Radical Christianity

By Riaan Engelbrecht

If we truly want to lead a supernatural life, with a faith believing in the impossible, then we need to become radical for God. We need to be red-hot Christians who are on fire for Jesus. It means following Him no matter the cost. It means doing as He says in His Word and never compromising. For the radical Christian, it is all about Christ and nothing else. God is calling for a people who will no longer submit to the 'normal'. Are we just going through the motions of serving Christ? Has our spiritual life become bland, dull and dreary? Our lives must always be connected to the Spirit of God. We must be infused into God so that He truly abides in us and we abide in us! The normal, the spiritual deadness, the dryness and the staleness are to be found in the traditions and the rituals of religion. God is calling for a people who will step outside the 'normal'. We are not called to follow a religion or any other manmade rules or ideas, but God and God alone. Jesus came to show us how to lead a vibrant life, infused with divine holy power! For God has spoken clearly then it is time for a people to arise who will no longer be satisfied to walk in the staleness, deadness and dustiness of a religion that has no power. It is time to seek God beyond the veil, and to be the new wineskin to carry the glorious wine of the Holy Spirit in fulfilling the Great Commission!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Riaan Engelbrecht
• Release date: Oct 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223939870

Riaan Engelbrecht

Ps Riaan Engelbrecht is the founder of Avishua Ministries, the vice-president of Lighthouse Ministries International and the station manager of Lighthouse Radio. His ministry deals primarily with the prophetic, but he also has a passion to teach the Truth of the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom for only the Truth of the Lord sets us free (John 8:32).  He is also a qualified and seasoned journalist.

Book preview

Radical Christianity

This is a distributed edition from Avishua Ministries.

The author’s intellectual property rights are protected by international Copyright law. You are licensed to use this digital copy strictly for your personal enjoyment only: it must not be redistributed or offered for sale in any form.

Scriptures quotes from the New Kings James Bible, Amplified, and the New International Version.

For more free study material and audio visit http://avishuaministries.wixsite.com/avishua

Table of Contents

Author foreword

Radical Christianity

Faith in the impossible

Beyond the veil

The Power is still present

Radical evangelism

Times will be tough to fulfil the Great Commission

Radical obedience

Radical Intimacy

Radical conviction

Radical abundance

Radical no matter the cost

Fireproof Christianity

‘Plugged’ into the Great I AM

Radical in action

The great resistance to God’s truth

Danger of a soulless and Spiritless church

No update needed, version 1.00

Snatching victory from the supposed jaws of defeat

Mighty warriors arise as in the days of David

Awakening to the necessity of deliverance ministry

Author foreword

At Avishua Ministries we continue to believe and trust in God for His mighty hand to bring in the harvest. We continue to pray for the servants of the Lord throughout the world, near and far, for labourers are few yet so many still need to come to Christ and to truly know of His greatness and goodness. I truly believe God has a great and mighty plan for these end times, even though what we see is not always easy. Yes, these are intense times in the spiritual, but our God is alive, and still on the Throne. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the remnant of God. We shall not go quietly into the night or be silenced, for our gate is glorious, mighty and powerful! No one or nothing can stand against Him so be full of Holy Spirit fire, faith and boldness for our God is greater than any empire, kingdom, army or man!

We are all throughout the world facing difficult times, be it financial burdens, be it persecutions, be it spiritual onslaughts or be it threats of all kinds and nature, but I pray that as a disciple of God, you may be bolstered in your faith. May you be strengthened in your courage and be strengthened by the Holy Spirit for the task that the Lord has placed before you.

Now is the time for the radical Christians to arise. No, not the extremists of violence, but those with a true heart for God. It is time for those who diligently seek Him and obey as in the days of the book of Acts.  We stand upon Isaiah 40: 31But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

God is calling for a remnant that is completely and utterly set apart for His Kingdom. What is this end-time remnant? It is the true Bride on the earth, therefore, the sons and daughters who seek God, who follow Him, and who uphold God’s values, ways, and truths and will as established in the eternal Kingdom. Yes, the dawn rises of God’s end-time remnant, those who are humble, pure in spirit, and who are called to free the lost from the clutches of darkness through the Blood of Jesus. God is seeking His true worshippers who walk in love, truth and honesty, seeking no glory but only His will. The Lord is rising up those who have a heart and a voice for the Kingdom. Yes, He is rising up a radical remnant! He is rising up an army that refuses to be silent, who will not flinch in times of trial or tribulation, will not shy away when faced with evil and who will not compromise His Truth.

Such an army is right now being formed on the earth, the remnant that will arise out of the ruins of religiosity and carnality. They are radical, walking in God’s love and hope. They are like the 7000 faithful whom God said to Elijah refused to bow the knee before Baal. Yes, this is a dangerous remnant, filled by the Spirit of God, for they will be like the first apostles and disciples. They are dangerous for they are not unsettled by Baal, do not fear man, and laugh along with God who loves His enemies. They are dangerous for they love the truth, and they know the battle belongs to God.

Indeed, in these days of so much turmoil and strife, we take heart and joy that so many servants of God are still clearly passionate about the Kingdom of God. How the Lord's eye is on His servants who diligently seek to do His work and who seek His Truth! Yes, we do understand there are tremendous challenges within so many countries to evangelise, to disciple and to preach the Word. But we are trusting in God that He has a plan to bring about a mighty harvest throughout Africa, the Middle East and every other continent. God will shake the nations and the islands and people’s hearts. This we trust and yes, repentance leads to restoration and revival! God is great and glorious. He has placed servants who desire His heart within every country, town, city and village to sow the seed and we trust God for growth and to bring in the harvest of souls. We must remain standing strong for the Kingdom, trust Him and have faith that He is faithful, and He shall protect, provide, lead, edify, and strengthen.

Let us continue to pray to see the Kingdom of God grow and to be witness to the incoming of a great harvest. Let us continue to shine the light of the Lord as we reach out to the lost, the broken, the hurting, the forgotten and the rejected. This can all only be done through the mighty work of the Lord through the Holy Spirit - He who empowers and equips us to do His Work. Indeed, God is connecting His servants in order for Him to be glorified and to bring the lost back to the embrace of our Lord Jesus.

Let us stay true to Acts 2, which is truly the blueprint for revival and discipleship: 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and [o]sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Paul was often not near or close to those to whom he had preached the Gospel. Yet Paul always prayed for them and kept reminding them of the goodness, power, greatness and might of the Lord. Paul reminded the disciples they were not dependent on him but on God to whom belongs all the power and glory. With God nothing is impossible! In God is our strength and hope and provision. So take strength and in times such as these let your heart not be troubled for God knows and sees.

We must always be reminded of who God is. In prayer, we must each other in the Body of Christ knowing God's power works to His Glory so that the world may be set free in His Love. In Him, we find our rest and hope. He is the Light that will always shine no matter the darkness.  Paul wrote the following in Ephesians 1 and this is also our prayer for all believers: For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers; [I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son].

Yes, may the radical Christians arise! May their song be heard! May they overturn the world by shining God’s light, sharing His love and showing the broken and the lost to the loving arms of a loving God! Be abundantly blessed and may the Lord's face shine upon you.  May the Spirit of the Lord move mightily and may the harvest be great. And yes, may the Lord bless you in your work for Him and may His countenance shine upon you forever more. Be faithful and God shall part the waters! We are not defeated, but we are victorious in Christ! May we continue to diligently seek the Lord, His Kingdom and righteousness above all, for then we walk in His blessing, truth and hope.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Revelation 12:11)

Radical Christianity

If we truly want to lead a supernatural life, with a faith believing in the impossible, then we need to become radical for God. Let us understand, that the word radical as applied to human behaviour can be either positive or negative, depending upon one’s viewpoint. Radical can be defined as one expressing strict adherence to a worldview that is at extreme odds with the cultural norm.

In Revelation Jesus says that he spits out lukewarm people, and I certainly don’t want to be a lukewarm Christian. I want to be a red-hot Christian who is on fire for Jesus. Do you want to really be a radical Christian? Try to actually do what God commands, even for a month. You’ll see how it affects your jobs, friends, family and entire lifestyles. Christ was dealing with the Sadducees and the Pharisees. It went badly for Him but He showed us what it would take. He left us an example of how to really be a radical Christian. It means following Him no matter the cost. It means doing as He says in His Word and never compromising.

For the radical Christian, it is all about Christ and nothing else. Philippians 3 says, 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Paul had indeed done great work for the Kingdom of God. He after all wrote two-thirds of the New Testament. He travelled far and wide to spread the Gospel. He led so many people to Jesus. Yet he wanted not fame or fortune. He just wanted Jesus! How radical are we then? Do we seek still after the world, or do we only seek Jesus above everything else?

God is calling for a people who will no longer submit to the ‘normal’. Are we just going through the motions of serving Christ? Has our spiritual life become bland, dull and dreary? The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:6: I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you. What is the gift of God in us? In the very next Scripture, it says: 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]."

Let us be reminded that before we were born again, our spirit was completely dead, cold, and empty. But when we believed in Christ, He as the life-giving Spirit came to be mingled with and live in our spirit. Our regenerated human spirit was ignited with the divine fire of the Spirit of God. The precious gift of God in us is our spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This is the gift we must fan into flame. Yes, our regenerated spirit was ignited by the divine fire of the Spirit. But after we’re saved, our zeal for the Lord may eventually fade. We’re not as hot and burning as when we first received the Lord. But Romans 12:11 exhorts us not to be slothful in zeal, but be burning in spirit, serving the Lord. Dear believers, the Lord wants us to be hot, burning in our love for Him and our service to Him. This is why we need to fan our spirit into flame!

Yes, many in this world still rebel against God, while some believers have completely abandoned their faith, but then you also get those who still serve Him and trust Him yet that inner fear of a life submitted to God has run cold. Revelation 3:16 speaks of a spiritual life that is in limbo, neither alive with God nor dead. It has become stagnant, and passive and the fire is slowly fading. How the Lord is again calling for believers in this time and age to fan the flame again! How the Lord is calling for people to seek Him like never before, reconnect with the Spirit, and let the fire of God burn, yes burn! For many, where there was once a burning flame, there is now only embers. Yet when you fan the embers, they then become alive again!

Leviticus 6:12 (New King James Version) says the following: And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. In the Old Testament, the fire never had to die on the altar, because the aroma and sacrifice must be a constant reminder of the covenant between the people and God. Just so, we are the living sacrifices who have laid down the old life. The flame must never die within us, so that we may be constant sweet aroma unto God, and that there is a constant manifestation of the living Covenant sealed by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 2:22). Constantly we must yield, submit and walk in the Spirit. For it says in 2 Corinthians 2:14: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

Yes, our lives must always be connected to the Spirit of God. We must be infused into God so that He truly abides in us and we abide in us! There is a beautiful song by Brian Doerksen called Light the Fire Again. Yes Lord, light the fire again! May we again be people who walk by the Spirit, who talk by the Spirit, who function, operate and minister in the Spirit! May we again become aware of the fusion of our spirit with the Holy Spirit, and may we truly burn for God again. Lord, You are an all-consuming fire. May it burn in us Lord, and grant us the strength to truly fan the flame!

The normal, the spiritual deadness, the dryness and the staleness is to be found in the traditions and the rituals of a religion that we have labelled called Christianity. God is calling for a people who will step outside the ‘normal’. We are not called to follow a religion, but God and God alone. Jesus never came to start a religion, but to show us the way to the Father. He came to show us how to lead a vibrant life, infused with divine holy power! For God has spoken clearly than it is time for a people to arise who will no longer be satisfied to walk in the staleness, deadness and dustiness of a religion that has no power. Consider, religion implies rules and programmes and agendas as determined by man, not God. Christianity with all its man-made definitions, rules, and traditions has resulted in people becoming stale in their walk with God.

2 Samuel 6 says, So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. 13 And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. 14 Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

And what was the reaction to David’s radical behaviour in honour of God? We read, 16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. Religion despises the move of God. It despises true liberty in the Spirit. Religion and the traditions of man seek to quieten the move of God. And God is calling for His people to become radical again in Spirit, therefore, to lay aside their reputations. Yes, we need to ‘dance’ like David danced, meaning we must break the bondages and yokes of the ideas of the world and the church. The devil and religion will always seek to silence God’s true children. But the radical Christians don’t care what the religious or the carnal think! They don’t care about the traditions of the church, for they seek to serve God radically in Spirit and in truth!

To be stale speaks of being no longer fresh and, therefore, musty or dry. God is calling for believers who are walking in his freshness. Therefore, a people who constantly seek God, who walk by the anointing of the Holy Spirit and who live for only His glory and truth! If we are dry, then implies a lack of water. How can this be if we are supposed to be led by the Spirit of God? For by the Spirit of God, there are streams of living water flowing out of us!

God is indeed for radical believers in the final days. We are talking about a people not settling for the normal, the stale, the boring and the dryness. 2 Timothy 3 says, 1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. The word last is the Greek word Eschatos. Eschatos indicates the final stage in a process. For example, in Revelation 15:1 the last seven plagues of judgment against the earth are declared to be the completion of God’s wrath against the wickedness of humankind. So we are talking about the final stage before everything will be completed before the coming of Christ. We are indeed already in the last of such last days, therefore, the last seconds of the completion of the end of a process.

The word is used to form Eschatology, which is then is the study of the last things, especially the times preceding and culminating in the Second Coming of the King of kings (Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:16). Indeed, the return of our Lord Jesus Christ is the final (eschatos) stage of the drama, the consummation of the history of the world! The phrase last days is found in both the NT and the OT.

The word know in 2 Timothy 3 is Ginosko, which means to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge, perceive and become acquainted with. We need to, therefore, know, perceive, understand and comprehend that the final stage or the final process of the church age before the coming of Christ will be marked with great danger. We will be faced with perilous times, with the Greek word Chalepos used for perilous, meaning troublesome, dangerous, fierce, or savage. If we read 2 Timothy 3, then it speaks of such dangerous and savage times coming directly within the church! They have a form of godliness but deny its power, therefore, the walk by religion and abiding in Christ.

Despite such perilous times, we must remember the Holy Spirit’s wonderful promise in Joel 2:28: And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." This explicitly says there will be a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s power in the last of the last days. Just like a mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit occurred at the beginning of the Church Age, it will occur again at the end of the age. In fact, it will be the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the history of the Church. But despite the 'oppressive' nature of what has begun within the church, with all kinds of satanic onslaughts, the Bride can persevere and overcome in these perilous times. Not only survive but take the greatest harvest the planet has earth ever seen - and then the end will come! But this calls for a life yielded and submitted completely to the Holy Spirit.

In John chapter 4. Jesus was tired and sat at a well while His disciples went into town to buy food. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink. The Samaritan woman was quite shocked because Jesus was a Jew, and Jews simply hated the Samaritans. Of course, she had no idea who Jesus was and asked Him how He could ask her for water since He was a Jew.

Jesus ignored the question and went right to the point, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (John 4:10). Notice that He does not say that He is the living water, but that He would give living water to her, and when she received it, she would never thirst again. Of course, that does not tell us what the living water is! For that, we must go to another passage of Scripture. In this case, Jesus is in the temple surrounded by a throng of worshipers. He suddenly cried out, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37–39).

Here Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the living water. External influence of the Spirit had always been given in the conversion and sanctification of the Old Testament saints and prophets, but the gift of the Spirit who would indwell believers had not yet been received (Acts 10:44–45). So, though many people say that Jesus is the living water, Jesus Himself intended the phrase to mean the Holy Spirit who dwells in believers and seals them for salvation (Ephesians 1:13–14). It is the ministry of the Spirit, flowing out of a heart redeemed by God, that blesses believers and, through them, brings life and light to the world. A radical Christian lives by the Spirit of God, lest we become stale and dry! There is no other way to be radical for God except a life dedicated to the Lord, yielded to the Spirit of the Lord.

In the earliest days of the Church, when persecution against believers was extraordinarily acute, those early Christians could not be deterred. If anything could have stopped the Church, it would have been the storm that raged against them. But Jesus promised, ...The gates of hell shall not prevail against it [the Church] (Matthew 16:18). Although waves of persecution have come and gone many times over the past 2 000 years of Church history, every turbulent episode has proven Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:18 to be true — the gates of hell cannot prevail against the true Church of Christ who have the revelation, that He is the Christ! God has always had a remnant who will not bow to the oppression of the enemy, even if it comes from within— and at this final port of call, He will have that remnant once again. If you are of the 'true church,' you will experience previously unknown levels of the power of God as a result of your commitment to stand by truth.

Oh yes, how we need to come alive again in the power of the Holy Spirit to be true representatives of God on this earth. How we need the wind of