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)
Over the last several months, the Lord has provided a gracious, and sure way for individuals, families, and fellowships to navigate His judgment upon Houses of Prayer, and His own evangelical household in the United States.
Those who have given themselves to a.) the endless deprecation and devouring of others; or b.) the gamesmanship of defensiveness and pretense, will only have an “expectation of punishment” (Hebrews 10:27) for their determination to avoid this way of the Lord’s mercy and purification.
At the same time, the judgments of the Lord are primarily about the Lord bringing rewards to the Church; rewards that will encourage radical, authentic Christlikeness. Those who have navigated these judgments in the soul-searching spirit of mutual humility, lament and repentance, allowing the Lord to purge their unrighteous ways, can expect to receive great rewards for their intensive labor of dethroning self, and appropriating the way of Christ.
Here are the 10 blessings for navigating the judgments of the Lord under the deep, purifying grace of the Lord:
1. The joy-filled blessing of beholding the Lord in the beauty of His holiness. With our sensors “cleansed”, we are able to behold Him with great perception, and tenderness of spirit.
2. The blessing of the fearless spirit that comes from having been clothed with the preeminent fear of the Lord. If our hearts are rooted in the fear of the Lord, we become confident, and emboldened in every other context. We know Who is holding all the cards. And we tremble at His perfect authority to bring those who are playing games with His righteousness, into alignment to the sovereign majesty of His Son.
3. The blessing of the unassailable conscience that comes from walking with Him in the light. Peace abounds within those who know they have been brought to lowest of lows – having let the Spirit illuminate and purge the deepest of their wicked ways.
4. The blessing of increased Christlikeness. As we submit to crucifixion of self, we become unhindered in our attainment of Christlikeness. We are fully liberated from impediments to the formation of His character and power within us.
5. The blessings that are attached to all 8 of the Beatitudes. (You couldn’t navigate the judgments of these last few months with the Lord without touching all 8 of the dynamics of Matthew 5:3-12)
6. The blessing of a clean conscience that comes from having built humble, loving relationships upon the redemptive grace of the Lord, and not upon law, pretense, or the fear of man.
7. The blessing (and honor) of increased authority in the place of intercessory partnership with the Lord.
8. The blessing of “witness”, knowing that the way you and your company navigated the judgments of the Lord is an example to others about the way to respond to future judgments of the Lord.
9. The blessing of “witness” (part 2), knowing that the way you and your company navigated the judgments of the Lord is a testimony to the perfect, good, and just leadership of the Lord.
10. The blessing and pleasure of living in vibrant righteousness; knowing your heart, mind, emotions, behavior and relationships are being aligned to the right order of the King, and are fully alive to the purposes of God in this hour.
The question remains: Why would any follower of Jesus Christ (much less any leader within the Body of Christ), see the judgments of Jesus Christ, and choose the route that Jesus Christ DIDN’T choose – namely to “save self” – and thus forfeit the glorious rewards that come from being purely, and wholeheartedly aligned with Jesus Christ?
Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry in 627 BC. He gained national notoriety when he first prophesied the destruction of the Temple during the wicked King Jehoiakim’s reign in 609 BC. He warned that if the Judeans would not repent before the Lord, and put away their sinful practices, the destruction of the Temple and exile would follow. Unwilling to listen, the wicked king, the nobility, and the priesthood persecuted Jeremiah and attempted to have him silenced – permanently.
After the traumatic exile of Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim’s son) and 10,000 other leading Judeans twelve years later, there was widespread concern in the land. Suddenly, Jeremiah’s bleak prophecies appeared to be materializing. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia was rapidly conquering the world, and the tiny nation of Judah was extremely vulnerable. However, a group of false prophets arose in Judah who predicted a miraculous downfall of Babylon followed by the return of Jehoiachin and the other exiles.
Around the same time, Egypt was fanning the flames of revolt against Babylon. This led King Zedekiah to host an international summit in 593 BC to discuss the formation of an anti-Babylonian coalition. This summit gave the people of Judah all the more religious and political encouragement to oppose Jeremiah’s message of humility and surrender to the ways of the Lord. Why repent and be broken before the Lord, when the hour called for strength, and unity under the banner of national pride and integrity?
Jeremiah appeared at Zedekiah’s summit wearing a yoke; a picture of the Lord’s call for Judah (and the rest of the nations) to dutifully submit and entrust themselves to YHWH’s dependable leadership.
In essence, the line was drawn in the sand. Will Judah attempt to make herself great in the ways of the world? Or would she clothe herself with the Lord’s definition of greatness, namely, “to walk in humble fidelity to God”?
Thus said the Lord to me: Make for yourself thongs and bars of a yoke, and put them on your neck. And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by envoys who have come to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem…The nation or kingdom that does not serve him – King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon – and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will visit – declares the Lord – with sword, famine, and pestilence, until I have destroyed it by his hands. As for you, give no heed to your prophets, augurs, dreamers, diviners, and sorcerers, who say to you, “Do not serve the king of Babylon.” For they prophesy falsely to you – with the result that you shall be banished from your land; I will drive you out and you shall perish. But the nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serves him, will be left by Me on its own soil—declares the Lord – to till it and dwell on it. (Jeremiah 27:2-11).
After Jeremiah’s dramatic presentation, the false prophet Hananiah son of Azzur publicly confronted Jeremiah, breaking his yoke and announcing that Babylon would fall in two years (Jeremiah chapter 28). Of course, we are privy to the course of history. Jeremiah was indeed the true prophet, and Hananiah, and the other court-prophets were false.
However, in the real time of the story, one must ask: How were the people – even the most God-fearing ones – to distinguish between true and false prophets? This question was not merely a matter of academic interest. Jeremiah’s forecast of seventy years of Babylonian rule (Jeremiah 25:10-11; 29:10) came with political ramifications: remain faithful to the ways of the Lord, even under the thumb of Babylon, or suffer the destruction of their nation. By predicting the miraculous demise of the pagan empire of Babylon, the false prophets supported strident, prideful, national revolt against Babylon. These were the social media contentions of their day. What was being argued influenced not only matters of state, but also the very survival of the people, their families, and their way of life.
Some false prophets were easier to detect than others. Their flagrant disregard for the Torah discredited them as true prophets. However, Hananiah son of Azzur and Shemaiah the Nehelamite (Jeremiah 29:24-32) both sounded righteous. Neither preached idolatry nor laxity in Torah observance, and both spoke in the name of God. After each prophet made his case, Jeremiah “went on his way” (Jeremiah 28:11). There was no way for the people to know who was right, and therefore they would have to wait to see whose prediction would be fulfilled.
Waiting, however, was not a helpful option. The false prophets were riding the crest of national zeal for revolt now, and what Jeremiah was calling for looked so passive – submissive even.
Before the Lord, Jeremiah bemoaned the mockery he endured on account of the peoples’ refusal to receive his words: “See, they say to me: ‘Where is the prediction of the Lord? Let it come to pass!’” (Jeremiah 17:15). Although Jeremiah would ultimately be vindicated, in the fire of revived national resolve and fervor, his way seemed meek and impractical.
To address these difficulties, Jeremiah presented alternative criteria by which to ascertain false prophets. He staked his argument in the Torah’s assertion that a prophet who preaches idolatry is a false prophet regardless of successful predictions or signs:
As for that prophet or dream-diviner, he shall be put to death; for HE URGED DISLOYALTY TO THE LORD YOUR GOD (ki dibber sarah al A-donai Elohekhem) – who freed you from the land of Egypt and who redeemed you from the house of bondage – to make you stray from the path that the Lord your God commanded you to follow. Thus you will sweep out evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:6)
Strikingly, Jeremiah extended the Torah’s example of idolatry to include anyone who did not actively promote repentance before God. Since the false prophets predicted the unconditional downfall of Babylon irrespective of any repentance on the people’s part, they must be fraudulent:
In the prophets of Samaria I saw a repulsive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray. But what I see in the prophets of Jerusalem is something horrifying: adultery and false dealing. They encourage evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness. TO ME THEY ARE ALL LIKE SODOM, AND ALL ITS INHABITANTS LIKE GOMORRAH. (Jeremiah 23:13-14).
More subtly, Deuteronomy uses the expression, “for he urged disloyalty to the Lord your God” (ki dibber sarah al A-donai Elohekhem). This phraseology is used to refer to specific prophets only twice in the books of the prophets: when Jeremiah censured Hananiah and Shemaiah, the two false prophets who appeared the most righteous:
Assuredly, thus said the Lord: I am going to banish you from off the earth… for you have urged disloyalty to the Lord (ki sarah dibbarta el A-donai) (Jeremiah 28:16)
Assuredly, thus said the Lord: I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. There shall be no man of his line dwelling among this people or seeing the good things I am going to do for My people, declares the Lord – for he has urged disloyalty toward the Lord (ki sarah dibber al A-donai) (Jeremiah 29:32).
Thus Jeremiah distinguished the true prophet(s) from the false prophets, (even the most undetectable false prophets) according to whose words called for humility, and pure and simple obedience to the ways of the Lord, vs. those who urged disloyalty to the ways of the Lord.
Beloved. This is where we find ourselves today. The parallel between the day of Jeremiah, and the 21 century American Church is striking. (We should let it strike us!)
There is undoubtably a world-wide plague of pagan godlessness that threatens to overtake our world – and our nation. But in the moment of crisis, the Lord is calling His people to resist the temptation to clothe ourselves in our own power and greatness; the worldly dynamics of increased wealth, increased political influence; hostile authoritarianism; and strident uniformity. Instead, He’s calling His people to remain faithful to His ways – the foundational ways that His Son laid out for us in the Sermon on the Mount: “Remain broken. Remain tender-in-heart. Remain meek. Remain hungry for God’s right order. Remain holy. Remain merciful. Remain peaceable. And repent of every way that you have let go of these realities of My Kingdom.”
One of the great, great lies of the last eight years has been the subtle invitation into a false way; a false hope; an invitation to become disloyal to, and distrust the power of the foundational ways of the Lord. The devil’s voice goes sounds like this: “You’re not electing a pastor. You’re electing a President.” In essence, the tempter is saying: “You don’t need the meek way of Jeremiah. You need the power of the hostile, lustful, strident, unrelenting, prideful, forceful, singular-minded way of the world. The way of Jesus’ beatitudes won’t work here.”
I’ve been praying for revival in my nation for all of my adult life. The picture of that revival is one that includes capital buildings as well as churches. It’s a vision of God’s matchless, eternal power and holy glory resting on Presidents, politicians, pundits and pastors. Perhaps we’d all be closer to that reality if we had more voices of the Lord proclaiming that we’ve become the culture of Sodom, and less vaunted victory cries of “America is back”. Perhaps what we need are more present day prophets speaking to our President like Jeremiah, and less time blessing the carnality of his power, like Hananiah. Perhaps it’s time to hear and heed the wilderness, yoked voices that are calling the people of God to repent, and remain faithful to the foundational ways of God.
____________________ JSB • December, 2024
#ChurchOfSodom
NOTE: In this BLOG, I am beholden to the Lord having called our house to pray/read through the book of Jeremiah three times over the last several years; AND an excellent exposition on the life of Jeremiah, by Rabbi Mark D. Angel.
‘Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand… Now, therefore’, says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God.’” (Joel 2:1, 12-13)
I don’t believe there’s a more important Kingdom concern for the body of Christ right now than to be responding to the Lord’s judgments over His praying church. The Lord is passionately bidding His priests, His intercessors and His prophetic messengers to be purified so He can retrofit us with His zeal, vision and strength for His end-times purposes. This is the primary lesson for us to learn from the last 6 months, as the Lord brought His swift judgment upon the largest, most far-reaching, and longest corporate prayer community in the history of our nation. Through all the contention, real, human abuse, sin, deceit, pretense and accusation the Lord is calling His house; (Isaiah 56:7) His house of prayer, to lose our pride, let go of our self-preservation, and meet Him on His threshing floor, where the abundance of “God-only” resurrection power is to be found.
“The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.” (Joel 2:24)
This is where the prophet JOEL is inviting us to go. In three chapters, the Lord gives us the most complete set of instructions on how to humble ourselves before Him that we find anywhere in the Bible. I believe these three chapters also constitute some of the most oft-neglected and needed, but unapplied scriptures in the history of the people of God.
THE JOEL ASSEMBLY PARADIGM I’ve studied, prayed through, and taught the book of Joel intensely for nearly 20 years. The Joel assembly is not a call to a weekend festival. It would have taken Judah months to fully prepare and respond to this exhortation. This is most likely the chief reason the Lord’s summons was never heeded by the nation. It would have been too costly; too unsettling to their status quo lifestyles. Actually doing the Joel assembly would require a wholesale adjustment of every aspect of their lives. It would have disrupted the order of the temple, the administration of the government, the pattern of families and parenting, the schedules and details of commerce and the arrangements for festivals, marriages and funerals.
Any ministry, church or fellowship who wants to take the Joel assembly seriously in our day will need to face this thoroughness of application head on. Doing Joel demands a lot of time, prayerful consensus-building and detailed preparation.
Let me be REALLY clear here. There are many who are washing their hands of the #IHOPKC implosion, and moving on with their lives – crippled, stunned, PTSD, burned, disillusioned, betrayed – many in delusional denial… (I get it… I live w the same gravitational pull every day.) Because of the way IHOPKC leadership has disastrously dealt w this judgment of the Lord, MOST of us will never get the full healing we need, or deserve. This is a bonafide carnage of souls, relationships, and trust. With this in mind, let me also say to all of us: NONE OF US will come through these months walking with full hearts, in vibrant righteousness with Jesus, without doing what the Lord prescribes and provides for in the book of Joel.* This isn’t just a crisis. It’s first and foremost, a judgment of the Lord upon His people. We CANNOT circumvent what the Lord is after in this hour. We either get to the threshing floor or we will be winnowed like chaff through a thousand different personal, and interpersonal tensions attendant to this horrific episode. No matter how unjustly we’ve been treated; no matter how much pretense we’ve lathered on our ministries; no matter how much sin we’re still hiding in the dark; no matter how passionately we want to get back to our assignments, our families, and our lives… …our God is still a consuming fire preparing a bride for His Son. Large or small, no matter how we manage to engage its dynamics, Joel 2 is THE unavoidable way to participate in that preparation.
The brilliance of Joel 2 is that it marvelously empowers community to enable the weak, the young and the broken to do and receive what they need as the whole body engages the Lord. When a people choose to do Joel 2, the wounded and the traumatized are embraced, strengthened and provided for.
In chapters 1 and 2 of Joel, the Lord issues 16 specific instructions that will help Judah corporately yield their ways to HIs purging and redemptive work. In these few verses the eternal God is literally giving His people the blueprint for how to see their condition clearly, come before Him in humility, be cleansed, ask for forgiveness, receive His mercy, and be realigned to His righteous purposes.
16 ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH DEPLOYING THE JOEL ASSEMBLY
“Hear and listen to the Word of the Lord.” (Joel 1:2) The call to listen and hear the Word of the Lord is at the forefront of Joel’s instructions. The God of Mount Sinai is speaking to His children. By nature of what it is, His Word demands that the people stop what they’re doing, give the Lord strict attention, ardently study, understand and meticulously obey the prophetic Words that are being spoken. The God of Genesis 1 is releasing His Words of power. This is a call for the people to wholly yield themselves to every diagnosis; every truth; every exhortation; every word of conviction; and every word of hope and promise that the prophet is declaring. “Hearing” and “listening” is a matter of life or death.
The context of (v.2) makes it clear that the Lord is also issuing a two-fold admonition to the elders (v.14) As the Word comes through the prophet, it would have first been submitted to the priests, teachers and other prophets. As it is announced to them, they would have understood that the Lord is saying: A.) Be certain that you (elders) hear, digest and internalize these Words yourselves; correcting the deficient norms, values and ways of your leadership and systems that have become cross-purposes to My heart. B.) Make sure that the people comprehend what I Am saying. The lives of My sons and daughters are on the line. I Am making you responsible for the sufficient dissemination of My Word. Teach. Answer questions. Cultivate applied understanding. I Am putting this obligation on you. Work toward corporate consensus and thorough obedience to My Word.I Am holding you accountable for My people adequately understanding, humbling and adjusting themselves to My Words of life.
HERE ARE THE REST OF THE EXHORTATIONS GIVEN TO US BY THE PROPHET JOEL…
“Be awakened.” (Joel 1:5) Let the light of the Holy Spirit illuminate your heart.
“Blow the trumpet.” (Joel 2:1) Declare the need to gather together corporately.
“Gather the elders.” (Joel 1:14) Share and dialogue what the Lord is saying with the leaders.
“Call a sacred assembly.” (Joel 1:14) Do the preparatory work to assemble the people into a holy convocation.
“Sanctify the congregation.” (Joel 2:16) Establish the purpose and intent of your gathering as holy and focused on the intentions of the Lord.
“Consecrate a fast.” (Joel 2:12) Focus the hearts and appetites to be fully attentive to the Lord.
“Rend your heart.” (Joel 2:13) Make your self, your ways, your history, your heritage, and your hopes exposed and vulnerable before the Lord.
“Tremble.” (Joel 2:1) Be aware of your unrighteous nakedness before the uncreated God of perfect holiness and power.
“Lament.” (Joel 1:13) Meditate upon how hopeless and barren you are apart from the Lord. Consider how you have lived so short of His glorious realities.
“Weep and wail.” (Joel 1:5 and Joel 2:17) Let your bankrupt condition bring you to tears and touch your emotions.
“Be ashamed.” (Joel 1:11) Let yourself feel the shame of your wretched state before the Holy One and all the holy ones in heaven.
“Lie in sackcloth.” (Joel 1:13 and Joel 1:12) Let your whole being be brought to nothing – to death – the grave – despair and ashes. Lie in that reality. Let it be your clothing.
“Cry out to the Lord.” (Joel 1:14) Repent out loud. Pour out your heart, your sins, your barrenness, your inability, your need, your hope, your falseness and your despair before the Lord. Keep on crying out.
“Prioritize the Lord’s paradigm.” (Joel 2:16) As you continue to listen to His Word, let Him reveal His righteousness and His righteous ways to your heart. Dialogue these righteous ways among the company of the repentant ones until they become agreed upon values and priorities.
“Gather and tell your children.” (Joel 1:3) Establish an agreed upon paradigm for teaching yourselves, and your children the right order of the Lord. This is where your repentance becomes your new cultural narrative that emphasizes the mercy and the right order of the Lord.
Each of these elements points to a relational reality that is important for us to follow in the repentance process. They are like lights in the cabin of an airliner that’s filled with smoke and plummeting into the ocean. They help us know how to navigate to safety and security in a “time of trouble” (Psalm 27:5). It’s vital that we know how to come to Him “without one plea” in wholehearted truth, and not in a superficial, religious, or self-saving spirit.
Each of the 16 elements are important, but we can’t make each element happen. Nor should we attempt to. What’s most important is that we make room for, and create corporate experiences where when these elements happen under the power of the Holy Spirit they are appreciated, encouraged and facilitated well, and not resisted and/or left unsupported.
Here are SEVEN PRACTICAL STEPS for IHOPKC, and HOUSES of PRAYER to implement the Joel Assembly:
1. STOP ALL BUSINESS AS USUAL. This includes pushing pause on all ministries, outreaches, group meetings, and administrative affairs. The world will understand something sober is happening when web-sites, and phone systems announce the Missions Base is closed for three months of “seeking the Lord.”
2. ELT, IHOPKC pastors, former leaders (AG), national House of Prayer leaders and/or even Mike himself: BLOW THE TRUMPET and call other Houses of Prayer to solidarity with a 3-month season of mourning, confession, and crying out to the Lord.
3. Dedicate 1 month to RAW TEARS, expressions of GRIEF, and stories of BROKENNESS – without judgment or correction. Agree to let the Prayer Room become a threshing-floor where there are no human fixes. Sanctify the GPR so that it becomes free space to weep, share and listen to pain in prayer. Require all pastors and leaders to be “all present”. Hire a team of counselors for the grieving and wounded who dare come, and want compassionate help re any kind of religious abuse; and/or trauma. This is seeing the value of becoming an ash-heap before the Lord. (See Ezekiel 20:37)
4. Dedicate one month to nothing but utter, 24/7, basement-level, public and private CONFESSION and REPENTANCE before the Lord. Confession needs to be specific. Repentance needs to lead to the purging of sins, and sinful ways.
5. Dedicate one month to CRYING OUT TO THE LORD, in a spirit of poverty, humility and unction, for the Presence of His Holy Spirit, and the joy of the Lord’s intervention, salvation and leadership within His sanctuary. Again. There are no fixes here. This is Matthew 5:3 posturing before the Lord.
6. Deploy a truly INDEPENDENT THIRD-PARTY INVESTIGATIVE TEAM to thoroughly analyze and scrutinize all aspects of the House of Prayer with regards to sexual, spiritual and manipulative abuse of the precious ones the Lord has sent to IHOPKC over the last 25 years. Agree to PUBLISH THE FINDINGS as “memorial stones” of where the Lord buried our great sin, and brought us into His light in righteousness solely by the blood of His own Son.
7. RESTART24/7 INTERCESSION with those who remain. SANCTIFY these ones to live with awareness of our great sin, but with dependence upon the greater mercy of God. CONSECRATE them into an atmosphere of reverence, humility, and contrition before the Lord.
THE DANGER IN NOT DOING JOEL To NOT deploy Joel is a.) to fail to give the family what it needs to authentically survive, heal and be restored to the Lord through this crisis. b.) to call God a liar; and not employ the thorough measure that His Word says we need… c.) to idolize the way of self; believing we have the power to “save ourselves” and do something better than what the Lord has prescribed.
In THIS MOMENT, we have an opportunity to redress months, years and decades of scandal, and the calamitous, sinful response we’ve given Him through our “hiding, redaction, shaming, image-management, and stone-throwing.”
O, the dishonor we’ve brought to His Name.
We also have a real-time opportunity to give the church, and the next generation a relevant paradigm on how to respond to the judgments of the Lord.
They’re coming.
____________________ JSB • February 2024
Jonathan Boegl has been a pastor for more than 40 years. He was trained at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA • M.Div. in Christian Formation and Discipleship • He’s been associated with the International House of Prayer in Kansas City since 2001. He served as a District Pastor on staff at IHOPKC, primarily responsible for the development of Friendship Groups and Evangelism from 2010 to 2018. He and his wife, Kathy now serve as directors of the All Nations House of Prayer Southwest in the mountains of Arizona.
“I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.” (Revelation 3:1-2)
The Lord is purifying a Bride for His Son. We Americans are (present tense, in October 2022) being transformed and prepared for the return of a Perfect King Who will rule the nations with perfect love and perfect justice and perfect integrity.
In case we need to be reminded, “His ways are NOT our ways.” :)
Not withstanding, our hearts were designed to thrill and be supercharged under His style of leadership. We just don’t know it – or fully believe it – yet. (We will…)
EVERYTHING that’s happening in our world right now is being used by a perfect God to bring our hearts into perfect alignment with the perfect reign of this King. Everything. Personal acrimony. Politics. Church tensions. Family fracturing. Gender confusion. Plagues. Masks. And vaccines. Racial insensitivity. War. And threat of war. Social media interactions. Economics. Everything.
We are being prepared to herald a new type of leadership that is completely foreign to the weary weary way of the world. It is more noble; more glorious; more efficient; more empowering; more holy; and more fulfilling than anything we’ve ever seen or imagined. And it’s coming – with Him.
Although His ways are foreign to the ways of the world, our transformation to His ways should not be foreign to us. Our transformation is a central part of our covenant with Him.
The New Testament is filled with scriptures that describe our need to be radically reoriented to His government, and His way of thinking and ruling and living. Isaiah 40:3-5 Matthew 4:4 Luke 6:25 Galatians 4:19 Ephesians 5:28 Colossians 1:28 Hebrews 12:29 1 John 3:3 Revelation 3:1-2 Revelation 3:19 Revelation 19:7
It’s all in the Book.
Having said this, our hearts are in need of (MUCH) more alignment than we are consciously aware of. The truth of the matter is, our hearts are actually (even now, in our redeemed state) more resistant to the ways of His leadership than we know… Our hearts see more wisdom in pride than in humility. Our hearts like to force our own way more than trust the ways of meekness. Our hearts are still more exhilarated by unrighteousness than being exhilarated by righteousness. Our hearts are bent toward self-justification more than ruthless purity of heart. Our hearts are spring-loaded toward alienation and separation. We don’t love mercy-giving much – at all. Our hearts bulge with curse and violence rather than blessing and peace. We’re still much more filled with arguments about saving self than we are about ways to lay our self down for the sake of the increase of Jesus and His ways.
If we don’t understand that ALL THE CURRENT EVENTS AND CRISES in our lives right now are about shaping our hearts to embrace and champion His ways we will misread EVERYTHING that’s circulating in our culture right now.
The raw, Biblical truth is: If the Lord did not send us tribulation (“trouble”) our hearts would not do the hard work of moving from our self-centered paradigms into the ways of His Kingdom. And we would NOT do the disciplined work of making ourselves ready, and bringing our hearts and minds into agreement with the way He will run His government on the earth.
When we say “yes” to this transformation our hearts remain “alive” to His leadership. When we start saying “no” to the necessary transformation of our heart, we become “dead” to His leadership. (Revelation 3:1)
One of the most efficacious prayers we can pray and live right now is to pray: “Father, I want to live fully alive to the perfect leadership of Your Son. Teach me to embrace and even rejoice in Your judgments. I want to come forth in vibrant Christlikeness. I want my heart to be in ‘PERFECT’ agreement with the way Your Son will rule and reign on the earth. Though it cost me my life, I choose to leave my impoverished land of pride and force and unrighteous affections and self-promotion and curse and war and alienation in order to become a subject of the government of Jesus. He Himself is worthy of my allegiance.”
One day, when we see Him face to Face, we will be filled with unimaginable joy over the fact that we said “Yes” to living alive to His present-tense leadership.
This has been the “way” of our American evangelical family over the last seventeen months:
When the Lord visited the earth and our nation with a plague in 2020 our response was false prophecy, and then redacted false prophecy. We ran quickly to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and feasted on rumors, fear-mongering, malice, and vows of self-preservation. We did not humble ourselves. We did not cry out. We emboldened ourselves in our self-righteous opinions. And failed to notice that our “convictions” were rooted in pride and protest rather than humility and prayer.
When racial hostility flashed (again) across our nation we did not extend justice, meekness, and empathy, we continued to self-protect and condemn; even attempting to justify and whitewash the wickedness in our nation’s history. Something our evangelical/revivalist forefathers never would have consented to. We were not noble in compassion. We spurned every call to contrition. We even developed a theology to inoculate ourselves from having to listen to the cries of our black & native neighbors – many who are our own sisters and brothers in Christ.
We wrapped ourselves in a flurry of false prophecies regarding the gilded candidate that we had erected “as a festival unto the Lord”. We repudiated all who questioned the glitter on the man – even disfellowshipping those who would not bend the knee in obeisance. When these prophecies failed we made excuses, washed the outer portions of our cups, and continued feasting on the food sacrificed to idols. We were more than unapologetic in our rebellion. In our zeal for our definition of civil righteousness we became unaccountable and unrepentant; we swallowed the spirit of the political idolatry that we were worshipping; we spread rumors and scandal, we cursed and fomented counterinsurgency, and then when the dance of baal-worship failed to produce the turn-around we had hoped for, we shifted blame to our “enemies”, never once considering the raging war that was mounting within our own hearts.
When the children of our native neighbors were unearthed, and the heinous racial sins of our nation and our family were exposed, we ignored the dead altogether… we did not weep with those who were weeping. We did not mourn with those who mourn…
Now that COVID is re-emerging we are doubling down in our resistance to His voice; we demand our liberty rather than humble our hearts. We vow to fight and protect our own selfish constitutional rights rather than extend ourselves with tenderness to our confused and fearful neighbors upon our Kingdom cross. Our faces are like flint. Our necks are stiff. Our hearts are hard. Our souls are intoxicated with rebellion – a revolt that heaven sees as insurrection against our King.
On top of all this, we divide, separate, and condemn and we ignore the testimony of God’s Word – from beginning to end. We do not know that He sees us as one body; one family; one people; one Church – us, and our fathers in this land. This is “us”. This wickedness belongs to the whole household of God in America. This is not only part of us. This is the whole of us. One people. When one part of the body has cancer, all of us are compromised. We cannot jump ourselves out of the number (Isaiah 53:12). The prophets did not. Jeremiah did not. And most importantly, Y’shua does not.
What will it require for God to purge us of our rebellion, and align our unrighteous hearts to His?
We’ve given our contentious selves to the social-media-driven opinions of men” non-stop, for 17 months. It’s time to sincerely, honestly, and thoroughly “seek His Face.”
JEREMIAH 22
1 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the (leaders of My people), and there speak this word,
2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, (you leaders) and you people who enter these gates!
3 Thus says the Lord: “Execute judgment and righteousness and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if you indeed do this thing, then you shall enter the gates of this house.
5 But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house shall become a desolation.”
6 For thus says the Lord to the house of the leaders of His people: “You are a testimony to Me; yet I surely will make you a wilderness, communities which are not inhabited.
7 I will prepare destroyers against you, every one with his weapons; they shall cut (you) down…
8 And many nations will pass by; and everyone will say to his neighbor, ‘Why has the Lord done so to this people?’
9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.’ ”
10 Weep not for the dead, nor bemoan him; weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more…
13 Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by injustice,
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house…’
15 “…Did not your fathers eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this knowing Me?” says the Lord.
17 “Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, and practicing oppression and violence…
20 Go up and cry out, and lift up your voice…, for all your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not hear.’ This has been your manner from your youth, that you did not obey My voice.
22 The wind shall eat up all your rulers, and your lovers shall go into captivity; surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated for all your wickedness.
23 …How gracious will you be when pangs come upon you, like the pain of a woman in labor?
25 …I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear…
26 So I will cast you out…
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!”
30 Thus says the Lord: “(These ones) shall not prosper in these days; for none shall rule anymore in the land.”
SPIRIT WORD & CROSS 