Nate Johnston

DEAR PIONEERS...

Nate Johnston

DEAR PIONEERS...

DEAR PIONEERS...

Dear Pioneers,


Honest post - Earlier this year, I felt shipwrecked. 


Outwardly, you wouldn’t have known—I was still pouring out, but my heart just felt tired. 


I have always been committed to giving everything to follow Jesus and lead my family in this pioneering journey. But the only way I can explain it is that deep inside, I was worn down and spread thin. 


Many years ago God asked us to move to the United States, following the call of God across nations, but it wasn’t until we returned to Australia for a trip in April that I slowed down enough to face the reality: I was burnt out. 


Not from ministry, but from the constant movement—traveling from place to place, house to house, season to season, assignment to assignment. The pioneering life had become a rhythm of relentless transition, with no place of stability, no home, and no grounding community. 


I longed for rest. I longed for something to settle my soul. But instead, I felt shipwrecked. 


Shipwrecked: That place where you have followed the Lord’s voice to the best of your ability, but somehow, it feels like it’s led you to a barren shore with nothing in sight. It’s the unsettling realization that despite all your obedience, you feel stranded, exhausted, and unsure if you’ll ever find solid ground again.


Maybe you’ve been there, too.


The Lord began to speak to me about what it means to be shipwrecked in this way. It’s the place where we are stripped of all we once leaned on. It’s where we confront the brokenness and fatigue of having given everything, yet wondering if it was worth it. But here’s what He also showed me: The shipwreck is not the end—it’s where God revives you and puts a fresh wind in your sails again! 


Pioneers, I believe many of you are in this same place right now. You’ve been faithful, you’ve sacrificed, you’ve given your “yes” over and over again. But it feels like you’ve reached a point where the waves have carried you to a place you didn’t expect. You feel stranded, weary, and questioning how you got here.


But the Lord is saying to you today, “This is not the end. I’m not done with you, and this place is not where your story finishes.”


In the wreckage, He is showing you what was never meant to sustain you in the first place. He’s dismantling the crutches of self-reliance, unhealthy alignments, and the illusions of stability that were built on shifting sands.


And He is using it to set you free from activity that is burning you out and leading you off course. 


You may feel empty right now, but this is where He fills you anew. This is the divine pause before the great resurgence. This is where the old mindsets and methods break off, and the raw, pure faith that you’ve been called to as a pioneer rises up.


Listen to what He’s saying to you now:


You haven’t failed. This feeling of being shipwrecked is the precursor to something greater. I’m stripping away what no longer serves you so I can establish you in a new way.


You’re not lost. I am the anchor in this season, and I’m repositioning you for what’s ahead.


This place of desolation is actually the place of rebirth. Where you feel abandoned and exhausted, I am pouring out My strength and renewing your vision.


Pioneers, the shipwreck is a setup. It’s where everything that was dead weight is left behind, and you emerge lighter, freer, and more aligned with the Spirit of God than ever before.


Even now, the Lord is saying, “I’m turning this shipwreck into a launching pad.” 


You’re not stranded—you’re being set up for a new journey, one where you’ll move with greater purpose, clarity, and authority than ever before. 


What you thought was lost in the wreckage is actually being restored in ways you cannot yet imagine.


It may feel like you’ve been led nowhere, but God is positioning you for something greater. 


So, take heart. The storm didn’t win. The waves didn’t take you out. And the shipwreck wasn’t your end—it was the beginning of something much bigger.


With you on this journey, 

—Nate




Sow A Seed

RELATED prophetic WORDS:

RELATED prophetic WORDS:

By Nate Johnston June 3, 2025
One of the greatest epidemics of the church is breaking right now. And as we start this week, I want to pray over you and prophesy into your life especially if you’ve been isolated by the enemy or been in a season of feeling very disconnected from other believers and from people. If you’ve seen attack and warfare on your relationships, marriages, your kids, and those around you… If you’ve gone through season-after-season of wrong alignments, unhealthy coverings, Sauls instead of fathers & mothers, all while being surrounded by wolves... Or if you’ve just been rejected over and over again, and it’s sent you into isolation. I believe the Lord is speaking to us all in this season. I believe we are seeing a spiritual movement both on a micro and a macro level right now to shift this tide. We’re seeing the Lord expose an assignment that has been allowed and tolerated in the body of Christ for too long. That assignment is isolation. It’s a tactic of the Jezebel spirit, one that has hidden easily within the institutional church paradigm and its thrived within the current culture of the church. But the Lord is weeding it out, exposing it, and bringing us back into the revelation of family and belonging. That truth is counteracting and unloosing the bonds of this demonic principality because people are no longer interested in a nice sermon if they have to go home and be alone in the week. This spirit has worked overtime on us. It’s a principality that hasn’t just broken apart the body of Christ into factions and denominations. It’s also stopped the most powerful voices, those carrying truth, and authority from rising into their place. It’s created a cancel culture within the church. An isolation culture. It’s created antisocial behavioral norms within the church, and we’ve accepted it for too long. But I prophesy today - That is all shifting. I prophesy it’s shifting over your life most importantly. As I was praying into this, I asked the Lord why Jezebel seems so invested in creating this kind of division and isolation. And He said that Jezebel recognizes the power and anointing that comes when the church walks in unity. That’s the macro. The Jezebel spirit knows that when believers support one another, when we link arms, there is an anointing that is unleashed. Because if it can isolate - it can assassinate. Let me say that again - If Jezebel can isolate, it can assassinate. Why do you think so many people can attend church on a Sunday and still feel utterly alone? Why is it accepted that we go to events and meetings and conferences, but still lack genuine connection? The church has often wrapped mission in religious activity, while relational connection, the very essence of family has been lost. It’s led us into pain and deep spiritual disconnection. And it’s time for this to shift. As I continued to pray, the Lord reminded me of the seasons in my own life where this spirit came after us again and again. I remembered being in churches where the nature of our calling led to sudden rejection, pushing us out of community. I remembered delivering a warning word to leaders, and immediately being outcast. I remembered being in a toxic work environment, where a Jezebel-influenced boss physically isolated me in a separate building so she could bully me. And I remembered the many times this happened in ministry spaces. It’s happened over and over again and we have all become used to it. We’ve learned to operate alone. And we’ve called it “normal” ministry life. We say the church is a family, but so many have lived as lone rangers even inside a church setting. But this is breaking now! Look at Elijah in 1 Kings 18. Jezebel threatens him. And he runs for his life. He hides in fear. He isolates. And even though God looks after him, there are a few things that take place in that moment that I believe the Lord is highlighting now as a blueprint for us. First, Elijah is fed. I see this in a few lights - one as the fresh manna from heaven and sustenance building him up again. Secondly, in light of the breaking bread of Acts 2 pointing to God leading him out of isolation. And thirdly as the bread of deliverance. Next he’s reminded of the still-small-voice because fear had drowned it out. In isolation and fear, the voice of the Lord pulls us out because we are so bombarded by lies and it’s the enemies lies that keep us there. Right now the lies that sent you there need to be broken. Then what happens? Elijah wraps his mantle around his face and leaves the cave which is prophetically representative of choosing to pick up what we dropped when we went through the pain of slander and accusation that led us to isolation in the first place. It’s picking up our calling again. Oh but it’s also more. It’s choosing to allow your heart to let people in after a season of being wounded. I believe this is the invitation from the Lord right now. To leave the cave. To leave the place of isolation. I know it’s easier said than done. I know many of you are afraid, and rightfully so. You’ve been burned. You’ve been rejected. But there is a grace right now to break this assignment of isolation and assassination that has put your gifting on pause and your purpose on the back burner. This is a season of finding your tribe. Finding the people who will lift your arms. It’s time to step out of religious, controlled environments and into true community. Into spiritual family. There is a remnant rising for this moment and we are linking arms while creating safe spaces. Pastors and leaders from all walks of life are laying their brands in the dust and choosing connection over control. It’s the Acts 2 core calling us back to breaking bread. This is the priority now. We are better together. Healthier together. Even COVID was a prophetic image of the enemy’s plan to isolate. But we’re saying no more. We will not let this spirit mute our voices or steal our destinies. We need each other. So I prophesy over you: This moment right now marks the breaking of isolation. Loneliness is breaking off of you. It’s time to find your people I prophesy this week you will feel something stirring on this front. A stirring. A longing. Your heart beginning to feel again. And bondages will break in the process. You’ll feel the shift inside and see it on the outside as God brings this into being. I prophesy - New environments, new rooms, new tables places you never imagined will open to you. God can do it in a short time. But I also challenge you , you need to step out. Start walking toward the community God has prepared for you. Because isolation is over In Jesus’ name. 
By Nate Johnston May 27, 2025
Let go. Don’t get stuck because you can’t move on without the closure of answers to why things landed the way they did. Why things fell apart and why you were left holding the broken fragments of a dream you felt God led you to. Why you were attacked so relentlessly and lost so much. Why you were shipwrecked, slandered, and feel like you have only gone backwards not forwards. I know it’s cost you everything and you don’t see what it produced yet, but unless you turn the page it won’t allow God to connect the dots and reshuffle the pages that right now feel out of order. For isn’t he the orchestrator of your life? He knows what those dark nights produced even when you didn’t. He knows what those seasons were for even though right now all you see when you look behind is dead ends and wild goose chases. But unless you turn the page you’ll never get to see the rest of the story and see Him connect all the seasons like poetry. Yes, even the hard and most painful moments He has a way of turning around if you’ll let Him. So how do you do that today? Give up. It’s where you choose to close the chapter by giving Him the pieces and questions. It’s a faith thing and the deepest surrender when it feels unjust and you don’t understand. And I know many reading this feel bottled up with grief, but today refuse to keep rehearsing or trying to do this in your own strength. The floor is the only way forward and there’s a brand new chapter waiting to unfold. It’s a call to trust. To believe that even what you can’t understand has been seen, measured, and held by a God who doesn’t waste pain. But you have been living in a chapter that ended a long time ago. The ink dried, the door closed, but your heart stayed behind trying to rewrite what already happened. Let that go. The new is already here waiting for you to choose it over the tired tape of the past you have been watching. It’s here to show you that there’s so much more ahead for you than you knew. It’s waiting to breathe life into your lungs and bring clarity and vision after the fog. So turn the page, not because you understand but because you are choosing to trust the one who’s writing it. And watch what He does with the blank space. 
By Nate Johnston June 3, 2025
One of the greatest epidemics of the church is breaking right now. And as we start this week, I want to pray over you and prophesy into your life especially if you’ve been isolated by the enemy or been in a season of feeling very disconnected from other believers and from people. If you’ve seen attack and warfare on your relationships, marriages, your kids, and those around you… If you’ve gone through season-after-season of wrong alignments, unhealthy coverings, Sauls instead of fathers & mothers, all while being surrounded by wolves... Or if you’ve just been rejected over and over again, and it’s sent you into isolation. I believe the Lord is speaking to us all in this season. I believe we are seeing a spiritual movement both on a micro and a macro level right now to shift this tide. We’re seeing the Lord expose an assignment that has been allowed and tolerated in the body of Christ for too long. That assignment is isolation. It’s a tactic of the Jezebel spirit, one that has hidden easily within the institutional church paradigm and its thrived within the current culture of the church. But the Lord is weeding it out, exposing it, and bringing us back into the revelation of family and belonging. That truth is counteracting and unloosing the bonds of this demonic principality because people are no longer interested in a nice sermon if they have to go home and be alone in the week. This spirit has worked overtime on us. It’s a principality that hasn’t just broken apart the body of Christ into factions and denominations. It’s also stopped the most powerful voices, those carrying truth, and authority from rising into their place. It’s created a cancel culture within the church. An isolation culture. It’s created antisocial behavioral norms within the church, and we’ve accepted it for too long. But I prophesy today - That is all shifting. I prophesy it’s shifting over your life most importantly. As I was praying into this, I asked the Lord why Jezebel seems so invested in creating this kind of division and isolation. And He said that Jezebel recognizes the power and anointing that comes when the church walks in unity. That’s the macro. The Jezebel spirit knows that when believers support one another, when we link arms, there is an anointing that is unleashed. Because if it can isolate - it can assassinate. Let me say that again - If Jezebel can isolate, it can assassinate. Why do you think so many people can attend church on a Sunday and still feel utterly alone? Why is it accepted that we go to events and meetings and conferences, but still lack genuine connection? The church has often wrapped mission in religious activity, while relational connection, the very essence of family has been lost. It’s led us into pain and deep spiritual disconnection. And it’s time for this to shift. As I continued to pray, the Lord reminded me of the seasons in my own life where this spirit came after us again and again. I remembered being in churches where the nature of our calling led to sudden rejection, pushing us out of community. I remembered delivering a warning word to leaders, and immediately being outcast. I remembered being in a toxic work environment, where a Jezebel-influenced boss physically isolated me in a separate building so she could bully me. And I remembered the many times this happened in ministry spaces. It’s happened over and over again and we have all become used to it. We’ve learned to operate alone. And we’ve called it “normal” ministry life. We say the church is a family, but so many have lived as lone rangers even inside a church setting. But this is breaking now! Look at Elijah in 1 Kings 18. Jezebel threatens him. And he runs for his life. He hides in fear. He isolates. And even though God looks after him, there are a few things that take place in that moment that I believe the Lord is highlighting now as a blueprint for us. First, Elijah is fed. I see this in a few lights - one as the fresh manna from heaven and sustenance building him up again. Secondly, in light of the breaking bread of Acts 2 pointing to God leading him out of isolation. And thirdly as the bread of deliverance. Next he’s reminded of the still-small-voice because fear had drowned it out. In isolation and fear, the voice of the Lord pulls us out because we are so bombarded by lies and it’s the enemies lies that keep us there. Right now the lies that sent you there need to be broken. Then what happens? Elijah wraps his mantle around his face and leaves the cave which is prophetically representative of choosing to pick up what we dropped when we went through the pain of slander and accusation that led us to isolation in the first place. It’s picking up our calling again. Oh but it’s also more. It’s choosing to allow your heart to let people in after a season of being wounded. I believe this is the invitation from the Lord right now. To leave the cave. To leave the place of isolation. I know it’s easier said than done. I know many of you are afraid, and rightfully so. You’ve been burned. You’ve been rejected. But there is a grace right now to break this assignment of isolation and assassination that has put your gifting on pause and your purpose on the back burner. This is a season of finding your tribe. Finding the people who will lift your arms. It’s time to step out of religious, controlled environments and into true community. Into spiritual family. There is a remnant rising for this moment and we are linking arms while creating safe spaces. Pastors and leaders from all walks of life are laying their brands in the dust and choosing connection over control. It’s the Acts 2 core calling us back to breaking bread. This is the priority now. We are better together. Healthier together. Even COVID was a prophetic image of the enemy’s plan to isolate. But we’re saying no more. We will not let this spirit mute our voices or steal our destinies. We need each other. So I prophesy over you: This moment right now marks the breaking of isolation. Loneliness is breaking off of you. It’s time to find your people I prophesy this week you will feel something stirring on this front. A stirring. A longing. Your heart beginning to feel again. And bondages will break in the process. You’ll feel the shift inside and see it on the outside as God brings this into being. I prophesy - New environments, new rooms, new tables places you never imagined will open to you. God can do it in a short time. But I also challenge you , you need to step out. Start walking toward the community God has prepared for you. Because isolation is over In Jesus’ name. 
By Nate Johnston May 27, 2025
Let go. Don’t get stuck because you can’t move on without the closure of answers to why things landed the way they did. Why things fell apart and why you were left holding the broken fragments of a dream you felt God led you to. Why you were attacked so relentlessly and lost so much. Why you were shipwrecked, slandered, and feel like you have only gone backwards not forwards. I know it’s cost you everything and you don’t see what it produced yet, but unless you turn the page it won’t allow God to connect the dots and reshuffle the pages that right now feel out of order. For isn’t he the orchestrator of your life? He knows what those dark nights produced even when you didn’t. He knows what those seasons were for even though right now all you see when you look behind is dead ends and wild goose chases. But unless you turn the page you’ll never get to see the rest of the story and see Him connect all the seasons like poetry. Yes, even the hard and most painful moments He has a way of turning around if you’ll let Him. So how do you do that today? Give up. It’s where you choose to close the chapter by giving Him the pieces and questions. It’s a faith thing and the deepest surrender when it feels unjust and you don’t understand. And I know many reading this feel bottled up with grief, but today refuse to keep rehearsing or trying to do this in your own strength. The floor is the only way forward and there’s a brand new chapter waiting to unfold. It’s a call to trust. To believe that even what you can’t understand has been seen, measured, and held by a God who doesn’t waste pain. But you have been living in a chapter that ended a long time ago. The ink dried, the door closed, but your heart stayed behind trying to rewrite what already happened. Let that go. The new is already here waiting for you to choose it over the tired tape of the past you have been watching. It’s here to show you that there’s so much more ahead for you than you knew. It’s waiting to breathe life into your lungs and bring clarity and vision after the fog. So turn the page, not because you understand but because you are choosing to trust the one who’s writing it. And watch what He does with the blank space. 
By Nate Johnston May 27, 2025
As we start this week, I have a word for many out there: Don’t miss your burning bush season. Or maybe I should say, don’t overlook your burning bush season. Don’t miss it. We often look at seasons where things don’t add up or make sense and diagnose them as seasons of waiting, seasons we’re just trying to survive until we get to the next destination, the next stop. We don’t always see the richness of what God is depositing in each season. In the last few days, I keep hearing this: Don’t miss your burning bush season. Remember the story of Moses? He was tending his father-in-law’s sheep in the wilderness when he saw the burning bush. He was simply doing his job, satisfied in it when suddenly, there was an encounter with God. And God pulled him out out of the wilderness, out of that environment, out of that situation, out of the guilt and shame of his past. God pulled him out and gave him an assignment. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law… and the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.” - Exodus 3:1–2 “God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’” - Exodus 3:4 He was simply doing his job, when suddenly, there was an encounter with God. And God pulled him out of the wilderness, out of that environment, out of that situation, out of the guilt and shame of his past. God pulled him out and gave him an assignment. “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” - Exodus 3:10 And I believe we are in a moment right now that, to many, feels like a standstill. It feels like a hiatus after a long season of pioneering for the Lord, one that has strangely led to this place of wilderness. As I’ve been sharing for a while, we’ve been in a Hosea 2 season, where the Lord has been leading the Church back into the wilderness. That wilderness has been necessary for you. You’ve needed respite. You’ve needed refreshing. You’ve needed to break away from the hustle so God could reset you and bring you back to encounter, which is the ultimate reset. That’s what truly resets you. You’ve taken on so many mantles and jackets—Saul’s armor—for years. You don’t know which way is up anymore, or what your assignment is, who you’re called to, or who you’re not called to. You don’t know where your alignments are meant to be. You’ve had your hands in too many pies, your feet muddy from too many places. You’ve been slimed, slandered. You’ve walked through heartache, difficulty, betrayal. Yet, you’ve felt the compulsion to step into anything just to feel like you’re not lost. But no, the wilderness has been necessary to set you free. Here’s what you need to know: the wilderness can shift quickly because the wilderness leads to encounter, and encounter launches you into your new assignment. I say this over you and prophesy: you are in a very small window of time where the Lord is doing a massive work. The time isn’t long but the work is deep. Let me say that again: the time isn’t long, but the work is deep. God is going deep generationally. This isn’t a short cleanup process. God is going deep into your life, and He wants to set your feet on a new foundation. That’s right this season you’re in right now is a season of a brand-new slab being laid in your life. A new foundation. What is foundation? It’s where God gets you ready, gears you up for the new thing He’s going to build in your life, around you, and through you. Last year, we went to Australia, and the Lord gave me a dream: two towers crumbling to the ground. He said, “You’re at ground zero.” That’s what this is—a ground zero. A new slab has been laid in your life. God is going low and slow right now. He’s getting you ready because many of us have built for years without a foundation—without solid structure or deep roots. So God’s been setting that right for the new season, and for the Church. But we often misdiagnose seasons of fresh foundation as stagnancy, when they’re anything but. When the Lord sets your heart right, He aligns you to a rhythm and a synergy you didn’t know in the past season. He sharpens your discernment your ability to see and know what’s true. He leads you to the right people, right places, and right environments. I believe one key part of this new foundation is that God is leading many out of loneliness and isolation. He’s not just setting your feet upon the rock of salvation He’s breaking off orphan mentalities, the hustle, the striving and leading you into an Acts 2 infrastructure: community, family, people who hold your arms up so you can thrive. This foundation includes restoration God restoring the years the locusts have eaten. And He’s doing that right now. Now for the weighty part of this word: That moment with Moses at the burning bush was more significant than we often realize. It was like Elisha being mantled by Elijah a sudden shift into his true calling. In that moment, God told Moses: “ Go. Set my people free.” And Moses responded, “But God, I don’t know how to speak.” God replied, “When you go, I will give you the words. I will give you signs. I will give you the power.” “Moses said to the Lord, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent…’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Who gave human beings their mouths?… Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.’” - Exodus 4:10–12 He didn’t just send Moses on an impossible mission. He backed him with the power of heaven. And I feel the word of the Lord right now for many who have been in this season of waiting: You have been fashioned and formed to be a voice for the Lord in this next season. To set the Church free. To set the bound free. God is raising up unconventional, unusual, untrained voices who carry His heart. And I prophesy, in the mighty name of Jesus: this is your burning bush season. You are stepping out of the wilderness and into the bold voice God has called you to be. Let me go one step further: This week look. Look for the signs in your life of breakout. Look for the moments. The encounters. Because that’s where God is waiting for you. You’re looking for external change, for doors to open. But you’re missing the door that’s already swung wide open: the door of encounter. The door to the secret place. The door that leads into the tent of meeting. That’s what I’m calling you to. That’s what God is commissioning you into - a season of intimacy and encounter. So let me prophesy over your - this week, your wilderness shifts. It shifts from waiting to encounter, from wandering aimlessly to walking in clarity. The fog lifts. The silence breaks. Heaven is speaking. Dreams come now! Insight floods your spirit like a rushing river. May the full healing of the wilderness come—so the rest, the restoration, the commissioning can follow. Lord, raise up your wild voices. Those untrained by man but marked by fire. Those who have met You in hidden places. Let them rise now, rooted, ready, and roaring in Jesus’ name. Amen. 
By Nate Johnston May 21, 2025
You feel things others can’t. You walk into a room and sense the atmosphere shift. You carry burdens that aren’t yours—and you know it. You’ve been called to discern, but not left without direction. You are a Prophetic Feeler. And it's time to get equipped. On July 1st, we officially launch FIREBRAND —a powerful, unapologetic prophetic training course designed specifically for the prophetic feeler. This isn’t just a class. It’s a spiritual bootcamp. A forge. A furnace. A place where your gift is refined, understood, and weaponized for Kingdom impact. Inside FIREBRAND, you’ll: 🔥 Learn how to steward your discernment without burnout 🔥 Understand the spiritual mechanics of what you’re feeling 🔥 Develop prophetic confidence, clarity, and authority 🔥 Discover how to navigate spiritual warfare with wisdom 🔥 Connect with a tribe that speaks your spiritual language If you’ve ever felt alone in your gift—like no one quite gets what you carry—FIREBRAND was made for you. July 1st is the beginning of your firewalking. Are you ready? 🔗 Reserve Your Spot Now! No more confusion. No more carrying what isn’t yours. It’s time to train. It’s time to burn. You are a FIREBRAND.