Wednesday, April 18, 2012

SO, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE "JESUS REVOLUTION"?


On September 2, 2000, I stood before several hundred thousand believers who had gathered at the Mall in Washington, DC for the first-ever Call event and said, “Let the White House know, let the media know, let Hollywood know, let the world know that we are here to start a Jesus revolution!”

That same day, we gave away more than 70,000 copies of my just-published book Revolution! The Call to Holy War, and in the crowd that day, as well as standing on the platform behind me, were more than 700 students from our school, the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry. They had traveled by bus more than 20 hours to attend the Call event, and they were the largest group from anywhere in America that day.

It really was quite an event. Twelve hours of prayer, worship, repentance, and preaching; the largest gathering of Christian young people in American history; the supernatural writing, publishing, and free distribution of my book (more than $1 million in retail value); the massive support from our student body in Pensacola (another amazing story). All this was euphoric and deeply moving, and the event itself exceeded even the expectations of Che Ahn and Lou Engle, the organizers and visionaries behind it.

But did a Jesus Revolution begin at that time? Or has it begun since then and has it continued until now?

When the Lord saved me at the end of 1971, I had no idea that my salvation was part of a worldwide move of the Spirit that became known as the Jesus People Movement or the Jesus Revolution. It began around 1967 and lasted into the mid-1970s, and it probably reached its apex in the early 70s, to the point that the cover story of Time Magazine June 21, 1971 was devoted to “The Jesus Revolution.”

But from my perspective, not to mention the perspective of thousands of pastors around the country, there was no understanding that this larger, supernatural move that was taking place.

Is that the case with today’s Jesus Revolution (which I/we always understood to be something very different from what happened in the late 60s and early 70s)? Or are we just putting our own interpretation on a phrase in order to make something out of nothing?

Here are my candid reflections: 1) There has been a new Jesus Revolution moving and growing in America and the nations for the last decade or more. 2) It is nowhere near what I expect it to be and something supernatural must happen for my expectations (and the expectations of many others) to be realized. In that sense, it is still in its early stages. 3) The door is wide open for anyone with a willing heart to dive in and live out the calling to be a Jesus revolutionary (another name for a New Testament disciple!) – and I mean right here and now.

Let me break this down into five categories, and when you’re done reading, I welcome your honest, prayerful response. Please share this others too as you feel it’s appropriate, especially those who had a history with BRSM or its successor FIRE School of Ministry (or, more broadly, with the Brownsville Revival or FIRE Church or any other group that carried or carries this same vision).

1) AN UNGODLY REVOLUTION. In my book Revolution! (which, again, came out in 2000), I wrote, “Only the life-changing power of the gospel will ultimately change a society for good. Only new hearts will bring forth the new life that the oppressed so long for and desire. Only the Spirit of God will truly liberate captives! But if we do not rise up and act, Satan will. The dissatisfaction is rising. The discontent is growing thick. Revolution is near – either heaven-sent or hell-bent – and only we have the truth that will set slaves free.

I emphasize these last sentences here to say that, without a doubt, there has been a hell-bent, destructive revolution that has been sweeping America this millennium. To give just two examples, there has been an all-out assault on religion and faith by the so-called new atheists (with quite a few of their books being influential, national bestsellers) and there has been an unprecedented cultural shift due to homosexual activism, resulting in the redefining of marriage, the indoctrination of our children, and a growing threat to freedoms of religion, conscience, and speech.

So, there’s no question that, on a national level, we have taken several steps back, and in my opinion, that points to the failings of the Church, since the greatest problem in America today is not so much the presence of darkness as it is the absence of light.

What’s the point in mentioning this? It is simply to say that when other leaders and I spoke in past years about America being shaken and we said that we were living in revolutionary times, those statements have proven true.

2) LOOK AT WHAT GOD HAS DONE. Over the last 10+ years, a number of significant ministries have been birthed, most of them coming together on a grass-roots level, most of them involving (or being led by) young people, and most of them carrying the message and mindset of Jesus revolution: radically changed people going after God with heart and soul, then stepping out in obedience to change the world.
I’m thinking of pro-life movements like Bound4Life, pro-adoption movements like The Zoe Foundation, and college-focused, church-planting movements like Campus Church Networks, just to name a few. And all of these are directly related to the original leaders of The Call, which has also birthed a Nazarite movement devoted to prayer, fasting, and radical commitment.) And when I consider what has been birthed out of the revival and carried on through FIRE, I’m honestly blown away. To repeat: Look at what God has done!

Do you realize the scope of what our FIRE team is doing in the Philippines? Talk about articulating what a Jesus Revolution is all about! How about our teams in sensitive parts of the world that we can’t even mention publicly? Their testimonies literally bring tears to my eyes and make me examine my own life.
How about missionaries like Melody, married to her Indian husband Syam, doing incredible things in Hyderabad? Add to that our frontline soldiers in Mexico and in Thailand and in many other nations – I’m just mentioning a few here; please forgive me for not mentioning everyone – along with some of our grads here in the States who are going into the some of the poorest, roughest communities and giving themselves to rehabilitate both individuals and neighborhoods, and I can only say that this is the kind of fruit we envisioned when we spoke of the Jesus Revolution. And most all of them are doing things in unconventional, not “church as usual” ways.

These grads have exemplified the “by life or by death” attitude that is at the very foundation of our devotion to Jesus and a dying world, and if we could look at a world map from a spiritual perspective and see the impact these various ministries and groups are having – and this is just a small portion of what has been birthed – I think all of us would be very encouraged and would recognize that, indeed, something new and revolutionary is afoot.

3) THE BATTLE FOR OUR CULTURE. The battle for the heart and soul of America – the battle for our culture – has never been a political battle to me (although I recognize the rightful role played by politics) and, in all honesty, I have a personal revulsion when it comes to putting my trust in the political system or a political party. (I was totally baffled to read a post by a BRSM grad who spoke of my shift towards a political emphasis when – and since – I wrote Revolution!. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This is a kingdom issue to me – not even a patriotic issue – and a kingdom issue alone. It is all about Jesus and His righteousness to me, about us being salt and light, about us being prophetic voices of justice and compassion.)

For me, the revolution message is very simple: Jesus changes us and we go and change our world. Or, to paraphrase the Great Commission, Jesus says to His disciples, “Come, let’s change the world together.” As a speaker once said at a Call event, “Jesus transforms people, and people transform society.”

Today, we are in the thick of a hellacious battle for our culture, with the ongoing deterioration of marriage (less and less couples are getting married; more and more women are having babies out of wedlock; the very institution of marriage is being redefined), the continual attack on our children (41% of pregnancies in NYC end in abortion, including 60% of African American pregnancies in New York City; the mandatory homosexual indoctrination of kids from K-12 in states like California), and growing problems like gang violence, racial division, and more.

Those of us called to stand on the front lines of the so-called culture wars find ourselves in revolutionary activity virtually every single day, and I am personally living out many of the things I spoke about and wrote about over the last 20+ years. And we need help! A few months ago I met with a grad who, with a gracious spirit, asked me where the revolution was that we talked about. I told him we were in the thick of it right here in Charlotte and we needed his help.

4) A SPECIAL PRAYER FOCUS. When God began to burden me deeply concerning homosexual issues, speaking to me in early 2005 to “reach out and resist,” I began to sense that He was going to pour out His Spirit in the LGBT community, much as He did with the hippie community when I got saved. Over the years, I began to share this publicly, stating that I was praying and believing for this.

When I shared this with Che Ahn at The Call Sacramento, he told me he was prophesying this and believing for it for years now. Then I learned that a prophetic leader had prophesied quite a few years back that 100,000 gays and lesbians would be dramatically saved by the Lord, with many healed of AIDS as well. Then I spoke at a house of prayer in Virginia, given to 18 hours of prayer and worship daily, and when I shared the “reach out and resist message” with them, one of their leaders was blown away and said, “That’s the very commission we received from the Lord when we birthed this house of prayer!” (I was shocked to hear it too; the wording and emphasis was amazingly similar.) I’ve also been part of special gatherings of prayer and fasting devoted to seeing this miraculous harvest come to pass, and I often challenge FIRE church and other churches asking, “Are we ready for this harvest?”

To be clear, this harvest has not yet happened in any significant measure, but it seems clear the Lord has birthed this in our hearts to pray it into existence as part of the Jesus revolution.

5) WHAT HAS NOT YET HAPPENED. Without question, only a small part of what we are believing for has come to pass so far (although I understand many of us could say that about our own spiritual lives in light of God’s Word and promises). On the one hand, we dare not stop here and think that we have arrived (absolutely not!), but on the other hand, we dare not lose heart. God has done much already, many of the visions and dreams he has put into our hearts are coming to pass, and we ought to encourage ourselves with what the Lord has done while we recognize the many, large things that have not come to pass.

In too many of our circles, we’re still experiencing or practicing “church as usual”; there is still no evidence of any kind of supernatural, large harvest in America; the culture is getting worse not better; there are only pockets of spiritual outpouring worth noting; young people continue to fall away or become compromised at an alarming rate – but I am more confident than ever than ever that God will finish what He started, that a Jesus Revolution is underway (although, to repeat, it remains in its early stages), and that the time is more ripe than I can remember for each of us to give ourselves unconditionally to the purposes of God.
Why not you? Why not now? Is God unwilling or unable to help and assist and back and direct?

* * *

Over the course of my 40+ years in the Lord, He has spoken some things to me of great importance – I mean major, prophetic words that I cannot shake – and the pattern of fulfillment has often been the same: first, the supernatural deposit – meaning, specific things that were part of the larger vision coming to pass in a dramatic and undeniable way – followed by years of spiritual agony, crying out to God, asking Him to fulfill the rest of His promises, longing and yearning for His power and righteousness to be revealed, interspersed with seasons of questioning (“Will it ever happen? Did I really hear God? Did I disqualify myself by falling short?) and seasons of great blessing, followed by the fulfillment.

This is what happened to me with the promise of revival, as I began to share with my friends beginning in 1983 that God spoke to me that I would be part of a revival that touched the world, and this is what is happening with the promise of revolution. The Call DC event and the distribution of the Revolution! books was a divine deposit of sorts (to this day, I hear from people who received the book at The Call DC, had their world rocked, and have never been the same); there have been years of intense crying out for God to act since then, along with seasons of questioning and seasons of great blessing, and I now feel that the revolution is rising day by day. (It may be meaningful for you to know that over these years, God clearly spoke to me – as part of the vision for Jesus Revolution – that He would give me a national platform on Christian talk radio and would call me to write cutting-edge, kingdom-based articles on major political websites. The fact that both of these are now happening encourages me that the rest will also come to pass. And please hear this in the spirit in which I say it: This has nothing to do with me; it has to do with the larger purposes of God.)

What is coming next? How soon will things really shake? I honestly have no idea, but something is rising, much is happening, and rather than focusing on what hasn’t taken place we should be stirred and encouraged by the many wonderful testimonies of what is taking place (and has taken place), strengthening our faith for today and tomorrow. (This message, “Write Down the Vision,” preached recently at FIRE, should encourage you too.)

Your thoughts and comments are welcome!

29 comments:

  1. Thank you for this, Dr. Brown. I appreciate you articulating the process from promise to fulfillment. --Christine

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  2. Thank you Mike for this lucid and encouraging report on the current state of the Jesus revolution. I went live with the revolutingnow blog today and I am encouraged to see you write a significant article on the subject on the same day. Yesterday, a saintly old man of God spoke in the FIRE school chapel and shared a dream God gave him that detailed a massive revival that is about to sweep across the entire east coast of America. Something is stirring in the Spirit and I think we need to strategize a way to disciple all the souls God is about to bring in.

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    1. Steve, you're quite welcome. Last night, I began to feel the burden to write this, and when I went to post it on your new Facebook page, I looked at the date (I often forget that!), and lo and behold, it was April 18th, the official day of the launching of your site. On with it! May the harvest come and may we prepare even now to receive it, beginning with hearts burning with love for a lost and dying generation.

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  3. Dr Brown,
    My husband & I were BRSM students in '99 & '98. We experienced all of what you are talking about and have continued to honor God since. We, too ...wait for "The Harvest" to emerge in this Godless world. Our hearts ache with wanting to see the Body of Christ "Rise" to be the BRIDE that Christ desires to come for. I believe the biggest hindrance is pride. We are also so driven and distracted by "agendas" that are not God's. Everyone seems to "know" and "state" the problems, but few magnify or discuss the answer. The answer is and will always be...seeking God's face. We are a selfish generation that seeks His hand, instead of His FACE. Our churches are afraid to "linger" in His presence b/c their members/boards will grumble about the time or all the announcements/speakers not get their chance to "shine". we have to get on our faces! That's what made BRSM "change" us. We laid on our faces until HE moved upon us! We are too busy now...even with the "Christian Business". God forgive us! Marty & I gave our lives to Jesus during the Jesus Revolution, as well. We see what's happening. We FEEL what's happening. We cry out about what's happening! We cry out with you! The "Thirsty & Hungry" are the ONLY ones that will be FILLED. Continue, my brother, stay encouraged, find times to rest, and be still, so YOU can seek His FACE....SLOW Down...Hear what THE SPIRIT is saying. Our redemption is near.

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  4. Thank you for this article, Dr. Brown. For those who have been tripped up due to "dates" or missed expectations, let's shift our focus to God. Let's seek Him whole-heartedly and pursue His Kingdom together. Let us gather the troops to fight this spiritual battle and let us look to our King, Jesus! Let us shake off every weight that so easily entangles us and every offense that divides us. Bind us together in unity and love. Use us for Your glory, God! - Kristi B.

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  5. I got saved in the great move of God in the North East which brought many of the serious believers of my age group to the Lord from 1999-2002. I didn't know much of anything about Brownsville in 1999 when I got saved and we didn't really recognize the supernaturalness of that time period until people stopped getting saved in droves (we thought that was normal). I can now see that as part of something God was doing for a generation globally - rapidly gathering us. But for what? What's next and what is so great that God would use these amazing things as the precursor to the new thing? What's next for those of us who are ruined for anything else and need to see His Kingdom come By Life of By Death?

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  6. I appreciate you Dr. Brown and am honored to be apart of this school for I am honored to glorify Christ at any cost, and I know Fire School of Ministry does just that. The revolution is taking place and God is being glorified. May we see this in a greater level in our genetation. On with the revolution

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  7. I guess I never saw any of the things spoken at BRSM as failed prophesies because so little time has actually passed. I will never forget David Wilkerson's very specific prophecy about the Japanese earthquake that took 20 years to come to pass. In any case, thank you for your thoughts. As a former student, I am still grateful for my time there.

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  8. If we really want to make an impact in the world with your one life and that includes Fire International - it is not rocket science, Jesus already gave us a plan for all of us. It is not revival, not a book, latest conference, not a school - it is not looking back at the past (dates and missed expectations) - it is very simple - make disciples! (Do you know how?) Focus on this ONE thing. Do nothing else, expect nothing else. Master this one thing as Jesus showed us and taught us. It is Jesus plan.

    I challenge all Christians to listen to all the video parts of this message from David Platt – search on You Tube for “David Platt Make Disciples #1” It has changed many peoples lives in the right direction, it might inspire some changes and focus?

    We are all off doing the other stuff - feeding programs, big ministries around events, schools, etc expecting, assuming we are making disciples. Jesus never told us to do these things. If we focus on just making disciples the church forms not the other way round. Making disciples is dirty work, it is slow work, and no one sees the results for few years e.g. about 3 years and a half years in Jesus example.

    Revival happens when we obey Jesus's command to make missional disciples - period, there is no need to go searching for some event, or moment, this thing called a 'Jesus revolution' . It is not needed. We have a discipling problem in the church more then anything else, fix this and you will have revival Mr Brown and you will have my respect (not that that matters).

    Are your students trained to make disciples? Is this the focus, the culture, the language, the expectation? To model you as a discipler , a fisher of men? Jesus was focused on this - making them fishers of men (not revival meetings, his large meetings were few). He invited them into his life, taught them by example, gave them opportunity to watch him and then sent them to try on their own, and in the end before he leaves all he tells them to do is the same - to go make other disciples?

    Discipleship means living with you, hanging out with you - having a life worth following/modeling. Do we allow them to hang out with us home, to go shopping with them at the mall - to do normal stuff together.

    I was brought up in the AOG, our pastor fell to a sex scandals, all the prophecies of changing our nation never happened or over my life. I was naive back then for sure. I was never taught how to make disciples, I was taught I was to be a pastor then I was special and had God’s favor.

    What if all the 400 youth in my church (I was a leader) who had so much excitement, where trained (and sent) to make disciples ie life on life, do as I do (not a silly 10 week program, or camp or bible college) we would have revival from all the hundreds of thousands coming into the kingdom. If making disciples was taught to them from the front, if it was the expectation of their lives not big events, outreach and helping the poor, but discipleship.

    Jesus made it pretty simple (Luke 10), go look for a person of peace. Once you find a person of peace stay with them, pray for them (disciple them). He never said go make these things called church and build up a bunch of volunteers, he said find persons of peace and make them leaders and send them out and I will build my church. We do it around the other way and then sit around in our man made churches expecting revival.

    Jesus never said wait around and have amazing spirit filled events expecting his spirit to do all the work. He said the harvest is white ... go find the people I have prepared for you, teach them all I have commanded you (not the bible college or the pastor) YOU cause you should have been trained as a disciple to live our the life and ministry of Jesus by now (the life you have modeled).

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    1. A sobering admonishment, well focused, well put.

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  9. I appreciate the honesty and hope in this article Dr.Brown. I remember wondering about the new Jesus Revolution while I was at FIRE, it sounded almost too holy and exalted and glorious to even be a part of. But our eyes are on Him and He who promised is faithful. I can see evidences of God stirring all over. The exciting thing for me is just to be faithful and rest in Him, stepping into the opportunities he opens up. I love hearing the reports of what God is still doing in NC. God be with us.

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    1. I don't see the purpose in focusing on this "Jesus Revolution" that Fire International was meant to be birthing? or God is meant to be birthing through them if that is the case?

      The focus we should examine for ourselves is one of fruit - of your life after attending classes, schools, an events, joining a Jesus revolution etc - the measure is clear - disciples and a life as a follow of Jesus that allows you to invite people to follow and be discipled by you? Can we "be" and then "able" to go make disciples in your community? Can you be modeled by the leaders to do this? Is it time to stop resting and start being? Will these opportunities result in making disciples or the same old same old ie. Christian events, consumer expectation running afte experience like Fire International?

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    2. Dear Anonymous, you explain what you mean by "running after experience like Fire International?"

      FIRE International is our organization that helps send our grads around the world to do the very things you're talking about. And that's we mean by a Jesus Revolution -- something the Lord birthed in our hearts as an expression of the Great Commission, being disciples and making disciples.

      Is it possible that you're misunderstand this post?

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    3. Should be, "can you explain . . . ?"

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  10. Good word Dr. Brown!

    I see the JR growing rapidly here in Italy! it's time!

    Antonio Morra, Italy

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  11. I am encouraged by this, Dr. Brown!
    I believe it!

    Tom Watson

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  12. Michelle Tesauro-JonesApril 19, 2012 at 2:19 PM

    Amen, Dr. Brown!
    I remember that trip to The Call DC as a 1st semester student. It was there that God began a supernatural work in my heart that has continued to this day, though not without much testing. And though I live in a largely God-less city and struggle through so much mundane, I am still convinced that we are part of a Jesus Revolution. I can see the signs of it, subtle as they may be. My time at BRSM/FIRE reminds me constantly that I exist to bring Him glory, even if it's just in the "small" things.

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  13. Michelle -- yes, amen, exactly! It blesses me to see grads like you still burning bright, now with your husband, and going for it in the midst of really challenging circumstances. Let's do this!

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  14. Dr. Brown, thanks for the reminder that there are those who have not bowed the knee to Ba'al; that there are still the many who have given over their lives - some to the death - for the Kingdom of Christ. There is much we fail to see, that Army on the surrounding mountain...

    Thanks for reminding me.

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  15. Now that Church has properly been separated from state in not endorsing one candidate, which should have happened a few elections ago, we can begin to decry the moral decay of our nation apart from the political bandwagon. Right now could be the beginning of what you have been looking for, if we band together as the Tribe of Judah (Praise) and cry out for our nation not only in prayer and fasting, but also celebration of what GOD has done for our nation, and will continue to do if we repent!
    There are a few side issues that can be discussed, such as building the Third Temple in Jerusalem, and what do Mormons actually believe concerning Jesus of Nazareth; but this shouldn't distract from the Main Event: a thrust to Take Back our Land!
    In Jesus' love and name, Ron David Metcalf

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    1. Take back the land from who, and where was it?

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  16. A True Word here, a balance between humility and expectancy, for sure. In my own prayers it seems the Lord will accentuate understanding and counsel along with coming visitation and enabling for this Revolution of Redemption. Imagine truly hearing one another's hearts, in care and mutual regard and joy. Israel and young adults are key to fusing Him with Us into One New Man!

    The Precious law of liberty is in the mix, the preparation of His Bride, the signs of the times, and a new preference of others over self. He is beginning a new work this year, which will spiral ahead into 2015. It is the season to light our lamps, trim them, and restart the principles of the Commission (learn of Him, share Him, enjoy Him). Don't expect the old experience and models to hold the new and living maturity coming upon us with His Renewal. This visitation renewal will establish the very flavor for the coming Renewal of All Things He and His disciples anticipated of the Kingdom coming to its placement.

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  18. AN ADMONITION for us from the REVELATION: for alliance and realignment with the will of the Father [for revival], once knowing His frank assessment of our fellowships’ and related faiths’ state of being, and as sobered by the contexts He gave churches toward the end of the First Century, we need His clarifications of our state of being, and our need of devotional religious life corrections. Six of the seven churches He addressed as vital to maintaining the Commission were in danger of extinction, and were completely not able to be self correcting without the revelations of rebuke given each one. In spite of all we have experienced and known, why should we assume we are superior in self assessment and guidance over His direct approach? Never has the Call been needed more to hear Him, and respond to His remedies in each location of practices as assume at least a labeled regard of the chosen Name. Recall that the lampstands of each church were of a connected witness to He who is the true and chosen witness of the eternal Kingdom of God, in the Messiah.
    In the Revelation to John, it was not the seven churches which detached for self correction from their own relative and deceptive religious assumptions revealed as sinful relational realities practiced among the people of each assembly. To self assess adequately to next work to plan well to re-achieve realigned godly connections with Jesus, in each case any absorbed deceit of self indulgence would have to become inactive in the mix of their religiously operating mindset. Though the Name of Jesus was being used in their gatherings and practices, as was stemming from their originally planted connection, much else had crept into assumptions, beliefs, relationships, and practices going on which had Jesus ready to pull their plug of past connection with Him.
    As Head of his witnessing Body then set in Asia of the Gentile nations all but one church were stated to be unwittingly apostate. Are our assumptions, beliefs, relationships, and practices alike leading us away from a witness of integrity and life maintained in Jesus Christ? Is the price of our present loyalties to these devotions equally as vulnerable to falling away from our relationship with Christ? continued below,

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  19. Yikes, where are we today? What influences our mindset beliefs, assumptions, relationships, and practices? What then has captured our hearts and attention? Do we long for truth, grace, and connection to Jesus, or is something else desired as foremost in our assembling together where we do so? Such churches were ‘blind, deaf, and dumb’, while saying ‘we see’, are we? It stands out in these two chapters of admonition that it took Jesus to assess accurately, it took Jesus to call these mindset practices to task, and Jesus to state their dark price if they continued as they were. Already the handwriting was on the wall for these once glowing fellowships of Christ.
    Although a good commentary can discuss the issues in each church case in these chapters of the Revelation, can we assume these may have been and may be typical churches still found among the Nations? Why would this end times letter be given us for posterity where the second and third chapter focus primarily on seven churches in the Mediterranean sphere of the Nations’ First Century churches? Have we moved on from their problems? Is the solution with us?

    Noticed right away are the churches reflections of the societies in which they were located having taken over devotional priority and purity, and the reflection of those cultures mitigating against the integrity of abiding in Christ. Jesus was ready to pull the plug of His witness lampstand glow of heaven’s light and spirit among them. This is sobering of the lens offered in each case where His Name and nature would be removed unless true repentance and realignment with the Head of the Body was practiced. He had not yet given up, but it was getting to be impossible for His Spirit to stay where He was not given actual devotion. All but one of these churches were found apostate. --continued below

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  20. Over and above Jesus’ identified reports of dubious character and indulgence leading each of six churches astray, to get on fresh with the Head of the Body it was the Lord Himself who called them aside to warn, admonish, and state the price of following false expectations for achieving authentic relationship with Him. Associated religious church members had not kept themselves from idols of selfish desire, from false instruction and assumption, and then so aligned conceptual and literal life mission. Having a religious gathering phenomena cake and eating it too was not part and parcel to the Way and Call of the Commission given them, where Jesus soberly told what would happen if current directions were not abandoned for quest of a direct connection priority of pursuit of He Himself in the matters addressed in the most transparent spiritual Revelation given His Body on earth. The Word came from heaven’s efficient personnel to those disregarding heaven’s associated Call to holiness.
    1) It can be said that these churches were reflections of the world around them.
    2) It can be said that they had left their first devotion to Jesus Christ and represented something else altogether.
    3) They were asleep, lulled into their own assumptions, false beliefs, relational confusion, sensuality and desires.
    4) Jesus, not they themselves, was able to discern in each instance what was leading them away from Him. They were not seeking such information or clarification. It came to them first from the Throne, then via a suffering servant Apostle’s communication.
    5) Lampstands’ glowing life associated with the family of God founded in Christ’s work was in jeopardy. Apostasy meant disconnection, vanity, sin and deception was replacing what was needful for life.
    6) False expectations set up each fellowship for a fall, which Jesus did not want to see come to pass, yet in each case the will to fall was freely orchestrated. The liberty of the Sons of God was not in focus, of regard, or being pursued—other reality was in play in the milieu of these fellowships.
    7) Christ, and He alone, acted to communicate redemptive intention, hope, and the steps needed for repentance, consecration, for realigment with the Commission and Kingdom. Words given the Revelation thereafter showed that this was most serious business for His People.
    8) Life in the Spirit, of devotion to Christ, and related single eye service needed to come to the forefront of the attention of each and every soul found in these churches or things suffered in the Revelation would become their experience.
    Christ in us, Christ being formed in us. The love of God shed abroad in our hearts. Looking up from what was transfigured in the interchange of covenants parties seen traversing time and space before them, they saw only Jesus. This was the vital discovery of all past and future covenants of God. One thing greater than all our personal discoveries sought and not has come among us.
    Now is the day of salvation and adoption. In seeking a No. American Call to Consecration through repentance, we must first counsel to agree to let He Himself address the changes we need to make to be ready for His reengagement, renewal, and return. Let us agree together that we need His voice, interventionm and corrections to make it so. --JH, 5.2012

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  21. It is prophecy there would be a falling away. It is a misunderstanding that this would happen all at once and not generation to generation. The falling away started in the 1920's people. The 1970's was surge. But the surge of secular America was already well entrenched decades earlier.

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  22. Even if 'a falling away,' how much more those remaining can be strengthened to do the calling of works set before them to share the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah with increased efficiency, conviction, and devotion to service. Paul concluded something after years of work among the churches and after receiving the direct revelation and charge to go into the nations. II Cor 4:5 tells us that all the self consciousness and personal regard of powerful or heightened or ecstatic religious meeting experience, it was the sober regard of Christ, His Spirit of forbearance, and related service to others which composed the Apostles' own mission and calling. Knowledge of falling away then is not the focus, nor the purpose of insight into the signs of the times for believers; RETURN to strengthen the things which remain, and move with the love of God in Christ toward others is.

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