The Revolution Brigade

Carnal warfare is a dangerous proposition.  Casualties can be expected, but must be balanced with the burden of accomplishing tactical and strategic objectives.  In short, people are valuable but everybody is expendable.

This is one scenario in which spiritual warfare differs greatly from carnal warfare.  Just as the nature of our victory in Christ is absolute, the nature of our protection in Christ from the dangers of warfare is also absolute.  Not one Christian needs to ever experience defeat or suffer a wound in the prosecution of the warfare to which we are called.  In the natural, armies consolidate their resources into “forts” or “bases” where they can be protected en masse. In spiritual warfare, the phenomenon is known as “rest.”

9) So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

10) For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

11) Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

12) For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  (Hebrews 4: 9-12)

Think of the place of rest outlined in the scripture above as a fort.  We’ll call it “Fort Rest.”  It’s surrounded by huge walls that are made of the word of God.  The enemy, despite his best efforts, can’t get past these walls to attack you.  So long as you remain within the walls of Fort Rest, you have absolutely no chance of being harmed, defeated, or psychologically effected by battle.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them. (Psalm 34:7)

In an earlier post, I briefly discussed that spiritual warfare was a cleverly crafted deception that the enemy has been force feeding the church for centuries.  I said that there is no force-on-force combat routinely taking place as if the battle had not yet been decided, but that the enemy is attempting to subvert the church into open agreement with his wiles in order to attain a portion of the power delegated to the church by God.   If that’s true, then why do we constantly see “casualties” of war in our congregations: those who are frustrated to the point of leaving the church, those who are sick and broken-hearted, and those who are defeated to the point of depression?

The answer is that the enemy, unable to reach the saints who dwell in Fort Rest, focuses his attacks on those caught “outside the wire.”  The enemy actually lies in wait outside of Fort Rest and springs his trap upon the first unsuspecting soldier to wander outside of the safety of the Fort.

When a soldier proceeds out of the safety of the Fort without specific orders from the commanding general to do so, he leaves behind his provision, his access to timely intelligence, his ability to communicate, his reinforcements, and his comrades. Similarly, when a Christian chooses to engage the enemy outside of the place of rest, he chooses to fight behind enemy lines.  The Christian enters into “striving” outside of his divine provision in an attempt to “advance” upon the enemy, and actually opens himself up to attack and potential defeat.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

This scripture effectively illustrates the point that I’m trying to make.  The enemy “prowls around” the outside of the walls of Fort Rest seeking someone to devour.  Who can he devour except those who venture outside of the safety of the fort?  Here’s the same scripture in the King James Version:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

I quite like this translation of the verse because it emphasizes the permissive nature of the enemies search:   “seeking whom he may devour.”  In this case, the victory of the enemy requires the permission of the prey.  How can we agree with being devoured?  By simply agreeing to venture alone outside of the place of rest we inadvertently empower the enemy to devour us.

This is a good place to talk about a phenomenon which I feel is as dangerous as any currently faced by the Church in this age.  We have, among our ranks, certain preachers and teachers who don’t possess a level of knowledge on the topic of spiritual warfare equal to their zeal for the Kingdom.  These well-meaning generals often encourage the rabid, emotional lines of thought on the topic that promote “taking the fight to the enemy.”  With lines such as the ones in the famous song, “I went to the enemy’s camp and I took back what he stole from me,” we form a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of spiritual conflict that causes our brothers and sisters to make themselves vulnerable to the wiles of the devil.

Simply stated, we have no reason to go to the enemy’s camp to retrieve what has been “stolen” from us.  The restoration of the saints is a redemptive work of the cross, and not some crusade for the saints to embark upon consequent to their salvation.  The truth of the matter is that preaching of this nature encourages believers to charge forward of their provision, to leave their place of rest, and subsequently to venture outside of the provision of the absolute protection of the Lord.

There is a time and a place for offensive operations in our spiritual conflict, but it is important to note that these operations will always be coordinated en masse by the commander in chief.   Those who are to participate will be given specific orders for their mission, and will be provided with the intelligence support (prophetic), provisions (equipping), and reinforcements (the angelic host, etc) required to accomplish the mission.  There is a big difference between wandering outside of Fort Rest on a whim and being ordered to advance by the commander and chief (King Jesus).

One of the primary objectives of the enemy is to, through the use of propaganda and “siege weapons,” lure the saints from their place of rest.

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” (Ephesians 6:16)

Throughout the warfare of antiquity, fire has always been employed as a siege-breaking technology.  The idea is to provoke an army to leave a fortified structure and cause them to be vulnerable to counterattack.  It works primarily on a psychological level, since fire does very little to damage stone walls.  The idea is to use archers, shoot flaming arrows over the walls, and cause the wooden structures within the fortification to catch fire.  Fire makes people panic, and panic causes them to come out from the protection of their fort.

Likewise, the fiery darts of the enemy are designed to move us from our place of rest.  The fire has no effect whatsoever on the stone walls which protect us (God’s word), but may have an extremely profound psychological effect upon those who are exposed to it.  We must avoid, at all cost, the temptation to run from the protection of the walls of our rest.< >< ><–>

⁵ “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. ⁶ 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.” (Malachi 4:5-6)

Much has been written about the spirit of Elijah and the raising of a generation of prophetic warriors in the last days.  We have been faithful to prophesy to the bones about their destiny, and they are beginning to rise throughout the land.

What the prophetic army needs now more than ever is the Godly wisdom of spiritual fathers.  Zeal is a wonderful thing, but needs to be balanced with wisdom in order to attain the desired result.  Youth is an advantage that should be pressed on the battlefield, but it must be done under the watchful guidance of the fathers of the faith.

There exists a wide canyon between the youth of this generation and the elders of the church.  By comparison, there is such a cultural difference that our young people might as well be from a foreign culture.  For all intents and purposes, the youth of our nation communicate differently, dress differently, and relate differently than their spiritual elders.  They are a unique tribe just as surely as if they lived in Kenya and spoke Swahili.

It will most likely require extra work for the elders of the church to learn to relate to these young people, but it is a vital neccessity to the work of the kingdom.  Our seasoned men and women of the faith must learn to communicate via text message, blog, and twitter.  They must learn to speak the dialect of the youth of the nation.  They must learn to speak knowledge and wisdom into a generation while allowing their cultural expression of praise to continue to develop.

Likewise, the youth of the Elijah generation must learn to seek counsel from their spiritual elders.  Much has been learned, discerned, and revealed through the years of battle experience in the pews of the local church, and young people must learn to engage spiritual fathers and become spiritual sons.

Rebellion will not get us where we need to go.  We must have spiritual fathers.  Outcasting a weird and eccentric generation because they refuse to conform to your expression of worship will not have the desired effect either.  We must have spiritual sons.

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

The one thing that David desired more than anything else can be summed up in a simple sentiment: “I want relationship with the Lord more than anything.” It’s such a powerful thought that, when we read it, we are forced to compare our own personal motivations and desires with the simplicity of David’s heart for God.

The goal of what we do is not revival, promotion, signs, or wonders.  The goal is to become closer to the Lord.  The revolutionary mindset is one that says, “Religion is not working, so we choose relationship with God.”  We believe that by coming closer to Him, we will become transformed into his likeness over the course of our lives. 

The reward for having lived a life of “one thing” is also not revival, promotion, signs, or wonders.  The reward is having received more of Him and having the opportunity to be transformed into His likeness. The Lord will not love us more when we become better.  He will not love us less if we have no desire to become better.  He loves us 100% right now, and He never changes. 

When we become people of “one thing,” we find that we have certain God-given proclivities to do certain things.  These are not selfish ambitions, they are outgrowths of the love relationship between us and Jesus. I never wanted to plant a church until I became a man of “one thing.”  Is it my ambition, or has my spirit become pregnant with the seed of promise in the Holy Spirit?

What must I do to become “qualified” to live my destiny?  Is there an appropriate waiting period?  Do I have to attend bible college, or is there a certain seminar that I need under my belt before I’m ready?  Is there any program that can prepare a person for ministry more than devoting himself to being a man of “one thing?”

I’ve been having a series of conversations with people that go a little something like this:

“So, you’re really on fire for the Lord right now,”  says a friend.

“Yeah, God is really answering my prayer for more boldness and zeal for His cause,” I reply.

“Just make sure you don’t go too far with that, ok?” says the friend.

“Too far?”

“Yeah, you know how people get all ‘holier-than-thou’ with their message, and that’s really not love.  We should be less confrontational and just love people into the kingdom.”

Right.  Several concerns jump out at me when I hear talk like this.  I’ll try to contain myself enough to foster a reasonably edifying conversation on the topic.

1) There is no such thing as too much zeal for the Lord.  There is no possible way to go “too far” with being commited to the cause of Christ. Try it, and you will soon realize that the Lord burns His message into your spirit in such a way that you can’t hold it in.  You have to proclaim it far and wide.  If you’ve never been hungry enough for the Lord to pray and fast and seek His face above everything else, you don’t understand what I’m talking about.  I can accept that.

2) Love, in the context of this discussion, is not what you think it is.  I’m so tired of hearing people talk about accepting the status quo and permitting sin to take root in the fellowship and calling it “love.” It is not love.  It’s false mercy in a lot of cases, and it’s compromise of an epic proportion in nearly all cases. 

Let’s follow the biblical model of love and live like Jesus lived.  Jesus’ model of love was to walk the Earth proclaiming a radical truth such as the world was completely unequipped to accept, and letting the cards fall where they may.  When He encountered deception, He emparted truth. When somebody accepted the truth and desired restoration, Jesus was willing and able to facilitate that end.  Many were not willing to ante up to the kingdom life, and they went their separate ways.  Jesus did not chase after them begging them to enter the kingdom.  Was Jesus too harsh?

3) Is it really a ‘holier-than-thou’ message, or has the truth of the Gospel become a stumbling block to you?  This is a tough pill to swallow for some people.  I’ve noticed this happening around me from time to time.  A person catches on fire for the Lord and all of a sudden they start doing and saying things that are not socially acceptable.  They want to pray for everything.  They start quoting scripture and interrupting our meeting agendas with prophetic words.  They call sin what it is, and they speak truth in love and they slowly but surely become ‘holier-than-thou.’  In reality, the people around them are convicted about their own lack of zeal, and rather than going to the trouble of following after Jesus, they seek to discredit zeal and holiness. 

So, for all of those who are “concerned” about the radical nature of my faith and the level of love in my life, I thank you sincerely.  You obviously have heard me talking about the standards of truth and power and consecration without much language that allows for compromise, and you’re worried that I might be turning into some kind of fire brand or something.  I appreciate your concern.  

What you don’t know is that the Lord wakes me up in the early morning hours weeping with a burden for the lost and dying.  He shows me all of the wasted potential locked up in the homosexual community and it tears me to pieces.  He shows me all of the greatness that He had in store for babies who were aborted and I can barely stand under the burden.  And then, when I’m totally broken before Him, I ask for more zeal to help me communicate the truth.  Is that not also love?

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?

I’m going to risk being criticized by issuing an unusual challenge to the emerging voices of this young generation. Recent dissatisfaction with the Church (for whatever reason…) has caused a knee-jerk reaction of rejection of almost everything that represents corporate expression of faith with what previous generations have built.

Many contentions that lead to “railing against the machine” are probably valid, but the time has come to present solutions and actions that will lead to kingdom transformations. Many of the institutions that promised something that could not be delivered are crumbling (from politics to certain faith systems). Paradigms that were relied upon to sustain a particular way of life are proving to be false foundations that have left us empty and unfulfilled (consumerism, materialism, greed).

The hour we are in gives us no room for complaining and retreating into our fantasy world of virtual realities. It is time for a clear trumpet call! It is time for voices with answers to stand up and declare truth to their generation. It is time for prophets and evangelists to be released with a message of hope and enough anointing to back it up. It is a time to put it all on the line and prove what we have only given mental assent to in the past.

Young leaders, this is your hour! If you can be bold enough to come out of your place of obscurity and carry the burden of your generation, the stage is set and the world is waiting for you! Never in history has there been a moment like this. There may never be another one like it.

Previous generations have labored for their day. Many leaders are weary and ready to pass the baton and open doors that you could not open for yourself. In many cases there is no one to hand the baton to and no one ready to walk through the open door.

Let’s work together to see the greatest advancement of the kingdom that the world has ever witnessed in a generation. There are “opportunities of a lifetime” but there is a lifetime to every opportunity.

From the director of The Call, Lou Engle:

“Today, March 5th, one of the most significant court cases in America’s history will take place. The California Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding the overturning of the vote of the people last year to pass Proposition 8, which defines marriage between a man and a woman. If this vote is overturned, not only will it set a major precedent of the court’s power over the will of the people, but it will likely be the flash point that will determine the future of America as liberal and homosexual agendas will disseminate throughout the educational systems and into the very fiber of American culture. The California State Senate just ruled against the peoples’ vote and asked the court to overthrow the defining of marriage as between a man and a woman. Senator Leno likened the people who voted for Prop 8 to the Germans who voted for the Nazi Regime.”

During these past three months since President Obama’s election, the voices of rage against Judeo-Christian values and against the church have been emboldened to use inflammatory language and pass bills and laws that are anti-Christian in their very nature. When senators use such language, persecution is close at hand. We are in a desperate moment in American history. Everyone is pointing to the severe crisis of our economy, but I am convinced it is only an indicator of a massive moral decline America has slid into. It is time to pray, humble ourselves, and rid ourselves of moral compromise in the Church. If the salt loses its savor, it is only good for being thrown out and trampled under the foot of man.

Today we are calling for the church to pray!

Take this moment and hear His call to humility, fasting and repentance. If we do this, God can deal with kings and judges like He haunted Nebuchadnezzar with dreams and removed Herod by the angel of the Lord. This hearing today will be followed by a 90-day period in which the court must make a decision. Pray for these judges that the hand of God will influence their minds and hearts, that the fear of the Lord would fall upon them, and that dreams would invade their world, their wives, their children, and their innermost thoughts.

Pray that God would restrain principalities and powers that have mustered their forces of demons to seize this nation through this door in California. Pray for an unprecedented outpouring of the Spirit in California and America. Pray that God would raise up righteous leaders and bring down the unrighteous ones. Pray for the cleansing of sexual compromise and divorce in the church so that she can reclaim spiritual authority. Finally, pray that the love of God would be poured out on those struggling with homosexuality across this nation. Oh that the power of God, the power of the gospel, would be released again to free the captives!

Leadership: Army Field Manual 3-0 identifies leadership as “the most dynamic element of combat power.”  It outlines the role of combat leaders, saying that their job is to focus the other elements of combat power and serve as the catalyst that creates the conditions for success.

In the military, leaders are charges with instilling values in their soldiers, ensuring their technical and tactical proficiency, and reinforcing their motivation.  It seems obvious that these duties easily transfer into spiritual parallels meant to be observed by God’s leaders.

Ephesians 4:11-13 says, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

From this scripture, we can see that God has equipped leaders with specific gifts which are to contribute to the overall readiness of His army.  Verse twelve indicates that the overall purpose of these gifts is to “equip the saints for the work of service,” or, in my personal opinion, to equip the army of God for war.

These special ministers of God’s grace who possess special gifts, known commonly as the five-fold ministry gifts or the ascention gifts, are commissioned as leaders in the Army of God.  The authority to lead comes along with the ability to preach, prophecy, and evangelize, although it may take special effort to develop the gift to the level of proficiency required to effectively command in combat.

It is important to remember that verse thirteen above, referring to the “maturing” of the saints, also applies to the ministers of the five-fold graces.  One can expect a young person who is in the process of developing a five-fold anointing to be inexperienced and in need of training, much the same way as a Lieutenant would require professional development before he could perform at the level of a Colonel.  The common mistake is for senior officers, such as Pastors or Apostles, to refuse to allow young officers to partake in combat because of their inexperience, effectively forgetting that it is combat that helps to develop experience.

2) Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

3) knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4) And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  (James 1:2-4)

For the purpose of this writing, the “combat” to which I am referring is the opportunity to practice the anointing with which these young ministers have been equipped by the Holy Spirit.  In the military, young officers are given many, many hours of instruction on the principles of war.  Then, in the event of an actual war, the young officers bear the brunt of performing those combat tasks which they have studied in actual combat.  The reason is two-fold:  first, the young officer is in need of practical application to cement their understanding of tactics and principles.  Second, and perhaps most importantly, the time of the senior officer is much better used to focus upon strategic objectives.

Case-in-point: a senior Pastor of a local church operates in an Apostolic anointing.  He has been charged with the development of several young people with five-fold giftings. In addition, the Pastor is developing a network of ministers who will engage in the work of the gospel internationally.  The pastor teaches several times per week in his local church and spends countless hours in preparation for those teaching engagements.

The most effective use of the Pastor’s time in this scenario would be to actively engage in the development of the young ministers, and to pour himself into the development of his international sphere of influence.  In this way, his Apostolic anointing becomes a force-multiplier which enables the Gospel to be spread farther and wider than would have been possible before.

The opportunity cost for this shift of focus is the ability to preach in every service that takes place in his church.  Fortunately, the Pastor has available several young preachers who are capable of administering the teaching and preaching in his absence.  In delegating some of the responsibility for teaching and preaching, the Pastor is able to achieve a two-fold objective:  to free up time in order to pursue the greater, strategic objective of Apostolic alignment for his international sphere of influence, and to partake in the development of his subordinates.   This is the essence of combat leadership.