Saints Day

November 1 is “Saint’s Day”. Did you know that? Do your children know this? Will you and your family be celebrating and mentioning Saints Day tomorrow?  Excuse me. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just know someone is supposed to ask these questions.

Why are believers so happy about Halloween?  Why are Christians dressing up in ghoulish costumes to attend church events? Why are our children not warned or even aware of the demonic history and nature of Halloween?  Are we the light in this dark world?

The kingdom of God is counter-culture. “My kingdom is not of this world..” (John 18:36). The kingdom of God is the Christ-culture. We come from an anointed culture. We live life on a higher level. Our lives should announce to the world that we live in a better and brighter reality. We are called introduce the culture of Christ to the world through our lives and witness.

If we were seeing into the spirit realm like the apostles and prophets of old, we would see the fierce battle that rages against this planet and the purpose of God in the people of God. There are real powers that rule in darkness that seek portals and entries into the earth, specifically into regions. Once a stronghold is set up in a region that demon spirit responsible for the take over becomes one of the “principalities” in that particular region. This explains a lot of cities in America, San Francisco, Hollywood, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New York.  See Daniel 10.

We have no idea how intense and unyielding the battle is and how the war in heaven will only intesify as the end-times draw to a cataclysmic close. See Revelation 12.  This is serious stuff! We don’t have the luxury of being asleep on Halloween.

We need to see Halloween for what it really is – a portal for paganism into our culture. Halloween is derived by demon spirits with the intent to celebate satanism. The world has given the devil his own day, the day before Saints Day. Halloween comes in only second to Christmas in popularity of holidays and money spent by consumers.

What do you say to that? What are we contributing to? Who’s kingdom do we represent?  What can we do?

1) Stop celebrating Halloween.

2) Teach people, especially children, the truth about Halloween.

3) Provide a positive alternative to Halloween at your house or at a local church.

4) Turn Halloween into your celebration of the victory you have over devils

because of  Christ on the Cross.

Let the kingdom come and let the will of the Lord be done in the Body of Christ!

 

The Glory and The Gathering

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Having to reflect upon the Prayer Everywhere Gathering is no easy venture. The depth of the Word, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the excceding glory of God has robbed me of the words adequate to describe what was ministered and imparted to us when we came together from around America. The Holy Spirit’s theme for the conference was “Glory!”.

The anchor word of the conference came from Dr. T. L. Lowery, our apostolic covering. He declared that Prayer Everywhere was being used by God to lead an awakening of God’s glory in the earth.  He showed us how God has worked in history to bring about Great Awakenings around the world. The Lord always starts with a call upon a man’s life to lead a people into prayer and fasting.

The “tipping point” for a move of God can only happen through people of prayer. Things in the spirit world are brought to critical mass when the Lord raises and reveals a people who will wear the mantle of consecration and intercession. God calls His people to cry after Him for the transformation of a nation or a culture. This is the constant of every national revival, renewal and restoration. “If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray..” (II Chronicles 7:14).

The Gathering was a launching. What we received from the Word and the Spirit was an introduction into an end-time glory. The theme that was woven into every message, prayer and song was the glory of God. Why is the Holy Spirit speaking to us about glory? What does glory have to do with our call to transform churches and cultures through anointed and united prayer?

The first time the word “glory” is used  in the Bible is in Genesis 31:1. There is a biblical interpretative principle called, “the law of first mention”. It teaches that if you want to understand the basis of any biblical principle or spiritual law you have to refer to its first mention. The word “glory” was first used to describe magnificence, abundance and reverence. When we speak of the “glory of God”  we are declaring His magnificence, abundance and reverence. The glory of God reveals the Father’s exaltant, exceeding and excellence of character.

The Hebrew word for “glory” is ‘kabod’. It most often translated as “weighty” or “heaviness”. This signifies a tangible spiritual presence or manifestation. When it is glory it will be revealed, seen and observable. Under the leadership of Moses the “Shekinah”, the manifest presence of God, was revealed as a cloud and a pillar of fire. This is spiritual substance. Glory is God’s presence permeating your presence. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

“Glory” also describes the essence of one’s character. It is a word used to describe the most noble elements of the soul or inner being of a person. Glory is the best someone is and has. The glory of God is God giving His best to us in time and space. “The Word was made flesh… and we beheld His glory” ( John 1:14). This is why glory in the Scriptures is often associated with light and brillance. The glory is the brillance of God being manifested. Jesus is called “the brightness of His glory” (Hebrews 1:3). In Jesus we see the best God is and has.

Through prayer we prepare for the glory of God. The magnificence of God’s power, the abundance of His riches and the reverence of His presence is only accessible through prayer. Prayer is where we first encounter God’s best for our lives. When we are in prayer we are in the presence of His glory. There is only one place for you and I to obtain the best God has for us – in prayer!

Missing Moments

How many moments have I missed?  I don’t even want to think about it. Life is always more when you don’t miss moments. Time is irreversible. All our moments are unrepeatable moments. Missing moments is not optional for those of us who need every God-moment  that lies ahead of us.

A scribe comes to Jesus and says, “Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest” (Matthew 8:19). The response of Jesus is a classic, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head”. This young man wanted to follow Jesus. He  has the sincerity. He calls Jesus “Master”. He declares his commitment, “I wil follow thee”. His sincerity is not in question. The lack  of sincerity is not the problem. Sincere people, however, miss moments all the time. We are sincere, even when we are sincerely wrong.

This young law student brought sincerity and intensity to his desire to join Jesus. He says, “I will follow theee whithosover thou goest”. He is all the way in. He wants to maximize his life and times with Jesus. He’s up for whatever lies ahead. Intensity is not the problem. Hard-working, industrious people miss their moments, too. Intensity is not enough to capture your moment. Intensity can be misguided energy.

So what do we need to do in order to not miss another God-moment? Listen to Jesus. “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nest…”. This is not Jesus stating the obvious or announcing his homelessness. Jesus says to those who have sincerity and intensity that we must have adaptabilty. Jesus says in essence, “The foxes tonight will go back to where they began their day. The birds that have soared throughout the day wil return to where they began their day, but those that want to be in the moment with Me have to have adaptibility”.

Jesus was ready to be in the moment with Father at all times. He was not going back. He was moving forward. His security was being in the will of God. His abode was in the moment. That’s where Jesus lived. He lived in the moment.

The rigid, the intellectual, the traditionalist, the conformist, the hard-liners will never follow Jesus. They cannot stand the idea of living on the move and in the moment. Movement undermines their control. Movement means they have to stay in motion. Staying in motion means we have to be kept a little uncomfortable. We find ourselves packing and unpacking, never quite knowing what’s next. We are left to live moment by moment.

That’s how Jesus wants it. He wants us trusting Him, living by faith. He wants us following. He wants us missionary, not stationary!

A Prayer Epidemic

Prayer Everywhere is not the vision of a program, a ministry or a movement. What the Lord has called us to lead and launch is an epidemic. I have come to the clear conviction that my calling commissions me to incite a  prayer contagion among Christians and cultures.

Prayer Everywhere is needed to transform churches and cultures. The vision of Prayer Everywhere must now become a spiritual virus and spread among a remnant of radicals. The “radicals” are those who “have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints” (I Corinthians 16:15). Radicals know the vision and carry the virus. Radicals move freely among people releasing and transmitting their prayer virus.

The best way, the only way, for Prayer Everywhere to reach around the world is by people catching a “prayer everywhere virus”. We must be infected by prayer if we are to affect people and their problems through prayer. Understanding the nature of our calling is essential to seeing ourselves as “carriers”. We must become prayer contagious!

There are all kinds of epidemics throughout the world moving through many cultures. There are epidemics of disease, epidemics of fashion, epidemics of crime and epidemics of technology. An epidemic can be any idea, product,  behavior or  message. Epidemics have life forms and cycles. Epidemics don’t just happen. Epidemics can be launched and lead.

An epidemic has to have contagiousness. We know prayer spreads. We are witnessing the incredible growth and networking happening around the world in the short time we have been sharing the Prayer Everywhere vision. We started in a small prayer group in Chattanooga and now have reached into over 100 cities around the world in a little more than a year.

An epidemic depends on small changes having big effects. There are so many seemingly small things that we could be doing in prayer that would cause prayer to spread like a virus. Creating neighborhood prayer  groups and city-wide prayer outreaches, committing to prayer with our families and to our church’s prayer ministries, contacting people through our social networks, offering them prayer, are just a few small things you could do  that will have a big effect.

An epidemic happens in a hurry. The greatest changes that happen in life don’t happen gradually. The most powerful, memorable changes in your life happened quickly, sometimes with no notice or chance for you to make any adjustments. What we are leading is an epidemic. We must be willing to move wisely, yet quickly, as the prayer virus spreads. We must have an imagination for sudden change. Can we believe God for a “suddenly”? Prayer Everywhere is destined to be a household term. It will happen sooner than we think. That’s how epidemics work.

“The name given to that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once is the Tipping Point”  Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point. 

Prayer Everywhere is our role. A prayer epidemic is our goal.