We shared yesterday how your freedom in Christ begins with a resolution of intolerance for anything less. A holy resolve is producing a “centering focus” in two realms. First, to see breakthrough, personally and corporately. Second, to see Psalm 132 “freedom outposts” established that will perpetuate breakthroughs of justice context with apostolic community.

A major part of this New Birth of Freedom this year is birthing freedom outposts across the land. They will be graced by God as catalysts of transformation, preparing and producing regions of refuge. We’ll share on this more in times ahead.

But for now, lets paint a picture of the resolve necessary to be part of a true freedom outposts. Friends, Sunday buffet believers caught up in gossip, offense and selfish living… that’s not really what we’re talking about here. God wants to bring a revolution. And He is recruiting His army of revolutionary believers right now. That’s the resolve we’re talking about.

As Martin Luther King Day is also Inauguration Day for President Obama, I thought we’d take a look at King and the “freedom outpost” he established. Martin Luther King didn’t start a revolution. He brought completion to the work.

King’s perseverance in regional breakthrough catalyzed an unprecedented national shift—and provides a roadmap we can all learn from. We originally shared this post below in April 2011.

Stronghold of Slavery
Montgomery Alabama was the first capital of the Confederacy. Slavery had a long heritage in the region. On the steps of the Statehouse, Jefferson Davis took his oath of office as the first president of the Confederate States of America, ushering America fully into Civil War. That to say–if there was ever a stronghold of slavery and prejudice, Montgomery was it!

Just a block or so away from the Statehouse is another national stronghold. With its simple brick edifice and stained glass windows, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church looks like any other small meetinghouse. You could almost hear the choir singing, kids running through the basement, endless chatter from picnics and politics and church gossip.

Confronting the Pharaohs
Martin Luther King accepted his first pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, literally in the shadow of this historic stronghold of slavery. We know today how he became America’s Moses, leading black folk and white folk both into a new era of freedom and justice for all. But maybe we don’t fully understand the risk he took in confronting the Pharaohs of his time.

The Lord set Dr. King right in the middle of a territorial stronghold of slavery and prejudice. The KKK was strong in the area. To upset the status quo even a little brought immediate and serious retribution.
Invalidate the Victim

So when Rosa Parks, member of Dexter Ave Baptist Church, refused to give her seat on a bus to a white man, lives were literally at stake.

Of course, Dr. King could have done what many leaders across the spectrum are taught to do when confronted with a crisis of justice. That would be to invalidate the victim. Rosa… she always was a rabble-rouser… there she goes again, making life difficult for the rest of us. I need to sit her down and have a long talk… she’s just not our DNA. Might be best for her to find another place to fellowship…

Dexter Ave–Freedom Outpost
We can all thank God that Dr. King decided instead to stand alongside Rosa. So did his congregation. By this stand they were literally forced into becoming a “freedom outpost!

You can imagine the prayer meetings in this humble church as this controversy on a bus came to energize the entire Civil Rights movement! We can all thank God for their courageous stand to carry the torch in their freedom watch.

And then there’s the reformer. Within his being, the Lord forged in Dr. King the same cry for deliverance He granted to Moses: Let my people go! And at the sound of his voice, a nation changed.

Whose Voice will Prevail?
God set Martin Luther King in the stronghold of the Confederacy. For a long while, there was a contending as to whose voice would prevail. Through prayer, declaration, mobilization and action, King prevailed in Montgomery. And the struggles of this regional battle gave him earned authority to prevail in the national struggle for freedom.

You know… all over the nation, Jolene and I hear the struggles of leaders and intercessors whom God has placed in the very center of the enemy’s strongholds. Being from metro DC, I actually empathize completely… for real! But through Jesus Christ, the very struggle you are in process of overcoming is actually forging within you the earned authority to set His people free.

So there’s a question in the heavenlies right now that has everything to do with slavery versus freedom. The question is, whose voice will prevail? Will we press on as a Moses, or retreat into subjugation to the Pharaohs of our time?

As for me and my house—LET MY PEOPLE GO.