The Revolution Brigade

When you’re a member of the military, “readiness” is a huge word.  It’s a word that’s used to describe that anywhere, anytime attitude that characterizes our military.  It means that you’re ready to go to the ends of the Earth at the drop of a dime to defend your cause.

Learning to embrace readiness is a process by which we transform ourselves from soft, docile people into rugged, violent, utterly prepared soldiers.  It’s more than just learning to fire a weapon or wear a uniform correctly.  It’s a lifestyle change.  There are several components to spiritual readiness for the prophetic army of God.  I’m going to discuss them in a series of blog posts here on the Revolution Brigade blog, beginning with a critical yet often overlooked aspect of readiness in God’s army:

Physical Readiness: Earlier today I asked the Lord to empower me to travel the Earth and teach the gospel.  I was surprised when He replied to me by saying, “What if I told you to hike up a mountain 50 kilometers to a remote village at an altitude of 10,000 feet?  Could you do it?”  I immediately felt the conviction of knowing that I wasn’t physically ready to carry the gospel in the way that the Lord had envisioned.

Prophetic warriors begin a program of physical discipline in order to gain the strength necessary to go anywhere at any time for the cause of the kingdom. This is not a youth retreat.  It’s a war.  War is tough.  War is physical.  Combat is stressful and tiring and we need to condition ourselves to be ready for any mission the Lord gives us.  We must lift weights, gain strength, and do regular cardio routines in order to be fully prepared for the fight that is ahead of us.  I joined a gym today, and I plan to chronicle the progress of my journey for fitness on this blog.  You can all hold me accountable.

Prophetic warriors can hike twenty miles in a day if necessary in order to reach people with the gospel. I’ve had the privilege of hiking twenty miles before, and I can tell you that you don’t just wake up one day with the ability to hike twenty miles.  You start with five miles, then ten, then twelve, then fifteen, and you eventually work your way up to twenty miles.  You gradually harden your feet over a period of time so that you become rugged and able to handle long marches.  You may find this hard to believe, but there are some countries where there is no gas to be had, and the only means of transportation is moe and joe (my nicknames for my left and right foot, respectively).  Do people in villages deep in the jungle hundreds of miles from the nearest road need the gospel any less than those living in cities with cars?

Prophetic warriors master the martial arts and are able to defend themselves against weapons. Here’s the part where the church gets up in arms.  “Jesus said turn the other cheek.”  Got it.  But, I’m a man of war.  I’m also a peacemaker.  I’ve learned that sometimes the best way to make peace is to place all of your enemies on their hind quarters.  Seriously, if we are to take the gospel into contested areas and evil regimes, we must be capable of defending ourselves on the most basic level.  Our prophetic intercessory warriors must know how to defend themselves open-hand-versus-knife and open-hand-versus-gun.  Can you disarm an attacker who has a knife?  What about a gun?  These simple skills might save your life or the lives of your flock one day.  It might be worth learning.

Physical readiness takes time.  You aren’t going to begin a program today and be ready to hike twenty miles tomorrow.  It takes dedication and a lifestyle of training.  This will be difficult for one of the most sedentary generations in history to embrace, but as always, I believe there is a remnant who will excel.

In Isaiah Chapters 64 and 65, there is an interesting dialogue between the prophet and the Lord.

Isaiah: Your holy cities are destroyed.  Zion is a wilderness;  yes, Jerusalem is a desolate ruin.  The holy and beautiful Temple where our ancestors praised you has been burned down, and all the things of beauty are destroyed. After all this,  Lord,  must you still refuse to help us? Will you continue to be silent and punish us? (Isaiah 64:10-11)

The Lord Replies: I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.  I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, “Here I am, Here I am!” to a nation that did not call on my name. All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.  But they followed their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes. All day long they insult me to my face by worshipping idols in their sacred gardens.  (Isaiah 65:1-3)

This description that the Lord gives of the nation of Israel moves my heart to compassion because I recognize that it’s a description of our country in this hour.  The United States is now a post-Christian nation.  Our people attend to their own schemes and ignore the paths of God.  Our culture is consumed with idolatry (stuff), Baal worship (abortion, baby sacrifice) , and the Asherah religion (the culture of sex).

Importantly, I don’t believe God is turning a blind eye to the wicked in this hour.  I believe that He is waiting on a righteous remnant of intercessory warriors to rise up and pray in His justice.   Let it not be said of us that we never asked for help from the Lord, that we never looked for His glory and mercy.

We’re coining the term “Combat Intercession” here at the Revolution Brigade because we believe that it will take spiritual acts of violence to bring this nation into repentance before God.   It will require a lifestyle of absolute consecration and purity.  Prayer and fasting will be minimums.  It will require praying for a nation that largely doesn’t want to hear what we have to say.  In some cases, the church will even speak out against the radicals who will become the watchmen for a generation.  Even against the prevailing odds, these young people will stand in the gap, holding back the darkness from consuming our nation completely.

There’s a quote from George Orwell that seems appropriate:  “Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”  It’s a nod to our military forces, but it has application in the spirit as well.  Where is the generation that stands ready to do violence on behalf of our nation?

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?

Our the United States, our Special Forces Soldiers go through some of the toughest training known to man.  They are physically challenged, mentally challenged, and emotionally challenged.  They are deprived of sleep, denied food, and pushed to the limits of human endurance.  The result is one of the toughest, most devoted fighting forces known to man.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where I’m going with this one.

We have conceptualized an indoctrination course for our SAPPER program.  We’re calling it “Boot Camp.”  It will be physically tough.  It will be spiritually tough.  We will deny ourselves food and comfort for the sake of the Kingdom.  We’ll do several weeks of intense discipleship training, topped off my an expeditionary CAPSTONE to a foreign country where we’ll engage in intercession and spiritual combat on a live deployment.

Many people will not have the commitment and devotion to duty that it takes to complete this course.  It will be the most demanding thing many of us have ever undertaken.  The only thing I can promise is that it will be an adventure.

If you’re interested in something this radical, sound off!

I’m writing a series on Radical Christianity, what it’s about, who it’s for, and what are the goals of the movement.  Today we’re going to talk about the agenda.  Why is it that we devote our lives to prayer, fasting, and radical consecration?  As with any movement in the body of Christ, it’s difficult to generalize why a large group of people do what they do.  I can, however, speak about the specific goals of our expression of radical faith here at the Revolution Brigade.  We have several goals:

1) To draw near to the Lord.  We love prayer and fasting here at the Revolution Brigade.  We pray for revival.  We fast for the Lord to raise up an army of young people who will be totally sold out for the cause.  But, the revival is not the reward for prayer and fasting.  The movement is not the reward.  The reward is the intimacy with Jesus that we get from removing the barriers of the flesh from between us and Him.   Revival and the Militant Faith Movement are just nice byproducts of our awesome relationship with Jesus.  Radical Christianity is more about the King than it is about the Kingdom.

2) Raise a Prophetic Army. We believe that it is the Lord’s desire to raise an end-time prophetic army that will burn with a pure passion and devotion to His cause.  We believe that this army of prayer warriors will be instrumental in ushering in the coming of Christ because of their fanatical devotion to the bridegroom God.  We exist to recruit, train, and equip the forward-most elements of this army.  Radical Christianity is about strapping on your combat boots and doing something for God.

3) Expeditionary Love. We eat, sleep, and breathe a love for the nations.  We desire to see the knowledge of God’s glory fill the whole Earth, as the water covers the seas.  We will get “expeditionary” in our love for the nations.  In other words, we’ll go places and do things that will cause the nations to turn to Christ.  We’re raising an Army.  Armies fight.  We will contend for the nations through crack squads of intercessory masters, raised up and equipped through the anointing of the Holy Spirit for world-changing prayer.  Radical Christianity is about exporting God’s love to the entire world.

4) Awaken a sleeping generation.  If the Revolution Brigade is the “spiritual special forces” of the coming Nazarite Army, then the rest of the generation will be the general infantry.  We believe that this generation is the “valley of bones” spoken of in Ezekiel chapter 37, and we are prophesying to them to wake up, stand up, and receive flesh.  The world sees dry bones, but we see an army.  Radical Christianity is about seeing with the Lord’s eyes and believing in people.

You don’t know who you’re messing with.  This thing is for real.  The Militant Faith Movement is on the scene.

Part of what we’re doing here on this blog is casting a vision for what we believe is our expression of intercession.  You can log in to the forum and take a look at the extended version of the SAPPER vision, but the term is an acronym which stands for Stragegic Application of Prayer and Personal sacrifice Evoking Repentance.

In military terms, a SAPPER is a combat engineer trained to destroy enemy fortifications and clear the way for the infantry to advance.  Likewise, a Revolution Brigade SAPPER is a highly trained intercessor whose mission is to destroy strongholds, bind demonic influences, and prepare the way for the Apostolic ministry to come forth and change nations.

Due to the nature of this type of ministry, it’s absolutely essential that SAPPERS be selfless, radically devoted  prayer warriors who possess an over-the-top anointing for prayer ministry forged by living a fasted lifestyle in communion with the Lord.   Their mission is to go into a country….with just their squad…..and do spiritual battle with principalities and powers that rule over the region.  It’s not childs play.

Our vision is to begin mobilizing teams of SAPPERS in advance of the international missions trips of Greg Pusateri, our Apostolic father here at the Revolution Brigade, by the end of the year.  You heard me right.  The end of the year. Their mission will be to travel to whatever country Greg is going to, and to demolish any spiritual opposition to the Gospel that may be in place using the tools of prayer and fasting.

Ideally, each squad would have members who major in intercession, prophetic ministry, word of wisdom/knowledge, and discerning of spirits, as well as a helps specialist to coordinate the arrival and itinerary of the missionary “infantry.”  The model is taken from the military “Advon” team, which is an highly trained team of specialists who proceed any major military deployment into a foreign country for the purpose of preparation and intelligence gathering.

It’s warfare.  It’s missions.  What’s not to love?  Now, who is hard core enough to embrace that vision?

This website is not for…

The casual observer – If you are the kind of person that just wants to be “hidden in the herd” and obscured by the status quo, then this website is not for you because we are searching for those who want to stand out .

The apathetic – If you have no concern for God and His kingdom, the condition of the world, the state of the church, and the purpose for your life, see ya’.

The lazy – If you are just looking for the path of least resistance through life, then keep on moving because you will find no accomodation here.

The comfortable – If “comfortable Christianity” and entertaining programs are on your agenda, then I would encourage you to find a youth group somewhere with an air-conditioned building, padded chairs, video games, and a baby-sitter for a youth pastor.

The faithless – Please, all you dummies who want to argue about the existence of God, we will not waste our time reading your comments so don’t bother posting them.

The non-adventurous and fearful - If thoughts of leaving the country (U.S.) to do something radical to advance the kingdom of God cause you to tremble and doubt, then you will probably be better off staying home and watching tv or riding around with your friends talking about stuff that doesn’t matter.

We are looking for a few good, young men and women with a burning passion for God, who want to go beyond the status quo that has been imposed on their generation. Those who want to pursue a purposeful life and are not afraid to pay the price to get it. Those who would like to be challenged to a higher call to worship and pray like never before. Those who are not afraid to put it all on the line to follow God wherever He wants to lead them.

Where are you?

I know you are out there somewhere…

I was praying and fasting, and the Lord spoke to me.  It was an audible voice, at least to me, which marks the first audible voice I’ve ever heard from the Lord.  I was weeping and besieging God to loose a prophetic army of radical young people who would live in total consecration and shake loose the demonic grip on our nation, and the Lord said to me, “Believe Me for 5000 warriors.”

My first thought was, “It might as well be a million.”  But then, my faith began to rise up.  I found myself weeping and shouting, “Your will be done, Father!”

I believe that the promise of the Lord to me and to those associated with this movement is that the Lord will raise up 5000 prophetic warriors, radically consecrated and walking in Nazarite power, to loose the hold of darkness upon our nation.  I believe that this Prophetic Army will advance upon Capitol Hill, The White House, and the various State Legislatures, and will bring an end to abortion and the homosexual agenda.  In the process of waging war, I believe the church will be purified from apathy and disinterest.

I tell you, the fire of God is dancing in my bones right now.  He’s given me a message.  Now, I’m believing Him for a voice!