“Charge!” – Steve Coder
Sunday, January 1, 2012
‎”The courageous Holy…advancing relentlessly and gloriously for the eternal souls of men!”

This is an encouraging word from Steve Coder that was brought Sunday November 27, 2011 concerning Shammah (one of David’s mighty men) and his stand for his field of lentils.

Noah Bryant’s sister, Merry Laurel, shared during pre-service worship that she saw Noah riding his horse through the barn pasture with the fire of God on him. I asked Noah if he could get his horse, Takota, here and make it happen. He had already had it on his heart and was ready to go as the message came to an end.

This video is Noah saddling up, riding, and then sharing what God had shown him. We are trusting God to re-ignite the adventure of walking with God in this generation!

A Fellow Pilgrim,
Steve Coder

When I read these familiar words, “His name is John,” it fired like a cannon in my heart. It felt like I was reading them for the very first time. It was one of those moments when you know the Holy Spirit is speaking a transitional word. It was a “pause…shift” moment, like when you push in the clutch and there is the slightest pause before the next gear engages. God is “engaging” us for a new shift and it’s time to get ready for the next gear that begins with the words, “His name is John.”

When God dispatched His angel, Gabriel, to deliver good news to Zechariah and Elizabeth, He was shifting mighty gears in His kingdom. The good news was this: In spite of their old age, they would have a boy and his name was to be John. After 400 years of darkness, God spoke to His people again by placing a baby in the silent and barren womb of Elizabeth.

When John grew up, his home became the silent and barren desert of the Judean wilderness. In this wilderness, John’s voice was speaking new revelations from God, not just echoes of the past! John had been waiting and listening all his life for the sound of the Bridegroom’s voice. Then, the Bible says, “The word of the Lord came to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.” Armed with the word of the Lord and the fire of the Spirit, John would be the human catalyst of one of the greatest revivals in history. His purpose was to clear a path and make straight the way for the coming of the Lord. He accomplished all of this — in six months’ time! His name is John!

Water Troughs Everywhere

Recently, while preaching an ongoing series on the life of John the Baptist (specifically, John at the Jordan River) I had a vision. In this vision, I saw literal water troughs set up all over this land and people coming to be baptized in them. It was awesome! God was on the move in revival and awakening people in such numbers that the only way to respond (in the vision) was to set up these water troughs everywhere we could find a spot. They were set up in both countryside and cities and multitudes were baptized.

Our fellowship meets in a barn and our baptismal actually is a large water trough, so when I saw these water troughs in the vision, it seemed perfectly normal! As people were being baptized in great numbers, my heart was greatly encouraged.

After having this vision, we were invited to a meeting in Indiana where I had an opportunity to share the word, “His name is John.”

Because of his disbelief of the angel’s message, Zechariah was unable to talk until he wrote these four words on a tablet after John’s birth. The Bible says, “To everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John.’” (Luke 1:63) The crowd was astonished by Zechariah’s choice of names because tradition dictated that he name his son after himself or another family member. However, Gabriel had specifically told Zechariah to name the baby, “John.” Because of Zechariah’s ultimate obedience, his son was released to fulfill the assignment that God had destined for him to complete.

The last verse in the Old Testament prophetically declared that John would “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers.” (Malachi 4:6) That scripture began to be fulfilled as soon as John’s own father wrote the words, “His name is John.” Not only was Zechariah’s tongue then loosed to prophesy (something Zechariah had never done before,) but John, the forerunner of Christ, was named and set apart.

To those who are receive it, the Spirit declares this same word to our generation: “Your name is John!” You are a part of a great coalition that will “prepare the way of the Lord.”

Before the meetings in Indiana concluded, there was a leading for folks to get baptized. This was an outdoor tent meeting and the Lord was wonderfully present. Because the meetings were held outdoors, a portable baptismal was brought out into the field next to the tent. I about jumped out of my skin as I witnessed what I had seen in the vision literally coming to pass! Different ones would emerge out of the water and you could sense that something great had just happened. Something had died, yet resurrection life was exploding in great power! I felt like this was first fruits of a mighty move of holy repentance and awakening that is to come all over our nation.

It is estimated that nearly two million Jews came to John to be baptized. Two million! And the Jewish people didn’t even observe baptism, they had ceremonial washing rituals, but not baptism. Baptism was only for those outside of Judaism that were coming into the Jewish religion. In other words, it was the religious people, the Jewish people, who were breaking with their own religious tradition to be baptized! This was a revival of the religious! This fires in my bones! I feel like there will be a baptism of repentance that will begin first among God’s people. God wants us to go back to the waters of repentance and get it right, do our first works over and really die to ourselves. We must come back to life with a greater view of the Kingdom than we have ever known!

A Boy Named John, Brought Back To Life

When we returned home from these meetings, we received word about a little boy named John who had drowned in a water trough but was then resuscitated. John was put on life support and was not expected to make it through the night. His parents were told that if he did survive, he would likely be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. Around the world, God’s people prayed and God was merciful! Incredibly, John is now completely restored and running and playing with as much energy as ever!

John is completely restored!

I have been careful not to share this story until John’s complete recovery was certain, but we felt an assurance that God was about to clearly speak through this situation, confirming His word through the life of this child. Just consider what happened: He went down underneath the water in a water trough and literally, physically died. But through the great mercies of God, John was literally, physically, brought back from the dead and is now full of life!

I believe, through this miraculous circumstance, little John was prophesying to this generation. I believe the Spirit is taking us back to the waters of repentance, to what Charles Finney called “true repentance.” He is taking us under until we have completely died to the old man and our old ways. Then, and only then, will we come up out of the waters with resurrection glory in us, around us, and upon us. We will be ready to “prepare the way of the Lord” with a new vigor for life!

Lightning Strikes at the Barn

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mat 3:13–15, Mark 1:10–11)

God said He would confirm His word with signs following. Recently, I was in my office at the Barn continuing with the study on the life of John the Baptist and I was meditating on the scripture above. At the same time, Karise Bryant was in the meeting room singing a song she had written about the life of John the Baptist. Outside, one of our powerful Florida thunderstorms was swiftly approaching. I had just written down the thought: “John obeyed God and the heavens were opened,” and Karise had just sung the words, “My name is John,” when something unusual happened.

Now summer storms are not unusual, but this one moved in with an incredible lightning display. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck with such power and close proximity that the bolt and thunder happened almost simultaneously. On the recording Karise was making, you can hear the “click” of the lightning and then the immediate boom of the thunder that shook the whole building just as she sang, “My name is John.” (We included the recording so you could hear exactly when and where in the song the thunder sounds. It is only because our sound recorder was on battery backup that we were able to capture the moment as it happened.) Just as she got to the word “John,” heaven opened, literally!

I ran out of the office to make sure everyone was all right and nothing had blown up. Once we figured out everybody and everything was okay, we realized God opened heaven (with an exclamation point) as I wrote and Karise sang! We were both stunned and rejoiced at what God was speaking out of heaven: first, that “His name is John,” and secondly, that when John obeyed – heaven opened!

When Moses was on the mountain speaking with God, the Bible says, “Some heard thunder and others heard the voice of God.” He thundered for us here at the Barn and that thunder was a speaking, a clear message. It was the voice of heaven saying, “Your name is John, and if I have to send a lightning bolt and thunder as an exclamation point, I’ll do it!” So, John, where are you? God is thundering your name from heaven and calling for you to respond right now because your name is John!

The Hog Hunt

Finally, we have a group of guys at the Barn that enjoy hog hunting on a 2,000 acre ranch managed by Brother Jim. Two siblings, Noah (23) and John (21) were out hog hunting when we received a call that Noah “had gone missing.” We rallied the troops from the church to pray and search, and called 911.

Before rescue responders arrived, Jim and John continued scouring the massive ranch for Noah. From the truck, Jim fired his 12 gauge and his rifle while John shouted out Noah’s name. Jim got so frustrated with John’s constant yelling that he finally told him to quiet down so they could hear if Noah was responding to the gunfire. But filled with passion and concern for Noah, John wouldn’t stop shouting for his brother.

The good news is that Noah was found! The search helicopter was called off, and the relieved and thankful search crew headed back home…because Noah wasn’t found by helicopter, search crews, or even gunshots. Noah testifies he barely heard the gunfire (and these were big guns!) It was the voice of John that he heard! It has spoken deeply to us as a Body. It was only the passionate voice of John crying out for his lost brother that got through to Noah.

God is thundering from heaven and He is calling for those destined to be John in this hour. The Kingdom of God truly is at hand and the voice of John is desperately needed in this generation. It will be heard over gunfire, over politics, over religion, over the fruitless controversies and noise of this generation. John can be heard! The voice of John must be heard so that a people will be prepared for the coming of the Lord!
Your name is John!

A fellow pilgrim,
Steve Coder

For those of you who may ask, “What does it mean to be called ‘John’?” I will be following this up with a continuing word on John’s life at outpostworld.com. In the meantime, I am also sending out scriptures (without commentary) that is directly related to John’s life. Because the Holy Spirit is your teacher, I feel like He will specifically show you what’s important to you from that word. If you feel led, you can follow my twitter account @outpostworld.

During a gathering at the Barn, Jillian Watson shared her heart and asked the question, “What Do You Stand For?”

The Private War of a Saint
by David Wilkerson
October 15, 2007

The book of Revelation tells us that in the last days, Satan will rise up in anger and make war “with the remnant.” This remnant, of course, is the body of Christ, comprised of all “(who) keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17).

We in the church of Christ talk often about spiritual warfare. The war that is described in Revelation is a worldwide attack Satan has launched against the body of Christ: “It was given unto him to make war with the saints” (13:7).
Every believer is enlisted in the great army of the Lord. And Satan is waging his demonic war against this army. Hellish principalities and powers are fronting an all-out assault against God’s holy remnant. The apostle Paul states that on every battlefront, “We do not war after the flesh…the weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (2 Corinthians 10:3–4).

Consider these “war zones” around the globe:
In Muslim nations, the spiritual war taking place is a demonic assault on the testimony of Jesus Christ.
In Europe, the conflict being waged against the church is a war of secularism. One by one, European nations are becoming totally secular states. In Sweden, the war taking place involves unbelief. One survey says only 20 percent of the Swedish population believes in God. In England, the war is one of apostasy. A nation that once was a light to the world, sending missionaries all over the globe, is rapidly closing many of its churches. In America, Satan’s war against the church is in the continual flood of sensuality and materialism. His weapons in this war are love of money and addiction to pleasure.

Right now, Satan’s powers of darkness throughout the world are rejoicing. They’re convinced they are so powerful, so high and mighty, that they can’t be brought down. These demonic forces have infiltrated high places of human power: the media, political offices, high courts. It’s happening even in compromised religious denominations, as leaders move aggressively to marry gay couples and ordain homosexuals.

All of these demonic principalities have an agenda. They work to reeducate young schoolchildren about the “rightness” of homosexuality. They seek to erode moral values. They work to pull down the saving power of the gospel. Already the storm clouds can be seen gathering in Washington D.C., as more and more elected leaders try to legalize gay marriages.

It seems every institution, every agency, is now infiltrated and dominated by these ungodly spiritual powers. You can actually hear the gloating and boasting of these demonic principalities: “We’re moving into power. We’re going to win the war.” And they seem to be winning.

Yet we know how this war ends: at the cross, in the victory of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us, “The weapons of our warfare are…mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (10:4–5).

1. There is another battlefield in this war: the private war of individual children of God.
Every believer on earth faces his or her own private war. The Bible states, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven…. A time of war, and a time of peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:8).

Right now, you may be enjoying a time of peace. I thank God for such seasons in life, when joy springs up. My hope is that a majority of readers are enjoying a period of rest and rejoicing.

But there will come a time of war. And that war won’t involve the vast body of Christ worldwide, but will be a private war. It will involve battles and struggles known only to you.

These are wars of the flesh — I call them “soul wars” — and they bring a burden you can’t share with anyone. Even your spouse or best friend can’t help you carry them. They simply aren’t able to understand your battle.
Such private wars and battles overwhelm the body and soul. And they are lonely wars. They are just about Jesus and you.

My wife calls her private battle “my silent war.” As I see the pain etched on her face, I say to her, “Please, Gwen, tell me what you’re going through.” I want to help, to offer encouragement, to pray. But she answers, “It’s just so deep, I can’t explain it. Only God knows.”

My son Greg spent two-and-a-half years in unimaginable pain, the result of an accident. Even the strongest drugs couldn’t help Greg’s physical agony. He was in a private war he simply couldn’t explain. No one in the family could help him, not his wife or his parents. I would say to him, “Son, I can only imagine what you’re going though.” He would answer, “No, Dad, you can’t imagine it. You simply don’t know.” His pain was so deep and painful, he couldn’t put it into words. At one point he told me, “I don’t even ask God why anymore. I just want one hour free of pain. The war I’m in is to get the smallest bit of relief from what I’m going through.” It was a battle he faced alone.

Beloved, these are all war zones, bloody battlefields. And when we’re in them, there is no dancing, no shouting, no laughing or smiling.

I know something about private wars. I have had my share of such wars. When my daughter Bonnie was stricken with cancer, my wife and I entered into hand-to-hand combat with the powers of hell. For three days, Bonnie had to be shut in isolation, as cobalt beamed into her body. She couldn’t eat or have visitors. Outside in the hall, my wife, Gwen, was at the end of her rope as a mother. She wept as she pounded the wall with her fist, crying, “Why, God?” It was all too much for me.

I also was completely overwhelmed by the agony of our daughter’s ordeal. I got into the car and drove to the countryside, where I parked and began walking along a country road. I soon found myself screaming at God:
“Oh, Lord, first Gwen has had to face all her battles with cancer. Then our daughter Debbie has had to battle it. Now it has come upon Bonnie, too. Tell me, what did I do? How did I sin against you to bring about all this suffering?”
No one on earth could have helped me in that dark hour. No preacher or Christian counselor could have reached me. A thousand saints could have stood by me, exhorting, “You can make it, David. Don’t weep, don’t scream at God. Just believe.”

But none of their words would have touched me. I could never explain to anyone the depth of grief and pain I endured at that time. I needed something supernatural, something only God could provide. I needed a word of love from my heavenly Father. I had to win this war with no other help than from the Spirit of God.

And God did come. The Holy Spirit whispered to me, “Your daughter has two fathers. Tell me, which one can hold her now in that room?”
I answered, “You can, Lord.”

It was as if the Lord said to me: “You have put your family in my hands. Go ahead, cry it out, get it out of your system. I know everything that you’re feeling; I felt it for my own Son. Now trust that I am a Father to your daughter, to you, to your family.” In that hour of our desperate cries, Jesus entered into Bonnie’s room and held her for three long days. Praise God, he healed her.

Often we Christians convince ourselves that the right thing to do is to grit our teeth through our battles. We tell others, “Everything is all right,” but it is not all right. God doesn’t want us to put on any false front. He knows what we’re going through, and he knows it is something shared just with him.

2. Some face a private war caused by what the Bible terms “a season of heaviness.”
The apostle Peter writes, “(We) are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations [adversities]” (1 Peter 1:5–6). The Greek word for heaviness here suggests dejection. If you were to ask any godly saint about his private war, he would probably mention the heaviness Peter describes.
Everyone who walks closely with Jesus has known awful seasons of having a heavy heart. Throughout history, God’s precious ones have walked through long days of one adversity after another. They have awakened day after day with another heavy report and yet another battle to face. They have endured family problems, crises of health, financial hardships, troubles with children or grandchildren, loved ones facing terrible adversities. Even King David, a man of great faith, testified, “My soul melteth for heaviness” (Psalm 119:28). This is straight talk coming from a man after God’s own heart. David is saying, in simple terms, “I am worn out. I’m getting weary under all these burdens. My life is in utter distress.”

Yet, through it all, Peter says, we are to “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). Why? We are told these tests come most intensely to the godly.

I offered comfort to a pastor whose story was heartbreaking.
A minister was grieving over his son, who had been charged with killing two people. Talk about a season of heaviness; this pastor endured one long day of agony after another. As I spoke with him, he mentioned other awful adversities in his family that caused my heart to break. I offered him Scriptures of comfort, reminding him, “‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous.’ This trial will result in greater faith.”

He answered me, “Brother David, I am not there yet. My pain is too heavy to bear. I’m focused on my son’s pain right now.” I know what it is like to endure such a season of heaviness over a loved one. It weighs on me like a burden as I sit in church alongside our pastoral staff, listening to their messages of hope and encouragement, uplifting calls to faith. All the while my heart is breaking in pain.

The congregation sings, “Shake off those heavy bands, lay down your heavy burdens.” But it takes more than a song, more than a sermon, more than a Holy Ghost meeting to lift you up when you’re gripped by deep sorrow and a heavy heart. It doesn’t matter how powerful the sermon or how glorious the worship is. I leave the service not uplifted but still weighed down with grief. In such seasons of heaviness, nobody — no service, no message, no counselor — can lift your heaviness. It is your private war, and it’s something you have to battle through to victory. Prayer helps — indeed, all spiritual things help — but God wants it to be your victory.

3. Some private wars are the result of “lusts that war in your members” (James 4:1).
Recently, I read a few chapters from a famous book written years ago. The book was about the private war of a godly saint.

This man was greatly admired as an upright, charitable man of God. He had served the Lord faithfully for years. He was a prayer warrior, a worshiper, a man of integrity and honesty, and he loved God’s Word. Even this man’s enemies acknowledged his righteousness. Then one day his world came crashing down. In one night of lust, he impregnated another man’s wife. In a panic to cover up his awful sin, he arranged a hit man to kill the woman’s husband.

The man’s sins caught up with him, and he was exposed. In two chapters especially, he describes in vivid detail the horrible private war that followed. He was stricken with a crippling disease. All his friends forsook him, and his sons turned on him. He came under the chastening rod of God and cried out because his burden became intolerable.
The man was overcome with shame for having reproached God’s name. The guilt he bore was simply unbearable. His soul was flooded with grief and bitter tears, and he wept aloud, “I’ve been a fool, a hypocrite. How can I ever be forgiven?”

His mental anguish caused him to mourn from morning till night. His days were restless and he couldn’t sleep. He descended into a deep depression, thinking God had forsaken him. Moreover, his body became wracked with pain. His bones ached and a terrible pain developed in his back. Eventually, he felt tormented in every part of his body. He wrote of that time, “All I do now is groan.”

This man’s private war became so overwhelming, he felt totally abandoned. Day after day he cried out, “My God, why have you forsaken me? My sins have overwhelmed me.”

By now you probably have realized this famous old story is in the Bible. The saintly man who fell was King David. You can read his confession in Psalm 38 and especially in Psalm 69. Why have I brought up David’s “private war” confession?

I refer to David’s example because it is the same private war that many believers face today. I’m talking about believers who have fallen into sin. David’s war didn’t come from weariness or heaviness. It came from an all-out attack by the enemy. Paul wrote that a spirit of lust was to come upon the world. Enticement would come out of the very pits of hell against God’s holiest people. Therefore, we can’t think for a minute that saintly, righteous people are immune to falling into the lusts of the flesh.

Many Christians believe if they are faithful to pray and study God’s Word they won’t be tempted. But David was a true intercessor, a man after God’s own heart; no one loved the Lord more than he did. This holy man was tempted fiercely, and he succumbed to his lust. You see, the godliest saints are the prime targets of this kind of warfare. James addresses faithful believers when he warns, “From where come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” (James 4:1).

These private “lust wars” and fights of the flesh are not limited to singles. They include married men and women — godly, praying, faithful believers. Paul warns every follower of Christ when he writes, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Jesus gave a similar warning to his disciples: “Pray that you enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:40).

My heart goes out to all who, like David, have lost a battle against lust. Perhaps this describes you. You may be in the midst of such a terrible private war. And, like David, you know something of the consequences. Day after day, you face guilt, fear and confusion. Yet I remind you, you are in the midst of war. And we know who the Victor is.
David learned how to win his private wars. How do we fight a good fight? David writes, “He teaches my hands to war” (Psalm 18:34). There is no formula, no war plan to be developed against Satan’s wiles. The heavenly Father works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform in our lives. We can learn something of how his Spirit works through David’s example:

1. First of all, David cried out to the Lord.
“Oh, Lord, make haste! Help me quickly. I’m about to fall. Please, hurry and deliver me. Cause me to escape. Your Word promises you’ll deliver me, so do it now” (see Psalm 70).

I ask you, how often have you cried out a similar prayer? “Oh, Lord, how long will it take for you to deliver me from this? Please, do something now. This is dragging out too long. Where is my way of escape that’s promised in your Word?” The truth is, we all want out of the war we’re in. We are tired of fighting, weary of the struggle. We think, “I’ve fought long enough. I’m so weary now I’m about to fall.” Even Jesus said on the cross, “Father, why have you forsaken me?”

But God won’t take some out of their war. Why? First of all, war is how the Lord strengthens and teaches us wisdom as soldiers in his army. Second, he needs us in this war. You see, you are at the very center of the conflict, and others close to you depend on your example. If God pulls you out, it’s possible many of your friends and family will suffer and fall away, because they never saw you fight through your battle. Do you get the picture? You are the one whom God uses to drive back the enemy. You are the one he wants to teach how to war. You are the warrior whom God works through. And he is using your example to strengthen weaker brethren.

2. David made a decision: “Live or die, I will magnify the Lord in this battle.”
This godly man said, in essence: “I have prayed for a quick escape from my battle. But until God delivers me, I’m going to glorify him in my warfare. I will praise him, despite what I’m going through.”
Consider what David wrote in these Psalms: “Let God be magnified” (Psalm 70:4). “Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together” (34:3). “Let all those that seek thee… say continually, The Lord be magnified” (40:16).
This ought to be our cry as well. Like David, we are to set our hearts to magnify the Lord in the midst of our war. This doesn’t mean we force ourselves to put on a happy face. Rather, it means our worship of God is simply unspoken; we glorify him quietly through our battle, hour by hour. It means standing still in the midst of our raging storm and firmly declaring in our hearts, “Lord, I believe!”

3. David cast himself fully on the mercy of God.

Consider David’s incredible testimony: “When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up” (Psalm 94:18). David had learned, “The Lord will never allow my distress to overcome me. By his grace, my problems won’t take me down.” Here was a revelation to David of the merciful, tender kindness of the Lord. In every struggle against our lusts, God is always full of tender mercy to the repentant. David wrote: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:8–14).
Dear saint, will you make this your testimony? Can you look at all your distresses and adversities, anxieties and temptations, and say in faith: “By God’s grace, I am not going down. I will not be overcome by these things”? He will answer you: “I won’t allow you to be overwhelmed. I have enough grace for you.” “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Here is the final word on the subject from David himself: “He maketh wars to cease” (Psalm 46:9). In every private conflict you face, keep your eyes and your thoughts fixed on this: God’s mercy and loving kindness are never failing. Amen!

“So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
But if I say, “I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.” – Jeremiah 20:8(b)-9

Growing up, I witnessed a boy who had caught himself on fire. When I saw him, he was completely engulfed in flames and was running out of control. It was one of the most horrifying sights that I have ever witnessed, and I have never forgotten that image.

Images like these have a way of sticking with you for reasons that go far past the moment. I am careful in the review of this image for obvious reasons, however, I know this–I will never forget it. So often when I think of this passage of scripture I am reminded of that day. It shocked me and caused my whole world to stop in that moment. Someone was on fire and I had never witnessed that before.

In the spiritual realm God is looking to set men and women on fire by the power of His Spirit. When He does that I believe people will stop dead in their tracks and take notice. Jeremiah said, God’s “word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.” Jonathan Edwards, a preacher during the Great Awakening, once said that, “God sets me on fire and people come to watch me burn.” And they did come, by the thousands they came, and gave themselves to the Lord. Why? Because there was a fire! Leonard Ravenhill said, “You never have to announce a fire,” people will come from everywhere to watch it burn. Recently, while on our way home, we were driving on I-75 when the traffic had turned into a parking lot. Fire engines were passing by, and when we finally got to the reason for the slowdown, there was a car completely consumed in flames off in the emergency lane. People stop to watch a fire.

Where is the fire of God burning? Is it burning in your heart right now? Do people take notice of your life? Are they arrested at the site of someone finally fully given over to the fire of God? I believe the church and the world are both looking for the same thing – men and women on fire.

The Apostle Paul said, “keep your spiritual fervor.” The word used for “fervor” literally means to have the fire so hot that you are at a spiritual boiling point! It also means to “commit oneself completely.” I did some research recently on the requirements of little league baseball. The appalling thing is that they required more than the typical, local church. You had to commit and attend regularly or you couldn’t play! God help us! The little leagues are more committed than the church. And the worst part is that the parents are yelling in the stands giving full support and yet most won’t muster an “amen” in the local congregation.

How is your spiritual fervor? How is your fire? Are you at the boiling point, or like the church in Laodicea have you become lukewarm. If so, ask God to reignite your fire and bring you back to the boiling point and then do not be afraid to do what He asks of you.

Holiness has been substituted by mere attendance and we’ve abandoned prayer for church politics and lost our power and our fire in the process. We talk a lot about the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit but very little about the fire of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said one of the marks of the Holy Spirit coming would be that He would “baptize us in fire.” It’s a glorious thing to be baptized in water unto repentance, but it is quite another thing to be baptized in fire, Holy Ghost Fire! Why? Because it consumes you, it burns you up! Your pride, your arrogance, your competitive spirit, your lust and greed, your anger and your need to be first are all consumed in that fire, and then He leaves them in a heap of ashes. Praise the Lord! But you have to stay on the altar until these things are consumed. There has been far too many of our sacrifices that have crawled off the altar before the Lord’s consuming work was done.

The Word says, “Don’t put out the Spirit’s fire,” and we never should. But, I say, ‘Let’s get the fire going first!’ You can’t put something out that doesn’t exist. There is presently a great emphasis on what we can get from God and what we want Him to do for us. But the great need of the hour is fire, real spiritual fire; the kind that will make your neighbors want to dial 911 when they’re near you!

So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” Jeremiah 20:8(b) To be clear, these are the words that Jeremiah spoke before talking about the fire shut up in his bones. When God called Jeremiah as a young man, He said He would make him a “fortified city and a bronze wall.” Why? Because God knew the response of Israel (forget the world) to the Words of God that Jeremiah would be required to speak. And what was their response? “Insult and reproach all the day long.” All the day long…that’s a lot of insult and a lot of reproach…and that’s our promise. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12

Jeremiah was one such prophet. You can even see the battle of the mind Jeremiah was going through when he said, “If I no longer mention Him, or speak anymore in His name…” He had considered that option. Maybe you have, too. It’s far easier, you say, to keep quiet and not suffer the “insult and reproach” than it is to speak His Word and so you have remained silent. But the fire still burns in your soul, and you’re in agony.

Jeremiah was wrestling with his options. He could simply hold back and never mention the Word again. He could even justify himself knowing that God had already told him they wouldn’t listen. Why speak if they aren’t going to listen anyhow? Or, like Daniel, he could just “seal it up.” But God wouldn’t allow it and He won’t allow it with you, either.

God told the prophet, Isaiah, to preach even though the Israelites would not listen. Isaiah said, “How long then should I preach, if they’re not going to listen?” God’s answer was a sobering one, “Until the cities lie in ruin…” Isaiah 6 In other words, until the very destruction of your prophesy comes to pass, that’s how long you preach, that’s how long you prophesy. Do you see how merciful God is in all of this? The very nature of God is that He “does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets.” In His mercy, God first sends a messenger to wake up and warn the people so they can turn and repent.

When federal emergency relief money is needed because of a natural disaster, like a tornado or hurricane, the area affected must first be declared to be in a “state of emergency,” thus releasing federal funding. I believe that Jesus is looking down from above and is loudly declaring, through the Spirit, that we are in a “state of emergency” and that we need help – heavenly assistance, from above! But we don’t need silver and we don’t need gold and we don’t need aid relief money. We need fire to burn once again in the bones of God’s servants. What will it get you? Insult and reproach all the day long? Perhaps, but my prayer is that you will simply become weary of holding it in, and you will long to feel the relief of speaking.

I was at a men’s prayer breakfast many years ago. We were talking back and forth and there was very little “prayer” taking place. Then, to every one’s surprise, a man stood up, threw his keys down on the table hard enough to be heard in the next room, and cried out, “Can I get some help over here?” He needed prayer, and he knew it!
He was fed up enough, to get stirred up enough, to get the help he needed. Both the world, and many in the church, are crying out for help. And the kind of help that is needed is men and women who are set ablaze with God’s Holy fire – the kind of fire that will cause sinners to come to a screeching halt in their frantic lives because they see someone passionately on fire with the love and Holiness of God.

I pray that God will empower you in this unusual season of history to get weary of holding the fire in… God needs true voices on fire. Be that voice, with that fire, and may He give you a Holy weariness of holding it in. Let God set you on fire in such a way that it will cause others to come to a sudden stop and see a burning image that will never be forgotten.

I’ve built the Altar
Lord send the Flame
I’ll be the sacrifice
Unto Your name
Come, Holy Fire
Consume me now
Your Glory only
My one desire
- David Ravenhill

A fellow pilgrim,
Steve Coder

The mountains that enclose the vale
With walls of granite, steep and high,
Invite the fearless foot to scale
Their stairway toward the sky.
The restless, deep, dividing sea
That flows and foams from shore to shore,
Calls to its sunburned chivalry,
“Push out, set sail, explore!”
The bars of life at which we fret,
That seem to prison and control,
Are but the doors of daring, set
Ajar before the soul.
Say not, “Too poor,” but freely give;
Sigh not, “Too weak,” but boldly try;
You can never begin to live
Until you dare to die.

It will cost you everything you’ve got.

You will receive what you could not afford.

You will go to places you’ve never been before.

You will find treasures you never knew existed.

Others will want to join you.

They too will have to give up everything.

In the end, this journey will cost you your life.

You will receive a life that never ends.

You will have given Life to others.

A fellow pilgrim,
Steve Coder
steve@outpostworld.com
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Ezekiel 37:15-19
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Ephraim’s stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.’

Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
“When your countrymen ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’