repentance

An Urgent Appeal to the Stubborn

/ JSB / 4 Comments

5 years ago, the American church rebelled against the judgments of the Lord in our land. In 2025, the Lord is shouting Isaiah 1 to us, telling us that our stubbornness is making us increasingly hostile towards Him and His end-times purposes on the earth.

“Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity… they have forsaken the Lord, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You are blatant in your rebellion.” (Isaiah 1:4-5)

ROUND 1
In 2020, (through COVID, race-riots, and election controversy) the Lord brought numerous judgments to our American way of life. And although the purpose for His judgments was to reward, as well as refine, the American church’s response to these pressure-points was mostly “revolt” and “insurrection”. We did not learn to humble ourselves. We did not come to Him in need, in brokenness and repentance, and “learn righteousness” (which is what Isaiah 26:9 tells us the Lord’s judgments are meant to afford us). Instead we clothed ourselves in layers of conspiracy, concocting self-saving narratives that desensitized our hearts from righteousness, and caused us to “go backwards” (Isaiah 1:4) from the ways of the Lord.

ROUND 2
Two years ago, the Lord exposed hundreds of cases of spiritual and sexual abuse within the western church, bringing His purging fire upon an epidemic of corrupt leadership within His House. This judgment contained a corporate call to Joel 2 repentance unlike anything ever seen in American Christianity. And although Joel 1:2 exhorts “the elders” to lead the people to the place of honest humility, the majority-response of the fathers in the house was to point fingers, write reports, write self-saving rebuttals, hide, wrap ourselves in social media litigation, redact our histories, and rebrand. There was no trumpet set to the mouth. (Joel 2:1) and no concerted thrust to bring our family to the threshing floor of the Lord. It was a massive, and obstinate failure of leadership.

Throughout these many episodes, our family has resoundingly chosen pretense, over being purified. And the pretense we’ve allowed to germinate in our soul has become a petrie-dish of the devil.

ROUND 3
Consequently, in the fall of 2025, the Body of Christ in America finds herself proudly clothed in fig-leaves, instead of adorned with the sure mercies of the Lord – brandishing the counterfeit gospel of “hostile selfism”, that waves sin away without repentance, despises Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and refuses to bear a cross for His preeminent glory.

Our stiff-necked refusal to let the Lord deal with the reality of our perversion and unrighteousness, has left us tremendously defenseless to a delusional spirit. Without coming into the light of His holy gaze, our household has no way of discerning the beguiling trickery of the flesh, and she is left hostage to a ravenous lust for power, and supremacy within our society – spirits that always spell “insurrection” against the ways of Christ.

In the place where true prophets would pierce the spirits of the age, and call the church to surrender to the fear of the Lord, false prophets titillate the people of God with gilded promises designed to entrench them deeper and deeper in self-determined fantasy, and falsehood.

Last November, (2024) the Lord supernaturally visited our house of prayer with the message of Isaiah 1, and told us of a holy fire that was about to visit our land; a judgment from the Lord that would strike the people of God with even more intensity than those in 2020.

Contained within this Word of warning, the also Lord issued a gracious invitation from Isaiah 1:18-19, “Come now, and let us debate your case,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Over this past year, our house of prayer has taken the Lord up on His invitation, prayerfully allowing the Spirit to show us where and how His Words in this chapter apply to the sticky issues in our heart, and our family’s current relationship to the Lord.

In Isaiah 1, the Lord identifies the root essence of the people’s unbending refusal to come to Him in five ways…

1. He calls our stubbornness, a “BETRAYAL and REBELLION” (Isaiah 1:2-4) of the ways of the Lord. And to betray God, is always to fall in league with the enemy of our souls. Under the sway of a spirit of “betrayal”, we increasingly see the “commands of the Lord” (Matthew 28:20 essentials for all authentic disciples) as “optional”. And what becomes “optional” to us, ultimately gets twisted into being perceived as “inconvenient”, and “non-expedient”, until we are found in full disagreement with our King, and the ways of His Kingdom.

2. The Lord calls our stubbornness, a “CORRUPTION” (Isaiah 1:4) of our heart that keeps us from a tender, humble, and nimble responsiveness to the Word of the Lord. Being corrupted from His intimate counsel perverts and distorts our thinking and reasoning about any number of important Kingdom issues in our world. Not only are our views about righteousness corrupted, our relationship to others, and our witness to a curse-riddled world is corrupted, deficient, and lacking both transparent truth-telling, and vulnerable grace-giving.

3. The Lord calls our stubbornness, “SICKNESS” (Isaiah 1:5-6). This is a two-fold condition whereby being racked with a feverish, delusional disease, we don’t come to the Lord to let Him treat the wounds of our relational iniquities, or the sores that are eating away at our flesh. Consequently, our ways, that were meant to be healthy, warm, compassionate, and meek, become deformed, putrid, rigid and cold.

4. The Lord calls our stubbornness, “EVIL” (Isaiah 1:16). What began with “tolerance for the lesser of two evils”, has caused us to become blind and deaf to the evil of our own ways, to the point that, just like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, we manifest a brooding defensiveness of the evil that we’ve allowed to grow up within ourselves.

5. The Lord calls our stubbornness to come to Him, “PROSTITUTION” (Isaiah 1:21). We refuse to come into the tent of the Father, precisely because we are still too busy entertaining other lovers who promise us security, adulation, comfort, and pleasure. We play “fast and loose” with our covenant to God, and His Son, assuming we can remain “married” to Him, while also joining ourselves to other men, movements, parties and ideologies…

Days ago, New Yorkers elected a virulent, antiZionist, Muslim man to become the mayor of America’s largest city. In Mamdani’s rise to power over a true “nerve-center” of our society – the home to our nation’s financial structure, I believe we’re witnessing the fulfillment of another portion of the Isaiah 1 prophecy. Unfortunately, even as many evangelical, orthodox, and Messianic leaders have rightly sounded the alarm about Zohran Mamdani (see *footnote quotes below), the accompanying “call to action” has (once again) been to fester in our hatred, and become more strident in our political opposition.

The Word of God clearly tells us that a big reason cities (ie. New York city) are DEVOURED and OVERTHROWN by STRANGERS (ie. Mr. Mamdani) is because the covenant people of God (ie. evangelical followers of Christ) resist God’s call to repentance, defend their EVIL ways, and refuse to let the Lord purge them of their rebellion, corruption, sickness, and evil prostitution.

“Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord… and their wounds have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment…Therefore, your CITIES are DEVOURED BY STRANGERS in your presence; and they are DESOLATE, as OVERTHROWN BY STRANGERS.” (Isaiah 1:4, 6-7)

Stated clearly: the solution to the threat of radical Islam (as well as other dangers contained in Isaiah 1) isn’t so much dependent upon how the pagans vote in the election booth, as it is upon how the household of God does (or does not do) business with the Father on His threshing-floor.

Beloved. The Lord is saying: “If you will not allow me to break this stubbornness off of you, I promise, this stubbornness WILL break you.”

Throughout 1980, in defiance of all the seismologists warnings about the impending eruption of Mount St. Helens in southern Washington, one intransigent man named Harry R. Truman mulishly chose to remain in the life that he’d known on the side of the mountain, rather than be evacuated to safety. Inevitably, on the fateful day of May 8, the volcano exploded with the force of 1600 atomic bombs, forever burying Mr. Truman in ash.

This is a parable for the message of Joel, and Isaiah. Unless we push pause on our status quo, humble ourselves, and seek shelter within the mercy and ways of the Lord, our stubbornness will cause us to be swallowed up in the current fire that’s now upon us.

“Those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed… The strong shall be as tinder, and the work of it as a spark; both will burn together, and no one shall quench them.” (Isaiah 1:28, 31)

Is there hope? Absolutely. This short message is a call to true hope in the Word of the Lord. But our delusion has grown deep, pervasive and supernaturally headstrong. We will only live into that Spirit-borne hope as we embrace the place of abasement in the courts of the Holy One.

But we need to come. He will not tolerate a Bride who is filled with rebellion, corruption, sickness, evil and prostitution when He returns.

“Come now, and let us debate your case,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 1:18-20)

____________________
JSB • November (Edited), 2025

*FOUR NOTES RE: MAMDANI
ONE
Zhran Mamdani is a long-time member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) which has openly, and often-stated its intent to enact the following extreme anti-Israel policies for the governing of New York City:
• Divest City pension funds from Israeli bonds and securities
• Withdraw City funds from banks that lend money to Israel or do business in Israel
• End City contracts with companies that do business with Israel
• Operate City-run grocery stores free from Israeli products
• Investigate real estate agents hosting illegal sales of stolen lands in the West Bank
• Evict weapons manufacturers and transporters from the NYC Metro Area
• Remove non-profit status from charities that raise funds for IDF
• Divest CUNY endowment and reinstate wrongly fired professors
• Dismantle Eric Adam’s NYC-Israel economic council
• End NYPD training with IOF End repression of demonstrators and the SRG
• Arrest Netanyahu and active IDF soldiers for war crimes

TWO
On October 8, 2023 (one day after the horrific October 7 attacks) Mamdani tweeted the following: “Statement on ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine: I mourn the hundreds of people killed across Israel and Palestine in the last 36 hours. Netanyahu’s declaration of war, the Israeli government’s decision to cut electricity to Gaza, and Knesset members calling for another Nakba will undoubtedly lead to more violence and suffering in the days and weeks to come. The path toward a just and lasting peace can only begin by ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.”

THREE
Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove is the highly respected leader of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City’s Upper East Side. On Shabbat October 18, 2025 he gave what might be the most important sermon in his life. Here are some brief excerpts:
“To be clear, unequivocal, and on the record: I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of New York Jewish community. Mamdani’s refusal to condemn inciteful slogans like “globalize the intifada,” his denial of Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish state, and his many long-standing calls to support BDS, make him a danger to the Jewish body politic of New York.
Zionism, Israel, Jewish self-determination – these are not political preferences or partisan talking points. They are constituent building blocks and inseparable strands of my Jewish identity. To accept me as a Jew but to ask me to check my concern for the people and State of Israel at the door is as nonsensical a proposition as it is offensive – no different than asking me to reject God, Torah, mitzvot, or any other pillar of my faith.
Mamdani’s distinction between accepting Jews and denying a Jewish state is not merely rhetorical sleight of hand or political naivete, though it is, to be clear, both of those things. His doing so is to traffic in the most dangerous of tropes, an anti-Zionist rhetoric that, as we have seen time and again – in Washington, in Colorado, in ways both small and large, online and in person – has given rise to deadly antisemitic violence. This past summer, you may recall, at the Glastonbury Music Festival in England, the crowd erupted into chants of “Death to the IDF.” Where exactly would a Mamdani administration stand should that happen next summer in a concert on Governors Island, or in Central Park? Today, as I have before, I am throwing a flag on the field and calling out a threat to the Jewish people five minutes early rather than risk being five minutes too late.”

FOUR
Mamdani is a “stranger” to the covenant promises of the God of the Bible. AND, he is a danger to the Jewish people, New York’s support of the Jewish state, and by extension, the purposes of the Christian’s “King”, Y’shua of Nazareth, as He marshals His return to the earth. The salient question for us is this: “WHY is this man now where he is?” More pointedly, “WHAT IS THERE IN US, that has put him in a place where he may “OVERTHROW” God’s purposes for the city of New York, the Jewish people, and Zion, the throne of Y’shua’s ultimate reign?“

Fall 2025: The Church in America is in the Forge of the Lord

/ JSB / 4 Comments
“My Word is like a fire that purges dross… (Jeremiah 23:29); Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? (Isaiah 33:14) The strong will be like tinder, and his work like a spark. They will both burn together, and no one will quench the fire. (Isaiah 1:31)”

For the last 9 months, the Lord has been speaking to our House of Prayer in Arizona from the book of Jeremiah, and Isaiah chapter 1, about the approaching “fire of the Lord”. The hour is here. The Church in America (pastors, evangelists, apostles, teachers, prophets, young and old, women and men, Jew and gentile and black and native and… all who claim to be “in Christ”) is entering the forge of the Lord, with all of heaven, and the nation watching.

Some of us will come out of the furnace with spirits that are burnished bright; shining with His likeness. Millions of other believers will be radicalized by contraKingdom rhetoric; enflamed with nothing more than a raging self-seeking ethic that the Word of God warns us against.

Religious zealotry always looks promising to the flesh. But it is never what moves the Church from one age to the next. Consider the zealots of Jesus’ day. They subscribed to a very orthodox theology of God, and the scriptures. But their spirits, such as they were, were unprofitable for the Kingdom work that the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit were bringing to earth.

This historical parallel is essential to note. We live in an hour when many zealous individuals also verbalize classic, theological orthodoxy, and yet refuse to live under the reign of Jesus’ authority – marginalizing the blessings and warnings of the Sermon on the Mount, avoiding our daily (Luke 9:23) cross, and hence devoid of the Spirit’s baptismal fire. Consequently, the church elevates political power as an expedient end to prayer power, cultural dominion over humility before the Lord, and the temptation to live with a hostile, even violent spirit, rather than to learn the way of meekness.

Heaven has no use for a “Church” who has no use for the Son’s Sermon on the Mount. The Spirit will simply not release anointing upon a Church who isn’t walking crucified to “Christ”.

Heaven has no use for a Church who has no use for the Son’s Sermon on the Mount.

No. Classic, theological orthodoxy cannot be the sole, nor primary distinguishing characteristic of what constitutes “fidelity to the Lord” in this hour.

Nonetheless, it is a brusk, unbowed, militant, theological orthodoxy which is being spun, embraced and now normalized within our evangelical family in this hour.

It’s incumbent upon pastors and leaders to discern this deceitful perversion of Jesus’ Kingdom. It is a false way, that though it be filled with emotional, populist appeal, lacks the essential element that makes for Kingdom success: the crucified life. It is for this reason that the Lord is bringing His fire into our midst. His “burnings” are intended to purge the self-saving spirit from His Bride, while simultaneously beautifying the Christ-reliant, Christ-exalting resurrection spirit within His Bride.

This separation of the way of self, from the way of Christ, is a compulsory work of the Spirit. And it is the fire of the Lord that forges this element within the character of the Bride; refined, spotless, and pure – prepared to be presented to the Son. And it is for this work that the fire of the Lord is upon the “ecclesia” right now, in the fall of 2025.

Will we come to the Lord’s threshing floor and allow His fire to remove the endemic selfism from our ways, and spirits? Or will we “rise up” in the religious zeal of our own self-determined flesh in order to champion a crossless, politically empowered morality?

Every evangelical leader in America ought to be attuned to the intent of the Spirit right now, so as to help the people of God to…

A. Understand the nature of the cultural and internal conflict that’s upon them,

B. Understand the glorious nature of what the Lord wants to produce through the forge (ala. vibrant Christlikeness)

C. Understand how to help the people wholly submit to the purging/purifying work of the Spirit through this season.

A vow (not even a very popular, emotional vow) will not save the Church right now. Only finding His Presence, and bowing low before His unapproachable majesty will align us with our King. We can either be stirred to fervent determination (which will exit us from the forge of the Lord – a whole “other” story… [See Isaiah 1:28]), or we can stay in the fire, trust His heart for us, and submit ourSELVES to the deep, cleansing work of His fire. The Lord will ONLY bring resurrection power to one of these two places. Not the other. NOT the other.

Beloved. We don’t want a Christianity that has no resurrection power upon it. Only a cross will get us there. Not a sword. (Even if we do call it “the sword of the Lord”. It is not.)

We want bonafide New Testament Christianity. Not age-old, intertestamental religious zealotry. It’s vital that we learn to distinguish between the two.

Rising up in militant, nationalist opposition to their enemies brought neither Judah, nor Israel into revival. It brought them into exile.

Rising up in militant, nationalist opposition to their enemies brought neither Judah, nor Israel into revival. It brought them into exile.

The only way into the revival that the Lord has in store for His people is through the Christ-forging fire that the Lord is bringing upon His people.

Truth-be-told, the New Testament scriptures are clear: though He be enormously patient and compelling, should the covenant people of God steadfastly spurn the purging work of the Father, they can expect to be purged from the Father.

In real fear and trembling, I pray that more than a very small remnant will see the forge that’s upon us, and avail ourselves of it.

“The sinners in Zion are afraid;
fear seizes those clothed in falsehood:
‘Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
he who despises the gain of oppressions,
He will dwell on high;
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks.”
(Isaiah 33:14-16)

____________________
JSB • September 13, 2025

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Prayers of Humility, Repentance and Contrition

/ JSB / 1 Comment

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.

____________________
JSB • August, 2025

10 Things I’ve Been Repenting of re: My Own Long History with IHOPKC

/ JSB / 5 Comments

Over this long, last year of reflection, revelation and reverberation from the collapse of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, the Lord has faithfully led me, my wife, and our All Nations household through months of intentional confession, weeping, listening, repentance, lament and contrition. It’s been our “in house” Joel Assembly.

While it is important to understand the dynamics of how the organization, and individual leaders sinned against God and others, it is ESSENTIAL that we bring our own selves into His cleansing light, to purge us of our own sins, and the strong, endemic inclination to “jump out of the number”. I share in IHOP’s sins. I share in her abuses. When I can say that, AND understand WHY I’m saying that, I am free to walk in the light, as He is in the light. His light doesn’t shame me. His light is able to be “true life” to me – all of me.

At the same time, if I am not willing to walk in the light and let Him illuminate my sinful ways, I have no business dialoguing about the sins of others within the organization… Jesus condemned this haughty, critical spirit as “the blind leading the blind”. (Matthew 15:14)

With this in mind, here are 10 places where the Lord has specifically humbled me into honest confession, and repentance, so that I can heal, engage the process of renewing my heart and mind, and (where God permits) help others to do the same.

1. I let the hope of elevating “self”, and cultivating relationship with prominent personalities dissuade me from embracing, living, and teaching the the crucified life.

2. On too many occasions, I did not listen to others; and didn’t make space for them to simply and purely share, emote, weep, etc. re: their cognitive dissonance re: IHOP – because it was IHOP.

3. Too often I attached more weight to the narratives of those who had “achieved platform status” than those that didn’t. (That’s called idolatry.)

4. Too often I was more interested in defending a beloved organization than simply, and faithfully championing God’s best for the individual souls being shaped by that organization.

5. Too often I accepted IHOP’s Prophetic History stories because either it was Mike who was telling it, and “Mike wouldn’t fudge the truth”, or I simply wanted the specific story to be true. I didn’t apply the same rigor to these stories that I do to many other notable prophetic words.

6. I lived, cultivated, and taught a casual, latte-sipping, attitude about serving as a “priest” before the supremely holy God of 300 trillion galaxies.

7. I succumbed to the lie that a ministry could routinely injure a few people and families, and still be achieving great good for the purposes of God.

8. I let the IHOP model of prayer crimp my prayer-life; pruning me from equally needed prayers of confession, lament, repentance, and contrition.

9. I let go of my circumspection, and stopped objecting to where I was experiencing the white, nationalist, male, 21c American cultural lens, because it was IHOP.

10. I’m letting the Holy Spirit show me whatever 10 is; and 11, and 12… as He graciously brings light to my own soul.

____________________
JSB • May, 2024

You may also want to view these related articles:

10 Things that IHOPKC Got Wrong
10 Things that IHOPKC Got Right
10 Things the Lord is Calling Our House of Prayer to Press Into
10 Places Where the Lord Has Been Bringing Judgment upon the House of Prayer, and His Household in America
10 Rewards Reserved for Those Who Have Faithfully Responded to the Judgments of the Lord that Have Fallen Upon Houses of Prayer and Our Evangelical Family

Jeremiah, the False Prophets, and the Church of Sodom

/ JSB / 3 Comments

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.

CLEAN • March 4 – March 30, 2024

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25 DAYS OF CONFESSION, REPENTANCE and PURIFICATION BEFORE THE LORD

“Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1)

Worship leaders, intercessors, pastors from Arizona, and beyond – you’re invited to come apart with us during a dedicated season of cleansing, and purification before the Lord – beginning Monday, March 4, and concluding Saturday, March 30.

Every day we will engage in meditation on the Word, and the cross, as well as engage in focused times of corporate repentance on topics such as prayerlessness and lack of zeal to reach the lost, to idolatry and unhealed racial and denominational sin-wounds. In the evenings we will have spontaneous times of group reflection, prayer and Word-centered dialogue.

Brothers and sisters, this is an hour to let the “consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29) of our God analyze and purge all of our ways.

Contact us at xaris4u@yahoo.com or (928-255-3576) to make reservations for you and/or your group to join us for three or four days or more, in this convocation of consecration to the Lord.

Here is our SCHEDULE and OUTLINE for these 25 Days

OUR KEY SCRIPTURES FOR THESE 25 DAYS
SATURDAY • March 2 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK OF FIRST-COMMANDMENT LOVE for JESUS
“You shall offer a… sin offering for atonement, every day. You shall CLEANSE the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it.” (Exodus 29:36)

SUNDAY • March 3 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR OWN PERSONAL SINS
“O, that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.” (Leviticus 10:10)

MONDAY • March 4 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER THE WAYS OF OUR FAMILIES and OUR LACK of INVESTMENT in OUR SCHOOLS
“The Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in His eyes.” (2 Samuel 22:25)

TUESDAY • March 5 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK of INTERCESSION for ISRAEL and OUR LACK of WILLINGNESS TO SUFFER for the NAME of JESUS
“If the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (2 Kings 5:13)

WEDNESDAY • March 6 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER the WAYS WE COMPROMISE OUR WITNESS to JESUS in the MARKETPLACE, and REPENTANCE OVER our FAITHLESSNESS in HEALING the SICK
“They gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord…” (2 Chronicles 29:15-16)

THURSDAY • March 7 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER the LACK of UNITY in the CHURCH and EPIDEMIC UNFORGIVENESS BETWEEN PASTORS and LEADERS and BROTHERS and SISTERS in CHRIST
“Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!” (Job 14:4)

FRIDAY • March 8 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK of HUMILITY and CONTRITION re OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH NATIVE AMERICA as well as OUR NATIVE SISTERS and BROTHERS in CHRIST
“The righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.” (Job 17:9)

SATURDAY • March 9 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK OF FIRST-COMMANDMENT LOVE for JESUS
“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” (Psalm 19:9)

SUNDAY • March 10 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR OWN PERSONAL SINS
“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” (Psalm 24:3-5)

MONDAY • March 11 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER THE WAYS OF OUR FAMILIES and OUR LACK of INVESTMENT in OUR SCHOOLS
“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin… Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow… Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:2, 7 and 10)

TUESDAY • March 12 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK of INTERCESSION for ISRAEL and OUR LACK of WILLINGNESS TO SUFFER for the NAME of JESUS
“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word. With my whole heart I have sought You!” (Psalm 119:9-10)

WEDNESDAY • March 13 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER the WAYS WE COMPROMISE OUR WITNESS to JESUS in the MARKETPLACE, and REPENTANCE OVER our FAITHLESSNESS in HEALING the SICK
“When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor.” (Isaiah 1:15-17)

THURSDAY • March 14 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER the LACK of UNITY in the CHURCH and EPIDEMIC UNFORGIVENESS BETWEEN PASTORS and LEADERS and BROTHERS and SISTERS in CHRIST
“The priest and the prophet have erred… They err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filth; no place is clean.” (Isaiah 28:7-8)

FRIDAY • March 15 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK of HUMILITY and CONTRITION re OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH NATIVE AMERICA as well as OUR NATIVE SISTERS and BROTHERS in CHRIST
“I have seen your adulteries and your lustful neighings; the lewdness of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?” (Jeremiah 13:27)

SATURDAY • March 16 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK OF FIRST-COMMANDMENT LOVE for JESUS
“I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.” (Jeremiah 33:8)

SUNDAY • March 17 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR OWN PERSONAL SINS
“She has grown weary with lies, and her great scum has not gone from her. Let her scum be in the fire! In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, you will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, till I have caused My fury to rest upon you. I, the Lord, have spoken it; it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not hold back, nor will I spare, nor will I relent; according to your ways and according to your deeds they will judge you,’ says the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 24:12-14)

MONDAY • March 18 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER THE WAYS OF OUR FAMILIES and OUR LACK of INVESTMENT in OUR SCHOOLS
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols… Thus says the Lord God: ‘On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt’.” (Ezekiel 36:25, 33)

TUESDAY • March 19 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK of INTERCESSION for ISRAEL and OUR LACK of WILLINGNESS TO SUFFER for the NAME of JESUS
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness’.” (Matthew 23:25-27)

WEDNESDAY • March 20 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER the WAYS WE COMPROMISE OUR WITNESS to JESUS in the MARKETPLACE, and REPENTANCE OVER our FAITHLESSNESS in HEALING the SICK
“The One Who is coming after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12)

THURSDAY • March 21 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER the LACK of UNITY in the CHURCH and EPIDEMIC UNFORGIVENESS BETWEEN PASTORS and LEADERS and BROTHERS and SISTERS in CHRIST
“And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed’.” (Matthew 8:2-3)

FRIDAY • March 22 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK of HUMILITY and CONTRITION re OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH NATIVE AMERICA as well as OUR NATIVE SISTERS and BROTHERS in CHRIST
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, are You washing my feet?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.’ Peter said to Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.’ For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, ‘You are not all clean.’ So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:3-15)

SATURDAY • March 23 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK OF FIRST-COMMANDMENT LOVE for JESUS
“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1)

SUNDAY • March 24 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR OWN PERSONAL SINS
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

MONDAY • March 25 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER THE WAYS OF OUR FAMILIES and OUR LACK of INVESTMENT in OUR SCHOOLS
“Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:21-22)

TUESDAY • March 26 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK of INTERCESSION for ISRAEL and OUR LACK of WILLINGNESS TO SUFFER for the NAME of JESUS
“For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”  (Hebrews 9:13-14)

WEDNESDAY • March 27 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER the WAYS WE COMPROMISE OUR WITNESS to JESUS in the MARKETPLACE, and REPENTANCE OVER our FAITHLESSNESS in HEALING the SICK
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:7-10)

THURSDAY • March 28 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER the LACK of UNITY in the CHURCH and EPIDEMIC UNFORGIVENESS BETWEEN PASTORS and LEADERS and BROTHERS and SISTERS in CHRIST
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-8)

FRIDAY • March 29 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK of HUMILITY and CONTRITION re OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH NATIVE AMERICA as well as OUR NATIVE SISTERS and BROTHERS in CHRIST
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to 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 1:9-10)

SATURDAY • March 30 • PRAYERS for REPENTANCE OVER OUR LACK OF FIRST-COMMANDMENT LOVE for JESUS
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints… Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.” (Revelation 19:9-14)

Check out this Prayer Resource on PRAYERS OF CONFESSION and REPENTANCE

The Sins of the House of Prayer: 25 Points of Repentance

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The only way to move through the trauma, destruction and tribulation that’s engulfed the House of Prayer world is to be wholly honest about the sins within our family. Unless we see these sins in the Father’s light, we will not understand…
A • the depth of sin that has been worked against us, and how seriously it has injured us.

B • the various levels of our own complicity and participation in these sins.

C • the nature of the thorough healing and redemptive trust-building we must engage in, individually and collectively.

D • the fathoms of mercy that Jesus makes available to the sinner(s), and all affected by the sin.

E • Neither will we be adequately prepared to enter into the many promises of the coming season, as the Bride prepares herself for the return of our King.

When persons within the “family” refuse to cooperate with the essential work of naming the sins, the rest of the family is left with the extremely painful, and tender task of identifying the sin. This task is fraught with holy danger, but is vital if the family, and her individual, organic members are to recover in Christ. This endeavor is all the more difficult when the heads of the family are the ones refusing to come into the light and set the tone for those they are called to lead.

Yes. The Lord can heal, forgive and restore, but it is immensely more difficult to work for and receive this depth of redemption once the wounds have become infected, the limbs have been severed, and the perpetrators (that’s all of us) are enclosed in their/our towers of self-defense.

PART 1
THE DEADLY SINS of OUR “FATHER”, MIKE BICKLE

1 • Sexual abuse against our vulnerable, young sisters in Christ

2 • Covering, deceit and manipulation re these abusive sins – for decades

3 • Failure to seek out, and submit to family help/accountability re: the nature, and long pattern of these disqualifying sins

4 • Refusal to trust the mercy of God, as his own sons; our brothers came to him in the spirit of Matthew 18 re his hidden sins

5 • Building a campaign of self-defense, counter-attack, and prophetic machination against his own sons, and daughters, for the benefit of keeping his sins hidden

6 • Repeatedly lying and deceiving investigators about the substance of his hidden sins

7 • Remaining in the shadows for months, allowing his own family to suffer utter decimation, for nothing more than protecting that which should have long been crucified in Christ.

PART 2
THE DEADLY SINS of the LEADERS of IHOPKC

8 • Failure to initially respond to allegations with collective call to humility, trembling, repentance and fear of the Lord (Joshua 7)

9 • Cultivating an adversarial posture against victims and those who were speaking on behalf of the victims

10 • Fostering a self-saving, business as usual, public-relations management spirit while resisting the Lord’s wholesale call to the threshing-floor. 

11 • Refusal to listen to hundreds of respected sisters and brothers in Christ; allies, compatriots, fathers and mothers in Christ who have been calling for an objective, third-party investigation

12 • Developing a pattern of communicating with other leaders, counselors, pastors and the rest of the House of Prayer family rooted in suspicion, hostility, pride and pretense

13 • Neglect of the spiritual/emotional needs for staff, families, students and interns to have a safe, holy space to grieve, mourn, speak truthfully, and receive intensive spiritual counsel

14 • Dogged resistance to suspend all other activities and blow the trumpet for a Joel 2 assembly

NOTE TO “US” (House of Prayer Leadership at Large, and the Whole House of Prayer Global Family) If we don’t see that the tribulation that has engulfed the House of Prayer is foremost about the Father judging us, and our household, whatever else we have to say, either as accusation, or in defense, is gonna be off-point. Profoundly. Generally speaking, we humans would rather do the easy work of “destroying”, than the hard work of “healing”. For this reason, the last SINS are not only listed, but also accompanied with words of confession, contrition and repentance. It is vital that we allow the Holy Spirit to search and engage our own souls about these matters.

“The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desire are they than gold; yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:9-10)

PART 3
CONFESSION of THE DEADLY SINS of HOUSE of PRAYER LEADERS and FORMER HOUSE of PRAYER LEADERS in the DIASPORA

15 • We have refused to respond to the Lord’s summons and have not gathered ourselves to the Lord’s threshing floor through this crisis. We have not called for, nor responded to a collective Joel 2 assembly.

“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… Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes… Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’“ (Joel 2:12-17)

16 • We’ve watched our sisters and brothers in Kansas City suffer gross sin, difficulty, conflict, and great aspersion without coming to them with united support, encouragement and solidarity.

17 • We’ve attempted to “save self”, and have too easily “jumped out of the number”in our living fellowship with our sisters and brothers in Kansas City.

“He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12)

18 • We have compounded our family’s crisis, by too often allowing ourselves to become embittered observers, and social-media critics of our sisters and brothers in Kansas City.

19 • We have utterly failed to recognize, and call others to respond to the depth of the Lord’s active, holy presence and judgment in the midst of our family.

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness…’ Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 3:7-8; Hebrews 10:29)

PART 4
CONFESSION of THE DEADLY SINS of the ENTIRE HOUSE of PRAYER FAMILY

“I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for Your servants, and confess the sins which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded.” (Nehemiah 1:5-7)

20 • We have generally not recognized the depth of the Lord’s holy initiative and judgment in the midst of our family through this crisis.

21 • We have tolerated, and helped to create a communal atmosphere where the prominent were vaunted, and protected, while the nameless were left vulnerable, marginalized and/or scrutinized.

22 • When our leaders have failed to “blow the trumpet” we have not prayed for them, nor pressed the need for such holy response to the judgments of the Lord.

23 • We have majored on responding to each other, seeking consolation and building self-honoring narratives in preference to seeking truth, counsel and consolation from the Lord, Himself.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my fears; and see if there is any wicked way in me.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

24 • We have allowed our opinions, our criticism, and bitterness to dictate the thoroughfares of our heart, rather than the Word of the Lord, and His cleansing, redeeming judgments.

25 • In our attempt to remain free of guilt and complicity, we too have easily, and often “jumped out of the number”, and become accusers, rather than fellows with sinners. Our hearts remain all too filled with self-exoneration.

“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to 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 1:5-10)

Beloved family, we have deep, long furrows of spiritual work ahead of us, if we are to walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7). Our many, common and diverse future assignments from the Lord will not freely go forward with Holy Spirit power if we short-change this cleansing, purging, forgiving, redeeming process. This is no hour of human history to allow any sliver of unhealed or unsubmitted darkness to remain in our lives together. As the title of this article notes, to leave these sins partially or completely undealt with spells ultimate death to the fellowship the Lord has cultivated in the House of Prayer over the last 25 years. 

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:2-8)

“Who is a God like You, who forgives wickedness and passes over the rebellious acts of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He constantly delights in mercy and lovingkindness. He shall again have compassion on us; He will subdue and tread underfoot our wickedness [destroying sin’s power]. Yes, You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea. You shall give truth to Jacob and lovingkindness and mercy to Abraham.” (Micah 7:18-20)

For the month of March (2024) All Nations House of Prayer Southwest is dedicating every prayer-set, prayer gathering, and prayer topic to engage the Lord in corporate confession, mourning, repentance and and purification. If you would like more information about visiting us, and participating with us in this work, contact me, Jonathan Boegl, at xaris4u@yahoo.com 

There remains a great promise for all who thoroughly bring their house before the Lord in this hour: “The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.” (Joel 2:24)

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JSB • February, 2024