The Revolution Brigade

I’ve just been perking up my ears a little of late and listening to the conversations around me.  I know that’s a little nosy, but it’s most instructive.  What I have heard loud and clear is a sense of fear that is subverting the church at large.

Fear of change.  Fear of adventure.  Fear of the future.  Fear of the stock market.  Fear of the government.  Fear of terrorists.  Fear of self-sacrifice.  Fear of being afraid.  The list goes on and on.

The problem is that fear will rob us of our destiny in the unfolding of the Kingdom.  Consider the story of the scouts sent into the land of Caanan in Numbers chapter 13.  Ten of them came back paralyzed by fear, and would have forfeited their inheritance as a result.   Only Caleb and Joshua recommended that they take possession of the Land:

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”  And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:30-33)

And so it is with us.  The church, instead of taking possession of the Land, has made itself content to sit on the hillside and gaze at the giants ravaging their inheritance.  Not all of us, mind you.  But enough of us have decided to forfeit our inheritance that we find ourselves almost without a place to call our own.

What’s the answer?  Perfect love, of course.

You see, a man without fear can impart courage to another person, but courage is simply the ability to operate in fear without losing your composure.   What we need is the complete removal of fear from among us.  The only answer is a renewed revelation of Jesus as the love-sick bridegroom God who lives and breathes to empower us to do exploits.

The world should seem a little less scary when we realize that the creator of the universe resides inside of us, and that His agenda is one of eternal benevolence on our behalf.

For anybody who knows me, I’m a big fan of Mike Bickle and the IHOP crew.  I snatch about every download I can as soon as it’s available and listen to it almost nonstop.  I’ve never met most of these people, but I feel as if we are from the same “tribe.”  If you don’t get that reference, go buy Seth Godin’s book.

I ran across one radical young person on Twitter whose blog I leveraged and found my way to several other radical  people who are on staff at IHOP in Kansas City.   I really enjoyed the read, so I figured I might revive the concept of the meme by sending them a few questions and seeing if they have the guts to pony up by answering on their own blog.

Question 1:  Why has the the vast majority of the youth in America checked out of the church?

Question 2:  What can be done to engage these same young people in their destiny?

Question 3:  What, or who (other than Jesus) made the biggest difference in your life and prompted you to follow after a lifestyle of prayer and fasting?

There it is.  Here are the five folks and their blogs.  Be sure to tell them that we sent you just in case they don’t have trackbacks:

Abby’s Blog

Jessica Gliserman

Matthew Candler (Not quite as young as the others)

Tim Cone

Truman Falkner

Be sure to check them out, give them some link love, and leave a comment.

I’ve been asking around the Kingdom, polling young people on why their generation isn’t actively engaged in Kingdom affairs.  I’ve heard a variety of different responses, but the common denominator seems to be boredom.

This truly blows my mind.

Is anybody out there serving the same Jesus that I’m serving?  The one who says, “Go into all the world and make disciples?”  I think the church must have slipped into a self-induced coma or something, because the Christian life is not boring, it’s an extreme sport.

God is challenging us to the most radical, unthinkable, crazy, off the wall, adventurous stuff we can come up with to spread the good news of the Kingdom.  Some of you are bored because you’re in your room playing X Box when you should be in Costa Rica preaching the word in the streets.  What has happened to our sense of adventure?

I met a guy recently that uses Monster truck rallies to spread the Gospel.  Bet he’s not bored.

I was all over the Earth by the time I was 17 years old preaching the word, performing drama in the streets of Ecuador and Peru, praying for people to get saved in Spanish….and I don’t know Spanish!

If you’re not called to stay, you’re called to go.  It’s time to remove your buttocks from the permanent impression that you’ve created in your couch cushions and do something.

Somebody needs to start a traveling paintball tournament to spread the gospel.

Somebody needs to sign up for a missions trip to Zimbabwe and preach the word to the tribes of Africa.

Since you guys like X Box so much, start a tournament that will attract hundreds of players and then hit them with the Gospel.

The more radical, the more outlandish, the more unthinkable, the better.  Let’s do something for the Lord while we’re young, before the heaviness of life has a chance to grab a hold of you.  Living in the Kingdom is an extreme sport for those who will engage it.

The biggest indictment that has been raised against the church is that its talk has always been louder than its walk. Basically, it has only delivered a portion of its promise. Yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah.

Step right up, say a little prayer, get your ticket for eternity, and then live like hell (because of course, you have your ticket), and then just sit back and wait for the gospel ship (whatever that is) to wisk you away.

Behind the clamoring scenes of the religious parade of who has the biggest ministry, the pompous veneer of condescending self-righteousness, and celebrity showdom of scamming preachers who are little more than Hollywood wannabees, something powerful is emerging.

There is an awakening among a generation of disillusioned young people who have rejected the status quo, and are searching for the genuine faith of those who actually believe what they say and are willing to go to any length to allow the reality of truth to be manifest in their lives.

We now have enough light to see through the facade of “cheap talk” that has produced an impotent church. Shallow commitment will not usher in the Kingdom. If you can’t back up what you say by lifestyle, be quiet. If you just want to run around and shout about the devil, we are not listening. If you are afraid of what it will cost, get out of the way, the Kingdom life is not for you.

We want to live with purpose and die with honor. It is now time for all those lovers of truth and life to come together for a new movement of righteousness in the earth.

Jonathan Greene teaches a lesson about Contending for the Fullness of the Faith, which is really pressing toward the mark of the high calling and apprehending that for which we have been apprehended.  This message is a guide to fighting for spiritual growth in a biblical way without striving.

This is a post about the status quo, and the mess that we (the church) have gotten ourselves into by buying into it.  For the last twenty years or so, the church has been slipping into a me-centric mentality of  “what can the Kingdom do for me.”  It’s the “entertain me” religion of the bigger, better show.  Meanwhile, truth has been slain in the streets.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love the church with a blazing passion.  It’s my life’s calling to see it restored to the glorious nature of the bride of Christ. But when church members are voting for pro-choice candidates simply because they “want change,” we’ve obviously missed the boat.

Abortion is an abomination before the Lord.  The shedding of the blood of innocent babies smacks of the ancient religion of Baal worship, and many of us have been complicit in it’s prosecution, at least passively.

“That’s not very politically correct, and certainly not very tolerant.”

Nope.  It’s not.  Tolerance is overrated.  We have far too many Pastors who won’t preach on the topic of abortion for fear of marginalizing somebody who probably needs to be marginalized.  It’s as simple as that.  Don’t shoot the messenger.

“What are you doing about it then?”

That’s a fair question.  I’m praying and fasting.  I’m calling out upon the Lord to release His justice on the Earth.  I’m looking for like minded people to build a coalition for justice.  I’m just a man, but I’m focused on the cause of Christ.

The more interesting question, at least to me, is “What are you doing?”  If you’re not doing anything, start now.  There’s always room for one more intolerant Jesus Freak.

I googled “Radical Christianity” and I was surprised and disturbed to learn that Rosie O’Donnell was all over the search results talking about how “Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam.”  (I refuse to link to that article and add to its credibility) I felt my spirit rise up within me, and I became angry with a righteous indignation from the Lord. 

Rosie doesn’t deserve to dominate google for those keywords, and Radical Christianity is the only thing preventing this country from sliding into the dark ages.   Right now, there is a righteous remnant of intercessors holding back the darkness in this nation while the rest of us scramble to mobilize an army that will eventually be able to defeat the darkness.

Where are the Jesus Freaks?

In my generation, that’s what we were called.  Of course, the name came from the popular song by D.C. Talk, but the concept was radical in nature.  We were devoted to the cause of Christ and willing to go somewhere and do something about our world view.  We mobiled.  We went on missions trips to Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Costa Rica.  You name it.  We were there.

We had an innate understanding that this commission given to us by the Lord to go into the nations and make disciples was the greatest adventure known to man.  We were pioneers.  Teenagers, some of us barely in high school, blazing a trail through the darkness with the Gospel. 

So, what about it?  Are you willing to go somewhere?  Are you willing to do something about your blazing heart, or are you just talk?

In Revelation Chapter 2, Jesus calls the church at Thyatira to refuse to allow all forms of immorality in their midst.  Immorality is all sexual activity that is outside the marriage covenant, whether heterosexual or homosexual.  It includes all areas of life; physical, verbal, or technological (Internet).

Immorality in the church grieves Jesus’ heart, injures our heart and family (natural and spiritual), and grants Satan “legal doors of access” into our lives.  Immorality causes Jesus to lose part of His inheritance and investment in His people as well as part of their inheritance in Him.  It acts as a barrier to the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and makes it impossible to fully grasp the fullness of God’s glory in our lives.

The scripture promises that judgement begins in God’s house (1 Peter 4:17), and that if we will judge ourselves, we will not be judged by God (1 Peter 11:31). 

A Radical Christian will do anything to remove the barriers that prevent him or her from coming closer to Jesus.  The Revolution Brigade, as a community of radical Christians, is committed to supporting every member in their decision to become and stay pure before the Lord.  As such, we endorse the following Purity Covenant, as adopted from IHOP and The Call:

7 Personal Commitments Before The Lord:

Commitment #1:  I refuse to participate in conversations that promote or joke about immorality.  If I do speak this way, I will confess to those I was conversing with that I have sinned.

Commitment #2: For men and women.  I commit to wear modest clothing that in no way promotes sensuality.  I will “occasionally” ask a Godly believer who does not dress the way that I do if my clothing is too revealing (too tight, too short, etc).

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