expected of others can halt a mission. For example, I want our leaders to lead the way by always sitting up front during the sermon, listening intently, leading the charge during pre-service prayer, to be at the altars prior to service for a time of intercession, etc. As our leaders model expected behavior they set a culture. That culture is invaluable.
Be a long-timer.Attrition is an extremely disruptive occurrence in the church today. Church leaders are most always anxious about whether they can count on people to stick with them for the long term. Make a commitment and voice it to your leader. Let him know that you will stand with them through good times and bad in a covenant relationship—and you’ll do what you can to model that in such a way that it becomes a key part of the culture of the church.
Be joyful!Be that person that’s always smiling, rejoicing and positive! Trust me, leaders can’t get enough of people like that. I have someone on my team that is contagiously joyful. That in itself has her on my leadership radar.
Be the buzz. Be the most visible, radical, exuberant cheerleader for your church! I’ve been involved in just a few ministries that do this very well. People excitedly spread the word about the church God planted them in. You see it on their faces. You read their Facebook posts. They can’t stop Tweeting. They are fiery evangelists! Around here people can’t stop talking about theLab. There’s buzz. Be that buzz for your church. I know when people are running with the vision when I see them actively advancing the cause Monday through Saturday.

Some books on this topic that I highly recommend to you include A Tale of Three Kings, God’s Armor Bearer, Under Cover and my book Covens in the Church.

Posted in The Church and tagged apostle, apostolic, army, buzz, church, commitment, dna, end time, faithful, five fold, follow, honor, leader, leadership, love, ministry, offices, pastor, pray, promotion, prophet, prophetic, respect, revival church, school of fire, thelab, tips, vision

Church Nightmares: We need a Gordon Ramsay style reconstruction in the church

By John Burton | April 19, 2011

Examine ten clear points the church must consider as we prepare for Kingdom advance.

The prophet comes to set up that which is upset. His work is to call into line those who are out of line!~Leonard Ravenhill

I always feel a bit strange when I cry most every time I watch the TV show Kitchen Nightmares. Then, the light came on. Gordon Ramsay is a prophet in waiting, a man who, in the natural, brings order to disorder in dying restaurants. He is doing in secular culture what prophets are called to do in the spiritual. He is doing what Leonard Ravenhill is talking about in the business realm and its time for us to see it in the church realm. That prophetic reality results in tears for me—and a yearning for action—now!

I’d encourage you to watch the entire teaching on this topic (it was a spontaneous prophetic message that God rocked me with Sunday night during worship as I was getting ready to preach).

I‘d recommend reading a similar article: 10 Threats to Revival.

CHURCH NIGHTMARES

A CRY FOR HELP—Historically, when a cry for help sounded God sent a prophet. Judges 6:7-8 (ESV) ⁷When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, ⁸the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. In Kitchen Nightmares, the restaurant owner is usually in a very desperate situation so Gordon Ramsay is summoned to help.
THE ANALYSIS—In every episode I’ve seen, the restaurant owner is convinced that they are on the right track, and simply need some expert guidance and a little enhancement to see things turn around. For those who watch the show, you know that this is the place where things get ugly. On the first day of a several day process, Gordon Ramsay enters the restaurant, meets the owner and then sits down to order a meal. Without fail, the owner and the chef are absolutely convinced that the food they are serving is wonderful. At least an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.Without fail, Gordon Ramsay samples the food and is horrified. His unique and expert perspective grants him the ability to immediately determine whether the food is good or bad—an analysis that is contrary to the analysis of the owner and the chef. It’s immediately clear, after just a few moments, to Gordon Ramsay why the restaurant is failing, though the ownership, after hours, days and years of analysis is confused and clueless.
OFFENSE & CONFLICT—Gordon Ramsay then goes directly to the kitchen and shocks the staff with his brash and direct approach. He is often extremely upset that he was served food of such a low caliber. He has accused them of lying to to the patrons by offering one thing on the menu and delivering something totally different on the plate. People’s faces show shock and anger as Gordon attacks ‘their baby’…their food, their dream, their way of doing things. Similarly, prophets, who are called to analyze situations and sound alarms for radical change, are often resisted vehemently when they touch the dreams and efforts of pastors and people in the church. Offense can spike and division can come if honesty and humility don’t reign. The prophet in his day is fully accepted of God and totally rejected by men. He is unquestionably controversial and unpardonably hostile.~Leonard Ravenhill
On the show, at this point of the process, people are radically offended, often in tears, shocked beyond measure and second guessing their choice to invite Gordon to help. They usually want him gone—and fast.
THIS IS NOT AN ENHANCEMENT—As I stated previously, the restaurant owners on the show, and also pastors and leaders in the church, are expecting their endeavors to be affirmed and then enhanced so as to yield a better result. The reality? The mission of Gordon Ramsay and the mission of prophets in the church is not one of enhancement. It’s near total deconstruction and complete reformation—or nothing. What is presumed to be untouchable is touched—and torn down—without apology by Gordon. Staff is fired, food that has been served for years is removed from the menu, the owners are rebuked for their poor leadership, and on and on.In less than a week, Gordon Ramsay comes in and enhances nothing, but reforms everything. The décor is modernized, old equipment is replaced with new equipment, staff is reassigned to new, better suited duties and everything becomes instantly better.In the church we see the same issues. Leaders are often so set on the way they are doing things, on the vision of yesteryear, that they simply want their comfort zone of ministry to be affirmed and enhanced. Churches open their doors wide to consultants but slam the door hard to prophets. One brings enhancement and affirmation while the other shuts everything down in favor of developing a brand new wine skin.
EXTREME MEASURES—More than once Gordon Ramsay has shut down the dinner service with a full house of hungry customers. He had the staff send them home due to breakdowns in the restaurant. The staff is usually embarrassed and furious. The risk of losing people through such a method is extremely high. They usually feel that Gordon, at that point, actually destroyed their business instead of helping it.What the owners determined was an acceptable way to run a business was actually so below the bar that Gordon Ramsay closed the restaurant for the safety of the patrons.I believe it’s critical to allow God to shut down programs and even entire churches, at least for a season, for the sake of a full deconstruction and reconstruction of systems, policies, functions and vision. Yes, many people will leave, but the resulting structure will be able to fulfill its mission.
NEW IDENTITY—One of the most powerful moments comes when Gordon’s crew spends the entire night ripping out the old décor and refurbishing the entire restaurant. Everything changes. Gordon has gone as far as changing the name of the restaurant and hanging a new sign outside! He changed the restaurant from specializing on one type of food (sea food, for example) to another (burgers and shakes). The reformation went as deep as the very core of the vision that the restaurant was initially developed from. The prophet breathes the rarefied air of inspiration. He is a “seer” who comes to lead the blind.~Leonard Ravenhill
NEW ASSIGNMENTS—Gordon Ramsay is an expert at analyzing people’s strengths and weaknesses. He reassigns people according to their passions and abilities. The chef may become a bus boy. A waitress may become the manager. The owner may be asked to stay out of the way and let more gifted people lead.We must see this happen in the church as well. Prophets and apostles are experts at bringing order to disorder. The pastor or leader of a church or ministry may not be gifted with this level of revelation, and it will make sense for them to give way to those who do.
SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT—Gordon, when he arrives, assumes control to an offensive degree. But, he also invests himself, his time and his money. Thousands of dollars are put into new equipment, the new branding, food, remodeling, etc. More than once he has actually hired a world renowned chef for thirty days to help the restaurant stay on track after he leaves.We can expect this in the church as well. Prophets and apostles are often willing to cancel other appointments and ministry assignments to come to a city to help with the reconstruction.
HUGS, TEARS AND THANKS—Every single time owners and staff—that absolutely hated Gordon and wanted him to leave almost before he arrived—end up thanking him passionately, usually with tears in their eyes. Gordon did what they could not do because of his unique calling and gift mix.Gordon Ramsay has such a tender heart and desires deeply that every restaurant owner would be prosperous and successful. You see him truly developing real friendships with people who once despised him.If pastors will trust the offensive and threatening process that prophets and apostles will call for, at the end of the day, they will thank them. Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Years back, Dr. Gregory Mantle was right when he said, “No man can be fully accepted until he is totally rejected.” The prophet of the Lord is aware of both these experiences. They are his “brand name.” ~Leonard Ravenhill

The prophet is the villain of today and the hero of tomorrow.~Leonard Ravenhill
RETURNING TO OLD PATTERNS—Time and again it’s proven that those who revert to their old ways, and forget everything that Gordon Ramsay set into motion, end up failing. Some of the shows are devoted to visiting restaurants that Gordon had been in previously. Often, he’ll find the restaurants closed and the reports from the old employees he tracks down are always the same—the owner reverted back to their old way of doing things.On the other hand, those who stuck with the new menu, who embraced the rebranding, who fired employees who should not be there, and who ensured the employees who remained stayed in their newly assigned roles reported great financial gain and and a restaurant that’s packed every night. Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV) ¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I’ve stated many times in recent years, and have written in my book 20 Elements of Revival, that the reformation that’s coming to the church is going to be extreme and everything we hold dear is at risk.

Another key point to understand is that every church in the nation is included in this massive reform. It’s easy to think that God is referring to the dead, dry, religious churches when he speaks of reformation. The reality? The most Spirit-filled, fiery churches are those who must be reformed first, so they can move ahead in the spirit of a forerunner and model the extreme change that’s coming to the rest of the church world.

What do you think?

Posted in The Church and tagged branding, christianity, church, churches, conflict, disorders, food, food reality television series, gordon ramsay, gordons, human behavior, identity, kitchen nightmares, leonard ravenhill, menu, message, nightmares, offense, points, prophecy, prophet, prophetic authority, prophets, reform, reformation, religion, restaurant, restaurant owners, revelation, supernatural revelation, TV

Shocking dream : Trust me, take time to listen to this critical message for the church

By John Burton | March 30, 2011

I had a shocking dream that communicated a critical message of prophetic realignment for the church.

Watch or listen to this message: A Prophetic Culture In a day where churches are not even prophetically influenced, much less prophetically led, we’re experiencing a radical misalignment. Most of us have grown up in a pastor led church model, and the idea of apostolic/prophetic leadership is quite foreign to us. Many are afraid of prophecy, while others embrace it, but only if it’s personally encouraging. Follow along with the notes below, and feel the heart of God in this special message. I will share a dream that absolutely freaked me out, and share about the piercing prophetic alarm that’s sounding over the cities of the Earth. A Prophetic Culture I. A prophetic culture a. We have to be concerned that most churches are not prophetically led. i. The entire culture of the church has to change so the church moves from a simple teaching center to a missional organization. ii. The church has such a phenomenal opportunity to radically change—if we respond to the prophetic instructions. b. The restoration of the prophetic ministry is essential for the vitality of the church. Whereas the gift of prophecy can be given to any believer as the Spirit wills, the ministry of the prophet is a calling on a person’s life. The church urgently needs this ministry. i. the role of the Prophet is : 1. to Speak for God 2. to exhort and direct the body of Christ. c. The prophet will provide vision for the church and keep it on the right track. He will ensure that there is an emphasis on holiness. A prophet is really an elder, who challenges church members with besetting sins and specializes in getting vision for the church. i. This means the city church! d. People absolutely love it when they receive prophecy that foretells what’s to come. i. They love simple encouragement. They love exhortation. ii. However, most shrink back when instructional prophecy is delivered. iii. It takes humility to know the difference between prophecy and exhortation. Exhortation is not prophecy (Mario Murillo- Prophecy). iv. The prophetic alarms that are sounding now are going to require extreme and swift response by everybody. v. God requires men with a vision. To do a great work only requires one man with a vision who is prepared to burn himself out for it. God takes a man and burns a vision onto his heart. To be a disciple means that God has to take everything that person has. If a vision is to be fulfilled we must give everything for it (Clark Taylor on Prov 29:18). vi. In a day when people are trying to avoid burn out, I believe God is calling us to be willing to burn out…the call is that severe. e. Isaiah 58:1-3 (ESV) ¹“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. ²Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ³‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure… i. It’s a prophet’s job to analyze the current situation in the church via the revelation of the Holy Spirit and then to call the people to respond. ii. This is a rare manifestation of the prophetic office, but we must embrace it again if we are to experience God’s plans for our region. iii. Definition: A prophet is a spokesperson for God. The prophet admonishes, warns, directs, encourages, intercedes, teaches and counsels. He brings the word of God to the people of God and calls the people to respond. iv. Definition: The seer is one who has understanding of the times. This person has the ability to perceive and discern the spiritual significance of a situation and can give the Lord’s perspective on a given situation. This person’s strengths are giftings of illumination and discernment, though they may or may not communicate what they see in any one set or particular manner. This kind of prophet is extremely valuable as a watchman and intercessor in the midst of the Church. v. As a prophetic center for the region, this is one of our key mandates. We serve through sharing critical analysis of the situation and offering solutions. vi. Quote: Some prophets are watchmen or men of vision who stand on the walls of the city of God to see what God is doing. They look into the distance to see what is coming. They often see a long way ahead. f. One place where the modern church often stumbles is in the understanding of revelation. i. Many believe that God will speak directly to them when something is to be done. ii. They don’t understand that at times God will be silent to them, but will speak clearly to a prophet, or to their leader, regarding what is to be done. iii. You can have spiritual gifting and insight, but that does not mean God has set you in a position of governing authority. God gives gifts to men by His Spirit, but the governing offices are established by the Lord Jesus. We get into trouble when we mistake gifts for offices (John Bevere Thus Saith the Lord p.131). g. Amos 3:6-8 (ESV) ⁶Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it? ⁷“For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. ⁸The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?” i. Share my dream of the apocalyptic city when the air raid siren sounded. 1. I wasn’t moved. I was casual. I went to the bathroom (it seemed necessary, but really wasn’t). I represented the state of the church. 2. Where’s the response?! a. I’m so radically concerned about the hope for revival in Detroit. 3. Quote: The church will always be the prophet’s main concern. 4. The true church could not have become the “institution” it has, if the watchmen had not been rendered impotent (John Martin). a. Meaning, the removal of prophets has resulted in a sterile church without vision and forward advance.

Posted in The Church and tagged apostolic, cities, culture, dream, God, message, pastor, prophet, prophetic, realignment

Transition is coming but the church is breech

By John Burton | August 24, 2010 |

THE CHURCH IS BREECH

If you have been following the ministry recently you know that I’m zeroed in on a critical issue—an issue, in my opinion, that can result in the further fracture of the church, or in a powerful reformation that will shock the world.

Sunday at our Revival Church staff meeting, there was a strong prophetic word that must be given attention.

The message was that the church is in a time of massive transition, much like you’d find in a delivery room. When the mother is transitioning into the process of birth the room is filled with chaos and even confusion for the untrained, nervous or unprepared.

We are seeing this same chaos and confusion in the church today. People are scattering, searching for traction, for fresh new life that they sense is near.

Then, the person who gave the message declared, “The church is breech! The church is breech!”

Of course, a breech delivery is a cause for serious concern. The chance of death to the coming baby is much greater than in a normal, head first birth.

Immediately, God revealed to me what the word meant. What the meaning of a breech church was.

The confusion, frustration and wounding that’s impacting so many Christians is resulting in an intentional divorce from pastors and leaders. It’s a movement that either greatly minimizes or even renounces governmental church leadership.

It’s a feet first movement. The church is breech.

A common cause for a breech delivery is prematurity. Premature babies tend to deliver breech, and we need to consider this for the church. We can’t allow our dissatisfaction and impatience to cause us to move out ahead of leadership.

Many believe this chaotic transition, this reformation in the church is the answer to their frustrations and pains that they experienced in the organized church. They feel it’s a transition out of body life and away from human leaders.

That is a devastating and terribly incorrect analysis.

The coming reformation will in fact highlight God’s established apostolic leaders and will call the church to rally around them in radical unity and advance into the darkness of the world.

Further, there’s an incorrect mindset that every Believer is identical. That we all have equal giftings and equal authority in every situation. Usually this idea is embraced as a defense measure after feeling slighted by Christian leaders. I understand the pain that this can bring, but the answer isn’t to artificially level the playing field. God loves us all passionately, but he does flow through us differently. Our abilities and responsibilities vary.

Those with a gift of healing have a greater grace to heal people. People with the gift of helps can function in that role much more easily and efficiently than others. If someone has an ordination from God into a prophetic office, he or she will be receiving information that most others won’t. Apostles have breakthrough ability that’s unique to that office.

As we embrace true biblical order, and understand that we can’t cut off the heads (small ‘h’ vs. the capitol ‘H’ reserved for God alone—God is the Head and he establishes heads of ministries) of God’s ordained leaders simply because they have disappointed us.

Man will always disappoint, but it’s God’s wisdom that has resulted in the establishment of significant responsibilities, anointings and missions through them. It’s always been this way, cover to cover in Scripture. God raises up men and women to lead. We can’t avoid it.

So, it’s time to gather together in love, passion and mission as God readies a massive advance of God’s government that lies just on the other side of our current birthing room season of transition.

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Posted in The Church and tagged apostle, apostolic, breech, chaos, church, confusion, government, head, leader, life, order, prophet, revival church

Speaking Engagements : A Fish, a Worm and a Wind : Notes and Audio

By John Burton | June 21, 2010

First—Let’s take a Revival Team of fiery, prophetic people to three upcoming ministry events! Join us THIS WEEK!

I’ll be teaching on Six Enemies of Fulfilled Destiny at IHOPE Detroit this Wednesday and Thursday nights. It starts at 7pm and you can see more info at www.ihopedetroit.org.

Also, this Sunday, June 27th at 10:30am I’ll be at Revival Nation Church in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Check them out at www.revivalnation.com.

Are you in the Detroit area? I’m boldly casting the vision for a mass gathering of likeminded, hungry and passionate people at Revival Church every Sunday evening at 6pm.

Simply, we need you! We’re looking for an expectant people to rise up and lock arms with the rest of us at Revival Church as we intentionally and strategically prepare for the upcoming outpouring in Detroit. If you can make a commitment to be with us every Sunday night, I’m fully confident your life will take a turn you never thought possible!

Last night I taught on part two of a message on Jonah. This one is titled A Fish, a Worm and a Wind.

Two key points were addressed:

There is a ‘spirit of Jonah’ that’s rising up in the religious world right now. It’s a prophetic movement of tearing down men and women of God due to slight doctrinal differences, or due to their vindictive and proud disposition and desire to see fallible people renounced and eliminated from ministry.
Jonah was known to be an emotional wreck. He went from gladness to depression in record time. Do you find yourself angry or depressed or sad often? You may find freedom as you repent of the same issues that drove Jonah.

Head on over to www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/teaching and listen now.

I got great feedback last week when I included my notes, so here are the notes for last nights teaching:

A Fish, a Worm and a Wind

I. Jonah

a. Jonah 2:10 (ESV) And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

i. If anybody in history should have understood mercy and grace, it’s Jonah.

ii. Jonah was a prophet of God, a minister, someone who had a massive life mission to change the world.

1. He was a highly esteemed Prophet of Israel around 786BC.

2. However, he had serious shortcomings.

3. He was vindictive and radically exclusive.

4. Nineveh was a bitter enemy of Israel.

5. He could be compared to the elder brother of the prodigal son who was angered at the father’s unconditional love, forgiveness and acceptance of his long lost son.

iii. Last week I mentioned the importance of not living a Jonah 3:1 life:

1. Jonah 3:1 (ESV) Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time…

2. However, you would think that Jonah, after his tragic error of disobedience, would understand the deep love and grace of God.

3. Let’s read his prayer from the belly of the fish that God appointed to deal with Jonah:

4. Jonah 2:1-10 (ESV) ¹Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ²saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. ³For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. ⁴Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ ⁵The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head ⁶at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. ⁷When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. ⁸Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. ⁹But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” ¹⁰And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

iv. Jonah was saved by God’s mercy and in God’s grace he delivered the prophetic message he was born for.

1. It’s been said that mercy is God’s unmerited favor. Grace is God’s empowering.

2. A fallen minister went through God’s microwaved restoration process and was immediately back in the ministry. This still flawed man of God was called on to save an entire city. God’s grace was with him!

3. Jonah 3:10 (ESV) When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

4. Jonah was furious!

5. Jonah 4:1 (ESV) But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

6. If we are driven by grace, we will easily love and honor people. Our passion will be their life, not our life.

7. Jonah had a certain right to be angry. After all, he loved truth and was intent in seeing everything unholy and false destroyed. His problem though was simple. His love of truth that resulted in vindictiveness against people clearly showed that his revelation of truth was flawed.

8. However, Jonah had so much hatred for the Assyrians for their past oppression of his people that he could not rejoice over their
salvation.

v. Check out what he says in chapter 4 verse 2!

1. Jonah 4:2 (ESV) And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

2. Wow! That is an insane verse! We see more clearly now why he ended up in the belly of a fish. It wasn’t because he was scared of prophesying in Nineveh. It wasn’t because it was inconvenient. It was because he knew God was full of grace and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in love! He knew God’s love would prevail instead of judgment!

3. Matthew Henry- There appeared in Jonah remains of a proud, uncharitable spirit; and that he neither expected nor desired the welfare of the Ninevites, but had only come to declare and witness their destruction.

4. Jonah 4:3-4 (ESV) ³Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” ⁴And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

5. He would rather die than partake in the grace and mercy of God.

a. We see a movement today that has this unhealthy spirit of Jonah fueling it.

b. We have to be careful not to be so focused on our righteousness and other’s failures, we can’t trumpet truth in such a way that it results in the destruction of others as it would be reveal an inaccurate revelation of truth.

vi. Jonah finds himself outside of God’s grace yet again.

1. He was known to have emotional mood swings—he was depressed yet again.

2. Heaviness, depression and anger can be an indicator that we are living outside of God’s grace, and God will do much to draw us back in.

3. We can’t presume to be delivered from depression without repentance and release of the ideals that put us there.

4. Check out what Jonah did.

5. Jonah 4:5 (ESV) Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

6. Jonah reverted to the demeanor of a five-year-old.

7. He built a fort and pouted.

vii. So, what did God do? Did he send a wise man of God to counsel him? Did he reason with him? Nope. Jonah should know that God would do something bizarre. He should have remembered that God had previously appointed a fish to deal with his issues.

1. Jonah 1:17 (ESV) And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

viii. Now, in Jonah’s even more ridiculous situation, God appoints a wise and mighty plant.

1. This verse is hilarious:

2. Jonah 4:6 (ESV) Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.

3. Yeah! A plant! This emotionally unbalanced prophet went from depression to being exceedingly glad in a moment.

4. However, his joy is rooted in selfishness. He was rejoicing over his own comfort as he sat overlooking a city that he wished God would change his mind again and annihilate.

5. Now, God’s sense of humor in Jonah’s embarrassing state wasn’t done.

6. Jonah 4:7 (ESV) But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.

7. Psyche! Just kidding! No comfort for you! You big baby!

8. God wasn’t done.

9. Jonah 4:8 (ESV) When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

a. Common to the Middle East, the wind was a dust-laden, furnace-like blast of heat that parches the body by evaporating perspiration.

b. He wanted to die because of this worm and wind. His own shelter couldn’t even comfort him!

10. Jonah 4:9 (ESV) But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”

a. His lack of mercy and grace resulted in deep depression from a worm and a wind.

b. But God caused him to deeply care for the plant. He loved the plant. He was mad at the worm and the wind and the beating down sun for killing his plant.

c. Are you in that place? Are you continually depressed or angry because of seeming ridiculous reasons?

d. Do you blame others for your condition? If so, listen closely, it’s possible evidence that you are operating in an unhealthy spirit of Jonah. That heart of blame is an indicator that we expect to be served instead of to serve.

e. Of course, God used this lesson to show how much God loved Ninevah.

11. Jonah 4:10-11 (ESV) ¹⁰And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

a. Bachman-the right hand is the symbol of the good realm, the hand that symbolizes power and righteousness. The left hand, by contrast, is the symbol of evil, the hand used to curse and used to clean oneself. Each realm is opposite to each other and
should not be mixed. So when it is said that Nineveh cannot tell their right hand from their left, it is saying that they have no discernment, no knowledge of ethics or the basics of life (Bachmann 54).

b. The last few words, “and much cattle” were intentional to display how far God’s grace extends.

c. The animals were included in the king’s decree for repentance in chapter 3.

d. Our amazing God won in dramatic fashion. His mercy and grace saved and entire city of precious people, AND he lovingly took Jonah by the hand and helped him understand God’s heart.

II. The Takeaway

a. If we are driven by selfishness, a religious spirit that embraces truth but despises people or by pride and selfish ambition, we can expect God to appoint a fish, a worm and a wind to our situation.

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Posted in The Church and tagged anger, depression, fish, ihope, jonah, notes, prophet, revival church, revival nation, sarnia, six enemies of fulfilled destiny, teaching, wind, worm

A letter to Detroit area pastors and church leaders

By John Burton | May 18, 2010

Many of you know that we are praying for key connections, 1000 new intercessors in the Detroit area and an infestation of new church plants.

The outpouring that’s coming is going to rock the entire world—and we have to get ready!

Detroit has a sufficient army of believers, but we don’t know each other! We’re not organized.

I wrote a letter to the pastors and church leaders in the entire Detroit region, and I’d love some help!

If you know a Detroit area pastor, apostle or other leader, would you direct them to read the letter on our site at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/pastors?

That would be a HUGE help!

All of us at Revival Church want to pray for and serve the greater city church with a lot of love and passion!

Last Sunday’s “Bring your blanket to church” event was sweet! So, we’re doing it again! This Sunday at 6pm bring your blanket and get ready to soak and pray and worship in the presence of God!

If you need refreshing, this night is for you!

And, last but absolutely not least, have you REGISTERED for the Michele Perry event?

Do so VERY SOON at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/events! It’s FREE!

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