MARCH 2021 Happy Birthday To Me Some days I feel like I’m twenty-five years old, and some days I feel like, well, I’ll just leave that blank for now. The Lord has given me excellent health for which I give Him praise and glory. And, incidentally, I thank you so very, very much for the many birthday cards, letters, phone calls, and well wishes. Saying thank you seems woefully inadequate, but that is just about the best I can do. The Vision What I am about to relate has been told previously, but most of you have never heard it. It was July 1, 1985, at about 7 a.m. on a Monday morning. As was my usual method, I would drive to a railroad track that was probably half a mile from my house—there was perfect privacy then; now the area is filled with businesses and homes—and I would walk down the track praying, and then study the Word of God for a period of time. On that particular morning, I little realized what was about to happen. As I began to walk down the track praying, the landscape around me suddenly changed. Instead of it looking as it did, I now saw nothing but cotton in every direction. It was the heaviest crop that anyone had ever seen. There wasn’t a green leaf on any stalk—all of the stalks were heavily laden with bolls of cotton. I was raised in northeast Louisiana where cotton was a favorite crop, so I know a little bit about it. As I took in the scene, I could see a couple of mechanical pickers in the distance trying to harvest this tremendous amount of cotton, and I realized that if something else wasn’t done, the crop would never be harvested in time. The Storm Then the scene changed before me. Out of the east I saw the most horrifying storm making up, with the heavens turning inky black, the worst I had ever seen. Instantly I knew that if the crop wasn’t gathered, as it respected the cotton, the storm would destroy most of it. The Symbolism Most of the time, whenever the harvest of souls is addressed, grain is used as a symbol. But there was no grain in this vision; it was all cotton. And then I looked in the Word of God. John 4:35 says: “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” The Commission And then the Lord began to speak to me. He said, “I will hold back the storm for a short period of time until the harvest can be gathered.” Then He said, “I have called others for areas of the world, but I have called this ministry (Jimmy Swaggart Ministries), for the entirety of the world.” Then He said, “Don’t fail Me, because there is no one else to perform the task.” In the years following 1985, while the Lord helped us with certain areas of the world such as the former Soviet Union, still, I thought I had failed the Lord. I was not able to do what I knew had to be done. Then, about a year ago, while in prayer one afternoon after getting home from the office, the Lord ran this vision through my mind again. It was like it was fresh, brand-new, something that had just been given to me. And, whenever it stopped, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “The commission I gave you that Monday morning, July 1, 1985, is still in force. Get it done.” I can’t tell you how I felt. I just sat there on the floor for a period of time saying nothing. But I knew the Lord had spoken to me: “The commission is still in force. Get it done.” That’s the reason for our efforts now, and we are doing our very best to get it done. You Are Called AS well I want to say this one thing which I have said in the past: You are called as well. Just I am called for this task, neither did you happen upon SonLife Broadcasting by accident. You are where you are as it regards this ministry because God has placed you here. In other words, whether you realize it or not, you are called of God just as much as I am called of God, and that goes for our entire staff here at Family Worship Center. The Lord has said, “I will hold back the storm for a short period time,” and that He has done, and is doing. But it’s only for a short period of time. In other words, we have got to get it done. Thank you so very, very much for being a part of this. Thank you for understanding your part to play in this which I believe is the greatest move of God the world has ever known. Next month, I want to relate to you another vision the Lord gave me as it regards the harvest. We love every one of you, and we are so pleased and happy to have you as a part of this great harvest. In the Master’s service, yours, Jimmy Swaggart