I am grateful to both of these men, as well as Mike Bickle, for their faithfulness to the Lord over many years in calling a generation to finish the task of world evangelization and pray back the King.

To read Lou’s letter, click here.

To read Dick’s letter, click here.

This week I have been overwhelmed by the promise given to Timothy by Paul in 1 Timothy 4:16. The aging apostle is writing to his spiritual son concerning the nature of leading in the midst of a dark world. Paul instructs Timothy that days of great delusion will come upon the whole earth, and that there will be a need for leaders who have trained in spiritual discipline that are able to stay the tide of deception and delusion within the body of Christ. The apostle exhorts his son to pursue, or rather to be absorbed in, four things: diligent search of the Scripture, exhortation, teaching and cultivation of his spiritual gifting with the Holy Spirit. Paul informs Timothy that if he continues in these things that his progress will be evident to all, and that if he maintains such progress and purity of his doctrine, that he will ensure salvation for himself and those who hear him.

I have been provoked by the promise and what is implied within it. There is a place of preparation in leadership we can give ourselves to which actually makes us able to ensure the salvation of those who hear us.

More comments in the weeks to follow. Just begin to think about the implications of this promise.

Blessings.

As I reflected on his life this morning, I remembered the first time I heard Keith Green’s music. I remember being offended, but strangely drawn to continue to listen to his music. It wasn’t necessarily his music that drew me in, but his gut-wrenching, yet satisfying lyrics. Quickly that offense turned to conviction as Keith’s raw lyrics tore through my soul and drew my attention to Jesus in loving repentance.

Today, in memory of Keith’s life, Last Days Ministries is hosting a live webcast with Melody Green, John Dawson, and Loren and Darlene Cunningham at 6:30pm CST calling people to a deeper walk with Jesus. For more information, click here.

Few men or women have carried the same sharp prophetic sword in worship and music that Keith carried so many years ago. May the Lord raise up many women and men to carry on his legacy of prophetic worship. And may they love not their lives even unto death as they carry it to the hardest and darkest places of the earth exalting the worthiness of the Lamb of God.

Read the interview below:

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We recently interviewed Brian Kim, a senior leader at IHOP–KC and director of Luke18 Project, a missions movement that exists to train 10,000 young leaders to plant communities of prayer and fasting in the hardest and darkest places of the world. In this interview, Brian comments on the urgency of the hour and the necessity for revival in America.

Nate: We have heard much about the merging of the missions and prayer movements. As a representative of both, how do you think the convergence of the two will impact this generation?

Brian: We are living in one of the most unique times of human history. Missiologists tell us that we are within reach of fulfilling Matthew 24:14 in this generation, which promises that the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed to every people group. In tandem with this growing missions movement, we are seeing a burgeoning prayer movement explode across the nations of the earth. The Lord is bringing together both the missions movement and the prayer movement—which I believe from heaven’s perspective are, and always have been, one movement—in a glorious convergence to finish the task of world evangelization and to pray for Jesus’ return.

Nate: What do you see transpiring in the coming years through this convergence?

Brian: I believe that over the next five to ten years, we are going to see traditional field missionaries, church planters, and evangelists teaming up with intercessory missionaries, and that together they will reach some of the least-reached peoples of the world. I believe that God is establishing intercessory missionaries to gain “air supremacy” over regions with intercessory worship and prayer so that the “ground troops” can reap a great harvest in the hardest-to-reach places, among the least-reached peoples. I am excited to see prayer and missions come together in a more dynamic way for the task of the Great Commission.

Nate: Will you tell us a little bit about the upcoming Luke18 Project tour of California? What is the heart and vision of the Purple Pig Tour?

Brian: The Purple Pig Tour is a two-week journey (September 26–October 9) through the state of California to call college students and young adults to plant prayer furnaces, or communities of prayer and fasting, on their campuses and in their cities. We plan on visiting college campuses, churches, and houses of prayer in California. We believe that California is in a critical hour, and we must contend for revival and pray for another Jesus Movement to sweep across the state.

Nate: What is the purple pig? Why use that name?

Brian: “Purple pig” is taken from a book written by Dick Eastman called The Purple Pig and Other Miracles. That book has been foundational in the mission and vision of Luke18 Project. Eastman describes a vision of a movement of young people who are radically and totally given to 24/7 prayer, evangelism, revival, and missions. Eastman is a true father and statesman, not just in the missions movement, but even more so in the prayer movement. Dick had visions of 24/7 prayer and worship in the late 1960s and early 1970s, long before people in this generation were even talking about night-and-day worship and prayer. Both Mike Bickle and Lou Engle say that Dick Eastman and his teaching ministry gave them a vision for prayer and revival in their early years.

Today, 24/7 prayer and worship is normal and accepted in the Body of Christ, because men like Dick Eastman have been calling people to the place of persistent worship, adoration, and intercession for over forty years

Our hope is that through this tour, many young leaders will give themselves afresh to the vision of planting prayer furnaces, where people can pray for God’s justice to be released on the earth, and where Jesus is worshiped and adored.

For more information about the Purple Pig Tour, please email purplepigtour@luke18project.com or visit www.thepurplepigtour.com.

Nate: Why do you feel California is strategic right now?

Brian: As the popular saying states, “As California goes, so goes the nation.” California is one of the most strategic—if not the most strategic—states in our union. California exerts more cultural influence than any other region, perhaps more than anywhere around the world.

Even more important than its cultural reach, however, is the history of revival and movement of the Holy Spirit that have been sustained in California over the past 100 years. Beginning with the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in 1906, California has been a hotbed of revival activity, especially among the youth. From Azusa Street to Aimee Semple McPherson and the Foursquare, and from Billy Graham to the Jesus Movement, California has seen the moving of the Holy Spirit. I believe, as Lou Engle states, that “where there are godly roots, at the first scent of fresh water, new shoots can still spring forth.”

Nate: Do you know how many houses of prayer or prayer furnaces exist on college campuses?

Brian: We are connected to about 400 prayer furnaces on college campuses in our nation. Our goal is to serve students by planting prayer furnaces on all 2,600 four-year, accredited colleges in the U.S. by the 2012/2013 school year.

Nate: What is the goal for these houses of prayer?

Brian: Our goal is to call students to pray for revival, and to create an environment for training and discipling—where students are discipling other students and growing as leaders. We believe that these prayer furnaces can help students cultivate the gifts of leadership, communication, and discipleship, which will prepare them to be the next generation of Christian leaders.

We believe that college campuses are particularly strategic in missions and prayer because, historically, they are epicenters of missionary activity. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, God used college students in the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions to serve in one of the greatest missionary enterprises in history. In just forty short years, the Student Volunteer Movement mobilized nearly 20,000 students to give themselves as missionaries under the guiding principle, “the evangelization of the world in one generation.”

Moreover, college campuses are important because they are melting pots of different cultures and peoples. While it may be difficult for some Western students to serve as missionaries in some parts of the 10/40 window, college campuses are filled with students, often the most privileged and influential, from those regions. This provides a unique opportunity for Christians on campus to share Christ’s love with those people and disciple them, with the knowledge that they will go back to their regions as carriers of God’s love.

You can find the link to the interview here: http://blog.ihop.org/general/ihop-kc-staff-interview-brian-kim/

This week I would like to briefly look at the second paradigm found in the Scripture we have been looking at (John 3:27-30). In our ministries we must have a ‘friend of the Bridegroom’ paradigm in relation to the people we are entrusted to lead.

As John’s disciples ask him what he feels about many leaving his ministry to follow Jesus, John responds by giving this central paradigm. He states, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice” (John 3:29). As a friend of the bridegroom, John understood that it was his job to prepare the bride to meet the bridegroom. It would have been a travesty for him to steal the attention or affections of the bride to himself.

We must see ourselves in our ministry in a similar way as John. We are friends of the bridegroom (Jesus) who are partnering with Him by the Holy Spirit to prepare His bride (the Church) for Him alone. This is the real point of leadership. If we possess this paradigm of leadership we begin to view people rightly. We in no way see them as a means to our own success or impact, but we see people as the inheritance of Jesus Christ. This causes us to ask the Lord for ways by which to use our resources, strengths, influence, etc. to serve their destiny in Christ in order to bring them forth in partnership with Him as a spotless bride, prepared for her husband (see Eph 5:25-32).

Paul saw his ministry in a similar way. He wrote to the Corinthians, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin” (2 Cor 11:2).

Next week we will look at how possessing a friend of the bridegroom paradigm of leadership will keep us from having a spirit of control related to the people under our leadership.

Blessings.

We are in a series discussing ‘new wineskins’ of leadership paradigms and practices. Today I am going to discuss the first paradigm found in the passage introduced last week.

Paradigm #1 – A Man Receives Nothing Apart from God

As leaders we have a tendency to misinterpret our ministries, giftings, resources, influence, etc. It is extremely easy to look at the impact we possess, the talents we have, and the measure of our resources as a natural extension of our own personal achievements, dedication, leadership principles, or charisma. Many leaders are unable to rightly view these things, and in turn cause themselves great problems in leading others, rightly stewarding their resources, and evaluating their success.

John begins his discourse on his ministry by declaring, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven” (John 3:27). John did not see his ministry as related to his natural skill set, his own personal dedication, or his charisma. Rather, John saw the influence, and ultimately the people, of his ministry as a gift from heaven. Thus, the first leadership paradigm found in this passage is that we as leaders receive nothing in our ministries apart from God.

We must recognize that any measure of resources, influence, position, or gifting we possess is not directly tied to our skill set. Any position you have been given must be seen as a gift from the Lord. The psalmist states that “not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert comes exaltation [promotion]; but God is the Judge; he puts down one and exalts another” (Ps 75:6-7).

Seeing our ministries in this light will drastically change the way we approach our ministry and interpret our success. If our ministries, influence, and resources are directly related to our own personal abilities, than we will spend all our time fighting to network, be noticed, or promoted. Then, once we attain the ministry or position we fought for, we will go to great lengths in fighting to keep it and hold on to it.

If we see our ministries, and ultimately the people affected by them, as a gift from heaven than we do not necessarily have to fight to attain them. When greater measures of influence, honor, or responsibility are given to us we can faithfully steward them as a gift. Yet, if the time for our place in that ministry is done, we can graciously allow the seasons to change, and even accept ‘demotion’ in the eyes of man as a gift from heaven, not having to expend costly energy to hold on to our ministry. We do not have to fight to hold on to it, because we did not earn it in our own strength, but were given it as a gift.

Possessing this outlook on ministry and leadership keeps us from developing an entitlement spirit related to our positions. We do not intrinsically ‘deserve’ a certain measure of influence, a certain network, or a certain position of leadership. These are all gifts from the hand of God, given at the time in which He deems right, not as places we are due because of our gifting, charisma, or exceptional leadership skills.

We must view any measure of influence that we have as a gift from God and treat it as such. This will help keep our hearts aligned with what is truly important in the kingdom.

Over the next several weeks I want to take a look at John the Baptist and the model of leadership in the forerunner ministry. In these days the Lord is raising up leaders all over the earth who will prepare the earth for the second coming of Jesus, just as John the Baptist was raised up as a forerunner to prepare the way of His first coming.

Today I am going to introduce the passage that we will be using to find our leadership principles and giving the context for understanding the passage.

²⁵Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. ²⁶And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” ²⁷John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ ²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn 3:25-30)

In this passage John the Baptist’s disciples come to him concerned with the fact that his disciples are departing from him to follow Jesus. John had come in the wilderness preaching repentance and the coming of the kingdom of heaven. From this one man’s preaching in the Judean wilderness, all of Judea and Jerusalem heard of him and began to come out to the Jordan River valley to hear him.

As some heard him, he began to take for himself disciples. The Scripture says that he took disciples for the very purpose of pointing them to Jesus. Yet, as his ministry began to grow there was fervor around John’s ministry. The commotion continued to grow until the religious leadership of Jerusalem sent a delegation out to the wilderness to ascertain his identity. To put it shortly, John was quickly becoming one of the most popular men in Israel.

After the baptism and temptation of Jesus, John began to point his disciples to the Lamb of God. Yet, even by John 3, several of his disciples have not left to follow Jesus. It is these disciples who come to John concerned that Jesus is taking all of John’s disciples for Himself.

John’s answer to his disciples gives us unique insights into how John saw himself before the Lord, as well as how he saw his ministry before Jesus. Over the next several weeks I want to discuss several paradigms that are found within this passage pertaining to leadership and ministry. I believe that the Lord will bring forth men and women throughout the earth as leaders with these paradigms.

We have now entered the days, when again, like Daniel and his three friends, the faithful must stand on the truth of God’s Word and not bow down to hostile forces that would attempt to cause the committed to compromise for the sake of political and cultural expediency. It is in a similar context that God vindicated Daniel and his friends and gave them a voice for truth in the public square. Abraham Kuyper captured this sentiment of active spiritual resistance when he declared, “When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith.”

We believe that this ruling is an invitation for the saints of God on our college campuses to stand for truth and pray like never before. We believe that this could be our college campuses finest hour when Christian college students refuse the status quo and throw themselves wholeheartedly into planting prayer furnaces on college campuses throughout our nation. May this generation not be found deafeningly silent in the face of anti-Christian policies, but may we rise to the occasion and contend for a new spiritual awakening to sweep across our campuses.

In light of this Supreme Court decision, we are calling all university students, campus groups, and campus ministry leaders from all over America to gather together for TheCall Sacramento, a 12-hour solemn assembly of fasting and prayer in Sacramento, CA on September 4. We are holding this prayer gathering on the 10-year anniversary of TheCall DC, where over 400,000 young people and parents gathered together to cry out to God for America.

For more information about TheCall Sacramento, visit www.thecall.com/Sacramento.

For more information about how to plant prayer furnaces on your campuses, visit www.Luke18Project.com/plant.

I am writing this blog series in hope of inspiring young leaders throughout colleges in our nation to take up the charge of preparing themselves to lead in the days that are coming. We stand at a critical juncture in human history, and I believe that the Lord is raising up a generation of leaders ready for the task of partnering with Him as He prepares the earth for His coming.

Today I want to touch on why we need young adults to begin thinking about leadership, even while they are still young.

⁷Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. (Rev 19:7)

This is one of the most telling passages in all of the Scriptures to me. I believe it gives a unique insight into the maturity of the church at the time of Jesus’ return which we cannot overlook.

It tells us that at the time of the Second Coming, when Jesus returns as a Bridegroom to marry His bride (the Church), the bride has partnered with the grace made available to her in unity with the Holy Spirit to make herself ready. This means that the Church has grown into maturity in partnership with the Holy Spirit, walking in the power of grace unto righteousness unlike any time before. Paul says the same thing in a slightly different way in Ephesians 5:

²⁷that He (Jesus) might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. (Eph 5:27)

Now what does this have to do with the Lord raising up a generation of leaders?

If Revelation 19:7 is true, than we see that the Bride does not just haphazardly show up on the wedding day in maturity, having been made ready in the grace which God has provided her. Rather, the Bride has actively partnered with Jesus Christ through the operation of the Holy Spirit to bring herself forth into a place in which she stands before Him holy and blameless, without spot or wrinkle. Yes, this is done once and for all by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and the free gift of righteousness, but it is clear from the Scriptures, and seen specifically in Revelation 19:7, that the Bride partners with Him to appropriate the free gift of righteousness to her experience in growing ways, unto the point where it can be said that she has in fact made herself ready.

This can only come about by the Lord actively raising up leaders who will intentionally stand with Him to prepare the bride for His coming. These leaders will operate in the ‘friend of the bridegroom’ spirit (see Jn 3:29, and future posts) to partner with the Lord to bring forth the Bride as a pure and spotless wife for the Lamb.

To those who are skeptical of any man’s ability to partner with God in this process, we must look no further than Paul, who saw his leadership capacity primarily as a ‘friend of the bridegroom’ (though he did not use those words) who prepared the Bride to be presented before the Bridegroom:

²For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. (2 Cor 11:2)

The Lord is looking for young adults who will begin to posture themselves before Him to stand as leaders who actively and intentionally prepare the Bride in the coming days. He is actively raising up a generation of such leaders who will prepare the earth for His coming, just as John the Baptist prepared the earth for His first coming.

It has been almost 100 years since Rolland Allen wrote both Missionary Methods and Spontaneous Expansion. Yet both of these books still have the same prophetic edge as when they were written. Roland Allen had been trained as an Anglican priest and served in northern China at the end of the 1800s and into the early 1900s. After returning to England and seeing the condition of both the Anglican church as well as the condition of missions work in the nations, he wrote both Missionary Methods and Spontaneous Expansion to show how far the Church had moved away from the missionary principles and strategies of the apostle Paul to something altogether non-apostolic.

Bishop Lesslie Newbigin writes about Missionary Methods that once “he [the reader] has started reading Allen, he will be compelled to go on. He will find that this quiet voice has a strange relevance and immediacy to the problems of the Church in our day. And I shall be surprised if he does not find before long that many of his accustomed ideas are being questioned by a voice more searching than the word of man.”[1]

Allen’s work is still the standard text of missionary principles and strategies even 100 years later for many missionaries and seminary professors and though it can be difficult to work through at times, it well deserves to be read in this generation.

Download ‘Spontaneous Expansion of the Church’ by Roland Allen

Download ‘Missionary Methods’ by Roland Allen