Posts Tagged ‘threats’
Ten Threats to Revival Part 11 – Unbelief
Watch: Find freedom from fear as you launch out into a life of powerful faith!
Ten Threats to Revival Part 11 – Unbelief
You can do this! You are called to live a ridiculously supernatural life!
You must believe! Go after the impossible! Be like Noah and live in such a way that causes people to mock!!!! You are called to live a miraculous life!
Understand that most people will not believe. In order to be in the mix of the end-time revival, you must have great faith. The more we pray, the more we believe. The more we hear his word, the more faith! Faith comes by hearing!
If we don't believe, this results in a life on hold and revival cannot flow through us. Faith results in action that will shake the nations. You are called to be a giant in the faith!
Luke 18:7-8 (ESV) 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
WATCH OR LISTEN TO THIS LIFE CHANGING MESSAGE FREE FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS HERE!
CoFI Break–Seeker Sensitive Movement Continued: Ten Threats to Revival Part 8
John continues his teaching on the threat of the Seeker Sensitive Movement.
The church is to be a supernatural church!
More than ever we need the fire of the Holy Spirit to drive our services and prayer must be our fuel.
The option of a low level, casual, God-minimized primary service is simply not there. We can't afford Ichabod to be posted above our doorposts.
It's time the church burns again!
WATCH OR LISTEN TO THIS POWERFUL TEACHING FREE FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS HERE!
CoFI Break Video—Ten Threats to Revival Part 6—The Scattering Movement
This is a MUST WATCH video on the uprising of rebellion in the church and how people are fleeing the corporate gathering—all at the cost of revival.
Today people are leaving churches and scattering, leaving the church vulnerable and the hope of revival threatened.
When Satan was attempting to gather people together to accomplish an impossible task, the building of a tower to Heaven, God came down and scattered them. Now, Satan is attempting to use that strategy against God!
More than ever, we must honor and serve leaders, be in the church every time the doors are open and pray with out ceasing.
Evan Roberts' famous prescription must be followed today more than ever:
“Congregate the people who are willing to make a total surrender. Pray and wait. Believe God's promises. Hold daily meetings.”
The time of daily prayer events is coming, and revival will be held back until it happens.
WATCH THIS POWERFUL TEACHING FREE FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS HERE!
CoFI Break Video—Ten Threats to Revival Part 5 – Taking a Wait and See Approach (continued)
Do you truly believe? Are you driven by faith? Watch today’s message and discover just what our lives will look like if we are!
CoFI Break Video—Ten Threats to Revival Part 5 – Taking a Wait and See Approach (continued)
Our mission to launch revival and rescue souls from an eternity in Hell is so intense that we have no option to kick back, relax and wait for God to move. We aren't to wait on him…he's waiting on us!
The laborers are few and it grieves God's heart that so little is being done about that.
You and I are called to strive toward a victorious mission and to pray without ceasing until revival impacts our cities.
WATCH OR LISTEN TO TODAY’S MESSAGE FOR FREE FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS HERE!
CoFI Break Video: Ten Threats to Revival Part 3–A Belief in Fate
Watch Ten Threats to Revival Part 3–A Belief in Fate
TEN THREATS TO REVIVAL PART 3 – A BELIEF IN FATE
The second threat to revival is a belief in fate. Do you presume that an outpouring is coming simply because there has been prophecy about it or because hunger is increasing in a region? That is not enough.
The call is to be consumed with Jesus and his passion to see a revived church. Every day our predominant focus must be fire on the Earth. Anything less puts revival at risk.
WATCH OR LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE FREE FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS HERE!
CoFI Break Video: Ten Threats to Revival Part 1–The Local Church
Is it possible that the local church itself might be a hindrance to revival?
First, read my latest Charisma Magazine article that was released today: Will the Future Church Resemble Our Vision of the Ideal Church?
Excerpt:
So many say they are tired of church as usual, yet those same people are still employing the same methods of ministry they have for decades. Being tired of church as usual isn't enough—we must embrace and initiate radical change.
TEN THREATS TO REVIVAL PART 1—THE LOCAL CHURCH
In this first teaching in a brand new series John discusses ten threats to revival manifesting in a region. The first threat to revival? The local church. Will local churches support the call for revival in the city or will their own schedules, focuses and insecurities keep them away?
WATCH OR LISTEN TO TODAY’S MESSAGE AND DOWNLOAD THE NOTES HERE.
Podcast: The extreme call for the church in the end-times
Watch as I share the vision for theFurnace as we contend for revival in the nations of the Earth.
The call is extreme and the church must awaken into it’s end-time mandate for night and day prayer.
Watch as I share about what is needed if Detroit and other cities have any hope for revival and awakening: http://youtu.be/zhjAFhTChVg
Also, read an article I wrote about several threats to revival. What do you think about the status of revival in your region?
What will it take for revival to land? What is standing in the way?
There are over 19,000 cities in America—and none of them are experiencing the biblically normal culture that revival would bring. Something is tragically wrong! Extreme, shocking and potentially offensive reformation is necessary.
To better help you take the pulse of your own life and your own city, I am suggesting some threats to revival. As we eliminate the threats, we’ll be steps closer to an outpouring. Some of what I’m sharing is from my book 20 Elements of Revival and some is from what I’m currently witnessing in my city of Detroit, Michigan.
First, consider this quote by Evan Roberts, the hero of the Welsh Revival, as he shares the simple formula for revival:
“Congregate the people who are willing to make a total surrender. Pray and wait. Believe God’s promises. Hold daily meetings.”
You’ll notice Evan’s formula for revival is addressed throughout the following points:
TEN THREATS TO REVIVAL
The local church—Yes, I know that’s a provocative statement, and I must state very clearly that I love the church and I love pastors—and honor their amazing devotion. However, the alarm must be sounded. If a regional call to action is muted by the over-saturated, over-protected local church calendar, the necessary strength to both initiate and then support revival on a regional level won’t be there. Additionally, if we allow jealousy, insecurity, offense or other tactics of the enemy to keep us and the people in our churches away from the regionally emphasized mission, revival will most certainly not arrive, and the grace to run our local churches won’t be there. It’s a lose-lose situation. It’s time that we as leaders intentionally monitor closely where the fire is burning in a region—and then cancel our lesser activities so we can lead the people there. We must see the mobile, regional, 24/7 church emerge.
A belief in fate—Many people tend to believe that they have little effect on whether revival breaks out or not. 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.” A belief in fate minimizes the radical importance of our participation. Additionally, the many prophecies that have been revealing God’s plans for an outpouring in Detroit are conditional. In order to see them come to pass, we must involve ourselves in the process. As Mike Bickle says, “Prophecy isn’t a guarantee, it’s an invitation.”
Taking a “wait and see” approach—Related to the above point, many are sitting back waiting to see if this current outpouring in Detroit is in fact a move of God. The problem? God’s moving is largely dependent on you and me! We have been instructed to tend to the fire, and in our unwitting arrogance we have reassigned that job back to God! We believe God is to do our job of keeping the fire burning when he explicitly requires us to do it. If we don’t build the fire, the fire will go out—even though God’s prophesied plans are to bring the fires of reformation to Detroit.
The scattering movement—We are in the end-times, and it’s clear in scripture that we must gather together even more during this historic season. Satan’s plans to overthrow God were well on track as the greatest movement of unity in history was advancing. That unity gave strength to the building of a tower that would reach the heavens. God realized the threat and initiated ‘operation scattering’. The language was confused and they scattered all over the Earth. Now, Satan is using God’s own strategy against the most powerful governmental system on the planet—the Church. Instead of gathering in unity that would be strong enough to overthrow Satan’s kingdom, we are being scattered. We are not together. This is why stadiums will be critical in this next season. We must have the city church literally together, in the same place, consistently. Read more about the scattering movement in my article You are Not the Church. Remember, a key element of revival, which is emphasized by Evan Roberts, is daily meetings. Yes, it will be normal for people to be in church, together, under apostolic leadership most every day of the week.
A seeker-sensitive movement—I’ve often told the people in my church that I will never tone down the activity of the Holy Spirit out of respect of those less hungry. We need burning churches that result in people falling to their faces and crying “Holy!” when they walk through the door. It’s arrogance to presume that our human strategies are more potent than the supernatural capabilities of the Holy Spirit. When people are in desperate need they don’t look for Clark Kent, they are don’t want someone who looks just like them to come to their rescue. They need to experience the superpowers of the Burning Holy Spirit.
A lack of intercession—Evan Roberts declared that revival hinges on our obedience to pray and wait. The call in Detroit is for1000 intercessors to gather together in the same place every Friday night as we release fire and cover this great mission. If we don’t respond, we probably don’t want the consuming fire of revival to come. We won’t be prepared for such a fearful burning.
Fear of loss—A key reason pastors don’t advance their churches into the experiential realm of encounter with God is that the risk of losing people, money and their reputation is high. It’s clear that a instituting a marginalized church culture is a much less risky option to develop a growing church in America. However, it’s also clear that such a culture is void of power and miracles. The world isn’t looking for another man-made system to join. In fact, the world does a much better job of building humanistic kingdoms than the church does. We’ll only see revival when we have the guts to call people into the wilderness of extreme encounter where the Fire and the Cloud leads them into a supercharged adventure. Pastors, let’s be willing to lose people, lose our salaries, lose our reputations, to allow our local churches to close if necessary—for the sake of the advance of the regional, city church! Such a disposition will result in a greater grace on both the local and regional levels.
Unbelief—Evan Roberts reveals one of the elements of revival is simply to believe God’s promises. It’s stunning how little the church believes in the supernatural. Healing, freedom, power and abundant life are tragically rare. Its no wonder that people are avoiding the church today. We are a people who are living on the wrong side of the Ascension. In Acts 1, the disciples were waiting for Jesus to snap his fingers and work more wonders. They wanted him to establish his Kingdom. But Jesus gave them clear instructions that would shock them to their core. They weren’t to wait and hope for something to happen (hope deferred makes the heart sick)—they were to do it themselves! They transitioned from disciples on one side of the Ascension to apostles on the other. Now, they, as ‘sent ones’, were to believe and act. They were to be the answer to people’s impossible situations. They waited for the necessary power to change the world, and when they received the Holy Spirit, they went everywhere in fiery belief healing, delivering and preaching the Kingdom.
Seeking an enhanced life—People generally want God to make their current lives better. They want an enhancement, an upgrade. However, the demands of revival include the willingness to embrace a fire that won’t warm your flesh—it will consume your flesh. Evan Roberts called for people to gather—but not all people—only those who were willing to make a total surrender. Revival doesn’t enhance lives, it crushes them. If we attempt to advance with a semi-surrendered people, the fire simply will not fall.
A lack of immediate response—This is one reason why church schedules must be flexible. It’s also a reason why daily meetings are critical. When prophetic instruction is received, the entire region must know about it right away, and the people must respond. In Joshua 3, the instructions were clear, and everybody responded in unison. There’s no way to fulfill this mighty mission if we are only together one day a week (actually 2 hours a week!). There’s way too much work to be done! As an example, Mike Bickle recently called an urgent meeting. Most of the departments at IHOP in Kansas City were immediately closed and the people all gathered together to receive an urgent prophetic message. In Detroit, we must promote extreme alertness and flexibility so we can respond moment by moment to the demands of regional revival. If we are mostly focused on our local, personal ventures, we’ll stay disconnected from the greater, regional mission. The response won’t be what is necessary and revival will most likely never come.
Fear: This may be the most important series I’ve ever taught
Listen to the latest in what may be the most important series I’ve ever taught: Threat to Revival #7—Fear
FIRST: You DON’T want to miss our fourth annual Revival Church Christmas Dinner & White Elephant Gift Exchange!!!
Join us this Thursday, December 13th at 7pm for a night of Christmas family fun. Bring a main course and either a side OR dessert to share. Also, bring a wrapped gift valued under $10, one for each member in your family, for the white elephant gift exchange. It all happens at Revival Church, which meets at CENTRAL CHURCH, 1529 E. 12 Mile Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071. Invite all of your friends and family!
TEN THREATS TO REVIVAL: THREAT #7, FEAR
You can listen to last night’s incredibly freeing message on the spirit of fear here: http://media.johnburton.net/5753783
Follow along with the notes here:
Threat 7. Fear of Loss
1. The greater our fear of God which comes through intimacy with him, the less our fear that’s initiated by the enemy will be.
1. We won’t fear loss… we will understand that loss is a part of the process. Don’t protect what God may want to touch in your life.
2. Isaiah 8:11-13 (ESV) 11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
3. The catch is this: If we fear God, the result is boldness and intimacy and power and confidence.
4. If we have a spirit of fear, the result is timidity, reclusion, weakness and insecurity.
1. Proverbs 19:23 (ESV) 23 The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.
1. You could call the spirit of fear, slave fear and the fear of the Lord, son fear.
2. The fear of a slave is to cower; slaves want to run away from their masters. But “son fear” is something different; it motivates us to seek and please God.
3. “Slave fear” that drives us away from God is wrong; “son fear” that drives us toward God is right and proper.
2. In this next passage, God is saying not to have slave fear.
3. Exodus 20:18-20 (ESV) 18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”
2. Revelation 1:17-18 (ESV) 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
3. Nenien C. McPherson, Jr., says that the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises are the only fears that are natural to us. There are only two, he says, and all the rest are learned.
1. Satan coaches us into every other fear! He’s our fear coach. He’s our fear leader!
2. In generations past the fear for the Christian was the loss of life, today the fear is a loss of comfort.
4. Fear haunts people and hijacks their zeal and their focus on mission.
1. When we fear loss, our natural reaction is to shut everything else out and go into protect mode.
2. Fear is a disqualifier. It sends people home… their focus is on how to survive their own lives at home instead of being in the midst of the mission… the very reason they were born!
3. Judges 7:2-3 (ESV) 2 The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
1. When the call to run with a vision is presented, don’t be surprised when people turn their focus to their own survival.
2. The song goes, I surrender all!!! If all is surrendered, we can’t be gripped by fear of loss!
1. Our family is surrendered, our money is surrendered, our comfort is surrendered, our physical life is surrendered!
3. Manitou Springs-I was disturbed at the number of Christians that were afraid to even drive past that city! I was mad!
4. I needed the warriors to show up, to be bold, to lock arms with us and take a city—and they didn’t even begin in the battle! Fear kept them away, and the flow to Hell kept streaming.
1. As a visionary, one issue that I constantly wrestle with is the job of selling the vision.
2. So much energy is used attempting to convince the church of the region that it’s a good move to invest in revival. It’s a benefit to them to participate. There’s blessing if they run the race with us.
3. Come on! Where are the people who have matured beyond this? Where are those who need no reason to invest in revival other than the fact that people are going to Hell?
4. Where are those who fear not? Who simply show up to fight against the Kingdom of darkness? No fear of loss at all! People with fire in their eyes who know why they were born!
1. We cannot expect to win if we forfeit.
2. The church isn’t primarily plagued with defeat, it’s plagued with FORFEIT!
3. The Hebrews forfeited the Promised Land!!!! Fear!!!
4. Numbers 13:25-28 (ESV) 25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large.
5. Then what happens is that the true visionaries reject fear and call everybody to go, and there’s division in the camp! The mission ends!
6. Numbers 13:30-33 (ESV) 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
7. They wanted to stone those who were responding to God’s call to advance!
8. Numbers 14:23-24 (ESV) 23 … And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
5. The issue of fear is a HUGE one!
1. If we don’t deal with fear now, when the threat to our lives increases, we will run home!
2. Mark 14:61-65 (ESV) 61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.
3. Mark 14:66-72 (ESV) 66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
4. There’s been so much emphasis in the church on blessing and gain, that the spirit of fear has been able to settle into position, ready to pounce when the possibility of personal loss presents itself.
1. Attempting to minimize risk is not the answer!!!!
6. The church must again be a place of power that calls people to the edge as it plunders the kingdom of darkness!!!
1. A key reason pastors don’t advance their churches into the experiential realm of encounter with God is that the risk of losing people, money and their reputation is high.
2. It’s clear that a instituting a marginalized church culture is a much less risky option to develop a growing church in America. However, it’s also clear that such a culture is void of power and miracles.
1. Revival will only come through a Biblical church that is costly, raging hot on fire and radically uncomfortable to our flesh.
3. The world isn’t looking for another man-made system to join. In fact, the world does a much better job of building humanistic kingdoms than the church does.
4. We’ll only see revival when we have the guts to call people into the wilderness of extreme encounter where the Fire and the Cloud leads them into a supercharged adventure.
1. Fear of loss must be replaced by an expectation of loss!
2. I surrender all! It's not, “I hope I don't have to surrender all!”
3. I die daily! It's not, “I hope I can avoid the death part of the program!”
4. I take up my cross! It's not, “I take up my blessing!”
7. The comforter
1. We were robbed
1. The enemy will actually cause blessing at times!
2. Promise of new computers
3. Story of getting robbed
4. Fear
5. At IHOP
6. The enemy wants to masquerade as the Holy Spirit… he’s a false comforter.
7. He wants us to use him, to use fear as a means of protection.
8. This revelation was so powerful.
9. We were initially terrified to stay in the house, but that night I let God comfort me like never before… and I slept with overwhelming peace.
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!
God’s judgment, a flaky prophetic movement & the problem of the local church
Ten Threats to Revival: Listen to parts one and two online now and get ready to get rocked!
Yesterday’s teaching was part two in the series, and it will provoke you to prepare for judgment and to align yourself for revival.
Go to http://media.johnburton.net and listen right now.
You can follow along with my personal notes here. I hit on the first threat to revival—the local church.
TEN THREATS TO REVIVAL
I. Revival
1. We have to understand what revival is.
1. The simplest definition is wide scale calibration to biblical normalcy.
2. The stuff you read in the Bible will regularly manifest and be a part of our identity.
1. Acts 2:17 17 v“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
wthat I will pour out my Spirit xon all flesh,
and your sons and yyour daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
2. Acts 5:16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
3. Acts 5:19 19 But during the night tan angel of the Lord uopened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,
4. Acts 2:41 So those who received his word were baptized, and zthere were added that day about three thousand souls.
5. Acts 4:31 31 And when they had prayed, hthe place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and ithey were all filled with the Holy Spirit and jcontinued to speak the word of God with boldness.
3. Arthur Wallis defines revival this way: It is God revealing Himself to man in awful holiness and irresistible power. It is such a manifest working of God that human personalities are overshadowed, and human programmes abandoned. It is man retiring into the background because God has taken the field. It is the Lord making bare His holy arm, and working in extraordinary power on saint and sinner.
1. Does it not bother anybody that we are at great risk of living our entire lives outside of the normalcy of irresistible power?
1. We live in a day where most Christians have not be blown away by the supernatural force of the Holy Spirit!
1. Brownsville!
2. Toronto!
3. Lakeland!
4. An invisible God was encountered!
5. The spirit of revival will awaken an entire nation!
2. One day when you Google “Detroit revival” the results won't be about the economic revitalization. It will be about the dead being raised.
1. Douglas Shields wrote in 1905 ‘There is a theory that all social and moral advance may be traced to religious revivals. If these comments are true then seeking continuous ‘revival’ should be the major aim of every Christian, in every church and in every age. Revival should be at the top of our prayer lists and preaching programmes. It is how God works.
3. This breakthrough has been prophesied! However, we must handle prophecy correctly.
4. Julia Palermo: “Prophetic words are not automatic guarantees but invitations from the Lord. Faith and obedience bring the manifestation of the promise.”
1. We must go after God and surrender all!
2. Our current calendar, our current focus is insufficient!
3. We can't just hope to show up at an event and see revival break out!
4. Michael Brown: You can no more “hold a revival” than you can hold a hurricane, and that you can no more “schedule a revival” than you can schedule an earthquake.
5. First, consider this quote by Evan Roberts, the hero of the Welsh Revival, as he shares the simple formula for revival: “Congregate the people who are willing to make a total surrender. Pray and wait. Believe God’s promises. Hold daily meetings.”
1. We must give our entire lives to revival!
2. That's what theLab is doing—calling the remnant, the revival hungry people who will make a total surrender!
3. We have come to believe that we can squeeze the hope of revival into our busy lives. We cannot.
4. Revival will reform calendars. The remnant will initiate this reformation by forcibly changing now.
5. Acts 1:4 And while staying1 with them ghe ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for hJohn baptized with water, hbut you will be baptized iwith1 the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6. Everything changed not by the power of the Holy Spirit at that point, but by intentional and sudden change of life.
7. It's worth it!
5. Brian Edwards-A true Holy Spirit revival is a remarkable increase in the spiritual life of a large number of God’s people, accompanied by an awesome awareness of the presence of God, intensity of prayer and praise, a deep conviction of sin with a passionate longing for holiness and unusual effectiveness in evangelism, leading to the salvation of many unbelievers. Revival is remarkable, large, effective and, above all, it is something that God brings about.’
II. Threat 1. The Local Church
1. This first threat is a bit provocative.
1. I love the local church!
1. I love pastors and honor their missions!
2. And, we must have an extreme level of devotion to our local church missions!
2. However, the alarm must be sounded. We must be on the ready to lead people throughout the city to tend to the various fires of revival that will star sparking.
1. This is one reason theLab will be moving from Tribe to Tribe each week… we'll be fanning the flames of revival all over the city!
3. The leadership of Revival Church has their radars on, and we will be leading you into the fire, no matter where or when it is!
1. 40 days of fire! We were there every night! I took only one night off! I was disturbed when I heard rumblings of resistance against what God was doing there through Brian Simmons, who is emerging as an apostle to our city.
2. Keep in mind, in scripture the church, when mentioned, referred to the church of the city. We must be city minded always.
3. Acts 5:11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
1. That wasn't a local church, it was the church in the city.
2. Acts 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.
3. We also see the seven churches in Revelation.
1. To the church at Ephesus
2. To the church in Smyrna
3. To the church in Pergamum
4. Not to first Baptist church, to Revival Church, etc.
4. Since we are the church of Detroit, we must understand our role on a city level.
5. the fear driven competition between so many churches in Detroit is an embarrassment to this city. And we think revival is near? Not until repentance is deep and unity is strong.
1. I believe its time that we are willing to lose our people, lose our salaries, lose our reputations, lose it all for the sake of blessing other churches and ministries in Detroit.
2. We must stop building our own kingdoms.
3. Brian Ming wrote a chilling worship song that included these words: God forgive us for building kingdoms of man on doctrines of demons in your name.
III. Threat 2. A Belief in Fate
1. 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.”
2. A belief in fate minimizes the radical importance of our participation.
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.”
3. The Great Commission!
4. 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. The churches of Revelation were indited because of their lack of works.
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!
IV. Threat 3. Taking a “Wait and See” Approach
1. Many are sitting back waiting to see if this current outpouring in Detroit is in fact a move of God. The problem? God’s moving is largely dependent on you and me! We have been instructed to tend to the fire, and in our unwitting arrogance we have reassigned that job back to God!
1. We believe God is to do our job of keeping the fire burning when he explicitly requires us to do it. If we don’t build the fire, the fire will go out—even though God’s prophesied plans are to bring the fires of reformation to Detroit.
2. Are you so sleepy that you aren’t active and vibrant enough in the spirit to hear the alarms? Wake up! Wake up!
3. Never again treat the call to battle casually. Never again participate in your local church casually. It’s time to awaken and advance with an alert and ready spirit! If you don’t know how to connect, ask! Ask again! Show up! Be a warrior! Serve!
4. Acts 1:4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
1. No more waiting! No more gazing! Go!
V. Threat 4. The Scattering Movement
1. We are in the end-times, and it’s clear in scripture that we must gather together even more during this historic season.
2. Satan’s plans to overthrow God were well on track as the greatest movement of unity in history was advancing.
3. Gen 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused[a] the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
1. That unity gave strength to the building of a tower that would reach the heavens.
2. God realized the threat and initiated ‘operation scattering’.
3. The language was confused and they scattered all over the Earth.
4. Now, Satan is using God’s own strategy against the most powerful governmental system on the planet—the Church.
5. Instead of gathering in unity that would be strong enough to overthrow Satan’s kingdom, we are being scattered. We are not together.
6. This is why stadiums will be critical in this next season. We must have the city church literally together, in the same place, consistently.
7. Remember, a key element of revival, which is emphasized by Evan Roberts, is daily meetings. Yes, it will be normal for people to be in church, together, under apostolic leadership most every day of the week.
VI. Threat 5. The Seeker Sensitive Movement
1. I’ve often told the people in my church that I will never tone down the activity of the Holy Spirit out of respect of those less hungry.
2. We need burning churches that result in people falling to their faces and crying “Holy!” when they walk through the door.
3. 2 Chron 7:7 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
4. It’s arrogance to presume that our human strategies are more potent than the supernatural capabilities of the Holy Spirit.
5. When people are in desperate need they don’t look for Clark Kent, they are don’t want someone who looks just like them to come to their rescue. They need to experience the superpowers of the Burning Holy Spirit.
VII. Threat 6. A Lack of Intercession
1. Evan Roberts declared that revival hinges on our obedience to pray and wait.
2. The call in Detroit is for 1000 intercessors to gather together in the same place every Friday night as we release fire and cover this great mission. If we don’t respond, we probably don’t want the consuming fire of revival to come. We won’t be prepared for such a fearful burning.
3. The Tribes are being formed in response to this mandate.
1. We need YOU to start a Tribe!!!!
2. After the 2 Chron 7 fire that hit the temple, we have the famous passage in 2 Chron 7:11-14:
1. 2 Chron 7:11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
3. We must pray!
VIII. Threat 7. Fear of Loss
1. A key reason pastors don’t advance their churches into the experiential realm of encounter with God is that the risk of losing people, money and their reputation is high.
1. It’s clear that a instituting a marginalized church culture is a much less risky option to develop a growing church in America. However, it’s also clear that such a culture is void of power and miracles.
2. The world isn’t looking for another man-made system to join. In fact, the world does a much better job of building humanistic kingdoms than the church does.
3. We’ll only see revival when we have the guts to call people into the wilderness of extreme encounter where the Fire and the Cloud leads them into a supercharged adventure.
1. Fear of loss must be replaced by an expectation of loss!
2. I surrender all! It's not, “I hope I don't have to surrender all!”
3. I die daily! It's not, “I hope I can avoid the death part of the program!”
4. I take up my cross! It's not, “I take up my blessing!”
IX. Threat 8. Unbelief
1. Evan Roberts reveals one of the elements of revival is simply to believe God’s promises.
2. It’s stunning how little the church believes in the supernatural. Healing, freedom, power and abundant life are tragically rare.
1. A barometer of our position in Christ has to be whether we can hear or not!
1. John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
2. This is the only way we can believe!
3. Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
4. The only way to be united with Christ in the pursuit of revival is to hear and believe!
5. Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
6. We can't just wait around in doubt, it's time to move!
3. Its no wonder that people are avoiding the church today. We are a people who are living on the wrong side of the Ascension.
4. In Acts 1, the disciples were waiting for Jesus to snap his fingers and work more wonders. They wanted him to establish his Kingdom. But Jesus gave them clear instructions that would shock them to their core. They weren’t to wait and hope for something to happen (hope deferred makes the heart sick)—they were to do it themselves!
5. They transitioned from disciples on one side of the Ascension to apostles on the other. Now, they, as ‘sent ones’, were to believe and act.
6. They were to be the answer to people’s impossible situations. They waited for the necessary power to change the world, and when they received the Holy Spirit, they went everywhere in fiery belief healing, delivering and preaching the Kingdom.
X. Threat 9. Seeking an Enhanced Life
1. People generally want God to make their current lives better. They want an enhancement, an upgrade.
2. However, the demands of revival include the willingness to embrace a fire that won’t warm your flesh—it will consume your flesh.
3. Evan Roberts called for people to gather—but not all people—only those who were willing to make a total surrender.
1. Revival doesn’t enhance lives, it crushes them. If we attempt to advance with a semi-surrendered people, the fire simply will not fall.
4. Since I’ve been in Detroit I’ve heard a lot about revival. It seems the whole region is crying out for it. However, this is where the root of the disturbance in my spirit exists.
1. Most every time revival is mentioned, the intent of that desire is to experience some sort of breakthrough, blessing or restitution.
2. It’s time we STOP crying out for God to revive the economy, for resolved issues, for racial tensions to subside, for a fixed city… and START crying out for God and God alone!
3. God is jealous and he won’t allow Detroit to be satisfied by money, security or anything else until we are satisfied in Him and no one or nothing else!
5. DO NOT expect revival until we return to our first love. It WILL NOT COME! In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if the situation in this region got dramatically worse. The choice is ours, however.
6. It’s absolutely shocking to me that so much emphasis is placed on the pursuit of breakthrough yet the call to breakthrough into a pursuit of God falls on deaf ears.
7. Will we only gather and pray if we have a hope of personal blessing?
1. Where are all of the hungry people in Detroit? The stadiums should be filled with zealous, praying people every night of the week! Have the cares of life and entertainment so bewitched us that we have become convinced that being with God is not worth it?
8. I propose starting a movement of encounter which only has one goal—to be fully satisfied in enjoying and responding to the Lover of our souls. Nothing else matters. If we all have to live in a cardboard box on the streets of Detroit to encounter God, so be it! Our goal is not financial! It’s not selfish! It’s to be with God! That is all!
XI. Threat 10. A Lack of Immediate Response
1. Joel 1:14 Consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
1. We live in a day where there's Twitter, email, Facebook, video and more… in every house in the city!!! We have phones that are many times smarter than the computer that took a rocket to the moon!
2. There is no excuse to not hear and respond to the prophetic decrees moment by moment!
3. We must be alert and ready! Alarms are being sounded, yet are any hearing?
4. The call a couple of years ago was for every church to gather at Fire in February. Few responded. The same thing with The Call. Few responded. The prophets are calling the church of Detroit to respond, and immediately!
2. This is one reason why church schedules must be flexible.
3. It’s also a reason why daily meetings are critical.
4. When prophetic instruction is received, the entire region must know about it right away, and the people must respond.
1. We have to learn to do two things:
1. Embrace key prophets in the region
2. Stay tuned in, stay in your email, stay ready for an urgent message that just may require you respond in hours time!
5. In Joshua 3, the instructions were clear, and everybody responded in unison.
6. There’s no way to fulfill this mighty mission if we are only together one day a week (actually 2 hours a week!).
1. There’s way too much work to be done!
2. As an example, Mike Bickle recently called an urgent meeting. Most of the departments at IHOP in Kansas City were immediately closed and the people all gathered together to receive an urgent prophetic message.
3. In Detroit, we must promote extreme alertness and flexibility so we can respond moment by moment to the demands of regional revival.
If we are mostly focused on our local, personal ventures, we’ll stay disconnected from the greater, regional mission.