Last night I had the privilege of not only attending a concert but also opening it up in prayer. Shana Wilson was recording her latest CD. She had done two of our worship explosions at church. I had connected her with Julie Meyer and both of them had done the worship event together. Shana is a Detroit native, Julie a Kansas City IHOP leader and recording artist/author. One black, the other white. Yet they connected over something, someone who bridges every barrier, Jesus.

I had seen something in Shana, not just another up and coming recording artist but one who had the capacity to reach deep into the well of God’s presence and release a sound that would touch people, cities, territories. Shana has a quality where I can close my eyes, get lost in the sound, a sound that transports me into God’s presence.

Technical excellence is necessary; talent and skill are amazing assets. But there is something greater, a heart that is relentless toward God. Call it radical, passionate, sold out, whatever you want. All I know is when I heard her last night I cried, felt washed, shouted, clapped, in fact did it all. It wasn’t because I was excited, though I love Shana, pray for her and watch over her development from a distance. It was because I finally heard the sound.

What moved me was the anointing coming out of her. I have heard many artists, attended concerts, watch people “wet their pants” in excitement. But this was something far beyond, she transported me into God’s presence.

Years ago I prophesied in Detroit that there was coming a worship revolution, a movement in that city. In fact it was 1989 when I prophesied it. I saw masses of people moving out of churches, houses and buildings into the streets worshipping God. I knew there a worship revolution coming that would transform Detroit. A spiritual revolution would burst forth in the youth of the city through worship.

When I gave that word, I was speaking at a conference hosted by Velma Rosemond, (now Clapton). The power of God was so strong it was the only time I have prophesied that I almost went down under the power myself. In fact Sylvia Evans was there and said if I never did another significant thing the rest of my life, that specific prophecy could have been what I was born to give.

I heard a sound last night. A sound I have been looking for since then. The concert was packed out with mostly young people, probably 2000. Because I was opening in prayer, I sat on the front row with Shana’s family, right next to Julie Meyer, my good friend. Julie and I were both excited, reveling in what we heard. We heard the sound! Jesus was in the house moving through multiplied young people packing the place out. It was the new sound in Motown, flowing out of an amazing young Black artist, it was God’s sound.

Shana you did it! Now take the songs, the sound and the Jesus’ anointing all the way to heaven’s bank and release the worship revolution in Detroit.

I Woke Up With Goliath

I was preparing to speak at a major conference. I was expected to have a significant word of direction or wisdom, something for the nation that would equip people in their battles with the forces of darkness.

But I wasn’t prepared. My mind was a million miles away. Because of a combination of situations, I was anxious, worried, and apprehensive. I felt frantic and panicked to the point of emotional paralysis. In that state, I did not care what happened to the nation; I was consumed with finding some way through my own maze of tangled, strangling thoughts. I could not find my way out of being absolutely shut up and shut down in the valley of despair.

Things only got worse. The more I tried to think about what I was going to say at this conference, the more my mind locked up and my emotions went haywire. My chest felt as if there were tight bands around it. My brain felt like it was going to explode and splatter against the wall. The more I tried to get myself under control, the more I found myself out of control.

I tried everything.

I read the Bible to myself, silently at first, then aloud, and using every translation I had. That didn’t seem to work.

I began to sing every praise song I could think of. I sang hymns. I put worship music in my CD player and turned up the volume so high that it rocked the house. I love music and music usually works, but not this time. I only got more aggravated, more annoyed, more irritated, and ultimately more hopeless.

I prayed silently. I prayed out loud. Then I just prayed really loud—so loud that I think my neighbors could probably hear me with both their windows and mine closed. I prayed in English. I prayed in the Spirit. None of that worked.

So I tried kneeling down. I hadn’t knelt down to pray in a long time. I usually stood or walked around. I thought that if I knelt down, maybe God would see how intent I was to reach Him and how desperately I needed to break through the war that was gripping me. It still didn’t seem to help.

Then I stood back up. I paced. I knelt again. I yelled, “Help!” None of it worked.

My mind searched desperately for something that would bring a breakthrough. I thought maybe it was because of sin. Had I committed some sin I wasn’t aware of? Was God hiding from me because of it? I asked God if I had disappointed Him in some area of my life. The next thing I knew, a horde of facts descended on me, condemning me. It felt as if all of hell had moved in to keep me company. In fact the horde even crawled in bed with me so that I could not sleep.

Now I was in an even greater emotional mess that I had been in the first place. On top of the already difficult situation, I had just piled on a mountain of self-accusations. I was buried under all of  the reasons I would never move forward. I might as well have called and asked the local garbage company to come and dump their week’s worth of garbage on my front lawn because it was there already—invisible to others, but not to me.

I realized that my mind was in such a state that I could only perceive the negative. In fact, I was displaying an amazing ability to turn any positive into a negative, almost instantly. This was suspicious. Finally I began to realize that I was up against something. What was that something? At that point, I recognized my Goliath.

(The above is taken from my book, Taking on Goliath, p. 15-17)

Have you awakened with a Goliath that you have not yet recognized? I declare that God is uncovering that which has set itself against you and delivering the key of victory to you.

And do not [for a moment] be frightened or intimidated in anything by your opponents and adversaries, for such [constancy and fearlessness] will be a clear sign (proof and seal) to them of [their impending] destruction, but [a sure token and evidence] of your deliverance and salvation, and that from God.For you have been granted [the privilege] for Christ’s sake not only to believe in (adhere to, rely on, and trust in) Him, but also to suffer in His behalf. So you are engaged in the same conflict which you saw me [wage] and which you now hear to be mine [still]. (Philippians 1:28-30)

The morning seemed strange. The dream was unique, unnerving. There were several parts to the dream that left me seeking, vigilant. It was like video streaming mixed in with stream of consciousness therapy. I’ve never experienced that kind of therapy, only read about it. But from what I read, my dream unfolded like what the author was referring to; disjointed thoughts of this and that, seemingly disconnected from each other, freely flowing through my brain.

I shook my head when I awakened. Was it on straight? Were my brains in tact? Was I in some sort of weird frame of mind? Was this dream significant or to be filed in the circular file? Was it the devil just disturbing me or was it God? For a while I thought I was just being harassed until I began to recall the totality of the dream and review all its parts. I finally woke up to the fact that God was speaking to me. I was not just having a pizza dream.

A couple parts of the dream are to be shared publicly.

I was in this huge building, a very old one with many levels as well as many facets. One level opened up in the middle of the city center (an old city) and was confluent with the city. I felt like I had stepped back in time—even centuries ago, and time stood still. I could not distinguish the building  (a Catholic church, huge, sprawling, influential and very old) from the city on the building’s ground level. They were one and the same. I knew when I stepped from the building into the city yet they were all the same building structure, one running into the other.

A couple levels below the ground there was a religious service going on. Though it was in this large sprawling Catholic building structure, the service was not typically Catholic. I could hear it; the people were singing. A large group had gathered and I could hear what was happening. Revival was breaking out. Underground! This revival was not out in the city square or someplace visible, it was underground and invisible. It was happening on the lowest level of this building.

A powerful presence of God was emanating from the room. I was drawn like a magnet to the meeting; I desperately wanted to get in there. However I was still in my pajamas and couldn’t find my makeup bag. I kept looking for the bag. I couldn’t go into the meeting until I had my makeup on. I remember feeling frantic over finding that bag. The harder I looked, the more elusive finding the bag seemed. I desperately wanted to go into that meeting but wouldn’t go in until I had my makeup on. I didn’t find the bag. I was beside myself. It didn’t dawn on me I didn’t have to put my makeup on. Then I woke up.

I believe that this dream has some real directional application to our understanding of as well as longing and desire for revival in this hour. There was a lot to the dream but here are a few nuggets.

First the city and the church were indistinguishable. They were not evil in the dream but neither were they filled with God’s glory. They were empty and neutral, just stone structures one blending into the other. I believe there is a way that we have come into such a cohabitation with the culture that we are blind to the distinctions, not recognizing how acculturated we have become as well as being blind to the territorial strongholds. We are bereft of a level of discernment that will destroy us in the days ahead. We cannot distinguish the church from culture and vice versa. We are blind to the power behind the structure. We don’t see it. Yet there was nothing of God’s glory there, it is godless.

We are not of this nation. We are of another kingdom which has no identification or membership in our national culture or nation. We are in but not of this world.

There was no distinction between the religious structure and the city. Both were godless, absent of God’s glory. As revival breaks out, we must be more sensitive to the demonic structure operating in the territory. If we are not, what erupts full of God one day, can go down in ruins the next day because we have failed to fully see what we are up against. We have failed to see that the city and religious structure are in unity with each other, both will oppose us.

Second, God was breaking out in the midst of a religious structure and city in an unprecedented way. However it was in a hidden place. It was not in a visible street level structure; it was hidden from most people.

I had to go down to the lowest level to get to the meeting. This revival was happening underground.

Something that is underground is hidden, concealed, covert. The underground church in China has been the hidden church. It is vibrant, alive and advancing but hidden to the general public and government. It isn’t visible.

There is something deeply significant of spiritual life, vibrancy and revival that begins in hidden parts and places. I believe this speaks both about individuals and corporate bodies, churches and gathering places where God is breaking out in a reviving power. What is starting to unfold must first start with hungry, humble, desperate people who have no agenda other than to know God and be known by Him. They aren’t seeking to be seen in any way, famous or become a famous revival center but are singularly desperate for God. A simple people, seeking a simple yet holy God, who above all else want God’s heart to be their heart and vice versa.

To go down is also to become humble. I couldn’t get in on this meeting unless I was willing to go all the way down, underground where nothing and no one is obvious. The meeting was not visible at the street level, to the general public. It was something going on in the depths. It started from the lowest part of this building, the heart of the building.  God is working at the root level.

Also in the meeting, nobody was identifiable. There was not an obvious leader. No one stood out in the gathering.

I had to be willing to go all the way down to the bottom. And what was happening was not obvious to the general public. It was not at street level.

There is a revival God is initiating at the deepest level but it is not yet obvious, not yet brought to public view. Because it is at the bottom level, it will eventually shake up, shift, change and transform everything above it.  It is at the foundational level and will shift everything that sits above it. Again, it’s dealing with roots, foundations, the starting point, Ground Zero.

I kept hearing, this thing God is bringing which we call “revival” is not what we think it is. It is not just the miraculous and supernatural, this revival that God is birthing will be a place where the awe and fear of God saturates the atmosphere like a cloud. To those who are of a pure heart, it will not be fearful even though the fear of God permeates it. Joy will erupt. All of us must come to anew level of purity of heart. We will know it when we see it, it is far more than miracles although miracles will be an outcome.

I also believe that what God is initiating has to start at the lowest level in our hearts. I find in myself this desperation, this sense that something is not right but I don’t know what it is, this longing to know God in a deeper way than I ever have and to be known by Him, this dissatisfaction with my current spiritual status. It isn’t that I am immoral; there is this vague indefinable something that has lost the clarity, the crispness of oneness with Jesus. I am totally His and He is mine.

Oh I know God in one sense, I am seeing God break out, I am seeing miracles take place. Don’t get me wrong. But there is this general dis-ease within me that God is after something deeper in me and in us. I don’t feel condemned, I feel desperate.

I am coming to the place where I sense some state of compromise, of coming into agreement with so much not just in the church but in me that is not really born of God, but is not outright evil, just cultural stuff that has snuck its way in. I have struggled with questions like how can we take mountains until the Mountain has fully taken us. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to us.

I felt part of the dream was saying stay low and break out at that “bottom,” the core, the deepest place first, at the core or root level. Jesus came out of the root, the stem of Jesse. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

I could have gone into the meeting just as I was. But I had my pajamas on. I didn’t have the right clothes on, daytime clothes. I felt I needed different clothes. (Clothes speak to identity and positioning)

No one told me I couldn’t wear pajamas or had to put on makeup. Yet I would not go in until I changed clothes and put my makeup on. Having to have my face made up was the main thing that kept me out of the meeting. It didn’t keep me from going to that level, but it kept me from entering the room.

I wouldn’t think of going into that meeting without makeup. Going into the meeting required a certain appearance in my mind. It didn’t dawn on me that I could go in, makeup or not. I didn’t think about being embarrassed. Being made-up had become so automatic, expected, that it didn’t register that it was keeping me out of the meeting.  In my mind, getting my makeup on first was essential. (For a man, it might be shaving.) I could no longer discern what was the most critical thing. My conviction about how I should look superseded the urgency of the draw into that meeting.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

This Scripture seems particularly pertinent, not in a condemning way but in an instructive way.

There are urgent and particular things God is after in this hour. Where we see Him, His glory breaking out and feel the draw, don’t let anything stop us. Don’t let our appearance, positioning or lack of it affect us. Let God get down to the hidden things in our heart, hidden even from us. And above all, don’t look for the obvious and public, look for what He is doing in the deepest and hidden places. He is starting at Ground Zero. God is doing something powerful that will shift entire personal and corporate structures, positioning them to overtake the entire structure eventually with His glory. Don’t be afraid to go underground.

Most of all, cry out, don’t fear desperation. It’s your ticket to get in His hidden room for an outpouring of His glory, for revival.

Check out my book, The Cry God Hears.

For the last 3-4 years, we have been tried in every nook and cranny of our lives. It has been extreme! At times we have wondered if we can make it? Other times, maybe we haven’t even wanted to make it. To everything there is a season. (Eccl 3)

There is a trial of our faith that is imperative if we are to inherit the promises of God.  (Rev 2-3) Peter said that this trial will be grievous, distressing for a season. In other words, we will be miserable, confused, pressed out of measure. (1 Pet 1:6-9) The purpose is not to torment us (though sometimes it feels like that may be the case) but to build a larger reservoir of faith.

Peter links faith with love. When we know God loves us, we can make it through every difficult test, trial. When God gives us a test it’s like school, he disappears like the teacher does, while we take the test. So it seems like He is removed from us. If we are not secure in His love for us, our faith will falter. So He has also been building a new level of security in us that knows He loves us.

One of my key intercessors had a dream. She saw two five dollar bills stacked on top of each other. Suddenly the top five dollar bill extended out beyond the bottom one. God is extending grace to us this year. And it’s double grace. He is giving us grace to get to where we need to be or lay hold of what we have been assigned to lay hold of.

This is the year of coming up out of the pit. Audacious faith is being birthed. True God kind of love is being birthed.  Again, faith is inseparable from love.

Those who have refused to be offended by God or people will now sit in new chairs of authority and honor. Favor is being released. The temptation to be offended has been overwhelming. Jesus even said we would be offended, He guaranteed it. (Matt 18:7) It’s not about who or what offends us but what we do with that offense. Do we hold it, build a case on it, etc. or do we turn to God and let go of our right to be offended.  Entitlement embraces and refuses to let offenses go.

The word for offense is trap. It is a trap set for us to keep us from apprehending all God has for us. But those who have let go of offense, refused to sit in the seat of offense are coming into a new place of favor. However do not judge those who have been overcome because the level of betrayal has been ruthless in this past season and shocking at times. There is no obvious reason for it. It takes time to recover.

There will be those who begin to “come home.”  They have been tried beyond measure. Some but not all have sat quite a while on the seat of offense. But this year some will get up, dust off the remnants of offense and return home. Children will be coming home to parents, family members will be restored, friendships will be mended, member of churches who left, some of them will be returning. Don’t hold the past against them. Receive them openly and freely.

Trials have left us strengthless, shattered as the British say, exhausted and worn down. Though we get up, we have but little strength. (Rev 3:8) Even so, God is setting before us an open door. He will multiply the little strength we have left just like the widows oil.

Lift up your heads and worship! (Ps 24:7-10) The King of Glory is now beginning to visit those who have come through clinging to Jesus with the little faith they have left and have refused to be offended.  Who is this coming up out of the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? (SOS 8:5) I am both encouraged and excited!

Heaven is touching earth and will begin to multiply through those who have passed the test. It’s a day for lavish love, lavish faith and abandoned trust in Jesus. Faith and works will touch each other and set off heavens fireworks.

The kingdom is about to be released through those who seemingly have lost much, even all, in the past season but have refused bitterness, anger and unforgiveness.

The test has been God’s doing! It’s time to now bow low and worship! His glory is now going to be seen and break out on these tested ones. I will go up to Zion and worship! I will ascend the hill of the Lord. It is about the King! Worship will unlock the kingdom as well as the heart of the King! Worship the Lord!

I’m sitting here looking out my window at a blanket of snow covering everything. There’s something about the winter snow that blots out, covers every blemish, in fact every ugly thing. Everything suddenly looks just like the words, a winter wonderland. I’m curious if that’s what God was thinking about when He stated that our sins will be white as snow in Isaiah 1:18.

My neighbors have this broken down porch swing sitting out by the woods. It’s the kind of thing that needs a whole bunch of snow to cover up all of its defects. In fact I wish there were so much snow that an avalanche would carry that thing away. It is a sore spot even in the middle of our local winter wonderland. Every time I look out at the woods, I try not to look to my right because there is that ugly thing that needs to be taken to the dump. And we have a nice neighborhood, so what’s it doing here?

Sometimes that’s what life is like. The Israelites had an ugly, banged up porch swing in the middle of the wilderness all the time. They couldn’t help noticing it and complaining about it. No amount of snow could have covered it up and made them forget it was there.

It got in their craw. They ended up complaining too much. God said they aggravated Him through their murmuring and complaining. He called it sin and decided to hide His face from them. What was so bad about them? Their complaining represented an absence of faith. He called them a perverse generation, one with no faith. (Deut 32:20) They became like that ugly swing set next door to God. No amount of snow could change how they looked to Him. He wanted to see and hear faith.

I do too. Last week I prayed with our congregation every night from 6-7 PM. By Friday night, we all looked different and sounded different too. We looked and sounded like faith. We were covered with snow, a winter wonderland. Snow also represents the Word being heaped up. (Isa 55:10-11)

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

As we move into 2011, God is looking for faith. It is a faith building and releasing time. Our words represent our faith. The Israelites expressed a type of faith in their words; a negative faith, unbelief. I am planting the heavens with my words this month. There is a harvest to be planted and released through my words; words of faith. I don’t know about you, but I am a winter wonderland, speaking forth glorious words filled with faith and glory.  I am preparing for an amazing harvest.

Throw out that ugly battered swing set that sits in the middle of your winter wonderland.

I have felt so strongly that we are in a season when God wants to bless us beyond our wildest imagination. I have no idea what that really means. I just sense that He is “on the way” to right some wrong or difficult situations, resolve conflicts, break us out of very narrow places, heal all kinds of things from physical to emotional to whatever, solve financial conundrums etc.

With that awareness has also been the sense that I must carefully watch what I say and guard my expectations.

Most of us are in situations that speak something very contrary to blessing. They evoke feelings like worry, anxiety, despair, hopelessness, confusion, depression, oppression, even outright anger. I don’t know what you are experiencing but I am aware of my own situations. It is very easy to let the wave of feelings overtake emotions and then suddenly, out my mouth pops a perfectly wrong string of pronouncements. Those words set the stage for the enemy of our soul to overtake us.

However, in the midst of these tough situations I have found a strange sense of hope, expectation arising in spite of the impossibility of circumstances. I have heard that still small voice say, guard your words and carefully craft your future. I expect God to come through and rearrange some situations. I don’t know how, I just believe He is going to do it. When? I’m not sure about the timetable, I just know He is coming. He is looking to me simply to believe.

And to all of you I say, I BELIEVE!

Because of God’s incredible love for me, it forms a three-fold cord that binds me to the plans of God for me. Faith, hope and charity or love. I know God loves me. Therefore I have faith in Him and that faith forms the substance of things hoped for, those things I have been expecting God to come through on. That faith also is my evidence for things that are coming but not yet seen. (Heb 11:1)

In the midst of thinking all these things for at least the last couple months, my assistant, Natasha sent me an email. This word so witnessed with me that I am including it so all of you can be encouraged by it.

This word was given on December 2, 2010.

Angels will Now be Sent to Guard your Mouth!

A Prophecy from Chuck Pierce, Barbara Wentroble, and Keith Pierce

“I have blessings that like the sea can cover you.  Because these blessings can cover you, enter in!  For if you will seat yourself with Me and have a cup of tea and talk with Me, then you will taste and you will see.  Taste and see for the blessings greater than the sea can overtake you.”

“We are entering a season where you need to watch your mouth and project your voice. I will watch the way you use your mouth this season. I will watch how you celebrate. I am sending angels to guard your mouth to assist you in what to say and proclaim! I will watch how you look for your provision. Will you look for provision by faith? Will you look for provision out of a heart of worship? Or will you strive to get what you need?  I will watch how you speak for your provision to come. I am changing the administration of your provision.  So this week be not distraught, but this week speak and watch the honey and the water come forth.”

“I AM saying: Speak!  I am not saying: Strike.  Beware, beware to speak and not strike!  In your striking there will be a drying.  But in your speaking there will be a watering.  Arise and put your hand over your mouth and let Me say, ‘I am One who will speak clearly to see what needs to be broken; come forth in My name.’”

“Be not angry, but rejoice, for your emotions must be displayed properly. Allow your emotions to rise up in the midst of your circumstances and speak to the rock and tell that mountain you’re coming through.”

“I’m raising up a Caleb generation in this hour. Even Caleb was one who said, ‘Give me my mountain!’ He spoke and commanded the mountain to come into his possession. I am raising a Caleb generation who will speak, who will take that which God said they could have — even a generation that murmured and complained and never came into the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord in the last season, and say, “NOW!”.  In this hour I raise up a Caleb generation, a people who will possess that which I say they can have. Even as Caleb, speak and declare that you have your mountain, your possession. This generation must arise and must speak the provision of the Lord.”

This is me speaking again, Barbara Yoder. Remember that we have entered Hanukah, the Festival of Lights, a season of unusual light, revelation, miracles and love. Expect largely, even in your darkest night. There is not one type of darkness that can extinguish God’s light.

The following is a description of what this book is about:

Nations are shifting. America is shifting. Never in our lifetime has there been such uncertainty since the Great Depression and WW 2. Authority is shifting, kingdoms are shifting. In fact there is a world wide shift. We can no longer operate the way we have in the past. Yet how are we to operate intentionally and deliberately in the unfolding new reality?

God is preparing us for something totally new. It is not that the old will be done away with and suddenly we will be transported to a different planet. The new reality is is that the changes unfolding before us will be drastic enough that to navigate them we must find God and His plan anew and afresh. He is getting ready to unveil Himself, to unwrap His glory, to release His kingdom through ordinary people like you. It will require us to return to a place of radical faith and devotion.

In fact, our faith must be reborn so to speak. We need new, fresh faith along with new alignments if we are to navigate the future with God’s kind of spiritual power and authority. It is faith fully grounded in God’s covenantal nature.

Heaven is coming to earth! The kingdom of God is about to invade earth in unimaginable ways. We have become accustomed to a comfortable kind of religious faith that accommodates itself to the society around us. But this new kind of faith releases heaven on earth. Jesus said, “pray this way!” Kingdom of God come, will of God be done! On earth as it is in heaven! This is the kind of faith we are moving into. A new radical believing people are being birthed who just plain believe the Word of God and begin to apply it in everyday life.

I love the historical accounts in the Bible where all of heaven moved on behalf of God’s people. I want to see that in my lifetime. Remember when all of heaven fought with Deborah and Barak, with Gideon, Paul and Silas in prison. Amazing, real accounts of God’s intervention on behalf of His people.

A new move is being birthed. We have entered a new era. History will be written. God is raising up an army, a worshipping army, who will be about God’s business and bring heaven into the earth realm.

This is the cry that God has birthed among His people. It is a cry to see His Kingdom come, His Will be done. You will want to read Barbara J Yoder’s latest book, The Cry God Hears, to help equip you to move into this new era and unfold the history that God has engraved on your heart!

Click & order today! The Cry God Hears, $12.99 (plus shipping)

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The last two days I noted that once again, adverse winds had struck in the most unsuspecting places, Arizona. Tornadoes came out of nowhere in a place no one expects them to come. Tornadoes are whirlwinds, adverse winds. What is getting ready to happen in Arizona?

Several months ago the Lord spoke several things to me, not long paragraphs, just short phrases to give me hints about the future. One phrase was fresh winds, another was movement, a third was awakening and visitation. As a result of that we titled our Fall Conference, “Fresh Winds Blowing, The Movement.”

I inquired of the Lord about the phrase, fresh winds. It seemed like all we were seeing were adverse winds. In Michigan we have had several wind advisories in the last couple months (or more) with gusts up to 75 mph. About a month ago, the day before Rosh Hashanah, the winds were so extreme in our area that they blew down power lines in the city of Detroit. These power lines hit homes or garages and, in at least 5 different neighborhoods, fire broke out. In all 85 homes were destroyed.

I thought what in the world was the Lord saying. These were not fresh winds. Fresh winds to me are soft breezes that are refreshing, cooling, gently blowing a sailboat along its course. These winds were violent, destructive and unrelenting as well as recurring. How was I to make sense out of this. All of a sudden I heard the Lord say, “the fresh winds are in the adverse winds. Don’t fear the adverse winds but head into it.” I began to study winds in Scripture.

In Acts 27, an account of an adverse wind is reported. Paul had warned the centurion not to set sail but because there was a soft south wind, he set sail anyway. Shortly thereafter, “a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon.” (v 14) This is a destructive nor’easter wind. This wind thrust the ship aground and it was destroyed. They ended up on Malta.

Throughout the journey, Paul kept his cool by seeking the Lord and His protection for the people. Despite the fact that Paul warned them not to go because this would happen, he did not get angry when they ignored him and the very thing he said would happen, happened. Instead he fasted and prayed for the men on the ship because he cared about them. In fact the Lord said to him that not one of them would be lost. Paul encouraged the men with this word from the Lord. I wonder how many of us would have prayed for them like Paul after they disregarded his original warning . . . . they got what they deserved! So why pray! God had already spoken and they disregarded it. Not Paul, he hung in there and prayed them all the way through even after they disregarded the word of the Lord through Paul.

Paul’s stance throughout the journey got the centurions attention and he came to respect Paul greatly, so much so that he saved Paul’s life. The sailors were planning to kill all of the prisoners. All of their lives were spared.

Now the story begins to intensify and drama breaks out. Having landed by shipwreck on Malta, the natives lit a fire to warm them. This woke up a snake and the poisonous viper flies out of the fire and bites Paul on the hand. Paul just calmly shakes the viper off. The natives were sure he was going to die. He didn’t. The reality that Paul lived convinced the natives he was a god. Then Publius, the leading citizen of Malta, took Paul and the others into his estate to take care of them.

Now the movement begins.

Publius father was sick and dying. Paul prayed for him, then laid hands on him and healed him. (Acts 28:7) Paul did not look at the devastation of the situation, his eyes were on God. Though this was not God’s original plan for them, God never wastes a moment. So through Paul, God began to break out on the isle of Malta in a healing movement starting with Publius father. Others noted this and now all the sick were being brought to Paul. (Acts 28:9 when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.)

There were fresh winds within the adverse winds. The adverse winds brought destruction. But that destruction caused them to land somewhere they never would have landed had it not been for that destructive storm. The fresh winds of the Holy Spirit blew in a healing movement on the isle of Malta.

We are in days of extremely adverse winds. It is within those winds that the fresh winds will begin to blow. They are the opportunities that will arise within the troubled area to release the power of the Holy Spirit in a whole new way. It was a healing movement that was released on the isle of Malta. It might be a salvation movement in some other place.

But the message in the story is look for the possibilities. Don’t be thrown by the loss and devastation. God is going to break out in the most unlikely places and through the most difficult circumstances.

Job experienced a devastating wind that blew down the four corners of his house. (Job 1) He lost everything. It was a horrible experience, one that took time to recover from. Yet his latter days ended up greater than his former. God did not intend for him to stay devastated.

We are in a brand new day. The enemy will try to overwhelm us with what isn’t happening or what is going down the tube of destruction. Aha! Look up. A movement is about to break out. An opportunity to touch hurting people with the Gospel of the Kingdom will present itself. Run to the devastated areas. They are setups for a fresh Holy Spirit breakout. They are setups for a latter house that is greater than the former.

Kingdoms are clashing, conflict is increasing. This will cause many to be deceived, lose hope, give up and check out. But here is a message in Acts 27 and 28, don’t give up, hang on, believe God and pray through. He has not set you up to be destroyed. He is setting you up to be a deliverer. A deliverer of healing, salvation or whatever.  Paul did not let the adverse circumstances move his internal compass off course. He kept looking for the Holy Spirit breakthrough and breakout. He kept going in faith.

In the adverse winds are the fresh winds of the Holy Spirit. Sail on! There is a planned Holy Spirit movement within the storm.

You can order this message on CD at our online store, click here http://store.shekinahchurch.org/c-7-sunday-services.aspx or call our office at 734-662-6040

I was hurrying off to TJ Maxx to get some items for my South Africa trip. I couldn’t find what I was looking for BUT . . .  found this darling pair of shoes just as I walked into the store. I didn’t need the shoes but they were adorable; expensive shoes selling for a kill, big jewels on the top of the toes, gold and ready for a Dorothy dance. They just weren’t red; they were gold. How could I not buy them, they were a steal. So I left the store with those shoes. I didn’t find what I had gone there to get. But then maybe it was about the shoes. I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz with those shoes.

From there I went to the mall to see if I could find what I was looking for. Frustrated I couldn’t find it at the mall either. By that time I was hungry and drove downtown Ann Arbor for a bite to eat.

I didn’t know what I wanted to eat so was trying to think of some place novel to eat. Natasha and I ended up at a unique little Polish restaurant I had been noticing for years. Walking into the restaurant, I felt strange but didn’t pay a lot of attention to how I felt. Not that I shouldn’t have, I simply had other things on my mind like completing my to-do list.

As I was finishing my meal, suddenly what I thought was a bird flew in the front door. The door was open to facilitate the wait staff serving the tables on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. I yelled at the waitress and told her a bird just flew in the door. As soon as I did this, the “bird” headed my way. When it flew close (and swiftly) I then thought it was a large dark grey moth. I looked again when it got right beside me. It was a bat.

Natasha screamed, pulled her sweater over her head and ran. Everybody yelled rabies. I laughed—pure hysteria hit the place. A kitchen employee ran out never to return. He stood outside waiting for the bat to leave. He had a bat phobia. Needless to say, the rest of our time in the restaurant was spent bat gazing. That bat would find a place, hang upside down, then fly off again. It couldn’t find the front door no matter how much we tried to help it. Finally I pulled out my camera and began to take pictures.

I didn’t like the food but sure did have a hysterical time watching this bat and peoples’ reaction to it. No one left the restaurant except the employee. The patrons just kept screaming and ran every time the bat took off for a different place to hang which was about once a minute. The bat’s flights and subsequent screams from the patrons just made me laugh all the harder.  How novel!

Finally we got our check and left the restaurant. I thought, how strange! The place felt strange. Then this bat flies in and makes itself at home seemingly on a mission to scare the patrons. They responded accordingly with screams, flights from their chairs, and scrambles to safety. What in the world was all that about? The bat was trapped inside with us. Probably he was as scared as us, he was scared of us.

I walked to my car about two blocks away. Arriving there, I see little Missy waiting for me, sitting on the armrest between the two front seats. Just then I lifted up my eyes and in amazement saw this old woman riding past us on her bicycle. She wore a black witch’s outfit complete with the pointed hat and wide brim, looking just like the witch in the Wizard of Oz, I mean just like her. There was my little Missy, (Todo) in the car staring at her too. My new shoes were there too. I felt translated into the middle of the The Wizard of Oz.

Now I was really agitated. That wasn’t a chance happening—the bat and the witch. I suddenly knew God was trying to alert me to something. Whatever was going on? I knew for sure that there was some type of occultic activity going on. That’s what the bat and witch represented. I didn’t feel it related to South Africa but to something I needed to be alerted to.

A Warning

I called my friend Tim Sheets to find out what he knew. He told me that he also sensed an urgent alert for at least two, maybe three weeks. He described to me an unusual experience he had as well as several other pastors in his network. They heard alarms, sirens going off. Yet when they rolled down their windows to see where it was, there was nothing. It was in the spirit realm, inside of them, not an external siren. Some of them heard it as the old air raid sirens of the Cold War. Tim heard the words, “duck and cover.” Tim said to me, did you hear what Bill Hamon prophesied. I had not heard.

Bishop Bill Hamon is the father of the prophetic move in America. He is one of the nicest, most genuine people I know. Furthermore he is not even close to being a prophet of doom and gloom. Only once have I heard him issue a dire warning many years ago. He then made it his mission to get to those nations and warn them as well as prepare them, training them how to do spiritual warfare.

However on July 26, 2010, he issued a warning to this nation, the United States. Here is the prophecy:

“I raised up this nation to fulfill my purpose in this world. The founders and forefathers prayed and made covenant with me. As I remembered my covenant with Abraham, so I will remember my covenant with the founders and forefathers of America. But America has forsaken me, as Israel did. They have turned to other Gods. But when they cried out to me, I raised up deliverers and delivered them from the oppression of their enemies. America is not paying heed to those things that I am speaking and doing to get their attention.  Therefore, I’m going to allow a thing to happen that will get America’s attention greater even than 9/11. I am going to allow a thing to happen that will open the eyes of my people to see how close they are to destruction and their loss of liberty and freedom. Send out the message for my people to cry out to me. And I will arise as a man of war and make my glory be seen and my power be made known. I am jealous for my nation. I will fight for my church and this nation as I did for my nation Israel. I will not be mocked or denied my rightful place in my church and this nation. I have decreed and set things in motion in the heavens that will soon be manifest on the earth.”

Interestingly, the title of my latest book is, “The Cry God Hears.” I will have copies the beginning of December and you can order it from me.

But, this is a major warning from a prophet who does not prophesy gloom and doom. Other prophets have spoken:

1. Cindy Jacobs released a word in July warning that the economy is on the verge of collapsing and called for the intercessors to begin to cry out.
2. Chuck Pierce did the same thing and asked us to set aside 3 days to fast during a 25 day period ending August 15.
3. James Goll said something to the effect that he heard God saying the Fall would be filled with storms.

Amos 3:7 says that, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets.”

There is a pervading sense of impending catastrophe. God’s heart is not to destroy us but to correct us, to correct our course. Furthermore He could use such an event to release an amazing harvest. One can look at the decisions made at the governmental level and wonder how have we gotten by for so long without course correction. This year even more serious decisions have been made leading us away from God. There are so many grievous things that are escalating from the proliferation of pornography, homosexuality, adultery, immorality and perversion of every kind that sometimes I just want to hold my head from the dizziness of it all. It is hard to find a “normal” healthy family. The racial tension is marching towards the tipping point. Islam is advancing. In a high school in our area the whole football program has been changed to accommodate Muslim’s religious practices. The officials would never do that for Christianity. It doesn’t feel like America anymore.

I heard a news analysis recently that claimed the anti-Semitic environment in the world is worse than it was before Hitler and WW2. All of these things are alarming.

This nation is at a critical point in its history. It could go either way. Toward God or away from God and into political, social, financial, family, educational etc. upheaval and collapse.

God Is Looking For The Bottom Line

I believe God is looking for bottom liners. Are we for Him or against Him? Not, are we sort of for Him in some areas and sort of not for Him in other areas. Are we true blue—sold out all the way?

Perhaps the bottom line is you and me. There’s a word called repentance. Are we closer to God or further from Him than when we started in the faith? I have been seriously evaluating my own life. Am I closer to God or further away from Him? What is my spiritual temperature? I have been pouring over the book of First Peter. I have been encouraged, strengthened, undergirded but also convicted. I have seen places I have wandered slightly off course; I am not spot on as the Brits say. I have had some talks with God to cleanse, purify, bring me back to passion and fervor. Home to God, home to myself!

It is time to cut to the chase. What needs to go in my life? What is cluttering it, numbing it? Where am I wasting energy and focus that need to be spent on God and His mandate for me, not something else? Where am I busy with religious activity yet not getting to the core of God’s heart and mandate for this season? Where have I been sucked in to the culture rather than become a transformer of it? Where have I bought the lie? What relationships am I maintaining that are undercutting my relationship with God and His Church? Do I love to simply worship Him? Pour out my love on Him?

I cannot change the nation, but I can change myself, my decisions, the direction I am going in, my actions. In other words, I can repent.

Acts 3:19-20 says, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before. . .”

Before I qualify to pray for the nation, I must turn. I must have clean hands and a pure heart. When I cleanse my own ways through confession and receiving forgiveness, then I can lift up my voice and cry out for this nation. It is time for us, the Church, to repent—to correct our course; and then to lift up our voices and cry out to God. Only God can save us and this nation.

We must understand that it is the Church who through prayer can turn this nation. God’s heart is to release an awakening that causes every previous one to pale in comparison. But perhaps it will only be through pain that we finally get to that cry God will hear. That was true of the Israelites in Exodus 1-3.

But if we turn and pray, lifting up our heads as gates and doors into this nation, the King of Glory will come. He will come in glory and in war to right everything that is wrong. He will not come alone but He will bring all of heaven with Him to turn what is upside down, right-side up.

Psalms 24:3-10 NKJV

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.

This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah

Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts,

I do not hear this as a condemning thing but as a challenge. I do not hear we have been evil and God is going to wipe us off the map. He wants to cleanse, clear out. What I hear is that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. (Rom 2:4) Sometimes His goodness is something that nudges us all the way back to Him. It may seem hard, even hurt. But ultimately it is His goodness because it takes us all the way home to Him. He is our life, our source. In Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)

Another Bottom Line—Identity

And that just may be the point God was getting at through the bat and witch incident. The specific issue may simply be the matter of identity. A whirlwind (massive confusion) delivered Dorothy into the illusory land of Oz. Everyone was confused as to who they were; imprisoned by a false deceptive power.

In the experience I had last week, I was not afraid of the bat, I was amused. The witch totally plopped me down into the middle of the Wizard of Oz story. I had just bought the shoes. Dorothy had her shoes! In fact she had obtained them from the wicked witch’s sister. Dorothy, by taking the sister’s shoes, took the authority from her. She acquired familial authority over the witch. Shoes scripturally represent good news and the gospel of peace. (Eph 6:15; SOS 7:1; Rom 10:15)

There was a path to freedom, the yellow brick road. It was golden representing God’s divine path for us. In the midst of captivity, there was a path. Dorothy found it.

The wicked witch was trying to frighten Dorothy into captivity. Dorothy was a captive in this illusory country. But there was a door of deliverance for Dorothy. The shoes! Her little red shoes were the key to deliverance. Where would she be delivered to? All the way back home. Where was home? It was  Kansas. And the key thing was her destination, home. She was to go back all the way to the beginning, where she started, HOME! It was something so simple that would get her back home, just click those shoes together three times.

The finale unfolded when Dorothy and Todo with her three friends went to the palace of the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City. He was the only one who could help them. The Wizard seemed like he held their destiny in his hands. He projected himself through deception as this magical power that controlled them. Suddenly a wind comes along and blows his cover. The curtains were blown back and the Wizard was simply an ordinary man, one whom Dorothy had known, who was projecting himself through technology to be someone he wasn’t. She was frightened not by him but by his imaging of himself. Once she saw who he really was, the power was broken. Now they all could go home: Dorothy and Todo, her three friends and the Wizard. Their covers were blown. They were freed to be themselves.

God is calling us all the way home. Home to Him. Home to who we are (who He made us to be). Home to what we are to do. It’s an identity issue.

In the Wizard of Oz, the identity of Dorothy’s three friends were key to their positioning. The scarecrow didn’t have a brain. The tin man didn’t have a heart. The lion had no courage. The very thing that was their core identity was at stake. They had to find what was missing to be who they were. They had to face what they lacked. Then they would overcome the witch.

It was in facing their identity crises that they found themselves. When they found themselves, they found their place. They all ended up HOME, the place from which they were to live; the place where they belonged. Home with who they were made to be. They reclaimed their lost identity.

When they were delivered, they all sang with Dorothy and Todo, “ding dong the witch is dead!” That evil occultic (unseen and secret) force that had come to destroy them was broken. Its purpose was to keep them from being who they were. Now they were free. That power which had withstood their recognition of who they were had been broken.  They were free.

You and I are being called to move into who we are, God’s identity for us. That is freedom. And in that freedom, we will be ready for the harvest, for our place in it. And God will be glorified! In the freedom houses being raised up across this nation, people will find themselves and find their place. This will break the power of every deceptive, witchcraft force operating to keep them in captivity.

Whatever happens in this nation, we will be ready for it. We will know who we are. We know who we love and whom we serve. And our hearts are alive and free in Christ to sing the song of freedom.

The best is yet ahead.

Tonight I had the privilege of preaching in Rijeka, Croatia. It is a beautiful city of about 200,000 people, the 3^rd largest city in Croatia. The church there is a new one, a church plant. Apostle Sicko Alic of Word of Life church in Zagreb didn’t send a team to Rijeka to jump start the church; just went and started winning people to Jesus. Then they sent a couple, Petar and Christina, who lead a church in Pula, over to meet with them weekly. Now there are twenty people meeting regularly every week.

The service I preached at had been advertised in the paper and on TV. So they had 50 people at the meeting. 25 of them were not yet believers in Jesus. So I preached evangelistically, the Gospel of the Kingdom. 12 of those 25 came forward to receive Jesus.

Strange thing here, they have a vision to take the nation. So they just go to a new city, a town and start preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not hell, but the Gospel, the Good News that Jesus is alive and well and He wants to transform their lives, the government of their lives. They are beginning to take a nation by changing the hearts of men and women.

I looked for some intriguing strategy that would bring such miraculous changes. Another strange things, they just keep doing what the apostles did, going into new towns and preaching the Gospel, sort of like when Paul went into Ephesus in Acts 19. They figure if you can change the government of an individual, you can change a nation.

Another thing I noticed, they just plain pray. They don’t tip their hat to God in nice little pleasant prayers, they get down and dirty with their praying. They pray fervently, loudly and daily. Every morning Christina is up to lead prayer at 6 AM. They pray for the church, for people, for souls. Another strange thing, God is answering their prayers.

I think they have figured out what Simple Church really is. As they have applied the simple truths of the New Testament church of Acts, it’s worked. Now they are on TV with a simple message, the Gospel. No slick magazines, ads, marketing, just prayer, evangelism, expectation for advancement of the church and the constant planting of new churches, little churches that grow and change the hearts of people.

For some reason, what they are doing seems possible. I don’t need a lot to do what they are doing, just faith, a radical love for God, prayer, vibrant worship and a belief that God loves people and wants to bring them into His family. They make this process look easy. Oh and I need to keep discipling new believers quickly, moving them into positions of releasing what’s in them constantly, even when they don’t think they can do it or are ready.

I heard about a book called Simple Church. I even think it may be in my library. But here I have seen the Simple Church and it is working. No glitzy programs, no stars, just the constant forward movement and progression from preaching the Gospel, prayer, evangelism, discipleship, vibrant worship. People continue to be saved. The church continues to grow. The world at large is not aware of what is going on here. Maybe it’s too simple, too folksy to get the attention of the world.

In the meantime a nation is being transformed one by one. I think I might move here. Or even better, start doing this at home. They just read the book of Acts, believed it and mobilized it.

Any takers?