This is not a political post.  This is  a post about the need for a revival of religion in the United States.

We have a two party system in America.  One is characterized as the “social liberal” party, the Democrats, and the other the “social conservative” party, the Republicans.  In the last thirty years the American electorate has been herded like cattle to vote for one party or the other according to these labels.

The social conservatives often touted “traditional family values” in an effort to stem the tide of the weakening of the moral standards we Christian feel is important to keep this country strong.  That is why this years Republican ticket has me baffled.

The man at the top of the ticket is married to a woman who runs one of the largest beer distributors in the country.  Many Pentecostal ministers make a vow that they will not even take a sip of liquor and almost all Christians believe that drunkenness is sin.  Yet the top of the ticket makes its money off of drunkenness.

The second slot on the ticket is a woman who has left her five children, including a toddler, at home to pursue a career.  She did this by choice, not because of economic need.

Aren’t these the liberal values that the moral majority was supposed to protect us from?

The truth is that the Republican party is no more Christian than the Democratic party.  One was able to co-op the brand name better than the other.

Politicians can’t bring moral reform to the United States.  Only Jesus can do that.  This political season has convinced me more than ever that this country needs revival.

We had our first salvation at our second preview service.

I have this theory that every person represents a people group.  If you touch a person with the Gospel, it is possible to touch their whole realm of influence.  So when someone gets saved, we encourage them to immediately begin to work out their testimony and start inviting people to The Mission.

With Marcela, we went a step farther.

Marcella was a polite girl who seemed to be attentive during the word.  In all outward appearances, her life was really good.  But like everyone who is away from God, things were not so great beneath the service.  During the ministry time I walked up to her and asked if she was ready to get saved.  She responded and got free of something.  I did not know what.

Since Marcella was only connected to the person who invited her to The Mission, I know she had a realm of influence that had not been touched.  She was having a little trouble getting any of her friends to come to our meetings so we decided to bring the meeting to them.  We decided to made her baptism an outreach.  We had the baptism at her house and she invited her friends to “support” her at her.

We had a time of worship (above) then she gave her testimony.  Marcela told her family, friends, and new church family about her battle with sin, depression, and an eating disorder.  Through her tears she told about how her friend invited her to church and immediately she knew she was supposed to go.

She told about how at the end of the preview service, during the ministry time, she cried out to God and told Him, “I know you brought me here for a reason, please bring it to me.”  That very moment is when I walked up to her and challenged her with the Gospel.  The anointing was so thick in the room and there was barley a dry eye in the place.

After that I got up and shared the Gospel.  I preached about a risen Savior who forgives sin and fills with power.  I then gave an altar call right there in the living room.  I asked who was ready to give their life to Jesus and go down in the waters of baptism as a public declaration of faith.  One of her friends came forward.

We went out to the pool and I added him to those getting dunked.  I spent a few minutes with him and he shared how God had been preparing him for that moment.

The last person I baptized was Marcela.  She gladly affirmed that she had accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior and proclaimed to all in attendance that she was going to follow Him.  After she came up out of the water, I made one last invitation to those in attendance for salvation.  That is when I spotted her.

Marissa is Marcela’s sister.  Her face was bright red and she was crying her eyes out.  Right before our eyes she was being convicted of her need of a Savior.  She could barely contain herself.  Her heart was being rent for the Lord.  It was not because I am a great preacher or anything else in the natural.  The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters of baptism and people were being touched.  This girl needed Jesus and she happened to be where He was.  When the lost get around the anointing they cannot help but see their need for forgiveness.

She came into the pool and I talked to her for a few minutes, lead her in a prayer of salvation and declared the forgiveness of sins.  She was crying, and I wanted to run around the block and rejoice.

I prayed for her, laid hands on her, did a little housecleaning and dunked her in the waters.  When she came up I asked how she was feeling.  She said, “I feel free!”

Glory to God.

I talked to her a little bit and asked her sister to come back into the pool.  I prayed for them together and at the same time, they both got baptized in the Holy Ghost! Glory to God!

I hate to say it but a baptism in the middle of your Sunday morning or Wednesday evening service is not a public declaration.  Take people to their hood, gather their friends, let them declare the good things God has done.  Then take the risk of putting yourself out there and have an altar call.  You may be supprised how many people have been praying for God to bring an answer to them.

Is what is happening in Lakeland a revival? There seems to be one clear way to answer that question.  If Lakeland is producing what you want for your ministry, then it is revival.  If it is not producing the fruit you want in your ministry then it is something else.  How far Lakeland diverges from your vision determines how far it deviates from biblical Christianity.

It is that simple.

Lakeland has really polarized the Church, at least the “Spirit-Filled” branch of it.

Some believe that revival brings sinners to repentance on a city wide scale.  Others think that revival should reawaken the dead church and bring the reality of the Return to the forefront.  Others think that revival is any time that the manifest presence of God is poured out on a congregation over an extended period.

In that last definition Lakeland is certainly a revival.  Under the classic awakening type definition it clearly is not.  But why are people debating an extra biblical term?  Are ministers vying for maintaining the purity of the “Revival” tag?  Most would agree that revival is the pinnacle of Pentecostalism.  But many make the mistake that those who experience it in their ministries have reached ministerial nirvana.

So many want to say that this is not revival because in their hierarchical mindset that would make Todd “above” them and thus their ministry and gifts on a lower level.  It might even mean that they have been contending in the wrong direction for years.  Most cannot fathom either one so instead of re-evaluating their corporate mindsets, they attack the move.

This was forwarded by Randy Clark. It is a 55 page defense of the activities of the Lakeland outpouring. Here is a selection from page 5:

Normative New Testament evangelism is accompanied by God’ power

A simple perusal of the following passages shows that true biblical revival always involved word and deed, the preaching of the gospel alongside people ministering and experiencing (not just talking about) God’ healing and miraculous power: Matt. 4:23; 9:35-36; 10:1, 7-8; 11:5; 12:15, 18; 15:30; 19:2 (cf. Mk. 10:1); 21:14 (cf. Lk. 21:37); Mk. 1: 38-39; 2:2, 11; 3:14-15; 6:12-13; 10:1 (cf. Mat. 19:2); Lk. 4:18; 5:17, 24; 6:6-11, 17-18; 7:22; 9:1-2; 10:9, 13; 13:10-13, 22, 32; 14:4, 7ff.; 21:37 (cf. Mat. 21:14); 16:15-18, 20; Jn. 3:2; 7:14-15, 21-23, 31, 38; 10:25, 32, 38; 12:37, 49; 14:10, 12; Acts 1:1; 2:22; 3:6, 12; 4:29-30; 5:12-16, 20-21, 28, 42; 6:8, 10; 8:4-7, 12; 9:17-18 (cf. 22:13), 34-35; 10:38; 14:3, 8-10, 15ff.; 15:12, 36; 18:5, 11 (cf. 2 Cor. 12:12; 1 Cor. 2:4-5); 19:8-12; Rom. 15:18-19; 1 Cor. 2:4-5; 11:1; 12:1-11, 28-31; 14:22-25; 2 Cor. 12:12; Gal. 3:5; Phil. 4:9; 1 Thes. 1:5-6; Heb. 2:3-4; 6:1-2; Jas. 5:13-16.

Indeed Paul said in Romans 15:18-19 that only the proclamation of the gospel that is accompanied by healing, signs and wonders, that display the power of the risen Lord, represents a full proclamation of the gospel: Rom. 15:18-19 (NIV)€” I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done€” by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. [italics and boldface mine]

Read and be blessed.

The suggested donation is $3-$5 to be paid to Fresh Fire to finance the work in Lakeland.

• If you don’t like your feet dirty don’t wear sandals. The parking lot is full of dirt.
• There are far less freaks then the last time I went when the meetings were still at Ignited.
• You can’t bring food or drinks onto the grounds so eat in the car.
• Not sure if this is a full-blown revival or if Todd has been super anointed. Worship is good. The presence of God is there, but when Todd gets the mic the atmosphere in the room shift dramatically.
• You do not have to get there early to get a seat. There were at least a thousand empty ones.
• You have to get there early to get a good seat.
• There are two large tents butted up side by side. Sit in the one that has the stage, even if you have to sit way on the side.
• At the far end from the stage there is a huge area that you can be alone. There were at least a dozen kids playing a form of soccer/football/kill the man with the ball/keepaway for at least 5 hours (my son included)
• In the same area were girls playing ring around the rosey and chasing bubbles (my daughter included)
• Far from the stage is safe for kids.
• If you have small ones, bring a pillow and blanket. They can knock out on the floor.
• If you are a pastor, check in at the minister’s desk between 5 and 6:30 or you are excluded from any pastor type prayer.
• If you worship, press in, are humble and hungry you will “get some.” Sit back and cross your arms and this is much a do about nothing.
• If you need a healing, don’t sit in the back and wait for a word from the stage. Be almost belligerent about getting prayer and stay posted near the stage. There are lots of people looking for someone to pray for.
• Not all of the prayer staff is anointed.
• The a/c really works there. Bring a jacket.
• If you want to worship near the altar, get to the altar way before worship.
• If you see a young black guy with crazy hair named Joshua who looks like he’s high, tell him I said hi, and give him money. The dude is odd but called and anointed.
• God is there.
• I hear God.  I preach.  I see revival in my meetings.  I know what the anointing is.  I am anointed.  Many of my people are anointed.  In the 15 hours before I went to Lakeland I preached down the Glory, led a girl to Christ, cast the devil out of 2 people, baptized three people in water and prophesied the Word of the Lord (I am not exaggerating.  I literally did these things).  I did not need to be revived, renewed nor awakened before going to Lakeland.  Yet I have a hunger for God that I did not have 24 hours ago.  I will definitely go back.

We had our third preview service Friday night. We were planning on that being our last but we still do not have a location so please keep that in prayer. We had lots of visitors and one girl got baptized in the Holy Ghost. Almost all of the issues we wanted to work out got worked out so I really feel like we are ready to launch.

The next day (Saturday) we had our first baptism. We were planning on baptizing three people. A girl who got saved and baptized in the Holy Ghost at The Mission. A guy who wanted to rededicate himself and my son.

I have seen kids baptized at four and I can’t comment against that but I decided that I would baptize my son when he asked to get baptized. I told him we were having a baptism and he said he wanted to get baptized. Some would question if you can be saved at seven. The boy is baptized in the Holy Ghost. If that ain’t evidence enough I don’t know what would be.

In any event, I had a little bible study before the baptism and a girl who came to watch got saved and was the second one baptized! Jesus truly is alive. Here is a little video of the events.

I have heard people ask why Todd does not take his gift out of the church and into the streets. I have seen it written that he only sees these manifestations where he has whipped the crowd into a frenzy and there is some sort of mass trance.

You gotta love youtube!

more here.

hattip free donuts

The church seems to have misplaced the anointing that was on William Branham. I want to find it again.

At about 2:00 the testimony of Shara Pradham. Check it out.

One of my disciples asked me the other day about a “national prophet” that had given a specific prophecy regarding a rapper that did not come to pass.  He questioned how this national prophet could have been so wrong.

I restated the question asking how people who are wrong so often are regarded as national prophets.  The prophetic ministry in America has a serious lack of oversight and accountability.   I have remarked in the past about the abundance of homosexual sin in the prophetic movement and I truly believe there is a link here.

I personally know less than a handful of people that I would consider prophets.  I see lots of people who consider themselves prophets but I think the fruit does not bear witness.  If we are going to be a New Testament church, we have to use the New Testament as the measuring stick.

Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians that the five-fold ministry was for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry.  For too long we call people who prophesy real good prophets.  I do not believe that is the case.  You can have a deep and strong gift of prophecy without being in the office of prophet.   And just because you can’t tell who is calling without looking at the caller id and you don’t see the voice of the Lord in ever headline out of Jerusalem does not mean you are not a prophet.

I take the call of the prophet to come from Jeremiah 1:10

See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

And I think that this is the test of a prophetic ministry.  IT would seem that the test of a prophetic ministry these days lies in the ability  to tell the head of a church you are visiting how much God favors your church over the one down the street and how special that pastor is.

Do prophets prophecy?  Of course they do.  Does a person in the office of prophet get it wrong now and then?  Of course they do.  Not every pastor give the perfect counsel every time.  Sometimes the evangelist gets it wrong when witnessing.  Sometimes the teacher doesn’t fully understand a scripture.

But the pastor is held accountable for bad counsel.   The teacher is held accountable for false teaching.  The evangelist is held accountable for bad doctrine.  So too the church must not be so enamored with the prophetic to keep from demanding accountability for those who minister the “Word of the Lord.”

Prophets, by the nature of their call, should be more open to confrontational accountability and should demand more from the Church then we are seeing.