The Revolution Brigade

Yesterday I wrote a post about “spiritual special forces,” men and women who would not love their own lives, even unto death, for the sake of the gospel.  I began to pray about what I believe is a coming army of Nazarites devoted totally to the radical purity and devotion to the Lord that will be necessary to carry the end-times prophetic anointing.  The Lord started to show me some parallels between Spiritual Special Forces and actual special forces soldiers:

Sacrifice: For some reason, the word sacrifice has taken on a negative connotation in the New Testament church.  I have no idea why.  The Lord honors a sacrifice of love.  It’s not the sacrifice of religious duty, but rather the acknowledgement that a gap exists between the prophetic promise of the Lord to our generation and the measure of power that we currently walk in.  Sacrifice, in this context, is being willing to do anything necessary to bridge the gap and access God’s power and love for us.

Just as special forces soldiers sacrifice through years of training, physical conditioning, and deployments, we must also bear the burden of preparation if we are to walk in the fullness of His power.   If we are to see a Nazarite Army, we must begin praying and fasting as a lifestyle now.  It may take twenty years of sacrifice to see our destiny made manifest.

Total Devotion: You would be hard pressed to find a special forces soldier who is not willing to die for his country.  He understands that the risk is part of the job.  Likewise, we must be willing to die for our cause, both in the literal and figurative sense.

If we really believe what we say we believe, then we should not fear death.  Have you ever read the book of Revelation?  Even if we are the generation that will be raised up to usher in the return of the Lord, some of us will die.  It’s in the book, folks.  However, the death to which I’m referring right now is the death of self; to take up our cross and follow Jesus.  Prayer and fasting isn’t the cool thing to do.  It’s not going to become cool next week or next year.  It’s sacrifice, and people don’t understand sacrifice.  All I know is that I feel something within me that compels me to do it.  I must suppress my flesh in order to see Christ made manifest in me.

Militant: Special Forces soldiers can be nice guys.  I’ve known many over the years.  But make no mistake, when there is a mission to be accomplished they become totally devoted, single-minded prosecuters of warfare.  We would do well to mimic this trait.

2 Timothy 2:4 says, “No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life.”  I’m not trying to be elitist or stuck-up, but not everybody has what it takes to live the Nazarite lifestyle.  If you’re boy or girl crazy,  then you don’t have time for this type of devotion.  If you always want to be the center of attention, this is not for you. We’re not here to hold hands, although I suspect we will end up doing much weeping together.  We’re here to raise up Nazarites.   If I tried to talk you into it, you would just quit in two weeks.

Do you have what it takes to be fully devoted?

My Pastor sent me a quote this morning that’s messing me up.  It’s about missions.  It signifies the type of attitude that will be indicative of a radical generation full of faith and power:

“There are no closed countries if you don’t expect to come back.”

What if there arose a whole company of men and women, Nazarites who cared not for their lives, even unto death?  What if these men and women would blaze a trail into the remaining frontiers of the Earth and take the gospel where it had never gone?

What if we really cared about the nations and loved them enough to spill our own blood in the pursuit of the high calling?  This is the type of attitude that will open up the heavens and result in the nations being turned to the Lord.

In our military,  Special Forces soldiers frequently go behind enemy lines to conduct missions that are deemed critical to the war effort.  The cause is just and good; the defense of our nation.  They willingly risk their lives to carry out the intent of those who have been raised up as leaders, sometimes not even understanding the bigger picture of what’s really going on around them.

How much more should we be devoted to the cause of Christ?  Is there any higher calling than to infiltrate kingdoms of darkness with the light of the one true God?  Are we really willing to pay that price?  Do we really believe in the kingdom as much as these soldiers believe in America?  I pray that God would begin to raise up Spiritual Special Forces soldiers to carry the gospel behind enemy lines.  Lord, call forth the Nazarite Corps!

It is written, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Many who have worked with this generation of late teens and twenty-somethings would characterize them as “apathetic.”  Seemingly nothing can pry them from the comfy confines of their living room to impact the world, and they are seemingly satisfied with the status quo.

I believe that, although this may be true of the majority, there exits a spiritual  remnant who possesses the capacity and desire for great adventure.  I also believe that the Kingdom of God provides ample opportunity to get out there and love somebody.  I call it “Expeditionary Love.”

I presume that we know what love is.  I probably shouldn’t.  In the famous words of D.C. Talk, Love is a verb.  We should strive to live a life like Jesus ”and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:2).”  Notice how Jesus loved us by giving himself and by sacrificing. These are not sedentary terms.  These are terms of action.  So now, what about this “expeditionary” thing?

Dictionary.com defines “expeditionary” as the following: Sent on or designed for military operations abroad.

This definition brings up three interesting points.  First, being part of an expeditionary endeavor indicates that you have been “sent.”  It’s not just a mission, it’s a co-mission between you and the Lord.  Secondly, your expeditionary acts of love are a military weapon.  That’s what the military does, it brings weapons to bear on an enemy.  Third, these things happen abroad, as in not in your living room.

2 Corinthians 5:14 says that,  ”Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.”  To compel somebody is to cause them to do something.   Christ’s love for us, if we are in right relationship with Him, should compel us to do certain things:

Missions trips across the globe are acts of expeditionary love.

Witnessing in the streets of your local city is an act of expeditionary love.

Prayer and fasting to contend for a generation is an act of expeditionary love.

Enough with the status quo.  Let’s get expeditionary and engage the nations of the Earth with the life changing love of Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to have militant faith?

Dictionary.com defines the word “militant” as follows:  vigorously active and aggressive, esp. in support of a cause.

The bible says in Matthew chapter 11:12 that, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”  The idea is that there are certain portions of the fullness of God’s Kingdom that can only be possessed by those who are willing to take radical measures in seeking God.

This is not the type of militant faith where we blow ourselves up because the world doesn’t do what we want them to do.  In fact, God has already shown us in his word that the world will grow progressively more preverse and evil until the coming of the Lord, so we might as well get over it already.  This is the type of militant faith where we do whatever is necessary to possess the promise of the Lord in our lives.

It might mean fasting and praying all night.

It might mean spending days or weeks in the secret place with Jesus.

Is there anybody out there who values the anointing and the presence of God more than friends, food, and fellowship?  Not that there’s anything wrong with friends, food, or fellowship, but if they prevent you from passionately persuing God, then they are idolatrous.  What if I told you that there was a HUGE pile of gold waiting for anybody who would fast and pray for two weeks.  I bet many more of us would be fasting and praying.  Jesus is the treasure, folks.  His power is the currency that will buy change in our nation.

Well, we’ve actually ran into more vision that we can honestly handle here at the Revolution Brigade. One of the things that we’ve decided to do involves combining our passion for great design with our love of casual clothing to produce a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled clothing line called Kill Adam Clothing.

That being said, it is our greatest hope that somebody from this site will eventually be able to enjoy the clothes that we’ve designed. This is our first offering in the Kill Adam Spirit Filled series, and is entitled “Bright and Morning Star.” It’s an awesome Christian T Shirt that’s available in both mens and womens shirts in multiple styles on Zazzle.

The shirt features the scripture from Revelation 22:16 that says, “I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. Click here to order.

BUY IT NOW

When we got back this morning from the Atlanta installment of Acquire the Fire, the Holy Ghost totally showed up in our service. We had three of our kids get filled with the Holy Ghost and begin to minister to other people at the alter. Now, when’s Acquire the Fire going to catch on to that?

Here’s a topic that we’re going to have to discuss at length in the youth group: identity.  In my humble opinion, it’s the root cause of nearly every problem faced by young Christians. It’s the reason that our young women feel as if they have to have a boyfriend to feel valuable.  It’s the reason why our young men fold to peer pressure on issues like drugs and alcohol.  Identity.

It’s a shame, really, considering how much scripture is devoted to who we are in Christ, and perhaps more importantly who Christ is in us.  Here is an abbreviated list of what the scripture says about your identity in Christ:

• You are God’s child (John 1:12)
• You are a friend of Christ (John 15:15)
• You have been chosen by God and adopted as His child (Ephesians 1:3-8)
• You are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)

Where we so often go wrong is in attempting to make ourselves feel valuable by substituting stuff for our relationship with the Lord.  For instance, surrounding ourselves with friends or drinking alcohol so your friends will think you’re cool.   It’s all extremely powerful to the young mind, but you have access to the real thing: a relationship with the Lord.

That’s only the beginning.  There is so much more that the word says about your identity in Christ.  Does anybody else have any scriptures off of the top of your head that illustrates who you are as a new creation?

Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:12)

It’s tough being young. Believe it or not, I was young once also. I remember having been told by the good folks over at the first church that I ever attended that “all things come with time” and that “when I grow up I would make a great preacher.” Then, one day, I stumbled upon this scripture.

In the context of the verse, Paul is telling Timothy not to allow people to look down upon him because he was young. You see, Timothy was a young man, some sources say he was even younger than most of his congregation. Still, Paul encouraged him to keep on keeping on.  Here are three reasons why you can do anything that the Lord has put in your heart to do:

1. Philippians 4:13- “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  The bible tells us that we can do anything through Christ, who lives in us.  Because you’ve accepted Jesus into your life, you have access to His miracle working power.  It lives within you.  You can do anything that the Lord has placed into your heart because He is with you!

2. Ephesians 3:20- ” Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us…”  This scripture tells us that God can and will do things that will blow your mind, and he wants to do it with and through you.  That’s why the last part of the verse talks about the “power that works within us,” which is Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our life.

3. Acts 17:6- “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” God wants you to turn the world upside down.  He knows that you won’t achieve that goal unless He gives you power to accomplish things that would seem absurd to the world.  If your vision isn’t revolutionary, get a bigger vision.

I challenge you to pray about what God wants you to do for the Kingdom.  Instead of limiting His power and putting Him in the “box” of traditional thinking, pray about your destiny as if nothing were impossible.  The Lord has power to work miracles.