I am going to begin a series of bulletins on "The Worst That Can Happen," and "The Best That Can Happen," but first I need to address the following important issue.
On September 11, America was dramatically awakened. When I found out that my friend and partner of our airplane, Reggie White, was stranded in New York, I called the FAA to see if there was any way for me to fly there and get him. They basically said if I left the ground they would shoot me down. I decided it was not even a good idea to fly a kite for a few days. The nation was on the highest state of alert that we have probably ever been on, and rightly so.
Then we seemed so intent on getting things back to "normal" in order for the economy to get rolling again that I think we went too far. When we are in a war we must maintain a high level of vigilance or we can pay the ultimate price. In World War II there was a saying, "Loose lips sink our ships." Anyone caught breathing a word about troop or ship movements would be quickly apprehended. I was shocked a couple of weeks ago to watch the return of the USS Enterprise to port as it was broadcast to the world on every news channel, and lauded as the first ship to launch strikes against the Taliban.
After our nation woke up on September 11, I think we looked around a little bit, and then reached over and hit the snooze button again. We seem so intent on getting things back to "normal" in order for the economy to get rolling again that we may have gone too far. Even Congress is bogging down again with important issues like airline security measures.
We must understand one thing about the enemy that we are now facing–they are far more patient than we tend to be in the West. Many of them still ride horses into battle, and they operate at a different speed. The West is now so hyped up with the fast pace of life that if something does not happen fairly quickly, we think it is not going to happen. I am afraid we may be in for some even more tragic blows before we decide that we not only need to wake up, but we had better get out of bed and get going.
It seems that the war in Afghanistan is going very well. We may get Osama and even destroy the infrastructure of the Al Queda terrorist network. We may feel a little safer then, but it would be a potentially tragic delusion. What we are facing is far bigger than Al Queda. In fact, they are truly the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are many more heads to this beast, and the attacks that we have suffered so far have only been probes. These enemies have planned the destruction of the United States, Israel, and any other nation that stands in their way.
Even though congress may have started to bog down again on crucial issues, even after being sent anthrax letters, I am thankful that the executive branch seems to be remaining wide awake. There are wise and consistent measures being taken for the beefing up of our security for the long haul. They are doing it with extraordinary wisdom, combining both the need to get back to normal in the areas which are needed, while increasing our vigilance and readiness for a long war in others. Occasionally, these will seem to be contradictory, and at times may be, but I think they are overall doing a great job balancing them. It may take the nation some time to learn to be as vigilant as needed, while also at the same time not being controlled by fear.
Let me share with you what I know spiritually about the crash of the American Airlines flight last Monday. It was not an accident–it was sabotage. Bob Jones dreamed the night before it happened that someone was servicing the hydraulics of a plane and put some kind of explosive liquid in it. He saw them doing this in a reservoir near the engine, and then wiped it off so it would not be discovered. He then saw in this dream something like a piston pushing into a line that caused an explosion, which blew the engine off. Bob knows nothing about aircraft hydraulics, but on every jet engine I have studied in my aviation career, the hydraulic reservoir was on or near the engine.
Yes, I did try to call the FBI, but when the agent heard that my information was based on a dream, she understandably did not want to hear anymore. Bob and I, as well as a number of other prophetic people, had felt a tremendous burden for November 11 (11/11) or Veteran's day. Even so, the American Airlines tragedy last Monday did not relieve the grieving or mourning that we still feel in the Spirit. We both feel that a major attack is still coming against our military, especially the Navy.
The saboteur that Bob saw filling the hydraulic reservoir with the explosive liquid was not a Muslim. Bob could not tell for sure who it was, but felt that he was either a copycat terrorist, or a disgruntled employee. This to me highlights something that we need to understand–the war that we are now in is bigger than Islam. We are not warring against flesh and blood at all, we are warring against the spirit of fear that is seeking to impart paranoia to the whole world.This will ultimately release far more conflict in the world than any previous religious or political issues have ever been able to do.
I know that just the thought of saboteurs working on airplanes can tend to impart paranoia, but we must learn to deal with realities, while not overreacting and being controlled by fear. This is going to become increasingly difficult, but we must do it.
It is also for this reason that I understand why the President would immediately try to exhibit Islam as a "peaceful religion." Even though I do not think any one who read the Koran is going to believe that, it is true that the overwhelming majority of Muslims deplore the attacks of September 11, and they deplore terrorism in general. This kind of thing does hurt them more than anyone.
I also think this is the most important time for Christians to reach out to their Muslim or Arab neighbors, treating them with all of the dignity, respect, and generosity that we can, not trying to force our faith on them. I think it is not possible for anyone to read the Koran objectively and not see that its teachings lead to the kind of terrorism that is now threatening the very foundations of civilization. However, there are texts in it that encourage the respect of Christians and Jews that many Muslims seize and hold on to in place of those texts which encourage the killing of Christians and Jews, and anyone else that does not submit to Allah.
One can read the Old Testament and derive similar things, though I do not believe that is true with the New Testament. Even so, some have derived a few extremely perverted doctrines from the New Testament as well. My point is there can be good people who seem to have an inner light that would cause them to see the best when reading the worst things, while there are evil people who have evil in them that can cause them to pervert even the best writings. This is why the apostle Paul exhorted us to not judge any man after the flesh, or after externals, but rather by the spirit that is in them.
This is not to imply that salvation can come any way other than the cross, but there are some who supposedly preach the cross in a most terrible, bigoted spirit, while there are some who preach the Koran out of a sincere love of peace and generosity toward others. Anwar Sadat is a good example of this. He was one of the most exceptional, enlightened, and noble leaders of the twentieth century.
It was understandable that Islamic extremists would kill him, and also understandable that prophetic people marked that event as the beginning of World War III.
We are coming to a time of many seemingly conflicting and contradictory events and forces. I believe that America is now in its most desperate war ever to actually threaten our continued existence. However, this ultimate confusion can lead to our greatest illumination. I also do not believe we can win this war in a way that will allow us to continue to exist without rising to the highest levels of wise military action, while also rising to the highest levels of dignity, nobility of spirit, and generosity toward others that we have ever attained. Above all of this, we will not win if we do not rise to the highest level of righteousness and humility toward God.
