I knew immediately that the lights were churches in all their denominations, sects, and varieties, and that I was seeing churches all over the world. Some of the lights were connected with others, like a string of towns along a freeway in a nighttime satellite picture, while others were isolated. Some were so close together that I had to shield the brighter ones in order to see the dimmer. My overall impression was of a vast uncomprehendingly complex network.

I spent a long time... most of the night in the vision ... just looking at the lights and marveling at their striking, almost unearthly beauty. As I looked at this beautiful network of lights, I realized that something was going to happen soon, and that after this event the world below would be plunged into a darkness such as it had never known.

As the sky started to brighten with the dawn, I noticed some things nearby.

First, I realized that I was strapped into a hang glider. I knew I was in that hang glider to take part in some sort of battle ... a rescue operation for the lights (churches and people) below.

Next I noticed that there were people on either side of me, also strapped into hang gliders. As I looked in the ever increasing light, I realized that the entire cliff section was lined with people who were ready ... even anxious ... to jump off the cliff and begin the rescue. There were many thousands of warriors on this cliff edge, all straining forward, anxious to fight that final battle. As I gazed farther and farther out to my sides, I saw more cliff sections like the one I was on. Each cliff was lined with people ready to go, just like the cliff I was on. I knew that we were all waiting to swoop down to those lights below to carry them back up to this cliff and to safety.

I saw many Great Men of God there. Some were young, some old, some had years of battle experience, while others just seemed to have an anointing which prepared them for the battle to follow. I felt humbled to be in such company. My initial surge of excitement over the glory of the coming battle dissipated as I realized how many of these veterans were so much more qualified than I. I began to wonder if God had made a mistake placing me among such pillars of the kingdom.

After a while, I noticed that the hang glider of the person on my right was not assembled quite correctly. One of the tensioning wires that held it together was dangerously loose. It would probably hold in normal, sedate cruising, but I knew that in the stress and strain of battle he was going to loose a wing. He was going to fall to his death, or at the very least he was going to be neutralized from the battle, right when he would be needed the most.

The person on my left was a grizzled old veteran, with the battle scars to prove it. Both his own body and his craft showed signs of former damage, but both were repaired and healthy. One wing spar was a different color because it had been replaced, there were many patches on the fabric, and the handlebar covering was worn through to the bare metal in places. But the overall craft was sound and ready for battle.

As I looked around, I saw other details about many of the hang gliders. Some were assembled incorrectly , or had something broken, or were not strapped on quite right. A few were even being worn backward. But no one seemed to notice. I grieved when I realized how many of these warriors would be neutralized in the battle, and that some would even fall to their deaths and be lost entirely.

I was puzzled by this, so I asked the Lord, "What's going on Lord? Why are so many of these people so ill prepared? Why do they care so much about the future glory of the battle, and so little about themselves and their neighbors?"

In reply He simply said, "Turn around." I unstrapped my glider, turned, and looked.

What I saw next broke my heart.

Immediately behind me was another row of people in hang gliders. Behind these there were even more, and behind those, more. Row upon row of warriors, all waiting for the opportunity to move up to the cliff's edge for that final glorious jump.

But these warriors' crafts were even less prepared than the ones in the front row. The farther back I looked, the more I saw hazards among the hang gliders. Some had perfectly assembled and balanced frames, but no fabric on their wings. Others had only half a frame, with the extra fabric flapping uselessly in the wind. A few had no frame at all, they simply had their fabric wrapped around their bodies. There were many, many variations on this, some obvious, like the missing frame, and some more subtle, like the loose tensioning wire on my immediate right.

A couple warriors even had no evidence of a hang glider at all. Those ones were the most arrogant and boastful, utterly confidant that their abilities and inherent "goodness" would bring them great glory in the coming battle.

Most, however, truly meant well but were simply unaware that their craft was not ready.

Many of the warriors were prepared, or at least their hang gliders were. But the number of those who were not astounded and shocked me. Even more shocking to me was the utter lack of concern each man demonstrated for his neighbor. Each ill prepared craft had the potential to neutralize two warriors in this vast army: the wearer of that glider, and the one who was going to have to abandon the harvest below to rescue him or her.

As I looked even farther back, I saw the rear edge of those who were in place for the battle. There was a lot of turbulence there as the people in the last few rows were settling in.

Back further yet, almost at the limits of my vision, I saw the most heartbreaking sight of all. I saw millions of people running and leaping forward, all anxious to get in line for the final battle. They were running across a vast plain, but in places their progress was impeded by large hills and even a few small mountains. Most just ran around the hills and mountains. A few climbed over, and just a few ... a very precious few ... stopped long enough to investigate the mountains themselves. Of those few who stopped and looked, most soon gave up and rejoined the crowd rushing headlong to the final battle.

Of all the hills and mountains out on the plain, a couple had been exposed for what actually they were. They were not really hills at all, but vast piles of unassembled hang gliders covered by immense tarps. The majority of the people were ignoring the very things they needed to survive the coming harvest, much less have an effective role in it.

When I realized this, I fell down sobbing in grief. For someone who has rejected God to fall to their death is one thing, but for the vast numbers of newly converted who were going to lose their lives ... that crushed the breath right out of me. As I lay there crying in grief and gasping for air, I cried out in my heart to God "Why have you given me this terrible, terrible burden? Isn't it enough that you've had me so many years in the desert? What can I possibly do?"

He answered with words from Ezekiel 38:

"Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: `When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.' "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, `O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

With that promise, the constriction in my chest eased, my sobs slowly ebbed, and once again I could see some hope.

I started telling the others there on the cliff's edge, making them aware of the state of their crafts. Even more importantly ... far far more importantly ... I started encouraging them to check their neighbors. Eventually I was exhorting all of them to pass along this Spirit of holiness, of critically examining oneself and one's craft in the Light of truth and love.

I watched as this spread out like a wave. As each pastor came to understand the need for checking to make sure their craft was O.K. ... and why ... they passed it along to their neighbors. As I watched I saw similar splashes in the vast army, where other watchmen had sounded the same cry.

The final thing I and the other watchmen did was direct the attention of the leaders to the hundred of thousands of leaders behind them and to the millions of new believers still running up to the battle formation. We started exhorting the pastors to prepare their leaders and this horde for what was ahead.