Control the Streets, Control the Culture

Blythe Harper was a mentor in 1972-73 when I was studying and doing missions work in New Zealand. He ran the Christian bookstore in downtown Auckland and served as a leading organizer of a national “Jesus March” movement.

During that time, believers in Kiwiland took to the streets to lift up the Name of Jesus, bind the principalities and powers, place Bibles in every home, and bring “shalom” to their country.

It worked. New Zealand was a blessed nation during that era and made a huge contribution to global missions. Why? They understand that if you control the streets you control the culture. 

We must re-learn that lesson in the 2020’s.

Control the Streets, Control the Culture

The Bible teaches that power and authority come from our presence–walking, praying, worshipping in the land.

God told Abraham in Genesis 13:17:

“Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

This command from God was a spiritual act of taking ownership, walking through the promised land of Canaan to claim it by faith. 

Moses reiterated the promise to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 11:24:

“Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your borders be.”

So did Joshua:

“I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses” (Joshua 1:3). 

An overview of these passages explains:

“Wherever your foot shall tread” refers to a promise from God in the Bible that the Israelites would possess the land where they walked, symbolizing divine assurance of victory, inheritance, and the need for faithful action to claim blessings. It’s a recurring phrase indicating that God gives believers authority and territory to claim through obedient steps, from the physical land for the Israelites to spiritual inheritance in Christ.

During the 1970s to 90s there was a great emphasis on Jesus Marches, large prayer gatherings, and preaching in the streets of many nations. Millions of people came to Jesus during that generation and the world was relatively at peace.

Today, the forces of darkness are trying to keep people of faith out of the streets because they know the power of lifting up Jesus’ Name.

Here’s a recent example from the UK: (Prophecy News Watch).

Britain has always claimed to be a land of faith and freedom–but those words ring hollow in Whitechapel. A planned “Walk With Jesus” march has been banned, not because it is illegal or violent, but because authorities fear it might offend others. Peaceful Christians are now being told they cannot proclaim their faith in public without risking arrest. This is more than a local police decision; it is a warning about the direction of an entire nation.

The Metropolitan Police’s decision to halt the event, scheduled for January 31, centers on Whitechapel’s large Muslim population. Organizers promoted the procession as a Christian worship event during what they called “the month dedicated to the holy name of Jesus.” Yet, authorities deemed marching there “reckless,” citing intelligence suggesting a hostile reaction that could lead to disorder. The march can proceed elsewhere–but not in the neighborhood chosen by the faithful.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman emphasized that the decision rested solely on public safety, not politics or offense. Anyone defying the ban would face arrest. But even framed as a safety precaution, the message is clear: in certain neighborhoods, publicly walking with Jesus is too dangerous for Britain to allow.

The troubling reality is that this ban sets a dangerous precedent for Christian expression. Public worship is no longer protected simply because it is peaceful and lawful; it is now conditional on whether it might provoke others. The message is unmistakable: if your faith risks offending someone, you must stay silent, stay home, or march somewhere “safe.” This is not neutrality–it is a surrender of fundamental rights.

The devil wants to “control the streets” so his forces can destroy the present culture.

Now you know why the anti-ICE demonstrations are taking place in Minneapolis and other cities. Dark forces want to control the streets. Here’s the anti-law and order idea behind it as explained by Daniel McCarthy.

The Unspoken Logic of the Anti-ICE Mob

A basic question all Americans should ask themselves before they draw any other conclusions about events in Minneapolis is this: when is it right to interfere with law enforcement?

The consequences of doing so are, obviously, potentially grave, even fatal. Obstructing or harassing officers of the law could put their lives in danger as well as yours, and bystanders’ as well. Law enforcement, of necessity, involves risks and the potential for violence, which officers are authorized to use and criminals — or third parties — are not.

One side in the Minneapolis turmoil does not accept these premises, or at least doesn’t accept they apply when the laws to be upheld are laws that leftists don’t like.

But that reasoning, such as it is, doesn’t go far enough: even if one thinks the laws are wrong, there are other moral considerations that apply, such as whether there aren’t other ways to fix the law that don’t involve endangering police or anyone else. Why not vote? Why not make a reasoned case to your fellow citizens that they should elect lawmakers to change the policy?

The use of mobs to intimidate designated enemies and overawe the forces of law is historically characteristic of fascism and other revolutionary movements. What the anti-ICE coalition represents is a revolutionary system. That system is one in which left-wing activists decide which laws may be enforced, using mobs and harassment networks to enforce their own decrees. The choice in Minneapolis is not between law and freedom, it’s between two different versions of power and legitimacy.

The old constitutional order derived legitimacy from the people’s choices in elections, and that legitimacy both authorized police to use coercion and provided legal and political restraints upon them. The radical new order derives its legitimacy from a claim that progressive morality is a superior morality, and so progressives have the natural authority to make and enforce rules for everyone, using any means necessary.

The old constitutional system separated government and civil society, giving the former coercive power but subjecting it to legal and electoral limitations, while civil society was free to ignore the Bill of Rights but had little right to use force. The new system that lies behind the anti-ICE movement unites private power and government coercion, using one when the other is not available, but employing both whenever possible.

Thinkers like Michael Walsh and Angelo Codevilla have used the term “cold civil war” to describe America’s condition today. America’s cold civil war is between rival governments, one formal and constitutional, the other hybrid and unlike anything seen in traditional political science.

Leftists (atheism/secularism) are taking to the streets to sow mayhem in the USA and “control” its direction into socialism/communism.

Followers of Jesus don’t believe in using violence or force. That’s the domain of government (Romans 13). But as this “cold civil war” intensifies, believers must “overcome evil with good:”

• Prayer map and walk the streets of their town, city, and county.
• Take authority over the spiritual darkness with Jesus marches, prayer and praise gatherings, and preaching and works of compassion in the streets.

Whoever is most motivated and disciplined to “take it to the streets” will win the culture in the 2020’s.

What would God have you do?