I recently had a prophetic experience where the Lord showed me a hand gun.  It was a revolver with a spinning cylinder style chamber.  On the barrell was written the word “ministry.”  I watched as the Lord began to take people and form them into bullets and place them in the chamber of the revolver.

After the people had been formed into bullets and placed into the chamber, the Lord would spin the cylinder Russian-roulette style and point the gun into a group of people.  When He pulled the trigger, the “bullets” would go forth and cause a revival to break out.

I believe that this vision speaks of ministry teams of several people.  I believe that the Lord is saying that the days of the personality cult in ministry are over.  The season of men building ministries in their own name has drawn to a close.  It is my belief that the next generation of revivalists will not be well-known preachers with huge platforms, but rather teams of apostolic warriors who are submitted to the cause of Christ.  They will be nameless and faceless and rather than ambitiously building a ministry will be committed to advancing the Kingdom.

I believe that the Lord will utilize different team members under different circumstances to effect powerful ministry.  This is what the spinning of the cylinder symbolizes.  I also received interpretations for the following components of the gun itself:

The sights: Control the direction of the bullets.  This is the role of prophetic counsel to the apostolic teams of ministers who will take part in the next wave of revival.

The cylinder: This is the place of prayer.  It is the sole abode, qualification, equipping center, and desire of those who will be endued with power from on high. It is the chamber in which the combustion will take place that propels people to their prophetic destiny.

The gun powder: This is intimacy with the Lord.  This is the combustible force that will fill the place of prayer (the chamber) and propel the projectile (the spirit-filled minister) down the barrel and into the heart of the people where they will be a catalyst for revival on an epic scale.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:25)

We’ve all heard the stories of the wasted life.  We’ve heard about John the Baptist who lived in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey proclaiming one message his entire life.  We’ve heard about Anna who was widowed in her youth and spent her entire adult life in the temple praying and fasting.  We’ve heard about Mary wasting a life’s savings worth of costly perfume on the feet of Jesus. What motivated these people to behave in this way?  What could have possibly been the cause of such a tragic waste of life, potential, and financial provision?  Paul gives us a clue:

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, (Philippians 3:8)

I used to think that I wanted some things out of this life.  If you can believe it, when I was in the world, I actually had a poster with my “goals” on the wall, all of which were material possessions and status symbols.  I wanted the big house.  I wanted the fancy car.  I wanted the yacht.  I wanted it all. Then I got saved and my goals changed.  I wanted a big ministry, a large church, a fancy (but not obscene) car, and an international reputation as a good speaker.

By contrast, I’m now trying to figure out how to live on as little money as possible so that I can quit working and devote all of my time to the prayer room.  I’m praying and believing for the day that I will be able to spend 8 or 10 hours a day in the prayer room seeking the face of Jesus.  What a waste!  All of that potential!  I was a smart kid.  I could have been a lawyer or a doctor or a congressman, and now I want to spend the rest of my life in an obscure prayer room?  What happened?

I was on my way to attaining those goals.  I was planning my ascent through the ranks of the church and working my way towards credibility in the ministry when I made a mistake.  I thought that if I prayed and fasted I would be able to get a greater anointing for speaking and impress more people.  Instead, when I prayed and fasted, I met God face to face.  I entered into a season of prayer and fasting as a means to an end.  I discovered in the process that intimacy with God is the end.

I discovered what it meant to be thrilled, enthralled, emblazoned, and left undone.  I saw things happening in the third heaven, and discovered my prophetic calling.  I felt, really felt, the love of the Lord and the perfect peace that came in His presence.  I’m ruined.  I’m undone.  I have no other purpose for the rest of my life but to live in the glory realm in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

But, won’t you miss the opportunity to have an international ministry and preach to thousands of people?

Eh…not really.

In that moment, it became obvious to me that prophetic people face a similar dilema.  We become “pregnant” with a revelation of the Lord that many in the church are woefully unprepared to accept.  To say that our prophecies come from the Lord makes no more sense to many than to say that a woman became pregnant by the Lord.  The world, and many in the church, simply do not have the faith to accept such things.

I’m sure Mary had to endure a daily barrage of terms like “whore” and “harlot” from people who had no understanding of the supernatural at work within her.  Likewise, prophetic people are often blasted with terms like “false prophet” and “carnal Christian” simply because something is taking place in their life that the world has no reference for.   Although it would not be culturally acceptable to stone a prophet in our Western culture, there is certainly no shortage of those willing to metaphorically stone prophetic people with harsh words and innuendos of carnality and unfaithfulness.

We should be encouraged by the conduct of Mary under these circumstances.  We should know that God will win to our cause those who should be on our team (For Mary, this was an Angel sent to Joseph), and that those who are not to be recruited for this cause may or may not accept us and there is nothing we can do about it.  It doesn’t change who we are, or who our God is.  Words are just words.  Keep living for the Lord.

but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. (1 Peter 3:4)

I was in my prayer time this morning and the Lord showed me a vision.  I saw a sports car driving down the road.  The car looked new.  It had a nice paint job, fancy spoiler, new tires, aluminum rims, the works.  I said to myself, “that’s a nice car right there.”  As the car drove down the road, all of the people on the side of the road turned to look as it zipped past in all it’s glory.

Then, the Lord took me to an automotive shop.  I saw the same car pull in and get hooked up to an emissions testing machine.  The machine went crazy as the emissions that were coming from the car were filthy.  The car easily failed the emissions test.  I saw the hood popped open, and when I looked at the engine I was amazed to find that it was filthy, grimy, and looked like it had never been maintained.

The Lord said, “Looks can be deceiving, but emissions don’t lie.”  It kind of reminded me of the following scripture.

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they” (Matthew 7:15-16)

Many are coming and indeed are beginning to show up who will claim to be prophets, anointed, preachers, even the Son of God.  We, as the Spirit-filled body, have two choices:  Be tossed around by their fancy words, shiny exteriors, and shows of power (many will do signs and wonders), or we can learn to discern them by their fruit.  True prophetic ministry will always add to the revelation of Jesus Christ.  We must learn to discern people by what kind of emissions their ministry produces, not our perceptions of whether or not they are “anointed.”

My heart is to keep this blog on the cutting edge of innovation.  As such, we will from time to time be implementing new designs.  For this occasion, I chose the beautiful and functional Scarlett Theme from Web2feel.com.  You know how I have liked custom themes in the past, but this theme was beautiful enough and functional enough that I didn’t need to customize anything.  Sometimes it’s best not to re-invent the wheel.

Take some time to browse the new features.  We have carousel at the top of the page with all of the recent prophetic words, vimeo video embeds, and a live twitter feed at the bottom.  I think you’ll like the effect.  Happy reading.

Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners? (Song of Solomon 6:10)

I sat and began reading this verse in my quiet time this morning, and the Lord began to open up revelation to me about the end-time prophetic army which is the fully consecrated bride of Christ.  He began to show me attributes of that army from this verse:

Supernatural Increase: The New American Standard Version of the Bible translates the first part of this verse as, “Who is this that grows like the dawn.”  I believe this is a word picture representing the way in which the prophetic revelation of the bride will increase as the “Light,” being the Son of God, continues to shine upon us in ever-increasing measure.  As we move closer to the great and terrible day of the Lord, we will increase in prophetic revelation as we grow in consecration to the Lord and as He continues to reveal Himself to us.

Supernatural Identity: “Beautiful as the full moon” are not the words that I would use to describe myself, but this is the way that Jesus sees us.  In the last days, the bride will continue to move into her identity and find affirmation in the words that Christ has spoken about us rather than our tainted self-perception.   This realization will relieve us of the performance burden and, having found our portion in Him, will empower us to perform miracles, signs, and wonders.

Supernatural Purity: “Clear as the sun” has been translated in many versions to read, “Pure as the sun.”  When I think of the purity of the sun, I think of a burning hot inferno in which any impurity is consumed by the intesity of the energy.  I believe that this is a prophetic picture of the heart of the end time church that is now beginning to emerge in the Earth.  I believe that we will continue to feel His fire until we burn with a Holy intensity that has a purifying effect on our lives.

Supernatural Commission: An army that is directed by banners is one that is under the control of it’s general.  An army with no banners is not only not terrible, it’s also quite comical.  It will defeat itself from lack of communication, lack of orders, and lack of discipline.  We must begin to content to be sent forth from the General from whom all orders originate. Our general judges the faithfulness of soldiers by their willingness to live in the prayer room, be separate from the affairs of this world, and follow orders when issued.

I believe that the pot represents the place of prayer and radical consecration to the Lord.  I believe that the green, lush plants represent laborers consumed with the call to prayer.  They are alive, and their life increases in proportion to the amount of time spent in the pot.

You see, the pot is an environment that is not subjected to the outside forces of nature, but is subjected to the loving hand of the gardener.  It has water and plant food in the perfect proportions meted out by the skilled hand of the gardener.  In that environment, it grows and flourishes.

The end game is for the gardener to introduce the healthy, life-filled plants into the fields of dead flowers and cause them to return to life.  This can happen in the Kingdom because we are all members of the same body.  Paul said in Romans 1 that, “I long to come to you so that I might impart some spiritual gift to you.”  I believe personal revival, when introduced in sufficient measure to the corporate environment, can contribute to corporate revival in a mighty way.

Contend for outpouring in the secret place, beloved.  Contend.

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. (Jude 1:3)