Our New Year’s Conference each year is devoted to discerning the times and receiving guidance from the Lord for the coming year, both for the body of Christ and for all the individuals who attend. The Lord promises that if we will seek Him, we will find Him (see Matthew 7:7). At this conference, we have received some of the most important words to come from our ministry. Many have had their lives radically impacted by them. This year there is a greater desire than ever to know the times—there is a desperate need to have a clear prophetic perspective on what is happening, where events are leading the world, and where God is leading us. For this reason, I am expecting clarity on a new level this year, which we will be sharing through our Prophetic Bulletins, Special Bulletins, and Video Bulletins, which can be received through our e-newsletter or directly from our website. I will also be sharing them with you through the Words for the Week, which I will use as a format for practically applying what we receive.

     Since many who receive our Words for the Week come to the New Year’s Conference, I want to share with you briefly what the plan is so you can be prepared for it. Our main speakers will be Lt. Gen. (ret.) W.G. “Jerry” Boykin, Lance Wallnau, and myself. Some of our team members are also receiving a download of revelation they believe is for this conference. We can usually tell weeks ahead when a conference is going to be more significant or powerful than usual, and this one already has that electric sense about it. In the intensity of these times, the Lord knows how desperately we need clarity and vision, and He will give it to us if we seek Him. Whether you are coming to this conference or not, the body of Christ in America needs “a clear trumpet call” like possibly never before, and this should be a daily prayer for us.

     One of our speakers at this New Year’s Conference will be Lt. Gen. Boykin. He was one of the founding members of Delta Force, rose to command all U.S. Special Forces, and became Asst. Sec. of Defense for Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. Having been in almost every major battle that U.S. forces have been in since the 1970s, few people in the world have the breadth of experience to give them understanding of some of the crucial issues of our times as Gen. Boykin does. As a Spirit baptized believer from his youth, he has spiritual insight into these times that make them especially important for us to understand. He has also been developing a teaching on what the church is going to be like when we become the army we are called to be. This is a very timely word.

     Our other main speaker, Lance Wallnau, has emerged as one of the most in-demand prophetic and strategic teachers in the church today. His teachings on the Seven Mountain Mandate have become a major onramp for activating many believers concerning their callings and purposes that can impact the world in a very practical way. The main reason these teachings have become so popular is the timing, but this is also the result of them being so effective in activating Christians with vision and purpose.

     A prophetic friend, Bob Jones, told us a few months ago that our main job now was to just stay alive until 2012. We know we are in for three more very intense years. For a time it may be a battle just to survive, but we want to do more than just survive—we must be prepared, equipped, and engaged, building the highway written about in Isaiah 40 to prepare the way for the Lord.

     We are going through some trying times now, and the door for increasing persecution of Christians has been opened wide in America. However, this will work for our good and will be one of the best opportunities we’ve ever had to be the salt and light that we’ve been called to be. We’re promised that when it gets darker, we will see more glory. When it gets more confusing, we can have more clarity. No law can ever take away the liberty we have in Christ. The more the enemy seeks to weaken the church, the stronger the true church will become.

     Now is the time for the church in America to prove what she is made of, and she will prevail. Whenever the devil comes in like a flood, the Lord raises up a standard against him. Whenever the devil comes in like a flood, it is because he is trying to preempt a great move of God. The greatest of all Great Awakenings is coming to America, and it will be ignited by the onslaught and attempt of the devil to weaken and destroy the voice of the church in America.

     However, it is not enough to know what is going to happen, we must be prepared, and we must stand together. This is why the seemingly unprecedented movements toward unity in the body of Christ over just the last year are so encouraging. The church is mobilizing, and she will prevail against the gates of hell that have been opened against her.

     The gates of hell have been opened against America, and especially the church in America. However, they cannot prevail against the church that is built on the right foundation, as we are told in Matthew16:13-20:

     Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
     And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
     He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?"
     Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
     Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
     “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
     “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
     Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

     Here we see that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church built on the right foundation—which is knowing who Jesus is. That is the most important thing that we can do to strengthen ourselves and the church in these times—fortify our knowledge of who Jesus is.