A few weeks ago I wrote of how Rick Joyner was reminding the world of a prophecy by Bob Jones, that a major earthquake in Japan would be followed by one on the west coast of the USA. This prophecy has been getting a lot of attention in certain circles – and bringing a lot of traffic to this blog.
On this subject, a Facebook friend sent me a link to a Note by Shawn Bolz: MORE PERSPECTIVE ON EARTHQUAKES AND PROPHECIES ON WEST COAST the words of Bob Jones & Rick Joyner. This link may work only for Facebook members, but more or less the same material appears as a post on Bolz’s blog. According to his endorsement at Rick Joyner’s MorningStar website,
Shawn Bolz has ministered with a catalytic prophetic anointing for over a decade. … He is currently working on television and movie projects and resides in Hollywood, California.
In the Facebook note Bolz writes that
the prophecies about California and the west coast having an Earthquake and nuclear melt down are all the buzz right now … I have never heard Bob [Jones] so adamant about words before,he has actually told people to move away from California and the west coast.
However,
I love Rick Joyner and I adore Bob Jones, but I want to give a different perspective. …
About the Earthquake and Nuclear fallout: God has not been speaking to anyone I know in California about this theme for now. No one IN California or the west coast is getting these words on a level to suggest to people to actually move away.
Actually, according to Joyner, Jones prophesied an economic meltdown, not a nuclear one, but given recent nuclear events in Japan I’m not surprised the two ideas have become confused.
Bolz makes some good points about prophecy and how it works, including:
God always has an army in the hardest places: Those of you who know you are supposed to be here, you are the army of the Kingdom who can help if something terrible does happen.
He wisely concludes:
I am not scared and I don’t feel I need to heed their warnings to move except to pray my guts out but I love them. Everyone has to decide for themselves. Again these are not promises from God they are potentials. We are Christians and we have to exercise power over the storms.
These are important principles. As I argued before, God is not going to take Christians away from difficult times on this earth in a Rapture. In the same way, Christians should not flee from impending disasters, unless specifically and personally told to do so, but should stay put, to pray that God will relent, to take authority over the threat in Jesus’ name, and to be available to help if the worst does happen.