Posts Tagged ‘vision’
Fun new xpmedia video with Revival baby Jet : Bring theLab to your city
Jet the revival baby and I discuss the vision behind our ministry of taking the fire of revival to the cities of the Earth.
In the video I was holding Jet on my lap and I said, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if I brought my revival baby with me when I and the team come to minister in your church?” Jet is really excited! He’s wondering when it’s going to happen. He just asked, “Dad, how many sleeps until we go to a church?”
I love that little guy!
I believe you will be awakened to the vision of burning as you watch this new xpmedia video. We are ready to bring the team to hold prayer events, workshops and revival services to your church—anywhere in the world! You can watch the latest video at www.revivallab.com/xp.
You can learn more and book us at www.johnburton.net/booking.
(You can take a look at the newly designed ministry site… it’s a portal for all of our ventures.)
theLab School of Fire
We are changing the name of theLab Internship to theLab School of Fire—and you are invited to join us in our next three-month session which begins January 7th, 2012. Save $200 if you register by November 30th!
Head on over to www.revivallab.com and apply today! Only $25 is due upon applying and the remainder is due the first day of classes.
You will be literally changed in such a way that the rest of your life will feel the impact. It is that powerful.
INSANE faith : Can you believe with us for this? Revival Church property vision
Will you join with us in rare, insane faith for a regional center of revival in Detroit?
This is an idea of what I see when I think about the multiple thousands of people who are going to converge in Detroit very soon. They will land in the airport from the nations of the Earth and will be looking for a night and day revival center where they can find healing, fire and life!
In fact, this property is probably much too small, which is why there have been so many prophetic words about stadiums being filled with people as revival breaks out!
The leader of the ministry I established in Colorado emailed me the following today:
Prepare for the explosion. I would pray and look for a big place, big favor and not a big price tag. But look big, pray big, confirmation is coming, ask for it from the Lord. Big big big—press—He's given you guys the faith for it, now is the time.~Miles Anderson
We are praying very specifically for a property like this, and the money to refurbish it, so we can:
- Host the nations in nightly outpouring meetings
- House continual prophetic intercession for revival, Detroit and the nations
- Have classrooms and meeting places for theLab Internship.
- Hold regional conferences with national ministers that God is highlighting in this hour
- Establish REVIVAL WORSHIP where “The Tone of the Groan” Romans 8:26 worship movement is stewarded
- greenfirecoffee: Yep, a full blown coffee shop where people can come and enjoy God and each other night and day!
- Television studio: We are called to release this fire to the nations, and we see a raw, fiery TV program driven by revival worship, groans and prophetic teaching.
- Much, much more including an earth shaking children’s ministry, dorms and outreaches.
We are inviting the region including pastors, ministry leaders, intercessors and others to rally around the vision of a regional center of revival. We are boldly asking you to lock arms with us in the city church.
If you have the resources to finance this project, or a part of it, please contact me. If you have other insights, I’d love to connect! [email protected]
Check it out:
Updates, projects and big vision at John Burton Ministries
Here’s a partial picture of some of the projects and plans that you can join us in!
In the last 20 years of this ministry God has dropped some crazy huge vision into me, and I’ll be the first to admit that I have near zero ability to pull it off. That’s not false humility, that’s actually probably an understatement!
But, that reality doesn’t reveal a liability—it opens the door of unlimited opportunity as we yield to the Enabler.
God uprooted us from Kansas City and dropped us into Detroit to serve and give leadership to a massive, prophetic reformation in the church and outpouring in the region. We’re gathering pastors, leaders and hungry people to pray every week and contend together in the fire.
If you would like to participate in these projects, I would be so grateful. We are seeking an increase in financial support so we can more fully focus on what God has given us. We are also looking for local people to run the race with us in corporate prayer and mission advance at theLab, Revival Church and our other adventures.
Here’s the big, big ideas:
BOOKS
The Coming Church: I’m currently writing this book on extreme reform that is coming to the church. The shift will arrive with force and it will only be discernable in fullness via the Spirit. You can read the article where I reveal the shocking vision I had of the coming church here: https://burton.tv/2011/07/21/a-fearful-vision-of-what-the-church-will-soon-look-like/
Drop That Sheep: This may be the next book I focus on as I am wrecked and troubled at the level of competition between churches. We as pastors don’t own sheep, we love them, equip them and release them into their destinies.
Unoffendable: This extremely popular teaching will be made into a book as well. It is fully possible to live a life totally free of offense so we can draw our strength from God alone and be free to love and bless those who hurt and use us.
Ten Threats to Revival: This will most likely be a short booklet yet it’s a key message to those who are hungry for the burnings of God on a city level. You can read the article that is leading to this book here: https://burton.tv/2011/03/20/ten-threats-to-revival/
A Spirit of Insignificance: This is another very popular and liberating teaching that has launched a lot of people into their destinies via the revelation of the burning One that they ‘carry like Mary'.
MINISTRY IN DETROIT
Revival Church: We are growing powerfully! We are becoming more established as a regional center of revival and are intent on equipping people to carry God to this city. Our worship team is leaving a powerful mark in the region as they are one of the ‘go to’ teams for people like Catherine Mullins, Aaron Crider and others when they are in town.
theLab Internship: God’s grace is all over this ministry! I’m in awe! What started as a small noon prayer meeting has launched into a testimony machine where people have come alive in the furnace of God’s presence. We have four internships scheduled for 2012 so start praying about how you can participate!
Seeking a new property: We are very actively praying for a miracle to occur so we can house theLab and Revival Church seven days a week. We are maximizing what’s available to us in the building that we lease and share with another church, but the amount of activity that we have simply demands a full-time headquarters.
Prophetic Ministry to the city: I moved here from Kansas City with a mandate and a message for this amazing city of Detroit. My heart is to serve and give apostolic and prophetic leadership to the revival movement here. This is truly the driving force of my life in this current season and we are seeking extreme fire-fueled unity in the churches of this region.
1000 Intercessors: This is a critical piece of the puzzle. We pray in a different church every Friday night from 10pm-midnight, and I’m urgently calling every pastor in the region to gather with us each week. We also need burning intercessors and revivalists to step into position and pray on site with us each Friday. Can you imagine 1000 people converging at a different church every seven days in Detroit? I can.
The new sound in Detroit: God dropped a bomb on me. I clearly see a worldwide worship movement being birthed in Detroit, but it’s quite different than what many would presume. This is a Romans 8:26-27 worship movement. A deep groaning worship movement that shatters atmospheres.
MINISTRY NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY
Carrying fire: I feel a season of shift is upon me, and I’m starting to focus more on traveling to churches, conferences and city events to release the fire of God. The vision is to travel often with the team that I’m raising up at theLab and to hold workshops, schools of fire and other events, and also to travel individually nationally and internationally to teach on the topics of my books.
Schools of fire: We’ve already heard from people in other cities who are craving an internship and school of fire like theLab to be launched in their region. We will see teams of people from Detroit spending a week or a month in another city somewhere in the world to setup this unique ministry.
Television: There has been a good amount of prophecy on this topic. I see a wild, prophetic, explosive and edgy television program that has deep, groaning worship, quick snips of prophetic teaching, fervent prayer and other elements.
PERSONAL ADVENTURES
BurtonSites: My web design business is doing great, and I’ll be eventually looking to bring someone on to take over the design so I can oversee it and focus on ministry more fully.
Burton family finances: We believe in full disclosure so you can understand clearly the needs we have. Currently our personal finances primarily come from a part-time Revival Church salary and my web and graphic design. Some smaller amounts come in from Amy’s 8 hour a week job at a crisis pregnancy center, sales of my books and honorariums when I travel and speak.
We have our monthly bills covered (barely!) and we are debt free as a family. However, there are two issues we would love some support in:
- I need to rework the hours spent on web and graphic design so I can be more free to write the books, develop the church and ministry and travel. As income comes in to replace my design income, I’ll be able to bring on an employee to handle my workload.
- We need two new(er) vehicles. We have some pretty creative angles holding our two mini-vans together! One has nearly 180,000 miles on it and has served us well for nearly 10 years. The turn signals, air bags and horn don’t work, it leaks oil, the air conditioning is broken and the sliding door barely closes! No complaints, as I’d rather drive a rust bucket than have a car payment, but, cars only last so long. I’m getting ready to focus on traveling in ministry and I’ll need a solid car pretty soon.
How you can help
The two easiest ways to help would be to either give a donation (recurring monthly donations are great too!) at www.johnburton.net/donate. Or, hire me. Head over to www.burtonsites.com and order a site or check out www.johnburtondesign.com and let me know how I can help with logos, graphics and print design.
Additionally, if you have the resources to donate a newer, reliable car that can hold six people, that would be awesome!
We love you all! God is doing big, big things and we have big, big, faith!!
Blessings to you!
Urgent update : Dream about Friday’s ministry event
A friend sent me an important dream about tomorrow’s event
I’ve been trembling and stirred about tomorrow’s event at The Tabernacle, but I wasn’t sure why. Check out this dream a friend had, and then do everything you can to join with us for what is sure to be a shocking evening.
I woke up (in the dream) and started going about my day. Then I realized, it was Saturday. I was like “I missed it! I missed the service! John was speaking and I really needed to be there!”
I thought back (in the dream) and was trying to remember why I wasn't there and all I had been doing was hanging around, wasting time. I didn't have anything else planned; I was just doing day-to-day stuff and the service slipped my mind.
I remember feeling so distressed in the dream because in the dream I knew it was a significant, crucial thing and I had really missed out by not being there.
Then I was talking to you later that day and I said something to you and Amy about being sorry that I missed it, I had wanted to come, etc. and you said something like “Don't worry about it. A lot of people seemed to forget about it. It was important, but there were not very many people there. So you really didn't miss anything.”
Then I woke up very upset and disturbed and cancelled my plans for Friday night. The impression I got was that people are sleeping through/wasting time/ etc. important, strategic things they should be a part of. And because of the people not there that are supposed to be, things aren't happening that are supposed to happen.
See you Friday!
For those of you know know me, you know I place an extremely high value on the corporate gathering. One of the greatest threats to revival is being scattered, doing our own thing and not in the same place at the same time so we can contend for revival together.
This is one reason the call to gather 1000 intercessors for Detroit must be sounded. It’s not enough to join an intercession Facebook group or to casually connect. We need 1000 people who are locked in and in position each Friday night from 10-midnight.
THIS FRIDAY is special.
I’ll be sharing a vision I had of THE COMING CHURCH. It’s a fearful and shocking glimpse into what is going to suddenly surprise us.
The service starts at 7:30pm with worship (our very own Revival Church worship team is leading the way), and then I’ll be teaching on THE COMING CHURCH. After that, we’ll pray in fire until midnight.
We’ll be in the chapel at THE TABERNACLE: 14205 12 Mile Road, Warren, MI 48088
Spread the word. This is a key event for this region.
Go here for a preview of what I’ll be teaching: https://burton.tv/2011/07/21/a-fearful-vision-of-what-the-church-will-soon-look-like/
A fearful vision of what the church will soon look like
The change that’s coming to the church is absolutely unnerving and fearful
First: The following article may provoke the burning inside of you to rage. Join us for theLab Internship and help establish a model of fire that will reform the identity of the church. $100 discount now available. www.revivallab.com
I had an encounter that left me shaken and shocked.
What I saw was clearly a picture of the church…clearly in my spirit, that is, because my intellect was confounded. It didn’t make sense.
Before I share the vision, and some very interesting confirmation and insight, lets look at the current model of the church:
THE CURRENT CHURCH
There’s no way I’m going to attempt to present a comprehensive picture of the church with all of its varying streams and complexities. The point I’m focusing on is the simple, common experience that the current structure and function of the church presents.
- Teaching driven: In most churches, the Sunday service revolves around the message, the teaching.
- Sunday only: The average attendance for a church goer in America is less than two services a month. Most of those services occur on Sundays.
- Predictable & scheduled: Each service and ministry of the church is mapped out and scheduled, and while there is often some flex, you can usually have a pretty good picture in your mind of what to expect during each event. Several songs of worship, a few announcements, receiving the offering and a 30-40 minute message is what most have come to expect.
- Mostly natural: While some churches do experience a measure of supernatural activity, the overwhelming experience is logical, natural and humanly comprehendible.
- Locally focused: Most churches have a vision that is limited to themselves. Their local church is where most of their energy is focused.
- Seeker focused: Even churches that aren’t identified as “seeker sensitive” tend to be intent on attracting visitors and they gear their ministry to do so.
- Personal gain highlighted: God blesses and that message when presented in appropriate context is a necessary one. But, most churches highlight personal benefit while keeping the bar of personal surrender and commitment quite low.
THE VISION
In my encounter, the vision I saw was shocking and quite mysterious. I have had many visions of the church, of reformation, but this one was markedly different. It sure didn’t look like a vision of a church, but it immediately felt like one.
I was standing in an apocalyptic looking environment. It was dark and weighty. In front of me was an absolutely massive crater. God immediately revealed to me that I was looking at the soon coming church.
Really? It sure didn’t look like a church. My initial analysis was that what was coming wouldn’t be defined by what is logically communicable. The building and steeple and Sunday experience was gone, and what replaced it was frightening.
My spirit was provoked and raging, but I knew that those who were more logical than spiritual in their life experience would most probably resist what is just over the horizon.
1 Cor 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Note, this doesn’t mean the unsaved, it means those who are naturally minded. That’s a lot of Christians. Here’s what Paul says next:
1 Cor 3:1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready…
The crater that I was looking at looked alive. It was moving and churning. There was glowing red lava coursing throughout.
The closer I got to the edge of the crater, the church, the greater the fear of the Lord was, the more ominous the vision was. I couldn’t casually participate as the shaking and trembling rocked my whole being as I approached this invasion of Heaven into Earth.
Then the vision ended.
I shared this vision in a class at theLab Internship and one of the interns about came out of her skin.
She just watched a National Geographic special on craters on the Earth!
THE CRATER
She shared some dramatic revelation about the coming crater based on what God was revealing through my vision and the program she watched.
- The asteroid that caused the crater was huge. When it impacted the ground, the top of it was still 30,000 feet up—that’s where jets fly!
- When it hit, a pillar of fire instantly exploded and reached from the surface of the Earth up into the heavens.
- Balls of fire shot out from the pillar and scorched regions far away from the point of impact.
- A cloud of smoke then rose and actually surrounded the entire planet. The entire Earth was covered by the residual impact of the asteroid.
- Celestial elements, parts of the asteroid that don’t exist on this planet, were implanted into the ground. Heaven was brought to Earth.
- Earthquakes rocked the Earth all around.
- Molten rock filled the crater.
THE COMING CHURCH
We won’t be able to define ‘going to church’ the way we do now.
God is coming to reform, to crush structures of old for what is to be introduced very soon.
The force from Heaven, the celestial asteroid, is going to impact the church, and most pastors and people will resist with everything that’s within them. Man-made support systems will be removed. People’s financial and relational structures will be threatened by this strange, new spiritual invasion.
The human wisdom and natural common sense that has been involved in the development of the current church structure will not be usable in the new. Those who walk by sight are in danger.
We will have to rely on a new set of senses as we, in faith unlike any we’ve ever allowed ourselves to embrace, begin to walk blindly into a fearful new church reality.
- Encounter driven: We will gather together with the primary goal of having an overwhelming encounter with an invisible God. The burning of God will engulf us day after day. A 2 Chronicle church will be the normal reality.
- The 24/7 church: The thought of only gathering in the crater, in the lava of God’s shocking presence, on occasion, a few times a month, will be laughable. Our entire lives will be empowered by this tent of meeting and our energies will be spent gathering the desperate masses into the fire to experience an otherworldly spiritual encounter together. Most days of the week we will easily make room to be in the church, on our faces, trembling under the weight of God.
- 2 Chronicles 7:1 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house.3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
- Unpredictable: Finally we will begin to know a God who is limitless in expression. Every moment with him, in our corporate gatherings, will be unlike any other. The fierce burning will never stop, the myriad of emotions we experience as God hovers over us will surprise and overwhelm us continually. A gathering of burning ones will result in fire balls of worship that lead to sharp swords of prophetic teaching that shake the people to their core. Wave after wave of fiery shock and awe will never disappoint. Services will be open ended and will overlap each other as room is made for an uncontrollable Holy Spirit to orchestrate the events in his wisdom.
- Supernatural: We will take the leap from mostly translating God into our natural language and understanding to allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us out of the natural realm and into a supernatural culture that can only be understood via our spirits. The lost will finally have hope as we stop trying to give them logical reasons to ‘get saved’ and we start introducing them to a supernatural God that they have been craving to meet.
- Regionally focused: The level of impact that the rock from Heaven will bring will not be confined to a local church. Pastors and leaders will stop focusing mostly on developing their own local ministry and will instead shelve much of what they did in the old church model and focus on serving the regional mission. The local will give way to the regional as leaders ‘lead’ the people into encounter, into regional mission and into the greater vision of revival and reformation. The spirit of Pharaoh that focuses on personal goals and keeping people locally focused will give way to the spirit of reformation and Kingdom advance that was manifested through Moses and Joshua.
- God focused: Instead of attempting to ‘grow the church’ by focusing on visitors and seekers, the leaders will be fully devoted to a 2 Chronicles 7 strategy of compelling God to show up in extreme, weighty power. The pillar of fire that connects Heaven to Earth is the new goal. In fact, an empty church is a better goal than a full church if we understand that passage of scripture correctly! Many people will leave the church as a more serious devotion to Holy Spirit activity is given, but the supernatural invasion of fire will result in fire, smoke and earthquakes that will rock cities and nations.
- Personal surrender highlighted: Instead of compelling people to ‘join our church’ through the promise of personal gain, we’ll highlight the cross. The cost. The Rich Young Rulers will leave while the end-time remnant will gain confidence in leaders seriousness for revival and will flood in and serve with military level commitment. You will know leaders have turned the corner toward the new model of church when they actually raise the bar so unapologetically that those with money and influence are allowed to go. How many RICH RULERS are in our churches because leaders have compromised the call, just so they don’t lose their money?
The new church will look nothing like we see now. We must learn how to live in the Spirit if we hope to embrace this uninvited yet deeply needed invasion from Heaven. Everything is at risk. Will you embrace or resist this reformation?
Impacting Detroit area pastors
I will be sending my new book Pharaoh in the Church to as many Detroit area pastors as I can! The vision for a prayer-fueled city is on the move!
CHECK OUT the flyer at the end of this message!
YOU can help us reach every single church in the region! The effort to locate and gather 1000 intercessors, plus locking arms with pastors and key leaders of the city, can be realized!
Shortly after casting the vision of sharing this burning message with every Detroit area pastor, $700 came in to launch the campaign! God moved fast!
This will result in approximately 250 pastors receiving the book. That leaves around 1100 more for us to reach. Each book should cost around $3 to print and mail—you can donate toward as many as you’d like at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/donate. Please let us know that the donation is for the “BOOKS”.
ALSO—there’s a VERY EXCITING opportunity for us to develop a fiery, prayer infused television pilot that we’d pitch to a variety of Christian networks. The prophetic message of revival and revolution can get out to MILLIONS. If you’d like to participate, let me know. I’m working with someone who has big vision and abilities in this area. We looked at one possible venue that could be used to create the pilot. Imagine 30 minutes of our team contending for revival through prophetic intercession, teaching and worship—for the whole world to see! It will be hard core!!
Here’s a flyer that I’m including in the package for the pastors. Pray with me that it touches a lot of them deeply!!
Wildly expectant : We need your help to get into a new property
We are looking to pull the trigger on leasing a different property for Revival Church and theLab—your participation will help determine what type of property we choose.
IN THIS MESSAGE:
- Finding a new property (this week?)
- The (huge!) vision
- Amy’s story of giving to a better storehouse (So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.)
We have our eyes on several properties now, and have offers to share them with another church (like we do now).
I’m feeling a very, very powerful swirl of the Holy Spirit today…huge expectancy. So, I thought I’d get you all praying with me. Something unusual is going on!
If you feel God is calling you to give a financial gift toward a new property, now is the time to do that. We’ll be making a decision on where we go soon based where God is leading and on the finances we have to use (possibly this week—we have to be in a new place no later than May.). We are committed to staying out of debt, so we’ll only move on something that we can afford.
As of Sunday, the church only had $130 in the bank, but then the Lord moved nicely and the offering was our largest ever—$2300. So, I think God is really touching some hearts in this area now.
We pay $800 a month to share the current property, and won’t go much beyond that when we move to a new place—unless we receive a significant donation that makes it clear that it would be wise to get something a bit more.
THE VISION
We are called to fulfill a very important mission here in Detroit. Our ministry has a mandate to be a prophetic regional center of revival.
What does this mean? A few things:
- We have regional focus. We envision a team of pastors from all throughout the region locking arms and focusing primarily on strategic regional events.
- We are raising up a team of prophetic messengers and revivalists. theLab internship is helping fulfill the call to create a company of people who will station themselves in the mission command center for Detroit. They receive prophetic data and instructions and communicate it to the pastors and leaders of the region.
- Continual apostolic intercession is a foundational ministry for us. Not only do we want to intercede, but the call is to hear God’s plans clearly, and then respond immediately and appropriately. We’re gathering 1000 intercessors, pastors, leaders and burning men and women of God to pray very aggressively and intentionally on site together each week.
- theLab team is being trained and equipped to carry the call to gather leaders and to host large scale prophetic prayer events. theLab events are purposed to bring in key, anointed national and international leaders to deposit fire into the desperate Detroit region.
Now, to pull all of this off, we need a large campus. A 2000+ seat auditorium plus prayer rooms, class rooms and other facilities will be necessary. At this point, we’re willing to either take that giant leap, or we will take a much smaller incremental step by simply finding a place to meet on Sundays. We’re open to the exact plan of God for us.
We don’t want to go for the campus if we are supposed to share a property, and we don’t want to share if we are supposed to find the campus at this time.
You can donate at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/donate.
THE BETTER STOREHOUSE
On Sunday, God dropped a timely message into my spirit, just before we received the tithes and offerings. I was reminded of a situation in our household, and then shared a scripture that I’ll pass along to you. Detroit is shell-shocked financially right now, and I’m concerned that people are attempting to entrust their own storehouses (a reaction of fear) instead of God’s risk-free system of giving toward the storehouse of the church (a reaction of faith).
Here’s our story:
First, Amy went to pay the bills, and discovered that we were $630 short. She was very frustrated, and couldn’t figure out why that was. She had to take some money out of our savings (our storehouse) and move it into our checking account so we could pay the bills.
Then, later that day, Skylar found a check for $630 that Amy thought had already been deposited. Well, there was the missing money. So, Amy was about to deposit it into our savings to replace what she had to move over. God then said, “All of your bills have been paid, right?” Hmmm. Yes, it was true. We were not in lack, and we did have an excess of $630. So, Amy decided to give $50 out of her thankfulness.
God then said again, “All of your bills have been paid, right?”
Right there, Amy was faced with her financial nervousness contrasting with God’s clear ability to take care of us—and was convinced of the importance to put our money in the right storehouse. She wrote a check for $500 and gave it to The Fireplace (a revival movement here in Detroit) and put aside another $130 to be used to treat some pastors to dinner.
The money was given to a much better storehouse.
Luke 12:15 And he said to them,”Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?'18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Let me know if you have any thoughts at all.
Blessings!!
theLab Staff : Cool confirmation : You are invited to apply
We are developing our launch team, and YOU are invited!
In this message:
- Amazing confirmation
- The Vision
- The Requirements
- The Plan
At noon prayer yesterday we prayed for two specific things:
- That there would be a rapid response to the call
- That people would respond from other nations
When I got home from prayer, Amy handed me a letter (snail mail!) from The Netherlands. He wrote, in broken English,
“I have heard about the teachings of Rev. John Burton… I desire to receive more information… I desire to come in contact with them who walks in the way that Rev. John Burton have teach. I don’t have email possibility. Thank you very much in advance.”
Amazing! No internet, no email yet God use him to send a confirmation from the other side of the world!
Then, later that day, I received a message from someone in Australia asking how they can participate.
That’s rapid, and that’s international!
The Revival Church staff is leading the charge in the development of theLab staff, and others have already come on board with us. It’s still very much in development, but here’s some of what’s being prayed and thought through:
THE VISION
The vision is really what it has been since we’ve arrived in Detroit. To gather together burning revivalists, intercessors and prophetic messengers who will carry the fire of the Holy Spirit to Detroit and the cities of the Earth.
We are very aggressively calling together 1000 intercessors to gather every Friday night in prayer, and theLab staff will be leading them.
Additionally, theLab will be developing a monthly large scale event where we’ll bring in anointed men and women of God to infuse life into this region.
THE REQUIREMENTS
In order to join theLab staff, there is a mandatory level of participation (you basically have to be extremely available and ensure theLab is your primary ministry focus several times a week).
- Arrive by 9:45pm every Friday night for theLab prayer event and be ready to impart into the church leaders and others through prayer and the transfer of our key values of intercession, prophecy, intimacy and deliverance.
- Attend every noon prayer meeting. The only excusable absence is for those who have to work during the noon hour. Those that have a job MUST still attend at least one noon prayer event. The noon prayer meetings are critical as we debrief, listen to God for further strategy and pray together.
- Attend Revival Church’s evening service (when we move to Sunday mornings, people who are on theLab staff who attend other churches will attend their own morning church service, but they will be required to attend the Revival Church evening service(s)). This service is the primary briefing for the week and it’s a time of deep prayer, corporate worship and impartation.
- Attend weekly training sessions. This has yet to be developed, but we plan on developing a ‘school of the Holy Spirit’ where we will train people in the core values of theLab so they can, in turn, impart them into others.
- Travel locally together when I’m ministering in another church or when theLab is serving in a particular function. The team will join with me as instruments of fire as we infuse churches and conferences. An example is the upcoming Fire in February conference where theLab has been asked to provide the intercession coverage for each of the event’s services. (be sure to register at www.awakeningnet.us)
- Traveling with me outside of the region (more than 2 hours away) will be optional, but is still encouraged.
- Participating in other ministries is allowed, but theLab must be your primary commitment. If there is a conflict between ministry schedules, it’s required that you fulfill your commitment to theLab.
- You will have the opportunity to serve in a variety of ministry functions at theLab. Administrators, teachers, singers, worshipers and others will be needed to run the ministry.
Keep in mind as you evaluate whether you can participate or not—these are minimum requirements, and are not optional.
THE PLAN
- We’re in the development stage right now, and we need as many people to jump on board during the pre-launch as possible. You will help pioneer and form this new ministry of revival!
- We are considering 4 or 6 month semesters/trimesters.
- The pre-launch starts immediately. Simply show up at the next prayer meeting and/or send me an email at [email protected].
- We’ll be training in the prophetic, intimacy, intercession, reformation in the church and other key focuses.
- theLab staff will be giving leadership to the 1000 intercessors who will be giving leadership to the entire region.
- This is open to anybody who is a deeply committed Christian, and who will be honorable in their commitment to the team and the mission at theLab.
- For those moving from other states or nations, you will be fully responsible to secure housing, transportation and the necessary finances to live in Detroit.
- **SPECIAL: those who join us in pre-launch any time in February will be exempt from any tuition that we may implement at launch time—for life! (this does not include costs for conferences, materials, etc.)
Contact me at [email protected] for more info or to apply!
The ministry’s next phase : Developing our team
The vision is becoming more focused and we’re gathering together an expanded ministry team.
I have been trembling and awakened to a new place since the first of the year—since we have gone to a new place in prayer at Revival Church. I am SO EXCITED about the testimonies that are arising from theLab and other ministries. People are COMING ALIVE!!!!!
The purpose of this message is to call together an expanded and deeply connected and focused team of revivalists to join us in the ministry.
I’m raising up a brand new ministry team.
Some of you have been with us for quite some time—and I’m asking for you to sign up again… for a brand new and intense phase of ministry.
Here’s what the plan is:
- The Revival Church/John Burton Ministries team will be deeply involved in the dynamic and continually developing mission together several times a week.
- theLab—This is the primary mandate at the moment and must be the main focus for all of us. Those running with us as a part of the ministry team will be traveling from church to church together every Friday night. Additionally, it’s imperative to make every noon prayer meeting that you can. Keep in mind, I’m calling EVERY pastor, intercessor, revivalist and burning man, woman and child of God in Detroit to be at EVERY Friday night prayer meeting. We certainly need as close to 100% participation from those connected to Revival Church and our ministry as possible. We are modeling a part of the reformation in the church for the rest of the city.
- 1000 Intercessors—As we all do this together, we’ll be sounding the alarm for every person in the Detroit region that’s called to initiate revival to also attend theLab. We’ll be modeling this lifestyle of intercession and urgency to the region and all spreading the word and calling the 1000 leaders into position. The call isn’t to ‘sign up’ but to ‘show up’.
- Ministry Events (other venues)—An important element of the vision is to take the fire into other venues. The ministry team will be with me as I minister in other churches to impart the burning of the Holy Spirit, to cast the vision of theLab and the 1000 Intercessors and to pray throughout the event as I speak. This morning at Salt River was an excellent example. It was powerful and we had some of the people ministering revival as a part of the service. However, we were under manned. We’ll have to become more strategic as we plan on future events. It’s important for the entire team plus the entire church body to stay together to advance the cause of revival. **My heart was to have every person associated with Revival Church with us this morning to encourage Salt River… many people were missed… it wasn’t the same without you!!!
- NOTE: I need people to step up to handle certain roles such as marketing, setting up speaking engagements, working on travel arrangements, intercession, etc.
- NOTE: The next ministry event that we need every team member to serve in is the Fire in February event in Dearborn. We’ll be launching the event with theLab style fiery prayer and intercession. With only 60 people or so at Revival Church, we absolutely need every one to show up for each service. REGISTER at www.awakeningnet.us.
- Ministry Events (hosted by theLab)—This is a huge vision and it will require a huge team. Right now we need the team (which should be at least 30 people strong) to form and get to work searching for property, hosting prayer events, connecting with potential guest ministers, networking with other churches in the area, etc. Everything from small conferences to large stadium events will need everybody to work hard together.
- Revival Church—This is the briefing for the rest of the week. What is happening at theLab and at ministry events will be briefed on here, prayed through, etc. Additionally, the call to action will be sounded here and we’ll all ensure we’re on the same page and ready for our instructions and assignments for the rest of the week. This will be a place of wild and free worship, zealous prayer and clear impartation.
Contact me at [email protected] or 313.799.3473 to discuss your participation. This new team includes people that have been on my staff for quite some time and it will include many others who are ready to clear their calendars and invest with passion into the pursuit of revival in Detroit.
Important : Vision
I want to cast a regional vision for you, and I’d ask that you pray about how you can participate. If you could FORWARD this to everybody on your list, that would be an amazing help for us!! I’m available to travel and speak on this vision in churches too!
I’d deeply appreciate it if you read through this entire message. It’s exciting!
And, you may know people who have connections and/or resources. Do you have the desire and resources to help launch several churches in the Detroit area? Or, do you know somebody who does? The Revival Church vision is extreme, and it requires extreme plans and extreme participation. This is going to be fun!! People in Detroit will be transformed forever!! Yeah!
We’re looking for a central hub where we’d hold large conferences, have a 24/7 house of prayer, possibly setup a Dream Center style ministry, etc.
FIRST, check this out! Late last night I decided to email some people who have large properties available and boldly asked them to donate them to Revival Church. I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by two of their responses. There are certainly properties out there waiting for us to find them!
This first one has a 78,000 square foot building for sale or lease (only $4990/month!):
Hello John,
My love for God and the desire to spread Christ's message is great. Unfortunately, my family has $500,000 in debt related to the building that needs to be paid off.It it my desire to have our building used as a center for the spread of the Word. I just haven't been able to see how to do it.
Having worked in Detroit for most of my life, I can tell you there are wonderful people here, and wonderful people who need to be revived.
I do believe our building would make a great new wine skin for the right organization. It's a great location that is easy to get to and has thousands of people a day driving past. It has a good place to meet, reasonable offices and great parking (80 car fenced parking plus street parking). It even has a raised area in one room…great for leading a worship.
I just haven't been able to figure out how to make the whole package work for the groups I've talked with. Maybe I (old wine skin) have not been flexible enough, have not opened my ears and stretched my mind. Differing from one of your talks, I don't need common sense, but instead uncommon sense.
It might be good to see the building to know if it fits into what is God is reveling to you…or it might spark another revelation…maybe not including us but something much greater.
And this one is also very interesting:
John,
Thank you for your request. I unfortunately am not in a position to be able to make such a gift. The building most likely would not be suitable either. Wrong zoning and not enough parking would only be a few issues.
I wish you success in finding what you are looking for. Be persistent. Those arrangements are possible. In another line of work, I am currently working for a charity, reviewing the feasibility of the charity accepting the gift of a 100,000 square foot building for their operations.
Steve
There you have it. Will you partner with us? You can contact me directly at [email protected] or 313.799.3473. You can donate online at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/donate.
Thank you! I can’t wait to hear from you! And, BY ALL MEANS, forward this on to all of your friends!!! They may have the connection we’re looking for!!