
Understanding of the times…
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. ~ Isaiah 58:12
This week I found myself between Isaiah and Jeremiah on ground they knew very well. Its also ground that the German Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested in 1943 for daring to stand on. This week almost every Christian eye is on the Asbury “Revival” in Kentucky for good reason. Something is definitely going on there that is worth paying attention to. That’s where your work, my work, and our work comes in…with a heaping dose of the Intuition of Issachar.
Thus says the Lord, “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; For your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord, “And they will return from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord, “And your children will return to their own territory.” ~ Jeremiah 31:16,17
Because my dear brothers and sisters, as I said to my pastor this week, “Who can tell rainbows from hell, or Angels from Devils anyway?” John Leake has both an interesting and alarming take on what has blinded us. Raise your hand if you recognize the stupor around you. Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than wickedness. Evil can be protested against, exposed, and, if necessary, it can be prevented by force. Evil always harbors the germ of self-destruction by inducing at least some uneasiness in people. We are defenseless against stupidity. Nothing can be done to oppose it, neither with protests nor with violence. Reasons cannot prevail. Facts that contradict one’s prejudice simply don’t need to be believed, and when they are inescapable, they can simply be brushed aside as meaningless, isolated cases. ~ John Leake, “On Stupidity”
The other factor worth noting, besides the 1 Chronicles 12 Sons of Issachar read in this morning’s devotional, is the view from the 1st Century Disciples’ eyes our Orange Strong Bible Study is appreciating up through chapter 19 of Acts this week. The Acts church was “of one accord.” We, my brothers and sisters, as the German church before us, are not. VERY far from it. So while I pray the Asbury Revival is of God, through God, and for the glory of His kingdom, I caution us all to view it through a discerning lens. Remember: Fifth generation warfare has been described by Daniel Abbot as a war of “information and perception”
So, its healthy and wise to ask ourselves, “Was the Asbury event spontaneous or planned?” I was sent this very credible report that suggests the latter. “Fake Asbury Revival” which I forwarded to CLOTH brothers and sisters with my opinion that we are witnessing a Social Justice inspired event. I did have a couple of folks respond asking how I could be so sure. One friend sent this report from her “Facebook friends”. I changed the names: Chip, I was little confused about one of the posts about the Asbury revival. Maybe I misunderstood. Everything I’ve read has been positive about it. This is from a post on Facebook of a friend.
Tom and I went to the Asbury Revival in Wilmore, Kentucky last weekend. Over 20,000 people descended upon the university while we were there. They had to open up satellite locations around the campus and an area church because of the amount of people. Video screens were placed outside on the university lawn where we worshiped, prayed and entered into what God was doing inside Hughes. I even took my coat, socks and shoes off and worshiped danced on the lawn in the 40 degree weather. I didn’t care how cold it was or about getting my feet dirty. During times of repentance, people were on their knees in the muddy ground. No one seemed to care. We just wanted more of JESUS. The interaction with fellow believers was just incredible! There was such peace, honor and respect for one another. People were loving and patient with one another. We were so blessed to meet Chris and Anna Beach and Erica Cook and share our stories and pray together. The Salvation Army handed out free food, water and hot coffee. What a blessing!
Someone captured this picture of us in Hughes Memorial Auditorium. The presence of God was thick, weighty, and tangible. We waited in line to get into Hughes for about 6 1/2 hours. Some waited in line for 8, 9, 10 hours to get into Hughes. When we finally got inside, it was as if time stood still. Tom and I were so caught up in His presence. People came in from all over the world. As a matter of fact, most people who came there were from outside of the area. It was SO amazing, incredible and powerful to experience the corporate tangible presence of God! A pastor and his wife from Chile’ sold their car so they could come to the revival. After giving their testimony, the entire place broke out in corporate prayer for Latin America to receive revival fire. We heard many testimonies from young people. There was such vulnerability of public confessions, especially of porn addiction and sexual sin. Souls were flooding the altar in repentance and receiving salvation, healing and deliverance. People reported of physical healings in their bodies. I had been in the Toronto Blessing as well as the Lakeland Revival. Experiencing the purity, simplicity, holiness, reverential fear of the Lord and power of the Holy Spirit in the Asbury outpouring was reminiscent of the Catholic charismatic renewal in which I got saved in. The hunger for God was evident. People would line up and share a single verse from the Bible. After reading the verse, the facilitator on the microphone would say, “This the Word of God” and everyone would respond back, “We Believe It”. Simple yet profound messages were preached by the faculty. There was a commissioning to all of us to go out from Asbury, take this revival fire and spread to all the world. It is hard to describe seeing and experiencing the Holy Spirit being poured out! Tom and I were completely wreaked by God and in tears so much of the weekend! God is pouring out His Spirit in these last days for sure!! Our deep cry and prayer before the Lord is “Pour out Your Spirit upon the whole earth Lord Jesus! Come Lord Jesus Come!! We cry, “MORE LORD..MORE!!”😭🔥😭🔥😭🔥😭
#asburyrevival2023 #revival #outpouring #HolySpirit #Jesus
Now, to be clear, I hope and pray we are witnessing a true manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Kentucky. But, interestingly, in this same week another production that has captured the hearts and minds of Christians across the globe, including mine, the VERY popular series The Chosen came up. This was sent to me from a pastor, “This is DEEPER Than We Thought.” Which prompted this from another pastor whom I regard as a mentor in the Faith: “Whenever there is a move of God there is inevitably much carnal and demonic activity as well. We must never “throw out the baby with the bathwater.” Let the wheat and the tares grow together. God will sort it out. Don’t miss the move of the Holy Spirit by being distracted by other spirits.”
And still another pastor I spoke with this week, led me back to your work, my work, our work. He said, “I don’t know about down there. I know about here.” Which I have to say goes to the heart of understanding 5th Generation Warfare, and sage advice from “Doc” Chambers, “You have to control the controllables.” What do Asbury or The Chosen have to do with our work, and/or what we can control? Are Asbury and The Chosen a distraction (intended or otherwise) from our work?
Do you know where the term “dog king” originated? You may want to tune in since you, me, and our families are all being ruled by one in the present moment. “On the Front Line in Ohio”










