As I have shared with our local church, conferences, and through our Prophetic Bulletin over the last few months, it was only a matter of time before the media would realize the seriousness of the coming “bird flu” plague. That is now happening. The threat from this flu is very real, and it does have the potential to be just as deadly as the scientific community is stating. Even the terrible scenarios that are being projected are almost all being purposely understated to prevent panic.

It is crucial that we learn all of the lessons that we can from the Katrina disaster as fast as we can because more are coming. We have not even finished counting the bodies from Katrina, and Hurricane Rita is churning in the Gulf threatening Texas and Louisiana with even more destruction. It is likely, at the very least, to displace tens of thousands of more people, as well as further wreck the Gulf Coast oil industry.

The Spiritual Lessons of Katrina:
The most common question I have been asked about this tragedy is, “Is this storm judgment from God?” Without question the answer to this is “yes,” but it is very important that we understand why it is.

As more than a million people are trying to cope with being homeless, separated from loved ones, and in many, many cases, the loss of loved ones, the nation must begin to cope with issues that can either tear us apart or enable us to emerge more unified, stronger, and better than ever. To do this we must understand what happened and what did not happen. Every Christian needs to also understand why this happened.

It is understandable that almost everyone in the U.S. is now very focused on the tragedy caused by Hurricane Katrina. It is a tragedy that will touch us all in many ways and will continue to unfold over the weeks and months ahead. Even so, the end result is that we are going to be much better and much stronger as a nation. The Gulf Coast region will also emerge better than ever, and stronger.