Dreams, Visions, and Informed Intercession (Part 2)

Where there is fruit there are roots.  According to Luke 13:6-9
 Jesus said, “Cut down the tree only if it does not produce
 the fruit it should bear.” The ax is being applied to the
real roots of our nation today.

Let me begin by saying, "God never promises to bring a revival without prayer and the acknowledgement of our sin.  Every revival through history began with these two important biblical precepts." Instead of praying random prayers God is calling Christians everywhere to develop strategic prayer strategies for their cities to see their towns transformed for the kingdom of God. In Part 1 of "Dreams, Visions and Informed Intercession”, I took a prophetic vision of Bob Jones which walks through our nation various states and cities and have begun to show how this prophetic word might be used as a spiritual mapping tool. The principles of spiritual mapping and strategic prayer are simple and biblical. According to Ephesians 6 and other passages, spiritual mapping and prayer is a means of spiritual warfare in which we confront the principalities, powers, and wickedness in high places.  

Spiritual mapping is "an attempt to see your city as it really is, not what it appears to be." The goal is to push back the demonic darkness by identifying strongholds, attacking these areas with concentrated prayer, then infiltrating vanquished enemy's domain with the good news of Jesus Christ. Spiritual mapping is a means to an end: to move beyond breakthrough into complete transformation for your city or region. Please do not confuse the idea of "transformation" with "revival."  Certainly, a move of the Holy Spirit within the life of a region is something we all desire, however, "transformation" is addressing fundamental problems that need to be changed within our nation, city, or region to prep the culture for a visitation of God. I believe and have concluded that dreams and visions, like the “Gulliver Prophecy” by Bob Jones, need to be understood within the biblical guidelines of interpreting dreams and visions. God uses dreams and visions to help us prepare ourselves for the future. As we review this prophetic vision, we need to look at the story, the cities, the types, the symbols, and history of each place to find what each facet of the vision means and what God is calling us to do. In every world event or crisis, prayer needs to be strategic and defined. Wherever the enemy used rogue governments or dictators to oppose the freedom to share the gospel with the unsaved, intercessors had to intercede and become like an army fighting on their knees in spiritual battles. If you have not read Part 1, I would like to encourage you to do so before you take the time to read this second installment, on the subject.   

A few years ago, The Lord gave me Jeremiah 6:16 which says: "Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask which paths are the old, reliable paths. Ask which way leads to blessings. Live that way, and find a resting place for yourselves." Then He spoke to me and said, "America is at a crossroads."  This ancient prophecy was a call to the ancient Hebrew people to return to the God of their covenant.  Unfortunately, many American Christians are still under the delusion that like ancient Israel, our national founders had made a covenant with God. They have been misled into believing that, like ancient Israel, our nation has departed from our national covenant with Him and now standing faced with impending judgement if we do not return to that covenant.  My only questions are: "What Covenant?"  "When was it established?"  And, "By Whom?"  America is not, nor has it ever been in a covenant with God as a people.  So, when the Holy Spirit speaks to us we need to leave our Americanism at the door and explore the original intent of Jeremiah as he spoke to his target audience and then ask; “How does this apply to me today?”  My take is that some people think that America is under judgement for abortion or gay marriage, but my view is that America is under judgement for its original sin of slavery. The late C. Peter Wagner in his article in the “Renewal Journal” on July 18, 2011, entitled "The Power to Heal the Past", stated; "We must recognize that nations can and do sin corporately.  God loves nations, and I join those who believe that God has a redemptive plan for each nation, or for that matter for each city or people group or neighborhood or any visible network of human beings.  But corporate national sin damages the relationship of the nation to God and prevents that nation from being all that God wants it to be." 

In the Hebrew Scripture God judged, not only Israel, but he judged, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and various tribal groups for their specific sins.  Wagner continued by stating that he believed America was being judged for its specific original sin - the sin of slavery. He wrote, "The broadest and most pervasive sin that our nation ever committed was bringing Africans to our shores as slaves ‑ human merchandise to be bought, sold and used for any conceivable purpose to satisfy the desires of their White masters.  But beyond this, the deepest root of national iniquity, as I see it, and one of the primary causes of our subsequent lust for slaves, was the horrendous way we, White Americans, treated our hosts, the American Indians.  What does the breaking of over 350 solemn treaties say about U.S. national integrity?" Our nation is a covenant-breaking nation. If I can apply the Prophet Jeremiah's exhortation – as we take an honest look at our history and address the wrongs of the past. From the painful legacy of American Slavery (which included Native people and Africans) to the mistreatment, beatings, lynchings and genocide wrought between the Jamestown and Virginia landings up to the Vietnam War; God is calling all of us to journey through history to explore the roots of America's major wounds and examine how these acts still affect us today. Just as the Kingdom of Judah and Israel were embroiled in "reaping the fruit of what they had sown", I think Jeremiah's word calls us to look at the old reliable paths that God initiated with ancient Israel and exhorts us today to ask Him the way forward out of this mess our Nation now finds itself in.  We are at a crossroads because we did not heed the warnings of great God-given leaders like Francis Asbury, Charles G. Finney, and even Dr. Martin Luther King.

On November 26, 1957, Dr. King submitted an article to the Christian Century magazine in which he wrote; "The first Negroes landed on the shores of this nation in 1619, one year ahead of the Pilgrim Fathers. They were brought here from Africa and, unlike the Pilgrims, they were brought against their will, as slaves. Throughout the era of slavery, the Negro was treated in an inhuman fashion. He was considered a thing to be used, not a person to be respected. He was merely a depersonalized cog in a vast plantation machine. The famous Dred Scott decision of 1857 well illustrates his status during slavery. In this decision, the Supreme Court of the United States said, in substance, that the Negro is not a citizen of the United States; he is merely property. After his emancipation in 1863, the Negro still confronted oppression and inequality. It is true that for a time, while the army of occupation remained in the South and Reconstruction ruled, he had a brief period of eminence and political power. But he was quickly overwhelmed by the White majority. Then in 1896, through the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, a new kind of slavery came into being. In this decision, the Supreme Court of the nation established the doctrine of “separate but equal” as the law of the land. Very soon it was discovered that the concrete result of this doctrine was strict enforcement of the “separate,” without the slightest intention to abide by the “equal.” So, the Plessy doctrine ended up plunging the Negro into the abyss of exploitation where he experienced the bleakness of nagging injustice." 

Even though American Whites wish the issue would just go away, it will not until our national sins are acknowledged, repented for and proper amends are made, will we find the promised rest or peace that Jeremiah 6:16 promises. Dr. King continued, "It is commonly observed that the crisis in race relations dominates the arena of American life. This crisis has been precipitated by two factors: the determined resistance of reactionary elements in the South to the Supreme Court’s momentous decision outlawing segregation in the Public schools, and the radical change in the Negro’s evaluation of himself. While southern legislative halls ring with open defiance through “interposition” and “nullification”, while a modern version of the Ku Klux KIan has arisen in the form of “respectable” White citizens’ councils, a revolutionary change has taken place in the Negro’s conception of his own nature and destiny. Once he thought of himself as an inferior and patiently accepted injustice and exploitation. Those days are gone."   

It's time to own up to our national sin and finally tell the truth about what happened in America.  We have all learned the sanitized version of America’s founding and believed it was all for religious freedom for our forefathers to practice their Christian faith. However, land-grabbing, dehumanization, slavery, racism, lynching and genocide are not exactly biblical principles instituted by God in my view.  Dr. King believed "that God is on the side of truth and justice which comes down to us from the long tradition of our Christian faith." This is precisely why I think that Bob Jones’ vision, which I wrote about in my last article became so important to the team of intercessors I work with.  They concluded that Bob Jones' vision was a “Slave Trader named Gulliver” - which Bob Jones said, “Is the Body of Christ."  After reading, Elaine L. Robinson’s book “Gulliver as a Slave Trader", the team explained to me that abolitionist Jonathan Swift authored “Gulliver’s Travels”, as an allegory of a slave trader - much in the same tradition of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book “Uncle Tom's Cabin”. So, if Gulliver is a slave trader and Bob Jones calls him the “Body of Christ”, then the Body of Christ was involved in slavery. And this is a well-documented historical fact.

Over the period of the Atlantic Slave Trade, from approximately 1526 to 1867, some 12.5 million slaves had been shipped from Africa, and 10.7 million had arrived in the Americas. The Atlantic Slave Trade was perhaps the most costly event, in terms of the loss of human life, of all of the long-distance global migrations.  As they were brought over from the lands they were dispossessed from, many of them were chained on boards in the hull of the ships.  Bob Jones starts his vision with: " I saw a great man had fallen to sleep in the past, and his body was laying on his back and he was halfway buried in dirt."  As you begin to listen and try to discern a prophetic word, it's important that you pay close attention to the details. Gulliver is laying on his back tied down in this vision - halfway buried in the dirt.  There are two-pieces of truth here. (1) The principle of sowing and reaping now has the slave trader tied down and laying on his back held captive just as the old slave ship captain and crew had tied down their cargo (slaves) in the hull of their ships. (2) “halfway buried in the dirt” is a direct reference to the "iniquity in the land" - slave trading.  As Bob Jones continued, he gave us a prophetic insight of who this great man was. "We could call him Gulliver and little people, from little input, had tied him down, and the only reason he was tied down he’d been asleep for a long time, about thirty-eight years, and he was waking up, you could also call him the Body of Christ coming together.” 

So, if you traced the 38 years back from the time he gave the prophecy; this prophecy points to the end of the Charismatic movement.  The easy question that can be asked about why this significant move of God ended was that the Body of Christ (who is Gulliver) had fallen asleep and had been tied down by the people of the land who had little input.  The important clues given here is the name "Gulliver" and the images from "Gulliver's Travels" and that Gulliver is a picture of the Body of Christ.  Since Gulliver was a slave trader and our national sin (iniquity in the land) is slavery; why then is the Body of Christ implicated in this sin?  There are two possible parts to exploring this section of the prophetic vision. (1) The Roman Catholic Church in the early 1500's issued an edict known as the "Doctrine of Discovery". It states; “Go to pagan, heathen and unchristian lands and dispossess the people of the land and bring them into perpetual slavery.”  This was the original reason why Europeans came to America.  That is why the Gulliver prophecy is so important in identifying the Church’s role in slavery, segregation, and racism. (2)  Bob Jones stated that the Church has been sleeping for thirty-eight years.  We know that he was referencing the ending of the Charismatic outpouring that took place thirty-eight years earlier - but the question remains; “Why did this revival end?”  A dear African-American friend of mine named, Dr. Jeff Edwards, a prominent leader of the Charismatic movement, said to me recently; “That there were two parallel movements during that time. The move of God that took over whole denominations and the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King and others.  These two movements were the voices of their time but never came together.”  I personally believe that is the answer why the Charismatic Movement ended – they never came together.  Psalm 85:10 says, "Mercy and truth have met. Righteousness and peace have kissed."  We know that the finished work of Jesus has brought about the fulfillment of this Psalm. However, unconverted American Christian hearts did not heed or work for "truth and justice" after Dr. King gave his prophetic word to America on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August, 1963 even though there was this major revival that began a few short years after God spoke to us through Dr. King.  We did not listen or obey the "Word of the Lord."  Thus, the move of God ended and the Church fell asleep.  So here we are over thirty-eight years later - crying out for a new fresh move of God like the early days of the “Jesus People Revival”, but we still have a problem.  The Land is still filled with iniquity. Leviticus 26:39 states, "Those who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins and the sins of their ancestors."  Eccl. 3:16 describes what our condition as a nation is: “Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.” God has certainly been mercy to us but He will not bless us until this mercy meets the "Truth" and righteousness and peace have kissed each other.  Black lives do matter and that's what this Gulliver vision is addressing. We have been given two warnings from God in the 20th Century.  

God used two African American men to speak to the Church, both were ministers. William Joseph Seymour, 1870-1922, was an African American minister, and a catalyst of the Azusa Street Revival in 1906. Even though, Seymour rejected the existing racial barriers in favor of “Unity in Christ", White Supremacists infiltrated his multicultural congregation and divided the congregation on racial issues and most of the White people left the congregation and started White Pentecostal congregations to replace the Azusa Street Revival.  As a result, the Azusa Street Revival ended.  Leaders today, from Oral Roberts University President, Billy Wilson to “The Call's” renowned Lou Engle, keep calling intercessors to pray for a kind of “Renewed” Azusa Street Revival. However, do they really understand what God was doing in their midst, during the time that Jim Crow laws and segregation were being perpetuated by the White Church of the day? So, what did God do?  He waited for another fifty years and poured out His Spirit in the mid-1960s on His Church and raised up another African American pastor to cry out for justice - Dr. Martin Luther King. The major reason I find that Dr. King is important to the Gulliver vision is because of the “Gulliver’s Travels” story.  When Gulliver is awakened in the original story, the people of Lilliput (the little people in the Gulliver’s Travels story who tied him down) they lift him and place him on a cart. Once he is on the cart they move him to take him to the king.  Near the end of Bob Jones vision, he says, "I saw this great man raise up and begin to take and break off all restraints and He put his foot down, both of them, in Atlanta, Georgia. This is where Dr. King lived, pastored, and is buried.  Bob Jones basically uses the Gulliver allegory of being brought before the KING; that he saw the great man raise up and... “put his foot down, both of them, in Atlanta, Georgia.”  So, after researching, discerning, and praying I began to understand that the Gulliver prophecy is about racial reconciliation and justice.  On a hot day in August, 1963 Dr. King was overcome by the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus began to speak through a BLACK man once again in the days of racial bigotry, segregation and police abuse; this prophetic word:

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

Why would God raise up two BLACK men to speak to a nation?  It's because He chose vessels that would be despised by the bigotry and racist hearts in the Body of Christ. Bob Jones, prophetically points out that the American Church, which was engaged in the slave history of our nation, whether segregating through congregational seating, running residential schools which stripped Native Americans from their cultural heritages, or not marching with Dr. King in the time of revival, will remain tied down by the sins of their fathers. It's just like God to use two men from different races, to speak a vision of God’s intended destiny for the “Body of Christ” in our nation.  But, he also had to use a White man named Bob Jones to show us, members of the Body of Christ, that God wants us to be unshackled and unfettered from our slave trading heritage. Once again, here we are at another crossroad and God is calling for an awakening. Why? Because we've been asleep for the last 38 years! What kind of awakening?  It is one in which "Mercy and Truth" and "Righteousness and Peace" are brought together. This prophetic vision calls intercessors everywhere to pray for this awakening, to lead the way to repentance for racial healing and reconciliation.  

In my next article, we will begin to unpack the history and meaning behind the parts of Gulliver's Body and the relationship with the corresponding cities.

Dreams, Visions, and Informed Intercession (Part 1)

A few years ago, I took a friend of mine on a tour through The State House of Pennsylvania. It’s halls and galleries are filled with paintings on the founding of William Penn’s Holy Experiment - Pennsylvania. It is incredible and one of our nation's best treasures.  During this tour we took a break and went to eat lunch in the cafeteria on the lower level.  While there, I noticed a group of intercessors praying in a corner.  I went over and sat down next to them while they prayed and found them engaged in praying that God would restore the vision that William Penn had of our nation. I was quite intrigued.  What on earth would have motivated this group to come to this great gallery of art to pray for a national restoration of William Penn’s vision?   

As I got to know this group, they shared with me that they had heard a “Prophetic Dream or Vision” given by a man named Bob Jones.  According to Rick Joyner of Morningstar Ministries, in Fort Mill, South Carolina, Bob Jones was a contemporary prophet whose prophetic ministry spanned over three decades. He was, like the Old Testament Daniel, one who functioned and moved with a clear revelatory gifting in dreams and visions; as well as interpreting what God was giving to him and other great leaders of his time.  Often, his prophetic insights were confirmed with gifts of healing and miracles.

Over the years, as I have developed my relationship with this group of intercessors, they shared with me the details of the Bob Jones "vision or dream” - which has been commonly referred to as the “Gulliver Prophecy.” This Prophecy was given at a conference in Ohio in 2005.  Together, the team hearing the word, sensed that God had called them to go and retrace the landmarks of Bob Jones’ vision and intercede for the word to be fulfilled. This is what eventually led them to praying into William Penn’s founding vision for our nation.  I must admit, despite all my own experiences with dreams, visions, and prophetic ministry, I was a bit skeptical about what they were doing.  But as they shared a CD with me of the word Bob Jones gave; the vision began to challenge me.  What did this “vision” mean?   Is God really speaking or is this some weird word from an old man who was moved by his own delusions?  However,  I am cognizant of the scripture that says;  “In the last days, God says, I will pour my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will speak what God has revealed. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)  I also felt a tug in my own heart to begin exploring what kind of word this was?  Was it really from God?  What did it mean? And if it is from God, what does He want us to do about it?  

I think it’s always important to examine a “prophetic dream, vision, or word” in light of the Scripture.  I Corinthians 14:29 states, “Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others carefully evaluate what is said.”  The King James Bible translated this verse to say, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.”  I think this is one of the most important things lacking in modern day “prophetic” circles - judging, or carefully examining a word in order to determine whether it is from the Lord or not.  All prophecy is to be judged.  Years ago I heard someone say, “Dreams?  Are they from God, something within myself or something I ate last night?  All I have to say is, “When someone gets up and proclaims that God is speaking to them about something - It’s a serious matter.  To proclaim you’re speaking for God, is something we all should not enter into lightly.  That’s why “prophecies, dreams, interpretations of dream, and visions need to be evaluated and judged by other mature prophetic leaders; so that the Body of Christ is not led off into some direction by a delusionary word.  I became very concerned as I watched this intercessory prayer team focusing on a “dream” about a satirical story by Jonathan Swift entitled “Gulliver’s Travels.”  Just what kind of word is this?  Here’s the text of the “word” given by Bob Jones.

BOB JONES’ PROPHETIC GULLIVER VISION

“The heavens declare the handy works of God.  Our Daddy spoke them into existence and they are in total obedience to his orbit and they are all speaking a real clear word right now.  They haven’t been lit up like this for two thousand years.  In the heavens is shaking, on the earth is shaking, and under the earth is going to shake.  Now on the Earth was taken place, last June the 6th He’s always told me through the years to mark June 6th.  If you go back you will find the heavens reveal certain things on June the 6th including the eye of God.  This year gives us another message in an awesome way.  

Thirty-eight years ago last June the 6th Jerusalem become a united city.  Jerusalem is Papa’s time clock, not Israel.  Thirty-eight years, the man laid at the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years waiting.   I think the crippled church has waited long enough.  Israel went around in circles, Kadesh Barnea for thirty-eight years.  Kadesh Barnea means they wandered around that mountain. The word now to the church is to get off the mountain, make a beeline for the promises of God and cross that Jordan and come into the Promised Land, for it’s yours.  How long will this journey be?  Two Years.  The next couple of years she’s going to be a real shaking in the world, and you got no business shaking, because you already have things established, that can’t shake. Because everything is shaken under the Earth, you are going to see some awesome shaking, volcanos, earthquakes, but you already have things settled.  For Christ is settled, in your heart. Settle on things above, that can’t be moved or shook, and when this happens your finest hour comes.  

Thirty-eight years, two years, we’re talking about the beginning of His Glory, the returning of our Daddy’s Glory, and Him taking back the Honor on His Name.  I saw a great man had fallen to sleep in the past, and his body was laying on his back and he was halfway buried in dirt.  We could call him Gulliver and little people, from little input, had tied him down, and the only reason he was tied down he’d been asleep for a long time, about thirty-eight years, and he was waking up, you could also call him the Body of Christ coming together.  I saw his head was in Cleveland, Ohio and his head was Jacob.  Jacob was the one that wrestled and met with God and this is the year that the blessings of Jacob on you; you don’t have to be perfect.  You just have to be willing. You have to get yourself started, to be dedicated for His purpose.  Jacob; head is in Cleveland, called Jacobs Field, full of youth, especially college and high school youth.   You need to get a vision for it.  The next thing I saw; I saw a large pole, a tent pole and it was sticking straight up and it come out of Columbus, Ohio.  There is going to be a thing in Columbus, Ohio that is going to raise up anything you’ve seen before and it is going to be like a tent, a canopy, and that’s where his heart is at.  Then I saw Cincinnati. That’s where his reproductive organs were. This is what you’re called for to reproduce.  I saw the left hand, it went over the mountains, it went up to Pennsylvania; Philadelphia and it had love in it, and the left hand was a teaching hand of God, and you’re going to begin to see the true teaching hands of God, teaching God’s love again.  I saw the right hand it went west, and it was tied down in Indianapolis, Indiana and I saw it begin to flex and begin to raise up and to pull those strings off.  I saw one of the feet; the left one was in Charlotte, North Carolina. Which means you’re going to see great television, books, and radio, and things that people can be taught without going thousands of miles.  I saw the right leg it was in Nashville, Tennessee.  Get ready to see great faith raise up there. I saw this great man raise up and begin to take and break off all restraints and He put his foot down, both of them in Atlanta, Georgia.  God means to take Atlanta, first he means to take Ohio, then Atlanta.  He means to take Indiana, He’s going to go on over into Illinois, He’s going past Cleveland.  If you take Atlanta, Georgia you take the South.  

My Daddy got big ideas, but He’s big enough to do it.  But He’s looking for the Body of Christ whose head will be in the heavens, whose body will be on the earth walking it out.  You are part of that Body.  This is why you really need to begin to go to Him in prayer, and find out where He wants to start.  I know where He wants to start. Find out where He wants to start. I know where He wants to start; in your heart, then in your home, then in your family, then on your streets, your cities, your states, and He’s starting, this is called “passion”.  Get ready for a passion for intimacy with God that can only be satisfied by being intimate with Him.  Get ready to know Him in a passion you have never known anything before.  He can bring you into such intimate relationship, that when you speak, the words He speaks to you, an intimacy is created.  You are part of that Body, my Daddy’s got big ideas, He’s big enough to do it.”  

Over the years, I’ve come to several conclusions about how to handle a “prophetic word, a dream or vision.”  First, just as prophecies, dreams and visions were given in the Bible - each were written down.  Secondly, people throughout the scripture were given the opportunity to evaluate the words.  Many of the words, dreams and visions were judged or evaluated by prophets, interpreted by prophets, and people; and then determined as being from God or not.  I think it’s important that the Body Of Christ needs to receive a lot of teaching on discerning what is from God, what is not from God, what is true prophecy and what is a false prophecy.  So the purpose of this first installment on Bob Jones’ Gulliver Vision is to explore the nature, purpose and use of prophecy.  My third thought has to do with “What are we supposed to do with a prophetic word, dream and vision once it is determined as being a ‘word from the Lord’?  If we really believe that GOD Himself has given us a word - once accepted - then we need to OBEY what God is saying.  This is what has perplexed me about Bob Jones’ vision and what this particular intercessory prayer team was engaged in.  Were they just crazy “Charismatics”  or were they really called by God to go to each of the cities listed and pray for the “Vision’s” outcome.  Over the years I’ve been engaged with this team and I think their actions deserve a just evaluation and appraisal. That’s what this series of articles will be about and I hope you will read through each of the installments as I write them.  I’ve been learning a lot about what I now call “Informed Intercession.”  This team’s work has challenged me to rethink every teaching I’ve heard on prayer, intercession, personal prophecy, what true prophets are vs false prophets, the purpose and use of all prophecy both in the Word of God and what to do with spoken words in corporate assemblies.

What I do know is that this Bob Jones’ Vision stirred a group of intercessors who still regularly call in to a conference call twice each week to pray through the meaning and purpose they have found in this vision. They have looked into the satirical work of Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” and even found a book entitled “Gulliver as a Slave Trader” to assist them in praying for the healing of our nation.  For whatever reason, they got activated enough to go to each city in this vision and that’s where I happened to meet them while they engaged themselves in prayer in Pennsylvania.  It’s from this “Holy Spirit-led”, “Divine Appointment” that has now linked them into my journey on the road to healing and reconciliation.  Through this series of articles, I hope to share with you - the journey of what we’ve learned together since that moment when they were simply praying into William Penn’s vision for a nation.  I hope you will read on and maybe join us in - learning how to do “Informed Intercession” with “prophetic vision or words" that God gives you.”  I guess I cannot find a better way to finish this particular installment on the “Whys” of prophecy and what to do with them; other than what The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in I Timothy 1:18; “ This charge I commit unto you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which were made concerning you, that you by them might war a good warfare.”  This is a major insight into the purpose and use of prophecy within the Christian faith.

Stop Trying To be Famous!

What is the motivation for why you do what you do? Ephesian 1:18 The Apostle Paul wrote, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling..."  As a young man I loved traveling, speaking in churches and conferences.  I enjoyed meeting new people, going new places, and worked hard to be a good speaker with a prophetic edge.  It was great to witness so many people come to Christ, get baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit.  It was always amazing to pray for people and watch God heal them and perform miracles right before their eyes, my eyes and those who were in the meetings.  But what motivation did God have in mind when He confirmed the word he put in my heart to give people?  Did He do so I could become a major, internationally known prophetic ministry?  Did he want to make me a household name in the religious world?  I don’t think so.  Candidly, I just wanted people to experience the “grace of God” and “presence Of God” in the similar manner to the way God worked in my life.  I was taught by those who mentored me some very important principles to live by.

Here’s a very important one, in a time when everyone is working so hard to get noticed.  Jesus said, "Be careful not to do your good works in public in order to attract attention. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you.  So when you give to the needy, don't announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward. When you give to the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  Give your contributions privately. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.”   (Matthew 6:1-4)  By contrast, Jesus (Matthew 5:16) taught in the  beatitudes to let their light shine before people.  Here Jesus is stating that if the motive of doing something good is to be noticed by people, then don't do that. Don't boast about how "good" you are before people. There is nothing wrong with doing good works that will be seen before people, after all, we live among unbelievers. However, when you do good things, don't do them for the purpose of drawing attention to how "good" you are or trying to impress the communities that you serve.

Secondly, in Matthew 23:3, 5 Jesus is addresses the crowds and points out to them that the  Scribes and Pharisees did their deeds in order to be noticed and admired. Jesus condemned this their motivation. People are supposed to notice your good works because your good character permeates them, not because of your attempt to have them see how "good" and "great" you are. The former is humility. The latter is self-centeredness and just trying to grab attention and praise from all the wrong. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “make it your ambition to live quietly, do your work, and earn your own living.” (I Thessalonians 4:11) As Christians our lives are not to draw attention to ourselves but to bring attention and honor to Christ in our manner of living. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said, “So let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Notice that the purpose of others seeing your good works is for “the others” to be moved to glorify God - not you!  Striving to become that “Next Christian Superstar” is called self-ambition. What does the bible say about this?  James 3:16 says, “ For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”  The apostle explains to us that the fruit of selfish-ambition is “disorder” and “every evil practice.”  That evidence is everywhere in plain sight in our time. Why? Because everyone wants to be famous - instead of making Jesus famous.  

One of my favorite bible passages comes from the Gospel of Luke. In Luke 2:19 he wrote, “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”  Here is a woman who could have gone out and started a major ministry.  Here is one of the most famous women of faith of all time who could have reached for the heights of fame.  But, no, Mary choose to treasure all the things she witnessed and bore testimony too and kept it to herself until Luke came to interview her about it.  Years and years she just marveled the story, treasured the it in her heart and pondered what she experienced and saw.  If there is example of what it means to be a follower of Jesus is to follow the example of Mary.  Instead of trying to become that next great Christian who runs out and writes the next big story to become famous; maybe we should just treasure up the things the Lord does in ou lives and just ponder it a while.  Why sell yourself for some cheap fame and instant gratification when you can have rewards for all eternity to celebrate?  Do your works for the right reason!

Can Prayer Change A Nation?

Over the last year, I worked on a national project to gather pastors together to come to Washington, DC to pray for our nation.  Normally, I do not like working on prayer projects during the presidential election season.  I find too many people get suspicious of a prayer gathering in DC during an election year.  This year was no exception.  I also found that this particular gathering was one of the hardest goals I've ever worked for in these types of events. However, I always enjoy the challenge and I worked harder on this project than I've worked in the past.  In all my years of working on National Prayers gatherings, getting 30,000 pastors to commit to coming to this event was like herding cats. Pastor's are so committed to their local church work and so hard pressed by their work - it's extremely difficult to get them to join in another function unless it assists them in their regular routines.  The other major challenges I faced had to do with two other major events which were scheduled this year which basically polarized this major gathering of the Body Of Christ in DC.  One event was being held on the same day in LA and the other was a youth event that was to be held only 90 days later at the Washington Monument.  I have never experienced such competing movements in the Body Of Christ and the response and loyalties to their brands of these events. But, one question remains to be answered despite any organized prayer event, "Can Prayer Change A Nation?"

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, DC  American Christians have entered into the struggle of defining our national identity.  Among some Christians there is a belief that America has it's historic roots in the Christian faith.  For others, the Euro-centric version of the Christian faith was imposed on the natives of the land and slaves brought ashore by the mid-Atlantic slave trading industry which imposed colonialism which had nothing to do with God.  Yet, there are others who see no hope for any nation's future and believe that the end of our nation and even the world is near. Many of these folk believe that God has abandon America and placed our nation under judgement. I have also found some who believe that we can't pray for our nation on the basis of II Chronicles 7:14 because they have concluded that this prayer was relegated to the Nation of Israel. They believe this land was stolen from the native populations, there was never a national covenant made between our founding fathers, and no promise was made by God for America to be given to the European settlers as a promised land. Therefore, we can't pray II Chronicles 7:14 as a basis for the healing of the nation since we are not Israel. In this view we probably cannot claim any of the promises of God outlined in the Hebrew Scriptures because it was meant for Israel alone. 

 Wow! All of this only demonstrates that our churches have truly been impacted by our post-modern deconstructionism. One question I have really begun think about is "Can America be healed of It's national wounds?" For that matter, "Can any nation be healed ff it's national wounds?" If so, then what is the basis of a nation being "saved?"   I love Isaiah 66:8 "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a nation be saved in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?"  It seems apparent to me that God does rule over history and brings salvation for a nation.  However, salvation doesn't come without true repentance. When you or I came to Christ - we recognized our sin and our need for our savior.  We are called to "repent for our personal sins (past and present - all of them) in order to receive the promises given through the work of the cross. There are conditions laid down for us in scripture laying the basis on how to be "saved."  We can't just say to Jesus - yeah, I want the blessings of your work but I refuse to accept the terms of your covenant.  Even those who have struggled through their addictions and worked through a 12-step program know that you cannot move forward without acknowledging, repenting, and making amends for their past. It's a very well known fact that until your acknowledge your "sins" you cannot be free from them.  So, what's important for the church in America to do is to stop living in denial of it's history and repent for its participation and role in our national sins so that it can become an instrument in bringing our nation to Christ.  Our past history matters. It shapes our present world and affects our future.

A few years ago, I was attending a meeting with some evangelicals in Dover, Delaware and a man walked up to me and asked why do you think it's important to address the past?  He went on to explain the past is the past.  We can do nothing to change it. Let bygones be bygones.  May first reaction to this kind of thinking was to ask, "Why then do most people think its important to acknowledge and remember the holocaust? Why does the German educational system teach it's children about its history? Why should they have to rehearse the sins of the past? Its very simple, the past shapes the present.  If the past is not important then why does our public education, colleges, and seminaries teach history?  The strange thing about this guy's questions was that we were both attending a seminar led by pseudo American Christian historian, David Barton.  Why was he even attending this history seminar if he didn't think the past wasn't important to remember?Millions of people around the world study history, philosophy, the arts, wars, genealogy and even how a family's DNA impacts the present.  So why shouldn't we explore the past? After all that's why over 600 people should up for the David Barton seminar. Edmund Burke put it this way, "Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it."  The real question should be: "Why are so many Christians committed to avoiding their past?  Rose Kennedy said, " Some have said, time heals all wounds.  I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens.  But it is never gone."

What this man, who attended that seminar that day was really saying was, "I don't want to be responsible for what my ancestors may of may not have done."  For me, I can't imagine why he doesn't understand that the Jewish people will never let the world forget what was done to them by the German people and the world.  The same can be said about what America did.  The American people are guilty of stealing land from the native people, the genocide of whole tribal groups, slavery, lynching, raping their women, separating whole families, destroying their identities, language and cultures all the while proclaiming that they were church going Christians - and Christians don't want to talk about it?  Maybe we need a few American tribal and slavery holocaust museums built to remind American's of their sin. Maybe the Body Of Christ needs to look at the churches role in this process and be called to account for its participation in promoting slavery, segregation, and racism. What ran in our fathers still runs in us today.  This is what the Bible calls iniquity.  Yes, Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities (Isa. 53:11) but you don't receive the right for that forgiveness until you recognize, acknowledge and repent of your sins.  You just can't say - can we let bygones be bygones.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated on August 23, 1963 that "It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges."  - from Dr. King's "I have a Dream speech

America can be saved.  But before it can be saved "The Body Of Christ" needs to lead the way and show America how to address the past. God is not going to bring a revival, awakening, or restoration to his people until they acknowledge their "participation" and "part" in our national sins. Only after we get ourselves and our relationships right with the Native American people and the African American community then, maybe God will forgive us and heal us of our transgressions.  Isaiah 66:8 explains how a nation can be saved, "Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."  We need as the Body Of Christ to begin travailing in prayer and intercession for our churches and the state of our nation.

Leviticus 26:40-41 "If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their treachery which they committed against Me, and also that they have walked contrary unto Me.  I also will walk contrary unto them, and bring them into the land of their enemies; if then perchance their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then be paid the punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land."

Question: now for us "Have we've been humbled or have we embolden ourselves as American Christians? Our American troops have spent over 10 years walking in the lands of our enemies? Are we "The Body Of Christ" arrogant enough to demand rights and claim dominionism over God's prescriptions for revival? I don't see or hear much brokenness and travail that Isaiah 66:8 calls us to?  So it may be a while before America is saved in a day. In my humble opinion, we are too proud, stubborn and self-reliant as a people. How can call on a nation to do something we won't do ourselves?

Nehemiah 9:2  "And the ALL of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers."