Author: Shane Pippin

I truly feel my calling has become that of a watchman. That title might sound cool, but I’ve discovered that it’s a position that can leave me feeling lonely, misunderstood, hated and other wonderful luxuries. JI

Having said that, I have another watchman word. This word isn’t the coolest thing you’ll ever read, and it isn’t concerned about building me a following. It’s just an honest report from my post on the wall. It a look at where we’ve been, where we are, how we got here, and where I believe we’re going.

First of all, this word is not condemning the common, smaller church that still has in-person meetings with great attention and adherence to safety.

But rather…

things like a big NYE conference should probably not have happened this year. That was undoubtedly a Covid spreader. Obviously, our religious liberties are extensive in America. Yes, evidently we even have the right to be spreaders of deadly viruses.

Many American businesses have been suffering financially. Nevertheless, most of these have honored state laws and safety protocols.

Americans are doing their best. Frequently, leaders and business owners are encouraging each other with phrases like “we’re in this together.” This commonly heard phrase partly means, we are all suffering somehow. Hence, the encouragement is knowing that you’re not alone in your struggles.

Well, it’s true that they are in the struggle—together. Meanwhile, some Churches and ministries are managing to stay open if they choose to rebel against the admonition of those in expertise and authority. Some ministries are flexing their “rights” and choosing to not be in the struggle—together—alongside the rest of the country.

Here’s the crux, gathering huge crowds to do Christmas Caroling in a heavily populated county that’s already plagued by overcrowding in its hospitals is a smack in the face of the hundreds of thousands who have had death, sickness, or loss of jobs and finances in their family. Not to mention, many such Christian conferences or street rallies do not adhere to wearing masks and other safety measures.

The fact that these meetings were held, and in many cases, almost no one wore masks, and social distancing wasn’t properly organized, administered or emphasized is an embarrassment to the body of Christ.

How did we get here? Well, here’s what I believe God is showing me concerning our wandering journey. In a church culture that has pushed for the pendulum to swing away from over-valuing and relying on the office of Pastor…I sense the pendulum has swung too far. This often happens when change and transition are occurring. Unfortunately it also leads to extremes.

We have been in a moment where our most esteemed value has been given to prophets, apostles, and worship leader-celebrities.

Now, suddenly, we are in dire need of Shepherds. We need seasoned leaders. We greatly need the grace gift of mature, intelligent Pastors.

It seems we have been driven into errors due to ego, immaturity, flamboyance, emotion, zeal, and ambitious opportunity.

I don’t want to sound angry, arrogant, or judgmental. I’m burdened.

Nevertheless, I still like, respect, love and pray for those I think have made reckless, stubborn, maverick, or dangerous ministry decisions. These aren’t easy times. There have been tough decisions to make.

However, I am…disappointed. And I’m also hoping there are few fatalities because of any year’s end money-raising ministry events or public gatherings for the sake of making [political-stance] statements.

Let us humble ourselves and repent of valuing ministry voices based on how loud, trendy, or popular they are. May we realize that our bucking against pastoral monopoly within the church has now caused us to go a bit too far in that regard.

May we remember the beauty of a simple church. Indeed, a simple Pastor with a Shepherd’s heart is a golden treasure.

A new idea of the church is probably a revival of what’s been lost. And I admit, I didn’t see this coming.

Simplicity

Humility.

Love

Prayer

👆🏼These are things I believe God is wanting to restore to the church.

I believe God has a trick play up His sleeve. It’s something we didn’t see coming. I believe God wants us to get back to the basics. I believe God wants to lead us out of DC, and back to the heartland. I prophesy a revival of the small, local church…as opposed to the mega church enterprise. After all, small churches are the most exciting places in the universe when God’s glory shows up and folks fill nearly every seat and parking spot. I promise…it’s an awesome thing.

In summary, the church has been somewhat embarrassed and shamed over the past year. Our discernment has been off. Our prophecies have been off. Our focus and allegiance has been off.

We’ve made some costly mistakes and we’ve seriously lacked in wisdom and leadership.

Still, out of this tumultuous time, I see God bringing us back to our center. 1. He’s going to revive the local church. 2. He’s going to revive the Pastor (Shepherd).

Jeremiah 3:15
And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.

Lastly, as God moves our hearts back to simple, selfless purity…a new unity will emerge in the ministry offices like we have never seen before. I see a wheel with spokes. I see all offices contributing and serving.

John 17:10-11 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

Also, I believe we will see more women becoming Pastors and they will be anointed, wise, and godly.

Plus, I feel that Sunday night meetings will make a comeback in many places, especially as the spirit of revival rests on local bodies.

Eph 4:11
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” Matt 5:5 NASB

Jesus never trained His disciples to fight. Instead, He taught us to turn the other cheek, to forgive, and to lay our lives down.

In Luke 9, James and John wanted to call fire down and destroy people who weren’t receptive of Christ. However, Jesus rebuked this aggressive attitude.

And, Peter once wielded a violent sword, but…Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away” (John 18:11). Then, the Lord healed the wound Peter had caused. After this, Jesus—who said “follow me”—willingly walked ahead toward his own arrest and crucifixion.

Later in time, the Apostles became martyrs. They suffered horrible deaths. Still yet, the early church didn’t buy or make weaponry, and they never formed militias.

So, having pointed out these important lessons, allow me to add that Jesus was not afraid of confrontation. And, the New Testament is not void of swift judgment.

After all, Jesus cleansed the temple by defiantly removing the moneychangers. Also, Jesus sternly rebuked Peter and called him Satan when Peter tried to resist the way of the cross. Nevertheless, both of these instances were corrective teaching moments.

Plus, there were other occasions where Jesus addressed the Pharisees and Sadducees in harsh tones. Nonetheless, it is obvious that Jesus wasn’t here to have arm-wrestling matches, or fist-fights with un-agreeable people.

In Acts 5, there is a unique story where Ananias and Sapphira sequentially fell dead. From that, Scripture states that the fear of God spread throughout the church. It’s hard to develop doctrine around this rare story, but it happened and the fear of God was established as a relevant aspect even in the New Covenant dispensation.

Simon the sorcerer was severely rebuked later in the book of Acts. His error was sharply addressed. Yet, it appears he had the opportunity to seek repentance and grow up from his immature heart.

Two things we can collectively gather from these examples.

1.)God doesn’t want us involved in bloody, angry, vicious actions.

2.) That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want us to contend for the faith.

Contrarily, I believe we are to stand and make an overcoming difference by:

A) Intellectual reasoning and teaching.

B) resisting and warring in the spiritual arena.

Firstly, let us acknowledge that God chose Paul to help establish the newly birthed church. Paul was a highly educated individual, trained to be a rabbi—minister, teacher, lawyer. And, Paul certainly utilized his mind, and training to teach, write, and assert the truths of new covenant inspiration.

Another major Apostle of the New Testament was Peter. One time, Peter said we should be ready to give a defense of our inner hope to anyone who questions us (1Peter 3:15).

Otherwise, if we are going to fight, we are to fight spiritually, not physically engaging with other persons (2 Cor 10:3-4, Eph 6:12). Once, Jesus even addressed a natural storm in a spiritual way. He spoke to winds and waves—the storm—rebuked it and commanded it to be still and quiet. This was a spiritual response to a natural threat.

So, in the day we live in, there will be no repeat of 1 Kings 18’s prophetic showdown. After winning that prayer competition, Elijah slaughtered those failed false prophets.

No where in the New Testament do believers act with violence, strength, or physical judgment like what was seen in the Old Testament through men such as Samson, Samuel, David, Elijah, Jehu and others.

The closest thing you will find to a preacher and a militia in the NT was at the betrayal of Christ.

John 18:3. Judas then, having received a band [of men] and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.

Back in the Spring, God spoke to me that the revival of Mike Tyson would be prophetic. That caught me off guard. Tyson has never been a godly man. Nevertheless, God speaks and moves in mysterious ways so I didn’t dare discount what God was saying.

Only a few people responded to my simple prophecy concerning this. I didn’t even understand it myself. I just knew God was using Tyson to speak to me. So, I followed the story line concerning Tyson’s announcement that he was going to return to the ring and fight again.

When the time came, I paid for and watched the match in late November.

The fight was entertaining but…I didn’t come away with anything.

The days following the fight, I pondered on it and leaned in with my ear to the Lord, hoping to hear something more. I was still unsure, other than a motivational, feel-good, comeback tale.

Then, unexpectedly, late in the night—last night—the Spirit of the Lord came on me. I experienced a vision. It was like God replayed part of the pay-per-view event, wanting me to watch with fresh eyes.

I saw the locker room door open. I saw Tyson emerge into the hallway. Then, I saw his T-shirt. One word on the front of his shirt:

BROWNSVILLE

As I watched Tyson walk toward the ring, in my vision, the Lord highlighted what was written on his shirt.

Now, after time spent in the Spirit, after a prophetic vision, after hearing from God, after faithfully stewarding the initial word, after time in prayer and listening…this is the prophecy I feel God has given me:

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

A major revival happened in the 90’s known as Brownsville. Coincidentally, Tyson’s fall and decline began in the 90’s. Now, Tyson is back. And although, his T-shirt didn’t really have anything to do with the Brownsville revival from the 90’s, God had already told me this was going to be prophetic. Hence, it wasn’t just Tyson emerging from that locker room. It was revival. It was prophetic that revival is about to break out. The spirit of revival that moved during the 90’s at that Brownsville church is about to walk down the aisle…AGAIN.

Also of note, Tyson’s shirt was black. Tyson is black. Tyson has always wore black. Black shorts and black shoes. Accordingly, I sense that this wave of Revival will be especially strong within the black church.

James 4:6
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

But, revival is always available for the humble, repentant, hungry hearts that are willing to…go after it.

Matthew 6:33
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

On Friday night, only a few hours from midnight, when the date became 12/12, and a prophetic time stamp was 12:00 12/12. It seems Trumps’ last hope of reversing the apparent election results were over. News broke that The Supreme Court rejected the Texas lawsuit, the one that Trump had called “the big one.”

I grew up Pentecostal. I know first-hand that Pentecostals, Charismatics, and all those who are Spirit-filled believers often feel like many people in this world—even the religious world—view us as the orphan stepchild.
We sometimes feel treated like the folks from the wrong side of the tracks. We sometimes feel looked down on and made fun of. We’re accused of being crazy, emotional, sensational, radical, tongue-talking holy rollers, and snake-handlers.

So, when a President came into office with the consult of a charismatic woman, it mattered. When spirit-filled pastors and worship leaders were regularly invited to pray at the White House, it mattered. It became more than just the religious right supporting a pro-life Republican. This President unintentionally enlisted the fiery passion and emotion of Charismatics and Pentecostals…something that had never happened before.

The euphoria of this season felt magical, or God-ordained and anointed. The orphan stepchildren stigma was lifting. We became Cinderella.

So, in thankfulness, we brought gifts. We brought prophecies to amplify the moment. We prayed prayers, sang songs, wrote books, made videos, and declared decrees to express appreciation for God’s chosen leader.

Never mind the fact he has been divorced several times. Forget the fact nearly 30 different women have accused him of rape or sexual assault. All of his bankruptcies don’t matter. His bad, abrasive, arrogant, insulting attitude doesn’t matter. His course language doesn’t matter. His rising number of legal problems doesn’t matter. He has paid off multiple accusers, but that doesn’t matter. He even paid big money to a porn star to keep quiet about their fling, but that doesn’t matter. Tens and Tens of thousands of people feel his actions and words are racist, but they’re definitely wrong…so that doesn’t matter. Being overly friendly (or fearful) of Russia doesn’t matter. The risk of impeachment doesn’t matter because we have prophecies saying he won’t be impeached. Then, he was impeached, but that doesn’t matter because those Demoncrats are evil. And, It’s ok, we have new prophecies saying he’ll win by a landslide. Wait. Ok, so he lost by over 7 million votes. We were wrong, bad wrong.

What time is it?

The magic of the Cinderella story was temporary. She was able to go to the Capitol. She felt special. But, she had to come back to reality by midnight. She had to return to the truth, to humility.

Hurry now. Your prince will be looking for the real you.

Don’t be angry. If the shoe fits…

Let go of that man. You’re engaged to Jesus. And Jesus loves you still.

Allow me to spin a prophetic tale.

* The white church. *The Pentecostal Church *The Spirit-filled Church *The Charismatic Church *The American Church

…has been a type of Cinderella. She has went to the [Republican] Party. She was given an invitation to visit the highest house in the land. This adventure was meant to be a visit. It always had a time-clock, a tick tock countdown. A curfew was always looming.

The magical moment wasn’t meant to last, not now, not on these false terms

The church is betrothed—engaged—and must only marry for love. The church must only marry in humble truth. And, the Church must remember…

A higher love awaits her devotion.

So, the most recent goings-on have been short-lived, contrived of a false portrayal. Therefore…

Hurry! The clock is about to gong. Rush! Get out of this make-believe hypocrisy, this playing of a part. Get out of this worldly party.

Run back to humility. Go back to truth.

The hand of God is coming to the ungodly party that has been going on at the highest house of the land. The writing finger from Daniel 5 is coming swiftly to address that wall. The proud-man king hasn’t softened his heart. So, he will no longer benefit from the church’s wine glasses. And the false prophets he has surrounded himself with will not have a word, nor any understanding to help him.

A spiritual sickness is about to firmly grip the heart of this unwholesome leader.

His time there is up.

As for the church, your prince is coming…to find the real you.

So, clean up your act. Get right. Believe in love. God is love. Your story isn’t over.