The Revolution Brigade

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.

I know what you’re thinking: Why put up a picture of somebody getting beat up on a post about intimacy with the Lord? Well, read the story below from the book of Acts and you’ll begin to understand:

“Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. (One day) the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” (Acts 19:13-16)

Whew. That’s a pretty graphic account of attempted spiritual warfare gone wrong. This is an example of what happens when people attempt to fight against the enemy on their own power.

In Matthew 28:18, Jesus says, ” And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Notice that the power to prosecute and win spiritual battles was given to Jesus, not to us. We can vicariously exercise that power through our relationship with Jesus, but never in and of our own strength.

There can be no victory without a relationship with Jesus. The extent to which you are intimate with the Lord is the extent to which you will be capable of defeating the enemy.

In Ephesians 6:10 Paul says, ” Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” You’ll notice that we are required to be strong “in” the Lord. Your strength for spiritual battle lies in Jesus. The power and the might that you need in order to win are “his” power and might.

Read Ephesians 1:19-23 and you’ll see this, “and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might….And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Again, you can see that God has given all authority and power to Jesus, and that the only way that we can access that power is to “believe,” which is, to have a relationship with Jesus.

How to build a relationship with Jesus:

1) Study the word. If I wanted to make friends with a person who had written a book, I would be sure to read the book. Why? Because a person’s writing can give you insights into the way that he thinks, and can tell you things about his personality. How much more then should we desire to study the Word of God knowing that the Holy Spirit will actually bring the words to life as we study and teach us the hidden wisdom of God?

2) Spend time with Jesus. What I’m talking about here is prayer. Spend time every day talking with Jesus. If you and I were to talk for a period of time every day, you’d eventually grow to know a lot about me.. The same is true of your relationship with Jesus. Make sure that you spend time listening and not just talking. Allow the holy spirit to speak to you.

Check out these other scriptures about the power that God gives us. Look for threads about how intimacy is important to attaining that power:

Ephesians 3:20

Colossians 1:16

2 Timothy 1:7

Check out our other Basic Training Articles:

Basic Training: Faith

Basic Training: Grace

Basic Training: Sanctification

“Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. And as Christ’s soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

There’s so much junk in the way of doing what God has called us to do. As an adult, it’s a little easier. I don’t have to worry about popularity, school, peer pressure, or any of that stuff. Still, I’ve been in your shoes. I know what things conflict you, and what challenges you have to face in order to fulfill your calling.

A “brigade” is a large group of soldiers. Our intention here is to raise up an army of young believers who will be sold out for the cause: to advance the Kingdom and glorify Christ. We chose the military theme on purpose because we recognize that in order to achieve the goals that we’ve set out to accomplish, we have to discipline ourselves and become mentally tough and fully devoted, much like soldiers preparing for war.

When the verse from 2 Timothy above talks about “enduring suffering,” that’s exactly what it means: there is a price to be paid if we are to reach our objective. In a physical war, every inch of ground is bought with the blood of the soldiers who are attempting to advance against the enemy. In our spiritual war, every square inch of ground that we conquer has been purchased by the blood of Jesus, along with our sweat and tears.

I’ve been a real soldier in a real war. I can testify that, while you are fighting, nothing else matters. You can’t worry about what your family is doing back home. You can’t worry about your mom and dad, your girlfriend, or your bank account. The only thing that matters is accomplishing the mission and staying alive. Anything that doesn’t accomplish one of those goals is a distraction, and should be treated as such.

God tells us in the scripture above that, if we hope to accomplish the goals that He has for us, then we need to have a similar devotion to the cause. It also tells us that the only way to please your commanding officer (Jesus) is to set aside every other concern in life and fight the war.

We’ll talk more about this in youth group. Get ready. There’s going to be a battle, and we’re all going to be involved.

For now, if you want to get a head start, you can dive into our basic training posts and start learning the skills of a spiritual warrior

Basic Training: Faith

Basic Training: Grace

Basic Training: Justification

Basic Training: Sanctification

The Revolution Brigade is the youth ministry of Grace Community Fellowship in Starke, FL. We’re a progressive, spirit-filled church dedicated to equipping the Saints. As such, our youth ministry will be a reflection of the general vision and direction given by the Lord to our Pastor, Greg Pusateri.

If the title of the blog sounds a little militant to you, that’s exactly what we’re shooting for. We’re dealing with a generation of youth who have been assaulted from the word go by the enemy. We intend to fight, and through the dominion given to us by Jesus, we intend to win.

We’re going to be putting a lot more information on this blog over the next couple of weeks in anticipation of our official launch on April 2nd, 2008. Please become a soldier by subscribing to the email feed, and offer up some prayer to the Lord on our behalf. It’s our intention to draw a line in the sand for the cause of Christ. Welcome to the revolution.