Randal Cutter-Part 2-Whatever You Bind on Earth A Historical Record of How God Warned About Hurricane Irene. Incontrovertible Evidence That God Still Speaks Today.

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would speak to some of our congregation members in order  to give us more clarity. He met that hope beyond all my  expectations. 

The Lord began to pour out many dreams to the  members of our congregation. On October 2, 1998, a twelve year-old member of our congregation had an amazing dream.  She did not know that we were seeking information about  storms, but when she told her mother the dream, her mother  forwarded it to me. 

In the dream, the young lady and a friend were walking  along a road in Deerfield Beach, a small city in the northeast  corner of Broward County about ten miles to the northeast of  our city. As she and her friend were walking, they surveyed  the damage that a hurricane had done to that area. They saw  many houses that were torn apart. Everywhere they walked 

they saw extreme damage. As they passed a hotel near the  ocean, they saw beds and other things from the hotel in the  street and on the beach. The damage was overwhelming.  

When they walked back to the friend’s home, she noted  that it was painted yellow, a strange detail since her friend’s  home was not yellow in waking life. More importantly, she  also noted that her friend’s father was watching the news on a  battery operated portable television set. The news was filled  with reports of the hurricane. It had hit Broward County by  surprise as a category four storm. The news reported that  wind speeds had gusted to almost two hundred miles per  hour and had caused severe damage across the area. 

As I read this dream, I was stunned by the description of  the storm, and by the fact that it confirmed that the storm  would hit by surprise. I instantly understood why the Lord  was directing our attention to Irene. I’ve used the word 

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catastrophe to describe this storm because that is exactly what  a storm like this would be. If a storm of category four  magnitude struck by surprise, the damage would be  unimaginable. The death toll would be unthinkable.  According to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, a category  four hurricane has sustained winds of 130 to 156 miles per  hour. The hurricane center helpfully describes what a category  four hurricane can be expected to do: 

Catastrophic damage will occur 

There is a very high risk of injury or death to  

people, livestock, and pets due to flying and  

falling debris. Nearly all older (pre-1994)  

mobile homes will be destroyed. A high  

percentage of newer mobile homes also will  

be destroyed. Poorly constructed homes can  

sustain complete collapse of all walls as well  

as the loss of the roof structure. Well-built  

homes also can sustain severe damage with  

loss of most of the roof structure and/or  

some exterior walls. Extensive damage to  

roof coverings, windows, and doors will  

occur. Large amounts of windborne debris  

will be lofted into the air. Windborne debris  

damage will break most unprotected  

windows and penetrate some protected  

windows. There will be a high percentage of  

structural damage to the top floors of  

apartment buildings. Steel frames in older  

industrial buildings can collapse. There will  

be a high percentage of collapse to older 

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unreinforced masonry buildings. Most  

windows will be blown out of high-rise  

buildings resulting in falling glass, which will  

pose a threat for days to weeks after the  

storm. Nearly all commercial signage, fences,  

and canopies will be destroyed. Most trees  

will be snapped or uprooted and power poles  

downed. Fallen trees and power poles will  

isolate residential areas. Power outages will  

last for weeks to possibly months. Long 

term water shortages will increase human  

suffering. Most of the area will be  

uninhabitable for weeks or months. 

I remember reading that description several times trying to  comprehend what would happen to heavily populated  Broward and Palm Beach counties. I couldn’t imagine a storm  of this magnitude hitting our area at all, much less by surprise.  When a category four storm hits an area that is expecting to  be hit it, the results are calamitous. What would happen if  virtually no one prepared? I could only shudder at the  thought. I realized that the damage that the young lady  described in her dream was exactly the type of damage a  category four storm would do. I knew that the Lord was  giving me the details I had asked him to give. 

I now knew that Deerfield Beach was ground zero for the  most damage from this storm. Since a hurricane is not a small  event, I realized that wide areas of Broward and Palm Beach  counties were at major risk. But I also realized that Deerfield  would be the most damaged. 

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This also explained a part of Dawn’s dream that I have  not mentioned. In Dawn’s dream, Irene brought deer steak  when she visited. I know that most people call deer steak  venison, however, in the dream it was specifically deer steak. I  didn’t understand why Irene brought deer steak until I read  this young lady’s dream. I realized that it was a grim reminder  that this hurricane would slaughter Deer-field. It was one more  way that the Lord let us know how serious this was.

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ENGAGING THE STORM 

Alerting the Troops 

The Lord gave several other dreams to members and friends  of our congregation over the next months that confirmed the  things that we already knew about this storm. By this time, I  was absolutely convinced that a hurricane named Irene was  going to hit us in 1999. The Lord continued to confirm this in  a variety of ways. We found out later, with some level of  surprise, that the date that I had the first dream (August 11)  was the birthday of Dawn’s sister, Irene. We viewed such  “coincidences” as further confirmation of the things that the  Lord was communicating to us about this monster storm. 

As a pastor in Broward County, I realized that I could not  keep this information to myself. I had relationship with many  other pastors in Broward County, and I wanted to inform  them of what the Lord was showing us. I received permission  to share at our November pastor’s meeting. On November 4,  1998, I marshaled the facts that the Lord had given to us, and  informed this gathering of what we faced in 1999. I didn’t  attempt to rally them behind what God was showing to us. I 

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was submitting it to them for judgment. I wanted their input  on the things that the Lord was showing us. 

I was impressed that they did not dismiss the whole thing  out of hand. Over the years, each of us had received our share  of hurricane “prophecies” from folks. In every case that I  remember, those supposed prophecies were generic to the  point of being almost impossible to rationally consider. What  I presented was far different. I was able to share about a half  dozen dreams that confirmed one another. Since I had not yet  told the congregation what God had shown to us, there was  no possibility of cross-contamination, or that people were  having anxiety dreams based upon things they were hearing. I  met and dealt with most of the obvious objections from the  pastors. I was eager to see how these men whom I respected  would respond. 

When the group listened politely to my presentation, I  was pleased. When several of the pastors asked good  questions, I was very pleased. I believed we had achieved an  important victory. Although the group, as a whole, did not get  involved any further, I did receive encouragement and  support from enough of them as individuals to have made the  effort worthwhile. I also believed that we had achieved  something of value, in that the majority of the group had  adopted a wait-and-see attitude, rather than rejecting the  matter out-of-hand. I did not expect more. None of us had  ever dealt with something like this. We had no precedence to  guide us. In spite of this, they handled the matter with  maturity and tact. 

Since I was connected to MorningStar Ministries, I also  submitted our conclusions about Irene to them. I knew that  as an international prophetic organization, they could have 

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encountered this type of thing before, and could have some  insights that would help us. Steve Thompson was vice president of MorningStar at the time. He has a keen mind and  good prophetic understanding. When he read what God had  given us, he confirmed that the Lord was speaking to us, and  that we were interpreting it correctly. He also encouraged us  to keep pursuing the Lord on the topic. 

This was an important contact. Up until that time I had  no idea what to do with this information. I couldn’t imagine  prophesying it in order to warn people. I knew very few  people would listen, even in the Church. We simply didn’t  have much of a grid for dealing with something like this in  South Florida. However, Steve remind me that one of the  main purposes of the prophetic was to marshal prayer against  the disasters the Lord might reveal to us. Since the Lord had  shown Irene to us, we concluded that he wanted us to call the  churches of South Florida together to pray against this storm.  Even though we realized that few churches would respond,  we were confident that the Lord would bring enough of the  Church together to do the job of protecting South Florida.  Rather than looking ahead to the end of 1999 with  trepidation, we realized that the Lord had enlisted us to make  a difference on behalf of South Florida.  

The Intercessory Call 

It was vitally important that we understood our intercessory  role, and the authority that our Savior had won for us. It is also vitally important in the days ahead that we understand  those same things. God has called his prophetic people as  intercessors to stand in the gap for their regions. The Lord  had told Ezekiel, “I looked for a man among them who 

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would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap  on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it,  but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30). God has never stopped  looking for people to stand in the gap. He is looking for those  who will pray on behalf of their respective geographic areas,  releasing his mercy and grace as necessary. Just as Jesus  calmed the storms, so his people have been given authority to  calm the storms and natural disasters that beset this world.  Jesus has given his Church the keys to the Kingdom. He told  Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;  whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and  whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”  (Matthew 16:18). When Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave  gifts to men. The keys of authority were included in those  gifts. When he calls us to defend an area, he makes certain we  have the authority and power to protect that area. 

One of the great questions asked after tragic natural  disasters inevitably is, “Where was God?” I can virtually  guarantee that question would have been asked in South  Florida if Irene had hit by surprise as a category four storm.  When disaster hits, it is human nature to survey the damage  and ask after God. I suspect in most cases, he was there, but  he could not find someone to stand in the gap with  understanding. As a result, the disaster could not be averted. 

The Lord is diligent about seeking those who will stand in  the gap. He once called us to pray against a winter storm that  was going to hit the northeast coast of the United States. It is  not an easy task to mobilize South Floridians to pray against a  winter storm even while they are basking in beautiful weather.  But the Lord called us to do it. He specifically told us that he  could not find anyone who would pray against the storm. He 

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was looking for someone to stand in the gap, but could not  find anyone in that geographic area, so he offered the  opportunity to us. That incident taught me about just how  diligently our God seeks for those who will stand in the gap. I  believe he is always looking for someone to stand in the gap  in order to avert tragedy, but we may have a hard time hearing  that call. 

Does this mean that every natural disaster is avoidable? I  believe that many are avoidable. I believe we have far more  authority than we think. Psalm 115 tells us, “The highest  heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given  to man” (Psalm 115:16). When God created this earth, he  gave Adam authority over it. Adam lost it to Satan. Jesus won  it back, and he has given those keys of authority to his  Church. When we use the keys, good things happen and  disaster is averted. When we do not use the keys, bad things  happen. 

Of course, that doesn’t mean that we can avoid every  disaster. World history is about birth pains. The Bible clearly  teaches that birth pains—natural disasters—must increase as  the world wears down. However, even when natural disasters  are unavoidable, we can use the keys to release protection for  all those who are in harms way. We must take our job  seriously, not only for the Church, but also because God  doesn’t delight in the death of the wicked (see Ezekiel 33:11).  If God doesn’t like it when the wicked are killed by natural  disasters, how much must he grieve when such things harm  children and other innocents? He intends to release his  protection through his Church. If we are not doing our job,  tragedy is multiplied. When we do our job, lives are preserved.

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Our congregation has learned a lot about this since 1998.  However, when we first learned about Irene, we were  stepping into new territory, and didn’t understand the fullness  of our intercessory role. God would teach us through Irene,  and he would use us many more times in the years to come to  release protection to our area. But in 1998 we were taking  fledgling steps. 

Rallying the Troops 

The Lord had shown us Irene. We knew that he does not  rejoice when people perish, so we concluded that he had not  shown us Irene to show us inevitable disaster. He showed us  Irene so that his love for people could be manifest, and so  that people would not perish. He showed us it so that we  could bind it on earth in the same way that its death and  destruction were bound in heaven. We knew what we needed  to do, so we began to rally the Church in Broward County to  help us. 

I started with my own congregation. On a Sunday  morning in January 1999, I began to unfold what God had  shown us, and what role God had outlined for us. As I have  previously mentioned, the Lord had prepared our  congregation to step into this role. He had made us into a  team. He now gave us vision for the things that needed to be  done. We stepped into this mantle and began to pray against  this storm. We also realized that we needed to have joint  meetings with other congregations across Broward County. 

To that end, I began to inform other congregations on  March 1, 1999. We planned our first multi-congregation  prayer meeting about Hurricane Irene on March 21, 1999. I  invited just over fifty Broward congregations to participate 

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with us. I had written out what I believed God was showing  us, and I shared how he had shown it to us (see Appendix 1).  We had decided to send the invitation out by mail and  facsimiles. We asked each church to join us for a special  worship service and prayer meeting. Our purpose was to  explain the threat, and to pray against it. 

I invited churches from all sorts of denominations, from  all spectrums of Christianity. Even if they did not respond, I  hoped that there would be those in their midst who would  respond by praying as individuals. I also, by clear example,  wanted to inform these churches that God still loved and  cared for his people, and was willing to communicate to  protect us. I knew we had been called to take the area by  storm, and I wanted to demonstrate God’s plan to as many of  his people as I could. 

Even though I had all these noble aspirations, I still  paused before I sent the fax on that March day in 1999. I  remember specifically thinking about my reputation. I realized  I was sending this note out to people who knew me, and  some of them even respected me. I wondered what this  would do to my reputation. At that moment, the Lord nudged  me in a way that made me laugh. He showed me that I really  had not built much of a reputation. It is pretty difficult to  damage something that you don’t really have. The logic and  humor of t