The Revolution Brigade

I keep hearing Christians, particularly from my generation, quoting the concept of separation of church and state as a reason for not being politically involved as a believer. The context usually goes something like this: “The separation of church and state says we shouldn’t bring religion and politics together,” or “religion and politics don’t mix, and that’s why the constitution separates church from state.” I just thought I might take a minute and make commentary on that notion.

The language in the US Constitution from the First Ammendment that separates church and state is as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Everywhere you turn these days you hear talk of the Spirit of Elijah coming back into the body of Christ.  I think it’s a positive dialog about an affirmative promise in the scripture that can be found in Malachi 4:5-6

“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

I began to meditate upon Elijah and the miracles that he did.  Some of them were quite cool.  That bit about calling down fire from heaven was awesome beyond measure.  He also raised the boy from the dead.  He also multiplied the flower and oil for the widow in Zarephath.  And yet the scripture from Malachi makes mention of none of these significant demonstrations of power when speaking of the Spirit of Elijah that will be infused into the end-times church.  Instead it talks about……fatherhood?

I believe that, from the perspective of the Lord, the most significant miracle that Elijah ever did was raise up a spiritual son with a double-portion anointing. 

Legacy is not a vain pursuit.  We should endeavor to empower our spiritual children to embrace the fullness of the revelation and power that we possess at an early enough age so that they can ultimately surpass what we have done and attain new plunder in the kingdom.  I believe that the “curse” mentioned in the verse is of the Midianite variety:  where would-be spiritual fathers are forced to lie on their death beds and watch an invader take their spiritual harvest from them because they lacked covenant sons to possess the promise. 

It seems as if we’ve almost never had two consecutive generations that, as a whole, have advanced beyond the spiritual authority of their fathers.  I believe we will soon see, and may already be seeing, a generation that will do just that.  I for one am excited about the prospects.

I’ve already put forth my opinion about the personality cult phenomenon going on in the church on several occassions.  I’ve even prophesied what I believe to be a word related to the ushering in of a time of unprecedented team ministry.  Now, I’d like to talk briefly about one of the unexpected benefits of working in ministry teams: what I call “the grace transfer.”

Simply put, when I am around prophetic people, I find that grace to prophesy “rubbing off” on me, and I become more functional in prophetic ministry.  When I spend a great deal of time with extremely pastoral people, all love and sobbing passion, I become more sensitive to the needs of others and in-tune with how Christ regards his people in need.  Am I just that impressionable?  I doubt it.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a teaching that I did on Wednesday night at Grace Community Fellowship several weeks ago.  It examines the origin of the authority of the believer, as well as ways that we can increase our individual authority in Christ.  Check it out

This is a slightly modified excerpt from my book entitled “Welcome to the War:”

I hear a lot of people talking about revolution these days. Usually, I hear it in a context similar to the following:

“We don’t need religion, we need revolution.”

If by revolution you mean a rapid change to a new perspective on life in the Spirit, then I whole heartedly agree with the sentiment. If you mean a radical consecration that the world doesn’t know how to cope with, then we are in kindred spirit. If you mean open rebellion against the Christian establishment, then I’m afraid we are no longer in agreement.

Consider the following: The prayer movement is loosely patterned after the tabernacle of David. You can’t go ten days without hearing a sermon on the Tabernacle of David, or a reference to it, or an illustration about it. That’s cool. I understand the theology around it. But, did you know that David, while worshipping love-sick in the Tabernacle of David, never removed the priests from their divine duties at the tabernacle of the congregation in Gibeon (See 2 Chronicles 1)? In fact, he sent the high priest Zadok to Gibeon (1 Chronicles 16:39) where the Tabernacle of the Congregation was.

Read the rest of this entry »

If there was one truth that I would want my girls to know and understand if this was my last day on Earth, it would be the concept of true love.  Our nation has created a culture where young people seek love and affection at any cost, and from any source, and often end up settling for a destructive, blood-sucking counterfeit of true love.  Check out this teaching.  I honestly believe every teenager and young adult in America needs to hear this message or one like it at least once.

¹¹Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. ¹²The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.     (Genesis 1:11-12)

I’ve heard the word “judgement” thrown around a lot of late regarding the situation in Haiti.  I’ve heard it said by some people in prominent Bible teaching positions that it was God’s will for Haiti to be destroyed.  While I love and respect these teachers, I have a different perspective altogether.

Read the rest of this entry »

Take a listen Jonathan Greene expounds upon the intersection between the stories of Jesus in Nazareth and Elisha at the Jordan, and a concept that will help you in your journey to the double portion anointing:  Impartation is tied to honor.  In this teaching, we will discuss right relationship between spiritual fathers and sons, and the importance of receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet.