"FIRE STARTERS - RELEASING THE CHURCH"
Robert I Holmes
Jul 21, 2002

Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998.

"FIRE STARTERS - RELEASING THE CHURCH"
-by Robert I Holmes.

John the baptist was known for his fiery repentance preaching.
This wild man of God, to whom all of Israel came, declared
concerning Jesus: "I baptise you with water. But one more
powerful than I will come. He will baptise you with the Holy
Spirit, and with FIRE!" (Luke 3:16). Christ in fact said of
Himself "I came to set the world on fire, how I wish it were
already kindled" (Luke 12:49).

Today we are in the church age, one that should demonstrably be
marked by empowered ministry. We are to have been baptised with
the Spirit, and with fire. But for what? What are we empowered to
do? What is our mission? Jesus told us that all He did, we would
do and more. He also only did what He saw the Father doing. This
is the definition of our ministry- we should do as Christ did,
our mandate is His. Christ set out His mandate clearly, as He
read from Isaiah 61:1-4...

"The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has
anointed me;...to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's
favour, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who
mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a
garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of
mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. ..They
shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former
devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the
devastations of many generations."

It is with these two things in mind (the baptism of Jesus- with
the Spirit and with fire, and his mandate for empowered
ministry), that I wish to outline the upcoming prophetic ministry
to the church. For the Lord this year has raised up those with
the anointing of fire starters. The servants of Christ who, like
firebrands set alight by the Holy Ghost, shall walk in the true
ministry of Christ.

THE NATURE OF FIRE

In the Bible, fire symbolises several things. These include:
holiness (Zech. 2:5, Deut. 4:24), God's glory (Exek. 1:4, 13),
his protective presence (2 Kings 6:17), His nature (Heb 12:29),
His very words (Jer 23:29) which he puts in the mouths of his
prophetic servants (Jer 5:14), an instrument of purification
(Psalm 66:12, Isa 43:2) and refinement (Zech. 13:8,9, 1 Cor
3:13,15) and lastly as a symbol of His wrath against sin (Isa
66:15,16). All of these things are a part of a ministry coming to
the church: the fire starters.

The nature of this ministry was made clear to me on the last day
of 1995 when the Lord came to me and said: "The city of Sydney was
set on fire two years ago (January 1994 in fact). It was circled
about, and burned throughout by evil pyromaniacs. A dozen wicked
men touched the lives of every inhabitant in the Sydney area.
These things were a sign. I will again set this city on fire! But
not with evil, but for good, not by fire bugs, but by my Holy
Ghost Fire Starters. There are holy men of God, who will spark
the fires that touch the lives of every person in my kingdom one
way or another!"

This very same message was heard by a colleague of mine- Kevin
Brennan, editor of "The Voice" prophetic magazine in Queensland.
An elder said to him on the same day that we would see the
"Fire-bugs of the kingdom" come forward, and that this group he
was among were just such people.

Then in January 1996 I had a vision confirming this message: In a
vision the Lord said to me "Look at the house of Israel", and I
looked and saw a teeming multitude. He said "Many who you see in
the church are not in the house [of the Lord]. Yet I have my fire
starters in every land and province. Behold, I am about to
mobilise my church. I will light a fire under them." I looked
again at the multitude and saw some lashing themselves, I saw men
in chains, and others bound. Some were sitting on the ground
rocking back and forth. "See, in the church many are bound by
religion. They have been deceived and follow in the traditions of
men, they are ignorant of my Son, they ignore Him. See those who
have grown cold in captivity. They think they are free but they
are bound. They have been taken captive to Babylon in chains.
Some whip themselves with the Law, for they are under the Law,
and not under Grace". I could feel the Lord's heart, burning for
them, burning for the lost, and filled with love for His bride."

THE FIRE STARTERS

God is looking for a people He can use to start the fires
burning. The fires of repentance, the baptism of the Spirit, a
fire under the church! The fire starters will come in this aspect
of Christ's ministry, kindling a fire on the earth. It will bring
with it division, but not like church splits and doctrinal
division. It will be division over Christ himself, over the
living relating, powerful Jesus whom we are called to be intimate
with. Men and women of God, called and raised up in the anointing
of Jesus who will do the works He did, and more in His name. The
anointing of the fire starter, I believe is linked very much to
Christs own mandate, to:

- preach the good news to the poor (in spirit?)
- bind up the brokenhearted
- proclaim freedom for the captives
- release the prisoners from darkness
- proclaim the year of the Lord's favour
- provide for those who grieve in Zion
- bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes
- bestow the oil of gladness instead of mourning
- put on them a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
- rebuild the ancient ruins

THE MANDATE FOR FIRE STARTERS

From the two revelations I heard at the beginning of this year,
it is eveident that God shall soverignly raise up these
individuals. Many are in the organisation called the church, yet
are not in the house of the Lord. The fire starter will be used
of God to lead many to true faith in Christ, many who call
themselves by the name of Christ (Christians).

They will soon be used to set the church on fire! The Lord will
use his remnant to touch the lives of every inhabitant. The
revival fires will not be hidden, but will be evident to all. I
believe that the media will play a large part in spreading this
message. The fire starters will mobilise God's church by lighting
a fire under those who slumber. As Tozer lamented "Those who have
the light, are peacefully at rest, alseep in it!" God is not at
all happy with this situation, and will use his servants to light
the Lord's fires, which will stir the people out of their slumber
and onto the streets, into their given callings and ministries.

They will loose the people from thier bondage. The place which
was supposed to bring liberty, has brought bondage. A friend of
mine had a vision several years ago in which he saw a giant man
chained to the earth. A hand came and smashed the chains off, and
the man rose. His name was `lay man". It is true that the current
"Pastor/ flock" or "Minister/ laity" system has chained many. The
pastor does the work, the church pays him to do it. Because of
this, many have become captive to the a religious spirit.

The religious spirit looks for outward adherence to rules, not
inward relationship with the Lord. People look to performance
rather than relationship. Following religion is rather like
following other deities, which is explicitly spoken against in
Deuteronomy 6: "Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples
around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous
God and his anger will burn against you" (vs 14-15). God does not
look at outward appearance, but rather to the heart.

Many follow in the traditions of men. We brand one another with
labels, depicting which segment of the body of Christ we belong
to. Paul lamented fro some in the early church who followed after
Paul, or Apollos or others instead of following Christ alone.
Jesus also said "They worship me in vain; their teachings are but
rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and
are holding on to the traditions of men."(Mark 7:8). This is as
true in the traditional church as in Pentecostal/ Charismatic
ones.

It is also an unfortunate truth that many ignore God's Son, and
are ignorant of Him. This sadly happens when we serve a system
instead of the Lord Jesus. Many in the church are busy, but they
are running about like Martha's. Many of us are busy `about the
Lord's business' which is not ordained by Him at all. Christ said
"I do nothing except that which I see the Father doing. Likewise
we must not do anything except His mandated will.

Mary however, chose to listen to Jesus and not busy herself with
so called service. The Lord sternly rebuked martha saying:
"Martha, Martha... you are worried and upset about many things,
but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and
it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42). Intimacy
with Jesus is sadly neglected in the church- for those who chase
knowledge over relationship, and those who seek God's hand for
blessing rather than His heart for acceptance.

Many commentators have remarked that we live in a Laodicean age.
It is true that we live at a time when the church has
unparalleled prosperity. But the rebuke Christ gives the church
of our age is clear "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold
nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! For you say, 'I
am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.' You do not
realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I
counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can
become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your
shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can
see." (Rev 3:15-17)

CONCLUSION

The fire starters shall be found shooting flaming arrows into the
`establishment'! This will of course threaten to burn the work of
man down and bring people out to the city of God. People need to
come out of churchianity and into the kingdom! Chuchianity, with
all it's trappings, are in fact a kind of Babylon. Many in the
church are taken captive to Babylon by being wooed by worldliness
and wealth. Jesus said that for some the seed would grow in the
soil but the cares of the world rise up and choke it. This leads
to becoming captive in chains. When the cares of the world have
crowded out our prayer life and we have become enslaved to our
debts we are in danger of being captive to mammon. It is for this
reason Christ warned "You can not serve two masters".

God's fire starters will bring the bride of Christ back into what
she was called for- as described in the closing parts of verses 6
and 7... "and [then] you will be called priests of the LORD, you
will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth
of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of their
shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of
disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will
inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will
be theirs." We are coming to a time in history, when the church
will be shaken, and the establishment of man will be burned. God
is going to `test the work of man by fire' and only that which is
made of gold, and jewels will last. Many will come through this
period, but only as through the flames (1 Cor 3:13-15)
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-Source: http://www.storm-harvest.asn.au/