We live in a generation that has no lack of great orators or talent, whether preachers, singers or musicians. Hands-down, Pentecost has some of the best preachers, singers and musicians that have ever graced a pulpit, platform or piano, however, our impact is limited not just by our audience, but by their own lack of an anointing potent enough to bring grown men to their knees, or to drive them running, screaming, sobbing to an altar of repentance.

Only a move of God will move men, and a generation of ministers who will not touch the face of God or move God in intercession will not move a lost world or worse a backslidden believer. We have lost something. An unbroken ministry will never break a backslidden church. An unbroken church will never bring a bitter, busted and brazen world to its knees in repentance.

God does not need under-cover Apostolics, spying out the land to see where the sinners are and finding the ones we think we can conquer. He knows where they are…and before you start making assumptions, Under-cover Apostolics are not only those who don’t let anyone know they are Apostolic, but also those who let everyone know they live the “life” and have the look…but also live a lifestyle that tells everyone, “I got the look, but I got no POWER! See, I got the hair, the dress, the Pentecostal look, been through catechism class at the local PAW, UPC, ALJC, WPF or Independent Pentecostal church, but I couldn’t give you more than Acts 2:38 if I tried to give you scripture to lead you to God, and I couldn’t fight my way out of a Motel 6 bathroom in spiritual warfare if my life depended on it!”

The saddest of all eulogies for this generation is that we have raised a generation Pentecostal men who are passionately uninvolved in spiritual things, and while our great orators of the day pound the pulpits in spirit and flesh in various stages of anointing, our men continue to dance spiritually naked around the golden calf of lust, wealth, influence, sports, peer pressure and success, totally divested of the spiritual garments of consecration. We’ll fight to climb the corporate ladder at work to get a bigger pay check, kick over a coffee table after Sunday church if our favorite football team scores a touch-down (TV or radio is irrelevant, sex and sports are still the gods of America), or spend hours glued to the latest and greatest technological gadgetry that Sony, Wii or some other tech giant spits out. We will spend endless days on the golf course to bring our game under par, but we won’t bend a knee in passionate prayer and intercession and cry out to God for our families, our homes, our churches, our cities, or our nation. No intestinal fortitude…no GUTS to live for God and be a mighty, dynamic, world-changing force in their homes, jobs, communities and families. It is not the sins of America that are dooming America. It is the sins of the church that are dooming America.

Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men? Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind? So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day. Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows. Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth. Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. Jeremiah 44:15-27

Our problem is that we are idolaters. We are no better than the Old Testament one-God Jews who claimed to be the people of God but worshipped Ba’al, Ashtoreth, and a laundry list of idols of the nations around them and went off into Babylonian captivity. We claim to be one-God people, but we bow our knees in worship to the gods of sports, affluence, desire, finances, church politics, secular education, social acceptance, clothing style, peer pressure and fashion…and while we offer our offerings and dance around the groves and high places that we have blended with our “Pentecostal” lifestyle and doctrine and tried to convince ourselves that we are “the Originals,” the world is going to hell around us at the speed of a freight train. While we worship the queen of heaven, we turn our back on the God who saved us and serve the gods of this world. (Ashtoreth, Diana, Isis…just look her up. The name changes but the spirit is the same.)

And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. Ezekiel 8:9-18

We One God Apostolics are now repeating the captivity of the people of Israel in Babylon in a spiritual realm, not the physical…yet unlike them; we are too ignorant to realize it. Like the children of Israel, our forefathers crossed from the world and false doctrine into this truth and into this church with mighty persecution, but also with mighty signs, wonders, miracles and revival. Our forefathers knew what sacrifice was. They lived it on a daily basis. While the Great Depression brought America’s financial machine to a grinding halt, it also brought her people to their knees. Yet a generation later, we stand on the brink of a greater depression, and yet even our churches will not come to their knees in repentance.

Service after service we repeat our Pentecostal catechism of 3 songs (we might even let the Holy Ghost take over for 4-5 minutes if he doesn’t get out of hand and take over our service and ruin our program), prayer requests, announcements a 30-45 minute message (unless you are under my former pastor and 1-2 hours is the message of the day) a 2.5 second altar call then out the door for pizza and fellowship at the local waterhole of choice…and God forbid anyone go to the altar…we’ll run them over on the way out the door.

Here, a generation after the Great Depression, we are living the “Law” of Pentecostal programs, deeply rutted in tradition and repetition, while we dance around the high places of nice homes, nice cars, mega-million dollar churches and burning the strange fire of Pentecostal programs from headquarters on our modern day altar of incense…the worship service. What are we worshipping? What is our posture of worship? In the days of the prophets, the prophet Ezekiel in the verse above saw the priests offering incense to idols in their homes and women weeping for Tammuz. I don’t have time for a complete history on Tammuz here, but he’s the Egyptian equivalent to “the third person of the trinity” or in short a false Christ. Isis, Semiramis and Tammuz were the Egyptian “trinity” adopted by modern Christianity. Yet the last abomination that the prophet saw was that of the men with their back to the temple worshipping the sun. Their position between the porch and the altar is a problematic and prophetic one. It’s where God wanted his ministers to stand and weep and pray and seek his face. He has promised an end time revival if we will do so.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. Joel 2:12-26

Right now our altars are silent, Pentecost, except in the few rare instances. We follow our program, break out our Pentecostal Talmud and follow our velvet lined program rut of professional singing, blessed talent and skilled oratory, a standard denominational order of service…but collectively the convicting power of the anointing of God has backed away from us, waiting for us as a movement and the body of Christ. God is waiting on his people. He has not been standing out there for a generation waiting for a set period of time to arbitrarily dump an undeserved revival onto a church that only knows him as a distant second cousin in prayer and consecration. Our altars are silent…so God is silent. Our churches are in Babylonian captivity and while a few men and women here and there are crying out to the people to repent and come to God, others are welding their horns of iron (programs) and claiming God is delivering us and trying to silence the voices of those calling for revival, renewal and a return to alignment with the word of God, just as they did with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Micaiah and the other prophets.

Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it. 2 Chronicles 24:17-22

Today we don’t kill our prophets physically. Ours is a spiritual murder. We refuse to use them, use our power and authority to silence their voices, or let them speak. Like a king cutting up the scroll of the prophet’s words with a pen knife, I’ve even seen them publish their words, but in order to silence their voice, they would wait 2 weeks to post articles on websites that might ruffle Laodicean feathers in their organizations. Let them get buried under 2 weeks of posted articles so they don’t ever hit the front page of any web-site and rock the boat. I’ve even seen some ban men from apostolic sites because they dared to speak out against false doctrine, homosexuality, or heresy. This was done by Pentecostal preachers, not the world. That’s food for thought if you care to chew on it. Others can preach all over the world, grow a large church, then butcher any voice that rises in their congregations that speaks anything that God did not speak directly to them. Like Micaiah, son of Imlah, they get their slap in the face by the king’s prophet and told only to “speak good things.”

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. Matthew 23:29-36

I called my parents this weekend to let them know about a blessing God had poured out on me that I had prayed about for a long time. In the background as my mom talked with me, all I could hear was my father wailing and weeping loudly in prayer, crying out to God for revival, for renewal, for souls to be born. It’s not a sound I hear in my local church unless I get fed up with the program. My parents have been on a revolving 6 day a week fast for over six months, asking God to move in the situation with my own children and bring revival to their tiny home church “somewhere in the Midwest.” Just three weeks ago their pastor (a minister in our largest oneness organization) literally foamed at the mouth and punched and kicked the pulpit in a rage during his sermon, demanding that they stop praying, fasting and worshipping so loudly. I’ve yet to call him and speak to him about that message. I was amazed to hear about it three weeks ago, but now I’m not. I know why he can’t see…he’s been looking into the sun too long….

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Revelations 3:14-22