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The Babylon Code: Solving the Bible's Greatest End Times Mystery.
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This could be our finest hour, for we have all been called for ‘such a time as this.’ (Lightstock)
My Miraculous Journey to Charisma
"There is no such thing as chance; and what seems to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny."
Poet and playwright Friedrich von Schiller penned this enigmatic line more than200 years ago. He wrote the poem Ode to Joy that Ludwig van Beethoven set to music in the Ninth Symphony and the play Don Carlos, which helped inspire George Lucas' Star Wars. In my youth, my grandmother Trella Schiller encouraged me to follow in his footsteps. I did and now I'm beginning to understand what he meant by that mysterious phrase.
As an avid reader of Charisma as a teenager, and more recently a frequent contributor, little did I know that one day I would be working at a magazine that I've admired for decades. Through a series of miracles, God has opened a door for me to join a man I deeply respect—Charisma founding editor Steve Strang—in his mission to inspire members of the world's fastest-growing religious movement to spread the good news and "radically change their world."
How did this come about? Psalm 139:16 says all our days "were written before any of them came into being." Perhaps Schiller, who dreamed of becoming a minister in his youth, also knew of verses that reveal how God has a destiny, or purpose, for all our lives. Another biblical phrase, which has appeared several times recently, is found in Esther 4:14: " ... for such a time as this." I first noticed it shortly after I accepted this position in September. One of our staffers sent me a note, saying six years after I wrote the "Last Days Fever" cover story in October 2009 that "we are seeing that you and others were accurate in your discernment and reporting. The Lord has certainly ordered your steps to Charisma Media for such a time as this."
In December 2012, Charisma published my follow-up story, "America at the End." Afterwards, I was contacted by successful Hollywood producers who read it and were interested in turning it into a film. This resulted in a book—The Babylon Code: Solving the Bible's Greatest End Times Mystery—that will be released in September by the Hachette Book Group. The nonfiction book is the result of a five-year investigation into whether the world is in the run-up to the end-times political and economic system predicted in Scripture.
After I sent in an article last summer, Strang asked me if I would be interested in this job. Then, my co-author—prophecy expert and media commentator Paul McGuire (Fox News, CNN and the History Channel)—sent me a note saying, "There are many more miracles to come ... walk with wisdom! For He has called you for such a time as this!" Since then, my wife and I have experienced what we can only describe as an extraordinary string of miracles. As we left Southern California to fly to Orlando, Florida, a giant rainbow appeared over the freeway. Along the way, my wife said she saw a dove. Then, a huge rainbow appeared over the airport when we arrived. We texted pictures to Strang, McGuire and my childhood Assemblies of God youth pastor, who responded: "A sign from the Lord is the rainbow in the sky for you."
On Christmas Eve, Strang and his wife, Joy, invited us out to dinner. During the meal, we learned about a prophetic word given by Hubie Synn—a New York accountant with a prophetic gifting who encountered Rabbi Jonathan Cahn at an airport a few years ago and encouraged him to get hold of Strang to publish The Harbinger, now a New York Times best-selling book.
Last summer, Synn visited Charisma Media and gave a prophetic word about how its readership and ability to spread the gospel would grow significantly with the arrival of new leaders. In a note, Strang wrote, "Your coming is an answer to prayer" and "The circumstances were prophesied! Praise God." A couple of weeks later, Cahn spoke at our headquarters, describing Charisma as the "Baruchs of this age"—a reference to the prophet Jeremiah's scribe. Cahn told us, "The Lord calls you from your mother's womb to proclaim His Word ... to the ends of the earth for such a time as this."
To put it mildly, we're in awe. I believe the Lord plans to use Charisma to inspire a great move of God that goes far beyond the Pentecostal/charismatic movement. I believe Jesus has called each of us from the beginning of time and that He is preparing us for both the great falling away and the greatest revival in history as end-times prophecies unfold.
Let's rise to the occasion and do our part to follow Jesus' instructions in Acts 1:8 to take the gospel message to the "ends of the earth." This could be our finest hour, for we have all been called "for such a time as this."
Troy Anderson is the executive editor of Charisma and a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, author and speaker.
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CHARISMAMAG.COM|BY TROY ANDERSON
Great article!