In This Month's Report:
* Editorial - A Word for 2008 - Part Two
* November Events - New England Aflame
* November Ministry - Impacting the Northeast and Beyond
* Tips and Resources -  Blessings Counted
* Products - Three New Resources (see link below)
* Partnership - Invest in God's Program for the Northeast of America
* God Thoughts - William Blake

We would love to hear from you; please send us your feedback today. Don’t forget the ever-popular 'GOD THOUGHTS' at the end of this report. Enjoy! JB

This month, we bring Part Two of a prophetic message for 2008 written in early October. Part One was in last month's FMI Report.
 

Israel – It’s All About Jerusalem!
It’s all about Jerusalem! For years, we have been saying that increasingly the world’s focus will be on the Middle East, specifically Israel and, even more specifically, Jerusalem. Finally, the fate of the world will be decided by what happens to the status of a small piece of real estate in the heart of Jerusalem – the Temple Mount.

Pressure will continue from governments around the world, spearheaded by the United States, to divide the city so the Palestinians can establish the capitol of a future state in the sector of the city that Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war in the Mideast.

Pressure from within and without Israel to court appeasement will backfire on those applying it in 2008. This will result in the removal of the present leader of Israel and we will see Benjamin Netanyahu rise to be Israel’s Prime Minister a second time.

Ancient territorial spirits, such as the Prince of Persia (modern day Iran), will continue to push an age-old agenda, namely to destroy God’s chosen people. These spirits have new names, such as anti-Semitism, but the agenda is the same as it was in Daniel and Esther’s day – destroy the Jews.

* Pray that America’s leaders will not pursue the division of God’s boundaries concerning Israel.

Israel and the Church – The One New Man
Around 500 BC, the Jews returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, but they had problems. The Lord gave Zechariah visions to help the people overcome these problems. Among them was the vision of the lampstand and the two olive trees.

“Then I asked the angel, ‘What about the olive trees on each side of the lampstand? What do they represent? And what is the meaning of the two branches from which golden olive oil flows through the two gold pipes?’ ‘Don’t you know?’ he asked. ‘No sir, I don’t,’ was my answer. Then he told me, ‘These branches are the two chosen leaders (anointed ones) who stand beside the Lord of all the earth’” (Zech. 4:11-14).

The vision primarily refers to Joshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the civic leader. The golden lampstand is a reference to Jerusalem. However, prophecy is seldom wasted on one incident in time. The understanding of who the two olive trees represented in a broader prophetic sense was hidden from the Old Testament prophets; it was a mystery yet to unfold.

After rejecting Christ, Israel lost its Promised Land again and was scattered over many nations. Even though Israel has been returning to the land that God gave it since 1948, it is still groping for its purpose.

1 Corinthians 15:46 says, "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual." What is taking place in the natural is a forerunner and prophecy of what is about to take place in the spiritual realm.

The Church has failed in that most of its history is filled with division and church splits, resulting in thousands of denominations. But, just like Israel in the natural, the Church is returning to its purpose, which is linked to the hidden mystery of Zechariah’s vision.

God has chosen two instruments to bring about the redemption of the world! They are the Church and Israel! They are the two olive trees! However, we are not about to enter a time when we return to the Jews being central to God’s plan, but rather, an unprecedented time of Jew and Gentile being joined together in purpose.

In 2008, we will witness a major shift – the Jews, the natural seed of Abraham, and the Church, the spiritual seed of Abraham, becoming the "one new man" Paul wrote about in Ephesians 2:14-16.

* Pray that God will hasten the advance of this next phase of His Kingdom.

The Wheat and the Tares – Harvest Now!
In Matthew 13:24-30, the kingdom of heaven is composed of wheat and tares that don’t distinguish themselves until harvest time.

The Kingdom of God must be distinguished from the ‘kingdom of heaven.’ The latter refers to anything that calls itself ‘Christian,’ true or false; the former refers to God’s true Kingdom, composed and held together by the Spirit of Truth. It has nothing to do with religious institutions and organizations, but is a living organism that grows from generation to generation.

The earth is now ripe for harvest! "…Harvest earth’s vineyard. The grapes are bursting with ripeness" (Rev. 14:18).

During 2008, we will see a clear separation between the true and false Church. In the United States, denominational acceptance of active homosexuality among clergy will be the dividing line. This is part of the preparation for bringing in the greatest harvest of all time.

* Pray that the Lord will release an army of laborers into the harvest during 2008.

Look for the Signs
God will continue to speak through the mouths of the prophets, but in 2008, more and more He will leave His marks, warnings and signs that will only be discernable to those with spiritual ears to hear (Rev. 2:7, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.").

The amazing parallel between Israel and the Minnesota bridge collapse is one example of what is to come (for details, go to http://www.firepowerint.com/MinnesotaBridgeCollapse.htm).

The End of the Matter
My verse for the coming year is Isaiah 60:2, "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you."

It speaks of a time when the world system is descending, but God’s Kingdom is on the rise! This will typify 2008 more than anything else.

Make sure you are part of the King’s dominion, "...for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation" (Daniel 4:34). #
 

New England Aflame Annual Conference Brings Great Hope to the Northeast - Gateway Christian Fellowship, a key church for the New England region based in New Haven, Connecticut, has been hosting the annual New England Aflame Conference for many years, and this was my second time as a speaker. Other guests included well known prophets, Patricia King and Denny Cramer, worship minister, Jason Upton, the Mike Smith Band, Melva Beacham, Mickey Robinson and host pastor, Brian Simmons.

My wife, Melva, led a session that brought an update on the latest events concerning Israel from a stateside perspective and also from her recent visit to the 'Land.' Most of the attendees responded to her personal ministry, while I took advantage of a drummer missing from the worship team during the ministry time and sat in with the band and enjoyed playing out that meeting.

Dennis Cramer singled out my wife and me for specific prophecy that lasted about 10 minutes, and without having met us before, virtually chronicled both our histories and confirmed just about everything the Lord has been speaking to us about the future.

The night meetings were mostly to a capacity crowd, with worship that was excellent and prophetic declarations concerning New England that were a great encouragement to all concerning the perception of the hard spiritual ground in this region.

Patricia King's passion for the next generation was evident, and she outlined some cutting edge strategies that her ministry is pioneering in an effort to reach this generation that, to a large degree, is missing from the American church.

I spoke on the war that is going on right now over who will be worshiped and also that there is a monumental clash looming between the true Kingdom of God and the false version. It is a time of harvest, and the tares will be clearly distinguishable from the wheat!