Awake America – The Vision

I have been in the ministry for more than 50 years and have experienced a vision on only three occasions, the third of which took place September 1, 2001. I was in my bedroom about to retire for the night. I was not praying or reading the Bible. While sitting on the side of the bed, I suddenly saw a giant football field different from any football field I had ever seen. Instead of two teams playing football, I saw several teams matched up by twos scattered over the field: two teams lined up against one another with another two teams matched up elsewhere. This configuration continued over the entire field. Each set of teams was oblivious to the other teams on the field.

Then, I looked to the stands. Rather than watching the teams on the field, the people were busy committing every type of crime imaginable: muggings, robberies and murders with knives and guns, and more. The stands were filled with drug dealers, prostitutes, thieves, and murderers.

This isolation between the stands and the teams on the field struck me forcefully. The teams were oblivious to what was happening in the stands, completely unaware of the sin and hurting people. The people in the stands at no time ever looked toward the field.

Finally, as I continued to survey the panoramic view of the stands, I saw the devil sitting there. He never spoke, but his eyes were glued to the playing field. There was just the hint of a smile on his face, as he seemed to be satisfied with what he saw.

It was then that the Lord spoke to me, revealing to me what I saw. The teams on the playing field were the churches; the people in the stands were a hurting world. The Lord told me that the teams were more focused on competing with one another than they were in reaching out to and helping the hurting people in the stands. He said the people in the stands no longer looked to the churches for help. They had become disillusioned with religion.

He then said that the Body of Christ will never make the impact upon the world that it should until members learned to work together instead of working against one another. God said that we are not competitors, but brothers and sisters who should be working together to carry out His commandment and commission.

When Paul stood before Agrippa, he said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). I do not want to be disobedient to the heavenly vision. Instead, I want to share what God gave to me so that it might find a place in the hearts of God-fearing, God-called men and women. We must be one in Christ, one in prayer, one in cooperation, and must network together to truly be successful in the Lord’s work.