If we are going to have a message that is relevant to our times, we must understand the times. For this reason we need to evaluate the significant events of our times, such as the recent elections from a spiritual perspective. They were, in many ways, a barometer of the spiritual condition of the nation at this time, as well as a precursor of the direction in which we are headed.
Who Won
Everyone knows who won the election, but not everyone understands how big the win is concerning the impact that they can now have on the future of America. Their victory is huge, and Bush’s second term will be far more dynamic than his first. He does have a mandate now and will use it.
The Republican Party
First, I would like to thank those of you who emailed us with your understanding and support for the action that Mike, Jack, and I felt we had to take in regard to Paul Cain. To my personal surprise the response was almost totally supportive. Although this has been one of the most difficult and heart-rending problems that I have personally ever had to deal with (and I am confident that Mike and Jack would say the same), the remarkably mature and gracious way that the church seems to be almost universally handling this matter is cause for great encouragement.
Paul Cain has been used mightily by the Lord to touch many lives in our times. He is esteemed by many around the world as a major prophetic voice and as a spiritual father. It would be hard to estimate the number who have been healed, delivered, or saved through his ministry. We have especially benefited from his friendship and ministry in too many ways to count. It is therefore with great sorrow that we publish the following.
Australia will emerge as one of the most strategically important nations in the world over the next two decades. It will be one of the leading nations in the newer world that is about to emerge. Australia will begin to fulfill its original name, “the great South Land of the Holy Spirit.” The people of Australia will have a special love for the Holy Spirit and they will know Him and His works. As they do this, the Holy Spirit will move upon the desert interior of the nation, beginning to make it fertile and fruitful.
A prophetic friend of mine, Bob Jones, believes that World War III actually began with the assassination of Anwar Sadat. It seems that this is proving to be true. This is marked by many as the beginning of the hijacking of the Islamic faith by radical extremists that have now stirred up a nearly worldwide conflict. This war may be unfolding very differently than the world wars of the last century, but it is in fact proving to be a world war, and its potential is to be far more devastating than the last two combined.
Tomorrow, The Passion will be released. This movie can change your life, and maybe even change the church. It has that kind of power. It can do this because it will help to restore the cross as the center of our lives—so central that we will begin to truly take the cross up daily and carry it with us in all we do.
Mel Gibson’s, The Passion of the Christ is one of the most controversial films to be produced in a long time. There is a reason for this—it is one of the most anointed and powerful films produced in a very long time.
Hosting conferences is one of our primary callings as a ministry. To date we have hosted about fifty. However, I have never felt the kind of anticipation that I had for Harvest Fest 2003, which was held last week. I was not disappointed. It surpassed all of my expectations. I have no doubt that it was the most significant meeting of any kind that we have ever hosted.
A couple of years ago the media coverage of a few shark attacks made it seem that the waters were churning with killers on a rampage. Millions fled the beaches out of fear and a great many have not yet returned. What really happened is that there were fewer newsworthy stories that summer than normal. The shark attacks caught the public’s interest, so the media rode this story for as long as they could, dramatizing every attack more than what normally would have been covered.