Rebuilding Family Altars
About this episode
Pastor Rich Butler of Hope Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, joins Philip Cameron to deliver a timely and urgent message on rebuilding family altars in an age of cultural collapse. Rich shares how a Holy Spirit whisper during a pastoral Zoom call launched his church into a year-long pursuit of what he calls "the ancient paths" — drawn directly from Jeremiah 6, where the prophet urges God's people to "ask for the ancient paths, and where the good way is, and walk in it." Rich unpacks how Hope Church is not only teaching families to build altars at home but is literally tearing down pagan altars in Greenville, South Carolina — converting a notorious strip club into a new campus for worship. He draws on Deuteronomy 6 to show how Moses commanded Israel to apply God's culture to their hands, foreheads, doorposts, and gates — four practical areas every family can reclaim today. "If you are not bowing down at the altar of the most high God," Rich warns, "you inevitably are bowing down to an altar in your culture." This episode is essential viewing for parents, pastors, and anyone fighting for their family in a dark season. Learn more about Hope Church at hopesc.org.
Part of our Church collection of conversations.
Quotes worth sharing
“He said, Rich, the way forward in 2023 is the way back. And I knew in my spirit what he was saying instantly. He took me to Jeremiah chapter six, and this is what the prophet says: stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths and where the good way is and walk in it. And when you walk in it, you'll find rest for your souls.”
“If you don't build an altar in your family, and if you don't commit to establishing your home in the fear of the Lord, you will eventually collapse under the culture of Canaan.”
“If everybody bows down, like Daniel and his three friends, we'll stay standing. Because I love the personal, private relationship with God. But if your personal relationship with God doesn't cause you to stay standing when everybody else bows down to the cultural idols in our society, we're in big trouble. The family's in big trouble.”
What's Discussed
Pastor Rich Butler of Hope Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, shares how a Holy Spirit prompting during a pastoral Zoom call led him to Jeremiah 6 and the call to walk 'the ancient paths.' He teaches from Deuteronomy 6 that families must apply God's culture to their hands, minds, homes, and gates to resist cultural idolatry. Rich also reveals that Hope Church is converting a notorious Greenville strip club — tied up in South Carolina Supreme Court litigation — into a new worship campus, fulfilling a prophetic word about a 'colt tied up' that Jesus would untie and ride into the city.
- Holy Spirit's Call to the Ancient Paths
- Jeremiah 6 and the Crossroads Prophecy
- Corporate Altar Culture at Hope Church
- Strip Club Redeemed as Greenville Campus
- Deuteronomy 6 and Occupying Through Fear of the Lord
- Four Gates Families Must Guard
- Fear of the Lord as Revival's Hallmark
Scripture in this episode
Episode Transcript
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Intro
Philip:Hello, my friends. Welcome to Daily Faith. My name is Philip Cameron and we are so happy to have you with us. We've got a great program today. I believe that God's gonna speak into your life. God sends people to bring a word, a rhema into your spirit. The reason why this program is called Daily Faith is because I've recognized in the world we live in, you need an agreement, you need a power of agreement.
Philip:My dad was my hero. He was a great man, a tremendous preacher, and one of Scotland's greatest of all time. My dad was an amazing auditor. I miss him still. He's been gone for 22 years. And you can't replace those things in your life. And when he passed away, I was lost for several months. And a dear pastor, a friend, an elder in my life came and said, you know, what's wrong with you, Philip, right now? I was lost. And he said, you've lost your power of agreement. And it hit me.
Philip:Suddenly my dad made me feel immortal. Whatever I believed God for, he would say, sure, you could do that. Absolutely, yes. And he would call me up almost every day and say, what are you doing for God today? What's the next thing you do? What's the next vision you have? Pushing, he would probably poke me. And when he left, I had this void, a loss of a power of agreement.
Philip:What you need in your life is someone to believe with you and agree with you and say, heck yes, you could do that. Yes, you can do that. That's well within your ability. And that power of agreement — we want Daily Faith to be your power of agreement that God is on your side today. He's not working against you. He's not under the table pulling strings, trying to stop you. He's on top of the table saying, you are mine. You are the apple of my eye. Nothing can separate you from my love. I will meet your need according to my riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philip:And if you understand that, if you grasp the fact that God's leaning towards you, man, there's nothing you can't do for the kingdom of God. And that's a promise. My son Andrew gave me this new hat — Orphan's Hands. See that right there? Can you see that on the screen? I dunno if you can see that or not. We've got a whole bunch of new merchandise, and this is Andrew's world. And if you go to our Daily Faith TV and go to the shop part, there's t-shirts and there's hoodies. Now you Americans mispronounce it — it's not hoodie. That's when like someone's choking you, hoodie. No, it's a hoodie, not hoo. And the blowfish hoodie. I dunno why I waste my time with you all. Sometimes you folks just talk funny. They're gonna talk funny all your life. There's nothing I can do anyway.
Philip:If you go to dailyfaith.tv, you'll see some of the stuff we have there. And by getting that, you're helping us in our mission work. Talking of which, we have just had an amazing season in the last few weeks. My wife Chrissy and my son Andrew and my grandson Ro went to Moldova, and we're part of the mission team there. Andrew went to Ukraine, to Odessa, and fed a thousand people. And he came back for a couple of days and we got an urgent appeal from a pastor and his wife from Istanbul, whose friends and churches down in the area where the earthquakes were happening. The lives have been devastated. One pastor that we learned of had lost every single person in their church. Everybody was killed in this earthquake.
Philip:Tens upon tens of thousands have been found, and tens upon tens upon tens of thousands are still buried under the rubble. One city Andrew went to — 1.6 million people, 90% of the place was destroyed. And it's just unbelievable. So we are involved in that. And you'll be watching the pictures as I'm talking to you. But in the middle of all that, a widow came to us. Rodica is her name, and she has lost her husband. She's got four kids living in a mud hut, a mud house made of dung and mud, freezing in the winter's cold in Moldova.
Philip:And in the middle of the big stuff we were doing, in the middle of feeding all the people in Turkey — and we brought tents for them and all the stuff we did there — and in the meantime caring now for over a year for thousands of refugees from Ukraine, this widow woman came and they asked if we could help. And we rebuilt her house. Watch what Orphan's Hands has done. All of the kids you are gonna see in this video are orphans that we've rescued, orphans who are rescued now becoming rescuers. You will be blessed by this video. Watch this.
The widow who lived in a house with walls and floors made from mud and dung, with the glass and the doors broken, and the frigid air that has no mercy for her young family existing there along with four kids whose future was being robbed every day by the awful grin of poverty. Orphan's Hands is fighting bigger battles than what Rodica faced.
Individually, we continue to bring aid to the untold thousands of refugee families in Ukraine and those who are stranded in Moldova. Our plate is full. But when her plight was brought to us, we could not ignore her need and say we couldn't help. We know we must do something to alleviate the suffering of Rodica and her four precious kids.
In the past, we have repaired homes where families suffer by what we call a miraculous makeover. We decided to do the same for this broken family. It is a privilege to be part of such a miracle. Hands on, our young men and women from Vara Village worked hard to give Rodica and her family a place they can now call home. They got to let her know that she's loved by God and his people. We repaired her broken walls, filled the broken windows with new glass, and in only a few days transformed her despair to joy. New beds, tables, chairs, rugs, and a new sofa.
We were able to bless them because you care, and your giving made it possible. We know God's heart will be moved by your sacrifice. We love your heart for others. Thank you.
Philip:There's an old song I love — O to be his hand extended, reaching out to the oppressed. And what you've seen in that video is orphans rejected, discarded, told every day of their life you're garbage, nothing plus nothing will always be nothing. You'll never do anything worthwhile. And God uses our ministry to change their lives, to make them see differently, to make them givers. And they go into a village, they're feeding refugees from Ukraine.
Philip:A team went to Turkey and spent a week and a half just feeding people, buying boxes of supplies and giving it away. Thousands of boxes in the back of a van. There they are doing it. But when a widow called and said, I have nowhere to go, my kids are freezing, what can I do? Those orphan kids turned their world around to go and help her. We need your help to keep this going. This is way bigger than we are. We're not a big ministry. We've got a big heart and we love to reach him. We'll reach as far as we can until we break, but we will be his hand extended.
Philip:We will be his hand extended. And if you'd like to help us, whether you want to give and you can — earmark Constant Care, which is what we call our ministry to Rodica and widows like this. We also support an entire colony of blind people who all live together, and our kids go there and clean their homes. You can only imagine the mess that they have and the poverty they live in. And then we also go to Turkey. We're gonna go back there, but we need to get more tents and more. In fact, the pastor called us just the other day asking for more food and more tents.
Philip:All the tents we provided are full. And these people are living on the sidewalk with a plastic tarp over their heads because there's no homes for them to live in. They won't go back in — if the house isn't flattened and it's standing, they won't go back in, in case it collapses when they're inside it. So if you'd like to help us, you can give towards the Ukrainian refugees, you can give towards Constant Care, which is the love outreach that we have to those in need in Moldova. If you'd like to help us in Turkey earthquake relief, I need you to help me today keep this ministry going, to expand our reach to these folks in need.
Philip:Our address is very simple. Make a check out to Orphan's Hands, PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. Simple — PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. You can actually call 833-Daily Faith. Just dial 833 and then spell out Daily Faith on your phone and you'll get a real live person to talk to you. Or you can go directly to dailyfaith.tv and there's a giving page right there.
Philip:That you can make a tremendous difference. A little gift from you — our food packets are costing $30 now. That's not a lot. Ministries will say for $30 we can do this. I'm telling you, it's costing us $30 to do this. There's a whole lot of difference between the two things. Trust me. The difference between it'll — we can do that if you give us $30, it may cost them $4 to do it. It's costing us $30 per 40-pound box of food to give out to these folks in need. So let the Lord speak to you. And I believe if you are obedient to his voice inside your heart, that God will meet the need we're facing as we speak every day. We've gotta keep our food lines open to help those that have lost everything. So please let the Lord speak.
Philip:Rich Butler is Pastor of Hope Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina. And he has a tremendous ministry and he's doing some crazy things. I love preachers that do crazy things for the kingdom of God. And this pastor is doing it, and he's been on with us before on Daily Faith. And I am so honored to have you back with us. Rich, welcome to Daily Faith, my friend. How are you doing?
Rich Butler:I'm doing well, Philip. Thanks for having me on. I'm so touched every time I see a broadcast and hear from you guys, just the work you're doing around the world — you love us, how you're touching the heart of God by caring about the things he cares about. So it's just always an honor. It's humbling to be with you today. So thanks for having me on.
Philip:Well, I've learned in my life, if you just do what Jesus wants you to do, that's all you need to do. It doesn't have to be complicated or fancy, just be obedient. And when you see the world through his heart, doing the things — this Turkey earthquake is just mind boggling. Just the devastation is mind boggling. And it overwhelms us to see the need, but we'll keep going and keep doing what we can as much as we can.
Holy Spirit's Call to the Ancient Paths
Philip:You have a great church in Spartanburg and the Lord's been using you to speak to this church. I believe one of the most important things that's needed in America today is rebuilding the family altar, because we are seeing the family destroyed and devastated by the darkness that is spewing out across this country. And the only bastion, the only bulwark, the wall of defense we have is the family altar. Tell us what God's been sharing with you about that, Rich.
Rich Butler:So last year I was on a Zoom call with several pastors around the country and the purpose of the call was to talk about how to navigate churches in a post-COVID climate. And a lot of the call was about how do we innovate? How do we maximize technology? How do we sort of dance around some of the cultural roadblocks that are going on right now? And in the midst of having those conversations, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me this — he said, Rich, the way forward in 2023 is the way back.
Rich Butler:And I knew in my spirit what he was saying instantly. He took me to Jeremiah chapter six, and this is what the prophet says: stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths and where the good way is and walk in it. And when you walk in it, you'll find rest for your souls. And right before God's people went into captivity, that was a prophetic word for them, and they responded collectively, we will not walk in the ancient paths. And I felt like the Lord said to us, as a church, in a season where technology is on the rise and we have quicker, faster ways to get from here to there, the way forward is the way back.
Jeremiah 6 and the Crossroads Prophecy
Rich Butler:And one of the ancient paths that we've been prioritizing and teaching on since January 1, which was a Sunday of 2023, is the ancient path of building altars. Now we're a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled church. So that portion of our worship that centers right in front of the platform, which we call the altar, is not just a religious space for us. We work that altar, because I happen to believe that if you can get people to an altar, then God can alter the trajectory of their lives — more than a worship song, more than a sermon. Getting people, convincing people — if you'll surrender and sacrifice yourself, and maybe even your dignity, on this altar and get a touch from God.
Corporate Altar Culture at Hope Church
Rich Butler:And so we've seen miracles, we've seen healings. In fact, this coming Easter next weekend across all three of our campuses, the Lord said, I want you to build me an altar where I can demonstrate the power of the resurrection again. We'll have our pastels on and we'll have candy for the kids. But more than dialing it down on Easter, we're believing that the power of the resurrection is gonna punch the enemy right in the mouth at the altar.
Rich Butler:So we've just come out of a series called Building Family Altars, teaching people that it's not just the hour and a half once a week, what God does in a corporate service, but God is calling us back to build altars in our homes, to make sacrifices before the Lord, letting the presence and power of God absolutely touch families again in light of a dark and decaying culture that we're in.
Philip:That is so important. And the thing is, what happens when you rebuild the altar? If you look through scripture, before they rebuilt the altar, they usually would pull down the pagan altars first. They would destroy the gods and the altars to the gods of the heathen, and they would then replace it with their altar. And we need — in fact, you told me just before coming on the air, your church has been involved in a ridiculous thing regarding an altar and you're tearing down some altars this week. Please explain to the people the insane thing that your church has been involved with. Listen to this — this is gonna blow your mind.
Strip Club Redeemed as Greenville Campus
Rich Butler:So our church is 36 years old. Pastor Tony and Tammy Cribb stepped out and planted a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled church. And God's just done incredible things. And we've always had kind of an apostolic edge, taking territory. At one time we owned a mall in Spartanburg, an expo center for the community. But when we went multi-site about six years ago, God began to talk to us about the cities that were on his heart. And we just said yes when we heard cries coming from the city. So we had a campus in Spartanburg and one in Simpsonville, in South Greenville County.
Rich Butler:But we had been praying about going to Greenville, and God sent us an incredible family as campus pastors, and we began to pray and talk — God, where is the place that you want to call home in Greenville? Where can we build a house for you in Greenville? And if you know anything about Greenville, real estate's hard to come by. It's very expensive. It's complicated. And while we were praying, the Lord said to us, it will be like a colt — C-O-L-T — that is tied up, that Jesus himself will untie and ride into the city of Greenville.
Rich Butler:Well, there's an incredible fabric of the church in Greenville. There's some amazing moves of God going on. So we're not starting anything new, we're just joining what's already being done there. But we began to pray — God, give us a building. And there was a building that never really crossed our mind. It's a notorious strip club, a former strip club that has been really a bruise on our community for decades. Intercessors and churches have been praying for a long time that God would shut that down and release it into the hands of the righteous.
Rich Butler:Well, listen, folks — coming tied from the South Carolina Supreme Court had this building locked up through litigation and some other things. And there was a Greenville news article that came out that said, this notorious strip club gets untied from South Carolina Supreme Court. And we just knew in our spirit when we heard that word — this was in fact the colt that had been tied up. We're in renovation right now, and this will be the future home of the Hope Greenville campus. And already the testimonies are flooding in of redemption, and it's just the gathering of the first fruits of the harvest, I believe.
Philip:So what you've done is you literally are converting and redeeming a strip club into a place of worship. That's right, into a house of worship. Insane. And this week you're tearing down the marquee that was outside. Is that correct? And it's almost like columns.
Rich Butler:Yeah, there's some columns in the parking lot that were like Ephesian columns that held up, like the Hall of Artemis in Acts chapter 19, that God pulled down and the church at Ephesus was born. And these columns in the parking lot were seen from the interstate for decades, that held up a sign that represented the gentleman's club, or the strip club. And tomorrow they're coming down. And so we're just so excited — for us it's very prophetic to see God prophetically pull down those altars, to tear down those pagan altars, and to rebuild an altar for the Lord where people can encounter his life-giving presence.
Deuteronomy 6 and Occupying Through Fear of the Lord
Philip:There are folks watching you right now all around the world on this program that are fighting the altars. They are fighting the temples of darkness, the altars of darkness that have been set up in their family, maybe in their community. Tell us how — how do we attack? What do we do to start tearing down the altars that are holding our families in bondage?
Rich Butler:I go back to Deuteronomy chapter six in my mind, where Moses is standing with the second generation of God's people, this emerging new generation. And this is what he says to them in Deuteronomy 6 verse 1. He says, these are the commands, the decrees and the regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. What Moses was telling the people is, God's given you this land and you're gonna get into it by the grace of God, but you're gonna occupy it through the fear of the Lord. Because Canaan has a different culture than you have. They raise their families differently. They bow down at different altars, they raise their kids differently. The sound of their worship is different. And if you don't build an altar in your family, and if you don't commit to establishing your home in the fear of the Lord, you will eventually collapse under the culture of Canaan.
Rich Butler:And Moses has already said, God, if your presence doesn't go with us, we don't wanna settle there, for it is your presence that distinguishes us from all other families on the earth. And I think the key to building a family altar in this crazy culture in which we live is to cling as a family to God's culture. God's culture is established through his word. But like you said, we have to unseat those other altars, those other high places in our lives, and recognize that if we are not bowing down at the altar of the most high God, we inevitably are bowing down to an altar in our culture. We will bow down to something.
Rich Butler:The fear of the Lord — I believe you'll bow down to something. And we're seeing revival, the beginning rains of revival beginning to drop. And people ask me, they say, Pastor Rich, what do you think's gonna be a hallmark of this next revival? And without being too prophetic, I think one of the hallmarks is gonna be the return of the fear of the Lord back to the house of the Lord.
Philip:Listen, further down on that scripture, your evidence — repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home, when you're on the road, when you're going to bed, and when you're getting up. In other words, you gotta wrap your kids. Growing up in our family, my dad and my mom created a complete — we didn't have a family altar, everywhere was a family altar. Everything we did was unto the Lord. And it became a culture. It literally became a cultural way of living that Jesus was first. And we've tried to do that in our own kids' lives. All my kids, except one, are in full-time ministry, serving with me, believing with me, pulling with me, because we have made an effort as a family — as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Four Gates Families Must Guard
Philip:Noah stood in that boat for over a hundred years and preached and proclaimed, and all he saved was his family. And what God's called you to do — watching me today, whatever you're watching this program — the one thing that God has called you to do is to fight for your family. I can't fight for your family like you can, but you sure can. No one will love your kids like you do. And I'm praying and confessing that America and the world will be shaken with a mighty deluge of the Holy Ghost.
Rich Butler:Amen. And he goes on to say in there, Philip, he says, take the culture of God's kingdom — in his words and his regulations — and he says, tie them on your hands, put them on your foreheads, put it over the doorpost of your home and on your gates. And Moses gives us four specific areas that families should be applying God's culture to. The hands are our work and our play. We should teach our kids in the regular rhythms of their life that we do everything unto the Lord. And when we put it on our head, I was always taught it's not just what you do, it's your attitude behind it. And if it's in your mind, it's just a matter of time before it's in your life. And we have to train the next generation to think in ways that are godly.
Fear of the Lord as Revival's Hallmark
Rich Butler:He says, put this over the doorpost of your home. The atmosphere of your home should be righteousness, peace and joy. And then finally he says, put it on your gates. We are in an hour where we have to guard our gates, our ear gates, our eye gates. You know, like Job says, I've made a covenant with my eyes that I would not look upon anything that defiles me. And I just think people call it old fashioned, but we have to walk the ancient paths and say, as for me and my house, we're not giving ourselves to that mess anymore. We're not bowing down anymore to cultural idols.
Rich Butler:If everybody bows down, like Daniel and his three friends, we'll stay standing. Because I love the personal, private relationship with God. But if your personal relationship with God doesn't cause you to stay standing when everybody else bows down to the cultural idols in our society, we're in big trouble. The family's in big trouble.
Philip:Fabulous. What great teaching. I hope you are watching and listening to this today. Our time is — we've got 40 seconds left. Hope Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Very simple — www.hopesc.org. Hopesc.org. You need some more of this teaching in your life, and I'm sure their programs and their church services are on air, and you can be a part of it. Rich, thank you so much for being with me. You always bless me. You always have a rhema word. And I believe that God's gonna help you tear down more altars and build the house of God for his sake. In Jesus' name. Thank you for being with me today on Daily Faith.
Rich Butler:Amen. We can't wait to see you again and get a report of those pillars coming down.
Philip:Ha ha. I'll love it. God bless you everyone. See you again. Bye-bye.
For over 25 years, the Cameron family has been changing the lives of orphans in Romania and Moldova — from providing running water, flushing toilets, and clean wells, to coal for heat, new windows, as well as food and clothing. They championed the physical needs of the orphans in these broken and desolate countries. Many of Moldova's orphans are saved from the horrors of trafficking through homes founded by the Camerons. And in the process, orphans become daughters and sons. They come to know their heavenly Father and are forever changed by the love of Jesus. God helped the Camerons lift these amazing young men and women out of darkness, now no longer orphans.
They wanna return and invade that very same darkness with the light of Jesus Christ. Orphan's Hands equips these daughters and sons to become missionaries. Your monthly gift of $31 will allow us to rescue and take in more girls and boys, saving them from the hell of human trafficking. Your monthly partnership will allow us to care for those in the Orphan's Hands homes in Moldova and Ukraine. If you want to join Philip and Chrissy in taking care of these precious young people, please contact us today by calling 833-Daily Faith. You can also give by going online to www.dailyfaith.tv or by writing to PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. So many lives depend on what we do. Thank you for loving the lost.
Common questions
What did Rich Butler mean when he said 'the way forward in 2023 is the way back'?
Rich heard that phrase from the Holy Spirit during a Zoom call with pastors about navigating a post-COVID church climate. He says God took him to Jeremiah 6, where the prophet calls people to 'ask for the ancient paths and where the good way is and walk in it.' Rather than leaning into more technology and innovation, Rich felt God was calling the church back to foundational, ancient practices — specifically the building of altars, both corporate and in the home.
What is Hope Church doing with a former strip club in Greenville, SC?
Hope Church is converting the building into their new Greenville campus. Rich says the church had been praying for a location in Greenville when God told them it would be 'like a colt that is tied up that Jesus himself will untie.' When a news article reported that the notorious strip club had been 'untied' from South Carolina Supreme Court litigation, the church recognized it as that very building. They are currently in renovation, and Rich describes it as a prophetic act of tearing down a pagan altar and replacing it with a place where people can encounter God.
How does Rich Butler say families can start tearing down the 'altars of darkness' in their homes?
Rich points to Deuteronomy 6, where Moses warns the Israelites that if they don't establish their homes in the fear of the Lord, they will eventually collapse under the culture around them. He says families must actively unseat other 'high places' — cultural idols — and cling to God's culture through his Word. His core point is that everyone bows down to something, and if families aren't intentionally bowing at the altar of God, they will inevitably bow to something in the surrounding culture.
What does Rich Butler think will be a hallmark of the coming revival?
Rich says he believes one of the defining marks of the next revival will be the return of the fear of the Lord back to the house of the Lord. He sees early signs of revival already beginning and ties this directly to his broader message about families and churches reclaiming ancient, God-centered practices rather than accommodating cultural drift.
What are the four areas Rich Butler says Moses tells families to apply God's culture to?
Drawing from Deuteronomy 6, Rich outlines four areas: the hands (work and play — doing everything unto the Lord), the forehead (attitude and mindset — training the next generation to think in godly ways), the doorpost of the home (the atmosphere inside the home should be righteousness, peace, and joy), and the gates (guarding what comes in through the ear gates and eye gates, refusing to give access to things that defile).
Topics
rich butlerfamily altarhope church spartanburgancient pathsdeuteronomy 6cultural idolsfear of the lord