Have you ever received a prophetic word over your life? That accurate prophetic word can serve as a weapon in warfare. Check out this teaching from my new book, 101 Tactics for Spiritual Warfare.
You can watch an entire webinar on spiritual warfare at
You can find the book here. You can find the book on Amazon here. You can enroll in my School of Spiritual Warfare here.
John the beloved—also known as the apostle of love—offers some convicting words in his epistles. While John’s Gospel demonstrates the living, breathing God of love made flesh in the person of Jesus, his epistles speak our need to manifest that love one to another—and connects this love tightly to our relationship to Christ, deception and even salvation.
In 1 John 2:9-11, he shares, “Whoever says he is in the light but hates his brother is in darkness even until now. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
In 1 John 3:10 he admonishes, “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Whoever does not live in righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”
In 1 John 3:14-15, he writes, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love his brother remains in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.”
In 1 John 4:7-8 he warns, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Finally, in 1 John 4:20-21, John puts it bluntly: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? We have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
Hateful Words Should Not Mark Separations
John, the apostle of love, spoke some strong words that should spur us all to reevaluate our love walk, especially in the face of separations. In this season, I’m seeing hatred rise up in the midst of believers—even in ministry. The very ones who should be modeling the way of love are crucifying each other on social media, in green rooms and in their own minds. I don’t see this level of hatred between ministers in the Bible. Two examples come to mind:
“After some time Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.’ Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care. Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there” (Acts 15:36-41, NLT).
Paul and Barnabas had a strong disagreement and went their separate ways. But these two men of God didn’t try to tear one another’s ministries down. In fact, Paul later told the church at Corinth Barnabas’ ministry was worthy of support (see 1 Cor. 9:6). Paul later told the church at Colossae to welcome John Mark if he showed up in their midst (see Col. 4:10). And Paul even requested John Mark’s presence in his second letter to Timothy, though Bible scholars say this was likely a decade later after Mark matured (2 Tim. 4:11).
Likewise, when Abraham and Lot separated, they didn’t try to destroy one another’s reputations with secret statements and not-so-secret phone calls casting aspersions of wrongdoing on innocent hands. No, Abraham actually went to war to rescue Lot from danger (see Gen. 14) and later interceded for his life when God set out to destroy Sodom (see Gen. 18:22-19:29). This is true love.
Walking in Love During Disagreement
In the Paul-Barnabas/Abraham-Lot incidents, we have scriptural precedence for people of God agreeing to disagree without strife and even commending each other’s work in the Lord publicly. But whether it’s leaving a church, divorcing a spouse, quitting a job or cutting ties with a once-best-friend, so often Christians choose, rather, to launch social media smear campaigns and vicious lies about a person’s character and motives.
Why can’t modern-day believers disagree about issues and go their separate ways without the passive-aggressive Facebook Live videos and subliminal status updates? James offers some insight:
“Where do wars and fights among you come from? Do they not come from your lusts that war in your body? You lust and do not have, so you kill. You desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have, because you do not ask. You ask, and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your passions” (James 4:1-3, MEV).
Beloved, strife is an abomination to God (Prov. 6:16-19). Strife affects the anointing and the flow of the Holy Ghost (Ps. 133:1-3). Strife grieves the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30). Strife destroys relationships (Prov. 17:9). Strife is rooted in anger (Prov. 29:22), hatred (Prov. 10:12), pride (Prov. 13:10) and a quarrelsome, self-seeking spirit (Gal. 5:14-18; Luke 22:24-27).
Ministers, let’s be an example to the body of Christ about how to behave in separations. Saints, let’s walk in love even when we can’t walk in agreement. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God (see Mark 5:9). {eoa}
God is raising up Millennial prophetic voices with great clarity and accuracy. But no matter what our age, we can benefit from wisdom in prophetic ambassadorship.
In this video, I share far more than seven wisdom tips for Millennial prophets. In reality, these tips apply to us all.
Is your pastor toxic? If so, you’ll experience church hurt in his/her ministry if you haven’t already.
Borrowing from Thom S. Rainer’s list of toxic leadership signs, I’m expounding on seven more characteristics of unhealthy apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. If you missed part one, you can read it here.
If you have been hurt by a toxic pastor, you may not want to step foot into a church again. Check out our in-depth prophetic teaching and deliverance series at .
Elijah’s recorded ministry began making declarations in to a king. But soon he found himself in a cave. While I have been vocal about prophets coming out of the cave, there are times when God hides prophets in a cave–and with good reasons.
We find these principles in 1 Kings 17:1-6:
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand, there will not be dew or rain these years except by my word.”
The word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go from here and turn eastward and hide by the Kerith brook, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the Kerith brook, which is east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
If you are in a season of hiddenness, this video teaching will bless you!
Every year between Lent and Resurrection Day, Jezebel’s witchcrafts wreak havoc on believers and unbelievers alike. After Resurrection Day, the spiritual climate clears up—until May.
If you live in a region where false Mary worship is rising, you’ll notice that Jezebel’s witchcrafts rise again in May. That’s because of the traditional May Crowning ritual that takes place to honor the Virgin Mary as “the Queen of May.”
Essentially, this means there is a hyperfocus on devotions to Mary. There are two problems with this. First, Mary doesn’t want or expect our devotion—she wants and expects us to worship the Son of God, Jesus. Second, by treating Mary as an idol we’re empowering the spirit of Jezebel.
Mary Should Not be Worshipped
Although the Bible describes the mother of Jesus as “highly favored” (see Luke 1:28), that doesn’t mean she is supposed to be worshipped. In fact, the Greek word for favored in this verse is charitou. Charitou means grace.
God honored Mary with the blessings and grace and we should respect her as the mother of Jesus but not exalt by crowning her in rituals. We’re supposed to throw our crowns at Jesus’ feet (see Rev. 4:10), not place them on Mary’s head.
This month, you’ll read articles pointing out “5 Reasons to Honor Mary This May” that explain the long-standing tradition to honor the “blessed virgin Mary.” These articles tell of a “May Altar” that “is erected with a statue or picture of Mary, flowers and perhaps candles. The altar stands from May 1-31 as a reminder of Mary’s importance in the life of the Church and in our own lives as well.”
It wasn’t the disciples or apostles—not even John whom Jesus told to care for his mother after His death on the cross (see John 19:27)—who started building altars to Mary. Actually, no one can trace its exact origin. Some say it started with the Greeks, who dedicated May to the goddess of fecundity known as Artemis. The Romans honored Flora, the goddess of blossoms, in May. Apparently, the notion to honor Mary along with these false gods became popular in the Middle Ages.
Catholics are quick to tell you they don’t worship Mary or pray to Mary. But when we build an altar to Mary and adorn it with flowers and candles, are we not exalting Mary to a place that does not belong to her? Are we not worshipping the created instead of the Creator? (see Rom. 1:25).
Who Is the Queen of Heaven?
It’s curious to me that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is so often called the queen of heaven. It’s curious to me because the Bible speaks about the queen of heaven as it relates to idols. Specifically, the queen of heaven in the Bible refers to a goddess that goes by many names, including Isis, Innana, Astarte, Hera and Asherah. As I explain in my book, The Spiritual Warrior’s Guide to Defeating Jezebel, the wicked Queen Jezebel worshipped Asherah.
Jeremiah 7:17-19 warns against making altars to the queen of heaven: “Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. Do they provoke Me to anger? says the Lord. Do they not provoke themselves to the shame of their own faces?”
The Bible talks about Jezebel and her witchcrafts (2 Kings 9:22). The spirit of Jezebel is the same as Asherah (also known as Ashtoreth). The Old Testament Jezebel’s father, Ethbal, was the high priest of the goddess Ashtoreth, the queen of heaven. Can you connect the dots? Mary is not the queen of May, but Jesus is the King of kings. If we’re going to build an altar to anyone, it should be to our Lord and Savior, not His earthly mother.
I’ll leave you with this: Witchcraft can cause you to grow weary in well-doing and even faint if you don’t know what you are dealing with—and how to battle it. So, how do you battle it? You battle witchcraft the way you battle every other principality, power, ruler of the darkness of this age or spiritual host of wickedness (Eph. 6:12).
Are you an emerging prophet? It’s not about your age. It’s about how long you’ve been walking in your calling. I know people who are just coming into the prophetic at age 60 and other who are developing their gift as teenagers.
Over the past nearly 20 years, I’ve discovered five big mistakes emerging prophets make. Check out the video to listen in.
Is your pastor toxic? If so, you’ll experience church hurt in his/her ministry if you haven’t already.
Borrowing from Thom S. Rainer’s list of toxic leadership signs, I’m expounding on seven characteristics of unhealthy apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
Church hurt. Heard of it?
I’ve been burned in churches. I’ve faced spiritual abuse. I’ve wanted to run away and never step foot in a church again. But that’s not the answer. Church hurt can make you a bitter Christian, or it can make you a better Christian.
In this video, I speak from my heart. It gets real and raw and offers hope for the hurting. You can get healed from church hurt. I did.