Stephen Strang: Is America Headed for Civil War?
Are we headed toward civil war?
Are we on the verge of something like America experienced in the mid-19th century when millions of men went to war and more than 600,000 never returned, instead filling early graves over the issue of slavery and states' rights?
Is this the future of our country?
Many level-headed Christians are not just resigned to the fact of an impending civil war but calling for immediate preparation for such a thing.
Rational, stable professionals I know have begun storing food and necessary items (who wouldn't, after the 2020 toilet paper shortage?) in preparation for breakouts of violence or potential supply chain disruptions.
Others I know personally who have never owned a weapon now carry a gun with a concealed carry permit.
With thousands, maybe millions, behaving this way, it becomes difficult to dismiss as a fad or faulty assessment of the future.
Two Different Americas
It certainly does seem like two different Americas have formed within the borders of our nation.
Indeed, this division drives cancel culture.
The two Americas are so at odds over seemingly everything that some believe the only apparent solution is to annihilate the other viewpoint.
Of course, this is not the America most of us grew up in, and the very discussion may seem jarring.
But let's remind ourselves that during the Civil War era, those on both sides of the conflict built businesses and families, never expecting that their sons would go off to war and never return, or that their businesses and homes would be burned to the ground.
How are we exempt from these same difficulties?
Abraham Lincoln, who did not want to fight the Civil War but wanted to end the conflict as soon as possible while still preserving the union, became convinced that God was allowing it to drag on because the nation required a kind of bloodletting due to slavery.
Will rampant abortion, immorality and injustice in America require a similar bloodletting in our day?
Is war the cleansing crucible we must pass through to achieve greater national purity and unity on the other side?
But is civil war just a popular, edgy thing to talk about, or are there actual indicators it is coming?
Several credible spiritual leaders I have spoken with say there are.
The Second American Revolution
I spoke with longtime friend and popular author and speaker Rick Joyner about this and many other subjects pertaining to a potential violent conflict within U.S. borders.
Joyner has spoken frequently and with much specificity about the inevitability of another civil war, which he calls the "second American revolution," for at least the past decade.
He has been trumpeting this idea because of a dramatic vision he received in 1987.
I wanted to know, how exactly do we prepare for a civil war—mentally, spiritually and physically? What would this war look like?
Will it involve bloodshed or control of major resources and things such as power plants, government centers and so on? Would everyone be involved?
Would it be physical, with guns and bayonets, or would it be a remotely executed, technical kind of war instead?
Would it be about taking land or perhaps taking cyberspace?
I asked Joyner about these many possibilities.
"Until a couple of years ago, I would have used the word possible.
But I don't anymore. I think it's inevitable," he said of this civil war.
"Some of my friends who thought I was crazy back in 2018 when I started saying, 'It's coming,' they now say, 'No, it's here.'
They think we're already in it.
I'm talking about pretty high-ranking military people.
They think we've already entered a phase of it."
The source of his confidence, Joyner told me, is what he calls one of the most powerful and dramatic dreams he has ever received.
In 2018, he said, he was shown that a Second American Revolution/civil war was coming.
He was told in the dream, "It is inevitable. It is right.
And it will be successful."
Preparing for War?
If all this is even a possibility, how do we prepare for it?
As Christians, the obvious first answer is to pray.
"I think that, with extraordinary grace from God and wisdom, the damage, the casualties, or whatever we're headed for, can be lessened," Joyner told me.
"I think that's what most of those revelations are for. [God] needs intercessors on the earth to intercede for these things. ...
Our job is now to pray and maybe to take action that would prevent the bad thing from happening.
Repentance and revival [are] usually the way we escape certain things."
While he does not believe we can build fortresses, compounds or distant retreats where we can be physically free from everything that's coming, Joyner said the will of God will be the only truly safe place on the planet.
For that reason, "we've got to resolve...to absolutely obey, seeking first the kingdom with every major decision, being sure we're even living in the right place," he said.
"If we chose where we live based on geography or family or anything other than putting the kingdom first and seeking God first...we probably are dealing with many problems that are completely unnecessary in our life, because we're not in the right place.
... We've got to get these things right."
I was heartened that Joyner put spiritual things first, because if we don't, having all the food and water and other resources won't help.
In the natural, having those things might simply invite thieves to your home.
But with God's blessing on our preparations, they could be great tools for sharing the love of Jesus when people need Him most.
The perfect storm may provide the perfect opportunity to live and share the gospel. 
Excerpted from Chapter 6, "A Nation Divided," from Steve Strang's book God and Cancel Culture (Charisma House, 2021). The book is set to publish on Sept. 7, and you can pre-order it on stevestrangbooks.com. When you do, you'll get $120 worth of free gifts, including four e-books and a subscription to Charisma magazine.
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