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The fastest-growing church in the world today has taken root in one of the most unexpected and radicalized nations on earth.

Muslim-background Iranians are leading a quiet but mass exodus out of Islam and bowing down their knees to the Jewish Messiah - with kindled affection toward the Jewish people.

The Iranian awakening is rapidly-reproducing discipleship movement that owns no property or buildings, has no central leadership, and is predominantly led by women.

This is their story.

"So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai." - THE BOOK OF ESTHER

The first thing is, in Iran, we know what country we are serving.

We are serving the Islamic Republic of Iran.

We know that if they get us, the first thing they will do

to us as a women is rape us and then they will beat us

and ultimately they will kill us.

This is the decision that we have made

that we want to offer our bodies as sacrifices.

because I have this thought when I wake up

that when I leave that door I might not come back.

I've talked to my husband and we made an agreement that

this is the decision of our lives

so if we leave that door and we don't come back

we accept that consequences of what happens.

By rejecting a deal, that prevents Iran from getting a nuclear weapon

and instead leaves Iran the option of

installing more and more advanced centrifuges, shrinking their breakout time

and that somehow is going to make

our neighbors more secure.

I think is kind of a...

Well, it doesn't make any sense.

Israel and Iran are staring each other down tonight across the expanse of Syria.

Long-simmering hostility flared to light last night as the Israelis blasted Iranians fighters in Syria

with their largest air strike since the 1973 war.

I think Iran is a threat, I think is a very big threat.

And, I think I did a great thing when I terminated the ridiculous Iran nuclear deal.

It seems that you called the Ayatollah Khamenei the new Hitler of the Middle East.

Absolutely.

The Lebanese Shia paramilitary group has evolved from a ragtag militia

to a military and political heavyweight.

It's part of the so called axis of resistance against Israel

referring to the alliance between Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran.

So there's still many questions about it.

Israel has retaliated for an attack on its troops, by targeting what it says

was Iran's military infrastructure inside Syria.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the air strikes were appropriate.

In his words, Iran crossed the red line with wednesday's missile attack on Israeli forces in the Golan Heights.

Israel warned that any further aggression will be met with overwhelming force.

GOLAN HEIGHTS

Right now we're in the Golan Heights, right where the borders of Syria, Lebanon and Israel meet.

And the border of Jordan is within eyesight.

This explosive and controversial plateau, I think, puts the issue of Iran

and its contemporary geopolitical context

into proper perspective in our generation.

Because for the last number of years Iran has been pumping money

and strategic weapons and fighters and infrastructure

from the Himalayas all the way to the Mediterranean, across the expanse of the Middle East.

While they've been fueling this massive movement of spreading Shia Islam all across the region,

another movement has been growing up under their noses within Iran's borders itself.

I believe what is happening in the church of Iran is going to become a measuring stick

for the global Body of Christ.

It's not something that we can from afar look on and admire.

It's going to be something that's required of us to participate in.

it's going to disrupt our lives.

It's an invitation from Jesus to say yes to more.

Because where we're headed, it's going to require more.

What we have now is not enough.

What we need is something that Iran right now is touching.

And it's our responsibility, as the global Body of Christ, to say yes to this invitation.

In the book of Revelation chapter 12 we get a picture, a description of what the end time church looks like.

She is bruised and bloodied, but she is also triumphant and victorious.

It says that the church at the end overcomes

by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony and by not loving their lives unto death.

Today the church in Iran is already walking in that.

And I believe that the Lord is going to take this issue of the testimony, the story, the witness of the church in Iran

and thrust it into the heart of the global Body of Christ

that we would follow in their footsteps and learn from them.

I believe the Lord is putting their message on blast for us in this hour to prepare us for the days ahead.

CHAPTER ONE
The Blood of the Lamb

INDONESIA

So this week we're here in Indonesia meeting with a group of leaders from the underground church in Iran.

Because of security inside the country,

they actually have to come outside of the country for more intensive training, gathering, equipping,

refreshing and fellowship.

Joel and I have been joining them for these gatherings for the last five years or so.

I can say with certainty that no other person or group of people have impacted me more than the Iranians have.

It's been a holy privilege to journey with them and it's been such an honor to

know them and to get to know them deeper.

We've met with the Iranian leaders in countries all over the world.

This year it's quite fitting there were doing it here,

Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world.

We can't take people inside of Iran to meet them

but we can take their stories out of Iran for people to hear them.

I think it's significant and profoundly meaningful

that we're learning and hearing about the fastest growing church in the world today

here in the largest Muslim nation in the world today.

For people outside of Iran,

you know, people hear lots of stories

about how the church is growing in Iran, etc.

Is it true?

In Iran?

Yes. It's true.

TEHRAN
IRAN

I'm sitting

on my balcony right now

it's

3 o'clock in the morning

in front of the lights of Tehran

just looking at the city lights

the skyline

figuring out what's going to happen in the next few days.

When I ask most westerners and I say you know

"What do you picture when you think Iranians"?

And the vast majority of people, you know, they say Ahmadinejad, the Mullahs, the Ayatollahs...

You know, I see all of these angry Muslims shaking their fist chanting death to America, death to Israel and this sort of thing.

And the reality is that in the country it's nothing like that.

Today Iran is home to the fastest growing church in the world.

It's almost entirely Muslim background.

They have no denominational leanings or affiliation.

They have no governmental recognition or legitimacy.

They have no bank accounts. They have no 501(c)(3)'s. They have no centralized leadership.

They have no Bible schools or seminaries.

They own no properties or church buildings and they possess no assets.

On top of that, while being Muslim background

they are by and large aggressively and passionately pro-Israel.

That is, they love the Jewish people.

And on top of that

it's predominantly led by women.

What if I told you that Islam is dead?

What if I told you that the mosques are empty inside of Iran?

Iran that is known as the most radical nation in the world,

exporting terrorism, exporting radical Islam.

But when you go inside of the country, the mosques are empty.

What if I told you that no one follows Islam inside of Iran?

Would you believe me?

But this is exactly what' happening inside of Iran.

God is moving powerfully inside of Iran.

The ruling class are the religious class

and many of them are religious because that's where the high paying jobs are.

But the majority of the people are just normal ordinary people.

They love God, but they realize, they recognize that Islam is the problem.

What if I told you that an evangelist for Jesus came inside Iran?

What if I told you that the best evangelist for Jesus was Imam Khomeini, the Ayatollahs.

You might be wondering "What do you mean?"

"How is that possible?"

Because, the Ayatollahs and Imam Khomeini

brought the true face of Islam

and when people in Iran saw the true face of Islam,

they found out it was a lie,

that it was evil, and that it was deception -

because after forty years under Islamic law

- a utopia according to them -

they've had

the worst devastation known in the history

in the 5,000 year history of Iran.

INDONESIA

God commanded us in Matthew

that we must go make disciples of the nations.

So this is my honor

that I'm executing His commands in Iran.

The form of church planting in Iran is

a very interesting topic because

in Iran for many years

we've seen persecution

and what persecution did was

destroy the church that weren't disciples

and destroy the church that were about converts.

So the seismic shift that's happened in the church of Iran is

when all these church planters found out that

converts run away from persecution;

but disciples would die for the Lord in persecution.

So the church planting method inside of Iran is

we don't convert to disciple;

we disciple to convert.

So we take them on a journey

from the beginning where God started

to Christ

where God

fully reveals Himself.

In Iran, we start a process

called "Disciple- Making Movements" (DMM)

to plant churches.

I love DMM.

It cuts off the hands of Satan.

Because in a stealth way

it starts to pull people toward salvation

the same way Jesus said

to be "wise as serpents but innocent as doves."

If we look in the life of Christ, He started discipling people immediately.

Just as the Lord discipled people from the first interaction

in the DMM process we disciple people from the first interaction around God.

So from the first interaction they learn how to

thank God, they learn how to

pray to God, they learn how to

minister to each other.

They learn how to read the Word.

And know about the authority of this Word.

They get messages in their vertical relationship with God.

They get horizontal messages in the relationship with people.

And they learn to evangelize all before they come to Christ.

I think we use the term discipleship

in a wonky and somewhat of a misguided way in the West.

Meaning, when we say discipleship typically what we mean in the western context is

I'm mentoring a believer to grow in Christ likeness and maturity

but that's not necessarily what discipleship is.

It's part of it for sure, but the thing is

discipleship starts day one.

Meaning, when you meet an unbeliever

who has never heard the name of Jesus before

and you start teaching him to obey the commands of Jesus,

whether he knows Jesus' name or not,

you are entering into discipleship with him right there in that moment.

This is the pillars of DMM, because

in the word "discipleship" is "discipline."

So we're disciplining them or

showing them how they must interact with God the same way

Christ disciplined and corrected the disciples when they weren't interacting with God correctly.

And this is why the gospel is spreading like a wildfire in Iran

is because they believe discipleship starts the first second you come in contact with somebody.

The disciple maker is someone who stewards the commands of Jesus

and presses the teachings of Jesus as the central issue in every situation.

This is why I think the church in Iran is so valuable

for the church globally right now at this historical juncture.

GOLAN HEIGHTS

One of the things that, hits my heart about the church in Iran

is the way in which I think the Lord is using the Iranian church to...

To speak to the church in the West.

We're here in an old bombed-out Syrian officers quarters that's been

repurposed as a cattle pasture and see them all around us, maybe you'll hear them.

And as, we kind of sit here it's...

It kind of hits me as being ironic.

It reminds me of Proverbs 14 forward says where there are no oxen

or there are no cattle, you know, the stable is clean

but with the oxen come the increase.

You need a oxen to get the work done to create,

you know, to have a harvest, but if you're going to have the ox then it's going to be messy.

To see the harvest, to really and truly see the harvest come, it's...

It's not going to be clean. It's not going to be tidy.

There's going to be a mess.

Oftentimes, it just doesn't come in the form that we think it'll come.

So I remember a few years ago when

Dalton, Anna and I were going to meet

all of the underground Iranian leaders for the first time and

beforehand, we had this sort of idea in our mind you know,

these guys are the special forces, they're the cutting edge, they're leading

the fastest growing church network in the world

and in one of the most difficult restricted nations in the earth

under intense persecution.

And then we met them.

ALI - the former hacker and meth cook; now ring-leader of the Iranian underground.

MUHAMMAD - the former drug runner; now amateur comedian, professional businessman, and a father of the Iranian church.

This is the glory of the Iranian church.

The power of God being displayed among the broken, the dejected and the depraved.

It's here in the brutality and the mess of human dysfunction that we see His wonder.

FATMA - the former atheist and failed suicidist; now prophetic evangelist overseeing hundreds of churches.

SHIRIN - the former Shia extremist; now apostolic church multiplier and disciple-making coach.

Jesus can use anyone, anyplace at anytime

and He is not afraid of the mess.

They were just the most beautiful, glowing, even if I could say it, goofballs you know

they're just fun, beautiful people.

We instantly fell in love with them.

What He's doing, this amazing things, is He's using regular everyday people just like you and me.

And this is where Dalton looked at me and he said, "It's just like sheep among wolves."

And he said that's the name of the film, it's going to be "Sheep Among Wolves."

When we do DMM

Jesus has gone faster than us.

He has come in their dreams

or He's come miraculously in their lives

When we hear this, we know that Jesus has gone ahead of us.

That's why in DMM the ultimate rule is

see one, do one, teach one.

That's what they've learned.

So even if they're unbelievers, how do they become leaders?

They're watching you. "Oh you want to see how to do it? Come with me on the street."

Even if they're unbelievers. "Watch how I talk."

Everything is foundational on prayer.

We start with prayer, we find people of peace through prayer.

We even find locations through prayer.

When we have prayed and found a person of peace

we start speaking to that person.

And that person is free to tell anyone in his social circle (about our conversation)

but usually they start with their family.

They can begin engaging their family

and if two others join them, we consider this

the beginning formation of a church.

This is all in the first week.

In that first week that we began the DMM process with them

when we first speak to them, find out their needs,

and share the first story with them,

we could have the formation of a church.

For us it's not important how many people it is

or how small it is.

And in the beginning it's not important to us

if we don't have a pastor overseeing, a teacher teaching

or an evangelist evangelizing.

From week one, the church that is forming

is under the power and reign of the Holy Spirit from the start.

It's so interesting to watch the process because

the people in this budding infantile church

don't even understand what's happening to them every week.

They don't realize that God has begun

discipling them from week one.

THE DEAD SEA

THE ANSWER FOR
EVERY QUESTION

A BALM FOR
EVERY WOUND

THE RISING SUN
ANOINTED ONE

FAITHFUL AND TRUE

If you look at the twelve

if we look at the tenets of Christianity, which is

Jesus is the Son of God

that He died on the cross

and He was resurrected three days later,

were the disciples technically believers?

They were not

And if we look in Matthew and in Luke with

with Jesus sending out the seventy,

those seventy were not believers

and here they are

exorcising demons, healing people and proclaiming the kingdom.

When we talk about church planting in the West

well, generally what we're talking about is a pastor or a teacher

starting a community that's built around the pastor and the teacher, who listen to him

give speeches for half an hour or an hour once a week.

And this is foreign to the Iranians.

This is foreign to the Afghan church.

Because the expression of church planting

in the Muslim world today is not planting churches, it's making disciples.

If we look at Jesus' model, technically,

He's letting unbelievers lead other unbelievers to Himself or the kingdom of God.

Jesus didn't command us to plant churches

He commanded us to make disciples.

You can try to plant a church and you might make disciples

but if you make disciples, you will plant churches.

If your method is really from God, it should work anytime, anywhere, with anyone

and it doesn't matter that you're an illiterate Afghan girl

or you're a doctor, you know in the capital of Tehran.

It should be as engaging to that doctor

and as simple to that Afghan girl.

So the implications of DMM is

we could actually finish the Great Commission in our generation.

HE'S THE WORD
OF GOD
INCARNATE

THE FATHER
REVEALED TO US

THE ONLY WAY
THE HIGHEST NAME

JESUS

THE NINEVEH PLAINS
EASTERN SIDE OF MOSUL, IRAQ

In 2014, ISIS blitzkrieg this entire region

and then established the capital of their caliphate just a few kilometers to the west of here,

just down there in Mosul.

During that initial push to the east ISIS was halted at the bottom of this mountain,

by the Peshmerga,

that's the Kurdish military forces.

The Kurds dug in and protected this Monastery and everything east of here,

between here and the Iranian border.

Then in October 2016 the Peshmerga began a campaign in which they effectively drove ISIS

out of The Nineveh Plains and liberated the entire area around Mosul.

We were here throughout that entire period providing emergency medical care during the fighting.

As that campaign was raging and ISIS was losing ground something very, very important happened.

The Iraqi Ministry of Defense made the decision to actually federalize

Iranian-backed Shia militias

incorporating them into the Iraqi Army.

The Iraqi Security Forces today are now over 90% Shia.

The majority of them are actually former members of this Iranian-backed militias.

In 2017 those militias drove the Peshmerga out of the Nineveh Plains

and took complete control of it.

Sadly they actually used American tanks and weapons to do so.

As the International Community sat idle and covered their eyes

Iranian forces overran the Kurds who stopped ISIS.

Iran has established an even more formidable foothold throughout the region,

It was a tragedy.

It was a travesty of epic proportions.

This is just one example of what is happening all over the Middle East.

Iran is sponsoring armed militias to fight the Sunnis and anyone else who gets in their way.

As a result they now essentially control five capitals,

they control Tehran,

they control Baghdad in Iraq,

they control Damascus in Syria,

they control Beirut in Lebanon,

they control the Sana'a in Yemen.

They are heavily influencing the region primarily through a growing proxy war

from the Himalayas all the way to the Mediterranean.

ULUWATU

When you're here in Indonesia there's a painful reality that just very quickly slaps you in the face.

This in so many ways is the ends of the earth,

yet this is the largest most populous Muslim nation in the world.

Indonesia is tremendously far removed from Arabia

and yet Islam the great counterfeit, has been wildly successful

in thoroughly evangelizing this nation.

The central issue that we're actually talking about

is this issue of obedience.

We're not talking about evangelism

or missions or church planting.

What we're actually talking about is this issue of obedience to The King.

And I think the enemy understands the power of obedience

which is why this great counterfeit of Islam was predicated,

was built upon the foundation of complete surrender and obedience.

And this is the heart of jihad, is to give everything that you have

is to give all of body, all of your blood, all of your energy,

all of your everything, all of your all

for your lord to whom you are a slave.

And the enemy is taken this issue of being a bond slave,

which is lodged in the heart of the Gospel,

and has taken that and built this entire demonic religion around obedience

to a false god and false religion.

And it's really a glaring, just example, of where we as the church in many ways have failed

to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, whereas the counterfeit has been wildly successful.

You know, we have a couple options here.

We can either hate the counterfeit and respond of a place of anger

and yet still be disobedient to our King,

thus we bring him no glory and you move the ball no further down the hill so to speak.

Or, we can love those who've been seduced by the counterfeit

and we ourselves can give of ourselves unreservedly to our Lord

who is the only way, the truth and the life.

I believe that this is the issue that we need to recover in these days, before the return of the Lord

and this is how the gospel of the Kingdom will spread

across cultures and nations and languages and people groups.

Is because of obedience to The One who is worthy of the adoration, worship and obedience of the nations.

One thing that's very powerful in DMM is that

it is an obedience-based discipleship

where the ultimate authority is the Scriptures

and every time you read the Scriptures, you must obey it.

This is how people become conformed to the image of Christ

and sanctified.

They're just not reading the Bible for information.

They're reading the Bible to get transformed

and their expectation of when they read the Bible is transformation.

And if transformation doesn't happen, they don't continue.

If you do not obey what you

were given that week and you do not share, you do not go forward.

The end result of DMM is this

is that one, you have the ability to stand alone;

two, it's highly reproducible;

and three, you're highly obedient to Christ.

Think about it

if a false gospel could spread this rapidly and multiply this aggressively,

than the gospel can too but with greater force.

Because the gospel far eclipses Islam's ability to replicate itself

in the hearts of his followers and believers,

because it's true.

I have a story of a girl that was raped since she can remember

and she reads Genesis chapter three, which is about the Fall

and forgiveness of the Father

and she said, "If God can forgive Adam and Eve after He's given them everything

and just loved on them

then I can forgive my father that raped me all my life".

When you let the Holy Spirit lead, and trust Him

that He will teach and preach and touch people in such

a magnificent way that when you hear

the stories, you just want to cry.

If you're not crying in your church because

the radical things the Holy Spirit is doing

then there is a problem.

Because people were so radicalized

by what the holy Spirit was doing

in the Book of Acts in the New Testament

that they gave up everything.

That's what's missing in the West.

The power of the Holy Spirit that comes so deeply,

intimately, and transformatively.

The simple thing that strikes me

as a difference between the church in Iran

and the church in the West, the church where I serve

is that we seem to believe that people can sit in a seat, in a congregation

for really, really long time

and maybe at some point in their life

they'll begin to follow the Lord in a striking, in a significant of a way,

that they might actually be and make disciples.

It could happen.

It's possible.

But when I compare that to the church in Iran it seems as though

in Iran a person

comes to know the Lord in immediately.

They're activated into

being and becoming and making disciples

to striking difference.

If you want to know one of the key ways I think that we need to flip the script

and learn from the church and Iran

it's the timing

or the time between coming know Jesus as Lord and Savior

and actually becoming a disciple maker.

CHAPTER TWO
The Word of Their Testimony

Every day I ask the Lord

what part of my testimony will help the person in front of me.

The Holy Spirit shows me what part of my testimony I need to share with a woman,

I tell that part of my testimony

and I wait on what the Holy Spirit wants me to do next.

I will talk about when I was raped

or how I was beaten

or how my father didn't love me

or my suicide attempts.

We're sitting in the room with all the leaders and I was sitting in the back

just looking at everyone

and one of the leaders leaned over to me and he said,

"You know, the thing that's so amazing about all the people in this room

is that just several years ago,

despite all that they're doing now,

everyone in this room was either a radical Muslim,

they were addicted to drugs,

suicidal,

or even in prostitution.

And when he said that I just choked up

I mean just the thought of it just gripped me.

But then I actually heard their personal stories, I heard their testimonies

and it absolutely broke me.

I love these people so much.

Hearing how unique and personal every one of their stories are is...

mind-blowing.

There's these common denominators across the board with all of them,

you know dreams, visions, miracles, healing, signs and wonders,

there's these common denominators.

But the thing that's unique is that in every single one of their lives

is this story of personal intervention

where the Lord interrupted their lives in a personal way that is

deeply connected to their own trauma, their own rape,

their own addictions, their own internal struggles,

their own family trauma,

it's, some of the stuff is brutal and horrific

but this is where Jesus

displaces Glory I think in the most beautiful way

it is amidst human brokenness.

And the thing that blows me away is that every single story

is so personal, so unique, so standalone.

And I think this testifies to the glory of God

that he's deeply personal

and he's after each human being

and he's after each individual heart.

And this, to me is one of the most powerful elements of this whole

story of the Iranian awakening.

Her story is so powerful because

she had the marking from the rope (around her neck)

when Jesus opened her noose. So I don't know how we can talk about it.

Maybe we can talk about it.

I was 19 years old

and I was very depressed.

I was in the care of one of the most famous doctors in Iran.

Nothing he gave me worked.

I lived in my room by myself for four years.

I only left the room for cigarettes or something I needed

One day I left my house and made a new friend.

I didn't know him, but we became friends.

One day he asked me why I was like this, depressed.

So I explained my life to him.

Then he smiled at me.

He said, "Just that?"

He said, "My life is much worse than yours."

Then I said to him, "Well how are you like this?"

He said, "Do you really want to know?" I said, "Yes."

He said, "Tomorrow come to my store."

The next day I went to his store.

And he witnessed to me.

He said, "Anything you need is in this." And he gave me the Word of God.

I went home and wrestled with what I heard.

My house was very old.

The stones on the floor were loose and make sounds when they move.

Every time you walk, they make noise.

As I began to pray, "If you're real, prove Yourself"

Someone walked in front of me on four of the stones.

And the room filled with something so thick I couldn't breathe.

Immediately after that I ran to my friend's store.

He said, " This is very normal."

"This is just the beginning. You're going to see much more than this."

And he witnessed to me in a complete way.

He said, "Do you want to receive this God that you just experienced?"

I was so excited to say yes.

And I gave my heart to Christ.

AND I'M HOLDING ON

TO THE CORNER OF YOUR ROBE

'CAUSE THERE'S A POWER THERE

BEFORE THE GARDENER'S THRONE

One of the things that I think surprises a lot of people when they first meet a lot of the leaders

in the underground church, is that the majority of them are actually women.

It's just overwhelming

when you see the number of women, young women.

Oftentimes even teenage women who are at the heads of significant disciple making movements.

Women who are willing to lay their lives down.

Women who have looked their husbands in the eyes

and said,"This message, this fire that I carry in my bones"

"is so significant that if it cost me my life"

"if it cost me my body..."

I AM NOT AFRAID

I AM NOT AFRAID

In Iran, women play one of the most critical roles in DMM.

In DMM it doesn't matter if you're male of female, old or young.

Any person at any age can do DMM.

This is one of the big problems in the past

when we did church planting by other methods.

People wouldn't accept a women as leader.

But in DMM we start by being their friends.

We see their problems

We pray

and God tells us what to say to that person.

Men ans women in Iran love this personality that is

very interested in understanding their personal lives.

And you can very easily tell your experience as a women, even to a man.

You can five testimony of your life to that man.

And even tell him how you were changed

and how God did this

How through these stories God came into my life

and how the God of these stories

changed my life.

This is how we start the relationship.

And this is how easy it is to speak as a woman.

And after a while

very easily

you can go deep with their families and their lives.

And because DMM is relational and not positional,

you just become their best friend.

THERE'S A BEAUTY IN OUR PAIN

EVERY NIGHT IS A BREAKING DAY

WE ARE COLOURED JARS OF CLAY

SO CARRY ON

When you think about the difference between the God of the Bible

and the god of the Quran...

The god of Islam, he is not personal.

He is great, he is big, he is almighty, but he is a distant.

He is not

not the god that gives you a hug, so to speak.

So when you hear these stories what they emanate

is how personal

this God was who was encountering them

so much so that not only does it break you because you hear their stories,

but it breaks you because you see in their stories

you see even Jesus' heart for you.

One of the significant truths that

the realities that exist in Iran, is that when you're...

When you're caught, you know carrying this Christian message

you can not only lose your life, but you can be raped.

And...

For a woman to say that this message is so important, this message is so significant

that I'm willing to look at my life in light of eternity

and recognize that Jesus has bought me at a great price

my body is not my own.

And if the cost that I have to pay

the price that I have to pay to see the gospel go forth in my nation

is the laying down of my body...

I grew up in a military family.

My parents were in the army of the King, the Shah.

When my father retired

he went into business with a man who became his partner.

And he brought his friend to our house.

When I was five years old the man raped me.

He did this for many years. And I was afraid to tell my father.

When my mother found out, she told my father.

He started beating me from that day forward.

My father didn't stop his business with the man.

In fact, he invited him more to our home.

From that time on I hated men, I hated men's faces, and I hated men's bodies.

In that moment when he beat me, my relationship with my father broke.

He was supposed to provide shelter for me and provided no shelter.

I learned from my mother, who was an atheist, that God does not exist.

She had trained me so well in atheism

that I would prove my Quran teachers wrong at my Quran classes.

In those days my depression became active and deeper.

I took twelve pills a day for my depression.

For two years I couldn't cry or laugh

because I was so high on there psycho-active drugs.

I tried - without success - to kill myself five times with pills.

All the houses in the south of Iran have hooks on the ceiling for hanging fans.

So I decided to kill myself with a rope.

GETHSEMANE
JERUSALEM

I ate all my pills. And I knew the pills would make me numb.

But before I hung myself I said this to God:

If You actually exist, I want to physically touch You.

I put the rope around my neck and I jumped.

Everything went black and I didn't understand what was happpening.

And for four seconds, I saw Jesus.

I saw that I am on His shoulders

like a child that loves his father.

And I always wanted to do this with my father.

SO WIPE THE TEARS
AWAY FROM YOUR EYES

AND DRIVE THE FEAR
AWAY FROM YOUR MIND

YOU HAVE NO IDEIA
HOW SAFE YOU REALLY ARE

BELIEVE ME
WHEN I SAY ITS TRUE

I AM COMING
BACK FOR YOU

BABY IF YOU ONLY KNEW

HOW SOON

I said to Him, "Please don't put me on the ground."

And Jesus said, "I promise I will always protect you."

He said, "I won"t even let a rock strike your foot,"

and repeated all of Psalm 91 to me.

I thought it was all only four seconds but when I came to I was laid down on my bed.

When I stood up I saw that my noose was open on the floor.

And my neck was all black.

After two years of not being able to cry, I cried for hours.

I knew that God was healing me right now through me crying.

And everything in my past was finished.

In that moment I knew who God was and that it was Christ.

I stopped taking my pills that day

and I slept like a baby at night.

TRUST THE FATHER

AND TRUST IN ME

AND ON HIS LAND

WE'LL BUILD OUR MANSION

THAT WHERE I AM YOU

WILL ALSO BE

WHERE I AM YOU

WILL ALSO BE

When I buried my father, that man that raped me came to the funeral.

He was looking for me and he found me in the crowd.

I tried to hide from him

because I was afraid to see him.

But the Holy Spirit said, "Don't be afraid. I told him to come."

"I want you to see him and forgive him."

And immediately my heart was healed.

Did you get your answer?

IRAQ-IRAN BORDER

This week we are on the Iraq Iran border

cross training Iranian and international leaders

to learn from each other and to encourage one another.

A big part of what we're looking at is this issue of

structure and methodology

associated with decentralized leadership.

Also the powerful role of women in disciple making movements.

So I love so many of these church planting movements that are rising up

I mean, they're doing amazing things, planting churches

in cities all across the West that we would never expect.

But when it comes to places like Syria,

Tehran, Iran, Afghanistan

these traditional ecclesiological models, they don't often work

and we need to be creative

we need to be flexible

the Gospel doesn't change, the message doesn't change, the goal doesn't change

but if we can make followers of Jesus, if we can make disciples

we will use any method and any model necessary.

We need to return to the ancient paths and to recover apostolic leadership literacies.

Iran is one of the only countries in the Middle East

that's actually led by women.

The percentage of women is 55% to 45%.

in leadership and in believers

and I think

God is saying something.

There's a feminist movement in the West right now.

A lot of it is revolving around sexual abuse.

It's a good thing that it's being exposed and coming into the light.

A lot of it's also revolved around women's rights

equal pay, these types of things.

I've lived in an area on the earth where

women's rights...

It's not even a real thing.

What's fascinating about what's happening in Iran right now is that the most powerful leaders are women.

But it's not in a bombastic humanistic way of

I am just as good, I am just as strong

in fact, they are the most gentle women.

I see in contrast to what's emerging in the West

there's so much humanism that

true freedom and Liberation can't come.

There's a fence in bitterness

that's really wiring and fueling this movement in the West.

Whereas here, it's grace, forgiveness

mercy and thankfulness.

SURELY

GOODNESS AND MERCY

FOLLOW ME

FOREVER

One of the things that's problematic in the West

the West doesn't understand man and woman

is a complete picture of God.

and you can't make one more significant or

more important

it's like wich one is more important?

Is Jesus more important than God (the Father)?

Or is the Holy Spirit more important that God (the Father)?

When you look at the Triune, it's a complete picture of God

and when you look at man and woman it's a complete picture of God

And this is something that's happening in Iran

women are rising up, apostolic women,

prophetic women, teaching women.

The believing women in Iran are actually

some of the most powerful leaders probably

in the world.

Because of the circumstances again, in which they live

they....

They have to go deep in their faith

they have to be bold.

They have to be strong.

Not in strength on their own but they have to lean into the strength of God.

You know, God says "I have enough strength, it's your weakness I need"

and I believe that they've given Him their weakness and they are leaning into His strength.

They are leading this movement inside of the country

they are going out on the in the highways and byways and sharing

Jesus with

prostitutes, with drug addicts with...

Everybody they come in contact with and that honestly takes courage

and so they are courageous women.

In Iran, women in the church are free to speak their mind.

In Iran, women don't have to ask permission to do ministry.

Because so many women in Iran have gone through so many hardships and pain

it's made them very strong inside.

You know, I come from the West

and I come from where life is easy.

We live for our own

pleasure, we live for our own comfort, we live for our own safety

basically, we live for ourselves.

And these ladies...

Live for Jesus.

Meeting these ladies changed me.

And when I see all of these

young and old women

who are leading one of the most powerful

resistance movements in the earth

it's a Godly resistance movement against the oppression of Satan.

They're my heroes.

WHO AM I
TO LEAD MYSELF

WHEN I COME TO KNOW
YOU'RE ALREADY LEADING ME

WHO AM I
TO LEAD MYSELF

WHO AM I
TO LEAD MYSELF

WHEN I COME TO KNOW
YOU'RE ALREADY LEADING ME

WHO AM I
TO LEAD MYSELF

A lot of Iranian women have a lot of emotional, physical, and mental problems.

From being poor, from being raped, from being beaten.

When they become believers, God makes them very strong.

Because of this, they run hard.

Especially women who are addicts.

Because of their former pain, they run hardest.

Immediately they become leaders.

The area of the Earth where women are feeling the most oppression

you get the most authority

you get the most influence, you get the most fruit.

And even when we have versus like Second Timothy

women are still in submission to their husbands

just like Jesus was still submitted to the Father

but He still was God.

He still moved, He still was able to minister.

We didn't say, "You know what?"

"Because You're somewhat 'second in command,' You cannot."

And the same is happening inside of Iran.

On one hand they understand the order of the church, you know

they're you know in a very biblical way

they're submissive to proper structure and order.

But when it comes to what Satan's doing

they are fierce

they are fierce, you know, these are not like modern

you know, just angry liberal women that are just upset about, no

there's a gentleness and a submissiveness that's beautiful

and it follows the biblical pattern, but when it comes what Satan's doing

no way, they won't have any of it.

In DMM, a bad person can be a good leader.

It could be a woman who killed her husband, or sells drugs, or is a prostitute.

We have a lot of women like this in Iran.

This is why there is an awakening inside of Iran.

I'm learning through DMM that everything has a reason.

If the women in Iran have this pain

it is because God has a plan for women in Iran to lead

and to move DMM forward in Iran.

Amen.

YOU WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE

I WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO

INDONESIA

I'm a PK, or a pastor's kid.

I've been in and around the church my whole life.

I have a lot of affection for the body of Christ all around the world

so many awesome experiences and great leadership.

But if I'm honest I do see some coming shifts

in the way that we as leaders begin to operate particularly in the body of Christ.

One of the things that I've learned from the leaders in the church in Iran

when they see a 19 year old, or a 20 year old, 21 year old

begin to come to Faith, begin to to get passionate about the ministry of the Gospel

when they see that person they're visualizing that in a year's time

that person could be leading a church.

That's revolutionary in the way we think.

Traditionally if someone's passionate about ministry, maybe they go to some years of training

they serve for 10 years in a row and then maybe at some point

20, 30 years down the road, they would lead an expression

of Gospel Ministry somewhere.

I think what's exciting is where we see the church multiplying so rapidly

we see this different kind of philosophy and perspective where

instead of trying to continue to build up the center of what we're doing

they're actually beginning to see people as leaders and empower and release them to go run

and build themselves.

Where we're actually saying to people, "God has put a passion in you? Just run."

"And go for it."

And I think that's one of the keys I see where the church is multiplying rapidly

is that heart and that sentiment to say

"I see the work of the Lord in your life, I see the anointing on your life."

"Go for it."

I have a challenge for the West, and this is my challenge:

What's your discipleship program

for a person like Samson if they came to your church?

Would you make them a leader?

Samson wasn't just a leader; he was a hero of faith.

But I know many churches would say, "You have character issues,"

"You have anger issues. You have lust issues."

"Fix that first, and then I'll put you in leadership."

But in DMM, we don't look at the outside, we're looking at the inside

wich means we're looking at the hand of God.

And in DMM you see the hand of God on people.

This is why we have people like Samson and they're leading hundreds

even thousands of people to Christ.

This is why we have prostitutes

who are leading hundreds of other prostitutes to Christ

because Jesus knows what He's doing.

When we give people that kind of permission

I think that's where we begin to see the fruit

begin to be born so rapidly.

But here's the other thing, we have to be willing to go through the mess that producing creates.

A graveyard has perfect order

but in nurseries there's life.

The people that Jesus chose, I know for us it would be very hard to choose them

because we're looking at the outside

but the thing is, we need to look where God's hand is

and DMM is all about the Holy Spirit and who He has chosen.

So when we look at a Muslim context in terms of

you know, envisioning the advance of the Gospel in the Middle East

the hardware, if we can use the the computer analogy

the hardware that we have right now in the West

can't run the software of the Gospel in the Middle East.

In fact, I don't even think it can run in the U.S., I don't even think it can run in Europe, but

we're still perpetuating this model

we're still selling the hardware.

Even though we haven't quite realized in the West that

our software doesn't run on it.

You know, I think you come to a place like this

you know, a mosque in the midst of the Muslim world

and you start asking these questions, "How could the gospel take root here?"

"How could we see a multiplication movement start here?"

Where we can see leaders released now

at the very beginning, not five years into the thing.

So there's this shift that we would begin to go

you know, I'm not afraid of things being a little disorderly.

I'm not afraid of how people might perceive me or my ministry

I'd rather have life

I'd rather have new babies around the house

I'd rather see people learn and grow by making mistakes early

so that they can lead boldly and powerfully.

Are people building churches, and there are lots of churches

and people joining churches in Iran?

Or what does it look like?

No.

They are destroying all the church buildings inside of Iran

And they are closing them all.

Is there is church, it is all underground.

SAINT PAUL'S CHURCH

Saint Paul's Church is the oldest church structure in southeast Asia.

Though the structure of the building remains standing, the Gospel itself never took root.

Today it is a tourist attraction for Muslims in a Muslim-majority nation.

You know, the message is always been the same

the gospel message hasn't changed.

I think the methodologies overtime have to because

there's always change on the earth.

And so we are standing in this

this church today, which is now a tourist attraction

because at some point it became irrelevant.

You know, and so I think we just need to evaluate how we're reaching people

and we can't fall in love with the method, we have to stay in love with Jesus

and then we have to do, we have to figure out how to connect with people.

Because people want to, it's a connection with people, it's a relationship.

It's not a system, or a methodology, we just can't fall in love with methods or practices.

It's about the person of Jesus coming

giving His life.

And this person knowing that there's a need inside of them

and He's the one that fulfills the need.

But sometimes these structures have created

places that actually make it harder

even though the the intent was not that in the beginning

and perhaps it was even something that was fruitful at the time.

But there's seasons for everything.

So I think we continually have to evaluate how we're reaching people.

I remember having a conversation with one of the leaders in the church in Iran

and I was asking them, you know, what is the secret to

to the power dimension that's flowing through the body there

the signs, the wonders, the supernatural things that they're seeing

you know on a daily basis.

And his answer was

not what I expected but really insightful

and he talked about how the body, he used the living stones passage

where we're living stones being fit together.

And it's those living stones that become the habitation

of Jesus in the earth.

And you know, he was saying how they do

they go on a retreat and they'll be 80 people sharing two bedrooms

And so all this Collision happens.

And the cool thing is they don't have anywhere else to go, so instead of like breaking off and

starting another church, they stay together and endure

the positioning of their lives

these living stones and they're fitted into an actual

spiritual and physical structure,

a collection of human beings

that now become the habitation of Jesus in their region.

You know, if we did a case study on all of the places that the Gospel is advancing right now in the Middle East

and we do a study of the kind of leadership structures that have been implemented at the foundational ground level

What we see is is that the leadership is decentralized

and it's distributed.

Meaning it's not based around a particular model, is not based around a particular

individual or skill set or gifting it's built around

in Ephesians 4 framework of empowering everyone in the body

to be all things to all men

with the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit being manifest through all of us.

Now, when Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus he said guys look

the same grace that was given to me, to be an apostle

is the same grace that has been given to each of you, to all of us.

Which means if the same Grace that was available to make Paul an apostle

if that same Grace is available for the entire body of Christ,

that means that the entire body of Christ should have

the Yoke of leadership upon them for disciple-making,

for the apostolic, for the prophetic, for the evangelistic, for the pastoral and for the teaching.

But if we reduce the church to pastoral and teaching ministry

and we sever the rest of it

and we just try to throw evangelism in or throw the prophetic in or throw the apostolic in,

it's going to undermine

the church's ability to actually be Church.

The paradigm shift when it comes to structures and even as we stand in this ancient churches

the realization that Jesus isn't looking to inhabit buildings.

We've had buildings.

And obviously, as we look out on the nations and as we're standing in an old structure

It hasn't worked.

And so if we can begin to perceive the people

as the stones, the living stones.

The people as the structure that's gonna bring the habitation of Jesus in our midst

if we can believe that and buy into that,

then we can commit to cultivating and developing

human structures of people, discipleship making movements

where we're bringing people together

understanding that is actually the pathway that brings the glory in the presence of Jesus.

The software of the Gospel will not run on the hardware

of western church in the Middle East.

We need to have different hardware to run the software and until that happens,

we are going to be unable to see the Gospel advance

and take root in an indigenous, autonomous way in the Muslim world.

CHAPTER THREE
They Loved Not Their Lives Unto Death

JUDEAN WILDERNESS
OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM

The most mind-blowing aspects of the church in Iran in particular

is that, central to their their theology

the Redemptive Theology and their understanding not only of

who Jesus is, what he came to do, but what He will return to do.

Is a Covenantal Theology that has Israel at the center.

I mean, think about that.

I love the way the Lord loves to just flip the script.

You know in the natural when you ask most people, "What is the greatest existential threat to Israel?"

And everyone's going to say Iran, and that's true.

In terms of the potential ability to literally wipe Israel out its Iran.

But behind the scenes in terms of what's behind the curtains, what is God doing?

The fact of the matter is right now God is raising up in Iran

one of the greatest fastest-growing movements

of former Muslims that are falling in love with not only the God of Israel,

not only Israel's King, not only Israel's Messiah, but they're actually falling in love with

the Jewish people, and as a result of this

you have a prayer movement, in Iran

that is crying out for and praying for the salvation of Israel.

I mean, this is something only God can do that.

Iran and Israel or the Persians and the Jews,

have a very long history.

THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING

When you think about the political realities in the news

you see Israel and Iran as being arch enemies.

But you have this church that's growing in the underground in Iran, explosively

and at the core, the center of their theology is Jesus on the throne.

Not just Jesus on a heavenly throne, but Jesus literally returning

to this city,

to return to Jerusalem to sit on a throne.

And holding that at the core of their theology

think about how provocative that is.

If the fastest growing church in the world today is growing in the heart of the Muslim World, in Iran

beloved I have believed that we're on the cusp of something very profound and very dramatic

in the Middle East but globally as well, and this is going to have implications here in Israel.

We need to understand that dark, dark days are coming for the Jewish people,

for the state of Israel, for the land of Israel.

And that there is a mounting conflict and a mounting crisis that's going to culminate in

the humbling and the crushing and the breaking

of the strengths of this beloved people, that the Lord loves so much.

In order for the church to be mature in the generation of the Lord's return

we need to be full of mature, fervent, tested love for the Jewish people

that can endure the fires and the tribulation that's mounting on the horizon.

I love getting western believers together

with the underground believers, because

you know in the West we have wonderful theology of victory

we have theology of prosperity and all of these things,

we have good theology of healing and I love all of those things.

However, often times we are really weak

when it comes to a proper biblical theology of suffering

and we're definitely weak when it comes to a proper biblical theology of martyrdom.

And this is why I think that we in the West too

are bought in to standing with Israel

or those who are antagonistic to it need to hear the witness of the church in Iran

because they're not saying that we should stand with them just on some political level.

In terms of spectrum I think that's the weakest and most shallow expression of solidarity

acknowledging the legitimacy of Jewish presence and Jewish state in the Middle East

it's actually standing with them in future suffering

when persecution breaks out during the future time of Jacob's trouble

and we enter into that season with them shoulder-to-shoulder.

And the church in the Middle East desperately needs this.

You look at the early church, they believed in martyrdom

they believe that martyrdom was actually the greatest success.

If you were if you were martyred for the faith, this was the greatest example of bearing witness

of bearing witness to who Jesus is, why?

Because it communicates something very powerfully.

It says that I believe in the resurrection of the dead

and because of what Jesus did for me, I will be raised up.

That's the Gospel, that is the summation of the Gospel.

And it's demonstrated.

You can't demonstrate it any more powerfully

than laying down, the one life that we have

laying it down saying, "He's going to raise me up on that day."

We're here in Luxembourg meeting with

our FAI family as well as the Maranatha family.

We've been meeting in several different cities here in Europe

with some representatives and leadership from the church of Iran.

One of the reasons we've come together is because we really want to look at what's happening in Iran

and we want to learn from it.

We're not just wanting to learn from their success in their ministry

so that we can grow in success in our own ministry

but we're wanting to learn from the vibrant relationship

with the Lord that the individuals have.

NEUMÜNSTER ABBEY
LUXEMBOURG

The most impactful thing that

he shared with me was a story about

his wife actually, something that his wife said that has really stuck in my head.

He talked about how years ago they

had an opportunity to move to the United States

and live there, so they did.

And then after being in the United States for a short period of time

his wife began to plead with him to take her back to Iran

which he felt like was crazy.

I mean who wants to move back to Iran under all sorts of

oppression, where the sharing of your faith could

bring the end of your life or brutal incarceration or rape or all sorts of horrible things.

Who wants to do that?

I mean who wants to move from the United States to Iran?

She told him

there is a satanic lullaby here

and all the Christians are sleepy and I'm feeling sleepy.

And that, that little story...

Disturbed me because this woman was discerning a threat

to her faith that was a greater threat than

the kind of persecution that happens in Iran.

And that threat was spiritual sleepiness.

That is a more dangerous situation than persecution

and had to ask myself the question, "Is that true? Is that true?"

BRUSSELS
BELGIUM

It's impossible to come to Europe and not be confronted with this reality

of dead religion.

As we've been bouncing around from city to city across this incredible continent

and pondering, and wrestling with what the Lord is doing in Iran

I can't help but feel that the Lord wants to confront the dead religion in our lives

and He wants to do it through the church in Iran.

Now historically when the Lord confronts the spirit of religion

What He does is he takes insignificant women and he puts them in the middle of the room

and He allows them to express themselves and their affection

and their love and their allegiance to Him.

And He allows the confrontation, the collision of that thing to take place.

I really believe the church and Iran is like a corporate Mary of Bethany that is

confronting all of the opposition in our own Hearts to giving everything that we have for the Lord.

CLAIREFONTAINE
BELGIUM

Actually, persecution keeps you clean

in the sense that, when you're in that persecuted state,

you're constantly

leaning into God.

You're constantly running to Him as your refuge.

When I look at the witness of Scripture

and I look at the witness of Christian history,

what I see

is that whenever ease and affluence and power

is given to the church it seems to disease.

And it does all kinds of damage.

Not only is it introduced the kind of motivational corruption

that just diseases the church,

but it just seems to produce lethargy

and indifference

It's through this pressure

hardship and suffering

that people are coming to Jesus.

I'd rather have them suffer and

and be under pressure and

be under and authoritative dictatorship

and millions come to Jesus

and maybe even the whole country can come to Jesus

than freedom

openness and democracy

and half those people come to Jesus.

What's in front of persecuted Christians frequently

is

what the Gospel is all about.

And what's in front of affluent Christians in a free society

is not only that but a whole range of options for life

and for time and for use of money.

And that is a dangerous thing.

In Revelation, the only church

that was not critiqued by Jesus

was the first church [Smyrna].

And the first church,

is the only church

that was truly under suffering and persecution

the whole time.

I'd rather see millions of people come to Jesus

than have freedom.

I'd rather see millions of people come to Jesus than

democracy.

We're playing for eternity here, this is not

something temporal like, "OK the're free to

not wear head scarf, they're free

to choose theirs elected officials."

If freedom was such a great thing for

the Kingdom

then why is America and Europe in the state that is now?

What's happening in Iran right now is they're experiencing God as being

all sufficient in His ability to deliver people.

Not necessarily out of their circumstances

but in their soul find the deliverance

and life that goes far beyond having a nice life here on this earth,

but a hope for something that lasts for eternity.

And to me, that's the difference.

The church in the West is living for, "How can we make this life the best possible life?"

And the church in Iran is saying, "Forget this life, I'm living for the next one."

We can learn so much from the people in persecution like our Iranians brothers and sisters.

How they are doing? They have to do it, they have to do it, and it works.

It is decentralized

it is a movement of brothers and sisters without big leadership.

They are led by the Holy Spirit

and they trust each other.

Living relationship living unity

and it works, people are coming hundreds, thousands are coming to follow the Lord.

And if it works in places of persecution

why don't we learn from them?

Why don't we start doing it here before the persecution for us is coming?

Why don't we start now being trained in to do it the same way?

So the harvest is big and if we see that it works there why shouldn't it work here?

Let's start doing the same thing.

Not what the Iranians do, let's do

what Jesus did, He called them to the table.

The Iranians do what Jesus did.

Let's do what Jesus did and learn from the Iranian people how to do it.

For her, lethargy and indifference was a greater threat than persecution.

And it is.

It simply is.

LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT

WITH A DOG IN THE FIGHT

TOOK THE WORLD BY SURPRISE

YOU WOKE THE WOODS FROM ASLEEP

BLEW THE WIND THROUGH THE TREES

SHOOK THE DUST FROM THE LEAVES

EVERYTHING THIS IS GONNA CHANGE EVERYTHING

THIS IS GONNA CHANGE EVERYTHING

ALL THE REDS TURN TO BLUES

ALL THE OLD TURNS TO NEW

If we're confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord

we should not only begin to be like Him,

but it should change everything about our lives.

And when you're with these women

you can see, they've been with Him.

They're just fiery and fruitful, and

I couldn't honestly say that right now

In the environments I've been in that would be true.

I'm believing, we're praying, we're hoping

that that will be true.

I believe the Lord wants to deal with decisive blow to dead religion

in us and around us.

I believe that the church in Iran is the instrument that He wants to use in our generation

to catalyze this globally.

THE ONE WHO STAYS IN MY LOVE
WHO TAKES HIS LIFE AND GIVES IT UP

HE IS THE ONE
WHO HAS ENOUGH

HE HAS EVERYTHING

I really do believe that meeting Jesus should change everything in our lives.

And if it's not, then I don't know if we know Him.

EVERYTHING THIS IS GONNA CHANGE EVERYTHING

THIS IS GONNA CHANGE EVERYTHING

THIS IS GONNA CHANGE EVERYTHING

I think if we were to try to characterize the days that we're living in, we're living in days of

radical decentralization and the distribution of everything that possibly can be distributed.

You know back in the day information was controlled.

You know leadership, government, military, economy

everything was very controlled and centralized, and today everything's being decentralized.

The center of everything is disappearing and going away and everything is being distributed.

BASTOGNE
BELGIUM

It's empower the average person to have access to information

in a way that has never been available in human history.

So in a lot of ways dictators,

they can try but they really can't hold on to power the way they used to be able to.

Dictators may be able to hold on to power with, you know, an iron fist

but they don't have the hearts of the people anymore

they can't control the hearts of the people.

We look at dictators and we say, "Yeah amen."

But the fact is, it's the same thing in the church.

The church structures in the West for a very long time have been very

centralized and very non distributed.

There have been historically, If we're honest, there have been dictators in the body of Christ

and their time is gone, their hour is over.

And the Gospel, it belongs to everyone.

It's a pyramid structure of a few people leading the many

and what we see in an age of distribution is that we see the many

distributing leadership among themselves very broadly,

and I believe that's at the heart of Maranatha.

Maranatha is a decentralized fellowship of disciple-makers

and churches globally that are operating within this

this context of decentralization and distribution of leadership.

I believe in this final hour we're stepping into a period

when we will all share resources because we have a common goal.

It's no longer about this ministry has this kingdom

and this preacher has his particular platform.

If we don't lay down our ministries, lay down our platforms

for the common cause of the completion of the Great Commission

then in my opinion, we're going to be swept to the side really just within a few years.

Maranatha is an Aramaic word that's actually a play on words

and depending on how you pronounce it, it means either

"The Lord has come", in the past

or "Lord come" or "the Lord is coming", in the future.

And this message of Maranatha, I believe what Paul is using it as is a way to centralize

the message and the thought life

and the feelings, the emotions, the hope of the early church

around a centralized message while decentralizing

and distributing leadership of the of the heralding

and proclaiming of that message throughout the known world.

Maranatha means to me...

We all know the story of Zacchaeus sitting on this tree

this small guy no one taking care for.

But Jesus came and He saw him, He saw him

and said, "Come down."

"I have a little booklet for you, read it."

"At the end of the booklet there's a prayer, if you pray it you will go to heaven."

"And I invite you for next shabbat to come into the synagogue."

"I have a nice message, it will change your life."

No, He didn't.

He said, "Come down, I have to eat with you."

"I have to have dinner with you."

"I have to eat at your table, I want to sit at your table."

He visited him in his house and they had community

and Zacchaeus was changed.

I saw a message from a group of Iranian believers

were essentially they were bringing blessing and greetings

for a group of us who gathered to

align ourselves around the purposes of God and to celebrate

this incredible watchword, this cry

this prayer, this reality called Maranatha.

I seen this group of Iranian believers who are

using the same word, they're saying to us, "Maranatha, come Lord."

What hit me in the moment was that these guys really believed it.

If it's possible to sense something more than just what you can hear in your ears

with you know, your spiritual ears, what I was hearing was

this Maranatha cry where they were literally asking the Lord to come now.

In the early church that was predominantly Jewish you would greet each other and say, "Shalom, Shalom."

But as the church became more and more gentile, Shalom didn't work as an appropriate greeting anymore

because how would a gentile and a Jew greet each other?

And so Maranatha became adopted as the way of expressing

your unity and the identification as believers in this Global Fellowship.

I believe this is at the heart of what the Maranatha family is today.

It's connecting believers all around the world together in a spirit of fellowship

and a spirit of loyalty and affection and love

that we would be knit and joined together for the growing up

and the maturity of the church before the return of the Lord.

And there's some movement coming of these little ones, that no one takes care for

and the Lord is telling them, "Come to the table."

"I want to sit at your table."

And they are inviting others on their table and they will be changed, they will be moved.

The big religion organizations, one day they will realize that there's a movement

they know nothing about it.

They know nothing about it because it's decentralized

it is a movement of the little ones.

I am a little one and I want to go with this little ones.

In the world there are many Zacchaeuses waiting at the back of the crowd to see Christ

But praise the Lord that our God was denied ans a "stone rejected."

In DMM all the stones that have been rejected and denied have a place.

I've rejected people because of the way they look.

But the Lord corrected my wrong judgment

and the person I don't think that God could ever use

is the one who is an apostle for Christ.

This is the power of the Holy Spirit.

And this is Maranatha.

Praise the Lord.

When Paul said Maranatha what he's saying is this

"The basis of our unity as believers doesn't have to be an a thousand-point theological doctrinal statement."

"Do you guys in Corinth believe that he came once for sin?"

They would say, "Yes."

"Do you believe coming again for judgment and to restore all things?"

They would say, "Yes."

And he would say, "Then we're brothers, Maranatha."

and they would say, "Maranatha" back.

The part of their Maranatha cry is even if you wait, even if you tarry

I'll lay my life down, I'll give whatever it takes because I know you're going to pick it back up.

If we would embrace this eternal perspective

what might we do?

I think the modern church, we've got the Hallelujah down

but I think we've forgotten the Maranatha cry of the early church.

We've lost that cry

"Come Lord Jesus! How much longer?"

And so to me Maranatha is a recovery

of the Maranatha cry that drove them, this urgency that drove that early church

to turn the ancient world upside down in just a generation.

And I think we're about to do it again.

WITH FIRE IN HIS EYES
AND HAIR LIKE WOOL

AND A VOICE LIKE A TORRENT
OF WATERS SO FULL

OUT OF HIS MOUTH COMES
A DOUBLED EDGED SWORD

HE'S COMING IN GLORY
HE'S COMING TO MAKE WAR

WITH FIRE IN HIS EYES
AND HAIR LIKE WOOL

AND A VOICE LIKE A TORRENT
OF WATERS SO FULL

OUT OF HIS MOUTH COMES
A DOUBLED EDGED SWORD

HE'S COMING IN GLORY
HE'S COMING TO MAKE WAR

MARANATHA COME LORD JESUS

RETURN TO US

MARANATHA COME LORD JESUS

RETURN TO US

I BELIEVE HEAVEN WILL OPEN UP

AND THE SON OF MAN HE WILL COME FOR US

AT THE END OF THE AGE WE WILL BEHOLD THE KING

COMING ON THE CLOUDS IN ALL HIS GLORY

Look at the totality of Scripture

Genesis to Revelation and this whole story

this massive story of God's love for us and

His desire to redeem

all that fell apart in the first couple of chapters.

I think you can almost hear the cry from the garden of Maranatha.

Even from the second chapter, the third chapter of the Book of Genesis

is there a better word? Is there a deeper cry from the human heart than, "Come Lord"?

FROM BETHLEHEM

TO JERUSALEM

FROM GALILEE

OH TO BETHANY

HE'S BEEN FAITHFUL

HE'LL ALWAYS BE

SO FAITHFUL

AND SO WE SING

FROM BETHLEHEM

TO JERUSALEM

FROM GALILEE

OH TO BETHANY

HE'S BEEN FAITHFUL

HE'LL ALWAYS BE

SO FAITHFUL

AND SO WE SING

MARANATHA COME LORD JESUS

RETURN TO US

"Maranatha" in the church in Iran

is believing what has happened

that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected

and looking forward to Jesus coming back

That is our compass.

This is the place where we look at the world.

This is our frame of mind in the sense that

when we walk outside, we really don't care

If we get arrested, we're not upset if we get arrested.

What's fifty years in prison compared to eternity with Jesus?

I BELIEVE HEAVEN WILL OPEN UP

AND THE SON OF MAN HE WILL COME FOR US

AT THE END OF THE AGE WE'LL BEHOLD THE KING

COMING ON THE CLOUDS IN ALL HIS GLORY

Just two days ago

the head of the IRGC airspace division

boasted that Iran is capable building missiles

with a range Beyond 2000 kilometers.

He said quote, "We have the ability to build missiles with broader ranges."

"We don't have limitations from a technical perspective."

He also said, "There are many enemy bases within 800 kilometers of Iran."

"In other words, within striking distance of Iranian missiles."

He bragged that Iran does 40 to 50 tests per year.

As I'll talk about further, it is clear that the Iranian regime ballistic missile activity

has grown since the nuclear deal.

Iran has exploited the goodwill of nations and defiled multiple Security Council Resolutions

in its quest for a robust ballistic missile force.

The United States will never stand for this.

No nation that seeks peace and prosperity in the Middle East should either.

Iran has amassed the largest ballistic missile force in the Middle East today.

They provide funding and arms to Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, Bashar al Assad, Hashd al Sha'abi, and others

President Trump cited the absence of missile constraints in the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) as one of its major flaws and a primary reason for withdrawing from the agreement.

Despite sanctions and mounting pressure, the Iranian regime continues to engineer, test, employ, and export their strategic weapons.

They are also demonstrating equal resolve to expand and accelerate their nuclear weapons program.

With or without nuclear weapons, they have cleary and definitely articulated their ultimate edgame.

All roads lead to Jerusalem.

... the Zionist regime [will see]

that the strategy for its elimination from

the world's political geography has crystalized

and that the capacity to implement this strategy has also crystalized.

We are warning them:

"You are bringing yourselves closer to death."

The Israelis can rest assured

that this will bring about their elimination.

They should look for cemeteries outside of occupied Palestine.

I want everybody who hears me, all the powers,

I want them all to realize the new reality

regarding the missile force of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

No technical obstacles are preventing us from increasing the range,

the precision, or the destructive power of our long-range missiles.

MOUNT OF OLIVES
JERUSALEM

Because the church in Iran, I believe in the Lord's perspective is not just about

raising up the fastest growing church in the world.

I believe it's about raising up a resistance church in the heart of the Middle East that will lead

by example for the rest of the nations around the Middle East

when the final scourge and the final invasion,

the final wave of persecution hits the Jewish people.

In Zechariah 14 it says that before He steps on this hill, the Mount of Olives

that half of this city will go into captivity.

That the houses will be pillage, the women will be raped, possessions will be stolen.

We see that they're dividing up Jewish land and Joel chapter 3.

Matthew 24 says that when you see the invasion begin

get out of the city, don't turn back, don't go get stuff, don't turn around

flee, flee to the mountains, get out of the city.

These are a couple of, literally hundreds of passages that talk about

a future calamity that will befall the Jewish people

on the soil upon which this age-old controversy began.

And when that happens, the nations around Israel are going to be called into account.

Will they stand with the invaders and the persecutors

or will they stand against it and stand with the Jewish people?

Most people naturally think of Iran and Israel as mortal enemies

and there's no question that,

the Iranian regime is a tremendous threat to Israel.

But historically, when you look at Biblical history

there were episodes where the Persian peoples were a tremendous blessing to Israel.

And I'm convinced that those events in history, when Cyrus actually

sends Israel out and gives them permission and commissions them

to actually rebuild the temple in this sort of thing.

I believe all of that is a powerful, was a powerful prophetic foreshadow

of the blessing,

the blessing that the Iranian people will be to God's covenant people in the last days.

I believe with the Lord is doing through the church in Iran

is a raising up a resistance church that's not only gonna

stand against the plans of the evil one for the extermination of the Jewish people

not only they're going to stand against it,

they're going to be used as an agent to provoke the Jewish people to salvation during those days.

And in those days what we're going to see is the same dynamics that we see in the Book of Esther

that what Satan meant for evil, God is using for good.

Don't you find it interesting how much hatred comes from Iran

but maybe not that much from Saudi Arabia

maybe not that much from Kuwait

or even Egypt, very powerful Sunni countries

but all the hatred, all the rhetoric comes from Iran.

Why? Because we have a spiritual destiny

of brotherhood, of family.

We were not created for this world.

We were chosen to wage jihad.

We shall fight them on a global level, not just in one spot.

Our war is not a local war.

We have plans to defeat the world powers.

We are planning to break America,

Israel,

and their partners and allies.

Our ground forces should cleanse the planet from the filth of their existence.

This is the news that we receive inside of Iran

that Israel loves to kill the Palestinians and watch their blood run in the streets.

This is why many Iranians hate the Jews.

But God transforms our perspective on the Jews when we come to Christ

and we fall in love with the Jews.

We find out that what they learned was a lie,

and we learn what the truth is.

But when they find the truth that is in the Word

and that Jesus is a Jew, immediately transformation happens

and they love the Jews.

You think about the role of the nations to provoke the Jews to jealousy

and I think that oftentimes is like an American

who is an Evangelical believer who comes to Israel to tour the land

and to be able to say to the Jewish people, "I love you and I love your land."

And I love it because you know, this is the place where my Lord

lived and died and rose again, and He'll return to, and

I don't know that always strikes them as being provoking.

When I think of an Iranian

interacting with a Jewish person

and saying, "I love you."

"And I love your land because I believe it's the place that my Lord will come, Jesus will come."

"And rule and reign, and for that reason, I will lay my life down for you."

I don't think provoking the right word.

Provoking almost minimizes what that might look like to a Jewish heart.

When you talk about provoking the Jew to jealousy

I don't know if it gets any better than that.

I believe with all my heart that

the spirit of Islam, which is Haman,

very soon is going to hang by its own neck

and Iran is going to open the flood gates of the Gospel into Israel.

CHRISTCHURCH
JERUSALEM

Christchurch is the oldest Protestant Church in the Middle East.
It is situated in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem.

I believe with all my heart that

Iran is like Esther.

She is going to go to the King

and ask for the freedom

of the Jews.

What Iran is literally going to do is

they're going to bring the Gospel to free the Jews.

Imagine when their mortal enemies

are transformed to their best friends

trough the blood of Christ.

On the outside looking in

it sometimes appears as though Satan has

affected very strategic victories

I mean, because of the astounding success of Islam all over the Earth.

Even though it looks that way

even though it looks as though the enemy is prevailing

and that his plots and his schemes are actually going to win

going to prevail over the purposes of God,

that is absolutely not the end of the story.

What we're seeing right now is the early stages of a profound plot twist.

The gallows that Haman built to execute his plan of genocide

was used as the instrument by which he himself was hung.

The noose that's about to be put around the devil's neck Is this:

The fullness of the gentiles coming in,

the salvation and the deliverance of the Jewish people

and the return of Messiah to Jerusalem

to establish His forever rule and His Forever reign

when He will wipe away all tears in vindicate every promise that was ever made.

The culmination of this great drama of the ages

is the devil hanging on his own gallows.

SOMEONE'S ON THE PROWL

TRYING TO TAKE US DOWN BUT

WE AIN'T GIVING UP

THE LIAR AND THE THIEF

COMING AFTER YOU AND ME

WE AIN'T GIVING UP

THE HARDER THE WIND WILL BLOW

THE DEEPER OUR ROOTS WILL GO

AND THE DEVIL IS GONNA HANG

THE DEVIL IS GONNA HANG

OH THE DEVIL IS GONNA HANG FROM

HIS OWN GALLOWS

THE WATERS TRY TO DROWN

AND THE FLAMES THEY SURROUND

WE AIN'T GIVING UP

EVEN THOUGH WE MAY TREAD

THROUGH THE VALLEY OF DEATH

WE AIN'T GIVING UP

THE HARDER THE WIND WILL BLOW

THE DEEPER OUR ROOTS WILL GO

AND THE DEVIL IS GONNA HANG

THE DEVIL IS GONNA HANG

OH THE DEVIL IS GONNA HANG FROM

HIS OWN GALLOWS

IF YOU'RE STUMBLING IN THE DARK

RUN YOUR HANDS AGAINST THE WALLS

FIND EVERY WINDOW AND EVERY DOOR

THROW THEM OPEN

IT WILL FLOOD A BLINDING LIGHT

IT WILL CHASE AWAY THE NIGHT

EVEN IF YOU SHIELD YOUR EYES

LET IT POUR IN

IF YOU'RE STUMBLING IN THE DARK

RUN YOUR HANDS AGAINST THE WALLS

FIND EVERY WINDOW AND EVERY DOOR

THROW THEM OPEN

IT WILL FLOOD A BLINDING LIGHT

IT WILL CHASE AWAY THE NIGHT

EVEN IF YOU SHIELD YOUR EYES

THE HARDER THE WIND WILL BLOW

THE DEEPER OUR ROOTS WILL GO

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