Dear Legends,

Today’s generation of Millennials and Gen Zs believe knowledge is power. We are a generation who wants to know your story, and we value what you have to offer! We’re here because the message you sacrificed and paid every price for wasn’t in vain and was birthed for such a time as this—for this generation.

We don’t know what a Walkman is, and we certainly don’t know what dial-up is … Like, is that when you call up your best friend, or what? However, we do know who Jesus is, and we crave to have an intimate relationship with Him. We want to see His will done on this earth, and the world coming together in unity under His banner of love.

So, when I came to write you this thank-you letter, the Lord wanted me to tell you that your message isn’t too old. It’s right in season, and we’re ready to receive it. You just need to use an iPhone and high-speed data to reach us!

For the Lord says:

I haven’t called you to the wilderness, My church. I’ve called you to war. I’ve called you to bring change and stand as the light in the darkness, but the candlestick you hold is no longer strong enough to combat the darkness. So, I’m giving you a new way to present your light. I’m giving My church a spotlight that can illuminate anything the enemy is trying to cover up or destroy in the dark.

I’ve given the leaders of My church a message that must go out, but just as the enemy has upgraded how he does warfare, so must you do the same in My church. For the people aren’t hearing you because your voice is being covered over by the doctrines of old and hindered by the platforms of the past.

So I’m calling you to reach a new generation that isn’t hindered by their age, culture or even borders. This new generation aren’t afraid to stand in their convictions, and they aren’t afraid to start a movement. It’s this new generation of fivefold leaders I’m calling you to reach that will take the flame you hold and spread it like a wildfire.

However, this requires coming down from the pulpit, getting into the trenches and reaching them where they are. I’m calling you to impart that fire and anointing I’ve given My church into them. They don’t have the same restrictions or filters you do and because of this they’ll be able to release that fire in a way you never could.

A fire is coming, and My church will play a big part in it, but it’s the next generation that will carry on the flame, says the Lord.

We’re waiting for you, legends of our faith. We’re waiting for your impartation of fire and revelation of wisdom to send us out into the world so that we can see God’s will done on this earth!

We see you, and we want you to know that we’re here, ready to hear what you have to say and take it to the next level. So teach us. Instruct us so that we may carry on your legacy to our next generations. {eoa}

Deborah-Anne Velthuysen is a Next Gen Prophet with a message for her generation. Continuing the legacy of her parents, Apostles Craig and Colette Toach, she stands in the blessing of being a fourth-generation minister. She and her husband, Michael, are principals of the AMI Prophetic School. Their mandate is to raise the next generation of prophets to be team builders, warriors and ambassadors of Jesus Christ.

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Each day, eight children die from gun violence in America.

This is why Cade Thompson released his new single “New Normal”—to use his testimony of enduring a shooter scare as a source of encouragement for others.

“I remember just that fear, that anxiety that I was filled [with], that my peers were filled with, as some students were leaving the building,” Thompson says in a recent interview. “I remember I called my mom, she never answered her phone, and there [were] just a lot of unknowns in that situation. Thankfully, I ended up going home that day safe, and it ended up not being a valid threat. But I remembered that fear. I remember what I felt in that moment.”

“I wrote an anthem to speak about this and to bring hope—that we can hope for a new normal,” he continues.

Of his lyrics referencing John 16:33—co-written with Matthew West—Thompso says, “We will experience pain, we will experience trials, but we have a God who walks with us inside of that pain and inside of those trials, and that’s the hope that we can live with as believers and as Christians.”

Because his eyes were opened to a situation students face “every single day,” Thompson says he’s honored to “carry a message that’s far beyond myself.”

“New Normal” is just the latest of several songs Thompson has released in 2021 alone. It follows standout track “Source of Life,” released in May, and soul-stirring “Dear Future Wife” released just before Valentine’s Day 2021.

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Our government is in chaos. Racism is rampant, and brother is hating brother. The enemy is destroying marriages.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that something is very wrong in America right now, and that a crucial element is absent from the daily lives of even well-intentioned, churchgoing people.

Deliverance Minister Kathy DeGraw, author of the new book Prophetic Spiritual Warfare (Charisma House 2021) and host of the Prophetic Spiritual Warfare podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network, says the Holy Spirit is missing from our prayer lives and from the pulpit. The enemy knows it, she says, and he is taking full advantage of the apathy of God’s people to turn this world into his playground.

“We’re not relying on the power that Jesus left us with,” DeGraw says on a recent episode of the Strang Report. “I believe we need to learn how to live our daily life partnering with the Holy Spirit. What did Jesus say in the upper room? ‘Wait, tarry here.’

“The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, our guide, our Counselor, our friend,” DeGraw adds. “If there is a time in the world that we need Him, it is now. Fear is overwhelming as people are in dissension. With all of this going on, we need to partner with the Holy Spirit, to know how to wage war prophetically and how to live our life in abundance and a place of victory and not in defeat as a victim. If we could tap into tap into this power that Jesus left us with, we could impact the world.”

Years ago, DeGraw says, the Lord spoke to her and told her that the world, because of its growing coldness toward the love of Christ, would fall into a deep sense of fear and panic. The COVID-19 pandemic that enveloped the country beginning in early 2020 took care of a great deal of that, but Satan has taken that fear many steps beyond not only to tighten his grip on non-Christians, but also to cause deep division within the church.

To help others overcome the spirit of fear that has destroyed many lives in its path over the last year and a half, DeGraw says she had to learn, through spiritual warfare, to overcome this deep-seated emotion she often encountered in her own life.

“God told me, ‘I need you to root all fear out of your life so you can be in faith,'” DeGraw says. “And that’s what I want people to do is to learn how to co-labor with the same Holy Spirit that I co-labored with, to root out fear, to live in faith and to release the kingdom here on earth. I felt like my message was a ‘now’ message that had to get out to empower people to live in victory.”

I encourage you to listen to this compelling Strang Report podcast with Kathy DeGraw and spread the word about it to your followers on social media. Be sure to subscribe to the Strang Report on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform for more words that will inspire and challenge you in the power of the Holy Spirit. {eoa}

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About a year ago, I sent Bethel an email asking them to clarify a lot of the things that are being said about them (my initial article on using controversial music is below). They finally began that process. My ministry doesn’t endorse this church; we are simply sharing what they are releasing to help clarify what they believe. Here is a page about the project, and episode 1 (full length) was posted here today. Each day a short-form clip of one of the specific topics will be published. By the second week of July, all of the content for this video series will be published.

But What About the Music?

The question goes something like this: “Is it possible to not endorse or agree with (such-and-such church) but still listen to their worship in a corporate setting?” First, I want to be clear that my position has never been “I don’t care what the roots are; I’m playing their music.” I myself am in the process of evaluating. You can actually watch my interview with Kim Walker Smith here. The answer to the first question is very eye-opening.

In 2020, I preached a sermon series on revival. Bryan and Katie Torwalt led worship during one of the messages and Kim Walker Smith during another one. To view the controversial services that sparked this article, click here and here. Then let us know your thoughts. Were the services God-honoring? Were the lyrics theologically sound? Were the messages biblically accurate? Could there be abundant fruit?

Just for reference sake, I use the MacArthur Study Bible, read the Puritans and love any preaching from Lloyd-Jones, Spurgeon and the like. I’m not endorsing and promoting Bethel. I have concerns too. I understand that playing a church’s music (in a sense) is viewed as promoting them. I get that, but there is a huge difference between direct promotion and indirect promotion because we have to legally acknowledge the source of the songs for licensing reasons.

With that said, I’ve put forth a few questions and answers that may offer clarity:

1. How inconsistent should a group be before we completely discontinue their worship? Should we also eliminate songs from Elevation Worship, Hillsong and a few others because we disagree with some of what their pastors teach? Yes and no. It all depends on the severity of their error. Some people draw the line in the sand much more quickly in regard to removing their music, while others are not there yet. This is what is happening here—many are not prepared to draw that line yet. And a lot depends on the spiritual character of the worship leader. For example, what Sean Feucht and Kim Walker Smith tweet is much different than what I’ve seen Joel Houston (Hillsong) tweet. I know both Feucht and Walker Smith, and both are solid.

2. Have I done my due diligence in investigating these bands? The problem is that there are many conflicting reports. I know people who attend Bethel, and they say the complete opposite of those who condemn it. For example, Bethel’s leadership condemns grave-sucking here, but people still say that they teach it. Yes, I have seen the picture of lead pastor Bill Johnson’s wife near a grave, but pictures don’t always tell the whole story. You wouldn’t believe the number of heresy hunters I heard from when I released this picture.

But, with that said, I have also heard Bill Johnson say things that he needs to clarify. Because I have often been misrepresented myself, I appreciate those who try to hear both sides. That’s where many of us are; are we not allowed that opportunity? I just wish the majority of the critics weren’t so arrogant and condescending. This attitude really reveals their heart.

3. Human opinion never trumps God’s Word, but there is safety in the multitude of counsel. I have asked countless believers for their input, and a significant percentage saw nothing wrong with playing music that is questionable to some. I also look at the spiritual condition of the worship leaders. For example, any idea on who wrote this: “So much heresy is running rampant in the church because we’re not clearly preaching the reality of eternal judgment, the reality of heaven and hell, or the frequent commands concerning holiness, godliness, purity and true Jesus apprenticeship”? Jeremy Riddle, worship leader at Bethel, wrote that on April 10 of this year on his Facebook page. In case you missed it, that’s a powerful declaration of sound doctrine. My concern is that we may be throwing out the baby with the bathwater too soon.

While not true of everyone, the vast majority of those who have issues with this music seem to disdain emotional worship and are often not open to what is referred to as revival. They don’t like to sing “Let It Rain” because they don’t want to get wet.

Mocking a Genuine Move of the Spirit

I stand in awe of how many famous conservative pastors quote George Whitefield yet fail to acknowledge the oddities that happened under his preaching. The same is true of Jonathan Edwards and others who ushered in great moves of the Spirit. Now, with that said, I am not validating questionable ministries. I have similar concerns as many of the critics, but it is interesting that those mocking are often the same people who would (and do) mock a genuine move of God’s Spirit. I’m hoping that this article sparks dialogue within the controversial bands and a movement to revisit theology is sparked.

Most of these worship groups are young and need theological grounding. Perhaps the young musicians in some of these bands just need believers who are spiritually mature reaching out to them rather than calling them heretical.

My big concern for many of us is found in Revelation 2:2-5 (NIV), “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.” Jesus continues, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

Could it be that the very thing we need is the very thing we are running from, that being revival and a powerful move of God’s Spirit? My new book, Oh God, Rend the Heavens, was written for this very reason.

Additional Resources

In this sermon, I talk about when my heart was very hard and I was becoming a modern-day Pharisee.

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) always seems to slip into this type of discussion. Since I don’t know much about the NAR, I found a video for those interested: The Truth About NAR and 7 Mountain Theology.

Michael Brown also interviewed Bill Johnson in this video. Granted, I would have asked harder questions, but he was still able to clarify many things. Here is what baffles me: it’s almost as though people don’t want to know the facts. {eoa}

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We’ve seen plenty of strife and even division in the prophetic movement for years. But the enemy seems to be working overtime to make it look like the prophetic movement has a forked tongue.

Where do we go from here? Check out this crucial conversation with Jennifer LeClaire and Ryan LeStrange.

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I saw glory angels releasing mantles this past week and they were being dropped on God’s people. They were flying through a portal in heaven to the earth and bringing these mantles right to us so we can begin to get ready for what is coming in the fall season.

A pre-promotion time is happening right now in the Spirit. The month of Tammuz, which is the fourth month on the Hebrew ecclesiastical calendar and the 10th month on the Hebrew civil calendar, began sundown, Wednesday, June 9, 2021, through sundown Friday, June 11, 2021. God is properly positioning you to receive more from heaven and step into more in the earth. He is revealing more of Himself. He is stretching His people and dispersing new mantles and garments—He’s got one for you!

A mantle is a cloak or covering that surrounds you and comes from heaven. It is designed to set you and your anointing apart from others in the kingdom of God. It is geared to bring forth the unique assignment that God has called you to walk in the earth. You are a kingdom citizen, and this mantle helps you operate in God’s kingdom doing His will in the earth.

Remember how the Word says in Luke 2:52, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.” A portal has been opened, and wisdom is now pouring forth from heaven. You are growing in wisdom and stature in the heavenlies and earth spaces, which will turn into favor with God and man. These mantle assignments are coming forth, and things are going to rapidly change in your life. You will be walking in more wisdom, statute and favor as you try and understand this new mantle assignment God has for you and how to walk in it properly as we approach the new Hebrew New Year 5782, on Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 6, 2021.

Why is this preparation time important for you? I know you are being stretched, and it appears you are being invited by God to something new, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. It’s to wear new garments and to take on new mantle assignments. This is a time of rejoicing, but also a time of transition. God is calling you to step out in ways that may be difficult or uncomfortable. It’s preparation for the real promotion time that will happen in August, right before we step into Rosh Hashanah.

This new mantle will affect your identity just like it affected Elisha in 1 Kings 19:19 (NIV), “So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.” Elijah’s act of distributing his cloak or mantle changed the course of Elisha’s life.

He had to get a mental handle on the exchange. We read in 1 Kings 19:20-21, “Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,’ he said, ‘and then I will come with you.’ ‘Go back,’ Elijah replied. ‘What have I done to you?’ So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.”

Your mantle will change your life as well! You will have to learn how to walk in the new mantle. You will have to learn to walk away from old things, even things that are good, to take on the new which is better but unfamiliar. You may have to say goodbye to ways you used to do things or even certain relationships of the past because the new is on the horizon.

You have just changed your clothes when you put on a new mantle. It is like wearing a tuxedo when you are used to wearing jeans. That is going to take a mind-shift for a while. However, God will grow you in wisdom, stature and favor with Him and man in the earth, and you will be able to carry this mantle well by Rosh Hashanah. Then you will be running with your tuxedo on.

Over the next three months, shift your mind to the Word of God. You will see that the eternal time frame has already been shifted because we are in the latter months of the springs rains which happen in the Hebrew months of Tammuz, Av and Elul, and that is why these mantles are coming forth. God is giving you a little taste now so you can be ready for the bigger promotion in the fall!

Today, purpose to position yourself on a strong foundation and be ready to receive great things from the Lord! {eoa}

Dr. Candice Smithyman is a prophetic revivalist and healing minister who is executive pastor of Freedom Destiny Church and vice president of Dream Mentors International. She is also host of the Glory Road television broadcast which showcases international prophetic voices and can be seen on Faith USA, U.K. and Africa and other outlets. Dr. Candice has authored multiple books on soul transformation, healing, heavenly encounters and curriculum for secular and Christian coaching organizations. She also writes for online prophetic ministries such as Elijah List, Charisma, Global Prophetic Voice, Prophetic 365, Identity Network, and Spirit Fuel. She hosts the Manifest His Presence podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network.

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“Then He came and found them sleeping and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not keep watch one hour?” (Mark 14:37).

I don’t pray enough.

I came to this startling conclusion after a recent binge-watching experience. There was nothing wrong with the show, but there was plenty wrong with how much time I frittered away—even while producing content on my laptop through the entire series.

But this behavior did not cause conviction until my recent Greenelines interview with Dr. Dick Eastman. He is the international president of Every Home for Christ, a ministry that has planted over 4.7 billion gospel messages home to homes worldwide since 1946, resulting in over 243 million follow-up decision cards and responses.

It’s Eastman’s prayer life that shook my heart to consider my ways of prayer. I thought I prayed a lot until we discussed his book Talking with God—A Practical Plan for Personal Prayer.

“Over four decades ago, I resolved a very big issue in my life,” he says. “I decided to never allow a day to go by for the rest of my life that I did not spend a minimum of an hour in the presence of Jesus. I’m telling you that God allowed that to continue up to this day. And I would never ever say it in a boastful sense. But I say it now in gratitude that God drew me into that habit. It’s the most wonderful hour of the day.”

I read Whisper by Mark Batterson last year, and I made a note that Batterson remembered Eastman as one who “sings in a grove of trees.”

Eastman recalls how that story developed. “Back in the mid-’80s, I had a tremendous desire to spend one entire day in my life where I did nothing but praise the Lord out loud from the time I got up in the morning and went to bed at night,” he says. “I was headed to Washington, D.C., for our National Day of Prayer. They involved me in the event, so they put me up in a beautiful country club … I woke up the next morning and sang praises to the Lord and continued all day as planned. I went to a park and was singing praises so loud that my voice became hoarse. I ended up in a grove of trees and continued to sing praises.

“And I looked up, and I said, ‘Lord, I just knew I needed to do this,” Eastman says. “And I said, ‘I’ve done everything I know to do the praise You all day.’ And He said, ‘Now there’s one thing you’ve never done in My presence.’

“A thought quickened in my spirit, and I danced before the Lord as David did,” he adds. “I jumped and kicked my legs, and even the trees must have laughed at me. But I clearly heard the Lord say to me, ‘You’ll never know how much joy you’re giving Me right now.’ And I just started sobbing, sobbing.”

Eastman says that after his day of prayer and praise, his ministry opened up as it has at almost no other time in his ministry.

We can tell a lot about a man by how he orders his binge steps.

Listen to my entire interview with Dick Eastman at this link, and subscribe to the Greenelines podcast on your favorite podcast platform. {eoa}

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Big Tech continues to crack down on Christian conservative voices. The latest victim? Author, speaker and Christ-follower Eric Metaxas.

Metaxas says YouTube cancelled his radio program on the social media platform for “failure to comply with community guidelines.”

For more on how this latest development has prompted censorship around the globe, watch this video with Charisma News content director Jeff Struss.

When Hubie Synn wrote The Tales of a Wandering Prophet a few years ago, he says he felt “very inadequate” to write such a book because, as an accountant, he never felt his life was interesting enough to teach others about prophetic ministry.

Apparently, God thought differently.

Through Synn, many have experienced miracles, signs and wonders he could never have imagined. And he has become a model for prophetic accuracy.

As time went on, Synn says his book, published by Charisma House in 2015, has been used as a textbook for prophecy classes for several other ministries. Individuals have also used it as a source of inspiration to seek God in a more intimate way—some after being hurt by other members of the church.

“It has been a source of healing for a lot of people who have texted us or emails us or communicated with us and said that, because of your journey, I can go back to the church or seek God because I was wounded,” Synn told me on a recent episode of the Strang Report podcast. “It’s just been something that far exceeded anything that we’ve ever thought.”

“As far as encouraging people, I don’t have any training,” Synn says. “I’m a CPA, so I’m totally inadequate. I realized that, but I didn’t let my shortcomings stop me when God led me to do something. I would rather step out and be wrong than step out and miss it as far as prophecy is concerned. I will not err on the side of caution. I’ll step out in faith and say, ‘OK, Lord, if it’s You, I’m going to try to do what You want me to do.’ That has actually changed my whole life, like meeting David Tyree and Jonathan Cahn.”

Dubbed “The Wandering Prophet” by none other than my good friend, Jim Bakker, Synn prophesied that God would grant Tyree, a New York Giants’ football player, a huge platform in which to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the masses. As you might remember, Tyree is famous for “The Catch” in Super Bowl XLII in 2008 that helped lead the Giants to an upset victory over the New England Patriots.

Tyree went on to write the book More Than Just a Catch, and he now travels the country to tell his story of redemption and hope through Jesus.

In 2010, Synn, through a set of what some might call miraculous circumstances, met a man named Jonathan Cahn in an airport. Cahn had written a book, his first, and didn’t know what to do with it.

Synn told Cahn that God had given him a message that would stir the nation and the world. Eventually that message became a book called The Harbinger, one that not only thrust Cahn, a Messianic rabbi, into the national spotlight, but also gave him a platform to reveal to the world God’s plans and purposes for its future.

Cahn has gone on to write other books such as The Harbinger II, The Oracle, the Paradigm, The Mystery of the Shemitah and The Book of Mysteries and has become one of the most outspoken prophets of our time. He certainly has caught the world’s attention, and after their chance meeting, Synn had a lot to do with that after their chance meeting.

Synn should never again underestimate the impact he has had on not only individuals and ministries, but also on the prophetic world.

‘It changed their [Tyree’s and Cahn’s] lives, but it dragged me along with it,” Synn says. “It wasn’t like it was just about them. It was about God molding me and shaping me also.”

I encourage you to listen to this podcast and spread the word about it to your followers on social media. Be sure to subscribe to the Strang Report on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform for more words that will inspire and challenge you in the power of the Holy Spirit. {eoa}

Fort Worth, Texas, glimpsed a touch of heaven on earth June 6.

The stop is part of Sean Feucht’s “Let Us Worship” summer tour traveling to 34 cities in 15 states over 87 days—and this video is evidence of the deep move of the Spirit washing over the nation.

Young and old. Black and white. Feucht speaks truth over a people from all walks of life desperate for a touch from God.

“Fort Worth is a fortress of worth,” decrees a voice over the crowd. The Let Us Worship team declares the next generation is not apathetic or far from God as some would love to believe. But rather, they say, the on-fire for Jesus Millennials and Gen Z will become a beacon of hope for a generation that needs so desperately to rediscover their identity in the one who created them.

And now, Feucht says, “The church is getting her fire back.” He declares over the mamas holding their babies, over the wrinkled hands lifted to the sky, over the “lost youth” dedicating themselves in baptism: “This is a season where God is releasing Holy Spirit fire on His people.”