Arise and Come Away With Me…


The Emergent Church: What Does it Mean in the End of the Age?

* The following statements are not necessarily the beliefs of the International House of Prayer but are based on my own opinions… the opinions of Brooke Turner.

I am not a heresy hunter therefore I want to first affirm some of the sincere qualities of the emergent church. I have been a participant in the Emergent Church movement in recent years and some of those involved in this movement are people that are very much beloved by me. This is not intended to bring hurt or cause disunity in the church, however, I felt the need to share my heart about this matter because it is an area of great concern to me.

The emergent movement began initially to address the great decrease in church attendance among young adults. It was clear that traditional church culture was not drawing the lost to Jesus. And so in observation of this dilemma, a web of ideas began to circulate among many young leaders. The underlying theme seemed to be: “how do we get the world to like us more so that in return, they will start coming to our churches/home groups etc?”

I believe that many “emergents” have a sincere burden for the lost. Many of them are characterized by great compassion for the poor and the marginalized. They have a desire to break out of the traditional Christian culture mode and relate to the lost in a new and fresh way. This is admirable considering the great majority of the church seems to feel more comfortable hiding behind the four walls of the church than venturing out into the world to love and serve the lost.

However, I have many concerns about the direction the emergent church has gone in recent years. The primary reason I have these concerns is because I believe that we are at the end of the age. Unlike a large percentage of the church, I believe that instead of being “sucked up” to heaven during the tribulation… we will actually be living here on earth. The tribulation will be used to purify the Bride of Christ and make them ready for His return to earth (2 Peter 3:14, Revelation 19:7-8). If you can find a verse supporting a pre-tribulation rapture, I would love to find out where it is because I haven’t seen one and personally… I would love to stay up there in heaven while hell breaks out down here on earth… but it ain’t gonna happen that way, folks.

The emergent movement has challenged the explicit truth of the Bible that we are to live Holy and blameless lives (Ephesians 1:3-5). Instead of using intimacy with Jesus and the powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit living inside of us to draw unbelievers to the truth, they have instead utilized compromise as a bridge to the lost. This may sound harsh but I myself have experienced this. In fact I was one of the promoters of this style of evangelism: “let’s hang out in bars, drink what we want and that way the lost will feel more comfortable around us.” Did it lead anyone to Jesus? I don’t remember one person coming to Jesus through this method and even if there was such a person, they sure weren’t being fed the truth of the gospel.

Why are we so concerned if the world likes us? We are actually suppose to expect that the world HATES us. 1 John 3:13 says, “do not be surprised brothers, if the world hates you.” In Jesus’ conversation with His father before his death on the cross he prays for us, His followers, “I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” John 3:19 says “this is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds are evil.” Yes. It is uncomfortable to be around people who hate us because we love Jesus. We are commanded to love them anyway but we are not given permission to join them in their sin. It pains me to think that we are using a false message of grace to exploit the work done on the cross. Grace is not a reason Jesus gave us to sin. Grace was given to us to empower us to keep from sinning. Sinning just because we can is a mockery of what Jesus has done on the cross.

So how do we reach the lost then? I have a few ideas 1. PRAY. Pray for the lost to know Jesus. Pray for specific people. Pray for their hearts to be open to the gospel. Pray for encounters with Jesus and dreams in the night. GOD is a real, active, and personal God and He is always moving. He wants evangelism to be a partnership with Him… not just some idea that we come up with on our own. 2. Prophesy. Yes. That’s what I said. 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 says that “if an unbeliever or someone does not understand comes in while everyone is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming ‘God is really among you!’. 3. Serving the lost. Feed them, clothe them, but don’t feed and clothe them without introducing them to Jesus. Without Jesus, humanitarian efforts are pointless. We are simply making their lives more comfortable as the drift away to hell.

A message of holiness, intimacy and purity for God CAN work in a young adult movement. Just look at my community, IHOP. The International House of Prayer is comprised mostly of young adults. Imagine that. Around a thousand or more young adults, pursuing Jesus as their ONE desire, and striving to live a life before God that is blameless. It can happen. Young adults are looking for something bigger than they are. In the words of Misty Edwards “there’s something bigger going on… something bigger than ME.”

In light of the times that we are in… and trust me… we are very very close to the tribulation… I want to introduce a few other dangers with the emergent church.

Because Jesus return is so imminent, the Sprit of the Anti-Christ is increasing rapidly. The Apostle John refers to this in 1 John 1:2-3. It is a spirit that deceives unbelievers into trusting in the false doctrine that Jesus is indeed NOT fully God and fully man. This spirit will be prevalent even in the body of Christ and well… it actually is already very prevalent. The emergent church has been characterized by a pervading deception that questions, ever so subtley, the deity of Jesus our Lord. This will start out in a seemingly subtle way and then increase in deception over time. A few years ago, I was able to hear a very popular emergent speaker. I will not share his name because it is not my desire that anyone should be ’singled out’, but some of the things this man referred to have disturbed me for some years now. He made a statement similar to: “the book of Genesis is outdated and archaic” and then began to subtley share his unbelief in what he seemed to believe wasn’t inerrant, God-breathed scripture on how the earth was formed and created by an uncreated Being. 2 Timothy 4:2-4 says this, “3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” People who are uncomfortable with the truth of God’s inerrant Word will find someone to preach to them what they desire to hear. This is dangerous, why? 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 explains about the Spirit of the Anti-Christ or the Spirit of Lawlessness as it is otherwise called: “the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance to the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perished because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” There will be many in the church, who once called themselves Christians, who will fall away from Jesus because of offense.

In essence… we don’t have time to mess around. This spirit is in the world RIGHT NOW. We cannot allow any form of deception from the enemy. We cannot allow ourselves to sit in compromise. If our consciences are bothering us at all, we must turn away from that sin. Paul said that he “strives to keep his conscience clear before both God and man.” In humility and without religious pride, we must lay hold of the prize that is set before us… JESUS! We must live lives holy and blameless before Jesus and before the World. This includes loving each other. This includes serving each other but it also includes fleeing from immorality, darkness, dangerous theology, and drunkenness.



The Partnership.
March 24, 2008, 4:35 pm
Filed under: Healing, Intercession, Intimacy with God, Jesus Loves Me, Prayer, Prophecy

I love that I have Jesus as my best friend.

I get to partner with the resurrected God-man in the lives of people around the world, in the governments of nations, and in my own life. I love that I get to hear and feel what’s on His heart, to experience His affections for me and have a taste of His affections for others. I love that I get to help partner with Him in building His kingdom. I love that I can hear His ideas and see His vision through the written Word. We get to partner with Him in healing broken bodies, in resurrecting the dead, in revealing the Father’s love to orphaned children. Every aspect of this partnership is exciting to me. The prayer part, prophetic part, the healing part, even the discipline part. It all just means that He loves me and I’m His kid and He doesn’t care about how messed up I am because He’s my dad and He loves to hang out with me and teach me new things.

I’ve been finding new ways to pray lately because a lot of times, especially during times of intercession, we forget that it’s really all about Him and His purposes. So I find myself asking Him questions, “what do you have to say, here, Jesus? how do you think I should pray for this?”  Now granted, He’s given us freedom and individuality but I’m finding that it’s so much more fun to actually incorporate a conversation with Him into the hours of prayer we spend. So I’ll ask Him questions and then wait in silence (or with the background prophetic worship from the prayer room) and expect Him to answer me because Dad’s don’t ignore their children. So He will and I sense His thoughts towards me and I hear His voice giving me a scripture reference or a phrase to let me know His thoughts on the topic I am praying for. And even if I don’t hear anything, I know He’s there, hanging out with me, enjoying that I am enjoying Him.

Prayer is the most fun.



The Prayer Movement and Missions.
February 10, 2008, 9:58 pm
Filed under: Intercession, Intimacy with God, Missions

It was refreshing to hear the news today about the formal collaboration of the prayer movement with the missions movement. I know that one day I will be going to the nations and that it is my obligation… and well my job as not only as a believer in Jesus but especially because I am an Intercessory Missionary to make sure that I’m lifting up the lives of the missionaries in foreign countries. To pray for the salvation of souls that are under their care and to ask for the hand of the Lord to move with might on the lost. So I have thought a great deal today about the specific things that Mike has asked us to pray for.

The first thing he asked us to identify is a specific missions program to pray for and my choice is Antioch Community Church in Waco Texas. Yes, this is more of an actual church than what I would call an “organization” but that is one of the things that makes it so great. They have planted hundreds of churches all over the world, including many in dangerous areas of the Middle East. In fact, a close friend of mine, Karissa is now in the Middle East under their leadership. They are not only committed to spreading the gospel but they have some of the best leadership I have ever experienced and are a very solid community. Leadership at Antioch is committed to pouring into their missionaries. They are a family that supports each other greatly and looks after each other. They are also very committed to the prayer movement and identifying themselves as missionaries through a basis of intimacy with Jesus. In 2004 I attended their World Mandate conference and it rocked me. In fact it was a beginning stepping stone in the Lord speaking to me about my destiny to the nations. I remember during one of the worship sessions the Lord specifically telling me I should go to the break-out session on missions in Europe. I was really just at the conference to hang out with Karissa and wanted to go with her to the class on the Middle East but I felt something so strongly pointing me in the other direction that I couldn’t ignore it. It was there that a woman came up to me and prophesied something over me that began to really alter the paradigms I had about my future.

The three missionaries I have chosen are the following:

1. Karissa who serves the Kurds in the Middle East. I’ve mentioned Karissa plenty of times. She has been a great influence in my life and never hesitates to “tell me how it is” if she thinks I’m getting off track. She has also been someone that has loved and accepted me despite my numerous failings in life. It is only natural that I would pick her first ;) .
2. Paul and Shirley Farnham in Cornwall England. They are in the IHOP family and are in need of prayer for the next steps they are to take in forwarding the prayer movement in this country. I was able to spend lots of time with their family when I was in England and it was exciting to hear about their vision for Cornwall.

3. Tony Fundaro is the pastor of my home church in Dallas, Deep Ellum Church. I know that Tony has been set divinely in downtown Dallas and there have been some very supernatural prophetic visions about what is in store for this church. He has been blasted with some serious spiritual warfare but I know this is only the intimidation of the enemy that knows what is in store for this community.

Lastly, we are to pick a geographic region of the world we are to pray for on a consistent basis. I picked Brighton England. I picked Brighton over London for a couple of reasons. London is always the place one picks to pray for when they think of England. I absolutely love London and believe I might be there one day but lately God has been giving me a burden for Brighton. Why? A friend of mine, Aaron Kennedy, who is likely enjoying reading this blog at the moment, goes to school in Brighton. It is has been named the San Francisco of England and is known for it’s very high percentage of homosexuals. It also has the only completely atheistic university in England (which Aaron attends). Aaron and some friends recently started a house church for University students in Brighton. It has actually made me quite jealous hearing from him about it because this is exactly the kind of community I know the Lord has called me to minister to.  I’m hoping that one of these years, Jesus will send me there to be a part of it.



Thoughts on 2007

As I am conisidering stepping out to have hot cocoa at my friend Lisa’s (though this week has just about knocked the wind out of me), I thought I might write one of those New Year’s blogs. A sort of… New Years letter detailing my many activities from 2007.

January. Spent the first week in Little Rock with my family and the second week with friends in Dallas before moving to Kansas City. Somehow I made it to KC after a 12 hour drive in an ice storm with no heater and a Volkswagon that was barely staying alive. I spent the next few weeks working at IHOP’s apartment complex, Herrnhut but this didn’t last long as the Lord clearly showed me that I was here to be an Intercessory Missionary… not an apartment complex secretary.

February, I became an official staff member at the International House of Prayer. Very exciting indeed. But as the month came to a close I felt the Lord begin sharpening me in some areas. I knew that I needed to get my act together and that something exciting was about to take place. As I began changing my schedule around, prioritizing some important areas of my life, God began to speak to me very clearly about my destiny, not just as an Intercessory Missionary but as a messenger. One afternoon, walking home from the prayer room I heard a very clear voice tell me I was going to the nations. The voice became more specific and I’m pretty sure I trembled the rest of the way home. That night I had one of the most powerful encounters with God that I have ever experienced. The next night followed with a surprise prophetic encounter with some people from Toronto that confirmed everything the Lord had told me the day before. Seven months later, in September, I found myself in England getting a vision, speaking to Houses of Prayer about my favorite thing in the world (talking to Jesus), sharing my journey… asking God a lot of questions and getting only one answer.

Since returning from this beautiful country I have felt that wrestling with God that Jacob knew. I’ve never felt more warfare in life than I have in the last four months. Things have been rough. I find myself becoming increasingly sensitive and fighting anger much more than I am use to. I’m tired of pettiness and elitism and snobbery and controversy. I just want to sit in silence for once and put walls around myself and never let a single person in. I don’t want to deal with the things God wants me to deal with because they are just too hard to face.

But there have been “ups” in these last few months that I am grateful for. I’m surrounded by a great community in the evening section and at the bookstore. My PR team is like family to me and we have a lot of fun together. Also, a couple of months ago I was approved to sing for the house which I am grateful for because the more I sing to my God, the more my heart expands and tenderizes. Singing is my favorite form of prayer… it’s intimate and sweet and it makes me come alive.

I’m very unsure of what the next step in my life is. I feel a little like I am on a seesaw. Should I do this? Should I do that? But the Lord isn’t telling me anything. Why? He likes me to squirm a little. He likes me to fight for my time with Him. He likes wrestling with me. He likes to see the effects of the work He is doing on my heart.



It’s Time to Fight.
December 16, 2007, 7:28 am
Filed under: Intercession, Intimacy with God, Revival

It feels like I’ve been praying the same things over and over since childhood. These are the same prayers and requests I make to God on my bed each night, even still, as an Intercessory Missionary. Prayers for the salvation of my brother, for revival… personal requests. In almost 28 years I’ve never seen any of these requests answered. Not the big ones anyway. I guess I’ve been feeling like giving up. In my stubborness, I’ve had to force myself to remember that this isn’t about me and my list of wants. He wants me to know Him first. It’s been difficult lately trying to talk to Him when I don’t understand, when nothing seems rational… when I can’t even behave like a rational person myself.

Have you ever had those times when you just don’t want to talk to Him and you’re doing something totally random, not thinking about Him at all and He just shows up and won’t leave you alone? Lately, with me, I’ll be reading Anna Karenina  or something and my heart will start burning and I will just sort of wish He would stop. Finally, tonight, with me being stuck in the house all day due to snow, He is showing Himself relentless as usual. He doesn’t give up, which amazes me every day. So I put my down my book and I just sat there. Not knowing what to do and I heard Him say I miss you. 

I said to Him…  I don’t understand. Won’t you please just answer one of these big requests… just one to keep me going? I just need to know that what I say to You each day is actually doing something out there. I feel powerless.

And then I heard Him say, Isaiah 62:6.

You would think I would know that reference by now but I didn’t. I flipped open and this is what I read… it’s definately a familiar one on the base:

6On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen;
All day and all night they will never keep silent
You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves;
7And give Him no rest until He establishes
And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

I knew this was an alarm being sounded. I’ve been giving myself a lot of “rest” but it’s not a time for retirement. It’s so easy to sit back when you don’t see a single prayer answered. It’s so easy to give up when you feel like you’re wasting your time.

God… why do you run your kingdom like this?

Because this is how I get to spend time with you.



The French Aren’t All That Bad.
November 30, 2007, 5:48 pm
Filed under: History, Intercession, Sin

1. I’m currently reading a biography of Joan of Arc, written by a secular author. I had no idea there were so many miraculous events that happened on the battlefield with her! She has now earned second place on my “hero list” (Jesus being first, of course). She was a truly humble, pure, courageous, strong woman of God who had a deeply profound relationship with the Lord. Even the author could not deny some of the historical records of miraculous events that took place. It makes me wonder what kinds of plans God has for France in the end of the age. As I see it now, France is not exactly the hot spot for the next big revival (seeing as how the birthing of overt Satanaism began here along with having a notorious reputation for Freemasonry and well… rudeness)… but I think it could be. I think I’m going to make France (along with England, of course) my next little intercession project.

2. I was talking to a friend last night and he informed me that he stopped drinking and that he would never drink again. Apparently, I scared the mashuga out of him a few weeks ago. I told him a story of a drinking experience I had about a year before I came to IHOP. I went to a party with my friend Erica on a Friday night and had a pina colada and I think maybe a beer. We then went to a little place in Mockingbird Station where I had a glass of white wine. I was a little woozy and went home afterward, half-walked, half-stumbled into my apartment where my roommate, Amber giggled at my wooziness. I threw myself on my bed and instantly fell into a deep sleep. In the middle of the night I woke up and lo and behold my bedroom wall opened up and I was looking straight into a demonic portal. Not kidding. I saw what I think was a strong man… basically a demon in human form and then I look up and there is a demon in my bed with it’s hand on my head cackling at me. Drinking, if it alters you emotionally or in any other way… is witchcraft. Did you know that the Greek word for witchcraft is Pharmacopia? It’s where we get our word “pharmacy” from. Alcohol is a drug and therefore can be used to open up some serious super-natural activity and usually it is not heavenly activity. Before that moment I didn’t think drinking was a big deal at all. Drugs were bad, for sure… but drinking… it was fun. Nothing wrong with a little fun. Well sexual immorality is fun for a season too. So is shoplifting. We can rationalize anything we want to. Now if you’re having one beer or a glass of wine and it doesn’t affect you like that, then I think it’s okay… but we have to ask ourselves… why are we drinking it in the first place?

3. It’s time to go have Indian food. Later taters.



Say What?
November 15, 2007, 4:31 am
Filed under: Fear of the Lord, Humanism, Intercession, Revival, Social Activism

I grew up in a very liberal college town in Northern Wisconsin. I actually tend to like the personalities of liberal people and enjoy hanging out with them. I firmly believe that this is a group that I am called to in the future. Anyway, my town, Ashland, was smooshed between Lake Superior and the Chequamegon National Forest. It is an absalutely breath-taking area. I have fond memories of driving my bike only a couple of short blocks to the beach on Lake Superior. Anyway, as always, a beautiful natural eco-system tends to attract people who value the enviroment. I’d just like to point out that I DO value the enviroment and am not one of these Christians that think it’s okay to pollute this beautiful earth “because it’s going to burn anyway”. If Jesus created it, we should keep it beautiful in the best way we know how. Moving on…

Now after ten minutes of beating around the bush I’d like to get to my point. I have a Facebook account. It’s pretty  lame actually. I stay connected to friends from all over the country (and world) this way. Whatever happened to old-fashioned letter-writing? That seems like it would be a lot more fun. ANYWAY…

I have a lot of old high school friends from Ashland on there. As I was scanning some of their profiles tonight I paused at one in particular. I had heard this old high school friend had become a youth pastor at the local Presbyterian church. I didn’t know my high school was even capable of producing someone who would be in ministry. As I scanned further down I noticed that He had a degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. WOW. That’s not a bad seminary (as far as evangelical standards go). Not only this but he is currently finishing his doctorate in Divinity from none other than Princeton Seminary.

What was even more shocking (or disturbing, I suppose) is that under his “religion” preferences he wrote “I generally agree with all of the principle’s of the world’s religions.” Now, I suppose this is somewhat normal among the world’s educated elite. It’s popular. Believing Jesus is the only way is currently very very unpopular.  And under his causes he supports “Buddhist Monks in Burma”. Someone who is a supposed follower of Christ and “supposedly” teaches youth the same… apparently doesn’t? I’m so confused! How can you teach the teachings of Jesus as truth but then just throw out everything else He says like “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. How can you throw out His CONSTANT references to His second coming? How can you throw out His resurrection? He’s either God, fully and completley or He was stark, raving mad. You’ve got to pick your side. It’s cowardice to not!

It makes me so angry! Not at my friend, but at the enemy!

You see, I was the weird, charismatic, Christian girl in my school. I prayed and prayed and prayed earnestly for revival in my high school. I even had Bible studies where I would invite the whole Volley ball team for pizza and then tell them all about Jesus. Over and over and over and over again I have thought of that school and the hours of prayer I have poured into it… still believing, ten years later, that revival will happen there and in that town. I still pray for Ashland. And then to see things like this being taught by so-called Christians… it just hurts my heart.

I’m gonna keep praying though. I know God laid this burden on me for a reason. I’m an intercessory missionary, after all.



Oh Heck Yes.
November 9, 2007, 4:54 am
Filed under: Bible Study, Biblical love, Friendship, Intercession, Social Activism, Thankfulness

1. Coffee with a good, TRUSTED friend is always nice. It’s like well… a breath of fresh air.
2. I love praying for exploited women. I cannot wait to see the pornography industry come crashing down because of prayer… of course the very fulfillment of this won’t happen until Jesus gets here but at least we can do something until He comes.

3. I love it when men can just listen to what you have to say without disagreeing with every tiny word that comes out of your mouth just so that they can feel superior to you.  Yes, this is a nice thing. Again: can I say this is REFRESHING?????

4. Speaking of men, I’ve decided it’s about time to start researching the reasons that God created marriage. Honestly, I cannot believe I actually just wrote that in a public blog but I think I need a renewed view of marriage… not just because I MIGHT get married some day but also so that I can encourage my married friends and remind them of how special the uniting of man and woman is… even when the going gets tough.

5. My friends in England are getting smashed by storms right now. Please pray for their safety! I love England very very very much!



Major Transition.
September 21, 2007, 8:03 am
Filed under: Healing, Humility, Intercession, Missions

The quiet of this tiny village is very conducive to hearing from God. I have been feeling the Lord speaking to me in the last couple of days and really challenging me with some major decisions I am to make before I get back. I think more than anything, this decision will give me an oppurtunity to grow in wisdom and maturity if I steward my time correctly. It will do a little number on my pride but in the end… I guess that will be a good thing. I just believe that there is much healing to take place but not a lot of space for it to happen at the moment. I’m gritting my teeth and bracing myself for this new journey that I’m on.

Last night, the Farnham’s and I went to visit Matt and Allie who are heading up the “Fire Station” here in Polzeath. It is more styled after the boiler rooms that we see growing around the world. The first night of the Fire Station will be on  Saturday night. They are having an all night prayer meeting. I’m really excited to see what the Lord is going to do. Jesus actually gave me a word for the 23rd before I even bought my tickets to England so I think the meeting is going to be very significant to what God is going to birth in the Spirit here.

I was also able to walk around and see more of the village. I really haven’t had much time to see much of it but it is lovely! I also went down to the beach and got in the waves a bit. Hopefully some time before I leave I will have time to actually take a dip and maybe even go surfing (that is if I can get someone to teach me!).



England is Cold! (but warm)
September 19, 2007, 9:48 am
Filed under: Intercession, Intimacy with God, Missions

Though I’m staying on a beautiful beach, at the moment, the weather is very windy and pretty cold. However, I’m meeting so many fantastic people that are really hungry for the Lord. Last night the Farnham’s and I headed to a tiny village where there was a house of about 20 young adults that we ministered to. I was able to share my journey as an intercessory missionary and how God is raising up thousands of people like me to prepare for the second coming of Jesus. The Farnham’s of course, shared about their specialties, prophecy and healing and we were also able to minister to the group in both of those veins afterward. It was a really fun time and I loved being able to share a vision for the prayer movement.

God has been really stirring something in my heart since last night and I’m not quite sure what it is yet. It looks like I might need to take a long walk on the beach tonight and have a conversation with Him.