A millennial revivalist who operates in the apostolic and prophetic, Caleb Cooper believes he’s been called to “sound the alarm” to this generation that Jesus is coming—and coming very soon.
The senior pastor of New Hope Revival Church in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, since 2013 and founder of Caleb Cooper Ministries, the 37-year-old Cooper believes that this generation will not only see a great outpouring in this nation and the world in the near future, but it will also be the generation to see the Second Coming of Jesus.
And, Cooper says, it’s his job to help challenge people to get ready for that wonderful and historic event, and teach them there is little time to waste in that preparation.
“I know I’ve been called, and one of the messages that I believe burns in me is calling people to an absolute place of urgency,” says Cooper, who also serves as the director of affiliate schools at FountainGate School of Revival in Mesa, Arizona. “You obviously have many different theological backgrounds out there concerning pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation and post-tribulation [about the Second Coming]. I try to live my life like Jesus Christ is going to come before lunch today.
“So, as long as we live with that level of urgency, regardless of what camp you fall into, you definitely can be ready. You will have confidence on that day when the trumpet sounds. And so, every message I preach, everything I write, is birthed out of a place of urgency—like this might be the last moment, the last thing I ever get to do on this earth. That trumpet could blast at any moment. And so I would call a generation and tell them you’ve got to live a life of urgency, to steward well every second, every minute of our day, which will translate into hours and weeks and years. That’s how we steward a lifetime—a lifetime yielded to Jesus Christ.”
For Cooper, urgency is not only the key for himself, his family and his church, but also for every believer—because every Christ-follower has a kingdom calling. Many believers, he says, have fallen into a state of apathy and stagnancy where they have become hearers only of God’s Word and not doers, deceiving themselves, as it says in James 1:22.
“The reality of stewarding seconds during your day, I know that’s very hard to do because seconds happen so fast over a lifetime,” says Cooper, who holds a doctorate in biblical studies from FountainGate. “But we realize it is those moments where we choose to do something or choose to do nothing, obviously, over time, they translate into either something or nothing.
“As for me, I want a crown. I want a crown to lay at the feet of King Jesus because, when we get there, there are no do-overs. There is no makeup test, and we can’t come back to earth and decide, ‘Well, OK, I’ll do that ministry You asked me to do.’ We get one shot at doing exploits for the kingdom of God. And so my heartbeat is this, not only preaching the uncompromised Word of God but also preparing a generation for the return of Jesus. And so I believe it begins in that place of urgency.”
A Used-Up Life
In a crazy, chaotic year seemingly ruled by the COVID-19 pandemic, Cooper has obeyed God’s command to be a doer of His Word. Not only did he write several books in 2020, but he has also launched a new podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network, Uncompromised Revival Fire. Through his podcast, he challenges believers to take their place in sustainable revival and to transform awakening in the earth in these last days.
Cooper’s first book, Pioneering Prophetic Patterns of Purpose: When Encountering God Leads to Another Encounter, was birthed out of a prophetic word the Lord gave him in 2016, a word that instructed him to travel to both Washington, D.C., and to Azusa Street in Los Angeles, the site of the 1906-1909 Pentecostal revival William Seymour led.
A few months later, Cooper’s obedience to God’s prophetic prompting found him at 312 Azusa Street, the exact location of the famous revival. And that led to God sending him across New Mexico in a 5,300-mile round trip to spread the good news and the message of the urgency about Jesus’ imminent return.
“The Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and said, ‘I’m sending a synergetic revival to New Mexico, and it is going to be marked by a united people. Awakened by the past, empowered by the present and mobilized by the future,” Cooper says. “There’s a lot to that word.”
While at Azusa Street, the Lord gave Cooper a vision.
“I had no clue at all why I was going to both Washington and Azusa Street, so I asked the Lord, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘I am about to converge revival fire and governmental authority. … I literally sat down on the footprint of Azusa Street, and I immediately had a black-and-white vision of 1906 to 1909, where that revival broke out in which 700 million Christians today draw their connection to. I began to see limbs grow back. For people who had stubs for arms, they grew out. It was just an open vision where I began to see the signs, wonders and miracles of that generation.
“Immediately, Holy Spirit began to burn on the top of my head and went through my body and began to burn through my feet. And I heard the Spirit of the Lord say to me, ‘Son, go back to New Mexico and release the first. There is only one flame, and it’s the same flame of Pentecost. I want you to call for the state and not just the state but the nations to contend for the same flame that birthed Pentecost on American soil.”
In Cooper’s second book, Jesus Focused: Awakening Endtime Prophetic Strategy, he utilizes the prophetic aspect of his ministry, releasing insight about the return of the Lord. He asks a poignant question of the Christ-follower: Are you ready to be found among a people that recognizes the signs of the times, knowing that you were born for prophetic destiny?
With the upheaval in the U.S. government and political division in the country along with the blatant attacks on the Constitution, Cooper says God is raising up a spiritual army—a remnant—that He has challenged to take their eyes off themselves and become Jesus-focused. This remnant, he says, must not be blinded by the enemy as many in the church have.
In essence, Cooper, who has been labeled as a “firebrand preacher,” says, believers must practice true Christianity with boldness and fearlessness in the face of a pandemic, racism, political division, persecution and hatred from those who refuse to accept Christ as their Savior.
“Sometimes I think we can fall in love with the idea of a move of God, whether it’s worship or holiness, but at the end of the day, we lose sight of what’s really important,” he says. “What this is really all about is seeing Jesus face to face. I’ve shared with our church so many times that we have to get out there and preach the gospel, cast out devils and heal the sick. We’ve got to believe in the supernatural, regardless of the atmosphere that is around us.
“At the end of the day, what’s the worst that can happen to us? We die and we graduate and go to heaven, and we get a mansion and walk the streets of gold. And so, once again, it stems from that urgency to say that the only fear is the fear of the Lord. That’s what fires me up to say, ‘You know what? If I live, I’m going to live for Christ. If I die, I’m going to die for Christ. If I live or die, I’m going to do it unto the Lord, but I want Him to use me up in every part of my life.'”
The Revival Generation
The FountainGate School of Revival helps fuel the urgency to raise up “firebrand” ministers like Cooper. FountainGate is a ministry school that allows a student to earn their degree in biblical studies online. It also allows for churches or ministries to partner as an affiliate school as they host their own affiliate school from their location.
In hopes of sparking another Great Awakening, FountainGate offers associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in biblical studies with an emphasis on revival history, revival components, revival activation, developing spiritual gifts, ministry experience, evangelism, prophetic impartation and international missions.
FountainGate’s vision is “to see an earth-shaking, ground-breaking, heaven-rending, gate-opening, glory-revealing revival generation raised up to ignite and spread the fire of God’s presence and His power.”
The school’s ministry partners include Cooper and his wife, Erica; Jody and LaNora Morin of FountainGate Ministries International; Pastor John Kilpatrick and the Church of His Presence in Alabama; Pastors Tim and Kari Thompson of Fountain of Life Christian Fellowship in Arizona; Daniel and Melanie Ross; Barbara Boyd; and Zane and Jan Anderson. The school also includes a staff of 16 instructors ready to pass their prophetic and apostolic knowledge on to the next generation.
“I believe that the future of this nation really hinges on how the church is going to respond,” Cooper says. “Many think it’s already mapped out in God’s control and we’re not to do anything. That’s not biblical at all. Every generation has done something.
“We can change the course of things. I do believe that an antichrist agenda is being presented to this nation and the globe like never before, and we have an absolute responsibility to contend against it. As long as we are breathing air on this planet, we’ve got a responsibility to deal with the powers of darkness and the accuracy of God’s ruling government authority in the earth.”
That’s where, Cooper says, students must be equipped to help halt the ungodly attacks on the U.S. Constitution with the authority of God’s Word.
“With what’s happening with the unconstitutional mandates that are being released in this nation, I believe God is looking into the heart of His church and saying, ‘Do you believe that I made a covenant with America called the United States Constitution?'” Cooper says. “‘And if you believe it, will you believe it regardless of the atmosphere around you? Will you execute it when mandates are being released?’
“The church is going to steward the freedom in this great nation in the face of conflict, in the face of governmental overreach. … We took an unbelievable stance against shutting our church down, any of those things we felt like violated a covenant with God.”
With everything that has happened in 2020 and the world facing an incredible state of uncertainty, Cooper reiterates that now is the time to get on God’s side.
“I want to encourage anyone today to recognize that we are in the last of the last days,” Cooper says. “We’ve got a moral obligation—a spiritual responsibility—to take the strongest stand we’ve ever taken in any generation to preach the glorious aspect of Jesus Christ across the earth. We must be unrestricted and willing to lay down our lives.
“The most powerful message, I still believe, is that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to those that believe. I want to challenge everyone, regardless of the atmosphere around you, do not let the atmosphere change you. You change the atmosphere around you. God has anointed His church. He’s given us power and authority to get the job done.”
Shawn A. Akers is assistant online editor at Charisma Media.
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