WHY OUR HOUSE of PRAYER IS CHOOSING TO BOW LOW BEFORE OUR ONE KING TODAY
Several friends have asked if I will be attending/endorsing the #NOKING rally today (Saturday, October 18). Observers estimate that the civil protest will be the largest series of protests in the history of our nation (built on protest).
My simple response is “No”.
I get the temptation. We’re Americans. Civil, (and uncivil) discourse is in our social-psych DNA. We have constitutional “rights” to bring our arguments to college campuses, arenas, and our city’s streets in order to protest policies, presidents, and ideologies that we disagree with.
And yes, it’s good and right for followers of Jesus to lift our voices to speak truth to socio-political power, whether the power wants to authorize abortion and gender confusion under the banner of humanism, or it seeks to unceasingly curse its enemies and hide its sexual perversion, under the banner of Christianity.
Truth-be-told, in our life-times, we have never seen a more prolific, and hostile attempt for two political factions to seize the moral, and religious high-ground in our nation. Through assassinations, racist rhetoric, violent raids, and riotous defiance, America is ablaze with uncivil fires.
So why then would we refuse to participate in what is planned to be a civil, and even peace-filled demonstration of opposition to the Trump administration?
Here are 7 reasons why our little House of Prayer in the Mountains of Arizona is pro-actively choosing to forego this massive protest, and instead give ourselves to praising ONE KING today:
1. THE PRIORITY and POWER of PRAYER In an hour of enflamed zeal, we (especially followers of Christ) have no business bringing our voices to the civil arena if we haven’t first brought our voices into the chambers of the Lord. Most American ChristiansOVERESTIMATE the power of protest, and vastly vastly UNDERESTIMATE the power of prayer. The fact of the matter is, what we will gain through 3 hours of prayer will be monumentally greater than what we gain through any number of hours of protest. Our principled, activated stance in prayer on a day when many of our neighbors will protest, is a testimony to the truthfulness of this much needed spiritual reality in our world. What change (in ourselves, our communities, and our nation) do we hope for that doesn’t come through the Lord of glory Himself?
2. THIS IS AN HOUR of JUDGMENT This is an hour of predominant judgment. The Lord is at work in the Church, and in our nation, to bring His truth to bear on our values, practices, beliefs and lifestyles. The pressure we feel in our national forum is a God-orchestrated pressure designed to force conversation with the Father Who wants to reward us, as much as He wants to rebuke us. He’s preparing a Bride for His Son, Who is returning to be joined with a people who will reflect His heart, His power, and His wisdom. In an hour of judgment, who has the right to “rise up” and protest? As followers of Christ, our primary response to the judgments on the earth is to adjust our hearts before God, not protest the inconvenience of the pressures themselves. Isaiah 26 tells us, “When the judgments of the Lord are on the earth, the inhabitants of the earth learn righteousness.”As we experience the injustices and fire-storms of our culture, we do well to go into the courts of the Lord and receive His gracious, and patient instruction for our hearts, minds and ways. Above everything else, we Christians want to come through the tumult and trouble looking more and more like our King.
3. THE OPPORTUNITY to GIVE WITNESS of a PURE RESPONSE of FAITH to the LORD In an hour of judgment, the Church is given both an opportunity to respond faithfully to the Father and simultaneously give a witness to the world about how to respond faithfully to the God they do not know. As we experience the contentious pressures in our culture, as the unbelieving world watches the people of God bow low before His sovereign pressures, we show them the way into humility, repentance, and contrition in the fear of the Lord. In the heat of our current context, as followers of Jesus make prayer our primary, and zealous response, we are declaring that there is indeed a God to Whom we are accountable, a King Who demands our loyalty, and a Father Who sees and responds to our cries for justice. This witness is vital to the well-being of the commission the Lord has entrusted to us. And, if I can be a bit provocative; it is a witness that we American Christians have enormously failed to issue through the great pressures that have come upon us as a culture. Our primary response to the conflict in this hour has greatly emphasized protest and politics, while nearly entirely neglecting humility and repentance.
4. THE TRAP of PROTEST Again. We’re Americans. We’ve been built on the spirit of protest and revolution. Revolution is largely the spirit behind the thrust to Make America Great Again. Many picture our President as a type of “George Washington” who is bringing manifest destiny to the USA once again. Still others see his ways as despotic and authoritarian. Both perspectives clutch to the constitution of the United States to go to war against the other. Pastor Brian Drinkwine, in an excellent article entitled, “No Kings. No Idols. No Exceptions” writes: “We love the sound of rebellion, but rebellion without redemption just builds a new empire with different slogans. “No Kings” tears down the throne, but unless the crucified King takes His seat, someone else always will. History proves it. Every revolution that toppled tyrants eventually crowned new ones. The human heart cannot live without a ruler. The only question is whether ours wears thorns or gold.” Simply put, we will not overcome a spirit of protest with a bigger spirit of protest. That’s not how the Kingdom of God works. The Lord visits the meek, the poor in spirit, and those who fast themselves from the world’s ways of gaining power. We are a people who are prone to the idol of “demos”. Democracy is our “go to” idol when issues in our society are shaking. We reach for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, decide what is true based on our own internal evaluation, and then try to convince others that it’s true, until we have a critical mass of confirming assent. Pick ANY story from the Bible, and this power will be exposed for the (destructive) deception that it is. The Lord is looking for “faith”, not “correct perception”. He wants us leaning on Him, not on our own understanding. If I may be so bold, and pentecostal – protest may also fuel a ruling principality of “revolution and protest” that can keep the heart and soul bound to an inordinate (even idolatrous) faith in the powers of democracy, rather than in pure, obedient submission to the Kingly authority of Christianity, and the claim Jesus has on the way we live our lives before God and others.
5. THE POTENTIAL for CONFUSION and COMPROMISE Undoubtably, there are many who are keen to throw off the over-bearing ways of this administration. Many who will be protesting “No Kings” have no will or desire to be surrendered to any king, much less our King, Jesus. This is the atmosphere of Psalm 2, when the people “rage” against the Kingly order the Father has appointed over the whole earth. We’re not of that spirit. Neither do we want to give an indistinct witness to that kind of lawless spirit. The primary spirit of our witness is love, and allegiance, to King Jesus, not rebellion and rage against a carnal king. (Incidentally, this is the very issue that TPUSA fails to account for in its adulterous partnership with conservative Mormonism) Anything (plus much more) we hope to accomplish via standing with a sign in our arms before our neighbors, we accomplish bowing low before the Lord of glory, WITHOUT distortion, misinterpretation, or compromise. In the place of prayer, I greatly eliminate the potential of feeding a greater and greater spirit of rebellion. Rebellion is an enemy in the spiritual war that’s being waged, AND certainly in the Bride that’s being purified.
6. THE OPPORTUNITY to LOVE OUR ENEMIES In the midst of great contention, the Lord is looking for a people that He can use to redeem souls, narratives, and lifestyles. His love and His grace rides on humility, tenderness, meekness and faith. He wants to clothe us with a supernatural, transformative winsomeness that bids even our enemies to find refuge in His wings of redemption. He’s not looking for the crusaders. He’s looking for the crucified through which He can release His resurrection power to conservative, MAGA, liberal, humanist, curse-laden humanity. Our protest greatly exacerbates the divide. It doesn’t greatly bring His transcendent mercy into it.
7. THE DECLARATION of ZEAL to ONLY “DO THIS” WITH GOD As noted, we Americans are in a very unprecedented season of socio-political tribulation. We are in a battle to decide what kind of nation we will have. In Joshua chapter 5, in the hours before God’s chosen people were to attack the city of Jericho and begin their conquest of the land that had been promised to them, the Commander of the Lord’s Army comes to Joshua, and tests his heart with the revelation that He, Himself was neither on Joshua’s side, nor Jericho’s side. The question that confronted Joshua was: “Will you be on the Lord’s side?” And this is no less the question for us today. Joshua’s response is a good one for us to emulate. As he removed the sandals from his feet, he bowed low before the pre-incarnate King, Jesus essentially declaring, “I surrender myself to You. This is Your battle. No matter what else happens. I want to be found on Your side. I don’t want to do this without being with You where You are.”
CONCLUSION Beloved. There’s something MUCH BIGGER than our democracy at stake here. If we don’t see the Lord’s hand in the pressure that’s being stirred within the church, and the nation, it’s all the more impetus for us to give ourselves to seeking out the Face of the Lord.
And yes, the call to prayer is wholly counterintuitive. It is only going to be heard and understood by faith in the place of our spirit. The call to prayer isn’t primarily to “change” government, or popular opinion. It’s to align our will, emotions, mind and spirit with the heart of our King as He’s bringing His pressure to bear on our society. He’s really God! And He’s really preparing the earth for His Son’s return. If we’re more angry, or defensive, or righteous about what’s happening in our nation than we are humbled, and prayerful about Who’s coming, we’re in urgent need of adjustment – adjustment that will only happen at the deep, thorough level that comes from having given ourselves to being in the audience of the King of the Universe.
Find the place of prayer. Be a woman, or man of authenticated faith in the transcendent power of God. Lift up your eyes to the Lord of a trillion galaxies. Lift your voice there – in His holy, and magnificent Presence – if you can.
Today. Saturday, October 18 – our House of Prayer will be engaging in 3 hours of dedicated space to simply adore the King the Father has ordained to reign over us. And we confidently anticipate that as we do, He will extend His majesty, power, wisdom and kindness over our lives, and our communities. The Lord does inhabit the praises of His people. (Psalm 22:3)
This “trouble” in our nation isn’t going away anytime soon. If your church ministry doesn’t have a dedicated time, space, people who give themselves to seeking, humbling, worshipping prayer – start one. I promise you, the Lord will visit you there.
FINDING THE TRANSCENDENT WAY OF JESUS Beloved family. Stay true to the gospel of the Kingdom! Stay true to our King! Stay true to the cross!
Right now, heaven is searching for transcendent and unadulterated voices that will speak the truth of God to both the lost in the world, and the deluded in the Church.
It’s instructive to recognize that the voice of Christ – and the way of God – is almost never a singular, polarized antithesis to the way of godlessness. It is nearly always also a bur under the saddle of carnal, religious idolatry. History is packed with relevant examples:
A. In Exodus, there was the way of the Egyptians, the way of the Children of Israel, and then the way of God through Moses and Joshua. YHWH opposed the religious/idolatrous way of the Children of Israel (Exodus 32) as resoundingly as He did the paganism of the people of Egypt.
B. In Joshua 5, the Captain of the Lord’s armies declared He was not for the descendants of the Children of Israel, nor for the people of Jericho. He was looking for those who would “be on the Lord’s side”. It was a transcendent moment that moved Joshua (the man who would not leave the tent of meeting in Exodus 33) so profoundly that he fell at the feet of the Captain in holy worship.
C. In Daniel 3, there was the way of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, there was the way of the faithless children of Judah, and then there was the transcendent way of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, who would not bow to the kingdom image that all the rest of the Babylonians, including captive Judah were bowing to.
D. In Jesus’ day, there was the way of the pagan Romans, and then the way of the Pharisees, and the crippled people of Judea. Jesus walked in a transcendent way above the rampant false gods of the Hellenistic world, and the false, religious zealotry of the Jews – calling all to repentance.
“Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)
E. Across the ages, kingdoms have risen in opposition to oppressive religion (ie. the Russian revolution, the populist movement in South Africa etc.), and kingdoms have risen up against virulent godlessness (the crusades, and many of the South American regime changes in the 60’s, and 70’s). In the VAST MAJORITY OF THE CASES the kingdoms that have risen against the ruling political power were NOT the way of Christ. (The Marxists weren’t the way of Christ replacing the religious elite in Russia. Pinochet wasn’t bringing the Kingdom of heaven to Chile. And Mandela wasn’t bringing the way of Christ to the people of South Africa.) There remained a transcendent way above, wedged and salted into the kingdoms that were in polar apposition to each other.
F. In the 1930’s, the Nazi’s rose to power promising to inoculate Germany from the godless ideology of communism that was sweeping the nations in eastern Europe. No one today believes Naziism was the way of Jesus. Nor would any Bible believer assert that the way of Stalin and Lenin were the government of heaven on earth. Faithful disciples of Jesus, the “ELECT” if you will, were borne and forged within the midst of the “trouble” (thlipsis – “tribulation”) of the intense cultural pressures that existed between these polarized ideologies. And so you had the Corey and Betsy TenBooms living for Jesus in spite of the Nazi opposition, and you had the Ivan (Vanya) Moiseyevs, living faithfully for Jesus under the thumb of communist Russia. BOTH LIVED FAITHFULLY FOR JESUS even though their secular cultural ideologies fought wars against the other…
It’s not so difficult to see the parallel today in America. There’s been a decades-long thrust of godless humanism that’s become virulent and oppressive throughout our culture, and now a strident, authoritarian nationalism that has taken aim at the evils of “the left”, and “the woke”. We dare (and it is a risk) to learn the long lesson of history – especially our own “people of God” history and realize that the Lord is most always NOT on one side or the other of these warring, political factions. His way is transcendent. His way is pure. His way is nailed to a cross to the glory of the One Who will one day rule ALL the nations.
Friends. Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah, Daniel, the John the Baptist, the disciples, Augustine, Luther, Wesley, and Bonhoeffer, all found the transcendent way of the “ELECT” of God. And it behooves the American Church to find it in our tumultuous hour as well.
Beloved. The only way the household of God will stand through this hour of judgment from the Lord re: idolatrous, political nationalism is NOT by becoming people who broadcast endless proof of the evil that fills our hallways of power – an evil our family is readily ingesting, and promoting. We will ONLY OVERCOME the strategies of hell’s stronghold being erected against His Kingdom as we, the church, become a people who are more enthralled with the God of Joshua, Isaiah, John the Baptist and Revelation, Who they meet in the tent of meeting, than the cadaverous god that is being conjured as a mascot by the court prophets, and the false shepherds.
We will neither perceive the nature of the delusion, nor overcome the various issues that are confronting our hearts, our relationships, and our fidelity to Christ, without becoming people of ardent prayer, who see what the angels see, and bow low to the eternal God of 300 trillion galaxies.
If prayer isn’t an integral pattern of your daily life right now, you already are being spun by the god of this age, and will not traverse the fearful way of the Lord through this hour of monumental tribulation.
Hear the Word of the Lord through Isaiah 28 “Therefore, listen to the Lord’s message, you who scorn and boast – For you say, ‘We have made a treaty with death, with Sheol we have made an agreement. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by it will not reach us. For we have made a lie our refuge, we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word’.” (Isaiah 28:14-15)
The rest of Isaiah’s message can only be heard and appropriated in our lives, families, churches, and culture by giving ourselves to being the people of the tabernacle of God.
“16 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord, says: ‘Look, I am laying a stone in Zion, an approved stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. The one who maintains his faith will not panic.” (Isaiah 28:16)
The judgments of the Lord isn’t merely about Him rebuking a wayward people, He’s setting the order of His Son in place upon the earth so that the peoples of the earth can either agree with this administrative order, or faithlessly disagree with this administrative order. When we agree with this heavenly order – the order of the King – our hearts can be set at peace – though they be greatly constrained by the demands of faithfully heralding the true prophetic Word of the Lord to a deaf, and deluded people. When we surrender to the One Who is bringing His order of stability to our world, we can be filled with the peaceable fruits of righteousness – which is the administrative order of King, Jesus – even though we know that the setting in place of this eternal Kingdom will cause great great disruption on the earth.
“17 I will make justice the measuring line, fairness the plumb line; hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place. 18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, you will be overrun by it. 19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you; indeed, every morning it will sweep by, it will come through during the day and the night.” (Isaiah 28:17-19)
Again. The Lord’s promise to establish His Son’s order upon the earth, will greatly disrupt the paradigms of men and demons. When God arises, His enemies are about to be scattered – often with alarming tumult, and typhoons of chaos. It’s pure foolishness to think that when the Lord’s storm comes to the earth, (and we are already being tossed by the early winds) we will automatically stand securely, because we have a “theology of security”, though we have never parsed the ways and means, and details of the beautiful roots of that security in the place of much prayer, and dialogue with the Spirit over scripture.
“When this announcement is understood, it will cause nothing but terror. 20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. 21 For the Lord will rise up, as He did at Mount Perazim; He will rouse himself, as He did in the Valley of Gibeon, to accomplish His work, His peculiar work, to perform His task, His strange task.” (Isaiah 28:19-21)
Who is able to say, “Lord, bring the fulness of Your Presence, even though it comes with great terror…”??? Only the one who has been terrified by the Lord in the secret place; in the crevice of the Lord, as His glory has passed by, and then discovered that he/she has not been destroyed in the process. This is the necessary strength that can only be cultivated and accumulated in the place of face to Face encounter with the Living God of Mount Sinai, and the transfiguration.
“22 So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies against the entire land. 23 Pay attention and listen to my message. Be attentive and listen to what I have to say!” (Isaiah 28:22-23)
There is no place for mockery in the household of God. In the Presence of the Lord, all forms of ridicule and scorn is irreverent “racca”… making one guilty of hell-fire itself. (See Matthew 5:22) The work being done within ourselves in the tabernacle of the Lord will produce a holy sobriety of the spirit, that knows full well the disastrous consequences that will come to those who do not avail themselves of the Lord’s summons to His threshing floor.
“24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground? 25 Once he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant, sow the seed of the cumin plant, and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? 26 His God instructs him; He teaches him the principles of agriculture. 27 Certainly caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed. Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick, and cumin seed with a flail. 28 Grain is crushed, though one certainly does not thresh it forever. The wheel of one’s wagon rolls over it, but his horses do not crush it.” (Isaiah 28:24-28)
The one who goes into the tabernacle of the Lord will soon learn there is nothing more necessary, needful, efficacious and life-giving than for the human spirit to seek out, receive, and perceive encounter with the Holy One. This is where the wisdom that is necessary to navigate the hour of tribulation is given. Nowhere else.
“29 This also comes from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, Who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom.” (Isaiah 28:29)
Each morning, (from 7:00am – 8:00am) All Nations begins with an hour of humility, repentance and contrition. As we come before the holy God, we revere the honor of His majesty by considering the grace that He extends to us to come into His Presence. We consider our own unworthiness, the mercy He has shown us, and our persistent appreciation for His salvation, the bearing of our cross, our awareness of His judgments that are on the earth, and the call to walk in Christlike meekness and lowliness. This is our way – the way of prayer – before God, and others in our world.
This part of the morning is often more quiet than the rest of our time together. Feel free to join us as we sit quietly before the Lord, listen for His Voice, humble ourselves in prayer, and bring our weak hearts before His eternal strength and glory.
HUMILITY
We begin our morning by assuming our eternal posture of humility before the Lord. He is our God. And we are His people; His daughters, and sons. As we enter into His courts, we become aware that we are in a holy realm, an atmosphere of pure beauty and majesty.
PRAYER: We bow before You, holy Father! We humble our spirits, our minds, our emotions, and our agendas before You, and Your perfect leadership. Holy Spirit, help us to embrace humility; the attitude that Jesus had toward the Father. We are glad that we belong to You. We yield ourselves to You, and all that You have for us today. Help us to walk without presumption, toward You, and others. Clothe us with this supernatural quality, that we may walk and live and breathe like Jesus.
REPENTANCE
In an evangelical culture that honors self-justification, image-management, and conspiracies more than humility, contrition and the fear of the Lord, the household of God desperately needs to rediscover the blessed wisdom and strength of “radical repentance”.
The latin word for “radical” literally means “to get to the root”. Because sin is primarily a heart issue, and not just a surface issue, repentance, by definition should always be, “radical”.
So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.(Joel 2:13)
The word that the Bible most often uses for “repentance” is the Hebrew word, “SHUBV”. SHUBV is a radical term that literally means “to put fire to your house and leave with God”. The Hebrew characters in the word (Hebrew being a pictorial language) actually visualize the activity of a man setting fire to his house.
SHUBV is making a radical life-correction, abandoning an old way of living, to do life God’s way, with God Himself.
It’s the Lord’s kindness (Romans 2:4) to expose the dangerous inadequacy of our ways. His call to SHUBV repentance is an invitation for us to leave our rickety, self-constructed, self-governance and walk under the soundness of His leadership.
In this part of the morning we continue in a spirit of humility, acknowledging our personal sins, and owning the corporate sins of our culture. This is a time of tender listening to the Spirit as He faithfully brings issues and offenses before our minds for us to confess to the Father.
Over the last few years the King has been “burning down our old normals” so that He may bring us into the order of His new, dawning normal. Throughout numerous contentious events He’s been asking us: “How willing are you to have Me? Do you see that through plagues and race-riots and political treachery I am helping you to ‘burn your insufficient house down’ so that you may live in My superior dwelling? Do you understand that I am dismantling your meager perception and human-powered reasoning in order to bring you into My eternal realm? As I am bringing My government to this world I want you with Me, thinking My thoughts, understanding My emotions, agreeing with My judgments and thriving in My wisdom.”
PRAYER: Father, we ask for You to give us the spirit of repentance; that we would see ourselves, and our ways in the light of Your assessment. We specifically confess and repent of the following: • We repent of our culture’s devaluation of human life, from conception to the grave. • We repent of our culture’s dishonorable norms, values and attitudes toward sex, family, and marriage. • We repent of our culture’s insensitivity, and often hostility toward Israel, and the Jewish people. • We repent of the ways we have dishonored people and families of different nationalities and cultures. We ask that You forgive us for being apathetic toward the enmity that we’ve allowed to exist within our hearts re: various people-groups in our nation, and region. • We repent of our hostile socio-political ways, and our nationalist pride. We ask that You would entirely disentangle us from the idolatry that so easily entangles us. • We repent of our abusive, manipulative ways that does injustice to the identity and destiny of others with whom we fellowship, and are called to live in humble unity with. • We repent of the ways we have transgressed Your Son’s explicit exhortations in His Sermon on the Mount. Forgive us for considering these majestic assertions as so small and inconsequential. • We repent of harming and abusing others as we have considered the issues that flood our world. Forgive us for being impatient, and not trusting You way of “meekness.”
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you other issues in your own heart that need confession and repentance:This is more than a general confession. Your sins were committed one by one; and as much as you are able, they ought to be reviewed and repented of one by one. This is a spiritual work. Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and show you what is out of line with the character of Jesus’ heart.
Ingratitude. Unbelief. Lack of Love for God. Neglect of the Word. Lack of Humility Before the Word of God. Lack of Prayer. Neglect of Fellowship. Casual Compromise in Pursuit of God. Lack of Love for Souls. Neglect of Family Duties. Lack of Care forthe Poor. Lack of Love for Other Races/Nations. Lack of Watchfulness Over Your Witness. Neglect of Your Cross. Vanity. Pride. Love of Things and Possessions. Sexual Lust and Sexual Immorality. Envy. Bitterness. Slander, Gossip and Condemnation. Self-Determination. Lying and Deceit. Alienation. Lack of Forgiveness and Repentance. Cheating. Hypocrisy. Hostility. Intolerance. Violence. Idolatry. Dissension. Mockery. Open Defiance. Lack of Worship and Praise. Self-Justification. Evil Entertainment. Participation in False Religion.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:6-10)
CONTRITION
Once we have confessed our sins to the Lord He graciously gives us forgiveness, power to be free from our sin, and a heart-attitude that is sorrowful for the ways our sins have injured His Kingdom, and others.
For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment of wrong! (2 Corinthians 7:11)
This heart-attitude is an essential safeguard against spiritual pride – an ever present enemy to our walk in the Lord. Contrition also cultivates a humble zeal within our hearts, a zeal that quietly enthrones the values that make for future righteous relationship as we increasingly give ourselves to living faithfully unto the reign of Jesus Christ through our lives. We’re not merely “sorry for our sins”. We live with an enlightened passion to live differently, to live like Christ, under the holy power of the Spirit.
“Why would a good and loving God let anyone suffer the eternal torment of hell?”
This is a familiar accusation against God in our 21st century culture. At it’s core, is the allegation that God cannot possibly be loving, and in control of everything if He allows anyone to experience such a horrible place as Hell.
Recently, I was dialoguing with a Yale professor who’s written a book championing Rob Bell’s argument for universalism. The premise of his work is that a “God of love” cannot possibly consign anyone to a place of eternal torment. Hence, this doctor of theology argues: “All (including Hitler, Stalin, the demons and the devil himself) will ultimately be saved”.
THE KINGDOM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS vs. THE KINGDOM OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS My response to this ancient and tried accusation is that ultimately, our salvation isn’t about our assent to mere philosophical principles about justice, kindness and peace. It’s about our fidelity to a God/Man Who has been promised to rule the Nations. Human salvation is deliverance from an unworkable order of chaos and ultimate destruction, into an eternal Kingdom where love, truth, goodness, joy and life operate without hinderance. Furthermore, the foundation of this Kingdom is entirely predicated upon one’s relationship to the King of this Kingdom; a King Who is the essence of this grand, order. The Bible describes this order of love, truth, goodness, joy and abundant life: “righteousness”.
Those who have no baseline faith in this King, nor His order of “righteousness”, are subjects of the anarchist kingdom of unrighteousness. One cannot say they subscribe to the King’s order of righteousness and have no fealty toward the King Himself. The King is the Doorway, and indeed relationship with the King, is the Way itself within His realm of righteousness. Righteousness is, at its core, “right relationship with the King”. And the King’s great desire is to be as perfectly united to His human creation, as He Himself is with His Eternal Father.
There’s a lot there in these few statements. But they are essential truths that the Bible underscores from Genesis, through the prophets, the gospels and through the end of Revelation: God’s aim is for humanity to be thoroughly, and intimately united to Himself, in thought, emotion, will, and behavior.
God’s aim is for humanity to be thoroughly, and intimately united to Himself, in thought, emotion, will, and behavior.
“You shall love the Lord your God, with all of your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12; Mark 12:30)
Having asserted this baseline understanding of His Kingdom, it follows that all of the Kingdom of heaven will be a hell for those who have no will to live under the Kingdom’s King of righteousness. Put another way, those who have tasted no sense of the wisdom of humbling themselves before the King, operating in meekness under the reign of the King, hungering for the reign of the King, being purified from every vestige of disagreement with the King, and see little value in bringing their heart, soul, and mind into harmony with the King, will utterly despise the order of the King when it becomes the order of the earth.*
On the day that the world sees the resurrected Jewish King, Jesus of Nazareth, return to earth to set up His government, humanists, satanists, dominionists, universalists, nationalists, fatalists and communists, will all tragically love their self-directed ways and opinions no less than they do today. They will not tolerate the sovereign reign of another – even though life itself functions to perfection in submission to Him. They will be filled with protesting narratives that will stir them to crave, and be bent toward their own self-government, no less than they are today.
Here’s the immovable problem to this circumstance: The King has a Father. And the Father is adamant about His Son ruling the nations (the diverse collection of humanity on the earth) The Father simply will not suffer insurrection against fidelity to His Son.
“I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.” I will declare the decree: ‘The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.'” (Psalm 2:6-8)
Here’s the key point: Those that Jesus consigns to hell will neither want, nor submit to His reign any more in His presence than in His absence.
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'” (Matthew 25:41)
By eternally separating them from Himself, Jesus is removing them from relationship with Himself – which is the realm of His reign. He is giving them what they’ve wanted – to live in a kingdom other than His; indeed, in a state that exists independent of relationship with the King – the One Who has been ordained to rule every human soul ever born.
Why would anyone not want to live under the reign of a King Who rules with perfect love? In order to answer this question, we must understand the essential nature of human life, in a broken and fallen world.
THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD IS UNDER A CURSE The Bible tells us that humanity exists under a curse that causes our hearts to desire thoughts, ways, and behaviors that destabilize us from the way of life, and will ultimately destroy us.
Their eyes, full of adultery, never stop sinning; they entice unstable people. They have trained their hearts for greed, these children are under a curse! (2 Peter 2:14)
This curse infects every human heart – all 8 billion of us. We’re born with it.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)
The curse compounds itself (Romans 1:18-32) If we don’t deal with it, it doesn’t lie there and get weaker. It multiplies, infects and harms others around us. It utterly destroys, souls, relationships, societies etc. If the curse is not put in check it has the capacity to destroy all of humanity and the earthly creation.
The curse is essentially composed of rebellion. Our unwillingness to live as God’s creatures, unwilling to live under His rule is what constitutes and feeds this rebellious curse.
Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. (Jeremiah 17:5)
The curse is 100 times worse than cancer.
Hell is nothing less than the horrors of the curse – with no restraint to hold it back. Fear, unsatisfied lust, murder, suspicion, shame, and alienation all thrive in hell. The inhabitants of hell are utterly, forever helpless to fend off the hideous, torturous, destructive power of these dynamics. (Matthew 18:34; Mark 9:48)
What kind of loving God would let a disease one hundred times worse than cancer spread boundlessly?**
Hell is God’s answer to imprisoning, and restraining the viral, devastating nature of the curse. In hell, the human soul will experience unabated terror, shame, torment, isolation and hatred – including self-hatred. It will be the complete vacuum of every bit of light and grace that Jesus preveniently gives to the human soul in this age.
“Hell… where ‘their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’” (Mark 9:44)
Originally, hell is/was God’s answer to the rebellion of satan and the angels. It was never intended for humanity. Indeed, God has made every provision for us to not be consigned to hell. (John 3:16) But He will decree those who reject His mercy to this eternal condition. (See Mark 9:45-47; 2 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 21:8)
At its essence, the great torment of hell is really the rage of creation against a perfect, and loving God, Who has made every provision for humanity to thrive apart from the ravages of the curse, enjoying His reign – forever.
Unless we break our agreement with the curse by surrendering our lives to the Curse Breaker, Jesus Christ, unless we take up our own cross in covenant with Him, we are living in rebellion to Him and His Kingdom – AND we are giving more power to the curse in our world.
JESUS IS THE CURSE-BREAKER Fortunately, there is ONE MAN Who possesses the unique qualifications to set us free from the power of the curse. He’s the only person ever, Who’s claimed to have the authority to put an end to the curse… and“He’s the friend of sinners.” (Luke 7:34)
The claim that God has inflicted hell upon His creation can hold no water for one, vital and historically important reason: At great great cost, Jesus Christ made every provision for us to escape the looming threat of hell.
Knowing the dynamics that are arrayed against us, He forever set aside His eternal state as the uncreated God, and voluntarily subjected Himself to the death-curse that we, ourselves, inflicted upon Him. It was a horrible torture, and a gruesome death. Jesus was put to death by humanity. Romans imperialists, religious elites, and the oppressed poor abhorred Him, betrayed Him, tortured Him and then executed Him. We put God to death! Every single one of us. Had He been born in any other culture; any other age, or among any other society, Jesus would have fared no better. We’re all guilty of rejecting, despising and killing Jesus.***
In view of all this we ask: Where are we going to find a better leader, with more wisdom, more ability, more commitment to our good, more tolerant patience, compassion toward our decrepit condition, more understanding of our self-betraying heart, and power to bring us into fruitful love than Jesus?
Jesus is the Leader our hearts have always longed for! He’s the perfect Leader, Who leads with perfect wisdom, perfect love, perfect power, perfect empowerment… etc. Under His leadership we live with the ideal antidote to the corruption of the curse. Instead of hatred, we experience perfect love. Instead of fear – security. Instead of lust – pure, and holy satisfaction. Instead of loneliness – mutual, unashamed union with God and others… There’s no logical reason why any human being would not thrive, emotionally, physically, intellectually and spiritually living under Jesus’ reign. None.
In the final analysis, Hell is God’s “prison” then for those who irrationally oppose the perfect Leader that our own hearts crave now.
When Jesus returns (yes, we believe that…), He will rule the earth with perfect love and perfect wisdom and justice. With death and the curse banished, Jesus, and those in His Kingdom, are forever free to enjoy 100% mutual, perfect love, where there is no taint of hostility, fear, suspicion or alienation – only joy, beauty and affirmation centered around the radiant, joy, beauty and affirmation of Jesus Christ.
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3-4)
Here’s the critical question: What then should He do with those who have resisted, and rejected His perfect, loving, all sacrificing leadership? Would a God of love endlessly tolerate a viral curse infecting His Kingdom?? Of course not. The truth of the matter is, Jesus reigning over humanity isn’t an issue that’s up for debate. It’s a settled fact – determined by the will of the Father. It will be a manifest reality.
And again, the human will, being what it is, will no more honor, and/or submit to the perfect reign of Jesus in this next age, than we have in this one. If we want a life that exists autonomous and disconnected from His leadership now, we will honestly not clamor for it anymore when He’s standing right in front of us. Our hearts are that that tainted by the curse, and stubbornly set on our selfish ways.
BELOVED, TODAY, Jesus offers us freedom from the curse, and a new life of profound goodness under His reign. If we will dialogue with Him, admit that our hearts have been filled with accusations against His leadership, admit that we’ve wanted our own way and ask Him to forgive us for not trusting Him, He will forgive us, and show us how to live free from the power of the curse that stubbornly clings to our lives. If you want His forgiveness and His liberating leadership you can have both, instantaneously, by praying a prayer like this:
Jesus, thank You for everything that You’ve done for me – most especially, for dying on the cross. Forgive me for the many ways I’ve rejected You, and rebelled against You and Your ways. (It may be helpful for you to recall some of the ways you have rebelled and resisted His reign in your life.) My heart has been filled with sin, and the ways of the curse. I want it to be clean, and filled with the ways of Your love. Please come into my life, and lead me. Put to death the things in me that keep me separated from You, and from others. Direct me into the joys of everlasting life, forever living under Your reign.
__________ JSB • August, 2025 (Revised)
In 2015, while I was fully awake, the Lord gave me an open vision of hell that’s forged a deeply-rooted sensitivity to the horrors of hell. Check out my story in this companion article, “From Hell to Heaven“.
*NOTE: This is also why it is SO VITAL that the Church respond to the (1 Peter 4:17-18) corporate judgments of the Lord in this hour, by giving the world an example of how to respond to the reign of a holy, sovereign and gracious God. The corporate judgments upon the Church right now are intended to give the unsaved world a witness of the blessedness of His reign that liberates humanity from the oppressive, murderous, selfish ways of unrighteousness. If the world sees us casting off the judgments of the Lord with self-justification, and violently demanding our own way, they will find no reason, and see no example of how, or why to respond to the Lord any differently than we have. They will see no reason not to live from the flesh. They will hear no joy re: the contra-curse goodness of His reign. Nor will they understand the pathway into His Kingdom. They will remain in a mind-set that divorces the heart, mind and soul from His leadership, and the Kingdom of righteousness.
**For us to sit in judgment re: “Why” God allowed the curse to infect humanity in the first place is to assume that we know more than God, see further than God, love deeper than God. This is nothing if not the foolish pathway of pride. The fact of the matter is we’re not God. (We should at least know this much…) We did not create ourselves. Each of us struggle with a curse that will ultimately put each of us to death. God invested Himself in supplying both a way of escape from the penalty of the curse, and the Object of our desire for perfect love and perfect leadership in His Son.
***There is great power and hope in the apostolic belief that “CHRIST DESCENDED INTO HELL.”
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison…” (1 Peter 3:18-19)
A sixth century Catholic devotional reading for “holy Saturday” (the day after Good Friday – and the day before Resurrection Sunday) reads: “Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. . . He has gone to search for Adam, our first father, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him – He who is both their God and the son of Eve. . . “I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. . . I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead.”
The fact that Jesus as a man in death encountered hell itself declares that there is no power, affliction, stronghold, illness, curse nor depth of evil that can be arrayed against us that is not subject to the reign and authority of Jesus.
Beloved. Death was never His equal. It was only His enemy.
Below are 24 Scriptures from the Bible on topic of Hell
For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD. And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. Isaiah 66:22-24
At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12:1-2
If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. Matthew 5:29-30
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. Matthew 7:13
…but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 8:12
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. Matthew 11:20-24
Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:40-42
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous. Matthew 13:47-50
He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16
Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. Matthew 18:6-9
Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers unit he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. Matthew 18:32-35
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Matthew 23:33
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” . . . Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:42-48
Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’. But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the protest in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.’ Luke 13:24-28
In being in torment in Hades he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. Luke 16:23-25
This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment. 2 Peter 2:4
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Jude 7
[These people are] wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. Jude 13
If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.Revelation 14:9-11
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. Revelation 19:20
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. . . . Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:10, 14-15
____________________ If you would like to dialogue about these scriptures, and/or the reality of hell, and/or the promise of eternal life in Jesus’ Kingdom, contact me: Jon Boegl xaris4u@yahoo.com I’d love to connect with you.
The Moravians stood shoulder to shoulder with native Americans during America’s first great awakening.
Evangelists and abolitionists marked the second great awakening.
Azusa, was led by a one-eyed black man, and embraced nearly every ethnicity on earth.
Like the very first “revival” recorded in Acts 2, all the great nation-wide revivals in America also ushered in grand, societal-shifts toward heaven’s value for race.
The last bonafide, national revival we had was the Jesus People Movement of the late 60’s and 70’s. One of the reasons it was so pervasive was because it participated in the national humbling of the general populace re: our nation’s long history of racial sin, while casting a broad vision for the multiethnic culture America was becoming. The Spirit of the Lord touched all aspects of our society as a result.
Race was one of the chief issues that Jesus confronted through all four of the gospels. It was a perpetual component of the Acts of the apostles. It was an issue that was repeatedly addressed in the epistles. And it is a sparkling facet of the beauty of redeemed humanity in the book of Revelation.
To be racially tender (even toward Haitians, Afghanis, Central Americans, Canadians, Greenlanders, and Mexicans) is to make room for His Kingdom, even at the expense of our own kingdoms. To love with humility and empathy across convivial norms, and divisions is part of the warp and woof of what it means to be a New Testament Christian. It is to be like Jesus.
At the same time, the way of the devil is to ply self-justification, insensitivity, and a “look out for my own” mentality into communities. It is the way of antipathy, and the anti-cross. It plays on fear, rather than excelling at love. It is the anti-1Corinthians13 way. Neither does it value making oneself poor, meek, mournful, hungry for justice, peaceful, pure, or merciful. The way of the devil diminishes the distinctively deep, and wonderful elements of ethnicity. It is a form of “trashing family” as sure as sexual perversion, divorce and abortion.
With this in mind, with the callous, defensive, insular spirit that’s currently in vogue with so many of our MAGA evangelical leaders, I don’t believe we are “making a way” for the increased Presence of the Lord, and a modern, nation-wide revival. To the contrary – much of the neo-nationalist rhetoric seeks to shift our collective attitude in ways that grieve and militate against the Lord of the nations.
Racial celebration remains one of the most cherished elements marking great surges in Kingdom expansion. And right now, our ways are stained with indifference, unrepentance, and lack of compassion toward our neighbors’ racial wounds and inequities.
O, Father of glory! Give us a considerate, and contrite heart for Your magnificent design for race.
My heart-wrenching concern for American Evangelicalism over the last 36 months has less to do with who our president is maligning, or what the godless in our nation are championing, than it does with the spirit I hear in the Church as we engage the socio-political issues of our day. Through storm after storm, the Lord is providing our evangelical family with an MRI of the 1 John 2:16 carnality that festers in our soul, and the idols we’ve harbored on the high places. And although I’m ultimately confident in the Holy Spirit’s ability to bring us forth as a part of Jesus’ glorious Bride1, I’m presently alarmed that from top to bottom, we American evangelicals seem oblivious to the nature and cure for the malignancy that’s ravaging our nation.
What’s the source of our nation’s cancer? It’s a cancer of the spirit. And it finds host in Pentecostals, atheists, conservatives, democrats, racists, LGBTQ, and fundamentalists alike. It metastasizes from one reality: failure to take up one’s cross. It isn’t surprising that this lack should be discovered among a godless, scripture-shunning society. What’s alarming is that a people who, for decades, have been feeding on Jesus’ Words of life, should have no cross.
I’m not saying we Christians don’t revere the cross, or quote from cross-teaching giants like A’Kempis, Luther, Murray, Bonhoeffer and Tozer. I’m not saying we don’t esteem references to the cross, lyrics about the cross, or that we don’t “like” pithy memes about the cross. I’m saying we leaders have failed to teach the cross. We’ve left the gospels’ foundational call to Christ in the footnotes. As John Wimber used to say, “We’ve left the crucified life in the fine-print of our contract with Christ.” For a hundred self-retaining reasons, we’ve simply not instructed the saints on how to take up their cross and follow Jesus. Period. Consequently, as evangelicals address the host of serious moral and spiritual issues in our society, what our neighbors hear sounds more like a people who are desperately For a hundred self-retaining reasons, we’ve simply not instructed the saints on how to take up their cross and follow Jesus. Period. Consequently, as evangelicals address the host of serious moral and spiritual issues in our society, what our neighbors hear sounds more like a people who are desperately “seeking to save their own lives” (Luke 9:24), than those who are so confident in our Lord that they’re joyfully willing to lay down their lives for His sake. (1 John 3:16; John 15:13)
Allow me to clarify where neglecting the way of the cross leaves us in this hour.
When we evangelicals refuse to take up our cross… 1. …we will find ourselves reaching for the world’s definition of power. We will fail to manifest Christ’s definition of power, which is filled with truth, grace, and redemptive compassion. (Luke 9:54, Matthew 18:1-5)
2. When we do not deny our “selves”, we ARE swallowed up by the (Romans 3:9-18; 2 Peter 2:14) curse of rancor, malice, alienation, self-justification, shaming and deceit that rages in man’s pursuit of power; the only cure for which is the cross.
3. When we neglect the crucified life 3. When we neglect the crucified life we will find ourselves clamoring for our own rights and privileges without asking if the fervor of our pursuit is impeding our witness, and our primary mandate to look like Jesus. (See Philippians 2:5-11)
4. When we lay down our cross, we are restricting the beatitudes to Sunday sermon notes rather than employing them as the norms of our heart as we engage our culture. (See Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6:20-49) The simple & tragic truth is, when we evangelicals champion a President without voicing our objection to his deeply carnal spirit we’re declaring to our lost world that when social-moral issues are at risk it’s most wise to ditch Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in favor of the hostile politics of the flesh. Beloved, Jesus didn’t give us the Sermon on the Mount because He wanted to make us religious. He gave us the Sermon on the Mount because He wants our relationships to work, and to honor Him.
5. When we deny the cross and take up our self, we gerrymander sin; neglecting the truth that Jesus calls humanity to bring our whole self to death. Instead, we’re found arguing that sins within our camp (pornography, sexual assault, malice, massive adultery, racial insensitivity, and hostile hate-speech) are less disqualifying than the sins outside of our camp. (See Matthew 5:27-32 and Matthew 5:21-26)
6. When we forgo the cross, we forfeit the integrity and authority of our prophetic voice. (See Mark 6:18 & Luke 13:32) Without the cross we make small prophecies that indenture the Church to political polarization and fear, rather than making Kingdom prophecies in a Spirit of true liberty that call a whole nation to repent.
7. When we shun the cross, we become so intent on defeating the evils of liberal humanism that we become willing to cut deals with the evils of conservative hedonism – the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life that is in opposition to the Father. (See 1 John 2:16)
8. When we do not die daily, we will find ourselves choosing to compromise the values of Christ’s Kingdom in an attempt to “save our own life” (Luke 17:33). The lust for political power intoxicates us so that we more readily give up our fidelity to the way of Christ. (See 1 Peter 2:23)
9. When we marginalize the way of the cross we reformulate what it means for a soul to come to Christ. We redraw the terms of His covenant, giving “baby Christians” in our own political camp every benefit of the doubt; giving them mulligans rather than Jesus’ invitation to “come and die”. (See Mark 10:21; Luke 9:23)
10. When we bear no cross our family, neighbors and culture cannot see Jesus at work in us. (See Colossians 3:3; John 3:30)
Because the Father has promised to give His Son a co-companion Bride, I do have great hope! The Holy Spirit’s zeal to bring forth a bride is greater than our zeal to make America great again. If the Church will maintain her (Ephesians 5:15,16) perspicuity and cry out to God while maintaining our uncompromised fidelity to Jesus, He will use the firestorms of this hour to beautify us, so that we shine forth with unmistakeable Christlike character, favor and power. Halleluia!
But we must not be deceived, beloved. Taking up our cross is foundational to His plan to bring forth the Bride. And a cross-bearing Bride is vital to His plan to redeem a nation. The truth of the matter is, the longer we refuse the way of the cross, the more it will require of us to take it up in the future.
Jesus, above all else, give us passion, unction and grace to take up our cross unto YOUR INCREASE – not our own!
__________ JSB • June, 2019
In the June 2025 article, “Many Have Bowed Down and Fallen“, I lay out why I believe the Lord is now giving millions in our family over to the curse of unrighteousness; an unrighteousness that we have clamored for in our persistence to obtain our own selfish ways at the expense of our cross. I remain confident that the Lord will have His purified Bride for Himself at the end of the age, but I understand that this Bride will be severely refined, and many will “fall away”, and no longer be a part of the Bride through the purging process. Make no mistake however, the “giving over to unrighteousness” is also a part of the refining process. Where His people have spurned being disciplined by a Righteous Hand, the Lord is now allowing us to be disciplined by an unrighteous hand. ↩︎
SPIRIT WORD & CROSS 