3 Critical Responses to the Impending Crisis in America
Christianity is already becoming illegal. Christians in business cannot adhere to their faith anymore as they are at risk of bankruptcy inducing government fines as was the case in Oregon:
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) awarded $60,000 to Laurel Bowman-Cryer and $75,000 in damages to Rachel Bowman-Cryer for “emotional suffering.””This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage,” the final order read. “It is about a business’s refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation. Under Oregon law, that is illegal.”According to the BOLI, the lesbian couple suffered great angst. One of the women “felt depressed and questioned whether there was something inherently wrong with the sexual orientation she was born with.” They said she had “difficulty controlling her emotions and cried a lot.”
Apparently if our faith results in someone having difficult controlling their emotions we are operating our business illegally.
It’s time to cry out, church.
“Israel was made weak before Midian and cried out to the Lord” (Judg. 6:6).
STEP TWO: God sends a prophet.
Too often we presume our prayer, our cry, should result in God flipping the switch from bad to good, from crisis to help. This is rarely how it works.
After we rend our hearts and cry out to God he most often sends clear instructions to us. We need to resolve the issue that resulted in the crisis, and God will grace us and empower us to do so.
“When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of Midian, the Lord sent them a prophet who said, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt and out of that place of slavery” (Judg. 6:7-8).
Through a prophet God encourages the Israelites by reminding them of His faithfulness and His ability to rescue and redeem. Even though they aren’t out of the crisis yet, God is so loving that his first reaction is to comfort them—even as they are still suffering and hiding in the caves.
His encouragement then continues, along with a clear indictment:
“I delivered you from the hands of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out from before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God. Do not worship the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.’ But you have disobeyed Me” (Judg. 6:9-10).
The reason they were cowering in caves, being plundered by their enemies and fearing annihilation was not because their enemies refused to honor God or to establish laws that are scriptural. It’s because they were disobedient. Similarly, we can’t point the finger and blame a corrupt, perverse, godless society for our troubles! The legalization of homosexual marriage is the expected outcome in our culture! Don’t be shocked. More is coming—unless the church figures things out quickly.
STEP THREE: Obey.
Now is the time to hear God’s voice and obey!
“Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah belonging to Joash the Abiezrite. Gideon his son was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.’ Then Gideon said to him, ‘O my lord, if the Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us? Where are all His miracles that our fathers told us about? They said, “Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?” Yet now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites'” (Judg. 6:11-13).
Gideon was complaining that things were bad, that things weren’t changing, but he didn’t realize that he was the reason! It was his fault and the fault of the Israelites that things were bad … and it was him who must turn things around.
God refused to listen to his complaints. He was done with the excuses. He called Gideon according to his true identity!
“Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this strength of yours. Save Israel from the control of Midian. Have I not sent you?'” (Judg. 6:14).
It was time for Gideon to obey.
His excuses continued, and God gave him one more striking vote of confidence:
“And he said to Him, ‘O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘But I will be with you, and you will strike the Midianites as one man'” (Judg. 6:15-16).
Gideon proceeded to tear down his father’s altar, form a remnant army and advance against the enemy as one man!
This is your calling, friend. You are called to cry out, receive prophetic instruction and obey the command of the Lord as you route the enemy of the church and our nation as one man!
Our call to cry out will have some pretty powerful results. The cry will shift from the people of God to the enemy as they run for their lives:
“The three combat units blew the horns and broke the jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the horns for blowing in their right hands. They called out, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’ Every man stood in his place all around the camp, but the men in the camp ran, shouted, and fled” (Judg. 7:20-21).
John Burton has been developing and leading ministries for over 25 years and is a sought out teacher, prophetic messenger and revivalist. John has authored ten books, has appeared on Christian television and radio and directed one of the primary internships at a major international prayer ministry. Additionally, he planted two churches, has initiated two city prayer movements and is currently directing an online prayer and revival focused ministry school called the School of Revival. John also produces prophetic equipping media that can be watched or listened to most every day at thefurnace.tv.
He and his beautiful wife Amy have five children and currently live in the Branson, Missouri region. John is available to minister anywhere in the world and can be contacted via his site at johnburton.net.
