Prepare for the Wildfire! Part 1

It’s time to experience the deeper life!

God is moving His bride beyond charismatic religion. Beyond the conventional and the traditional. An all-consuming fire has been released in our midst, and anything that can be burned will be torched. The Lord recently told me that He is not coming to support many existing religious structures, but to burn them to the ground. His goal is to bring us into full, experiential possession by the Holy Spirit.

God is releasing radicals, fanatics and extremists in this hour who are absolutely infected with a craving for the Glory realm. A militant bride is emerging who will walk in fiery, passionate authority on the one hand, and a glorious supernatural ecstasy on the other. In fact, two of the main thrusts we have seen that mark this fresh Glory awakening is a deeper realm of drunken joy in the Spirit, and the other is a radical boldness. We have found that the fire God is releasing in this day is forging boldness and authority in His people – not the kind of human boldness which is worked up and rooted in insecurity. This is the blazing zeal of the Lord that is kindled in the furnace of divine jealousy of the Bridegroom. This jealousy does not allow us to bow to the fear of man or idolize religious structure of any kind. This is a violent love.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Matt. 11:12)

Jesus is the Violent One who took this kingdom by force. And we are anointed with His zeal. This aggressive, militant passion is about to sweep the church at large, but for those who are infected by this move of God’s Spirit, prepare for some misunderstanding! This fire will swiftly strip you of your man-pleasing spirit, and the fresh authority that comes with freedom from the fear of man will begin to freak out many of those around you! Those who choose to walk in this fire should be prepared for this: for you to simply walk into a room, the atmosphere you carry will draw a line in the sand!

Although this is an intense fire, it is a most delightful flame. As the Bride of the Son of God, we have become one with Him. Understanding how beautiful and accepted you are in His eyes will begin to unlock a ferocity within you to see Heaven manifesting in the earth. When God looks at you, he sees a beautiful, yet militant bride:

You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners (Song 6:4; Note: Tirzah means “beautiful”).

You have troops of an entire army within you. Many of you reading this today carry a church, a network, nations or even an entire movement within your belly! Latent within you is a captain of thousands or tens of thousands. The wildfire of God’s Spirit is empowering a generation of dread champions who will become a holy terror in the earth. They will walk fully saturated in the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord (and they will delight in it!), and their lives will demonstrate the supernatural power of God on an almost daily basis.

“We are as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem in the eyes of God. However, to the enemy this lover, this overcomer, is as terrible as an army with banners. Banners indicate a readiness to fight and also mean that the victory is won,” writes Watchman Nee.

There is a prevailing sense of false humility that has afflicted the people of God in these days. We have somehow come to equate humility with insecurity. Church people expect you just to bend over to all opposition. We’ve turned the cheek so many times, we are dizzy from spinning. Any little wind of opposition in any endeavor is assumed to be a “closed door” from God, because people get apathetic. This is not to say we must become striving bulldozers. But faith itself is what plows through any mountain. So many Christians do not understand their identity as sons of God, and so they do not act with authority. Our cowardice and apathy has caused us to bend and waffle and give up ground in our governments, our schools, our homes, our marriages and even in our pulpits. It is no wonder that many mainstream denominations are struggling with issues of homosexuality in this hour! A sissy church will never stand up for the truth.

How have we lost the apostolic boldness to daringly preach the word of God with blatant audacity? Where are the burning, blazing lamps today like John the Baptist, leveling out a straight path and clear-cutting a way for the Lord? From the womb, John carried revival for a nation in his bones. I don’t think John would sit still in a pew. And yet the least of us, Jesus said, is greater than John. We don't need to go backward. He is not looking for a John the Baptist generation. We are something more. His way has already been prepared - but we in no way lose this zealous flame of proclaiming Him.

We can no longer afford to equate humility with cowardice and insecurity. But whenever someone gets bold and starts to stand on the truth, their lifestyle of faith and holy aggression is seen as a sign of arrogance! Where are the George Foxes of today who will boldly stand up in the congregations of the whitewashed and boldly proclaim the truth, even though he was repeatedly dragged out and stoned everywhere he went? And miracles followed! There is a generation of “believers” today who are seduced by a slumbering gospel of talk only, and though they may intellectually agree with doctrinal truths, their hearts are far from the reality of the Kingdom. Expect a radical reformation that is even now on the horizon.

True Humility
Because the Lord has given us a high profile, supernatural ministry, my wife and I get lots of “stay humble” words from people. I used to wonder if I was quite the arrogant jerk to deserve such admonition so often. It took me some time to realize that I didn’t need to repent from cockiness everyday. The problem is that the church lacks a militant mindset, and because of this, aggression is often confused with arrogance. Sure we are militant in all the "wrong" ways - trying to politically advance our causes through right wing, arm-of-flesh natural ways. But the militancy I speak of is a spiritual boldness in the gospel of grace.

It is imperative that the church has true humility. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6, 1 Pet. 5:5). And if you humble yourself, you will be exalted (Matt. 23:12). But what is humility? Obtaining humility does not mean you become a creampuff, sissy Christian. For starters, true humility has to do with obedience. And foremost, our obedience is to really trust in the One He has sent! (John 6). And from that, comes the ability to flow with the movement of the Spirit of God. We must honor God’s presence when He comes – whether he shakes us, quakes us or whatever He wants to do!

Personally, we are confident in the Lord; the Lord is accelerating us in our youth, and we do not apologize for Him when He does crazy things through us. For many people, this is intimidating. Because of the influence God has given us, as well as miraculous giftings (which are readily available to anyone who wants them), people think we should be especially sycophantic and groveling to somehow insulate ourselves from pride. Although we must embrace a spirit of gentleness, the wildfire will no longer allow us coax and molly-coddle religious devils. There is no peace to be made with Jezebel. God has enough apple-polishing lap dogs. He is looking for valiant sons who embrace their authority. The earth itself is sick of this slavish docility. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed (Rom. 8:19). Rise up church! Where are the princes of the earth who will rule with justice? Where are the preachers who are motivated by passion and not insecurity?

Prepare for the Revolution
Many, if not most Christians, are shy, fearful and insecure in matters of faith. And their definition of “humility” has more to do with operating in this timid spirit than it does true contrition of heart. This is why so many “submit” to the poor decisions of their “spiritual authorities,” rather than knuckling up to the table and boldly walking in the truth. Few people are brave enough to scorn rejection, casting aside the man-pleasing spirit, and walking forward into the lion’s den. Lots of sheep think they have to eat from the self-deprecating trough of religion every Sunday morning, living a bland, colorless existence, without challenging the status quo. A lifestyle of breakthrough and a regal identity as co-creator with God is too lofty to accept.

God is not apologizing. The age of apologetics has passed. The present move of God is in your face, raw and demanding.

Submission to the Spirit always breeds boldness. The nonresistance mentality of the church has produced a weak-kneed, bootlicking attitude of false resignation. Any obstacle that comes our way in an enterprise must surely be a sign from God to retreat, because our cringing compliance knows nothing of fighting and pressing through resistance until we gain a victory. In fact, we've turned this backward and attempted to "press in" for a God we already have, rather than trusting Him and allowing Him to "press us through" every obstacle that stands in our way! I believe that with all the blessing of inner prayer and spiritual union theology handed down to us through the Quietist movement, its hellish concepts of utter pacifism has produced an age of church mice who know nothing but to curtsy and run for cover when things get hairy in the foxhole. Slavish compliance to every wind and wave of opposition produces wishy-washy cowards.

But get ready for the wildfire. A generation of blazing lamps walking in the spirit of Elijah.

Nothing is safe from God’s reach. God is shaking, shifting, restructuring and breaking a lot of things right now. There is a “holy deconstructionism” that on the one hand tears down the systematic religion of man, but on the other hand, it simultaneously builds up the true temple: the church of the living God! What Jesus is doing right now is this: He is reminding us of what He has already done! And that includes blurting out some uncomfortable truths that we have long been avoiding. For those who embrace these truths, there is an overwhelming joy and an exotic discovery of the realms of supernatural authority and experience available to us. Bizarre miracles, angelic visitations, open-eye visions and visitations are just a few of the things being offered us, along with a constant infilling of the intoxicating new wine of His Spirit. It means fully embracing the abiding Glory that never fades, but only increases, because we are finally believing our Gospel union with Him. And it is the wine of His Spirit that most enables us to move into the wild ferocity of this zealous boldness.

The infilling of God’s ecstatic, intoxicating Spirit is what empowered the apostles to speak His word boldly in Acts 4. In Acts 2, they had to get loaded before the miracles exploded! A drunk man is not easily contained. He does not polish his words. He is not seeker sensitive.

No fresh move of God has ever come without a mess. God is messing up our meetings. He is messing up our reputations. He is messing up our ability to gather crowds at times – pruning away the religious fluff, so that multitudes of souls can realize their inclusion in this message. As for me, I am tired of entertaining Christians. I am ready for a billion soul harvest. And for those who embrace His crazy wildfire that knows no boundaries, they will experience the favor God has poured out through His Son that we scarcely could have been imagined. He came to possess you. Let us live in that full possession.

To be continued …