Mobolade was introduced by Church For All Nations Pastor Mark Cowart, who hosted the event with Radiant Church Pastor Todd Hudnall. Cowart described his first meeting with the mayor, “[Colorado Springs] had our mayor’s election and [Pastor Calvin Johnson had] been friends with Mayor Yemi for years now, and so he got a hold of him and asked if we could pray with him on a Saturday before the Tuesday swearing in.”
Mobolade addressed the tent revival audience on July 16, the first day of the four-day event.
“Greetings and good morning it’s a joy to be here,” said Mobolade. “Pastor Mark, Pastor Todd, thank you. The mistake they made was to give this mayor who used to be a pastor the mic so there’s no guarantee and no promises for how long I’ll be here. Here’s the beauty I I walked into — an environment that’s full of so much energy so much joy so much unity. What do you expect when God’s people to get to get together? This is what it looks like, and this is what heaven looks like. This is a taste of what Revelations described as when God’s people come together. Of course there’s so much joy and energy, amen. Friends, I believe that Jesus is introducing a new world order that is the ushering of his kingdom once again right here and right now and it’s realization through the church in Matthew 16:18 Jesus says, ‘I will build my church and the powers of evil and the powers of Darkness hell will not conquer it.’
Cowart and other faith leaders laying hands on Mobolade.
“It has been said that about every 500 years the church faces a major crisis. It faces a major shake-up, usually marked by some kind of division or Schism that ends up in a dramatic change in the church. Scholars believe that every 500 years is as though God is having a giant yard sale to shake up the church to get rid of its old stuff, it’s less than desirable self, to free it from its cultural compromises and its political compromises so that new growth may occur. The first shake-up happened two thousand years ago, 30 A.D, the Great Commission after Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. He gave the Great Commission and a new movement was birthed disrupting the religious establishment of the time, and this crisis led to the birth of the church. You fast forward 500 years later and there’s another shake up in 476 A.D. It was called the Great Fall, this was the fall of the Roman Empire. This resulted in the fall of the organized church and gave way to a new expression of churches, birthed out of a desire to live holy lives. A little over 500 years later after that we have 1054 A.D., the Great Schism, which separated the east and the western church, and this crisis led to the birth of a new type of church, in growth in the church. Then the fourth crisis which we all know happened in 1517. This is called the Great Reformation. Luther nailed in 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, sparking the Protestant Reformation, of which we are part of. This crisis led to a new movement within Christianity and denomination and gave birth to thousands of new Christians in a massive thrust in new church planting.
“Today we are 500 years from that Reformation and God is on the move once again. He is on a move. Could it be that he is reforming his church once again? The great giant yard sale to shake up the church, to get rid of all its less than desirable self, to free His bride from cultural and political compromises, and to call us back to the centrality of who Jesus Christ is and to discipleship and to prayer and the mission of God. All themes that have emerged from every Great Awakening. Friends and beloved members of Radiant Church and Church For All Nations, I stand in front of you today not just as your mayor but as a pastor, which was my first calling when I first moved to the city, to ask you to prepare your hearts for what God is going to do in this tent, in your midst, for the next few days. He is a reawakening his church. He is renewing his bride, and he is renewing you. I give you the same invitation Joshua gave God’s people in Joshua 3:5, ‘consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’ Friends, God is on the move. God is on the move. Prince God is on the move. He is on the move, and in the midst of the personal or societal Church challenges and trials that surround us we gather as a united body seeking spiritual awakening, renewal, and rededication to our faith and revival in our hearts and our families and in our city. Thank you to the visionary leadership of Pastor Mark and Pastor Todd and to my friend Pastor Johnson who God has uniquely anointed for unity, and the former pastor of Pulpit Rock, Pastor Thomas who’s on my team at the city. Friends, greater things are yet to come. Greater things are still to be done in this city. God bless you, thank you very much.”
Following Mobolade’s address, Murillo, a faith healer, told the crowd to prepare for his trademark signs and wonders. “I promise you that those of you that have never seen a healing miracle in your life — you’re going to see one,” he said. “You’re not going to talk to me about Aimee McPherson and William Branham and Katherine Kuhlman or Oral Roberts because that was the question that Elisha asked. The followers of Elijah, ‘Where is the god of Elijah?’ In this tent tonight is the next level of signs and wonders.”
In addition to next level signs and wonders, Murillo promised the audience a biblical experience. “We’re going to see another page of the book of Acts. Another page,” he said. “I believe that we should not be frightened when wheelchairs are emptied, blind eyes are opened, and the supernatural power of God is witnessed.”
The following days featured Wallnau, who, in Murrillo’s words, provided “a very detailed and informed description of the tentacles of this monster and the beast that we face,” with his trademark dry-erase board to illustrate the principle of the seven mountains.
“When you’ve got the ecclesia here,” he said, scrawling a diagram on the board, “you can begin to move out and rebuild the walls of culture so your children aren’t going to be drag-queened or transgendered.”
Wallnau illustrating the Seven Mountain Mandate.
Federer, a Senior Fellow at the D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship, also warned the tent revival audience of the dangers of transgender people. “They say, ‘Yeah if you’re a Christian you will be silent while we teach your kids the trans agenda,’” he said. “Question, would Jesus teach that? Jesus said he who made them at the beginning made them male and female, in the image of God, and yet they’re telling you to be silent while we teach your kids something Jesus would never teach the kids. Matter of fact it’s an anti-Christian gospel because if that behavior is not sin, arguably there are no sins, right? Sex outside of marriage, and if there’s no sins you don’t need a savior, so it’s undermining the entire gospel.”
Richard Harris, executive director of Andrew Wommack’s Truth and Liberty Coalition, emphasized the connections between the tent revival event and Wommack. “Lance [Wallnau] serves on our board,” he said. “Bill Federer serves on our board. We’re affiliated with Andrew Wommack Ministries in Woodland Park, Colorado. We have a nationwide, even a worldwide reach. You might notice that we have a booth in the back, and I want to invite you guys all to check out our booth because our mission at Truth and Liberty is to educate, motivate, and mobilize the body of Christ.”
One of Harris’ goals was educating, motivating, and mobilizing the body of Christ for conservative candidates in the upcoming school board elections in Colorado. “This is a school board election year in Colorado,” he announced. “It’s an off year so there are 174 school districts in this state, all of which are having elections this year, including many critical school boards located right here in Colorado Springs. Two years ago truth and Liberty published nonpartisan, 501(c)(3)-compliant voter guides on school board candidates, and we covered only 15 districts at that time with 174 candidates. I want you to know that just getting that information into the hands of believers caused Christians all over those districts to rise up and vote for conservative candidates, and we flipped a majority of those districts to conservative control. This year we are doubling that and we are covering 30 key districts.”
Murillo was more direct in outlining his political vision. “I’ve come to the realization that, along with a strategic plan to register voters and activate battleground cities, we need to break the demonic power of the left in Jesus name,” he said. “The threat is a demonic system that overrules a free election for the enemy, and the threat is a concerted, well-funded, multi-layer media event to brainwash the next generation away from God. The answer is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the streets of America.”
When asked if he agrees with the Fire and Glory speakers’ stances on LGBTQ people, the goals and aims of the Seven Mountain Mandate, and the efficacy of faith healing, Mobolade provided an emailed statement.
“My first vocation in this city was as a pastor with a work emphasis of activating the churches of Colorado Springs to move past the four walls of the church to serve the city with no strings attached,” he said. “I accepted an invitation from local pastors Todd Hudnall and Mark Cowart to speak at the July 16 worship service with Radiant Church and Church for All Nations. I am committed to being a mayor for all people. In the same spirit that I gave remarks at the June 10 Pride Fest kickoff event, I agreed to give remarks at this joint worship service.
“My phrasing of God ‘freeing his bride (church) from cultural and political compromises’ is something I have used over the last two years at several local churches. This message is not a political message, it is quite the opposite. It is an invitation back to the basics of what I believe the church needs to be. That is to love God, love our neighbors, forgive others, and love our adversaries. This has always been my heart for our local church.”
Heidi Beedle is a former soldier, educator, activist, and animal welfare worker. They received a Bachelor’s in English from UCCS. They have worked as a freelance and staff writer for the Colorado Springs Independent covering LGBTQ issues, nuclear disasters, cattle mutilations, and social movements. Heidi currently covers reproductive justice and politics for the Colorado Times Recorder.
