“The weighty glory of God filled the room as we sang and prayed in the Spirit. Tears streamed down his face as he fell to his knees and began to cry out in the presence of God. ‘I’ve done horrible things. I’ve kidnapped children. I’ve been involved in sex trafficking. I can hear their voices, I can see their faces, I can hear their cries. How could God ever forgive me for what I’ve done?’ I watched as Jesus saved an evil man’s soul. Forgiveness was being given to this man for things I didn’t know if I could even forgive. I have little girls, and you have little girls.”

Chris Burns, with tears in his eyes, recounts the miraculous salvation of a man who most of us would ask God to strike dead.

“To be clear, this man was not actively trafficking anyone to our knowledge; he was speaking of things he had done in the past,” Chris clarifies. 

Chris Burns leads worship in the Saints and Sinners bar in New Orleans

A man by the name of Saul had a similar encounter with Jesus. He was en route to murder, arrest, and destroy believers in Christ. He was responsible for the brutal persecution of many Christians—men, women, and children. His encounter with Jesus’s presence physically blinded him yet caused his eyes to be spiritually opened. He was suddenly profoundly aware of his wretchedness. This man surrendered the rest of his life to preach the gospel. He endured persecution and beatings and eventually died as a martyr. We know this man as the great apostle—Paul. 

 

Can it be that Saul-to-Paul conversions are beginning to spread like wildfire all over the earth? Jesus has been appearing to ISIS fighters, Kurds, and Muslims in the Middle East for many years now, and we are learning of their stories through worship leaders like Sean Feucht who risk their lives to enter refugee camps with guitars, the power of God, and the gospel. 

 

Maybe the sound of intense worship, prayer, and releasing the glory of God in the darkest places of the earth is the key to ending sex trafficking. Could it be those wretched individuals encountering the beauty of the Lord are the firstfruits of the next awakening? Would the church embrace these conversions, or will we condemn the sinner even as the love of God falls?  

As Chris shared, I was reminded of the story told by Jesus in Luke 18:13–14:

“But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

How often have we cried out to the Lord to break into pedophile rings, end abortion, feed the hungry, and stop child abuse?

Could it be that the fire and glory of God are about to sweep the nations of the earth and shake every religious and political system and everything we thought we knew about the state of our own souls?

Will we find ourselves in the position of the Pharisee saying, “Thank you, God, that I am not like that man?” or, even worse, persecuting the messengers the Lord has sent into the dark places?

Excitement overwhelms our hearts as we pray for a much-anticipated revival, but are we really prepared in our hearts for sex traffickers to receive mercy instead of justice? If this doesn’t challenge us, our hearts have surely grown cold.

God Is Healing Hidden Trauma

Listen to the Full Interview with Chris Burns

Some 600 million people have been swept into the kingdom of God since 1906, when the Holy Spirit was poured afresh on the world through the Azusa Street Awakening. Historically, Azusa is considered one of the greatest movements of the Spirit of God since Pentecost. The weighty glory of the Lord would sweep into a room of nameless and faceless people on their knees in prayer. Drunks, drug addicts, prostitutes, and everyday people walking down the street would fall on their faces, repent of their sins, and be swept into heavenly encounters. As it was in biblical times when the Spirit swept into the land (1 Chronicles 7:2; 5:14; Acts 2; 1 Kings 8:11, etc.), no one was safe from the presence of God! The Lord revealed Himself with tangible fire, glory, and conviction. 

 

For the past year, the glory of God has fallen in the Saints and Sinners bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The weight of the glory and the fruit could be compared to Azusa. Countless people have wandered into the bar looking for a drink but found Holy Ghost fire, tangible glory, and salvation in Jesus Christ.

As Chris and the band sing and prayer warriors intercede, the Spirit of the Lord does the work. “Yes, there is alcohol.

It’s still a functioning bar,” Chris says. “We are not doing some hipster Jesus thing where we have a beer and sing songs. We are hosting the presence of God. Sometimes we forget we are in a bar because of the intensity of intercession through worship that is being released.” Chris and the team are living love-filled, set-apart lifestyles. 

 

The next great move of God will exceed all others. Within the Lord’s messengers, the DNA of the Nazirite and the Shulamite must come together, meaning a humble, lovesick intimacy with Jesus that leads to a set-apart lifestyle, forming vessels fit for the Lord to pour Himself through.

  • Will we mobilize if we know what we must face?

  • Will we receive the wretched into the kingdom as readily as the beautiful?

  • The glory of the Lord will fill barrooms and prayer rooms, stadiums and tents, homes and churches, but will we yield to the fire as it purifies our hearts and to the glory that reveals our pride?

  • The invitation is open to all, but are we willing to humble ourselves enough to receive it?

 

 

Full Interview with Chris Burns here:

God Is Healing Hidden Trauma

Bourbon Street Revival Interview with Chris Burns PODCAST

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/voice-of-the-burning-ones/id1495723534?i=1000467445898

Tammie Southerland is the author of the Book Permission to Burn 

 

 

God is Healing Hidden Trauma

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for The Full Word

God Is Healing Hidden Trauma


God is healing Hidden Trauma in His Messengers!

 

 

When you are called to birth something that can only glorify God, you may endure a time of barrenness and provocation from your adversary. You might suffer accusations from friends, family, and even religious leaders in your life. The torment of seeming fruitlessness can press you into abandoning the desire for the earthly blessing. But it is never the desire of the Lord for you to lose faith.

In 1 Samuel 1, the mother of the prophet Samuel helps us see the struggle of barrenness and the process of birthing something in which only God could get the credit. When Hannah couldn’t conceive in the natural, she became a lightning rod for God’s glory.

 

 

 

“But to Hannah, he gave a double portion because he loved her though the LORD had closed her womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her severely. And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat” (1 Samuel 1:5-7).

 

Hannah’s husband could not comfort her with earthly love or a double-portion blessing.

Seasons that lack visible fruit will stretch you. They will cause you to pray, fast, and seek the Lord, casting out things not of eternal value. Even a double-portion temporal blessing will not comfort your aching heart. This frustration becomes a groaning for justice on the earth. This is a good thing (Romans 8:26). 

 

God is at work, removing the deep wounds suffered from being misunderstood, rejected, accused, and abandoned during the season of seeming barrenness. He is ministering deeply to His children and shining the light of His glory, exposing the hidden pain and delivering those dear to His heart! Your sorrow and pain do not go unseen. 

 

The Lord is saying, “I am the God who sees. I am the God who hears the intense petitions within your heart! I see the pain and abuse you have walked through, my child. You have said in your heart, ‘I have forgiven them and moved on.’ This may be so, but I see the wounds that remain. Today is the day of your freedom! I am restoring your compassion for the lost, wounded, and sick, and reigniting your faith. Your time of birthing is near. Let me expose the scars and heal your wounds! My strength is made perfect in your weakness. Your season of barrenness has made you a lightning rod for my glory to be revealed and my power displayed through you. I will cause you, like Hannah of old, to birth forth my vision. From loss will bloom life more significant than yourself. From brokenness, healing will flow.”

 

Many have suffered through trials like those Hannah endured.

 

But the desire to remain pure before the Lord produced an inner longing and humble heart. Know this: the humble will be exalted. The Father is far more concerned with our godly character, love for others, and devotion to Him than our success before men. 

As you heal, you will see that the Lord is stretching out your tent pegs! His plans for you are to mature and not harm you. The tension has increased your capacity to rightly handle His promise. You will find yourself in His powerful grace receiving beauty for ashes. 

 

“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth into song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. “Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes deep. For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities.” – Isaiah 54:1–3

 

The season of barrenness made you a lightning rod for God’s glory! 

God, not the enemy, had closed Hannah’s womb. God was the One she had to pursue; the throne was where her appeal was made. So it has been with many who are passionate about awakening, revival, and a genuine move of God. 

He has been delivering us from needing the approval of man, purifying our desires, and calling His people higher.

He has been preparing His people, like Hannah, to birth something that would change the nation and glorify Him alone. 

Prayers are not pretty or peaceful when we are passionate for God to do something beyond our control. Hannah’s prayers were not religious, but they were pure. She was not drunk with wine but intoxicated with longing. Her cries were for the gaze of the Lord, not her husband, not the priest, and not her rival! Her intercessions were for God’s leadership and defense and a gift she could consecrate and dedicate to Him alone! (1 Samuel 1:12–16, Romans 8:26.) 

Hannah’s barrenness produced a groaning that caused heaven to stop and respond.

 

In her weakness, His might and power were evident. The Spirit of the Lord knew her heart and mind, and He moved from within her, even moving Eli the priest into agreement with her prayers.

 

The Lord is forming within His bride, through the stretching, groaning, and purification process of prayer and fasting, more than she could ever ask, think, or imagine. He caused Hannah to cry out for a child who would restore a defiled priesthood. He has formed within His global bride the desire to birth an undefiled movement that will usher in His return.

We have been marked by God to birth something greater than ourselves.

 

The season of barrenness has been working in us, preparing our character and pressing us into the place of deep intimacy. Our gaze has been set on the Bridegroom King! Beloved, He has seen your pain and is moving to heal the trauma of your barrenness. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5)! 

 


Read Permission to Burn, get back on the mountain God gave you, and take your place in setting this world on fire with love for Jesus in your generation.

The vast majority of true Christians recognize that winning souls is essential. At the same time, too many of us have fallen asleep, or at least have become numb to, the Bridegroom’s alarm to awaken and send us out as laborers in the massive global harvest. 

The well-known passage of Scripture, commonly known as the Great Commission, bombarded my soul with deep conviction at The Send in Brazil:

 

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

 

Tears streamed down my face, and sounds that can only be described as wordless groanings moved from my belly and through my vocal cords (see Romans 8:22-27). I felt an indescribable urging from the Spirit of God to rouse  His sons and daughters from their slumber and to send them out as end-time messengers. For an instant, I experienced what He felt and understood His desire to send out a multitude of workers to establish justice on the earth. He invited me to repent on behalf of those who have rejected His commission. He asked me to identify in intercession with the disobedience of generations past and of my nation.

As I wept in repentance over our slumber, He then told me to prophesy to the dry bones of the American Bride to come alive and to declare that she would move in power!

The time of harvest and the Third Great Awakening is upon us. Jesus is sounding the alarm. He is commissioning His messengers and His church with His presence and power like never before. As when one is woken from a deep sleep, he or she will first realize their inactivity and either be agitated and rushed or return to the state of slumber. Repentance will come upon the sleepers, and they will be granted understanding that the prophets who were sent were correct. As awakening takes place, a choice must be made.  His power and coming are upon us. The mark of a church that is genuinely waking up is great and joyful repentance.  

As He spoke to me in this encounter, it was as if he were comparing the sleeping American church to the disciples in Mark 16:

 

“Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name, they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 16:14-18 

Listen to The Voice of the Burning Ones Podcast

Click to listen to Tammie’s Podcast “God is Moving in Brazil and Around The World”

These friends and disciples of Jesus followed Him and witnessed the brutal death that He foretold. In their grief and unbelief, they went back to their old routine, eating and hanging out together. Additionally, they had not accepted the message sent to them by the women who witnessed Him resurrected. These foolish women were dreamers, they thought. Suddenly, Jesus shows up and proves His resurrection, then rebukes the men and commissions them! It was time for them to get back in the game! 

In Mark’s account, we see Jesus saying more than “go and preach”; He gives them the promise of His presence and movement of power through them. He dispels their fear and vows to protect them from poisoning and other attacks. The emphasis is on sending out and the demonstration of the gospel that they would preach. 

Over the past 20-30 years, the Lord has restored the fivefold ministry gifts and birthed a movement of worship and intercession. Now He is shaking His people into action. The ministry gifts were restored to set the foundation for the global harvest, not to give the rest of the body of Christ a pass to disobey the commission of Jesus!  

 

He is showing up as He did in the account of Mark 16. He is reminding us He is alive and that we were saved to finish the task of reaching the unreached with the message with power.  All of us are to heal the sick, raise the dead, and freely give what we have been given. In the coming days, Jesus will show up in our gatherings; we will be shocked at our own unbelief as the alarm sounds. Once again, we will realize that He is not dead but alive!  

 

Indeed, the revival streams are coming together, but more than that, the global Bride is being awakened. The fiery revival that is striking the nations has only begun. The fullness of the gentiles is coming in, and the chosen Israel will soon be provoked to jealousy and receive her Bridegroom Messiah (Romans 11:11, 25-26).

We get to be a part of this!

Will you wake up, repent, and answer the call? 

Will you believe?

Will you go? 


Be Equipped and Be Ready! He is Calling You! 

Want to be equipped to live a lifestyle on fire for Jesus? Get Tammie’s New Book
Permission to Burn

 

When Hannah couldn’t conceive in the natural, she became a lightning rod for Heaven’s Dream. 

“…But to Hannah, he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb. Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her severely. And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat.…” (1 Samuel 1:5-7)

When you are called to birth something that can only glorify God, you will endure evident barrenness and provocation from your adversary. You will suffer accusations from friends, family, and religious leaders in your life. The torment of seeming fruitlessness can cause you abandon desire for earthly blessing. Hannah’s husband could not comfort her with carnal love or even a double-portion blessing.   

Let the barrenness stretch you.

Friend, yield to the season. The plans of the Lord are going to blow your mind!

That’s Easier said than done, right?

We must understand as we walk through this valley that our adversary is not flesh and blood, but “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9, ESV)

We are in a war, but not against people. (Ephesians 6:12) 

Be careful to not attack the attackers. Cry out for a humble and pure heart. The humble will be exalted.

Lord is stretching out your tent pegs dear burning one! His plans for you are to mature not harm. The stretching increases your capacity to handle more.

Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth into song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes deep For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities.…” Isaiah 54:1-3

Let the barren season refine you.

  • God had closed Hannah’s womb. Not the enemy.
  • God was the One she had to pursue, the throne  was where her appeal was made.
  • Rebuking and binding, warring, and fighting the rival would not work in this circumstance.
  • He was calling Her higher.  
  • He was preparing her to birth, something that would change the nation.
  • He was delivering her from needing the approval of man.
  • He was purifying her desires.

The Hannah Cry is an Ugly Cry

9-10 One time, after they had finished their meal in the house of the Lord at Shiloh, Hannah got up. She was deeply distressed, and she cried bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. Meanwhile, Eli, the priest, was sitting in his place by the door. 11 Hannah made a solemn promise: “Lord Almighty, look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don’t forget me! If you give me a son, I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never have his hair cut.”

Her prayers were not pretty or peaceful. They were not religious but neither were they impure. She was not drunk with wine but intoxicated with longing. The priest thought she was drunk. Her cries were for the gaze of the eyes of the Lord, not her husband, not the priest, and not her rival! Her cries were for His leadership, His defense, and a gift that she could consecrate and dedicate to Him-alone!  (See 1 Samuel 1:12-16) 

Have you ever groaned and cried out in intercession and been misunderstood? It’s a glorious experience to be misunderstood because of  longing for Heaven’s vision to be manifest in the earth.

Right?! ( I can hear you shaking your head, NO!) 

Well, it will be later! Hold on just a little longer.

These groanings impregnate us for the will of God! 

…25But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently. 26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.…” Romans 8:2

 

Hannah’s barrenness produced a wreckless groan that caused Heaven to stop and respond. In her weakness He was made strong. The Spirit of the Lord knew her heart and mind and He moved from within her.  Eli, the priest rebuked her. But,  he took notice and eventually came into agreement with her prayers! 

 

When Hannah couldn’t conceive in the natural, she became a lightning rod for Heaven’s dream.

 

The Lord struck Hannah with His dream through the stretching, groaning, and purification process of prayer and fasting. He was forming within her more than she could ever ask, think or imagine.  Soon her mourning would be turned to joy.

Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”

Beloved, do you have a Goan like Hannah’s? You are not alone!  You have been marked by God to birth something greater that yourself.  Allow the season of bareness to have it’s work in you! Allow the groan to prepare your character and press you into the place of deep intimacy. Place your gaze on the Bridegroom God! Weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning!( Psalm 30:5b) Keep groaning! 

 

 

 

 

 

“In the same way that the Bridegroom, Jesus, was born from the womb of a woman, so will it be with the awakening of His love-sick bride in these last days. The first birth was the physical birth of Jesus into the world, but the second is a spiritual emergence of the global bridal identity.”

 

 

In 2015 in an encounter with the Lord he spoke to me the statement above. His words caused a deep groan to be released from deep within my soul!
 
In light of the McAuthur whirlwind I couldn’t be more thankful to begin seeing how much fruit is coming from his attacks on the daughters of God! The Lord never waists a drop of our suffering!

I hear a sound coming from the depths of the souls of this company of people. They are beautifully adorned with the glory of the Father. They are His daughters and His sons—those who identify as His bride—His radiant ones. They were born to blow the trumpet and birth a movement. I prophesy to you today that these voices have been silenced for far too long. They have been choked out by religious and political fear and the twisting of the Scriptures, which makes this moment all the sweeter.

Freedom and reconciliation are the ministry of Jesus. The Bride is made up of every race and nationality—male and female, young and old. He loves to use what the world deems foolish to surprise those who think themselves the wisest in the political, religious, and worldly systems. Like Mary, the mother of Jesus, who “treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19) after the angel visited her, these silenced voices have also pondered the unseen and unheard in their hearts, as they encounter heaven in prayer. They are no longer concerned with being validated by the religious systems. They have found validation in the Father. They have fallen in love with One whose throne is far above any earthly system.

I feel God saying to these,

It was not a vain desire, to want to speak what you have seen and heard. It was not yet time to blow the trumpet. I was forming a movement in your spiritual wombs—a bridal revelation is soon to be birthed. I have been developing a countercultural purity in your messages. The next move of reconciliation with be between male and female in my body. Men who will bless female voices are stepping out of the shadows. They will be like Mordecais to my Esthers. Then the bridal movement will begin.

The time is now.

Purchase Permission to Burn

“If you want to burn with passion and hunger for Jesus, then let this book fan the flames of your heart.” – Matthew Lilley National Director for Burn 24/7

Reconciliation and Revelation through Sons and Daughters

The growing longing for the Bridegroom has caused many to weep and wail in dark corners and caves. They cry out for the dreams He has wrought in them to be born, yet we must see that He has hidden them as jewels for true reconciliation to be realized in its time, so the promise might come to birth. He is wielding an unspeakable gift in His bride’s innermost being—dreams conceived in His daughters, only to be overlooked or deemed illegitimate in the name of religion. In the face of this, many women have left Christianity to go after the counterfeit feminist movement. As the tide begins to turn, women will find their true freedom and identity in Christ.

In this hour, God has placed a trumpet to the mouths of the women who were willing to draw close to His heart, just as He did for Mary and Elizabeth—He protected them even during times of religious shaming as they prepared to birth the long-awaited promises of the forerunner and Deliverer. He even silenced Zachariah for a season so that not one word that was not of the Lord would be spoken over Elizabeth’s baby John. Like Elizabeth and Mary, many women have not rebelled against God in their pain but instead held tightly to the horns of the altar.

God has given these daughters secret heavenly revelation and wisdom; soon they will be released to shout it from rooftops (see Luke 12:3). Once the great company of daughters begins to speak, people—even those who think themselves wise—will recognize that these messages transcend human wisdom. “The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host” (Psalm 68:11). Restoration and reconciliation between the sons and daughters could be the greatest catalysts to culture transforming and awakening.

Mary knew she would birth something beyond her wildest dreams, and she pondered this in her heart (see Luke 2:19). For many years, women of every age and every race have longed to please their beloved Bridegroom. They have been willing to do whatever is necessary, even in silence, to bring His dwelling place and His presence to their homes, churches, and the earth. Revival history reveals how the Father used women and other minority groups to bring radical moves of His Spirit in previous generations because of their dedication to intercession.

Many today are content to believe that being hidden warriors is their mandate.

However, something in them still groans to give birth and raise up the things they have ached and travailed for. These life bearers are full of wisdom and revelation, and they hold within them messages from heaven that will change the face of the earth.

The Father longs to birth through them His image of perfect love, sacred bridal romance, and, ultimately, the bridal identity.

We have heard the message of sonship—we are no longer orphans but children of God, but identifying as the bride of Christ has still been somewhat hidden and vaguely understood. Longing a bridal paradigm to be known is not limited to the daughters of God. For many years, amazing teachers like Mike Bickle (the founder of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO) and others have plowed the trail in intercession and tears for the body of Christ to better understand this revelation.

Soon, an unheard facet of the wonder of the Bridegroom will be released as women receive the blessing to sound the alarm. True sons of God are beginning to recognize that the righteous and pure identity of the church depends on the daughters coming out of hiding to teach, preach, and prophesy about the facets of His beauty that they ponder deep within their hearts.

A company of men is emerging that is protecting and promoting women now more than ever.

Humanism wanted to destroy biblical family, but the Lord is putting it on display as He reconciles men and women in Himself. The unbridled flow of men and women ministering together will multiply the fruit of the gospel in the nations. Just as a man cannot conceive and bear a child alone, neither can he conceive, bear, and raise up the vision of heaven alone. Just as a woman cannot conceive and carry a child in her womb of her own accord, neither can she strengthen and grow this heavenly dream she carries alone once it is born.

Men of God, you have God’s permission to arise and step into the bliss of reigning with and promoting the Lord’s daughters. In the beginning, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18). Adam was not capable of carrying out his commission to rule over the earth without Eve, nor was Eve capable without Adam.  The same is true today. In His goodness, God created male and female to work together as one in the Spirit, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one.

In 2015, I had an encounter with the Lord during which He spoke these words to me:

In the same way that the Bridegroom, Jesus, was born from the womb of a woman, so will it be with the awakening of His love-sick bride in these last days. The first birth was the physical birth of Jesus into the world, but the second is a spiritual emergence of the global bridal identity.

This encounter revealed the Father’s desire to impregnate His daughters with, and have them give birth to, His dream of the wonder of unity between Jesus the Bridegroom and His bride in the last days. Sons will begin to access levels of encounter, gripping intercession, and the wonder of the man Jesus in ways they never have before, as His daughters begin to ooze His glory.

This revelation reveals His plan to bring about the greater glory and the latter rain. Transformation will take place in the body of Christ that goes beyond the business of doing ministry and dives deeply into the beauty of being His ministry on the earth. Suddenly the church will experience the gripping of His love-sick longing for heart-to-heart connection with His bride.

Daughters are graced to carry the heavy glory of the bridal cry. His bride is His passion. The pure fire of His jealousy for her rages in His eyes.

His sons are anointed with understanding of His jealous love and passion unto death.

The convergence of these parts of revelation is a force hell can’t stand against. We come a little closer to maturity in our knowing Him and knowing ourselves in Him.

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes the partial will be done away. . . . For now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face; now I know in part but then I will know fully just as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:9–10,12)

I am merely scratching the surface of this paradigm, or heavenly blueprint, of the bride and Bridegroom reigning as one. Truthfully, the revelation is not about gender but about Jesus and His unified church. So let us press forward through the elementary teachings, as Paul the apostle might say, and into the greater revelation. Consecration and unity between men and women of all nationalities and ages are essential to the coming move of God. As we allow this work to take place in the body of Christ, humanism-based identity confusion will be crushed.

As one, we will uproot the lies in the body so we can become the glorious bride. As the daughters of God gain permission to speak, we will hear and see our Father’s kingdom message more clearly. The daughters of God were made to manifest a demand for consecration and passionate intimacy that demands a response from heaven.

Together, let us repent of the bondage we have walked in and be reconciled by His grace. Daughters of all ages, nationalities, and skin tones, you were born for such a time as this. You were created to be birthers of all the living. Birth the living Word and dreams of your Father in heaven. You were made to birth a revolution that manifests an identity of the church, which has long been overlooked and misunderstood. It’s time for a bridal awakening!

🚨URGENT WORD “MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN” (MATTHEW 22:18)

MANY ARE INVITED, BUT FEW SAY YES… 👀

He said: ”I have more for you. And I am offering you something that I’ve offered many in your generation- but they could not put down their phones.”

These are the words the Lord spoke to me in prayer.

I WEPT… I WAS BROKEN… I CRIED OUT FOR GRACE AND STRENGTH… I THEN CRIED OUT FOR MY CHILDREN…

👉🏼I knew He was speaking directly to the addiction of our generation. It was an invitation into the fullest longings of His heart.

It was in an invitation into true revival and awakening.

👉🏼He was inviting me into hours upon hours of revelation and encounters with Him that would impact generations to come.

👉🏼He was calling me…

👉🏼HE IS CALLING US- into a place where few were able to go.

This is a place we must go to escape the deception of the last days. The word of God admonishes us to know that ”even the elect will be deceived” (Matthew 24:24) 

  •  Have we become addicted and wooed by demonic self-exaltation? 
  •  Could the Lord be urging us away from constant media interaction because we are in communion with the spirit of the age? 
  • Could it be that He loves us so much that He wants to teach us the beauty of His leadership, what His voice really sounds like, and the truth of His word in an hour when deception and corruption are rampant?
  • Could He be calling out for a people who will dethrone this spirit in the last days? 

What is the Spirit of the Age?

Revelation 17 speaks of the great harlot that will entice with her lusts and immorality in the last days. You may hear this spirit called the spirit of Babylon or the spirit of the age. 

“Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters.2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” Revelation 17:1-2

This spirit thrives on self-gratification and self exhalation. It loves to appeal to our fleshly pleasures and desires to be known, to be heard, and to be seen. It is satanic in nature but yet very enticing.

Revelation 17:3-6

There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery:

Babylon the great

the mother of prostitutes

and of the abominations of the earth.

6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

This spirit is captivating, dazzling, promises prosperity, power, and personal fame. 

It opposes the message of holiness, repentance, and exhalation of Jesus. 

It promotes mankind, sexuality, and own desires above all else. 

This harlot’s goal is to destroy the message of purity, truth, and repentance. She wants to entice the multitude to join with her in this war against the people of God. It’s a “you do you, but destroy them” message!

When the Lord spoke to me about putting down the phone; the most sobering two words He said were: 

“COULD NOT!”

He didn’t say they WOULD NOT put down their phones but they COULD NOT… LET THAT SINK IN!

 

HE WAS TALKING ABOUT ADDICTION 

  • How many times a day do you check your social media account after you have posted? 
  • Do you experience happiness or depression according to how well your post is doing? 
  • Have you been consumed in the internet popularity contest?
  • Do you view of right and wrong by the current news outlets, politics, celebrities or even ministries that you follow? 

If you answered yes to any of these. Wake up! 

The word of God is the TRUTH all the rest is must bow. 

We must shut off the noise, study the scriptures as though our lives depend on it, and allow God to break up the fallow ground of our hearts. Hear the word of the Lord from Hosea 10:12-13:

“Sow for yourselves righteousness

and reap the fruit of loving devotion;

break up your unplowed ground.

For it is time to seek the LORD

until He comes and sends righteousness

upon you like rain.

13You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;

you have eaten the fruit of lies.

Because you have trusted in your own way

and in the multitude of your mighty men”

God was speaking a warning and judgment through Hosea because the people had been swept up into the lies and deception Babylonian spirit, the same spirit we are warned about in Revelation 17-18 and the same spirit that that has been around since Adam and Eve. 

The Judgement comes because of trusting in your own way and the multitude!

“You have plowed in wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of mighty men.”  

In Hosea’s day, they didn’t have access to the internet and social media. The multitude that they listened to was intensely smaller than the voices we hear today. 

I venture to say that we currently sit amidst the most pivotal generation to have ever been born. Unfortunately, the wooing of the harlot is constant, deafening, and she is shouting day-in and day-out. Posting, commenting, reporting: “trust in your own way and in the multitude.” 

Even those of us who long for the truth have been infilled by this multitude. We have been lulled to sleep, silenced, and has made us more like the walking dead than bold messengers. We are always longing for more but too addicted and distracted to receive what we hunger for. The multitude of Christians are hearing the voice of the Lord but too consumed by the multitude of the culture to respond. 

We must break up our unplowed ground and seek the Lord for righteousness to arise!

HE IS BREAKING IN

This invitation to break the addiction is to bring freedom from the drunken stupor of the age. It is an invitation to hear His voice and come to the knowledge of the truth. It is an invitation to reconciliation and reformation! 

The Lord is breaking in and calling out to us “Come out from among them and be ye separate says the Lord, touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you”(Corinthians 6:17): “When the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of God raises a standard against him” Isaiah 59:19

 

The lover of our souls is calling out to us, beloved.

He’s inviting us into a depth of intimacy, revelation, and creativity that has never been experienced.

”We are ever-increasing in knowledge but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Tim 3:7) 

We are inspired but not transformed.

We are creative but unproductive. 

We have been numbed out and taught by the spirit of the age. 

But He is calling out! 

NOW!

We must shut off the phones and allow the process of cleansing and breaking to take place. Awakening will follow!

Help us, Lord! Rip us out of our virtual stupor. We want more!!

Tammie Southerland is the author of Permission to Burn: Breaking the Chains of Compromise from a Holy Generation

 

“We Were Family Before Ministry”

Ending Competition, Racism, Sexism, and Healing the wounded with One Revelation

My sister (in-law/ BFF) and I love the Voxer app. It’s an audio walkie talkie app that we use to chat, pray, and make one another laugh all day. As busy moms, we function using apps but it’s not what connects us. Prayer and our passion for Jesus binds our hearts together. We both have three children and are very alike in how we process the world’s problems. I knew when she walked into the room with my brother-in-law years ago; she was going to be family. ( Although she didn’t know it yet) I told her when they were dating, with tongue-in-cheek, that if he didn’t marry her, I’d disown him and adopt her. God gave me such a passion for seeing her know Him deeply. Now, she travels and serves in the ministry; when we are together, I introduce her has my sister —not my sister-in-law; or with a ministry title. It is so much fun to watch the expressions on the faces of people. 

 

Why? She has a lot more melanin than I do. Yep, she’s black, and I’m white. But we are sisters! 

 It’s not the personality or natural ties that make us family; although we have a blast together. If you hear her tell it, she was quite intimidated by my fire for Jesus when she first met me. Eventually, she was ablaze and hungry because of Jesus’s love for her. I’m not that great, but for some reason, my hunger for Jesus makes others hungry, so I’ve been told.

  On Voxer one day, we were discussing the pains of broken relationships and misplaced lingo used in current streams of ministry. We didn’t think about the connection between the misplaced lingo and reconciliation issues. We talked about guarding our hearts, keeping prayer and family at the forefront as ministry work is increasing. 

(She’s quite the inner-healing guru- she is always analyzing the root of issues to understand why there is bad fruit. She’s pretty awesome. You need to know her.)  

FAMILY & RECONCILIATION:

LINGO OR A

THIS IS OUR FAMILY!

UNBREAKABLE BOND? 

Sometimes the word family is used to identify commonality instead of a deep bond in Christ that stands through the storms of life. Relationship in the body of Christ is often predicated on ministry affiliation, skin tone, gender, denomination, and the like; making the need to define our use of the word family even more urgent. 

The issues in our society like racism are rooted in sin and the fallen nature of humanity. All evil stems from the sin nature. As Christians, we say that Jesus is the answer, and we are His representatives. Absolutely! Truth, but we need to step up our game and grab ahold of Jesus’s intercession for oneness in John 17. Also let us intercede for the true manifestation of John 13:35

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

Broken Family in the Church Culture

Prayer alone has a way of binding hearts spiritually, but also we must weep with one another, rejoice with one another, eat with one another, and help one another. Heart motivation is key! When I’m with my sister, we are not looking at one another’s skin tone or background. We don’t care about our past differences we see our likenesses in Christ. We are truly family. 

Serving one another is from the motivation of love not out of obligation to an organization or club. 

Jesus gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 

Reconciliation removes from within our hearts the worldly point of view. We are new creations in Christ- together. 

His healing work made us family. 

“14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,the new creation has come:[a]The old has gone, the new is here!18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b]for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

Taking Back the Word Family and Healing the Wounded

I’ll repeat it: Family has nothing to do with organized ministry! 

In my life, the word family represents strength and unmovable relationship. I have parents that stayed together through the worst and best of times. Conflict and confrontation were not pretty, but with understanding and forgiveness, it made the family stronger. 

 CHURCH!

Spiritual bonds in Christ should supersede natural relationships. 

It profoundly pains my soul how those who once enjoyed being a family in a church or ministry walk away bitter as the seasons or circumstances change. My parents didn’t break up when their business or jobs changed. They didn’t disown me or get offended when I grew up, moved out, got married, and started a family of my own. 

They celebrated these changes as milestones. 

My father didn’t set speaking limitations on me because I am a girl. He didn’t sit me in a different part of the home because my hair and skin were lighter than my brother’s. That would be absurd. But some experienced natural family as abusive and painful. ( I am so sorry this breaks my heart… Keep reading) 

My sister and I discussed how the word family might not be as healing as we intended it. Therefore, we need a reformation! 

True Family Sees No Color or Gender

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28  

Racism or sexism is not the issue sin is! 

Many people’s natural association with mother, fathers, siblings, and such, seasoned with brokenness, is more of a wound than healing balm. We must see the healing that is desperately needed. We must resist the desire to cut one another off or become superficial because of differences. Jesus was drastically different from his disciples, yet he laid down His deity and life to identify with the weakness of man.

“But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” Philippians 2:7 

Ministry or Similarities are Not the Ties that Bind- Jesus Is

There is nothing wrong with drawing close to people that you ‘”click” with especially when you are hungry to grow closer to the Lord. I love hanging with people who are fiery, love truth, and love to pray! I want everyone to be on fire and I love begin around people who are on fire. 

I say all the time: 

“I don’t want people to just come watch me burn I want people to burn with me.” 

But, I keep people around me that are very different from me purposely. Not to be religiously correct, but I long to increase my ability to see like Jesus sees and love as He loves. Being around people from different backgrounds opens our eyes to the many facets of the beauty of God! 

Breaking the Ministry Family Association 

  • If you have been hurt by the ministry or church and have disassociated yourself. Allow the Lord to heal that place of brokenness. You need the Body of Christ as crazy as it might be!
  • If you are a ministry leader and have cut people off or formed biases because they are not the same as you and your denomination, race, nationality, or gender, repent. Seek the heart of God!
  • If we are going to see true revival, we must get this right in the church culture first. 
  • If you are trying to get it right but have been misunderstood, you are in good company. Jesus was misunderstood too! Keep pressing into His heart. 

The ministry we lead is ever-changing, but the message or Messenger never does. We must learn to minister to God before we minister to man. We must get His heart. When we are lead by the Spirit of God, we must yield to His voice moment to moment. We must stay tender before Him and allow Him to search and tenderize our hearts. 

Anyone noted for their faith within the pages of the Scriptures radically obeyed, and their acts benefited others more than themselves. We must always be willing to work with our hands open. Real family in Christ is not rooted in commonality, ministry organizations or church memberships, but the bond of Christ.

I cry out for the broken today. Will you cry out with me and allow the Lord to search your heart and heal it? Will you forgive those who hurt you? You are not family because you are the same as someone else, not because you are a member of the same church or network but because of Jesus you are a child of God. He has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

Can we contend for a movement of family and repent of our discord in the body of Christ! It’s time for an awakening! 

Matthew 5: 23-24

Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar.First go and be reconciled to your brother ;then come and offer your gift.

Often, we think that we can just coast through life and say, “What will be, will be. I’ve been good enough and I go to church. So, I’m good.”

This is one of the biggest lies the enemy has fed us.

The rich young ruler’s encounter with Jesus is an eye-opening one.

Jesus offered him the opportunity to be a witness of the mighty ministry of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords — and to gain eternal life.

All he had to do is sell all of the stuff he had worked for and lay down his own fame.

That’s all, just get rid of everything that has no eternal value and give the money to the poor. But the Bible says that he couldn’t let it all go!

He had gained so much and had worked so hard to build his image as a rich man! Because of this, he traded one of the biggest opportunities any of us could ever want for worldly baggage; baggage that apparently ruled him instead of him ruling it.

He knew he would journey on an adventure with JESUS HIMSELF and he would gain eternal life. He knew had to go low and release his old life to gain the new. He had to trade his fame to be a mere witness.

Read the whole story and tell me, how does this speak to you?

Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Mark 10:21-25

What will you chose to lay down this year?

You really should come to Ascend 2019!

Lay it all down! Do whatever you have to do!

Just come…

The melody of the song, “Hail to the Chief” filled the air as I watched former President George H.W. Bush’s casket near the Capitol rotunda, where he will lay in state for a time. There are several steps at the entrance of the rotunda. How do they successfully get the casket to where it needs to go with all those stairs? Then I hear a command from an unidentified source ring out above the band’s rendition,

“AND STEP!”

Each military pallbearer was guided in each step up the staircase because they were looking straight ahead, focused on their duty. Each one relied on that command of when to take a step. Every step of every soldier was methodic and synchronous, all working together like a finely oiled machine. Each soldier had their own responsibility. Each had a part to play. Each carrying their own weight. None of the soldiers tried to outdo the other, or take another’s territory, or race to see who could take the next step first. They worked together as a unit to fulfill their duty.

“AND STEP!”

Oh, if only the bride of Christ would work together as a unit for her Bridegroom! In my book that is coming soon, Permission to Burn, I describe what true unity looks like and how it should function:

“It is true that we want unity, and this divisive, back-biting, accusing spirit is a demonic phenomenon that we must defeat. But, it will only be purged by holy fire. If we want to see the promise of awakening fulfilled in our time, we must be a generation that embraces the fire. Events are amazing, but God wants unity to reign in the body of Christ, and He wants His word to go forth with sustainability in His people. The unity Jesus speaks of in John 17 will not come in any way other than embracing the fire and glory of our amazing, fiery, holy, pure, and just God.

True Unity

His will and His Kingdom will come when we ask for it, and then we will find ourselves challenged to align with His vision. So many people think unity means everyone compromising to get along and do an event together. That is not unity. That is tolerance. That is building the tower of Babel (see Gen. 11:1–9). God the Father is the true builder of unity. Psalm 127 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” And Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone of unity.

However, this can only take place as we lay down our rights to territory and our human-made blueprints, where we name and label everything as our own. It all belongs to the Bridegroom, and He longs to reign with His spotless bride—not with a broken, immature, offended, competing, cannibalizing body.”

It is critical in this hour to keep a check on the motivation of our hearts and ask:

  1. Why am I doing what I am doing?
  2. Am I disowning my life, and sharing the cross with Jesus? (Mark 8:34 TPT).
  3. Am I truly helping my fellow soldiers in Christ fulfill their duties well in action and words?

Psalm 15 TPT

Living in the Shining Place
A poetic song, by King David
  Lord, who dares to dwell with you?
   Who presumes the privilege of being close to you,
   living next to you in your shining place of glory?
   Who are those who daily dwell in the life of the Holy Spirit?
 They are passionate and wholehearted,
   always sincere and always speaking the truth—
   for their hearts are trustworthy.
 They refuse to slander or insult others;
   they’ll never listen to gossip or rumors,
   nor would they ever harm another with their words.
 They will speak out passionately against evil and evil workers
   while commending the faithful ones who follow after the truth.
 They make firm commitments and follow through,
   even at great cost.
 They never crush others with exploitation or abuse
   and they would never be bought with a bribe
   against the innocent.
   They will never be shaken; they will stand firm forever.

Selah

Tammie Southerland

Sometimes to get freedom, there is war first.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Hurt people hurt people”? It’s true.

After a conversation with my leader a couple of weeks ago, I found myself in an all too-familiar cycle. I replayed the sentences in my mind, appalled at what was said. I was offended because i was hearing and seeing through a lens of threat. My entire being was in a constant state of bracing itself in certainty of the next hurt from a person or situation. Much like a porcupine with his quills engaged, I was living in a perpetual state of defensiveness to keep from getting hurt.

Troubling thoughts continued to swirl as bits of the conversation looped in my mind. Finally, I thought it best to write an email of what I thought about the conversation, along with various other “opinions”. The oppression and condemnation was so heavy, I could barely function.

What was happening to me?

I cried out to the Lord, as I randomly googled the words “spirit of trauma” without really thinking. I found a trustworthy source and began reading. This minister had over 30 years of experience setting people free from trauma. Something this minister said prompted me to look up the scripture where Jesus healed the boy from seizures. I looked it up and read it (Luke 9:37-43). As I read it, I immediately thought of my cousin who has had epilepsy all his life. I also knew that I often found myself trying to complete certain tasks, and would just freeze up with mental and emotional blockages.

When I was young, I remember my mechanically-inclined dad talk about motors that would be “seized up” or “froze up” which meant they would not function at all; the parts would not turn. If you look the up the word seize on websters.com, seizing means to bind, to take prisoner, to overwhelm physically. At that moment, I knew that not only had I personally gone through some horrific trauma in my own life, but this was a generational situation. I knew I must get free from this. I also knew once I received freedom, I had the key to freeing others.

The next afternoon, our church family had a cookout and saw my leader for the first time since I sent that email. I repented to her, told her that I knew what was happening, and shared with her what the Lord showed me.

Engulfed in flames

That night after everyone ate, prayer broke out in the kitchen. I remember my leader praying against trauma for another lady, then she turned and looked at me. I saw fire in her eyes as she said, “You have the anointing to set people free from trauma! That is the call on your life!” She put her hand on my head. I was engulfed in flames as I dropped to the floor in tears.

That night, I experienced deliverance from trauma and a level of freedom I never experienced before. I finally knew what it meant to abide in that peace that Philippians talks about; that peace that surpasses all understanding that guards my heart and mind! I am able to experience a joy I could not experience before. All it took was for me to be in willing surrender to the Lord, no matter what it looked like, or who was watching.

The Lord’s justice is rendered against the enemy when a person is set free and they set others free. I would love to pray for you to receive the same freedom in Christ!

After all,

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

To loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

And break every yoke? — Isaiah 58:6 NIV

By Angie Woodard