morningstar prophetic bulletin-1996 by rick joyner

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MorningStar Prophetic Bulletins - 1996

http:/ / www .mo rningstarministries.org

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APPLICATION: The Lord has never changed. To truly believe the Bible is to do the things that are

written in it. Every one of us is as close to the Lord as we want to be. We can be as close to Him as

anyone in the Bible. We can also walk in as much power as anyone, because the Lord J esus Himself

said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also,

and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to My Father" (John 14:12).

A PROPHECY FROM RICK JOYNER: In many ways the church is called to be a spiritual hospital,

but we are about to replace the "continuous care wards" with spiritual "maternity wards."

INTERPRETATION: Few things can deliver a woman from self-centeredness as fully as, or faster

than, having a baby. Almost immediately a mother becomes consumed with meeting the needs of her

helpless infant. We are about to have so many new births into the kingdom that many will be delivered

from their "navel gazing" because of the overwhelming demand to take care of these new believers.

APPLICATION: Almost the entire church is anticipating a great ingathering of new believers. Much of

the worldwide church has been experiencing it for years, and it will come to America. If we are, we will

prepare for it.

We should look to the needs of new babies for the spiritual application. For example, we will need

plenty of milk. It has been encouraging that much of the church has been trying to wean people from

milk so that they can partake of spiritual meat, but we must not try to feed this meat to new believers.

Babies need almost constant attention. Many new believers die spiritually from neglect. We should

have daily meetings for new believers, helping them lay a solid foundation of truth in their lives. We

should also have someone on call at all times to respond to their needs until they are established in

the faith.

We need to learn how to change spiritual diapers. Babies are messy, both when they eat and when

they finish processing what they have eaten, but they are worth it! Don't throw the baby out with the

dirty diapers.

Babies need to be held a lot. Their security comes from human touch. We must be willing to get close

to new believers, even when they have messy diapers, or throw up on us occasionally. These are the

King's children, and they deserve the very best ministry that we have.

A VISION FROM WILLIAM EDDLEMAN: William had a vision of a double door with "1996" on it

hovering over the church.

INTERPRETATION: William heard the Lord give the interpretation that in 1996 He was going to open

new horizons of understanding and effectiveness in both the spirit and the natural.

APPLICATION: This year we should look for new doors to open. To recognize doors that the Lord is

opening we should look for increased understanding and effectiveness. We have also heard so many

words about seeking the double portion again in 1996 that it is possible that these double doors could

also relate to the double portion.

A PROPHECY FROM RICK JOYNER: Increasing spiritual power is about to be entrusted to those

who have been faithful to the Word, and to their own words.

INTERPRETATION: We base our very salvation on faith that God keeps His word. His word is sure,and there is no greater foundation for our life than His word. If we are becoming like Him, our words





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should also be trustworthy. God will only trust with great authority those who are trustworthy, and our

faithfulness to our own words is one of the primary indicators of this.

APPLICATION: The church today suffers great weakness because our words have lost their power.

This has happened because we do not keep them. God's word has the ultimate authority because Heis always faithful to it. Likewise, our words will only have power to the degree that we are faithful to

them. Even neglecting to do the small things that we tell people we will do can have a major impact

on our authority. The endorsement of God in our lives is, to a large degree, dependent upon our

commitment to truth and integrity.

Many make commitments with the best intentions of keeping them, but still fail to do so. Regardless of

how good our intentions are, this causes a serious loss of trust within those we fail. J ust as the

strength of our relationship with God is determined by the strength of our trust in His word, the

strength of every relationship is determined by the degree of trust. It is crucial for those who are

destined to walk in spiritual authority that their "yes" mean "yes," and their "no" mean "no." Our word

should be our bond, even without having to make oath. It is for this reason that the Lord said, "And I

say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in

the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be

condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37).

The greatest currency we will ever have with men will come from the trust they have in our words. We

are called to be "pillars and supports of the truth," and the power of our message to the world will be

dependent on our devotion to truth, integrity and the value that we give to our own words by keeping

them.

This year God is calling us to judge ourselves, lest we be judged in this matter. If we will repent of our

careless-ness with words, including our well-intended commitments to do things that we do not follow

through with, and devote ourselves to increasing the value of our spiritual currency by being faithful toour words, the Lord will, this year, entrust us with much more of His authority and power.

A WORD OF WISDOM FROM REUVEN DORON: The only man in Scripture whom the Lord said He

hated was Esau. We must learn the lesson of Esau lest we, too, cause a great offense to God.

INTERPRETATION: The sin of Esau which so offended God was that he sold his birthright for a

single bowl of stew. He valued the immediate gratification of his flesh more than his eternal

inheritance.

APPLICATION: How often do we, too, belittle our eternal inheritance in Christ by compromising it for

the demands of our flesh? The apostle Paul stated:

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because

the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God,

for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So then,

brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you are

living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the

deeds of the body, you will li ve. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons

of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have

received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"' (Romans 8:6-8,12-

15).





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A PROPHECY FROM STEVE THOMPSON: There will be an increased emphasis on healing this

year.

INTERPRETATION: Again, it is important that we know what the Holy Spirit is doing so that we can

be a part of it. We should have our spiritual eyes and ears open to what He is saying on healing thisyear, determining to grow in l healing gifts and power.

APPLICATION: The Lord knows the end from the beginning. If He is emphasizing healing it is likely

that we are going to need more healing in the times ahead. Medical science will never be able to cope

with the catastrophic diseases and plagues that biblical prophecy makes clear will come upon the

world at the end of the age, which even natural science is now predicting.

We can already see the beginning "birth pangs" of these medical disasters. The overuse of antibiotics

has itself set a terrible trap for mankind in two ways: many bacteria have grown in their resistance to

antibiotics, and by our overuse of them our own immune systems have not been allowed to fully

develop. We must come to know the Lord as our healer if we are to endure the days to come. This

does not mean that we do not use doctors, or medicines, but let us seek to grow in faith for healing

continually until we walk in what we have been called to, which is to have authority over diseases, in

His name.

A WORD FROM BOB JONES: It will be the best of times and the worst of times. The judgments that

have begun will continue to worsen, such as storms, earthquakes, drought, famines, and pestilence.

But for the church it will be one of the best of years. The church is about to become so busy reaping

fruit that she will not have time to notice the problems of the world.

INTERPRETATION: The Lord is going to make a distinction between those who are living in

obedience to Him and those who are living according to the ways of the world.

APPLICATION: We need to recognize the judgments of God, realizing that even His judgments are

mercy calling men to turn to Him. That the Lord is about to make the distinction between those who

obey Him and those who do not will begin to awaken many to their folly. As Solomon

understood, "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quick ly, therefore the

hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11). The more

quickly judgment comes, the more likely men are to turn from their evil ways.

A PROPHECY FROM RICK JOYNER: Psalm 68:11 will be illuminated in the church this year: "The

Lord gives the command; the women who proc laim good tidings are a great host."

INTERPRETATION: The Lord is the One who gave the command, and we must receive the greatcompany of women who are called to publish the gospel.

APPLICATION: Many of the greatest blessings that we can receive come from blessing what God is

blessing. Those who work with God to help release women that He has called into ministry will be

blessed. The church will never be all that we are called to be until every member is able to function in

their calling. Women make up over half the church and this must be given the highest priority or we

will continue to be at least half paralyzed.

A WORD FROM BOB JONES: This year we will not say that the apostles are going to come, but that

they have already come.





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INTERPRETATION: This year the Lord will begin to reveal ministries that have true apostolic

authority.

APPLICATION: We should begin to search the Scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to give us

revelation on this ministry. According to Ephesians 4:11-13, it is clear that theapostolic ministry is required for the equipping of the church, so this ministry must be restored. If we

do not receive a prophet in the name of a prophet we will not receive a prophet's reward, or the full

benefit of his ministry. The same is also true of the other ministries. If we do not receive an apostle in

the name of an apostle, we will not receive the full benefit of his ministry, and therefore we will not be

fully equipped.

A PROPHECY FROM WILLIAM EDDLEMAN: Many people whose gifts have been dormant will have

an opportunity for a new beginning.

INTERPRETATION: In light of the above word, these could be spiritual or natural gifts.

APPLICATION: Many times in Scripture, even though it was obviously time for a prophecy to be

fulfilled, righteous men such as Daniel would devote themselves to praying, fasting and seeking the

Lord for the fulfillment of His word. The reason why many gifts have been dormant in people is

because they were waiting for God to do something--and He was waiting for them. If it is the time for

something to happen, we should not just sit back and wait, but ask, seek and knock until the doors

are opened.

A PROPHECY FROM STEVE THOMPSON: The anointing on prophets will increase again this year.

INTERPRETATION: J ust as with the word for healing, we need to flow with what God is doing. With a

greater anointing there will be a greater blessing, but also a greater accountability. We were told last

year to pray for "the double portion in our ministry." In our local congregation, and with many of those

associated with us, we believe that the anointing on the prophetic gifts did at least double last year.

Even those who were relatively new operating in the prophetic gifts began receiving revelation on a

level that we had only witnessed in very mature ministries before. Never have we had so many seeing

or receiving visitations from angels, or being caught up in extraordinary spiritual experiences that

proved to be genuine. We believe that this grace is continuing, and we are asking for another double

portion in the coming year.

Like the increase that is being experienced in the healing power released by the Lord, we know that

this grace is coming to us because we will need it. In the days to come it will be imperative for all

believers to know the voice of the Lord, and to be open for Him to speak to them in all the ways that

He has spoken in the Scriptures. The Lord J esus said that His sheep follow Him because they knowHis voice. The degree to which we are able to follow the Lord in our day to day lives is dependent

upon how well we know His voice. We must be devoted to growing in this.

A PROPHECY FROM STEVE THOMPSON: Greater accountability is coming to the prophetic word. If

we do not heed the prophetic words given, judgment will come much more quickly.

INTERPRETATION: This is to be expected when there is an increase of anointing on the prophetic

word. The higher the level of revelation, or the greater the maturity of those that the message is for,

the greater the accountability to that word.

APPLICATION: There are two basic ways in which such accountability is increased: The first is thatwhen the word comes on a higher level, or with a greater demonstration of power, there is an





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increased accountability to it. For example, if Gabriel appears to you and gives you a message

directly, there will a greater accountability to that word than if it came by an impression. There is also

a greater accountability to listen to those who receive revelation on a higher level, when we know this

to be true. For example, Miriam and Aaron, though prophets themselves, suffered a severe judgment

for resisting Moses, who met with the Lord face to face, or on a higher level than they did. Now this

level of revelation was not just something that Moses boasted about; all of Israel watched Moses

meet with the Lord in this way, so their accountability to his words was much greater.

Secondly, we see that with greater spiritual maturity there is a greater accountability to be able to

discern the word of the Lord, even when it comes on a lower level, or from an unexpected source.

J osiah, one of the most righteous kings in J udah's history, died because he did not heed the word of

the Lord spoken through Neko, king of the Egyptians, who was his enemy. As we grow, the more we

are expected to discern the true word of the Lord regardless of through whom, or how, it comes to us.

Greater authority requires greater obedience.

A PROPHECY FROM BOB JONES: Acts 13:6-11 will become real for the church this year.

INTERPRETATION: God has given His church power over the sorcerers and false prophets, and we

are about to start walking in it.

APPLICATION: Even though cults and promoters of new age doctrines are growing in supernatural

power, He who is in us is much greater than he who is in the world. We must never be intimidated by

those who display supernatural power, but rather accept every confrontation with them as an

opportunity to show the world the deception of their ways.

A VISION FROM RICK JOYNER: I saw multitudes of young people, black and white together,

marching and demonstrating. They all carried banners but there was nothing written on them. I then

heard a voice from heaven saying, "Who will give them their cause?" I saw a long line of men and

women waiting to speak to the crowd. They represented many different causes, but to my shock most

of them were Nazis. I then felt a gripping urgency to speak to this great crowd before they did.

INTERPRETATION: Before my conversion I went to many rock festivals and anti- war

demonstrations. I had some political convictions, but they were mostly an excuse for going to the

party. I found the same to be true of most of the others who went. However, I was always amazed at

how these people would become raging lions of courage during these demonstrations, suffering

beatings or worse before they would retreat. This was the same radical resolve I saw on the young

people in the vision. If the church does not rise up to give our youth a cause, and one that requires

radical commitment, another cause will write its name on their banners. The greatest threat this time

will not be socialism or communism, but fascism.

APPLICATION: The youth are going to be mobilized again, and they are waiting for a cause. They

will respond to radical Christianity, but they will be repulsed by watered-down versions. If the church

does not fill the increasing void in youth that demands a cause, they will turn to a power that will

mobilize them for the most sinister reasons. I felt that my urgency to speak to this crowd was from the

Lord. I felt inadequate, and did not know what I was going to say, but I knew that if I started speaking I

would have their attention, and that I had a very real opportunity to win them over. We just need to

start with what we have, with what we feel, and trust the Lord to give us the words and the strategy as

we begin to minister to the youth. If we neglect the youth now, we will pay a very terrible price later.

A WORD FROM STEVE THOMPSON:"The s̀eventies' are returning."





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INTERPRETATION: Steve felt that this was directly related to evangelism; that the same kind of

evangelism that was effective in that decade will be effective today. :

APPLICATION: The seventies was a decade in which multitudes of new believers were added to the

church. In fact, we have not had such a great ingathering of souls in the U.S. since that time. If youobserve the congregations in most churches, or the audiences of most Christian television ministries,

there are very few below the age of 40. We desperately need an ingathering of new believers.

This is also an encouragement to study the effective evangelistic methods used during the seventies.

Street evangelism, coffee houses, and friendship evangelism were effective then, and will be again.

Our modern society compels people into isolation; there will be an expanding void in them for genuine

relationships. Relational evangelism will become increasingly fruitful. Churches that emphasize

interpersonal relationships will probably experience the greatest growth in the times ahead.

When the church becomes the community that she is called to be, the whole world will desire to be a

part of her. The church is a family, and the closer we get to being the one that we are called to be, the

more people will be drawn. However, we must understand that "family" has been a very negative

experience for many people. Because of this, they will often be repelled at the thought of entering

such a family relationship until they see that it is different. Presently, most churches are themselves

"dysfunctional families." We cannot fulfill our calling until this changes, and it will as the spiritual

fathers and mothers begin taking their proper places.

SPECIAL NOTE: In our own poll of believers, we have not yet found one person who came to the

Lord because of a miracle they witnessed. Only a few have been found who came to the Lord through

Christian television or an evangelistic crusade. Well over ninety percent came to the Lord through the

simple, and usually "unprofessional," witness of a friend or relative. Studies made by other

evangelistic ministries have come to the same basic conclusions. It is time we ask why we continue to

pour ninety percent of our evangelistic efforts and resources into that which bears less than tenpercent of the fruit. Is this mismanagement not a gross violation of the parable of the talents?

A PROPHECY PROM BILL COAN: Bill was shown that 96 is 69 inverted, and that things were going

to happen this year that mirrored 1969, but will be from the Lord this time. INTERPRETATION (FROM

BILL): We will be flower children again, but this time we will be associated with "the Rose of Sharon."

Instead of protesting, we will be interceding. Instead of a war in Vietnam, there will be war in the

heavenlies. Instead of drug-induced hallucinations, the Lord will be giving dreams and visions. Instead

of nudity, there will be transparency.

APPLICATION: The Lord began showing some of us several years ago that the nineties were going

to parallel the sixties in a number of ways (this has been covered in previous Bulletins), and that thistime the Lord wants us to be ready for the trends, and to take advantage of them. Events such as the

"Million Man March" are starting to parallel the freedom marches of the sixties. Woodstock II was an

attempt to recapture the feeling of the sixties, and a great deal of interest has returned to sixties and

seventies music. All of these present opportunities for the gospel.

A PROPHECY PROM CHERELLE EDDLEMAN: Peace, liberty and wisdom are three words for

1996. ̀ Freedom is wonderful when it is combined with God's holiness.

INTERPRETATION: There is hardly a greater liberty that we can know than to dwell in the peace of

God. Paul said that it was "the God of peace" who would crush Satan under our feet (see Romans

16:20). When we abide in the peace of God we are set free from the yokes of the enemy.





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APPLICATION: Again, looking at the main themes of the sixties and seventies, the buzz words were

"peace" and "freedom," but it was the kind that the world gives. It is wisdom to seek to abide in the

peace of God and the liberty of His Spirit in 1996. It is wisdom to use our freedom to pursue the

holiness of God.

A PROPHECY FROM STEVE THOMPSON: Psalm 67:5-7 is for our time.

Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her

increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of

the earth shall fear him (KJV).

INTERPRETATION: Congregations that will come together with no other agenda except to worship

the Lord will begin bringing in the harvest.

APPLICATION: The purpose of these meetings should be to worship the Lord, so we should not be

disheartened if we do not see immediate fruit, but it will come if we keep our attention on worshipping

the Lord. A great anointing is coming on "worship evangelism," but we must remember that when we

worship for the sake of evangelism the quality of the worship itself is going to be affected. We must

keep our attention on the Lord for our worship, and let the other fruit come as it will.

A PROPHECY FROM WILLIAM EDDLEMAN: There will be an establishing of unity in some areas

where there has been division for a very long time. Racial, denominational, economic and geographic

walls will begin to fall this year, and brothers will be able to pray together in true unity.

INTERPRETATION: Many of these walls have been falling, but this speaks of them falling to the point

of those who were once divided being able to pray together in true unity. The Lord Himself promised

that such prayers would be answered.

APPLICATION: We should reach out with even more devotion across racial, denominational,

economic and geographic barriers, with prayer being both a means and a goal of the new

relationships. :

A PROPHECY FROM BARBARA SASSO: 1996 is going to be a year of harvested prayers. These

will not just be recent prayers, but also the prayers that have been prayed for many, many years.

INTERPRETATION: This is simply encouragement that many of our prayers that we have had before

the Lord for a long time will be answered this year.

APPLICATION: This is encouragement not to faint, but continue to seek the Lord for the fulfillment of

our petitions. Even though God could do whatever He desires, and He knows our needs even before

we pray, He seldom moves except in response to the prayers of His people.

A PROPHECY FROM STEVE THOMPSON: As in Luke 16:1, some will lose their place of ministry, or

authority, due to accusation arising from lack of financial integrity.

APPLICATION: This is a two-fold warning. First, we must get our financial houses in order. Even the

appearance of impropriety will be enough to sink some ministries. Second, the warning is that there

will be "accusations" of a lack financial integrity, which does not mean that there is an actual lack of

integrity. We must not believe every accusation, but understand that this is the enemy's primary

strategy against the church, and we should first believe the best about a brother or sister, not theworst, always seeking discernment from the Spirit of Truth.





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APPLICATION: Because "the love of money is the root of all evil," there are certain definite traps laid

for all who handle money. The more money we handle the bigger these traps will be. Let us all "take

heed when we think we stand, lest we fall." If we are walking uprightly we have nothing to fear. This

does not guarantee that we will not be subject to false accusations, but if we have received our

authority from the Lord, He is the only One who can take it from us. Anything that the enemy tries to

do to discredit the righteous will ultimately work out for their good.

SPECIAL NOTE: We have been warned by the IRS that they have targeted ministries and churches

for audits this year, so we should be prepared. They have made checklists available to help prepare

for audits. This could also be the source of many of the accusations that are coming.

A PROPHECY FROM STEVE THOMPSON: There is a tax rebellion coming that can cause major

political changes. The church must not be deceived into participating in this rebellion.

INTERPRETATION: The American Revolution was basically a tax rebellion, but that does not justify

every tax rebellion. There have also been many failed tax rebellions that resulted in catastrophic

political changes. This is a warning that the church should not become involved in the one

approaching.

APPLICATION: Romans 13:7 states plainly: "Render to all what is due them; tax to whom tax is

due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor ."

A PROPHECY FROM STEVE THOMPSON: Nehemiah 8:14-9:3 is for the coming year. A great

repentance is about to begin.

INTERPRETATION: Over the past couple of years God has been restoring joy to the church, just as

we see in Nehemiah 8:10. This joy was needed so that we could go on to experience the repentance

needed without perverting it. True repentance includes the joy of the Lord. We have sorrow for where

we have fallen short, but this must be tempered with the joy of His salvation.

APPLICATION: Nehemiah is an important book for these times. It is the story of how the remnant that

had returned J erusalem to build the temple were distressed because the walls were broken down,

leaving the people vulnerable to their enemies and wild beasts. Isaiah said, "You will call your walls

salvation, and your gates praise" (Isaiah 60:18). The walls of salvation represent the application of

salvation

to our personal lives. Many Christians, who have a zeal for building the house of the Lord, are still

walking in defeat and unnecessary vulnerability to the enemy. God is today raising up a Nehemiah

company who will rebuild the walls of salvation, leading each family of the household of faith to take

their place and build their section of the wall. While this is happening, there will be a release of the joyof the Lord, followed by a deep repentance, just as we see in the rest of the book of Nehemiah.

Learning to discern the Lord's change of emphasis is crucial if we are to be a part of what He is

presently doing in the earth. When the Lord entered J erusalem there was great rejoicing, and the Lord

Himself promoted it. But, right in the middle of the procession, He began to weep over the city. This

must have been a shock to those who were a part of the celebration. One minute He was rejoicing

with them, and the next He was weeping. It is possible that the crowd's inability to understand this

change is one reason why these same people were crying for His crucifixion just five days later. It is

possible to go from a place of being right in tune with what God is doing to being in direct opposition

to Him, because we do not discern such changes in His emphasis or direction.





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A PROPHECY FROM JACKIE RIPPY: J ackie received the word "evangelism" when praying for

1996. The Lord will restore the preaching of the gospel that combines the revealing of our desperate

need for salvation from our sins with the knowledge that J esus is that salvation.

INTERPRETATION: We need the constant reminder that the fields are always ripe for harvest. Thesimplicity of this word also implies that we do not need to get complicated in witnessing. The only

thing that we need for evangelism is for the Holy Spirit to convict of sin, and to testify of J esus.

APPLICATION: There has been a tragic misunderstanding among many Christians that a person will

not come to the Lord unless they are in a certain state of desperation because of certain conditions in

their lives. The only desperation that is needed for someone to come to the Lord is the desperation to

be free from their sin.

A PROPHECY FROM WILLIAM EDDLEMAN: The spirit of anti-Christ will continue to draw black men

to Islam, but will be exposed, and many will turn to J esus for salvation.

INTERPRETATION: Though we can look for this trend to continue, we can also expect to see the

roots of it exposed.

APPLICATION: The Lord called Moab His "washbowl" (Psalm 60:8). That is, He used Moab and

the other nations around Israel to discipline her every time she fell into apostasy. The Lord is likewise

using Islam to discipline the church. Islam is filling a vacuum that the church has left by not fulfilling

her calling to our black brothers and sisters, or to the oppressed. The primary draw of Islam is to black

men, because Islam offers to them a dignity and sense of destiny that the church has failed to give

them. The whole church (all peoples together) should have risen up with the message of freedom for

African Americans long before Martin Luther King, J r. did. If the church was fulfilling her calling to the

inner cities of America, there would have been no need for a "Million Man March," but there would be

an army of many millions of black men, preaching the gospel with a resolution and fire that would help

free the rest of the nation. If we do not respond to this call, they will very soon be carrying fire of

another kind. The Lord will expose the roots of Islam, but first He is using Islam to expose the church.

A PROPHECY FROM BARBARA SASSO: 1996 is going to be a new year. This is not just like a `96

model of a `95 car, but a whole new kind of car.

INTERPRETATION: Our definition of new moves of God have often just been the same thing with a

few changes added. This year it will be different. We will begin to see God do things that are totally

new to us.

APPLICATION: Anytime something new comes, or something new happens, there is greatexcitement about it. Anything new brings a freshness, a hope. Even so, we do not want to just

generate something new ourselves, but we do want to be open to what God is doing. We should be

open for Him to show us things this year that are very different than we have known before, but we

still have a responsibility to judge them by the Scriptures, just as the Bereans did.

Source URL: http://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/prophetic-bulletins/1996/prophetic-

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Report from the Round Table

Mo rningStar Prop he tic Bulletin No . 20 (1996)

Rick Joy ner

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The New American Standard Bible (NASB).

On December 4-6, 1995, a small number of church leaders from different ministries, denominations

and, movements gathered for a meeting at Moravian Falls, NC. Our purpose was to discuss important

issues now facing the church in America, and to make a common statement about our position

concerning those issues. Those attending the meeting included myself Larry Alberts, Paul Cain,

Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda, Bobby Conner, Don Cousins, Jack Deere, Reuven and Marylou Doron,

Don Finto, Francis Frangipane, T. D. Hall, Dudley Hall, Peter Lord, Steve Mansfield, and Bob and

Rose Weiner.

The following statements represent the general consensus of this group. Because representatives of

large sections of the body of Christ were not present in these meetings, these statements should not

be construed to reflect anything more than this group's perceptions and opinions.

Neither do we want to imply that the issues we felt to address as a group are necessarily the most

important in the church at this time. However, as this group presently does have influence in a

considerable cross section of the church, we felt that presenting this brief summary could be helpful to

some, and could serve to promote further dialogue with others.

As we were only together for a day and a half, we were obviously not able to deal with issues with

much depth; therefore, many of the statements are superficial, and some will raise as many questions

as propose answers. Even so, we felt that raising these questions would be helpful. Also, as the

commission for writing this brief fell to me, it should be assumed that others present may have worded

some of these statements differently, or may have different positions on individual subjects.

Rick J oyner

THERE IS A GRAVE DANGER THAT THE WAR IN BOSNIA WILL SPREAD WITH THE

POTENTIAL FOR STARTING ANOTHER WORLD WAR. There was a prophetic consensus that this

situation is far more dangerous than our government understands. It has the potential to be a political

and military black hole, that sucks in every nation around it, or that gets involved in it.

One of the greatest dangers for the U.S. is that the success of the Gulf War instilled a pride and an

illusion of invincibility, which can lead us into making major political and military mistakes.

It is also important for the church to understand that the government and media are distorting the

news released about this conflict. There are two sides to every dispute, and very little has been said

about the atrocities and ethnic cleansing that the Serbs have historically suffered at the hands of the

Muslims, or what they have suffered during the present conflict. This is not to justify what the Serbs

have done, or are doing, but the extreme distortions in the reporting of this conflict by both the

government and the media reveal that there are major hidden agendas The unfolding scenario in

Bosnia fits one that Paul Cain has been seeing prophetically and warning the church about for almostten years. When Paul prophesied during the middle eighties that "communism would become





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commun-was-im," he was also shown that when the Soviet Union broke up, it would ultimately lead to

an even more deadly threat to world peace. This would come from the uniting of former Soviet

republics with radical forces within Islam. This force could gain, and may already have, control of

some of the nuclear weapons from the Soviet arsenal; and they will use them.

On the second day of the coup attempt by Soviet hard liners to remove Gorbachev, I was shown that

the coup would be a non-event, but that the Soviet Union would break up, and a greater threat to

world peace than the Soviet Union had ever been would be the result, because many of their

weapons would fall into the hands of Islamic extremists.

Bobby Conner was warned immediately upon the emergence of Vladimir Zhirinovsky that he was a

real threat to world peace, and that he had been invested with some of the same spiritual power that

Adolph Hitler had carried. There was a strong prophetic consensus that Russia will be drawn into the

Bosnian conflict, and that this will have devastating political consequences for the forces of

democracy in that country, as well as world peace.

APPLICATION: Even though the breakup of the Soviet Union has led many to believe that we have

entered a new era of peace and stability in the world, this is a serious delusion, and the church must

not be lulled into this deception. We have been given the authority to bind things in heaven and to

have them bound on the earth, and we. must learn to use this in the wisdom of the Lord.

One of Satan's diabolical schemes was directed at releasing a race war of terrible proportions in

South Africa. This strategy was thwarted through prayer (elaborate schemes to blow up polling places

during the elections were discovered almost by accident). Enraged, Satan released his fury on

Rwanda, releasing a blood-bath there. The strategy of the enemy in Bosnia, and Russia, can also be

stopped through prayer. However, when Satan is cast out of heaven, he does come down to the earth

with great wrath. He will find the places where there are spiritual openings to darkness, and will

exploit them; but we will also see those places that have strong prayer cover becoming places of refuge even during the most terrible onslaughts of the enemy.

There are strong and ancient powers of darkness over Sarajevo that have the power to make this a

major gate of hell. It is not just a coincidence that the Roman Emperor Constantine was born in

Bosnia; it was Constantine who instituted many of the forms of idolatry and the perversion of church

government that led to "the Dark Ages" and are still breeding conflict in the church.

APPLICATION: Our prayers should be; 1) To strengthen the church in Bosnia and Russia; 2) To pray

for the Lord to stop the plans of the enemy and use the whole situation in Bosnia and Russia to glorify

His own name, so that salvation will flow where the enemy planned to release death; 3) To pray for

the missionaries and church leaders to grow in the anointing for the ministry of reconciliation; 4) Topray for a revival among the Western troops in Bosnia, and that they will become an army of light to

cast out the darkness; and 5) To pray for Daniels and Nathans to be raised up to counsel our leaders.

SOME OF THE ENCOURAGING SIGNS IN THE AMERICAN CHURCH AT THIS TIME INCLUDE:

1) New movements are being raised up that are bringing life and hope to large cross- sections of the

body of Christ.

2) Many denominations and older movements are experiencing some degree of renewal.

3) Important issues are being addressed, such as racism, sexism and other forms of oppression.





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4) Interchange and cooperation between denominations and movements is increasing.

5) The major public scandals of the last decade have worked to produce a fresh humility and

increased discernment in the church.

6) There is almost a universal expectation of a great ingathering of new believers.

7) The activity of the Holy Spirit has been increasing dramatically over the last few years.

AREAS OF CONCERN WITHIN THE CHURCH IN AMERICA INCLUDE:

1) All new movements bring some extreme elements, but it has often been difficult for leadership to

pastor new movements and to bring correction without overreacting.

2) Even though they may be well-meaning, many ministries and journalists, without the authority or

commission from the Holy Spirit, continue in their own wisdom and strength to try to bring correctionto the church, often releasing the spirit of the accuser. This has often done more damage than the

issues they were seeking to bring correction to.

3) Even though issues like racism are now being addressed, few practical solutions have been

implemented for overcoming them. The racial barriers in the church are still very large.

4) Forms of humanism that are in direct conflict with the cross have made significant inroads into the

life of the church, especially through "Christianized psychologies."

5) The church is still prone to expend its energy on programs and projects that are not ordained by

the Holy Spirit, and which bear little fruit, often "wearing out the saints" so that they miss what theHoly Spirit is doing. 6) There continues to be a general erosion of the morality of Christians and

Christian leaders that threatens to bring continued reproach on the name of the Lord, as well as

disqualify many from receiving the endorsement of the Holy Spirit.

7) The church is failing to present a clear trumpet sound. The gospel is being distorted by modernity,

self-seeking and a host of philosophies and psychologies without biblical bases.

WHAT DOES TRUE REVIVAL LOOK LIKE?

Revival should result in the church becoming like J esus, in character, power, preaching the message

that He preached, and having the impact that He had. We are having true revival to the degree that

this is accomplished.

There are many significant moves of God that are taking place today that are ultimately preparing the

church for revival. However, we must understand that these movements, such as The Toronto

Blessing, are just the appetizer. We often try to go from the appetizer straight to the dessert while

skipping the main course. The main course is the meat. The Lord's meat was to do the will of the

Father Who sent Him. Our meat is not what we receive, but what we do in the will of the Lord as He

sends us.

It is important that we see these movements as preparing the way, but we must look for what they are

preparing us for. If we "connect the dots" between all of the present moves of God, we should see a

picture of Christ. We all need to see where we fit in to this "connect the dot" picture of Christ. What





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does not connect to the other dots to finish this picture should be considered as a distraction at this

time.

HOW CAN WE PREPARE FOR REVIVAL?

1) We must return to the words in red. We must build our theology first upon the teachings of J esus,

and then upon the teachings of the apostles. We have often tried to see J esus through the eyes of the

apostles rather through His own eyes. The church is not meant to be built upon the foundation of

Paul, or Peter, but upon J esus. This is not to de-emphasize the biblical teachings of the apostles, but

we will only understand them properly if we are solidly established upon the teachings of J esus first.

2) The methodology of J esus is the most pure revelation of what true ministry is. He did not build

programs, or institutions, but men. We are only successful in ministry to the degree that people grow

up into the Lord.

3) The Lord devoted much of His ministry to teaching on prayer and stewardship. These two subjects

deal with the greatest power in heaven and the greatest power on earth. If we are going to make

disciples, both of these must be taught.

4) Many of the current movements in the church are helping to prepare for revival, especially Promise

Keepers, the Toronto Blessing, the Reconciliation Movement, and Dr. Bill Bright's focus on prayer and

fasting for revival, as well as the multitude of other movements mobilizing the church for prayer,

missions and equipping the saints. We need to receive what these movements are now imparting

before we can expect to go to the next level.

5) Much of the activity in the church at this present time is directed toward healing wounded

Christians. This is important, but it is imperative that once someone is healed, he is put back into

active service. If not, he will likely fall back into his previous problems, ending up in an even worse

state. We must comply with the Ephesians Four mandate to equip the saints for the work of the

ministry, and then release them to do it. J esus left His church in the hands of a group of men who had

all fled from Him during His time of greatest need, denied Him, betrayed Him and appeared far from

being fit for leadership. He could do this because His trust was not in those men, but in the Holy Spirit

Who was in them. We, too, must learn to trust the Holy Spirit enough to release those who may

sometimes appear anything but ready. Of course, we must do this in obedience to the Spirit, not just

at random. However, He is insisting on being able to place members in the body as He desires, and

we must learn to follow Him in this.

6) We need to define the "more" that we are praying for. If we do not have a clear concept of this, we

may end up with less. Experiences are only valid if they reproduce the nature of Christ. If we do notunderstand the purpose of an experience, we will hang on to the experience and miss the purpose.

7) The first thing lost by the fall was fellowship with God, and the ultimate purpose for redemption is

the restoration of that fellowship. The most important measure of our spiritual growth will always be

determined by how much closer to the Lord we are becoming. The ultimate measure of the success of

our ministry will be that those to whom we are ministering are becoming closer to the Lord.

A STATEMENT ON THE CELL GROUP MOVEMENT. The cell group movement is a significant

move of God that is helping to prepare the worldwide body of Christ for her last day ministry.

However, this does not negate the value of some programs within the church. Some programs have

borne considerable fruit. Even so, programs often become like bureaucracies, outliving their realneed, or anointing, and thereby draining the life of the church. We must learn how to conclude





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programs victoriously when this is the case, always keeping in mind that the Lord is building His

kingdom with people, not programs.

When the church was born, the disciples met in a public place, and from house to house. Both types

of meetings are needed. The church is meant to be a family, and the home is the basic building blockof the church. The family is a basic corporate unit of the church, and homes are meant to be a basic

meeting place for the church. However, we must not exclude the importance of the public meeting

place, and the public domain wherein true Christianity must also be worked out.

It was also expressed that a significant danger to this movement can come from its best friends, who

overzealously promote it, or who do not recognize the need for different expressions of this movement

within different cultures, or the different expressions of the church. J ust as the Lord makes every

person a different expression of His likeness, we must guard against becoming overly rigid in applying

models that work in one place or situation, but are not meant to work in another. When the Lord spoke

to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, He had a different word for each one. We must

guard against generalizations, which will almost always lead to unnecessary mistakes.

BLESSING THOSE WHO COME IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. Much of the church in America is

guilty of having an attitude of superiority, which has caused her to begin falling behind the churches in

many other nations in genuine spiritual growth. Even so, the Lord has blessed us by sending many

anointed ministries from around the world to help wake up the church in America, bringing renewal.

Because God gives His grace to the humble (see J ames 4:6), it is crucial, and biblical protocol, to

receive messengers with the same dignity and honor as we would the One Who sent them. Our future

spiritual health can be affected by this.

It is important that we bless those the Lord sends to us, but that does not mean we must receive

everything that is done or taught by them. We should seek to maintain the noble spirit of the Bereans,

who searched the Scriptures to confirm the messages.

Also, there is a doctrine being promulgated by some which implies that for a visiting ministry to

function in their full anointing they must be given complete authority over the congregations they are

sent to. We believe that this is a potentially dangerous violation of Scripture. Those who serve as

leaders are given responsibility over the sheep as those who will give an account (see Hebrews

13:17), and this responsibility must never be abdicated. Any minister that will not submit to a

congregation's leadership when ministering to that congregation should not be received.

If we want to receive the reward of a prophet we must receive a prophet in the name of a prophet. But

even prophets were not sent to take over, but just to deliver the message. Misunderstandings, on both

sides, can be avoided if those who are receiving a visiting ministry, and those who are coming, wouldcommunicate guidelines of authority and other relevant policies while meetings are being planned, not

after they have begun.

RECONCILIATION BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IS NEEDED AS MUCH AS ANY OTHER FORM

OF RECONCILIATION. There are powerful demonic forces working to blur the God ordained

differences between men and women. Even so, there has been a historical oppression of women by

men, and manipulation of men by women, that has caused deep and serious wounds to both sexes.

The church must address and resolve this issue before we can come into our full purpose.

God wants to liberate women in a way that releases them into their full purpose. A definition of the

word submission means "one who undergirds properly." This submission does not mean beingunderneath in an inferior position, or to be dominated, but rather as a foundation or support. There is





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a division of labor in the Trinity, but there is still unity, and equality. The same is true for the

relationship between men and women.

The functioning of women in their ministry is essential for the church to function properly. Women

need a clear definition of where they fit into the body (see J ob 42:15), and must be given the place tofunction in all that God has given to them. This must become a priority in the church. The present

genetics of the church is relatively void of prayer, and of fathers. You cannot be a father without the

involvement of a woman. The future shape of the church will be fathers and mothers over a family.

POINTS TO CONSIDER: J esus chose twelve men, and the seventy sent out by twos were all men.

Later, we have Priscilla and Aquila named as apostles, and we see women becoming a part of the

apostolic teams.

Some have wrongly implied that every female should be submitted to every male, rather than this

being a specific mandate within marriage.

In a local poll, the overwhelming majority of women stated that it is more difficult to be under the

authority of another woman than a man. (This was not a "scientific" poll, but it did represent an

interesting position for future study.)

IT IS TIME FOR THE SONS OF ZION TO RISE UP AGAINST THE SONS OF GREECE AS

PROPHESIED IN ZECHARIAH 9-13. The religion of secular humanism was born out | of the ancient

philosophies of Greece. It is time for those who are born of God to understand that these philosophies

are enemies of the cross and have no place in the church. We must wage war against them until they

are driven from the temple of God, just as the Maccabees did.

One area of great concern is the "psychologizing of the gospel," which has resulted in perpetual

obsession with our wounds. People need to get healed, but true healing will only come from the cross,

and the stripes that the Lord took on our behalf. The present emphasis of many (not all) "inner

healing" doctrines results in more self- centeredness than Christ-centeredness, regardless of the

attempts to claim both Christianity and the cross as roots of the teachings.

There is also a lack of understanding that many of the wounds that people are suffering are coming

from God, who is nailing them to the cross. Often those who are trying to bring "healing" to people's

wounds are trying to spare Christians from the touch from God that would give them J acob's limp, and

showing them how to use the shield of faith to block the sword of the Spirit. God is not trying to spare

us from difficulties. J ust as Israel was called to worship God in the wilderness, God's plan is to change

us in the midst of our difficulties.

The degree to which we are abiding in Christ will often be demonstrated by what comes out of us

when we are put.; under pressure. The greatest evangelistic tool in history has been the witness of

Christians dying for their faith. The very Greek word that is translated "witness" implies martyrdom.

Our calling is to die daily, not to become whole. Our goal should not just be to remove the pressure

from our lives, but to emphasize what comes out of us when we are put under pressure. When

pressure was put on Stephen, Christ came out. When pressure is put on us, what comes out?

The goal of the Christian life is not just being whole, but in doing the whole will of God. When we

make being whole our goal, it requires perpetual healing, and itself results in a self-centeredness that

destroys true Christian character, which is wholeness. We must ask, "Was it God's desire to repair the

human spirit, or to replace it through the new birth with His own, by which `all things are become new'





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?" The resurrection alone is the answer to every human problem. The cross puts us in a situation

where the only way out is to die, but when we die in Christ there will always be a resurrection.

"LAWLESSNESS SHALL INCREASE . . ."According to biblical prophecy, one of the most powerful

strongholds of darkness to be released in the last days is lawlessness. However, the answer tolawlessness is not legalism, but the grace and truth that is available through J esus Christ.

There are still many ministries being released that promote an unholy spirit of independence that is

also a form of deadly self-centeredness. These ministries are often understandably overreacting to

the control spirit that has wounded many believers. The tragic examples of extremists and cults

provide warnings of the effects of the control spirit, but the answer does not lie in go the opposite

extreme wherein we fall victim to an even worse problem of spiritual lawlessness, as many do. There

are two ditches along the path of life, and whichever one you fall into, you've still fallen from the path.

There is a desperate need for the balance that comes from church leaders who are not just teachers,

but fathers.

Philip said to J esus, "Show us the Father and it is sufficient for us" (see J ohn 14:8). There is still a cry

in the hearts of men to see the Father, both our heavenly Father, and the true nature of the father in

the church. J esus said that those who had seen Him had seen the Father. True fathers are those who

exude the Spirit of Christ.

The government of God is essentially family. The church is called to be a family, and when we cease

being a family to become an organization, we cease being the church. The Lord created the family to

be led by a father, and the church must be led by fathers, not just administrators, or teachers.

The Lord is called "Father" in the New Testament 265 times, and yet we rarely preach on the Father.

This may be a reason why there are so few true spiritual fathers in the church today. There must be a

re-emphasis on spiritual fathers, and true, biblical discipleship, learning from the mistakes of the past,

but not overreacting to them.:

We must also recognize the difference between individuals, and self-centered individualism. We need

to recognize and honor the uniqueness of each individual, but understand that true spiritual maturity is

reflected in interdependence, not independence, or co-dependence.

THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE IS A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE END TIMES. The history

Israel is a message to the church and the world. We must not continue to neglect this message, and

the destiny that the church has with Israel as outlined in Romans Nine through Eleven.

We must also pay much closer attention to the affairs of Israel from a prophetic perspective. In manyways, what is happening in Israel today reflects what is going on in the church. Israel is trading away

her inheritance for a peace that is based more on the power of men than the power of God. It is also

dependent on the good will of those who are sworn to destroy her. The church has also been making

many compromises with the spirit of this world, hoping for peace, but it has only put her in a much

more dangerous position. The peace that the world gives is a false, unstable, and temporary peace,

at best. Any reprieve that we gain through compromise will ultimately lead to apostasy at best, and

destruction at worst. True peace can only come from obedience to the Lord and His truth.

THE CHURCH MUST NOT CONTINUE TO ALLOW THE POLLUTION OF HER LANGUAGE. That

the Lord J esus Himself is called The Word should forever settle the importance of words. We think in

words, and all of our intellectual and spiritual interchange is founded on words. Clarity of speech isone of the most sure evidences that we have been delivered from Babylon. We must learn to more





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clearly define what our words mean to us, and not allow the enemy pervert their definition. Some of

the words that have suffered the greatest assault, such as holiness, discipleship, authority,

submission, faith, and even the name of J esus, have been under such an attack because of their

power. Every biblical word that conveys truth must be esteemed and protected from the abuse that

causes truth to be compromised.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE CHURCH BE TAUGHT THE TRUTH ABOUT ECONOMICS. The

parable of the talents teaches us that we are accountable for what we have been entrusted.

Economics is a significant force in the world with which all of us will have to deal. The Scriptures give

a great deal of attention to stewardship, and yet the church often gives very little. If we do not do this,

we are leaving our people unprepared for confronting some of the most powerful spiritual strongholds

in our time. If we do not use what God has given us rightly, we will use it wrongly. If we use it wrongly

we will not be trusted with more. If we want to keep receiving, we must use what we have already

received properly.

A CALL TO ARMS

April 1996 Conference

When the legendary King Arthur called for knights, it was a call for those who would; 1) follow the

king; 2) do exploits; 3) slay dragons; and 4) find the holy grail, which was the cup the Lord used for

the Last Supper. We believe the Lord is putting forth the same call today. He is seeking those who will

lay aside everything to follow Him, who will do exploits in His name, who will go about seeking the

powers of darkness to destroy them, and who will never give up the quest to find the vessel of true

communion.

As King David was both a great worshiper and a great warrior, these will be the theme of our Spring

Conference. Each of our recent conferences seems to have begun where the previous one left off and

then gone higher. We are expecting the same for the April "The Heart Of David" conference. We

believe that the teachings will be fresh, practical and relevant, but we are seeking for much more than

that. Our goal is not to just teach on worship, but to worship on a level that we have never worshiped

before. We do not want to just teach on warfare, but to send forth true knights of the Spirit, who will

wage an unrelenting warfare against the powers of darkness, until his strongholds are brought down.

Worship and warfare are united throughout the Scriptures, and we expect they will be united in us in a

fresh way during this upcoming conference. If you are stirred by the heart of David, if both worship

and warfare burn in your own heart, please register quickly. We can only seat 2,000, and we are likely

to fill up very fast. (For our last conference, we had to turn away hundreds, and we did not even

advertise it publicly.) Some of the best musicians and worshipers will be there, and, we believe, someof "David's mighty men. " It will be a time of impartation, and it is time to follow the call.

– Rick J oyner

Source URL: http://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/prophetic-bulletins/1996/report-round-

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Civil War in the Church


Rick Joy ner


There have probably been few times in history when there were more reasons for expecting a major

advance for the cause of Christianity than there are now. Renewal of the church is taking place

around the world. Reconciliation movements are confronting important strongholds such as racism,

and other roots of division and injustice. Powerful new movements are impacting men, women and

children, awakening them to their place and destiny in the church. Worldwide, almost 200,000 new

believers are coming to the Lord each day.

In spite of its problems, Christian television has done much to help tear down the barriers between

denominations and movements. Catholics now watch Baptists, and Presbyterians watch

Pentecostals, with everyone learning that there is merit to the beliefs of others. There are many

Christian events that draw believers together from across the spectrum of the body of Christ, and

genuine interchange is taking place. There is probably more unity in the church today than at any time

in the last one thousand years.

For all of this, there is truly much cause for rejoicing and hope. Even so, some of history's greatest

watershed events came at a time and in a way that seemed most improbable. That is why we are

warned that when men cry "peace and safety," sudden destruction will come. I believe that this may

apply relative to the present progress of church unity. All that is happening to bring us into unity is

important, and certainly a worthy pursuit, even more so because of what is coming. However, the

greatest test of our unity may soon be upon us, and all that is happening today can be a foundation

for a future, greater unity. The enemy intends to use the coming great test of our unity for our greatest

defeat, but if we are properly prepared, it can become an opportunity for one of our greatest victories.

THE HORDES OF HELL ARE STILL MARCHING

On February 23rd of this year I was shown for the third time that the church was headed for a "a

spiritual civil war." I was first given an impression of this in 1988. At the beginning of 1995 I saw it

again in a dream, which I wrote down as The Hordes Of Hell, Part I. On February 23rd I was told that

it was time to straightforwardly warn the church, and to begin preparing for this great war with the

resolve to fight until there was a complete victory. The definition of a complete victory in this war

would be the complete overthrow of the Accuser of the Brethren's strongholds in the church.

Such a victory sounds like a good thing to fight for, but for a long time the battle to win such a victory

will look like one of the greatest defeats that the church has ever suffered. The accuser will arise from

some of the most unexpected places, and people. This will, in fact, be one of the most cruel battles

the church has ever faced. Like every civil war, it will cause brother to turn against brother like we

may have never witnessed in the church before. When we are shown impending negative events it is

not necessarily to prophesy them, but rather for the purpose of thwarting the enemy's schemes.

However, I do not believe that this one can now be stopped, or that the Lord wants it stopped. This

battle must be fought. It is an opportunity to drive the accuser out of the church, and for the churchthen to come into a unity that would otherwise be impossible. Like the cross, the very thing which





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Satan thinks will destroy his enemy is the very thing that will cause his own defeat. Regardless of how

bad it looks for a time, remember that when the great darkness came upon the world on the evening

that J esus was crucified, the greatest light of all followed it--the resurrection.

What is coming will be dark. At times Christians almost universally will be loath to even callthemselves Christians. Believers and unbelievers alike will think that it is the end of Christianity as we

know it, and it will be. Through this the very definition of Christianity will be changed, for the better.

The church that emerges from what is coming will be full of unprecedented grace, truth, and

unprecedented power.

History Repeated

The impending civil war in the church will parallel the American Civil War in many ways. The great

spiritual issues that must be settled in the church are a counterpart to the political problems that

America faced before the Civil War. Until the first battle of the American Civil War, no one on either

side expected it to last more than a few months, and at best cost no more than a few hundred

casualties. The ultimate cost in lives, property and damage to the soul of the nation was a profound

shock to everyone on both sides. Likewise, the kind of conflict that the church is headed for will be

unimaginable to almost everyone before it happens, which will work to cause a serious lack of

preparation. This in itself will be a primary factor that seriously prolongs the conflict.

The Main Cause

Slavery was not tolerable in America, and its presence in a free country with such a spiritual destiny

could not be endured. Neither is the spiritual slavery and oppression now existing in much of the

church tolerable, and it must be eradicated before the last day church can come into her full purpose.

J ust as with the American Civil War, spiritual slavery and oppression will become the primary issue

facing the church.

We may protest that there is no such spiritual slavery in the church today, and most of it is free from

such spiritual oppression. Over half of the United States were also "free states" before the Civil War,

but the rest had a deadly cancer that had to be removed or the whole would die. The same is true of

the church. Nearly half of the believers in the world today are held under a spiritual "plantation

mentality"; leaders are only seeking to build and maintain their own spiritual estates, and they are

doing it mostly through spiritual slave labor. Some are benevolent toward their people, unless they try

to leave, and others are as spiritually ruthless and cruel as most slave owners truly were.

Here we are speaking of spiritual enslavement and oppression, but its perversion of our spiritual

character is no less devastating than slavery was. How could America, which was otherwise the mostfree nation on earth, abide such cruelty? She couldn't. No nation can long abide that kind of

contradiction and hypocrisy in its midst. Neither can the church continue to abide many of the present

contradictions in her teachings and practices within the half that is so abusing them. These issues

must be addressed.

Great Britain, under the leadership of men like J ohns Wesley and William Wilberforce, showed that

the terrible institution of slavery could be removed from a nation by the power of the truth revealed.

Britain repented and removed the cancer from her midst. They did this first by making the ownership

of slaves spiritually and socially unacceptable, and then by passing civil laws to enforce these obvious

truths.





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America took a different tact, trying for decades to compromise the obvious and appease the

offenders. This only made the ultimate cost of the inevitable changes much greater. There are

likewise inevitable changes coming to the church. We are right now determining how much these

changes will cost us. "Satan's strand of three cords" (the control spirit, the political spirit and the

religious spirit), by which he is yoking multitudes of believers, must be confronted and removed from

our midst. The longer we compromise with them the more costly their ultimate removal will be. J ust as

America could never have become the great nation that she did while tolerating having slaves in her

midst, neither can the church come into her ultimate glory while tolerating the spiritual strongholds

and bondage now forced upon so many.

No Compromise

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (II Corinthians

3:17).

For there to be true worship there must be liberty. That is why the Lord placed the Tree of the

Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden. There could be no true obedience from the heart unless

there was the freedom to disobey. If all that the Lord had wanted was obedience, He could have just

created the computer and programmed thousands of them to worship Him. But how fulfilling would

worship be from those who had no choice to do otherwise? Freedom is essential for true worship, true

obedience, and for any place that the Spirit of the Lord will come. The use of guilt, pressure,

manipulation and control to compel men to do what we think they should do is not tolerable in the

church of J esus Christ who came to set men free. The church that the Lord builds is not compatible

with the devices many are using as a substitute for His Holy Spirit, and for having true spiritual

authority.

Again, the main point in the impending spiritual civil war will be over the institution of slavery--or the

institutions of spiritual slavery. When I speak of "institutions of slavery," I am not necessarily speakingof denominations, but rather of any organization, including denominations or movements, that are

holding their people in spiritual bondage. The longer we continue to compromise with such

institutions, which use manipulation or control, for the sake of unity or for any other reason, the more it

will ultimately cost us to remove the cancer from our midst.

OTHER CAUSES

A major secondary factor in the American Civil War, and one which many contend was the primary

factor, was simple economics. One of the greatest powers of bondage at the end of the age will be

that of money over people. Money will be the ultimate false god at the end, which is why the "mark of

the beast" is an economic mark, and why "the love of money" is called "the root of all evil." A god isnot just something you bow down to, but what you trust in. Many of the coming conflicts between

movements, denominations and individual churches will be deeply rooted in the power that money

now has over the church. Many will use doctrinal differences or other issues as justification for their

attacks on their brothers, but the real cause will be over a loss, or potential loss, of money.

Big ministry can be big money. Because many churches and ministries are built with considerable

debt, financial pressures can cause leaders to do things they would not otherwise do. Stewardship is

one of the most crucial matters for every leader to understand and walk in during these times. If we

compromise the biblical standards here, we will fall into one of the most devastating traps of the

enemy. As Proverbs 22:7 reads, " the borrower becomes the lender's slave."





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Another cause for the American Civil War was the compulsion for many in the South to simply

"preserve their way of life," or "traditions." This will likewise be a cause of many conflicts in the

impending spiritual civil war. There are many good traditions that we should honor, but many are

substitutes for a living relationship with the Lord. One of the powers of a religious spirit is to cause

men to honor the things that God has done in the past in order for them to justify their opposition to

what He is presently doing.

This was a primary reason why the Pharisees, who loved the word of God, and esteemed both the

traditions and a hope in the coming Messiah more than anyone else, rejected and opposed Him when

He came. They were worshiping their traditions more than God, so when He came without having the

same regard for those traditions that they did, they could not receive Him. Those who put their

security and faith more in their traditions than in the living God will oppose almost everything that He

is in fact doing. There is a huge portion of the church which is held in bondage to the same religious

spirit that manifested itself in the Pharisees, and it will attack any new movement that arises in the

church. The more anointed a new movement is, the more these traditionalists will be threatened by it,

and the more vehemently they will attack it.

Another cause of the American Civil War that will parallel the impending spiritual conflict was the

demand for "states' rights" on the part of the secessionists. This seemed like a call for liberty, but it

was actually the demand for an unholy right of self-will and independence. If liberty was truly in their

heart, why would they also demand to keep their slaves in bondage? Likewise, many who are today

vehemently against organizations and denominations, demanding their own independence, often

yoke their followers with character-crushing doctrines of fear to keep them under their control. Such

people will be some of the primary vessels for the accuser in the conflict that is coming.

The coming spiritual civil war will also be a war between the forces of the Union and the forces of

confederacy. There is a true unity movement, and there is a counterfeit one. The first is based on the

relationship we have in Christ, which makes us all family. The other is based on political expediency,alliances or organizations made for the sake of maintaining their way of life, which they do not want to

change, which must have their institutions of slavery and their traditions.

It should also be noted that the Union itself remained divided throughout the entire American Civil

War. There were major problems, with peace movements, riots and demonstrations, with even violent

clashes occasionally. Even so, they remained a part of the nation. We, too, can expect that even

within that part of the church that is fighting for the freedom of the oppressed, true liberty and the

preservation of a true Union, there will still be problems and divisions. Even so, the forces of the true

Union will work out their differences and prevail.

Like the American Civil War, the coming spiritual civil war will also be between the Blue and the Gray.In dreams and visions blue often represents heavenly mindedness (i.e., the sky is blue), and gray

speaks of those who live by the power of their own minds (i.e., the brain is often called "gray matter").

This will be a conflict between those who may be genuine Christians, but who live mostly according to

their natural minds and human wisdom, and those who follow the Holy Spirit.

OTHER PARALLELS

It seems to be a contradiction, but after a point the only way that the Union could be preserved was

for a leadership to arise which would be willing to fight a civil war in order to preserve it. The church is

likewise coming to that point. The only way she can attain a true unity is for her leaders to be willing to

fight the forces of spiritual slavery and oppression.





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We must never forget that the unity of the church is one of the most important issues with the Lord.

This was one of His own most pressing prayers on the night before He laid down His life for the

church. However, He also prayed that night for us to be "sanctified in truth" (see J ohn 17:17). He gave

His life to set us free from the yokes of the evil one. The unity He prayed for was based on truth, not

just political expediency, or compromises fashioned in order to keep the peace at any cost. Peace at

the cost of truth, or the liberty of the Spirit, is a yoke of bondage that will only lead to even greater

division. J ust as the very leaders who seemed to be bringing the greatest division to the nation were

the only ones with the vision and resolve to really save it, the same will be true in what is coming upon

the church.

Some of the most noble souls in the American Civil War caused multitudes of unnecessary deaths,

and greatly prolonged the war, by fighting for the wrong side. They fought for the wrong side because

their allegiance was based more on territory than principle. Robert E. Lee claimed to not believe in

what the South was fighting for, but said that he could not take up arms against his native Virginia.

How much could the war have been shortened, how many lives could have been saved, and how

much less devastation would there have been, if he had chosen sides based on principle rather than

territory? Unfortunately, the same will be true of the impending spiritual civil war. Those who have

more allegiance to a position, or an organization, rather than to genuine spiritual principles will

likewise end up fighting on the wrong side, even though they may be able to justify it a thousand

ways. These, too, will cause many unnecessary casualties.

It looked for a long time as if the South was going to win the Civil War, and it will likewise look for a

time as if the forces of spiritual slavery and rebellion will prevail, but they will not. What will for a time

look like a total meltdown of Christianity will ultimately result in one of her greatest victories. As I wrote

in The Hordes of Hell, Part I, this war will cause the Lord's champions to ascend the mountain into

higher realms of the Spirit than they have gone before. As they do, Faith, Hope and Charity will be

revealed, and seen from even greater distances than would have otherwise been possible.

THE FORCES OF VICTORY

Few today realize that near the end of the war almost one-third of the Union troops were black. Some

historians have rightly stated that because of the widespread anti- war movements in the North, the

Union probably could not have won without them. When leaders of the Christian forces of Union

determine to fight for the essential principles of liberty and truth, the black church will arise to fight,

and they will be the primary forces to bring about the ultimate victory.

Because of the destiny of the black church in America, she has been subject to the most severe

systematic attacks of the enemy. He has continually tried to sow seeds of control and manipulation

within the leadership, and he is using Islam to attack from without. However, there will be a generationof black church leaders who will cast off all forms of manipulation and control, and who will be great

spiritual liberators who will help lead the entire body of Christ through what is coming.

After this great spiritual civil war, there will no longer be a white church and a black church. Neither

will many of the present distinguishing characteristics that categorize Christians into groups continue

to exist. There will be an entirely new definition of Christianity, which the Lord J esus Himself has

already written. The world will know us by our love.

A NEW BREED Of LEADER

The Lord is going to raise up spiritual leaders like Abraham Lincoln. They will be willing to fight a civilwar in order to preserve the union. Like Lincoln, under the greatest of pressures, from forces within





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the church, through what appear to be constant defeats on spiritual battlefields, they, too, will hold

their course and not compromise until there is a complete victory. God gave America Abraham

Lincoln, and He will do no less for His church.

Abraham Lincoln is now considered one of the most remarkable leaders of all time. After hisassassination, Lincoln was almost immediately recognized as one of our greatest presidents.

However, before his death he was one of the most despised to ever hold the office. He was not just

despised in the South, but even in the Northern States. He was constantly chided and ridiculed. Many

of the nation's best leaders refused to be associated with him, and would not serve his government.

Even so, he maintained his resolve, and did the best that he could with what he was given, believing

that if the Lord was with him he could not fail. We must be prepared to do the same. The leadership

that must lead through what is coming will not be here to win popularity contests. They must do their

jobs as unto the Lord, because few men will appreciate them in their own time.

One of Lincoln's greatest accomplishments was to be able to wage such a bloody conflict without

once demonizing his enemy. From the beginning of history, the first strategy of every leader in a war

is to demonize his enemy in order to galvanize his support and mobilize his forces. It is possible that

Lincoln could have won the war much sooner if he had done this, as the North never did fully mobilize

for the war. However, Lincoln kept focused on his ultimate goal, the preservation of the Union, which

he knew would be much more difficult, if not impossible, if he were to demonize the South. Until the

very end he treated his enemies with the utmost dignity and respect. He even visited Southern troops

in hospitals, because he continued to maintain that they were all Americans, even if they had been led

astray.

In spite of all of the pressures to succeed in the shortest time, even when facing military defeat after

defeat on the battlefields, even when it appeared that he would lose re-election to an advocate of

peace at any cost, for Lincoln to keep his vision on the ultimate purpose of unity was an extraordinary

grace. This was also a characteristic of one of the greatest leaders in the Bible, King David. Davidalso had to fight a civil war with the house of Saul (see II Samuel 3). However, David revealed the

same kind of magnanimity when he insisted on always honoring King Saul, even when Saul sought

his own life, even when there was war with the house of Saul, and even after the war was over.

As the spiritual civil war starts to unfold, we, too, must always remember that we are not warring with

flesh and blood, but we are actually fighting for the liberation of the very ones we may be in conflict

with. Lincoln's vision of unity included the South as a part of the Union, and to consider them anything

other than Americans was to contradict his basic vision of preserving the Union. Regardless of how

deceived someone may be, if they have embraced the cross of J esus Christ, they are our brothers,

and the very ones our Savior gave Hi life to save. We are not fighting against people, but the forces

that deceive and bind them.

Philip Elston had a vision several years ago in which he saw the Lord standing with His arms

outstretched. Soldiers in blue and gray uniforms were marching past Him on either side, and were

laying their bloody swords on His arms. The Lord resolutely looked into the eyes of each one,

saying,"No one who has their brother's blood on their sword will be used to build My house. " We

must never use our swords against our brothers, but only against the cords of evil that are binding

them.

It is true that there are children of "their father, the devil," with great influence in the body of Christ,

just as there were in Israel when the Lord walked the earth. These must be confronted and exposed,

and either converted, or removed from their place of influence in the church. Neither the Lord nor theapostles refrained from confronting them, naming them, and when necessary, removing them from





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the church. J ust as in the first century, these can be distinguished by their attempts to spy out our

liberty and yoke the church with bondage, or sow the doctrines that the Scriptures call leaven. It is

also noteworthy that some of the greatest revivals in our nation's history took place among the

Southern troops during the Civil War. Many Southern generals were leaders of the revival. The Lord

came to save the rebels, among which we were all found at one time. Let us never forget that we are

here to save men, and set them free. The church will soon be singing, "The Battle Hymn of the

Republic" with much greater understanding.

SUMMARY

So what can we do if this is going to happen? First, all the movements that are working to bring about

the unity of the church really have been sent by God. These are meant to strengthen our unity for

what is coming. I believe we should support every one of them as much as we can. We should also

do all that we can to reconcile with those who we have differences with. Some whom we may now

think are our enemies will be our best friends in what is coming, and some whom we think may be our

best friends, may become enemies. We must do all that we can to strengthen every relationship, and

reconcile with those that we can.

We should also do all that we can to strengthen the essential truths of our faith, within ourselves, and

any to whom we are called to serve by leading. The true unity of the faith will never have to come at

the compromise of our beliefs. We are also called to follow the Lamb, not just an organization. Those

who have built their spiritual lives, or positions of leadership, on obeying an organization rather than

always seeking to follow the Lord, are in the most serious jeopardy at this time of becoming stumbling

blocks.

We are called to overcome evil with good. We cast out darkness with the light. Allow the Lord to

search your heart for any way you might be using a control spirit, manipulation, or means other than

the Holy Spirit to try to accomplish your purposes. The roots that the enemy has in us through thesewill cause us much trouble in the times ahead. Let us now judge ourselves, lest we be judged. If we

will humble ourselves now, He will lift us up at the proper time.

NOTE: For those who may be wondering, I am a white Southerner, born in North Carolina and raised

in Richmond, Virginia. My ancestors were slave owners. I love the South, and believe that where sin

did abound, grace will much more abound. In the coming spiritual civil war, the church in the South

will be on the right side.

Source URL: http://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/prophetic-bulletins/1996/civil-war-

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Strategic Dreams & Visions


Rick Joy ner


The following are prophetic words, dreams or visions which I felt have implications for the entire

church, given to those whom I consider to have proven prophetic gifts Each revelation is stated, and

then I offer an interpretation and application. Please do keep in mind that the interpretations and

applications did not come from those given the revelation, and in some cases their interpretations

and/or applications may differ from what is written here. They are therefore offered for your judgment

and consideration.

– Rick J oyner

PROPHECY FROM BONNIE CHAVDA: Bonnie received Zechariah 9:13: "I will stir up your sons,

O Zion, against your sons, O Greece."

INTERPRETATION: This Scripture is a prophecy that true believers are going to stand up and war

against the influence of Greek philosophies such as humanism, which has made serious and

destructive inroads into the doctrines of the church.

APPLICATION: This Scripture was literally fulfilled by the Maccabean Rebellion. This was a time of great apostasy in the nation of Israel, which took place almost two hundred years before Christ. Greek

gods had been set up in the Temple of the Lord, swine's blood was being offered there, and its courts

were being used for the most perverted pagan celebrations. The Maccabees were a family of

extraordinary courage and faith, who determined that they would rather die than see the Temple of

the Lord so defiled. Against impossible odds, they rose up and defeated the Greeks and their other

oppressors, and drove the evil from their land. They cleansed and restored the Temple, and revived

the worship of the true God of Israel. This great victory is still celebrated by the Jews as "The Feast of

Dedication," or Hanukkah.

Even though this was literally fulfilled by the Maccabees, that which is fulfilled in the natural often has

a spiritual application in the church (see I Corinthians 10:11). When the dews claimed to be "sons of

Abraham," the Lord replied, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham" (John

8:39). There will be spiritual "sons of the Maccabees" who will be raised up to do the deeds of the

Maccabees in the church. They will fight against the evil perversions and apostasies that are being

imposed on the church through humanism, and will bring about a restoration and cleansing of "the

temple not made with hands" (see Hebrews 9: 11).

It should also be noted that it was during the Feast of Dedication that J esus stood up in the Temple to

assert His deity (see J ohn 10:2-42). Because the Lord timed every message that He spoke to

perfectly fit with the setting, we can know that it will be by the asserting of the deity of J esus that the

false gods and humanistic philosophies will be driven from the church.

WORD FROM ROBERT MARENS: The church has been like a cruise liner, addicted to comfort,convenience, and entertainment. The Lord wants to refit us as a battleship.





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INTERPRETATION: The church is not here for our own comfort, convenience, and entertainment.

The affix -tain means to hold up or hinder, as in detain. Therefore entertain could be interpreted as to

hinder from entering. Entertainment could be one of the biggest factors that keeps many Christians

from entering into the purposes of the Lord. It almost seems as if we have interpreted the Lord's

exhortation to "Occupy" until He returns as "Entertain" until He returns. This must change!

"The whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (I John 5:19);we are living in enemy territory.

The Lord came to "destroy the works of the devil" (I John 3:8), and He said that He was sending

us with the same purpose (see J ohn 17:18). We are at war with the powers of darkness, and that war

will not end until the kingdom comes. Christianity is not meant to be a luxury cruise; it is meant to be a

battle. In war, cruise liners are the most easy targets of the enemy, and the "comfort and

convenience" mentality that has captured much of the church is one reason why so many are falling

away, or living in defeat.

APPLICATION: This is a call for a radical change in the way much of the church now approaches

ministry. On cruise liners people may wander around until they find something interesting to do. On a

battleship everyone has a specific duty, a battle station that they have been well trained for. We must

all learn to use the divinely powerful weapons that we have been given. We must train every believer

to be the warrior they have been called to be, and properly place them in their station.

In 1995 Bob J ones was given an extensive dream about the church crossing the J ordan and

beginning to possess her promises. This dream began with the leaders of the church sailing up and

down the J ordan on pleasure rides in the boats that the Lord had given them for carrying the people

over. The Lord was angry and blew upon the boats, capsizing them all. He then instructed them to be

salvaged and given to those who would use them properly. Such warnings are usually given in time

for repentance by the guilty ones, but we believe that the fulfillment of this will be soon. There must be

a radical change to the way many have approached ministry, especially in the West.

WORD FROM ROBERT MARENS: The church is now like a sailing vessel whose tackle is slack

when the wind comes.

INTERPRETATION: "Tackle" on a sailing vessel are the ropes, sails, beams, etc., which are all

designed to enable it to use the wind for propulsion. If the tackle is slack it can miss its opportunity to

catch the wind when it comes. An experienced sailor knows that slack tackle can also be dangerous.

Many people have been injured or knocked overboard by swinging beams and tackle that was not

prepared for the wind when it came.

APPLICATION: The wind speaks of the Holy Spirit (see J ohn 3:8). All of the gifts, ministries and

spiritual resources we have been given in the church are meant to enable us to move with the HolySpirit when He moves. J ust as a good sailor learns to keep everything in its proper place, clean, neat

and ready to be used, we must learn to keep the church the same way, always ready to move with

Him. Otherwise, when He does move we can miss Him, or even be hurt by it.

PROPHECY FROM PAUL CAIN: A healing revival will begin this year.

INTERPRETATION: This is a word that we have heard from a number of different prophetic

ministries. Revival implies bringing something back to life. The last true healing revival began in 1948

and had a sweeping world wide impact. Even though the Lord seldom moves in exactly the same way

twice, we can expect healing to become a much greater emphasis in the times ahead.





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APPLICATION: In harmony with the above exhortation to not be as a sailing vessel whose tackle is

slack when the wind comes, we should be sensitive to anything that the Lord says about healing this

year, seek the Lord for more authority for healing, and faithfully pray for the sick. We should study the

Lord's healing ministry, and others who have moved, or are moving, effectively in this ministry.

WORD OF WISDOM FROM DAVID SAUNDERS: When men came back from the war, they had been

used to having fellowship with other men, but the church had no place for this. This caused many men

to gravitate toward such organizations as Free Masonry, etc. (exclusive men's organizations).

INTERPRETATION & APPLICATION: One of the primary assaults of the enemy in modern times is

meant to blur the distinctions between men and women. They are different, and from the very

beginning men have been used to spending a great deal of time together as they march to wars, or

worked in the fields. Likewise, women had a great deal of time together without men. There is a

camaraderie that both men and women have with each other in some things that is both healthy, and

badly needed. This is one reason why men's meetings, such as Promise Keepers, became so

popular, so fast. They filled a void that the church has neglected. If the church does not provide for

this need the temptation will be great for some to find it outside of the church, and the devil has

provided many places for it.

PROPHECY FROM BOB JONES: The Lord is about to raise up women's movements that will be like

a balance to Promise Keepers.

INTERPRETATION & APPLICATION:"The women who proclaim the good tidings are a great

host" (Psalm 68:11). J ust as there is a special witness that has come from Promise Keepers, there

will be one that comes from special women's groups that are raised up.

Also, Bob felt that one of these groups would be Women's AGLOW. I was shown the same thing

about AGLOW a couple of years ago. Over the last few years, with very little fanfare, Women's

AGLOW has become a powerful spiritual force, devoted to intercession and boldly confronting some

of the greatest powers of darkness with the gospel. I am sure that there are others as well, but I am

just not personally aware of them at this time.

Even though men's and women's movements are needed, there is a place for interchange. It is

wonderful to behold what the Lord is doing through the men's movements, especially the evangelism

and the confronting of spiritual strongholds like racism. There is a power in just getting that many men

together that is wonderful and is accomplishing something important.

Last year, while speaking at the International AGLOW conference, there were thousands of women

present, but the power in that meeting did not come from the numbers of people present. I felt morespiritual authority present than I have ever felt in a single meeting. When I asked the Lord why there

was so much spiritual authority present, He replied that it was because of their devotion to

intercession. It is much better to have authority with God than with men, and some of the v. omen's

groups are greatly surpassing the men's groups in this most crucial area. If the men's movements

drew from some of the spiritual strengths that is now found in the women's movements, possibly

enlisting them to intercede for their conferences and meetings, or help train men's intercessory

groups, how much more effective could they be? Likewise, if the women's groups could draw from

some of the gifts and strengths of the men's groups, they could accelerate their effectiveness. They

need to remain distinct movements or they will each lose their purpose, but it could be very helpful to

both to have bridges of trust and interchange established.





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Women should not be intimidated by what the Lord is doing in men's movements, and men must not

be intimidated by what the Lord does in women's movements. If both will reach out to serve the other,

both will probably go to much higher levels.

DREAM FROM BOBBY CONNER: Bobby was jogging with the Commander in Chief, who was in a jogging suit. The Commander was in great shape, and Bobby was not, so he did not think that he

could keep up with him. The Commander told Bobby that it would not be a problem. Bobby ran with

him and it was easy. They ran into a large building like the White House. There were a lot of people

who were formally dressed for something like a cocktail party. They were all trying to get the

Commander to stop, but he wouldn't. They ran through all of the rooms until they came to one with

strategic maps on the wall and on a table. They stopped there and the dream ended.

INTERPRETATION: Bobby knew that the Commander was the Lord. Running speaks of the pace

that He is now setting. The White House speaks of the center of civil authority, and the cocktail party

speaks of the "party spirit" with which the government is now being occupied. The Lord would not stop

for this, even though they asked Him to, which speaks of the fact that He is no longer heeding their

appeals. That the Lord showed Bobby the strategic plans in the White House speaks of the prophetic

ministry (which Bobby is growing into) being shown the secret plans of the government.

APPLICATION: This has often been a function of the prophetic ministry (see II Kings 6:12). However,

to be trusted with such knowledge it is important that we be found trustworthy. Divine knowledge of

any kind must be handled with the utmost discretion. With such words of knowledge as this we must

seek words of wisdom so that it is never misused. However, we are being given this knowledge to use

it in the right way.

WORD FROM BOB JONES: Sarah was about ninety years old when she brought forth Isaac. The

Pentecostal movement was about ninety years old when the "holy laughter" came forth.

INTERPRETATION: Isaac means "laughter." The birth of the modern Pentecostal Movement is often

measured from the revival that began at Azusa Street, which took place about 90 years before the

present renewal movements.

APPLICATION: Isaac was the promised son of Abraham and represents many things to the church,

such as the church entering into the promises of God. It should not be interpreted that the laughter is

the promise, but rather a sign of it. Even so, it is now almost universally believed that a spiritual

generation that will walk in the promises of God has now been born and is maturing.

PROPHECY FROM ROBIN MCMILLAN: Robin kept hearing "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday." A ship is

going down.

INTERPRETATION: When Robin shared this Bob J ones felt that it was The Titanic, and that this

represented the titans of the church, who are thought to be unsinkable, but are about to sink. In

dreams and visions ships often represent leaders (i.e. Ieader-ship). Also, over the last few months

several prophetic people have told me that it was time to review the revelation that I had about The

Titanic (which was written as a section of The Harvest).

APPLICATION No. 1: If this is in relation to "the titans of the church," I think that we should remember

that the sinking of The Titanic was one of history's greatest tragedies. The sinking of this great ship

was caused by her pride, which has been at the root of the downfall of the large ministries of our own

times. It would be good for all large ministries to examine themselves for this leaven, and to see if they have been disregarding warnings of problems ahead just as The Titanic did. The bigger we are





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the more we tend to place our security in our size rather than in the Lord, and that is a potentially

catastrophic deception.

Many people needlessly perished on The Titanic because the "maydays" that she sent out were not

responded to. The main reason they were not responded to was because of the belief that she couldnot sink, and therefore no one believed that she could really be in serious danger. If the ship that was

the closest by, The Californian, had responded, it is probable that every life on board could have

been saved.

APPLICATION No. 2: Isaiah 33:21 says, "But there the majestic One, the Lord, shall be for us a

place of rivers and wide canals, on which no boat with oars shall go, and on which no mighty

ship shall pass." Boats with oars speak of those who are moving by human energy. "Mighty

ship" could have been translated "large ship." The River of Life is just that, a river, not a pond,

lake, or ocean. Large ships are not made for rivers. A large ship on a river is not only in danger itself,

but it will be dangerous.

APPLICATION No. 3: to all of the smaller craft as well. We need to examine our concepts that large

represents the favor of the Lord. One can become a large ministry by many different means entirely

without the Holy Spirit. Decentralization may be a life saving word for the future.

If we are in a time of decentralization, and smaller, more efficient ministries and churches are what we

should be building, we must be careful not to become judgmental in this. The word "large" will almost

always be relative. A large church in Austria would be considered a very small one in Argentina.

Larger ships can navigate on larger rivers, and the greater the move of the Holy Spirit in an area the

larger the churches and ministries will tend to be. I think the key word here is what is becoming too

large for the conditions, or what is becoming too large to be effective.

Also, many who are called to small groups such as house groups, often fall into the trap of criticizing

those who are called to larger works. Such criticism can disqualify us from receiving greater spiritual

authority. It can also cause us to become stumbling blocks if we start to feel that it is our place to tear

down the larger works. Paul had the authority to "tear down" with the Corinthians because he was the

one God used to build them. We do not have authority to tear down anything that we were not used to

build.

PROPHECY FROM PAUL CAIN: We must learn to bear the stigma of the anointing, and our calling.

J esus had to bear the stigma of the J ews believing that He was illegitimate, even though He was the

Son of God. We must go to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. There must be a camp

outside the camp. You can have an "outside the camp" experience while remaining in the camp, even

though there will probably have to be a complete separation when the last move comes.

INTERPRETATION: Here a key word may be "camp." This may well have a different interpretation for

different people or groups. If we look at the "camp" during the Lord's time, it was the religious

establishment which had departed from following the Lord to become an organization that actually

resisted Him.

APPLICATION: If we are in a religious institution that does resist the Lord, we should consider that it

is time to leave it and not wait to be removed. Many are called with specific missions to those "in the

camp," and need to be faithful to those callings. But those who are not so called, but remain within

such "camps" beyond the time, will start to backslide spiritually. If this is happening to us we must be

open to hearing the word to "come out."





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PROPHECY FROM PAUL CAIN: We will have to choose between the anointing and respectability.

INTERPRETATION: This is a repeat of a message Paul gave five years ago, and is closely related to

the word above. Possibly the main stumbling block that keeps ministries from receiving the anointing

is being overly concerned about the approval of men. As the Lord Himself warned: You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed

among men is detestable in the sight of God (see Luke 16:15). If we are going to be doing that which

is acceptable to men, even religious men if they resist the Holy Spirit, we will be doing that which is

detestable in God's sight.

APPLICATION: We are today making choices that will affect the level of anointing that the Lord can

trust us with, and this is a major determining factor. When being faced with a decision, if our first

consideration is how it will affect our relationship to other men, rather than simply what we need to do

to be obedient, we are subject to the fear of man to the degree that it will affect our usefulness to the

Lord. This is a sin that we must repent of, and resist. As Paul the apostle said, "If I were still trying

to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10).

PROPHECY FROM PAUL CAIN: We must remember how Michal reacted to David, and how she was

cursed because of her criticism.

INTERPRETATION: Michal was offended by David's abandoned worship of the Lord, feeling that he

had exposed himself improperly. This is because she cared more about what the people thought of

her husband than what the Lord thought.

When I first began to see the coming of "a Davidic ministry," I was shown that abandoned worship

would be a characteristic of it. I was also warned that those with a religious spirit would resist this by

calling it "the worship of the golden calf," among other things. Why is it that abandonment at a sports

event is tolerable, but the joyful abandonment in worship of our God is not? There is a big difference

between the worship of the golden calf and exuberant worship of the Lord, which should be obvious to

even the most immature believer, as it is obvious that there is no golden calf present. But this obvious

discrepancy in their judgment will not be obvious to those with a religious spirit. A religious spirit

makes us wary of anything that we do not understand, do ourselves, or can control in others.

APPLICATION: Abandoned worship will be a characteristic of the last day ministry. Beware of

anything that arises in your heart that would cause you to criticize this in others. There is decency,

and there is order, but God's decency and order is very different from what those with a religious spirit

will tolerate. We must seek the Lord's wisdom for what is allowed in worship. That which is done in the

flesh, or by the evil one, is obvious in its attempt to draw attention to itself That which really is being

done in the joy of the Lord is also obvious. However, if we are overly zealous to prohibit what is of theflesh, we will overly inhibit true worship. Sometimes we must let the tares grow up with the wheat to

preserve the wheat. However, let us be careful not to ridicule or judge wrongly like Michal. This will be

one way in which many with a religious spirit will be disqualified from bearing fruit in what will be the

greatest time ever to minister.

PROPHECY FROM RICK JOYNER: Psalm 132:1-5 will be a heart cry of the new breed of ministry

that is coming.

INTERPRETATION: King David knew that he could not rest until the Lord had a place to rest.

Building the Lord's dwelling place will be a much higher priority for the last day ministry than building

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APPLICATION: J ust as the priests were commanded to not wear anything which made them sweat

(see Ezekiel 44:18), as sweat speaks of seeking to bring forth fruit by our own strength, we must enter

the rest of the Lord to bear true spiritual fruit. This means that we must abide in Him, and depend on

His Spirit to do His work, not our own might and power (see Zechariah 4:6 and Hebrews 3:7-4:11).

Entering the rest of the Lord is crucial for all true ministry, but the only way that we can enter His rest

is, as David discerned, by devoting ourselves to building Him a place to rest.

One of the primary signs of the last days that the Lord gave was such anxiety that men's hearts would

actually fail them because of fear (see Luke 21:25-26). A few minutes of anxiety or fear can consume

more energy than we would normally use in a whole day. That is why we are so tired when we have

been anxious, or after we have experienced intense fear. Because increasing fear will be one of the

hallmarks of the times ahead, it is increasingly imperative that we enter into the rest of the Lord, which

is simply trust in Him in all things.

The Lord is trustworthy, He is able to deliver us from any problem, but He only works by faith, not

worry. Anxiety is pride, because anxiety is an assumption that we must take care of ourselves, that

He cannot do it. The greatest problems facing the whole earth will not even cause Him to break a

sweat. He is not sitting in the heavens wringing His hands because of problems. As He comes to

abide in us, and we in Him, there should be nothing that causes us to worry. Therefore:

Be anxious fo r nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your

requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension,

shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

If we will obey this Scripture and use our energy in prayer instead of consuming it with worry, our lives

would probably be far more fruitful than they are now. We must learn to quickly recognize worry, and

use it for a call to prayer. It is the peace of God that "guards your hearts and minds in Christ J esus,"

which is to keep us abiding in Him. It is also "the God of peace" who crushes Satan under our feet(see Romans 16:20). It is no accident that it was J erusalem, which means "the city of peace," that the

Lord chose as His dwelling place. To abide in His peace is to abide in the knowledge of who He is--

GOD!

WORD FROM BOBBY CONNER: Satan's people are more willing to make sacrifices to gain his

power than the church is to walk in the Lord's power.

INTERPRETATION: It is a basic spiritual principle that power is released through sacrifice, even evil

power (see II Kings 3:27). Satanic worshipers understand this principle very well, but Christians are

often ignorant of it.

APPLICATION: It is according to this principle that the cross has become the power of God to us.

When we take up the cross to be crucified with Him, His power is also released in us. It is not a matter

of earning His power, but abiding in His nature, which was to lay down His life for those in need of

Him. True Christianity is a life of sacrifice, not consumption. The degree to which we sacrifice our own

will to do His, we will know His power.

Every sacrifice that we make in our life for the sake of the gospel will bear fruit. It is a gross perversion

to try to make sacrifices for the sake of our atonement, or to seek the approval of God, all of which

was accomplished for us by the cross. However, it is our privilege to make sacrifices for the sake of

the gospel. This is what Paul the apostle did when he refused to take advantage of certain "rights"

that he had, such as taking with him a believing wife, or taking wages from the churches. He could





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have taken advantage of these, but he did not want to in order to devote himself even more

thoroughly to the gospel. Such sacrifices enabled him to bear much more fruit.

There are many practical ways that we can make sacrifices for the sake of the gospel, and for our

own spiritual life, that could radically impact our lives and ministries. In Scripture, fasting was one waythat people humbled themselves before the Lord. Every time they did this the Lord met them. There

are many different fasts in Scripture, and it is well within our New Covenant liberty to be creative in

this. For example, if the average Christian just fasted from television for a month, and used that time

for prayer or studying the word, their lives would be radically different than they are now, and much

more full of power. If we took that time to spend with our kids it could radically transform many

families.

Even so, to impose abstinence from television on the church would not accomplish anything but

putting people under the yoke of bondage, and most people would be watching television in secret,

and it would be an even worse sin to them (the sin of deception added to the sin of not doing the

Lord's will would only sow more deception in the church). But if we give up some television out of

love, seeking the Lord and wanting to focus our hearts and minds on His purposes, it would result in a

much greater release of power. Any such sacrifice that we make for love's sake will pay dividends.

Even if we gave up television for the rest of our lives, and it only resulted in one sinner being, or in

one of our children being kept from stumbling, it would be worth it millions of times over. How many

more would be coming to the Lord if we were closer to Him, or spent the time seeking Him or

witnessing, that we now frivolously wasting. The Lord could give us all that we need without asking,

but He requires us to ask, seek knock, because only those who care enough to seek Him will rightly

handle the riches of the kingdom. Do we value the true riches of the kingdom enough to lay aside the

temporary pleasures and gratifications of the flesh to seek them?

WORD FROM ROBIN MCMILLAN: We need to understand the receptivity of the Samaritans.

INTERPRETATION: The Samaritans were a people of mixture. Physically they were part J ew and

part of almost every other nation around them. Spiritually they were the same, worshiping J ehovah

and the gods from all of the other heathen nations. Even so, they had a remarkable receptivity to the

gospel. When J esus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well it resulted in the entire Samaritan city

coming to believe in Him. When Philip preached in Samaria they all came to believe. Likewise, some

of the sects and cults who we have believed accursed, and who do have a mixture in their doctrine,

will also prove to be some of the most receptive to the gospel if we would preach to them.

APPLICATION: Like the Lord, Philip, Peter and J ohn, we should not hesitate to preach the gospel to

groups that I have a mixture in their doctrines at this time. J ust as the leadership of the World Wide of God have shown extraordinary humility and a willingness to repent of some of their beliefs to embrace

biblical Christianity, many other groups, such as the J ehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and others are

filled with people who really do want to walk in truth, and they will if it is shared with them in a right

spirit. It is important for us to remember how the Lord and the apostles went to the Samaritans. They

did not go condemning and chastising them for their wrong beliefs, but simply preached the truth. The

Lord allowed the woman at the well to bring up the question of how to worship, and then He answered

her straightforwardly, but with grace, showing her dignity even though she was living in sin.

WORD FROM BOBBY CONNER: When someone wakes from a head trauma, the very first things a

doctor will ask them is if they know who they are and where they are. When the church wakes up we

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INTERPRETATION: Amazingly, many Christians cannot answer these questions accurately. In the

last couple of years I have asked a number of audiences and congregations how many people knew

their own calling or purpose in the church, and the result has been that less than 5 percent can

affirmatively answer. When I ask how many are actually functioning in their calling, the number drops

to less than 2 percent. What human body could possibly survive, much less function and accomplish

anything, if only 2 percent of the organs were functioning? This is a dramatic sign that the overall

ministry of the church is profoundly failing at her primary task of "equipping the saints for the work of

the ministry." How much more effective would the church be if all of her members were properly

functioning?

APPLICATION: Knowing the answer to these questions, especially in relation to revealing spiritual

gifts and callings, is one of the primary responsibilities of prophetic ministry. We have been witnessing

a dramatic growth of prophetic anointing over the last few years, especially with words of knowledge

for everything from diseases and physical problems to the strategic will of God, but we must seek the

Lord for more revelation about people's spiritual gifts and callings. These words have dramatic results

in setting people free to move into their callings, which is a critical need in the whole body of Christ at

this time. Along with such words of knowledge, we also need words of wisdom that can help set

people on the course to receiving the proper equipping and preparation for walking in their calling. As

Proverbs 24:3-4 states, knowledge will fill the house, but wisdom builds it.

WORD OF WISDOM FROM PAUL CAIN: Sounding forks will resonate at the same frequency if they

are close enough to each other. If we are close to the Lord we will resonate at the same frequency

that He is on. Is this not what the Lord meant when He said He did not do anything that He did not

see the Father doing?

INTERPRETATION: The only way that we will "be on the same frequency" with the Lord is to stay

close to Him. A tuning fork will resonate at the same frequency as any other tuning fork that is

resonating close to it. There are many "tuning forks" sounding off, but we must be sure that we arestaying close to the Lord if we are going to have His message.

APPLICATION: We must seek the Lord, not just gravitate to any message that is sounding forth. The

essence to all true prophetic ministry, or prophetic messages, is simply being close to God. Above all

things, this will always be the most important message that we need to hear, and it is good that the

Lord is continually saying the same thing to us in different ways.

WORD FROM BOB JONES: Many saints are now dying before their time. It is because the church is

not using the authority that He has given to us to bind, loose, and to heal. The centrality of the cross

has been displaced. The cross is the power of God, and our hedge is the fear of the Lord, which we

must recover.

INTERPRETATION: In 1989 Bob had a word that the Lord allowed Herod to kill J ames in order to

teach the church to pray for her leaders. When Peter was likewise captured by Herod, the church

prayed and Peter was delivered (see Acts 12). It is not the Lord's will for any of His children to die

prematurely. Then why does He allow it? Because He has given us certain authority to use and He

expects us to use it, otherwise there would have been no point in Him giving it to us. He could do

everything without us, but He has chosen to work through us, and if we do not do it He will allow it to

go undone.

APPLICATION: We must learn to take it personally whenever someone is afflicted by the devil, or

dies prematurely. We must learn to pray, seek the Lord, return to the cross. We must seek the fear of the Lord, which the Scripture says is more valuable than gold or silver (see Proverbs 2:1-5). If we





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believe this we will search for the fear of the Lord like we would for treasure. What value could

possibly be put on having the hedge of the Lord about us? The fear of the Lord is our hedge.

DREAM FROM BOB JONES: Bob had a dream in which a number of us were riding in a car and we

were stopped by the "Higher-way Patrol." The patrolman was very strict and came to check us to seeif we could go any further. He said that we were not speeding, but he was looking us over using a

checklist that was Psalm 24. He was looking for contraband such as "drugs." He did not find any, but

he said we had too much trash and too much excess baggage. He said that was okay because we

were at the dump and could get rid of it. The trash and excess baggage was really good stuff in the

past, but now it was trash. We must travel lighter to stay on the higher-way.

Bob told this patrolman that we were going to a revival, and he replied, "No you're not. There is not

going to be a revival in America this year, but it will rain in different places, according to Amos 4:7,

and we are to go where it is raining." The patrolman then said that we were not ready for revival yet,

but this rain would help to get us ready for one. Then an angel of grace came and said not to get mad

at the angel of the law, because if we kept on this higherway Psalm 21 would be our reward.

INTERPRETATIONS & APPLICATIONS: Bob was told that the Lord did not send this angel of the

law, but He let him stop and check us. We are not to be under the law, but neither can we ever think

that we are above the law. We can expect legalistic people to stop us occasionally, and even though

they may have a wrong spirit, and even though they are not sent by the Lord, we need to listen to

what they have to say. Sometimes our enemies will tell us what our friends won't, and they can help

us to see things that we do need to get rid of. We should use Psalm 24 as our own checklist. As I

Corinthians 11:31 states, "But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged." We will

not get where we need to go without passing this checklist. The contraband that the patrolman was

looking for was drugs, which were actually doctrines that caused delusions. Drugs are used as a

substitute for reality, or to make us feel better. We are called to be "pillars and supports of the truth,"

and truth is reality. We should not seek anything that would alter seeing ourselves the way that wereally are, even if it makes us feel bad for a time. We must be willing to view everything else as it is,

including our churches, ministries, families, etc., if we are going to walk in truth.

Bob said that the trash in our car was from what had contained food in the past. We are still holding

onto some things from the past because it did contain good food at the time, but now they are just

empty packages. We often try to hold onto what contained the blessing, even when the blessing has

long since passed, and it only gets in the way, hindering future progress. The baggage also contained

stuff that was still good, but it was not stuff that we needed for where we are going. We tend to carry

too much and we need to travel much lighter if we are going to stay on the "higher-way." Some people

have as much as 90 percent of their time occupied with clutter and things that are really not bearing

any fruit in their life. We must get rid of excess baggage.

Bob was also told that we were at the dump and could get rid of our trash and excess baggage there.

I would interpret "there" as this point in time. It is not lawful to throw trash out of a moving vehicle, but

every time we stop, or have a reprieve spiritually, use that time to get rid of any trash that has

accumulated, as well as the excess baggage. When we start moving again it will not be the time to do

that, but to stay focused on the road.

So far this year it could be said that the Lord is raining in many places, and in some of them there is

an abundance of rain, but it is true that we are not seeing anything that could really be considered an

historic revival in America yet. That we were told to go "where it is raining," speaks of seeking the

blessing where it is now found. Wise men throughout the ages have been willing to travel almost anydistance to find that which God is bringing forth, even if it is still in its infancy. From the beginning of





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God's dealings with Abraham, there has been a quest, a sojourn, required of those who will receive

the blessings. One of the special dynamics of the Day of Pentecost was that men had come from

every nation to worship the Lord in J erusalem. The mentality that we do not need to go to others, but

that God will come to us, can be a form of pride, or jealousy, that keeps us from receiving the

blessing.

Bob was also told that when we have our own opinions the Lord will just let us keep going in our error

until we repent. The Lord's ways are not our ways, but His ways are a higher way (see Isaiah 55).

A PROPHETIC "EXPERIENCE" OF BOBBY CONNER, ROBIN MACMILLAN, STEVE THOMPSON

AND BOB JONES:

While on a retreat with a few prophetic friends to Moravian Falls, one morning I asked each of these

as they came down for breakfast if the Lord had given them anything the night before. Without

knowing what the others had said, they each replied that they had either smelled smoke, seen smoke,

or dreamed about smoke, coming from the west.

Bobby Conner sensed it so strongly that he asked his wife to step into the hall to see if the building

was on fire. | There was no literal smoke, or the smell of smoke, in the lodge. It was a spiritual

experience. Bob J ones was specifically told that this smoke was from a burning church, and he saw

young children being ritually abused, especially young x. girls. He saw families being separated, and

babies being bought (for ritual sacrifices). He said that those doing it were racists, but also Satanists.

He was also told that what the enemy destroyed, the Lord would restore fourfold.

INTERPRETATION: This took place soon after the church in Knoxville that Reggie White attends was

burned. I had not talked to any of those attending this retreat about this to see if the Lord would show

them something. Because Knoxville was almost due west of where we were staying, I felt that it was a

revelation that those who were responsible for this were satanic worshipers. A few months later, when

a church in Charlotte was burned, it was allegedly started by a teenage girl who claimed to be a

Satanist.

This is not to presume that all of these churches are being burned by Satanic worshipers, but the

church must understand that these attacks are a major strategy of the enemy. We are told not to be

ignorant of his schemes because we are called to stand up against the darkness with the light of the

gospel. This is a wake-up call. We must view an attack on any part of the body of Christ as an attack

on us personally. One part does not suffer without the whole body suffering.

Even so, there is another, even more specific purpose to these attacks. These attacks are meant to

inflame racial tensions in America because Satan has a strategy to ignite a major racial conflict in thiscountry. This is a part of his overall strategy to release the spirit of death in America. He knows very

well that at this time anything that is released in America will impact the entire world. This is not just

an American egocentric statement, but America does now have the greatest influence in the world, for

good or for evil.

APPLICATION No. 1: Satan understands very well that spiritual authority is multiplied with unity (one

can put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight). When the church comes into

unity, his power will be broken. The greatest division in the church in America is between white and

black churches. It is true that "Eleven o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the

week," and Satan is doing all that he can to keep it so. It is an obvious strategy of the enemy to use

the burning of black churches for evil, so we must overcome this evil with good. When a black churchis burned down we must seize this opportunity to build bridges of trust by helping them to rebuild





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something even better than what was destroyed. Reach out to those who have been targets of such

attacks, and determine to be a part of what the Lord wants to do, which is to restore four fold.

It has been encouraging to see mostly white Christian groups, such as the Southern Baptists, repent

of their racist past, and to seek to do something about present problems. It is also encouraging theway many of these have responded to the church burnings with a resolve to help their brothers rebuild

what was lost. Repentance is just the first step of the process of reunion. Repentance must be

followed by Reconciliation, and Restoration, and these church burnings are an opportunity for the

white church to reach out and build bridges to the black church. If every time the enemy strikes a

brother, we rise up with the determination to strike him back at least four times, some of the most

powerful evil strongholds will quickly fall before us.

APPLICATION No. 2: We need to build bridges of trust between whites and blacks by starting to

understand each other better. Presently there is a greater difference between "white America" and

"black America" than there is between the U.S. and different nations.

We have made some strides in overcoming racism, but in other ways it is getting worse. When the

church in Knoxville was burned down, the pastors of this church actually became suspects, and

members of the church felt that they were harassed by agents, even though the insurance on the

church only covered a fraction of the damage. Later, Reggie White was even named as a suspect,

and was told that he could not fly with President Clinton to visit black churches that had been burned

because he was "under investigation." If lawmen would seek to intimidate someone with the visibility

that Reggie White has, what do they do to the little guys? This is why many blacks do not even report

crimes, because they know that they are likely to become the suspects. This is why blacks have a

hard time believing evidence against one of their own when it is presented by white officers,

especially proven racists, such as in the O.J . Simpson trial.

This is not to imply anyone's guilt or innocence, but it is very hard for white Americans to understandwhat most African Americans in this country still live under, and why it would be so hard for a black

jury to believe the evidence presented by white law enforcement officers, especially when one

collecting the evidence is an obvious racist. The justice system in America is not the same for blacks

and whites, which numerous statistics overwhelmingly confirm. Almost anyone who becomes vocal

about this problem becomes a target of intimidation, if not outright persecution. This may sound to

those of us who live comfortably like paranoia, but it is the truth. It does not involve everyone in

government, as there are many in both government and law enforcement who are aware of these

problems and are trying to do something about them. Even so, it is a much bigger problem than many

can imagine at this time. It forces many blacks to try to live outside of the system, giving even more

power to the attraction of such things as drugs and crime.

Overall, The Nation of Islam is doing more to help the black community, and to give African

Americans a sense. of worth and purpose, than the church is. The church must awaken to what is

going on. The white church should have arisen with the message of Martin Luther King, J r. long

before he did. We are very late waking up to the evils of racism, and the reality of what our black

brothers and sisters are today living under. Even with many in the government sincerely trying to help,

this is not a problem that the government can solve by itself. This is a spiritual problem and the church

must rise up to address it. The church is called to be "a pillar and support of the truth." As the

Scriptures repeatedly say of the Lord, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy

throne" (Psalm 89:14). If we are going to represent the kingdom of God as His ambassadors, we

must be devoted to righteousness and justice, for all.





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The inner cities of America are a frontline in the spiritual battle for America. Like nuclear material, the

inner cities are approaching "critical mass." When they do power will be released. If that power is not

directed properly into building, it will be used for destruction, and a spiritual meltdown of our whole

society can be the result. The next riots in America will not be confined to the inner cities.

When the Lord was asked about the signs of the end, He responded by saying "Nation will rise

against nation" (Luke 21:10). The Greek word translated "nation" in this text is ethnos, from which

we derive the word "ethnic." The Lord was saying that ethnic conflict would be one of the primary

problems, and signs of the end. It is growing dramatically, and even though it may be a sign of the

end, we are not here to just let evil have its way, but to confront darkness with light until truth prevails.

Even if it is your theology that the Lord will remove us before the great tribulation, we are here to

stand against the darkness until that time comes.

It may seem far fetched, especially to those of us in comfortable suburban America, but Satan is

doing all that he can to start a race war in America. One of Satan's main strategies in the last days is

to incite racial conflicts, and America is a main target of this. Many black groups are being deceived

into thinking that they can win a race war in America. The result of such a conflict will be an

unimaginable disaster for the entire nation. The church has the authority to bind these powers, but

only if we are in unity. If the church does not rise up to confront this evil we will have a catastrophe of

epic proportions. The burning of black churches is just another part of the enemy's diabolical strategy,

but it should be a loud wake up call to the church. The larger the fires of racism grow, the harder it will

be to put them out, and the more destruction they will do.

The enemy has done all that he could over the last few centuries to destroy the J ewish people

because he knows their destiny. He is now doing all that he can to destroy the black race because he

knows their destiny. The black race was subjected to slavery for much the same reason that Israel

was, they are called as a people to teach the world about the true liberty that is found in Christ. There

is a special onslaught against black men, and black families, that is on the level of a holocaust,because of their destiny. The church must rise up against this onslaught, not only because if we don't

we too will ultimately be victims of it, but because we are here to be a part of what the Lord is doing,

and to work with Him in His purposes.

Only a handful of Christians realized the terrible evil that was rising in Nazi Germany, and stood

against that evil, and for the J ewish people. Let us not be caught in such a deep sleep again. After the

enemy releases his full attack against the blacks in America, it is his strategy to go after the J ews in

America next. He then intends to have every race turning against every other race, even over the

smallest of differences, just as he did in Rwanda.

We can see by Bible prophecy that this will happen at the end, but we can also see that there will be"cities of refuge," and maybe even nations of refuge. America, which is truly made up of those from

every nation, has the opportunity to show the world the truth that we can all live together with respect

and dignity for all, esteeming one another for the great gifts that every race brings to the whole of

society. If we do not do this we will be the place of the greatest holocaust of all. If we do not seize the

opportunity that we have in America, the enemy will.

SPECIAL NOTE

We ask those of you who are committed to pray for MorningStar to add Reggie White to your

prayers. Reggie is a Board member of MorningStar , but we also believe that he has a destiny to be a

major voice to the church in America, and to stand against racism, one of the ultimate enemies at theend of this age. We also ask you to reach out to any church that has been a special target of racism in





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any form, looking for any way possible to stand with them and help them. If there is not such a church

in your community, and you would like to contribute to the rebuilding of the church in Knoxville, you

can send your donations to Inner City Church, c/o Pastor Jerry Upton, 1503 E. Magnolia,

Knoxville, TN 37917. These donations will not only be appreciated, they will be used for the kingdom

of God. That little church in Knoxville has been doing as much to help the inner city as any other

church that I have personally visited.

Source URL: http://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/prophetic-bulletins/1996/strategic-

dreams-visions





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The Rise and Fall of America's Team


Rick Joyner


In the Spring of 1995 Bob J ones told a number of us that the Atlanta Braves baseball team was going

to win the World Series that year as a message for the church in America. This prophecy was fulfilled,

and there indeed was a message in it.

For years the Atlanta Braves have been called "America's Team." America is called "the home of the

brave." Braves are courageous warriors. True warriors will fight until they win. After years of futility,the Atlanta Braves finally made it to the World Series in 1992 and 1993, but failed to win the

championship. They did not quit, and in 1995 they won the World Series, just as Bob J ones had

prophesied.

Likewise, the church in America has been struggling for a number of years now. Great movements

and ministries have been raised up in America to bless the world. Even though we have had many

great years, it has been a very long time since the church in America, as a whole, has truly had a

world class breakthrough or victory.

As I was expecting Atlanta to win last year because of Bob's word, I was also keen to understand the

message in it. It was curious to me that the Braves' victory came in the year of the O. J . Simpson

saga, which was perhaps the most controversial trial in American judicial history, as well as the year

when churchburnings and the Million Man March became front-page news. J ust when it seemed that

justice was under its greatest assault in America, it was David J ustice who hit the winning home run to

give "America's Team" the victory.

I think it was also significant that it was David J ustice who hit the winning home run. He is a black

man, and I do expect young, black "David's" to arise and slay the spiritual Goliaths that have been

intimidating and holding back the armies of God in America. I also believe that these great champions

are going to come in the name of justice. They are not going to come just demanding it for them-

selves, but winning it for others.

It is understood that in relation to our sin no one wants justice, but rather mercy and grace. However,

there is much more to God's justice than how we are dealt with concerning our sins. The Lord

obviously cares a great deal about equity and fairness in human dealings. In fact, Scripture makes it

clear that "righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne" (Psalm 97:2b), and " to

do righteousness and jus tice is desired by the Lord rather than sacrifice" (Proverbs 21:3).

Even so, justice is a theme that is rarely addressed in the church in America. If its importance is so

great that it is one of the two pillars upon which God has established His own throne, it needs to be

given a much higher priority. It is apparent that we cannot walk in the authority we are called to

without it. As the Lord spoke through J eremiah:

"For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man

and his neighbor,





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if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in

this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin,

then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever"

(Jeremiah 7:5-7).

I have traveled quite extensively around the world. The more I have, the more thankful I am to live in

America. I also believe that we have the best system of justice to be found in the world today, but it is

not as good as it could be. There is not justice for everyone. Even more than in our judicial system,

there is an increasing assault upon justice throughout our entire social fabric, from the economic

system to the school system. However, even more frightening than that is the almost complete lack of

either a vision or a system of justice within the church.

As Paul wrote to the Corinthians: " I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you

one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren" (I Corinthians 6:5). Paul went on

to explain that since we will one day judge angels, how much more should we be able to set up

judges among ourselves for these relatively petty earthly problems.

Paul started this exhortation with, "I say this to your shame." I think we could trace a reason for much

of the shame that has come upon the body of Christ in recent times to our not having a true system of

justice within the church, so that we could judge ourselves "lest we be judged." When the Israelites

lost their sense of justice, they quickly fell into apostasy, because justice is a foundation of the Lord's

throne in our midst. The Lord then had to use the heathen nations around Israel to discipline them

until they returned to Him. Likewise, the Lord has had to use the secular press and other "heathens"

to discipline His church in recent times because we did not discipline ourselves.

Now watchdog organizations and Christian journalists are trying to fill this void and discipline the

church. However, the Lord did not appoint journalists or investigators to judge His church. Since these

have tried to do something they had neither the grace nor the anointing to do, it has in many ways

released an even greater injustice. The Lord gave this authority to the elders of the church. Having a

degree in journalism does not qualify you to be an elder in the church; and many of these journalists

inadvertently become stumbling blocks, because they are, often with noble intentions, presuming an

authority that they do not have. This vacuum will continue to be filled by those who are not called, and

who will make a mess of it, until the true elders of the church take the authority that God has given to

them.

The Fall

This Spring Bob Jones received a word that the Braves would not win the World Series again thisyear, and that this too would be a message. When I was offered tickets to go to game five of this

year's Series in Atlanta, I knew that the Lord was going to show me something important. I was not

disappointed.

As Bobby Conner, Mike Dean and I walked to the stadium, Mike told us how the first time the Braves

went to the Series there was an unprecedented excitement in the city. Over one hundred thousand

people came to just stand outside the stadium during the games to give their support, even though

they knew they could not get in. As I listened to him talk I was surprised at the lack of excitement

there seemed to be that night. This was the very pinnacle of baseball, the World Series. It was being

played by one of history's most popular teams, the Braves, against one of history's most storied

teams, the New York Yankees. Even so, I have felt more energy in the fans at little league games





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than I did in Fulton County Stadium that night. What I did feel was an attitude of pride that made me

very uncomfortable.

It was a great game, and both teams played like champions. However, as Bobby remarked during the

game, it seemed like the Braves' players were having to carry the fans rather than gettingencouragement from them. When the Atlanta fans began to do their famous "tomahawk chop," which

had previously been an awesome war cry to strike fear into the hearts of their opponents, that night it

was so subdued that it was more like a bellyache than a war cry. I was stunned by the heaviness in

the air. I was even more surprised by the criticism that cascaded down upon the Braves if they failed

to get a hit, or did not make a play that would have been almost miraculous if they had been able to

pull it off.

The Braves lost that pivotal game because a player dropped a ball he should have caught. It seemed

fitting The heaviness was so great that I was expecting an error on almost every play. What had so

changed this city from one that would have a hundred thousand people come to just stand outside the

stadium in support of their team, to one that seemed almost angry at them?

The Braves had been favored to win the Series again even before the year began. This is not

necessarily bad, but it had fumed into something bad. Their victory the year before had opened them

up to a pride that would make their tenure at the top very short. When people become critical of

anything that falls short of their expectations of perfection, it does not inspire; it adds a pressure on

people that will sooner or later cause them to "drop the ball."

The next morning, I could hardly believe the outrageous things that were being said about the Braves

by their own local commentators. The venom directed at the player who made the error was shocking

These commentators had probably never even played in a professional baseball game, much less

experienced the pressure of a World Series. Even the people who called in with comments came

across as if they were experts who knew more than the team's managers. It was no surprise to methat the Braves were not able to win a single World Series game at home this year. It was obviously

easier for them to play on the road, for they did win two games in New York

I believe this same attitude is what causes many churches, movements and individuals to fall after

just one victory. When we experience a victory, it is good to press forward and even expect to keep

winning However, when the expectations of the people become tainted with arrogance, so that

anything falling short of those

expectations starts to draw criticism instead of intercession, a defeat is sure to follow. "Pride goes

before destruction, and a haughty spiri t before stumbling" (Proverbs 16:18).

It is hard for anyone who has not played sports to imagine just how much the attitudes of the fans do

affect a game. It is why there is such a definite "home field advantage." If the fans are cheering you

on, it inspires and energizes you to sometimes even play beyond your usual abilities. But when they

are not supportive it can be like trying to drag a heavy weight around. The same is true in our

churches. When the leadership feels the support of their people, they will rise to new heights. When

they are weighed down with criticism, it will be hard to function at all, much less rise to greater

heights.

A major reason why many leaders seem so unanointed is because their people are not hungry for

God. A second reason is the unrealistic expectations we often put on our leaders. We Americans

have become extremely demanding of our leaders. When anyone tries to lead, they are attacked so





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much that it makes one wonder why anyone would ever want to be either a pastor or a President in

this country.

How much greater would our leadership be if we started praying for our leaders instead of just

criticizing them? The single change that would probably have the greatest positive effect on thechurches in America would be to have our criticism fumed into intercession. When those who are

involved in any kind of ministry receive encouragement and the support of others, it helps greatly,

because it really is a powerful form of intercession.

Of course, not all churches in America are critical of their leaders. There are some that are even

overly supportive of their leadership, not questioning things that should be questioned. There are also

leaders who want to take all the credit for victories, but refuse to take any of the blame for failures,

choosing instead to blame the people. However, I think that overall the scales are tipped

overwhelmingly toward our having become far too critical of our leaders.

Criticism is one of the most damaging forms of pride. It seems like wisdom, but it is a devilish wisdom.

Whenever we criticize someone else, we are in effect declaring ourselves to be better than they are.

Because "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6), criticism

can be one of the most damaging poisons released in the church. We do not have a chance without

God's grace. We are warned, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man

sows, this he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7). If we want to receive grace, we had better learn to

sow grace every chance that we get. If we want to receive mercy, we must learn to sow mercy.

J ust as the critics and commentators on the radio in Atlanta that morning were composed mostly of

those who had never even played a game of professional baseball, much less played in the World

Series, most of the critics in the church have never themselves either led a church or built anything of

significance. It is amazing that anyone would listen to these commentators, and it is even more

amazing that mature Christians will listen to those who have set themselves up as judges over thechurch.

I felt sorry for that player who made the error costing the Braves that game. He made a mistake, but

he had also made dozens of outstanding plays all year. Without him the Braves almost certainly

would not have made it to the World Series. No one except his fellow teammates seemed to

remember his dozens of home runs or his usually great fielding. They only remembered one dropped

ball. Is that justice? Is it not also the way that the church has treated many of her leaders? That is not

God's justice, and if we are going to represent Him to the world we must learn from the Righteous

J udge.

For the last few years, I have spent more of my time ministering overseas than in the United States. Alot of that ministry was spent in countries that are known to be some of the spiritually coldest and

most resistant to the gospel. To my dismay, I found much greater spiritual hunger in those countries

than I found in theU.S. I know that is why we experience a level of anointing in other countries that is

much greater than what we have experienced in the U.S. Even the Lord could not do great things

where the people doubted him (see Mark 6:1-6); how much more will we be subject to this principle?

I do not mind skepticism if it is the right kind. There is a good kind of skepticism. I appreciate a

skepticism that may have very serious doubts, but wants to believe. This is very different from the

kind of skepticism that wants to doubt. The former will turn into your greatest supporters when they

are convinced that you are true. The latter will never admit that they have seen the truth. This latter

kind is motivated by the same evil spirit that dwelt in the hearts of those who crucified the Lord. Even





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against the overwhelming evidence of the Lord's resurrection, they refused to see it and did not cease

to condemn and attack the truth.

We are very close to experiencing a great move of God in America. It may ultimately exceed anything

we have experienced before. However, this revival is not coming because the church in America is sorighteous, but rather it is coming as a last call to turn in order to avoid a devastating judgment.

America really is the home of the brave, but if we do not humble ourselves we will are going to go the

way of the Braves. If we do not repent of the pride that demands of others what we ourselves cannot

live up to, we may rise to the top of what is happening in the Christian world for a brief time, but we

will not stay there long.

David J ustice was injured this year and spent most of the season sitting on the bench, unable to play.

After the World Series was over, I repeatedly heard it said that if David J ustice had not been injured

this year the Braves would have certainly won again. I do not know if that is true as far as the baseball

team, but I know it was the word of the Lord for us. The Lord is going to establish His justice in His

church. This is a justice that must transcend even the highest justice that the world knows, and it will.

However, if this justice does not stay healthy and remain in leadership on the team, we will not stay at

the top very long.

Source URL: http://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/prophetic-bulletins/1996/rise-and-fall-

americaa-team



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morningstar prophetic bulletin-1996 by rick joyner

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