The delayed calling, part 3

The “bear” (Apollyon) was released on May 25, 1986 when Oliver North and Robert McFarlane made their journey to Iran to set up the Iran-Contra arms deal. James later saw the released bear in July, which coincided with their discernment that I was to leave the Net of Prayer. As I wrote earlier, I did not obey the Lord in this, and so for the next three years I came under the influence of that “bear” until I repented in October of 1989.

The Iran-Contra scandal broke when a Beirut newspaper revealed it on November 3, 1986 with the headline: “McFarlane’s mission to Iran.” Newspapers around the world picked up the story, and this provided us with hard evidence of the bear’s release at Ramadan. Of course, most people did not know of our revelation, so their interpretation of the event was purely political.

The Spirit of Discouragement

After a few meetings with Jimmy Melton, revival had not come to Batesville. On November 6 the topic of his teaching was about the spirit of discouragement. It was clear that he was fighting this spirit, thinking that the Holy Spirit should have brought revival by that time. People were already falling away, much like Jesus’ disciples who could not keep watch for one hour (Matthew 26:40).

Time creates a distinction between those who act by their own revelation and those who act by someone else’s revelation. God uses time to lay bare the hearts of the people.

The Eyes of God

The same evening, Jimmy prophesied to me from 2 Chronicles 16:9,

⁹ For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.

The original prophecy was given to King Asa of Judah. Jimmy focused on “the eyes of the Lord” and prophesied that God would heal my eyes. At the time, I took this to be about physical healing, but I later understood that my spiritual eyes needed healing. In acting “foolishly” by refusing to leave the Net of Prayer, I had been blinded by Apollyon and was soon to go into a time of captivity in Memphis, TN.

Many years later (2001) I discovered that I had been given another angel called “the Eyes of God.” At the time, I thought this angel had been assigned to me only then, but I see now that it had been imparted to me 15 years earlier through Jimmy Melton on November 6, 1986. God did this in order to open my eyes so that I would not go astray or be lost on the mountains. It took years to open my eyes, but eventually the Eyes of God prevailed.

A year later (November 29, 1987) we moved to Memphis, TN. Memphis was my Egyptian bondage experience. Memphis’ sister city was Memphis, Egypt. Everything in Memphis exhibits the spirit of Egypt. Even as Apollyon had received power to exile Israel and to cause “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” to go astray and to be lost in Assyria, so also did this spirit bring about my own exile from Batesville to Memphis, TN.

Yet God was also in Egypt, for He never leaves us nor forsakes us. I saw more miracles of provision in those two years in Egypt than I had ever seen previously. God’s grace was always present, even in the midst of judgment. His law is not devoid of grace. In fact, grace is a law, because it is part of His nature. Elvis Presley’s Graceland was located in Memphis.

Vision of January 27, 1987

A year after Pastor Thomas received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it seems that the Eyes of God stopped by my office for an unexpected visit. I was in my office praying and meditating when I was suddenly caught up in a vision. The scene was like a smokey battlefield. I was standing on a dirt road or path when suddenly four horsemen rode through the haze toward me, riding fast side by side.

As soon as they saw me, they stopped abruptly. The leader swung his sword against me, but it deflected off my shield (of faith). Then they all turned and ran back from whence they had come. I threw my battle axe at the leader, which hit him in the back. This wounded him but did not kill him. That was the end of the vision.

I understood from this that someone was trying to take over the church—or some portion of it. I wondered who the leader could be. He had a double chin and a mustache (which I discerned was part of a disguise). He reminded me of Jerry Falwell.

I also discerned that this vision had to do with an event that would occur on March 19. I looked for a political figure who might resemble Jerry Falwell, but no one could help me identify such a person. I did not realize that it really was Jerry Falwell. He was indeed a political figure, as well as religious, but I was focusing on someone in the Reagan administration.

The Vision Fulfilled

On Thursday, March 19, 1987, Jimmy Melton had his final meeting to pray for revival. The original crowd had dwindled down to just three of us, including Jimmy himself. The revival prayer had failed, and we were called to stand aside. It seemed that the spirit of discouragement had won the battle, but no genuine prayer is ever lost. God preserves our prayers in His treasury and finds use for them in His own time.

I believe that our prayers were not meant to be answered during the reign of “Saul.” That time of prayer applied to the great end-time outpouring of the Holy Spirit that could come only in a post-Saul era—after Pentecost, May 30, 1993. If God had sent revival in 1986-1987, it would have been just another good but short-lived Pentecostal revival. God had better things in mind.

While we were meeting for the last time on March 19, we did not know that there was turmoil that same night in the PTL Club, which was headed by Jim Bakker. As the story goes, Jimmy Swaggart was planning to expose Jim Bakker and take over the PTL. Jerry Falwell presented himself as the hero who wanted to prevent Swaggart from taking over the PTL.

Falwell convinced Bakker to give him the PTL temporarily so that Swaggart could not take the ministry for himself. So Jim Bakker resigned from the PTL that night, and Falwell was given the ministry. It was strange that a Charismatic ministry would be given to a Baptist minister!

Years later Jim Bakker wrote a book entitled, I Was Wrong. It was a confession of his own mistakes and sins, but it was more than that. He told the full story from his point of view, stating that he later realized that Falwell himself had coveted the satellite systems that the PTL owned.

My own vision showed that someone resembling Falwell was going to take over the church on March 19. Surprisingly, it turned out to be Falwell himself. God had opened my eyes to this about six weeks before it happened. I knew then that in spite of the media’s vicious attacks on Jim Bakker, the real culprit (from God’s perspective) was Jerry Falwell—not Jim Bakker.

When he was sent to prison with a 45-year sentence, I knew that this was a travesty of justice. Most murderers receive less prison time. Fortunately, on appeal, his sentence was reduced to eight years.

Having seen in the vision how I had turned the horsemen back, I also knew that Fallwell would not be able to retain control of the PTL. In fact, he was finally forced to resign on October 8, 1987 with a parting shot calling Bakker’s leadership of the PTL “the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years.” I know that God did not see it that way. I suspect that Fallwell was actually speaking of himself and that he never intended to give the ministry back to Bakker as he had promised.

While he languished in a Minnesota prison, I often wished that I could visit him with a word of comfort. He needed to know that not everyone condemned him. He needed to hear a word of hope that God was not finished with him. His calling had been delayed, but he would rise again. Those who condemned him did not have the revelation of God’s perspective.

God would not allow me to visit him in prison, but in 1999, I was invited to teach the word in Australia. I flew from Minneapolis to Los Angeles and then boarded the shuttle to go to the International Airport. On the shuttle, I sat across from Jim Bakker, and we struck up a conversation. He was on his way to preach in Singapore. We both had a couple of hours before we had to board our separate planes, so we had lunch together.

I was finally able to tell him what I had seen in my vision and what I discerned about the PTL and Fallwell at that time. I gave him a copy of Secrets of Time, which I was carrying, and he gave me a copy of I Was Wrong that he was carrying.

I read his book on the plane to Australia and back. Some day I hope to see him again.