Steve Uppal: Why I’ve issued a ‘sober warning for the Church’

The Church is asleep. We need to adopt a wartime mentality. Trouble is ahead.

That’s according to Steve and Esther Uppal in their newly released YouTube video entitled, ‘Sober Urgent Warning For The Church’.

Steve and Esther lead All Nations Church, a large evangelical church in Wolverhampton. While they believe in prophetic ministry, they don’t make a habit of releasing videos quite like this. It contain alarming predictions that “major unrest” and “real disruption” are around the corner.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the attention grabbing title has led to the video racking up 130,000 views in just a matter of days. Some will be intrigued to learn their warning follows a similar message just a few weeks ago from 24-7 prayer leader Pete Greig.

What are Christians to make of warnings like this? Are they biblical? I spoke to the church leader to find out the backstory and ask how he’d answer critics who worry his message will sow fear.

What made you produce this video?

I had a very strong nudge from the Holy Spirit to record a video and to give the church a sober… I hate to use the word “warning”. It’s not like I think I’m somebody to warn the Church, but I felt like what we were sensing needed others to pay attention in this hour.

When we put something on YouTube, we might get like 400-500 views. But this video is sitting at 80,000 views right now. The way people have resonated with it has totally shocked us. Part of me thinks it might just be the Lord that touched it for that to happen.

I also fight against clickbait and I say to our team, “I don’t want any clickbait.” So I I’ve been surprised at the response it’s had and the messages I’ve had from some national leaders.

In the video you and Esther speak about “great shakings and disruption”, “days of great change and challenge”, “real unrest”. You say “things are going to change especially in 2027” but you don’t give any clarity on what these “things” mean in practice. Have you made any more progress in discerning the specifics?

We are praying into it. I’m reluctant to give somebody something that I don’t either have permission to say yet, or I don’t have full clarity on.

A number of times over the last two years, I have had a very strong sense that civil unrest - I wouldn’t go as far as to call it civil war - is coming. But I actually think it’s going to be a combination of things. I think maybe there’ll be two, three or four things combined that causes the disruption.

I saw a news article on Monday of Kemi [Badenoch] warning conflict [with Russia] is coming, and I was like, Oh, wow! I’ve seen a few headlines like that in the last few days.

Isn’t the danger with a video like this that you scare people? Especially when there’s talk of having a dream and seeing a giant tsunami, or when you use words like “civil unrest”.

It gets a person’s attention. You could say the same when Jesus said in Matthew 24, earthquakes are coming, nation will rise against nation. You could go through that whole list and say, “You’re just scaring people, is that good?” He’s proclaiming truth prophetically about the end times, and it could cause fear to rise.

We’re drunk - maybe not on alcohol - but on entertainment, our own success, our own schedules

[That’s why we need to] live in a place of closeness to the Father, because I can honestly say I have no fear over these things.

This is biblical. It’s not for fear-mongering, it’s for pointing people back into their New Testament reality of relationship with God.

Let’s assume you’re correct that disruption is coming. And let’s assume your warning reaches Christians in the UK. What are you expecting Christians might do differently as a result of hearing your words?

Very good point. And that’s why I would say the response [to the warning] is more important than the details of what’s coming.

I’ve been preaching this very intensively everywhere I travel - stop building empire.

The idea of empire is very subtle because I can look like I’m doing the work of the kingdom, but actually I’m more focused on my thing and not aware that the King is doing something much broader. Let’s not focus on building our empire at the detriment of the kingdom. The kingdom has to come first.

What does the King want in my town or city? If I’m a national leader, where can there be collaboration, unity and walking together? That in itself actually deals with multiple spiritual warfare issues. When I walk in unity and want the King’s desires first, that shuts the door to the enemy in my town.

Secondly, we need to live with a wartime mentality. I actually think this should always be on the cards for every generation of believers. A settled conviction that we’re in a conflict. This is not a holiday, so priorities are ordered, comforts are held loosely, and every resource is spent on what advances the cause. I actually think that’s New Testament Christianity.

Yes, that way of living should arguably be normal for Christians. But you’re saying that, if there’s difficulty ahead, it should focus the mind and drive us back to what’s important?

100%. Trying to train when the battle has already started is so much more difficult.

I don’t have the que sera, sera attitude of “whatever will be, will be”. I think the Lord looks for people who are praying. I think the readiness is far more important than we realise. There’s a mental readiness, there’s a spiritual readiness, there’s a lifestyle readiness, there’s a unity readiness. Churches and congregations mobilising their people in the place of prayer, living lives that are outward facing to their neighbours. All of that is critical before some of these things begin, because then it’s lifestyle. So instead of trying to learn new spiritual skills or develop a listening ear to the Holy Spirit, these are things I’ve been living in for months or years, and now I’m ready for what’s coming.

Trying to mobilise an army that hasn’t even gathered, doesn’t understand the battle, doesn’t really give any ear [to the fact] that we’re in a warfare [is very hard].

I’ve heard lots of people warn that the Church is asleep. RT Kendall wrote for us on that subject back in 2017 and others have said similarly. But what do you mean by that phrase?

When you’re asleep, you don’t know you’re asleep. You’re unaware of what’s happening around you. It’s what Paul would say in Romans 13:11 – it’s time to wake up from your slumber. The times are urgent, clothe yourself with Christ, put aside the deeds of darkness.

When we’re asleep spiritually, we start embracing lifestyle decisions that are not appropriate for a believer. They might be acceptable in the Christian world. I could sit in front of a TV and watch violence and murder as entertainment. I could even watch soft porn as entertainment and it not prick my conscience, because my conscience has been seared by the culture. I can adopt the values of the culture I live in: materialism, entertainment and everything 1 John 2 speaks about - people who are full of the pride of life and lust of the eyes. But actually, when I’m asleep, I don’t even realise this is happening.

The conscience is no longer sensitive to the things that, for centuries, Christians have always held high integrity in their lifestyle. Sin has crept in. I think in the church, compromise has come in massively, as with national leaders and denominations. There is such a pride of life and such a building of our platforms, and because everybody’s doing it, we don’t think there’s anything wrong in it. So I’m saying: “Wake up! The King has to be first. Listen to what the King is saying.” Let there be a restoration of what has always been basic Christianity. We’ve slipped so far from it, we don’t realise it’s basic Christianity.

When you talk about building platforms, are you thinking of social media and the way this technology often causes us to become obsessed with ourselves and with metrics such as likes, followers and views?

I’m obviously not against having a YouTube channel or having an internet presence but I think it goes back to motivation and heart. It comes back to the inner questions that really nobody can tell. You can have two platforms being built side-by-side and they look identical, but actually, when the Father looks at them, one of them He has given permission to build what they build; the second one has been built on human effort, but it looks Christian and it says all the right things. One of them will last into eternity in the fruit that it bears, and the other one will come crashing down because it’s not built on good foundations.

When you’re asleep, you don’t know you’re asleep. You’re unaware of what’s happening around you

I think there’s a transition [away from] an old wineskin, which has been very platform oriented - can I build my profile or network? God is doing away with those leaders that only want to serve themselves, and He’s going to find a new breed that are going to walk in humility to serve His purposes. I would call this part of the reformation that we’re in. I’ve studied the Great Reformation [which happened] 500 years ago, and I think much of what was happening then can be shadowed and paralleled in what’s happening now. I actually think that a great divide will probably happen again within the Church. It’s not pleasant, but [it needs to happen] when people have their money or their reputation to protect in a way that’s self preserving.

I watch my own heart in this. I’m not saying I am totally cured from all of these. It has pulled on my heart to watch every day [the views on] that YouTube video keep going up. And so, our prayer life is, “Father, we won’t release another one unless you want us to.” I’ve watched other ministries have a word from the Lord, but a few years down the road, they’re so keen to build the platform, they’re now making up things or regurgitating things. I don’t want to do that.

We recently reported on how the leader of 24-7 prayer, Pete Greig spoke at Wildfires and warned people to “prepare for war”. It has some similarities with what you’re saying. Have you seen it?

I still haven’t read it, though I mean to. It’s just been a very, very full few days with other stuff that was in the calendar.

Some will be wondering if it’s significant that two leaders with national presence and profile in the UK Church, apparently independently of one another, are giving a similar warning. What do you think?

I think it could be, and I’d probably add probably 5-15 other people who’ve said similar things who either don’t have much profile or some of them have been discredited because they’re a bit weird in the prophetic realm. I tend to straddle quite a few camps. We are strongly, straight down the line evangelical, so I think people may pay a bit more attention.

Some have taught that prophecy today is only for building people up and encouraging them. Do you believe a prophetic word can be a warning as well?

Yeah, I think I would have held to [the view that prophecy is only encouraging] a while ago, but I think the more that I read history and the New Testament [I’ve changed my mind]. Was it encouraging to hear about famine? [Acts 11] It’s not encouraging that somebody had a dream about a famine. It’s not an edifying word, but it actually leads to preparation for what’s coming. And I would say the same when Agabus could tell what was going to happen to Paul [Acts 21] - that’s not an encouraging or an edifying word.

I do understand why pastors want to teach [that prophecy should only be positive] because it keeps craziness away from the congregation. But I actually think there’s enough examples in the New Testament to say, yes, [positivity] is probably where we should live most of the time, but there’s enough dreams and warnings and words that actually help us to prepare for what’s coming.

This shouldn’t cause us to hide or become fearful. It should cause us to live sober-minded, alert and with self-control (see 1 Peter 4:7). Those things are critical. I think we’ve let go of our soberness. We’re drunk - maybe not on alcohol - but on entertainment, our own success, our own schedules. Anything can intoxicate us, and the Lord is saying, “Hey, wake up!” Sober-mindedness is needed.