The Silent Siege “The Mercy Seat” and Reign Down USA

This year the Bound 4 Life Silent Siege called “The Mercy Seat”, and the prayer and repentance movement called “Reign Down USA” took place in every state in the nation on the day of Passover. 4-26-08.

“The Mercy Seat” took place at every State Supreme Court across the nation coinciding with Passover as Christians gathered together to cry out to the Courts of Heaven and ask for mercy from God for the shedding of the innocent blood of 50 million babies through abortion. We gathered in front of the Supreme Courts in order to apply the blood of the Passover Lamb (Jesus) to the door posts of our national guilt. We did this by standing in silent prayer before the doors of our justice system pleading the blood of Jesus. So that God’s judgment may “pass over” us. “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it.” (Ez 22:30)I was able to participate with the central Arkansas B4L chapter. It was awesome to be around other people that care about God’s heart (and this nation) and are willing to do something about it. We prayed individually, prayed corporately, took communion together, and shared with each other the different things God had communicated with us about the issue of abortion and how God was now moving in the land. We also talked about and prayed about ways to be better representatives of Christ to the world around us, and issues we need to work on as Christians were we have failed miserably. It was awesome and i was grateful to be a part of a company of believers so passionately pursuing God’s heart. I would guess there was around 50-60 people there. I wish I had pictures but i didn’t bring a camera.

However, i do have pictures of the Reign Down USA event that happened later that night. Reign Down was simply a gathering where we gathered in front of the State Capitol building in order to repent of our individual sins as well as the sins of our nation. And to cry out for revival in our land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 – if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.I was privileged to get to be a part of helping host this as Youth Pastors Jamie and Sarah Hoofman spear headed the event. Every state venue was to pipe in the live feed from God TV where the main event was taking place and leading the rest of the nation in prayer in order that the entire nation could be unified in our prayer and repentance. There is power in unity. Around 40 people from 4 different churches showed up, which was not bad since there was pretty much no advertising at all and the venue was only confirmed 5 days before the event. We prayed, we danced, we got on our faces to repent, we worshipped, we celebrated, and passionately cried out for God to send revival to our land. It was a wonderful and amazing time. You can view some of the pictures below.

 

This was not everyone.  Some people had already left before i had the chance to gather everyone for a photo. But this was some of the group that attended.

Some of us watching the live feed.

Us repenting and standing in the gap for the nation.

Worshipping at the Capitol.

More Worship.

This was the humble setup we came up with the day before the event to bring in the live God TV feed.  There is a Dish Network satellite sitting out of the frame.  We had never tested it before we actually used it.  Thank the Lord it worked!  And thanks to event coordinator at the Capitol that let us use their power!

Never going back to ok. Driven by love.

“Jesus’ Gospel reveals the primal, disruptive, inspiring, terrifying, shocking, hopeful worlds and ways of a revolutionary who seeks to overthrow the status quo in nearly every conceivable way.”

-Brian McLaren

I think about how all but one of the disciples were martyred and how nearly every place the apostle Paul went he started a riot, and how a large portion of His ministry was done from a jail cell. I think about Jesus and how He came just to heal, save, deliver and set free and yet people still chanted, “crucify Him!” I think about Stephen and how he was stoned to death for proclaiming truth, or John the Baptizer and how his head was delivered on a platter for Herod’s wife because he wouldn‘t stop calling sin sin. And the list could go on and on. They all sacrificed dearly, but they all really lived also. And because of it they will live as kings in Heaven for eternity. When you look at their lives words like primal, disruptive, inspiring, terrifying, shocking, and hopeful come to mind.

In this culture of entertainment and technology it is easy to be lulled into a stupor with these devices that get better and more advanced all the time. Just to sort of numb ourselves within this cyber world. In this culture everything is convenient. Not that it is a bad thing in and of itself. It can be a good thing, but it makes it easy to just sort of live by routine, nothing extraordinary. Easy to let our love grow cold.

And when I look at the people from the Bible days I see that it was there love that motivated them. It was their passion for God that drove them on against all odds, it was because of their love that they truly lived. And of course when you truly live your life completely for love – the most powerful, relentless, undeterred, aggressive, and passionate force there is – how could your life be anything less?

When you truly are in love with the someone there is no price to great to pay to have them in your life. You will do anything and go anywhere to be with them, and anything that stands in the way of you and them you will destroy. It will cause you to be primal, disruptive, shocking and terrifying.

We’ve all seen the movies were a mans wife gets kidnapped or held hostage. The man will go without food, without sleep as his full focus becomes how he can get his wife back. He will hunt, fight, and kill to rescue her. And woe to anything or anyone that would try to stand in his way.

Well when we truly fall in love with Jesus Christ we will live our lives the same way. Because there are things of this world that will do everything in their power to separate us from God. But that true love will draw out the primal side of us and cause us to fight and kill anything that would hold us back from Him. Love is our secret weapon, and it is one that ensures our victory. Because satan doesn’t understand it, never will, and can never use it. God is love. That is why I believe satan uses lust and sex to try and bring down so many people. That is the closest he can ever get to love. But it is no match for real love.

In the book “Wild at Heart” John Eldredge encourages men rather than just trying to live responsibly rather to ask “What makes me come alive?” and then do it, because what the world needs is men fully alive. Well I can tell you right now that what is going to make you come alive is love. So I encourage you give Jesus all of your love and then fight for it with everything you have. If you do you will change the world (and in the process destroy God’s loneliness, which is why you exist.)

Do you know why Jesus was primal, disruptive, inspiring, terrifying, and shocking? Because He was in love. With you. And it drove Him to come to this earth, rebuke the religious, fight for the helpless, heal the broken, seek out the lost, comfort the hurting and ultimately to offer His life through an excruciating death on a cross. The King of Kings and Lord of all creation offered Himself up to die a criminals death. Just to pay your debt, so that you could get to Heaven and spend eternity with Him. Now it’s our turn. (Not to die on a cross, to love) We will never be worthy of His love, but the least we can do is fight with everything that is within us to be intimate with Him. That is what He wants, and that is why He did what He did.

If I should die before the Lord returns, or if my life someday is offered up as a martyr I want to leave a legacy. Not as a responsible guy and not as nice guy. But I want words like primal, disruptive, inspiring, terrifying, shocking, powerful, relentless, and passionate to describe the life I lived. Just like my Jesus as He was driven by His love for me. And most of all, I want to be remembered as a man that was driven by my true, complete, and passionate love for my God and His Christ. It may cost me my life, but at least I will have truly lived.

A song along these lines that is getting a lot of air time right now is this one. Check it out.  Umm, i don’t know what the second song is. . . ignore that one.

True Worship

This was a prophecy given at the National Worship Symposium at Dallas, Texas in 1981 by Rev. Charlotte Baker.

“I have brought this people together today to make unto you a choice. . . You can minister unto men . . . or you can minister unto the king . . .”

I stood among the sons of men, strong and tall. My heart was filled with enthusiasm. My life was given to the purposes of God.

Upon that day, I said to the Lord, “I will do mighty exploits in the name of my God.” The Lord came unto me and He said, “What is it, son of man, that thou wouldst have?” I said, “Lord, if I could only be among those who play sweetly upon an instrument and who sing well in the house of the Lord, then I would do great things for my God.”

The Lord came to me and He gave unto me the desire of my heart. He stood me among the sons of men. He let me play and He let me sing. I saw the day when the hearts of men were moved by that thing that the Lord had given unto me. After hearts of men were moved, I stood back and I said to myself, “Now I will be content for I have been able to move the hearts of men.” But in my secret hour I bowed my head before my God and said,” Lord, Thou hast given me what I asked for, but my heart is heavy. I have a longing for something more.”

He came again unto me in the night season. He asked me again, “Son of man, ask Me again the thing that thou wouldst have of Me.” I said, “Lord, I see men bowed by burdens low. I see hearts that are broken. I see heaviness and discouragement. Oh, give me the power of the spoken word that I might speak the word and their hearts would be delivered.” The Lord came unto me and said, “Son of man, I have given thee the things that thou hast desired.” With great joy, I marched before the people of God.

In my youth and in my enthusiasm, I spoke the Word and men were delivered. I spoke the Word and their hearts were made whole. I knew it was to bind up the broken hearted and to pour in the oil of joy for mourning. While men were praising Him and glorifying His name, I went back to my secret chamber. I bowed my head in sorrow. I said, “Oh, my God, oh, my God. I am not satisfied.” He came again unto me and He said, “Son of man, what is it that thou again desireth of Me?” And I said, “Oh, my God, give me power in my hands that as Thou didst do, I might lay my hands upon the sick and see healing flow.” He said unto me, “It is done as thou hast commanded.”

God healed the sick. I went to the nations of the earth and I saw the sick raised from their sick beds. I saw pain and suffering go away. I was rejoicing as I went to my secret place. I bowed my head before my God. I said, “Now, my God, I will be satisfied for Thou hast given me that which I have desired.” No sooner had the words come out of my mouth when the heart within me began to ache and cry. I said, “God, I do not understand this. Again my heart is sad.” I said, “Lord, will Thou just one more time give me the thing I ask of Thee?”

He said, “It is done.” I said, “God, I desire to go against principalities and powers, the powers of the wickedness of this world in spiritual darkness in high places.” He said, “Surely I give it unto thee. Now go.” So I went and the Lord allowed me to go into dens of iniquity and holes and dives where men hide from the light because of the sin and evil that are upon them. There was a day when I saw demons cry out at the very presence of the power of God that rested.

Then I went back to my secret place broken. I said, “God, I have asked Thee for all that I desire and still my heart is not satisfied. Nor do I feel that I have touched the thing that Thou hast called me to. In my youth, I had expended myself with all the things that my heart had desired.”

Then one more time a gracious and loving God visited me in the night season. He said, “Now what is it that thou dost desire?” In brokenness of heart, I bowed before Him and I said, “God, only that thing that thou dost desire to give unto me.”

He came unto me and said, “Come with Me and I will take you on a journey.” He took me past my friends. He took me past those with whom I had come into the house of the Lord. He took me into a desolate place. He caused me to go into a place alone in the wilderness. I said, “Oh, my God, Thou hast cut me off from those I love. What art Thou doing unto me?” He said, “I take you to the place where all men must come if their heart’s-cry is to be fulfilled.”

At a certain hour, I bowed before a gate that is called, “The Eye of the Needle.” There before the Eye of the Needle, I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Bow low.” I bowed low. He said, “No lower.” So I bowed lower. He said, “Yet lower. Thou dost not go low enough.” So I went as low as I could go.

I had upon my back my books of learning. I had with me my instruments of music. I had with me my gifts and abilities. He said unto me, “Thou hast too much, thou canst not go through this gate.” I said, “God, thou hast given me these books. Thou hast given me these abilities.” He said, “Drop them or thou dost not go.” So I dropped them. I went through a very small gate that is called “The Eye of the Needle.” As I went through this gate, I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Now arise to the other side. As I arose, a very strange thing happened to me. For lo, the gate which was so small that I must lay aside everything was so wide I could not fill it. As I stood in the presence of the Lord I said, “God, what is this thing that Thou hast done unto me for my soul is now satisfied?”

He said, “Thou hast come through the gate of worship. Now come up to the circle of the earth and I will show thee a great mystery. I will reveal unto thee the thing that I am doing among the sons of men.” The Spirit of the Lord caught me away. He took me to the circle of the earth, higher than the eagle flies, beyond where the clouds can rumble, beyond where the sun shines or the moon finds her path. There at the throne of my God, He said, “Look down upon my people.”

I saw strange things. I saw my companions gathered around a very small gate. I saw them wringing their hands and crying. They were saying to one another, “God hath given us these instruments of war. This sword is my sword and I will work with the enemy. I will bring the enemy down. I cannot go through this gate; for if I go through this gate, I must put down my sword. God has called me to be a warrior and therefore, I will not do it.”

I heard another one say, “Me? Lay down my instruments of music? Lay down all that God has given to me, just to go through that silly little gate to be nothing but a bare man who comes out on the other side stripped of everything? I cannot do this thing!” I saw them as they stood aside in their pride, afraid to bow themselves before a very small gate. Them I saw again, as the Lord brought me closer to the gate, I saw a man bow low, laying down everything that he had. As he came through the very wide gate on the other side, his instruments of music were there. His sword was there. His books were there. The power was there.
The Word of the Lord came to me, “Go now and tell this people before you. I have given unto this people extreme talents and much ability. I have called you who are instrumentalists to play. But I say unto you today, if you do not come through the very small gate, which is the gate of worship, and bow low and lay before Me thine instruments, thy talents, thy abilities, thy vision and thy power, thou shalt always be among those who will only be able to minister to the hearts of men and bless the hearts of men. But there is a gate open in the Church in this hour which is a very small gate. Through that gate only those who are worshippers will go. These will lay their talents before their God. These will say, “God, we will be worshippers.” Through that small gate they will come. As they come through that gate-hear again the Word of the Lord-they will arise again on the other side, not to minister to men, but to minister unto their God.

I have brought this people together today to show you what is in your heart. Either you will minister unto men and I will cause you to sway the hearts of men with your talent, or you will go through a very small gate and while making new worshippers, you will minister unto the King.”

Finally Christians are starting to deal with the M word. Masturbation.

I found this on the www.purelifeministries.org website.  I found it encouraging that the topic of masturbation is finally being addressed within the Christian community.  It has been hush hush for so long, but I think it is an issue that desperately needs to be dealt with.  God is a jealous God and He is coming back for a pure and spotless bride.

The question: Isn’t masturbation ok if it keeps you from acting out in your sexual sin?

The Answer: I’m afraid that your line of reasoning doesn’t fit with Scripture. It would be comparable to asking, “Wouldn’t it be acceptable for me to vent my anger toward someone by badmouthing them if it would keep me from hitting them?”

First of all, expressing hatred to someone or giving over to masturbation will only tend to lead a person on to deeper sin. Secondly, the lesser of two evils does not mean that something isn’t evil. This line of thinking is what often comes from church leaders who have long since thrown up their hands in acquiescence to sin. In my book Counseling the Sexual Addict I wrote: “A counselor who condones a habit simply because it seems too strong to overcome demonstrates a lack of understanding and experience of God’s power to set the captive free.”

The real issue you have to come to grips with is whether or not you believe masturbation is sinful. It sounds as if you already have been convicted about your habit but are looking for a way to hold onto it. I won’t take the time to explain my reasoning here, but I will briefly mention the reasons why I believe masturbation is sinful:

•    Sexuality was not created for personal enjoyment but as a way to express love to     one’s mate.
•    Masturbation is self-centered behavior.
•    Jesus expressly calls His followers to deny themselves.
•    Masturbation is driven by lust and fantasy.
•    Masturbation causes a person to isolate from others.
•    Masturbation is controlling.
•    Masturbation causes feelings of guilt and shame—clear signs of its wrongness.
•    Masturbation opens the door to other sexual sin.

Rather than scrambling to find some way to justify retaining this pernicious habit, why not start getting serious about crying out to God for the power to overcome it?

New site in about a week!

I was just wanting everyone to know that the new Clean Hands and Pure Hearts Ministries website should be up in about a week.  Which is a good thing because the current one is sort of lame-o and boring.  The new one is a flash site, quite creative and fun to look at. : )  So be sure to check in about a week so you can view this piece of website awesomeness and see how you can get involved.  Hasta.

A God that feels and loves.

One day while praying asking for forgiveness of a habitual sin I asked God why He continually forgave people and gave them second (and third and fourth etc.) chances whenever He knew that they were just going to sin again, thus hurting Him again. His response to me struck me in a profound way. He said, “For that one chance that you will choose to truly love me and stop hurting me.” I realized that day that Christ so longs to have intimate brides that He willingly places His heart on the line to receive immeasurable pain just for the small chance that we will finally choose Him over satisfying the selfish desires of our flesh. I was completely captivated by how deeply Christ desires intimacy with us even when we are completely undeserving of His love. As the realization of His unwavering pursuit for intimacy with me even at the cost His own pain struck me I decided that day that I wanted to be the bride (not gender, but position) that He deserves. A bride that chooses to truly love Him and that stops hurting Him. A bride that is fiercely loyal, devoted, faithful and that seeks above anything to protect His heart from all pain. A bride with clean hands and a pure heart.

Many people don’t think of Christ as having emotion, but we do and we were created in His image. Christ actually has a greater capacity to hurt than we do because He has a greater capacity to love. It is impossible to love and not make yourself vulnerable, and because His love is so great the pain He feels at times is greater in one day than we could ever experience in our entire lifetime. One night the Lord woke me in the middle of the night (3am) and told me that He had just been rejected by someone that He had been in close relationship with for a long time and that He wanted me to get up and love on Him because He was hurting. It was the greatest honor that I have ever received. This encounter showed me that there is a level of intimacy that Christ desires to reach with us to where Christ not only comforts us but that we also comfort Him. Ephesians 5:25 says that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. This scripture shows us that natural marriage is to be a picture for us of the relationship that Christ desires with the church(us). In natural marriage we would never think anything strange of a wife caring for and comforting her husband. So why should we think it strange that we can (and should) comfort Jesus.

A lot of people know Jesus as their savior, but very few know Him as their lover. A lot of people seek Him for what He can do for them, but to few seek Him for what they can do for Him. I’m sure this leaves Christ very lonely at times. It is the goal of Clean Hands and Pure Hearts Ministries to raise up men and women that are true God-lovers that live and seek after one sole purpose: To destroy God’s loneliness. Men and women that will embrace lifestyles of holy consecration ridding themselves of all mixture and devote themselves wholly to the purposes of God. A generation that is willing to go below the surface of selfish “convenient” Christianity and plunge themselves into the depths of selfless love and develop a passionate romance with the king of kings. They will be supreme intercessors, men and women that stand in the gap for God’s heart and completely lay down their own dreams in order to see the dreams of the king fulfilled.

The reason 12 men were able to effectively evangelize the world is because when Christ said, “follow me” they left everything in their life not counting the cost to follow Him. Nowadays a person could get confused into believing that the point of the gospel and main goal of Christianity is to get out of debt so you can by the latest greatest new vehicle. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the prosperity message and I believe that Christians should not live in lack but should be blessed in order that they can be a blessing. However, the point of the gospel is not to get a new car. If we want to see the results that the 12 disciples had as we read in the Bible than we have to be willing to live the way they lived. To see greater works we have to first be willing to do the same works, such as complete surrender and obedience to the will of God on your life. I believe that true Christianity is radical and extreme by nature (in love and obedience) and it was intended from the very beginning to cost you your life, not to be a trendy add on to your life. (Matthew 13:44) If twelve men could evangelize the world imagine what thousands of people could do that would leave everything in their lives not counting the cost to follow Him. It is the goal of Clean Hands and Pure Hearts Ministries to see this type of sold-out obedience to Christ become a reality in this generation. It is not proper for us to decide our destiny, it is our responsibility to discover it.

Clean Hands and Pure Hearts Ministries is dedicated to awakening, mobilizing, motivating and unifying an army of radical, totally surrendered and sold out God-lovers. An army that will battle against the deepest darkness of our time, bring down the mountains of injustice in our day, destroy God’s loneliness by living lives of fierce loyalty, devotion, and faithfulness to Christ and reap the greatest harvest of souls for the kingdom of God in history. An army with clean hands and pure hearts before God.

Years after the conversation I talked about in the first paragraph and after God had separated me from the addiction by His grace. I was again having a conversation with Him asking Him why He had chosen to do things that way and continuously risk so much pain. I was telling Him that I thought I would have done things differently if I were Him when He interrupted me and said, “It worked on you didn’t it?” He said this with a smile on His face and after laughing together about this a moment He continued, “Yeah Chris, you were worth the risk.” And He feels the same way about you.

 

 

Represent Christ with your life.

Well, my Facebook is now gone.  But while I had one I at least attempted to leave a mark in the Facebook community.  I started a group that is still going and being maintained by some trusted friends.  It’s message was directed towards Facebook users but is easily applied to life in general.  If you have a Facebook I encourage you to go join the group, “Represent Christ with your Facebook.”  Below is the description for the group.  I hope its message will stir your heart.

 

Ephesians 5:3 “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”

Compromise has plagued the body of Christ so badly that it is unfortunately often hard to tell the difference between Christians and people that are unsaved. For instance, statistics show that the ratio of people in the Christian community that view pornography are just as high as the ratio of people that view pornography in the secular community. The only difference is that Christians lie about it. The unsaved people have actually had more integrity than us. They at least tell the truth.

Christians today will go to church and jump up and down and dance around during praise and worship, and then shout, “Amen” at the preacher, and even get up and share their wonderful “insights” with the rest of the church and then go home and live no differently from the world. We go to the same parties as the world, watch the same movies as the world, tell the same jokes as the world, laugh at the same jokes as the world, dress the same as the world, have Myspace and Facebook pages that look exactly like the world’s, watch the same TV shows as the world, and do our best to rank #1 in everyone’s popularity contests just like the world. It is a false religion and is worthless and powerless and will change and impact no one.

James 3:10-11 says, “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” And James 1:26 says, “Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and GUARD AGAINST CORRUPTION FROM THE GODLESS WORLD.” (emphasis mine)

I have often logged onto a Christian friends Facebook or Myspace page only to find a page filled with all the same garbage and Godless content that you would expect to find on a lost persons page. Pages full of compromise. It is unfortunately rare to find a Christians page that truly represents the Christ they claim to have laid their life down to serve. Sure, they will write “Christian” in their “Religious Views“, and include a couple of cool Christian quotes in their “Favorite Quotes” section – but as I scroll down the page I also find quotes from their favorite perverse movie, inappropriate pictures of themselves scantily clad, and efforts to do everything in their power to seduce every last ounce of attention out of the opposite sex possible. Plus a whole host of Godless applications and contests. Instead of trying to save them from sin and unrighteousness we are teaching them to compete to try and rank #1 in the very areas and behaviors that we should be teaching them to flee from. Christianity is about a lot more than going to church twice a week or just putting, “Christian” on your religious views.

James 4:4-5 says, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?” Paraphrased that means, “Quit cheating on God! You will become His enemy! Don’t you know that He cares when you flirt with the world? He is a fiercely jealous lover!” In the book of Jeremiah you can see God’s heart in great pain over the fact that His bride (Judah) had become unfaithful to Him. Judah, in spite of seeing the previous outcome of Israel, continued to pursue the world’s ways. Judah now looked just like the heathen kingdoms, and because of that was soon overtaken by them. Because of Judah’s refusal to repent God divorced her and she was given into captivity. This should be a wake up call to us as the current state of the Church (especially in America) could easily resemble this story of Judah.

Hebrews 10:26-29 says, “Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.” God is just and we will be held accountable for the way we represented his Son to the world.

We need to get over our fetish with the opinions of man and start living our lives to please the King and not to be the most popular. Jesus Himself said in John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” Again paraphrased that means, “If the world loves you it’s because you look like them, if it hates you it is because you look like Me.” Holiness never blends in, and it is not for the faint of heart. But it is for anyone that desires to destroy God’s loneliness and to represent the King and Ultimate Lover Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world that desperately needs Him. You cannot experience the feigned ecstasy of the world and the true ecstasy of God at the same time. There is a price to pay for this life of love and glory that we have been called to, and the cost is your life. And it doesn’t come without a battle. But you were made for war.

The purpose of this group is not to bring judgment on Christians, but to remind them of the biblical standards for purity and holiness that God has ordained for His people and to challenge them to live as the brides of Christ that they are intended to be. This is a group for reformers and forerunners willing to stand against the culture of our time and lead insurgencies of true Christianity. For when the Church becomes single minded on its lover Jesus Christ the power of Heaven will be released onto this earth. This is about more than a Facebook group, this is about an obsession with Jesus Christ.

I ask that you would please do these three things.

1. Examine your Facebook and Myspace pages and honestly determine if there is anything on them that misrepresents your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If there is remove it. Don’t allow anything on your page that Jesus wouldn’t allow on His. There should not be even a hint of impurity. (Ephesians 5:3)

2. Remove anything from your page that your “fiercely jealous Lover” (James 4:5 – The Message) Jesus Christ wouldn’t want on His bride’s page. If you’ve ever been in a romantic relationship with someone jealous you should be able to relate to this one easily.

3. If you claim to be a Christian and refuse to do #1 and #2, then please remove “Christian” or anything related from your “religious views” option in order to quit making a mockery of Christianity. It is better that you be either hot or cold – not lukewarm. (Revelations 3:15-16)

If this message has stirred you than please continue to spread it, not just on facebook, but with the way you live your life. Don’t sleep walk through this life, glory is waiting for you. Fight for it, it‘s worth it. The revolution has already begun, and you were born for it. Many are called but few are chosen. And the ones that are chosen are the ones that choose Him. Don’t let your destiny pass you by. Represent Christ with your life.

“Charge the gates ye proud and strong are we not invincible?”

The revolution has begun. It’s decision time.

I have been greatly encouraged lately. Isaiah 59:19 says “. . . When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” And while the world and secular culture has been heading steadily down hill into more and more filth; and even the “church” (< notice the quotation marks) had been falling into more compromise I have in the midst of that seen the “standard’ talked about in verse 19 begin to arise and gain influence. There has been talk of revolution for a long time now and it is finally beginning to take shape and manifest itself in tangible ways. The enemy came in like a flood to attack the body of Christ but the Lord is raising His standard. Men and women of honor and conviction are becoming more common place now than ever before. Peoples hearts are being stirred and awakened to this crucial hour and are beginning to realize and understand the great destiny and purpose on their life for this critical moment in history. The “American dream” has become boring. (Which is good) Missions organizations have documented an all time high in the number of student volunteers. This generation is SEARCHING for a way to sell out their lives for a higher purpose. Even just in the past couple of weeks I have come across several notes from you guys posted here on facebook all about purity and intimacy with Jesus! And there have been new prophecies coming out nearly every day about this. I have recently been coming across more and more young men and women that have completely abandoned their own desires and plans in order to give themselves fully to the purposes of God. Abandoning every form of success that the world would give them just for the sole purpose of discovering a deeper relationship with Jesus and making His dreams a reality. The history books will remember them.

Organizations like TheCall, Reign Down USA, IHOP, The Ramp, Battle Cry and Pure Life Revolution (and there are many, many more besides those) are helping to facilitate and unify this movement of radical, hungry history makers. Those organizations are acting as spiritual fathers and mothers, providing covering and direction for this rising passionate generation. Already there are artists and musicians that are gaining influence that stand for purity and holiness as it relates to intimacy with Christ. Every time I turn on the radio I am hearing a song about flooding or invading cities, or songs about destiny and setting the world on fire. And artists like Phil Wickham writing anthems for our generation like “After Your Heart” and “Divine Romance.” And this isn’t just me promoting my favorite artists. It’s evident when you listen to the music that a shift is taking place. It started subtle but is becoming more and more obvious. The Lord is stirring hearts and normal just isn’t good enough anymore. Ministries like The Ramp and TheCall are now getting airtime on national networks like Daystar and Inspiration during prime time. And trust me, I used to work for a Christian network, unfortunately there was a time when the networks wouldn’t have carried that type of programming (except for God TV) because it was to “different.” Just the fact that ministries like that are getting airtime are evidences that a shift is happening. I have repeatedly seen spots and packages on the national news of even the political scene taking notice of this rising movement. Once I even saw a thirty minute special on the Bound4Life movement that aired on the Discovery channel. Well, they didn’t actually say “Bound4Life” in the special, but a lot of the imagery was from the Bound4life movement. And it was about this “new upcoming generation” and the way they think and believe.

Ministries everywhere are embracing the call from God to come back to holiness and live lives of purity. Now terms like “Nazarite Uprising” and “Purity Revolution” have become common place. And masses are beginning to identify themselves as these radical pursuers of God. The whole mindset has become “How radical can we be? How deep can we go?” Something in us is crying out for more than just a surface and shallow “good ole boy” existence. We’ve been bred for war, born for glory. (God’s, not our own) 24/7 prayer houses are springing up all across the world and are mostly fueled by young people. (well, they’re fueled by God, but you know what I mean) That definitely wasn’t common a few years ago, and who would’ve thought that there would ever be a “You know you’re a Nazarite when. . .” facebook group? Times have changed, and the time of powerless religion is over. People have lost interest in the powerless man made religion based on traditions. And rightly so, Christianity was never meant to look like that. So while the interest is gone in man made traditions pockets of true Christianity have broken out all across the nation (and world) and are now beginning to take over.

Before this past year of my life I had seen very few miracles, but starting around July of 2007 I have seen so many that I have lost count. I have personally seen fractured bones instantly healed, deaf ears opened, stage 4 cervical cancer instantly healed (confirmed by a doctor about a week later), spine damage restricting head movement instantly healed, literally hundreds of hearing issues instantly healed, I was even standing just a few feet from a girl when her leg grew out about an inch to meet the length of her other leg while she was prayed for. And while in a ministry school that I just recently graduated from (Thunder School Nashville) the students would go out to minister on the streets to the poor and homeless or just anyone on the streets. The students saw people that couldn’t walk get out of wheel chairs, men with canes throw them down because they didn’t need them to walk any more, and one student (one of my best friends named Joshua) had gone to pizza hut for lunch and started talking to a homeless guy that had been born blind in his left eye and was going blind in his right eye when the spirit of the Lord came on Joshua and he began to prophecy over the man and commanded his eyes to be healed. And they were!! A man born blind got his sight back while sitting on a bench outside of Pizza Hut! We would pray for people any where. On the streets, in restaurants, we even prayed for a lady while shopping in Walgreens (and drew a crowd doing it.) A couple of my friends would purposely drive to Hospital ER rooms and to clinics JUST SO THEY COULD FIND SICK PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR! How could anyone not believe that a revolution is taking place? I just read that a man in Florida was raised from the dead in a hospital ER room when a Christian doctor prayed for him. This isn’t a foreign country I’m talking about here, this stuff is happening right here in our very own hometowns!

So why am I telling you about all this? What’s the point? The point is I believe that we are at the point in time right now where God is desiring and enabling the greatest harvest this world has ever known to take place. The revolution has begun and it’s decision time. It’s time to quit playing games with God and get serious. God has been dealing with all of us about issues in our life that need dealing with and some of us He’s been dealing with for a very long time. Well its time to make the decision now. No more putting it off. Its either do or don’t. I believe that right now God is forming the ranks for His end times army and that during this season He is pouring out power, authority, and influence to those that have chosen to fully follow Him. The decisions you make during this time will determine the amount of power, authority, and influence you receive to enable you to reap the harvest. The march is starting. It’s time to get rid of the secret sins. James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. . .” (For this reason we are starting a prayer board in the group so you can post your prayer requests so that we all can pray for each other) I’m not saying that you have to be perfect tomorrow. I know and understand that some of the addictions you may have dealt with may have taken years to get steeped into and that it may be a journey to get out of. I’ve been there. BUT, you can start that journey with the Lord to your freedom and victory today. And that’s all I’m asking and encouraging. However, don’t underestimate Jesus either. He is more than capable of setting you free instantly. I’ve been there too. And I’m sure that will be the case with many of you as well. And if you’ve already made your decision for the Lord than hold fast. Revelation 2:25-26, “Only hold on to what you have until I come. To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—”

One last thing. On this quest for purity (because there is power in purity) it is important to remember that purity isn’t the goal. JESUS is the goal. It is actually a quest for Jesus. True purity can only be birthed out of passionate love. So in my opinion the purity revolution would be more apply named the love revolution. Love is the most powerful force in existence. God is love. And true love for Jesus is the only motivator powerful enough to free you from your addictions. And it is only by His grace that He enables us to love Him in the first place. No amount of will power, stubbornness, or desire to be “good” will ever succeed at setting you free. Only love can set you free. It’s all about love. We fight for love, we live for love, and we were created for love. God is love. To destroy God’s loneliness I believe was the original and ultimate plan for man kind. We were created because God wanted someone to love and someone to love Him. We must always remember that. We weren’t made just so we could be “good” we were made to destroy God’s loneliness. So in the words of Phil Wickham “Lets be the revolution that lives for holding nothing back. We’re after your heart.”