The Revolution Brigade

Pastor Greg handed me a book and made reference to a statement found within.  When I read it, it messed me up:

Dr. David Shibley, in his book, A Force in The Earth, makes this bold statement: “Any church that is not vitally involved in missions forfeits its biblical right to exist.”

We can import that to the personal level and say that any believer who is not personally engaged in the great commission is wasting pew space (and life, for all intents and purposes).

Jesus was “sent” to the world for the purpose of declaring the Gospel, living a sinless life, and becoming the atoning sacrifice for all of humanity.  As we behold Him and become transformed into His image, we must take on the tenets of His nature.  Being “sent” is one of those tenets.

I have observed from personal experience that a high percentage of radical disciples feel some sort of call to the nations in various forms.  It is my honest belief that as you press into the pursuit of Jesus and intimacy with the person of the Holy Spirit, you can’t help but become missions oriented.  Each step you take toward the heart of God is another step in the direction of the nations.

I also believe that the Western church spends as much time making excuses why we can’t go to the nations as we do actually going to the nations.  Instead, we adopt the what-can-the-kingdom-do-for-me consumer Christian mentality of personal convenience over Kingdom conviction.  This is the same type of thinking that has led to the wimpy expression of faith that abounds in our nation.

Is anybody man (or woman) enough to get out of the pew and take an expedition?

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. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  (Acts 1:4-5)

What is this mysterious “baptism with the Holy Spirit, and what does it does it do for the believer?  I’ve heard much debate over the years by people who want to make the scripture more complicated than it has to be about how the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was only for the church of Acts, and about how the endwelling of the Holy Spirit happens subsequent to salvation, and how there is no separate Baptism at all.  Sometimes, it’s just best to read the scripture and see what you come up with.

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.” (Acts 1:8)

Here we see Jesus discussing the ramifications of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, namely that when it is received we would be empowered to become witnesses to the ends of the Earth.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit is about power.  It’s a gift of grace, sent from the father, that enables us to live victoriously.

When you receive it, you receive a measure of the supernatural ability of Jesus as well:

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an essential tool to the combat intercessor.  Some of its more relevant applications include discerning of spirits, by which the intercessor learns what spirit he is engage with, and word of knowledge, which may include directions for attaining spiritual victory over a given foe.   Of course, the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit has much more practical and wider application as well.

Frankly, my intention for writing this post is two-fold:  First, to promote the fact that Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an absolutely necessary tool for the combat intercessor.  Second, to provide a basic starting point for curious Christians who are not baptized with the Holy Spirit to begin their own, personal, in-depth study on the topic.

It certainly is not my intention to have a debate about the merits or existence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit here for several reasons.  First, I am personally baptized in the Holy Spirit.  I speak with other tongues.  I frequently prophesy.  I operate in discerning of spirits gift.  My wife is a prophetess.  My kids prophesy to me before they go to sleep at night.  I have plenty of evidence of the power of that baptism in my life, and I’m not interested in hearing a heady, contorted, academic debate about something I know to be real.  Second, I believe that the “all flesh” thing hasn’t come to completion yet, and when it does, there won’t be any debate.

See some other cool Basic Training posts and get started on becoming a combat soldier for God.

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.

“Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?”

This scripture comes from Song of Solomon Chapter 6, where the “friends” of the bridegroom are describing the bride.   In other words, this phrase is meant to be a prophetic picture of the end times church, a prophetic army of radically devoted fanatical believers.

Banners have much significance in antiquity.  They had several functions on the battlefield, all of which made them important:

They identified units: Each commander would have a crest, and each of his units would bear his crest upon their standard.  In this way, the commander would be able to keep track of his units in the confusion of melee.  Perhaps more importantly, this was a way for units to proudly declare, “We belong to our Lord.”

The prophetic end-time army of radically devoted believers will proudly bear the standard of the Lord.  They will be known throughout the land as His possession.  Rather than carrying a physical standard everywhere they go, these faithful men and women will carry the mark of the radical anointing upon their lives developed through years of praying, fasting, and hotly persuing the Lord.

They provided communication: In an era before radio communications were possible, battle flags were the way in which signals were sent from commanders to subordinate units.  “An army with banners” would have been an army that had a complex, robust, and reliable communications ability.  As a result, they would have inflicted terror on their disorganized opponents, able to maneuver efficiently even in the midst of melee.

Our ability to communicate with our commander will also be of the utmost importance during the coming conflict.  Banners, however, are not the answer.  Prayer and fasting, seeking His face, and learning to hear the still, small voice of the Lord is the only thing that will help.

“He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.”

The words above come from Isaiah 49:2.  In this text, I believe that the Lord has concealed a promise to any who would seek him.  I believe that he has agreed to turn his faithful servants into weapons of warfare, by which He intends to prosecute the end time destruction of our foes.   I believe that there are several important things that we can take away from this passage regarding our transformation into weapons of spiritual warfare:

Arrows begin as trees. Through the process of taking a piece of wood and turning it into an arrow, much of the wood must be sacrificed in order to reveal the true, straight shaft within.  Likewise, we must be willing to sacrifice much of ourselves in order to become weapons of warfare for the kingdom of God.  Every time you fast and seek the Lord, you are allowing him to fashion you into a weapon.  Every time you forsake your flesh and make a decision for purity, you are allowing Him to hack another piece of wood off of you, revealing the polished shaft.

Swords are sheathed, arrows are in the quiver. This passage makes reference twice to being “concealed” and “put in a quiver.”  I’d like to submit that the coming revolution of purity and power is not about personal recognition.  We are to be quietly developed into nameless, faceless warriors and then hidden in the Lord’s quiver until the moment of battle is at hand.

An arrow, when fired at the wrong time, gives away the position of the entire army.  However, when fired at the correct time, the arrow strikes fear into the heart of your opponent.  It causes him to alter his battle strategy.  It wreaks havoc in the enemy camp.  We must wait for the appointed time.

Swords and bows are both controlled by the soldier. We are the sword and the arrows.  Jesus is the soldier who will employ us in the coming battle.  Just as an arrow has no say over which direction it is launched, we must be submissive to the will of the supreme marksman.  We must have faith that the direction that he sends us is the direction we were intended to go.  We must have faith in the timing of his employment of our sharpened tips.

There are many arrows in a quiver.  Some must be fired before others.  Your friends may receive their mandate for the coming war before you do.  Fear not.  The Lord doesn’t make mistakes.