2022 note from Jon: I wrote the following one year ago; 18 months (October, 2019) after the Lord called our House of Prayer to “seek His Face” (Psalm 27:8) because “the time of trouble” (Psalm 27:5) was coming. After 1700 hours of corporate prayer our House of Prayer released the message found in our book “Seek My Face”. Email me for a free copy. xaris4u@yahoo.com

April 18, 2021

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to REPENT, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man Whom He has ordained.” (Acts 17:30-31)

Last year, many prophets marked Passover, as the final day that COVID-19 would ravage America. None had foretold of the plague’s arrival, but now, after failing to predict it’s departure at Holy Week (two weeks prior) they claimed to have heard from God: “It would cease at the end of Passover”. Christian periodicals trumped these false assertions. Millions of believers used these proud statements to bolster their ire against evil forces at work in our world.

On April 17, 2020, the day AFTER PASSOVER Johns Hopkins recorded 4593 Corona virus related deaths.

Instead of ceasing on this date, the date marked a record number of contracted cases, and more deaths than any prior day. I don’t need to tell you where the statistics went after that. The judgment of the Lord has proven to be very “real”; the prophets and their prophecies, very “wrong”.

As we continue in this hour of trouble, it is wise for believers to keep the failure of these prophetic messengers in mind. Many redacted their accounts, shifting their predictions to the day of Pentecost. When those forecasts also failed, many turned their attention to the political firestorms that raged throughout the summer and autumn of 2020. These same soothsayers, declared a landslide victory for the incumbent President – someone who was currying their favor, turning their churches into campaign rallies, and injecting poisonous, contra-Christ rhetoric into the body of Christ. Throughout the rest of 2020 it was primarily his narrative, (and tragically not the Lord’s) that ruled the hearts of millions of evangelicals. Rather than humble ourselves before the Face of our Deliverer, (Isaiah 40:26) we allowed ourselves to get caught up in conspiracies to explain away our need to face our own unrighteous ways. We took up his rage against civil rights, foreigners, political enemies and traitorous allies rather than prayerfully, intently examine the scriptures and let the Holy Spirit identify the sin, rebellion, impurities and worldly attachments in our own hearts.

This continued unabated, for even months after the election, as our indignant Commander-in-Chief, in spite of 72 failed local court cases, the determination of 16 conservative Governors and AG’s, and the assertions of his own cyber-security chief, Attorney General and Vice-President, continued to foment hate-filled storylines to explain away the embarrassment of his defeat.

And through it all, the failed prophets of spring, became the failed prophets of the fall, became the failed prophets of winter. In spite of a string of endless prayer rallies, feverish prayer initiatives and bogus endeavors to counter the alleged election fraud, their champion left office after a pathetic, yet violent insurrection attempted to keep him in power at the final stroke of midnight. Every step of the way, encouraged and not discouraged by the prophets.

“And many false prophets will appear and deceive many.” (Matthew 24:11)

“Your prophets saw visions for you that were worthless whitewash. They failed to expose your sin so as to restore your fortunes. They saw oracles for you that were worthless lies.” (Lamentations 2:14)

“The prophets prophesy lies.The priests exercise power by their own authority. And my people love to have it this way. But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!” (Jeremiah 5:31)

The poison that gave rise to the many, many false prophecies in 2020 still courses through the veins of our body in 2021 – greatly undiagnosed, ignored and even justified by many. Over the past three months the urgency has receded. The spirit has returned to a mode of pretense. But the same proud spirit refuses to hear; refuses to bend; refuses to come near the Lord’s circumspect gaze, and refuses to turn from its wicked ways.

What was 2020 all about?

I’ve written, but more importantly prayed, a great deal about what the Lord is/was speaking to the Church over this past year. The most simple way to state it is “2020 was about the Lord arresting the Church’s attention, inviting millions of saints, churches and ministries to ‘reason together’ with Him in His tent of meeting over the state of our heart, and the nature of our ways.” In a word, the Lord is judging His household and calling us to repentance.

“Our Christian walk is an ongoing refining process. The Lord loves us too much to leave us where we are today. Our spiritual intention (where we want to be in our depth of love and biblical understanding) matters, but He wants to show us our reality—which is our present condition. The Lord wants to wake us up to our real condition so that we can deal with it in light of His truth and grace. He has plans to take us places richer and deeper than we’ve ever known.” The International House of Prayer Kansas City

Now, four months into 2021, the Church that was embroiled in false prophecy, self-justification, and hostile idolatrous nationalism continues with the same poison in her veins, believing that they are all the more persecuted for their own righteousness sake; unmoved by the pressures that the Lord is putting on their heart; and while still raging with accusatory anger, are plying God’s favor to receive the ascendency of revival within their old, corrupted wineskins. It is as ludicrous today, to believe the Lord will pour out new wine in this hour as it was to believe the Lord was going to abruptly crush the plague without the people of God giving ourselves to repentance last spring.

The Lord is delivering His people from this wicked, evil age, and we, the body of Christ in America are intent on bringing all of our idols with us while we mock, condemn and disparage the wicked culture we’re leaving behind.

The Lord will not have His Bride this way. If we’re intent on remaining in this condition, He will let us, but He will not have “us”. He is the Lord.

The fact that He is Lord means He calls the shots. He determines our way. He leads. We follow. He calls. We respond. To press Him for blessing and more power in an hour when He’s calling us to abase ourselves and repent of the way we’ve been using our power is an insurrection spirit. It’s telling the Lord, we will have Your Kingdom our way.

It’s that serious.

When Jesus rebuked the “rich” Church at Laodicea (Revelation 3) as “poor, wretched, blind, naked, and miserable” they understood that they needed to stop investing in their old definition of wealth and repent before they would be able to “sit with Jesus on His throne”.

In Isaiah 1 the prophet declares the summons of the Lord to a people who had equal problems hearing the clear voice of the Lord:

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! for the Lord has spoken: 3 “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; 4 The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” 5 Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! 6 They have forsaken the Lord; they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel; they have turned away backward. 7 Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. 8 The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. 9 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment. 10 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 11 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 12 Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah. 13 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah: 14 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. 15 I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? 16 Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. 17 The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. 18 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. 19 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. 20 Your hands are full of blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, and learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. 21 Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 22 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 1:2-22)

It would have been one more sign of their self-indulgent ways for the Israel to seek the Lord’s provision for their conferences and worship festivals while He was calling them to “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.”

At Sinai (Exodus 32), when God confronted Israel with her idolatry the people understood they’d go no further toward the promised land until they repented and let the Lord remove the cultural adultery from their midst.

The Lord is calling the Church in America to respond to His judgements. It’s time to repent. Any other course of action, pursuit, strategy, zeal, or focus is not level-headed. When the Lord is telling us our foundational ways are unsound – He means for us to let Him demolish our old ways, so that He can establish sufficient ways that will support the house of His choosing. Any effort to continue to build on old foundations is not only futile, it is insubordinate.

When the Lord of the Church calls us to repent, it’s time to repent. Any alternative course is not only unwise, it is unworkable.

When the Lord commanded His disciples to “remain in Jerusalem” and “wait and pray” (Acts 1), they would have missed the promise from the Father had they “taken their liberty” of the city and “not prayed”.

Beloved, there IS a sure Word from heaven coming to the Church in this hour. It is THE GLORIOUS remedy to all our fears and maladies! One that vastly outshines the alternative many of us have become fastened to. But we must enter into it.

The good news is, availing ourselves of this remedy, while ardent, will be the most exhilarating, healing and empowering thing we can do in this hour. It’s where we meet HIM.

Yes. I still believe this, one year later. Only with more urgent intensity coming from Jesus that His Bride trust His leadership and respond to His judgements.

I deeply believe, if in gathering after prayer meeting after Bible Study after staff meeting, the whole Church were to embrace the Lord’s exhortation in this hour, press into the New Testament paradigm of corporate prayer (more ardently that we’re pressing into learning new technology), humble ourselves, and deeply repent of our unrighteous ways – we would experience the Holy Spirit’s wind of viral repentance, mourning, prayer-filled humility, can’t-make-it-stop-surrender, longing, abasement, adoration and utter yieldedness to the approaching Bridegroom.

Throughout our nation, this “spirit of (Isaiah 40) repentance” would launch the household of God into a new expression of Kingdom power that
a.) the Word promises,
b.) would dethrone our cultural/political idols,
c.) would release billions from demonic bondage,
d.) explode the conventions of 21c western churchianity,
e.) unite the Bride, together with the Voice of the Holy Spirit,
f.) would usher in a world-wide harvest of souls,
g.) pierce Israel with the revelation of their Messiah,
h.) kindle an unquenchable first-commandment love for Jesus
and
i.) together we would hasten the return of our King.

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JSB • April, 2021

Final Note from Jon: For a full transcript of this message along with seven judgments of the Lord, and the story of how the Holy Spirit led our little House of Prayer in the mountains of Arizona into His tent of meeting just weeks prior to COVID 2020, secure a copy of our book “Seek My Face” at AMAZON. Or email me xaris4u@yahoo.com and we’ll ship you the print edition.

This evening I listened to a disturbing message from a month ago preached to a conference of 600 pastors. In the message an evangelical scholar gave several compelling historical and sociological data points that more than suggest that we evangelical conservatives (that’s me) have already lost the “culture war” in our nation.

I agree – but for different reasons than what I hear him saying. If (as I maintain) we Christians have spent a generation fighting a culture war without bearing a cross, for whatever other little or big gains we may assume “our side” has been making, I think we need to now come to the real conclusion that we have left “the Lord’s side” – and thus have lost whatever struggle we thought we were engaged in. In short, we need to come to grips with the fact that we have been engaging our world in manner that has disconnected us from the heart of our Lord.

I believe this is where we are in America in 2022. I believe over the last two years we’ve brought ourselves to a point of no return. I believe many (both believers and unbelievers) “feel” the atmosphere of this critical impasse – even if we don’t quite know what we’re feeling.

After listening to the message I fell asleep and woke up this morning hearing the Lord querying: “What shall I do with a people whose zeal to save America has become a hinderance to My zeal to save Americans? And how shall I deal with sons and daughters whose love for their nation has become a dissuasion to their love for the Desire of the Nations?”

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JSB • April, 2022

NOTE: If you don’t already have a copy of our book “Seek My Face“, I want you to have it. It was written out of 1700 hours of focused corporate prayer during the first 180 days of the COVID plague. Email me your email at xaris4u@yahoo.com and I’ll send you a PDF version today. Send me your mailing address, or the mailing address of your church, your pastor, your small group, or prayer group and I’ll ship you the print edition. Or download it from Amazon (It’ll cost 4.99 there). The hour for this message is now. This is a “word” that needs to go with us in between the porch and the altar. It’s that vital.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build at all.” (Psalm 127:1)

99% of what should concern us Christians about the condition of the Church in America stems from the radical realization that we are a generation that has done headstands to build ourselves without the agency of a cross.

From the prophets’ books, conferences and teachings we champion, to the politics we engage in, to the altar calls we issue, it is abundantly clear that as a whole, we are a people who oblige a Church without a cross and a cross without a grave.

Once we realize that we’re a generation of church-goers who has utterly failed to practically apply the cross to our lives, what we’ve experienced over these last several years makes perfect sense::

Of course we have scores of “prophets” who are not being held accountable for falsely prophesying Trump’s landslide victory.

Of course millions of evangelical leaders are knitting fig leaves together in an attempt to divorce us from the horrific histories of our native and black families.

Of course we can storm the capital with militant cries like “Valkyrie” and then deny complicity when people are murdered and our god fails to act on our behalf.

Of course we vehemently believe that we could be raptured out of here at any moment, because our God would never make us suffer through tribulation.

Of course millions in our family attend cult political rallies that are filled with rancor, malice and Christian syncretism.

Of course when faced with a plague we rise up in loud, angry protest against our government rather than weep between the porch and the altar.

Of course we proffer conspiracy theories instead of seeking the naked truth about ourselves before the Holy gaze of the God of Daniel 9.

Of course we promote revival apart from the message of Jeremiah.

Of course our ministries, books, conferences and church events are auto-tuned to definitions of power and glory that look nothing like Jesus.

Of course we champion political and ecclesial leaders who promise us righteousness while exalting self.

Of course we sweep their sad, sordid stories under the rug when they collapse under moral failure after failure after failure…

There’s been no doubt about where we stand. We American evangelicals have spent a generation building a Church upon the unstable soil of the uncrucified self.

Beloved. A cross must, and WILL be applied. There is no hope for a people in this hour that will not say “yes” to Jesus’ administration of the cross. A crossless woman will not become the Bride of the Lamb. The message of Revelation, if anything, should tell us that.

The act of taking God’s analysis of our situation seriously is called repentance. It entails more than modifying the plumbing, holding a housewarming party, or adorning the living room with new furniture. The type of shift the Lord is calling His people to make involves leveling ourselves to our foundations and scrutinizing everything we do and believe and assert through the lens of selflessly seeking the Lord. Life under the cross in this hour is that radical.

Is there grace for the conversation? Of course. But we almost dare not mention it for fear that we use it to our self-excusing advantage like we have for decades. Ours is a well-worn groove. It’s become a familiar spirit. Unless we press into the Holy Spirit’s Presence with great intentionality and fasting our 21c minds will warp and distort the message of the eternal – to our own destruction.

Unless we take up our cross we will not be worthy of Him. (Matthew 10:38)

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JSB • April, 2022

One of the cultural dynamics that has tripped us American believers up for more than a generation is the soup we live in, day-in and day-out that tells us Christianity is all about us.

Beloved, (and we are) – it’s not about us. It’s not even mostly about us. It’s only by His grace that ANY of this is about us.

If we make the Christian life about us we, unlike, John, Paul or the disciples, will never give ourselves to (John 3:30) “He must increase…”. We’ll never see the wisdom of attaching our life to a cross that’s attached to a grave. We’ll never surrender our will to the glory of the Father. Our self (with a little help from the enemy of our souls) will always make sure that our religious experiences are about… our self.

The centrality of “me” is a great delusion, and it’s SO ubiquitous in our consumeristic Christian circles… The Kingdom is not about making my life work. Our part in the Kingdom is about enthroning His reign in our lives. (This is a big difference.) But the truth is, when we DON’T make it about ourselves our lives are filled with infinitely more satisfaction and fruit than we could achieve in our own effort.

The heart of the heart of the heart the Kingdom is about the Father’s promise He made to His Son; that He should rule the nations, and have an eternal partner, redeemed, purified and brought forth in first commandment love. This means that He WILL have a Bride, not necessarily that everyone WILL be a part of Her. It’s the invitation to joy. But it’s an invitation that must be traveled by dying to self. “Rejoice, but with trembling… lest you perish in the way.” (Psalm 2:11)

“Jesus is Lord! How are you responding to that reality?”

This is why I like the laconic proclamation of the gospel: “Jesus is Lord. How are you responding to that reality?” This is the gospel that Jesus brings. This is the gospel that the New Testament and the apostles died to proclaim: “Jesus is Lord! And He’s coming to reign. And you’ll want to be cleansed of your rebellion; receive His pardon; and be filled with the administration and authority of His government, because He intends to co-rule with a prepared people. Nothing! in hell or on earth will stop this King from receiving this promise from the Father. The best life we can know (and it IS unbelievably fulfilling and fruitful) is for us to make our peace with Him, enter into His terms of agreement, and surrender to His reign of love – while we can.”

This is the nexus of the separation that is being accomplished in the Church in this hour. Many will experience the tremors of His voice calling us to come out of the tyranny of our own self-focused-rule and either not see Him for Who He is, not understand His call or reject His authentic call because it doesn’t look like the call they’re used to hearing Christianity issue. Some will gloriously go through the baptism of fire that He is sending to the earth and abandon themselves to come forth “without spot, wrinkle or blemish”. (Ephesians 5:27)

Beloved, what gospel are we preaching?

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JSB • April, 2021

I’m often asked what I believe about “revival” – particularly within the United States. As I have prayed for revival for well over 20 years there are four key words that generally come to mind:

PRESENCE
1. Revival is “the abiding manifest presence of God” (Psalm 132) among a community or culture of people within a tangible, geographical location. I pray for, and believe God wants to do (Psalm 132) more than we do – in this age – within America (and many other places on the earth).

Revival in the ultimate sense is humanity responding appropriately to the One Who is returning to the our planet as Lord. Jesus isn’t coming to merely make our church experiences more stimulating or more popular. He’s returning to rule 195 nations on the earth. This is the One we encounter in revival – the One Who is filled with zeal to reign with perfect love.

Two great questions can help stir our hearts to authentically prepare for and engage His Presence: “What in me is this Man worth?” and “What do I want my heart to be filled with in the moment that I first meet our Bridegroom King?” Seeking answers to these questions will kindle a hunger for me run to God in purification and dedication, and not away from Him in shame or frustration.

REPENTANCE
2. Sincerely asking these two questions of ourselves will also engender a spirit of repentance in our hearts; a repentance that is fueled by the revelation of Him, what He’s worthy of, and a corresponding passion to submit any and everything in us – our sins, our unrighteous ways, our gifts, our resources, our dreams and our energy to His reign and the increase of His glory.

I believe the next (and last?) massive revival in our nation will entail a soul-rending, fervid, can’t-make-it-stop, everywhere-present, earthquake of repentance that dwarfs anything we have read about in previous revivals. Indeed, because of the nature of “what it is” I believe the next revival must be characterized by such an atmosphere of surrendered selflessness.

Having said this, I believe revival, “if” it is to happen in America before the Lord returns, will happen within a context that looks much more like the time of Jeremiah* than the time of Josiah. Repentance and “death to self” will be the stuff of revival; not liberated self-actualization within a re-glorified nation.

PRAYER
3. Psalm 132 revival will only come within a people who are plumb lined to foundational, corporate, contrite, Christ-focused, cross-bearing prayer. It will come no other way. This is one chief reason why (over the last 12 years) my wife and I have cultivated a lifestyle of 4 to 6 hours of prayer every day.

A. Prayer is where we see Jesus clearly and learn to love His singular exaltation in the same way the Father does.

B. Prayer is where we most clearly see what He is worth – and where we lay down our lives in abandoned submission to His increase.

C. These thousands of “deaths” will not happen “on the run”, or “automatically”. We consecrate ourselves to the King intentionally/daily in the focused Presence of His throne room.

D. Prayer is how the hearts of the lost are softened to the gospel and the chains of those shackled to darkness are unlocked.

CONFERRED AUTHORITY
4. At the end of Matthew 9 – leading into Matthew 10 Jesus speaks about revival from the context of His own presence and authority being manifest through His disiciples: “35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Ch. 10:1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.”

There is much we can say about the Bride of Christ operating in a mature lifestyle of conferred authority. In order to make ourselves ready for the revival that’s in His heart it is particularly important for us to understand that He confers this authority upon us within the place of prayer. True revival isn’t contained within a building or a venue. It’s imparted to a people who then carry it everywhere they go – into their homes, their workplaces, their city streets; into every aspect of their lives.

Prayer unto conferred authority is the engine of all revival. Let me say a little more about the power-connection between the two dynamics of prayer and conferred authority.

A. There is no conferred authority without prayer. We learn to confidently walk out His presence with His authority in the context of prayer-filled communion with the Lord.

B. Jesus commands us to pray for empowered “laborers” to be “thrust into” the fields for His harvest.

C. Laborers are commissioned and “sent” by the Lord. (It’s not something that we take upon ourselves – or indiscriminately thrust upon others…) Laborers are “sent” via their personal prayer-dialogue with the Lord.

D. One of the most significant aspects of being a laborer is giving one’s self to being “in labor” for the birth of God’s power and purposes within a group and/or community of people. Prayer is where the Lord “impregnates” us with His heart, His Word and His power for others.

E. If we don’t make the practical connection between much prayer and much harvest we will experience little of the Lord’s heart and power for it.

These four words describe the dynamics that must be in play in order for the people of God to experience Biblical revival.

PRESENCE
REPENTANCE
PRAYER
CONFERRED AUTHORITY

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JSB • March, 2022

* The time of Jeremiah was not unlike the time of the 1c Church. Within this mix of godless dominant culture, staunch religious fervor and hostile nationalism “the Way” of the Lord thrived.

Acts 5
12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.  13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.  14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,  15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.  16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed…

Acts 6
6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. 7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

Acts 8
4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.

The Spirit is telling the Church worldwide: “It’s time.” The Bride needs to know how to be conformed to Christlikeness through the time of trouble. The Bride needs to prepare herself for the reign of the Son.

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17)

The judgments of the Lord are essential if we are to do this. The judgments of the Lord are vehicles by which our King gives the depth of Himself to us. Without these judgments we never have the conversations with Him that take us to the next level of strength He wants for us – and we NEED from Him.

This is the strength that Jesus wanted to speak into the lives of the churches in Revelation 2 and 3.

Right now our 1st century sisters and brothers in Christ from Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea are all crying out to the Church in America: “Pay attention to the judgments of the Lord! Do not assume you possess the mind of the Lord based upon your theological persuasion, your favorite teacher or prophet, your reputation in the community, your own internal-analysis, or your particular evangelical peer-group. Lay hold of the One Who’s walking among your lamp stand. Talk to HIM for yourself! Get yourself on the threshing floor and ‘Seek HIS Face’!”

All seven of these churches were born-again, Bible-believing, Spirit-filled, congregations. 100%. Jesus wouldn’t have called them “the church at…” if they weren’t. 

The Church in America urgently needs leaders with Holy Spirit boldness and conviction to call the body of Christ to say YES to the courageous, deep, and disciplined work of consecrating ourselves before the coming of the Lord and His purifying judgments.

Urgently.

The season is passing… we will not want steep learning curves into learning the Lord’s ways of righteousness in the tribulation that’s dawning around us.

We desperately need thousands of pastors, teachers, prophets and mothers and fathers in the faith who will lead the body of Christ into deep repentance of our unrighteous ways; the unrighteous ways that have plagued the people of God throughout the scriptures, and the history of the Church: godless humanism, racial insensitivity, nationalism, political idolatry, contra-Sermon on the Mount insurrection, and prideful self-determination.

How shall we do this? Paul’s prayer for the Church in Thessalonica points us into this way. 

“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. NOW MAY THE GOD OF PEACE HIMSELF SANCTIFY YOU COMPLETELY; AND MAY YOUR WHOLE SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY BE PRESERVED BLAMELESS AT THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE WHO CALLS YOU IS FAITHFUL. HE WILL DO IT!” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24)

Paul’s prayer here is SO confidence-producing! Consider what we learn about praying for the Church from this prayer for these ancient believers:

1 • The GOD of peace HIMSELF wants to intimately do the sanctifying work in the hearts of His people. It isn’t something that He is willing to delegate to an emissary, or to a rule book. He yearns to be in the center of the center of the purification process! The truth is, it’s in letting Jesus personally engage us that we gain the courage to let go of our insufficient and unrighteous ways in order embrace Him and His righteous ways.

2 • We can pray for COMPLETE SANCTIFICATION for a whole group of believers; AND our whole beings – SPIRITS, SOULS and BODIES CAN be made mature and beautiful in righteousness – together!

3 • We can become a Church, IN THIS AGE, that is magnificently Christ-like. We can “make ourselves ready” (Revelation 19:11) for our Bridegroom. If the Father fully released what Paul was praying for in the Thessalonians what would Jesus have said re: them had they been one of the seven Churches of Revelation? The One Who walks among the lamp stands (Revelation 1:13) can have NOTHING corrective to say about us. (Imagine!) It is feasible for us to be BLAMELESS in His eyes!

4 • Jesus, the One Who called us to Himself in the first place, is entirely FAITHFUL! He has GREAT DESIRE and ABILITY to bring whole believing communities to PERFECT CHRISTLIKE tenderness, humility, brilliant in witness, love, holiness, supernatural power, zeal and endurance. (Wowzers! Imagine what that’d look like in your city!)

5 • Paul, the one who is standing in the gap on behalf of these beloved sisters and brothers, doesn’t believe this is some hyped ideal. He actually BELIEVES GOD WILL DO THIS on account of his prayers. 

This is the privilege of what we get to press into and pray for the Church in our region! Glorious!

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JSB • March 21, 2022

I appreciate the sentiment of this meme, but I actually believe the Bible suggests otherwise.

The depth of humanity’s depravity is much greater than something that can be fixed with mere knowledge of reality. It requires submission; the kind of submission that Jesus called for when He invited individuals into His Kingdom: “Deny yourself; take up your cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

The truth is, simply knowing Who Jesus is isn’t enough – it helps – but our eternal destiny requires more. Specifically, it requires our despairing of our own way, and our submission to Him and His way.

Truth be told, there will be many who believe they know the right things about Jesus who will be gravely undone on the day they meet Him face to face. Many will recognize and acknowledge Him on that day as “Lord”. But Jesus warns us, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

The fact of the matter is, our human heart is so corrupt and bent on doing things our own way, that even should we say we know Who Jesus is, we would still vehemently resist submitting to Him. We would still not want to love our enemies; not want to stop coveting; we would still want to hold grudges; we would still want unfettered freedom to determine our own way; we would resent His input into our lives; we’d want to spurn His redirection of our hearts.

In the end, when Jesus returns, the whole unbelieving world will still be opposed to Him and His way (Psalm 2:1-3). They will not hate homosexuality any more than they do now. They will not despise their nationalism anymore than they do today. They will not love the poor any more than they did while they feasted through their lives (ala. the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31) They will not think any higher about wanting to give Him love and praise. And when consigned to their tragic eternal destiny, they will remain in that accursed, angry, defiant state forever. (That indeed is hell…)

This is how bent our soul is under the curse. This is how prevalent its power is over our hearts. This is how badly we need a cross in Christianity. The Lord calls us into His Kingdom! And in order for us to live there we need to apply a cross to our own.

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JSB • March, 2022