David Wilkerson is a pastor of the Times Square Church in New York. He has written a few books, and is somewhat known in the Christian community, especially among eschatologists (those who study the End Times). I have to admit that five months ago, I didn't even know who David Wilkerson was. Slowly, in little bits here and there, I began reading snippets of visions and prophecies that he has voiced over the past 35 years or so. What intrigued me about this particular man was two things: 1) Most of my Christian blogger friends who share my interest in prophecy highly regard this man as a true man of God -- he is very respected. And 2) He had a vision of 9/11 and stopped every event in his church in New York SEVEN weeks before the tragedy in order to engage his congregation in nothing but prayer for our country.

The first point is profound because my Christian bloggy/message board friends have a great level of discernment. They can usually smell a fraud a mile away. The fact that almost all of them respect, admire and heed the warnings of this man is pretty substantial in my book. Taking point number two, I think it's safe to say that the terrorist attack on 9/11 was the most horrific and frightening event that has ever happened here in our homeland. With earthquakes and hurricanes and fires, we all know the devastation, but we also understand that it's typically confined to one particular area or state. With 9/11, everyone was scared out of their wits that there was more to come, and no one knew when, where or how. Our sense of safety and peace was forever altered. David Wilkerson had a vision of this most historic and painful event seven weeks before it happened, and he halted everything on the calendar in his church -- mission trips and special services and such -- so that the congregation could simply pray for our country.

Why??? Why did God give him a vision of that?

Before we delve into that, let's step back for a moment and talk about visions and the "gift" of seeing prophecy. Some people in this world absolutely believe that people are "psychic" and/or can see things. Others believe that it's hogwash, and a complete figment of someone's overactive imagination. And of course, a handful of folks think that people just do it to get attention and scam folks out of money.

What do I believe? I believe in all three of those statements. I do believe that there are lots of people on this earth "faking" the whole psychic/prophecy thing to con innocent and trusting people out of money. I also think that there are some who might truly believe that they have a gift, but in reality it's just their version of a mental "fantasy land." And yet I do also believe that people have the very real ability to have sight/visions/prophecy -- whatever you want to call it. Although I think that only a very select few individuals on this earth are using it the right way. Let me explain.

In my humble opinion, I believe that God gives everyone gifts and talents. During this life, it is our job to discover those gifts and talents, and use them for God's glory and to share His amazing love for us to others. For example, some people have the beautiful gift of singing. Others may have a gift of painting. Some may play a musical instrument, or be exceptionally athletic. Some might have the gift of healing. Some might have the gift of writing or photography. Others might have the gift of leadership or motherhood or service or teaching. Whatever -- there are thousands of different kinds of "gifts" that humans have, which were given to us by God. One of those gifts is the gift of prophecy.

Now think about all of those gifts I mentioned above. How many people in your life do you know have one (or more) of those gifts? Now think about how many use their gift to honor and glorify God. There aren't many, are there? I think that's why someone like Tim Tebow is such a hit in the Christian world, because very few athletes honor God and show their faith and spirit while they perform. Same thing with singers and bands. There are many fantastic singers and band members out there in this world, and some of them are Christian who play/sing to glorify and worship The LORD and Jesus Christ. But a great many more do not. Think about Whitney Houston -- a woman who still to this day has one of the most magnificent voices I've ever heard. She started out in a church choir, but she strayed from her purpose and completely lost her way. Look at other celebrities and rock stars who may not have gotten lost or hit rock bottom like Whitney, but who are similarly "wasting" their lives by ignoring God and Christ. It just breaks my heart. It must break His as well.

So back to David. There are probably several people out there who are able to see things or participate in a different "realm" than most humans, but I highly doubt that they are doing it in the name of Christ. In fact, many of them tread on the field of "new age" and enlightenment. If their gifts are not used in the name of Christ, they are being wasted and may very easily teeter on the brink of evil. One cannot deny that Satan and the evil temptation of sin/flesh completely took over the lives of those like Whitney Houston. Or take celebrities like Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Michael Jackson or Ozzy Osborne. At one time (if not still), they had talent, presence, and/or money. Yet the temptation of sin and the idea of vanity, wealth and power pushed them into the wrong direction without ever a glance back. How sad. And I could write those same words about thousands of other singers, actors, athletes, artists, teachers, doctors, etc.

However, David Wilkerson does not appear to be one of those. He has a gift, and he makes sure to use it in the name of Christ. He doesn't use it for any purpose other than to spread God's message. In fact, he actually made it clear a few times that he "messed with it" by adding his own interpretation onto his visions, which failed miserably. (There were a few instances where he tried to set time frames for these events, which ended up being completely wrong.) He was deeply ashamed and embarrassed by that, and so now he just reveals the vision -- no more, no less. The Holy Spirit moved inside of him and brought forth a profound and important message from God. Should we trust these messages? 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 says, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good."

What does it mean to "test" everything? Well, Jesus tells us in the Gospels: "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1

Does Sylvia Brown prophecy in the name of Christ? Nope. Neither did Nostradamus or Edgar Cayce. But David Wilkerson does.

David Wilkerson wrote a few books (The Cross and the Switchblade, The Vision, and others). I haven't read them yet, but I intend to.

So what got me writing about David Wilkerson? What was his vision? I haven't been able to get permission to post all of it here, but I'm sure in the interest of spreading God's message, he wouldn't mind if I posted part of it:

AN URGENT MESSAGE

Saturday, March 7, 2009 2:57 AM

I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to send out an urgent message to all on our mailing list, and to friends and to bishops we have met all over the world.

AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.
IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE—EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.

For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires—such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago.

There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide. There will be looting—including Times Square, New York City. What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God’s wrath. In Psalm 11 it is written,

“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (v. 3).

God is judging the raging sins of America and the nations. He is destroying the secular foundations.

The prophet Jeremiah pleaded with wicked Israel, “God is fashioning a calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh, turn back each of you from your evil way, and reform your ways and deeds. But they will say, It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart” (Jeremiah 18:11-12).

In Psalm 11:6, David warns, “Upon the wicked he will rain snares (coals of fire)…fire…burning wind…will be the portion of their cup.” Why? David answered, “Because the Lord is righteous” (v. 7). This is a righteous judgment—just as in the judgments of Sodom and in Noah’s generation.

WHAT SHALL THE RIGHTEOUS DO? WHAT ABOUT GOD’S PEOPLE?

First, I give you a practical word I received for my own direction. Lay in store a thirty-day supply of food, toiletries and other essentials. In major cities, grocery stores are emptied in an hour at the sign of an impending disaster.

As for our spiritual reaction, we have but two options. This is outlined in Psalm 11. We “flee like a bird to a mountain.” Or, as David says, “He fixed his eyes on the Lord on his throne in heaven—his eyes beholding, his eyelids testing the sons of men” (v. 4). “In the Lord I take refuge” (v. 1).

I will say to my soul: No need to run…no need to hide. This is God’s righteous work. I will behold our Lord on his throne, with his eye of tender, loving kindness watching over every step I take—trusting that he will deliver his people even through floods, fires, calamities, tests, trials of all kinds.

Note: I do not know when these things will come to pass, but I know it is not far off. I have unburdened my soul to you. Do with the message as you choose.

God bless and keep you.
In Christ,
DAVID WILKERSON
DW:bbm 3-05-09

WOW. Was that something, or what???? It's definitely pretty frightening. I have no idea whether we Christians will be here for that or not -- it's possible. I am a believer in the Rapture, which is the removal of God's people before the Tribulation (also known as the 70th Week of Daniel). But whether this event is a part of that or not is unclear. Why would God be showing this vision to David? And what about all those masses of people who might read that and think, "No way! How could God do that? He wouldn't. He's a loving God."

I've heard that from many, many folks. There are people who might be "spiritual" but not saved by Christ who think that that they cannot believe in a God who would throw wrath, fire and death onto us humans. Some even go so far as to say that Jesus was a man of love and peace. Think what they may, but I guarantee that those people have never read the Bible. So much of the Old Testament is story after story of God's wrath. Sure, Jesus promoted love and peace, BUT HE ALSO PROMOTED FAITH IN OUR FATHER. One cannot believe in "love and peace" without also believing in Christ as our savior, otherwise they're believing in something false. They're doing it for themselves, and not for The LORD -- which in a sense self-idolatry. God often used His wrath to get the attention of His people. Look at the story of Noah and the flood, or the devastation of Sodom and Gomorrah. There were countless stories of death and plagues and disease. Why? Why would God do that?

Like I said, it's to get our attention. Think about it... do people turn to God when things are going well and all is prosperous? The most faithful might. But others do not. People begin to turn to God when calamity strikes. They begin to pray when they lose their job. They pray when a family member gets cancer. They pray when a tornado or hurricane or earthquake strikes. Look at the times we live in now. Churches across the country are reporting a surge in attendance, mostly by those who have never come to church before. Why? Because people are scared about the economy. And when they're scared, they feel out of control and lost. And then they turn to God. I am quite sure that God would prefer to get our attention through the message of "love and peace," but unfortunately that doesn't work.

As we get nearer and nearer to the End Times, it sounds like God is going to throw out a few "Hail Marys" (no pun intended!) in order to get the attention of those who could care less about Him. There are so many that need rescuing, and unfortunately the message of salvation and the Gospels just isn't working. People in this world -- particularly in our country -- are partying, living it up, lying, cheating, scamming, murdering and living unrighteous lives. Even those who might not be true deviants of society are completely focused on other things. Now don't get me wrong... it's okay to go to a party now and then, or hangout on Facebook for a while, or play Wii, or indulge in expensive beauty treatments, or beef up your handbag collection, or or to want to redecorate your house or whatever. But those carefree things should not be your main focus in life. Compare it to a healthy diet -- it's fine to indulge in a pizza or some ice cream or a few glasses of wine now and then. But in order to be healthy, at least half (if not 60-70%) of your diet should consist of things that are nutritious. If not, then your health starts to plummet and your life goes down the tubes. You might be able to get away with a mostly-indulgent diet for a while, but at some point it will catch up with you. It's the same thing with God. At least half of what you do each day must be in the spirit of God and Christ, with thoughts/actions of love, compassion, unselfishness, faith, prayer, worship, etc. Too much vanity or idleness or quest for wealth/power/success will get you in trouble.

Whereas some may think that this is a mostly good country with good people, the truth is the opposite. The masses only care about themselves, or the idols they've made for themselves. Just last weekend I had a day where I thought to myself (before even reading this David Wilkerson message), "God needs to do something. We're losing it." I saw one gal steal someone's parking spot at a store. I witnessed another buying a $200 bust of President Obama. I overheard some guy talking about getting strippers for his bachelor party... another practically hit a gal in the face with the door that he refused to hold open for her... a "friend" on Facebook was cheering for the new bill to support embryonic stem cell research... another to support gay marriage... I heard one kid who couldn't have been more than 10 or 11 swear like a sailor... and I saw a man in a suit driving a Mercedes cut off some old woman in a Ford Focus and give her the finger after honking the horn at her.

And this was all in one day.

So let me say again that God wants you to turn to Him, because without Christ and faith your life is a waste, and most likely headed for some form of destruction or idol worship (which may include money... or perhaps yourself). People simply have to wake up and understand the seriousness of it. I mentioned in one of my last posts that eternity is like a fishing line stretched out from Mercury all the way to Pluto, and our lives here on earth are about the significance of one little tiny bead in the middle of that fishing line. Yet what you do with that "little" life means everything. It means the difference of hanging out at one end of the line with God for all eternity, or spending forever without the presence of God in the darkness and torment of Hell. God gave us a book (The Bible), His son (Jesus), a guide (The Holy Spirit) and gifts within our soul/bodies in order to ensure that we live our lives the right way here on earth.

Yet with all of that, so many still stray. Which is why He must do things to get their attention. If nothing else seems to work -- if all the evangelism and prayer and preaching still turns people away -- then He has to move onto the last resort, and that's to scare them so that they'll turn to Him.

It's such a horrifying prophecy, yet I want to assure all true believers of Christ that God is in control. There is nothing to be afraid of. In fact, David Wilkerson repeats this over and over in his messages -- God tells him not to be afraid, that He is in control of all things. If you are a believer and you have your complete faith in The LORD, He will take care of you. Continue to pray and strengthen your relationship with Him. This message wasn't just to scare non-believers, because let's face it -- how many non-believers are going to take it seriously? Probably not many is my guess. So rest assured that God is warning us, and telling us to hold tight while he refines the people of this earth.

Malachi 3:3 says; 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study once, and they wondered what this statement meant about the actions of God onto His people.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment.. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'

:o)

And if this message doesn't move you enough, I want to briefly mention that others are beginning to reveal similar messages, visions and dreams. David Wilkerson, Michael Boldea, Jerry Golden and others have been saying essentially the same thing within a matter of days of each other. This is evidence of Gods' faithfulness to warn His people. There are a lot of imposters out there, but these three are not among them. For those with ears to hear...

If you would like to keep up with David's messages, here is a link to his blog:
http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/

And while this message is from 1980, David's words are profound and strike a deep chord: http://www.tscpulpitseries.org/english/1980s/ts80dprs.html

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:16-20)

May God bless you and watch over you as you continue to walk in His light...