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Hurdle Cleared to Build
First "Faith-Based" Prison in Texas
April 8, 2005
The formation of a new corporation has helped to clear the way to build a
faith-based corrections facility east of San Angelo, according to the Associated
Press. The Concho Valley Community Facilities Corp. plans to build the private
prison as a medium-security facility for inmates in the last two years of their
sentences and would serve as a rehabilitation program.
Corrections Concepts Inc., based in Dallas, has submitted a proposal to run the
prison and says its construction would require 200 workers while 250 more would
be needed for daily operations. According to a local newspaper, 10 counties have
already passed resolutions supporting the new facility, for economic reasons.
Though the prison will be "faith-based," inmates may hold to whatever beliefs
they have. Bill Robinson, chairman of the Corrections Concepts board, says,
"Every prisoner . . . must sign an agreement to come -- it's voluntary. It's a
faith-based facility, but their worship preferences will be respected."
The corporation's mission statement declares using Christian principles to help
prepare inmates for the world outside, but does not mention evangelization.
Aimee Herd, Davin Dahlgren reporting : Apr 8, 2005 : Houston Chronicle
Read Full Story . . .
http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/
articles/display_art.html?ID=515 |
April 8, 2005
"A HEALING
JOURNEY AND THE PROPHETIC" -- by Paul Cox
by Paul & Donna Cox
Aslan's Place
www.AslansPlace.com
FROM THE DESK OF STEVE
SHULTZ:
 I
was part of the amazing healing conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with Paul
Cox, when Donna Cox's prophetic and miraculous healing took a turn for the
better.
I have interviewed Paul Cox extensively about this story to be sure that you,
the reader, don't misunderstand several important points.
In this story, a person, who felt he was prophetic (and actually was not
operating in the prophetic), a person I do not know of (Paul Cox tells me),
insisted that his prophecies were from the Lord. In them, he did not submit to
counsel nor to advice to stop prophesying. Instead, this person rebelliously
insisted that he prophesy, though he was counseled to stop.
This is NOT a story about someone who misses a prophetic word from time to time,
but it is about rebellion; and, even in Paul Cox's own case, it's about
disobedience to the Lord. Paul, in one part of this story, went somewhere based
on his love for the people rather than obedience to God.
Donna had an inherent physical weakness that, when it came in contact with the
wrong spiritual atmosphere, the situation was further exacerbated; even by
Paul's own disobedience the physical weakness suddenly flared up in Donna. God
did not cause this problem, but rather, through dreams, a grandchild, and
prophetic people and doctors, God taught them . . . and thus he taught us all.
Paul and Donna want others to learn by his and Donna's journey, their mistakes,
and their disobedience. He also wants you to learn from the voice of a prophetic
grandchild.
With that in mind, we all want you to be edified by this story of healing.
Blessings,
Steve Shultz
THE ELIJAH LIST
www.elijahlist.com
A Healing Journey and the Prophetic
 Day
after day it was the same. Every morning, for almost two years, there was hope
that the pain would be gone. But it wasn't. The pain radiated from Donna's right
side to her back. We were exhausted and had become exhausted by every attempt to
have our HMO find the cause of the pain. Each effort for another test had taken
many days for approval and then the test showed no clues for the pain.
When we looked back to when the pain began, we noted that we had been on a
ministry trip in another state. During that ministry trip, a friend, who
believed he was a
prophet, began making us feel uneasy. We noted, as did others, that his words
were not accurate and he seemed to be trying to promote himself. Another friend
of ours, who is an apostolic leader, agreed to talk with him and me about our
concerns. He refused to listen to our counsel. (Some weeks later, he met with
many from around the United States who suggested that he needed to be cautious
about his words. He again refused to listen, and those in the group dissociated
themselves from his ministry.)
It was exactly on that day that Donna's pain
began. [Note: Donna did have an inherent condition (read further) but this was
exacerbated by the spiritual atmosphere that was opened up because of this
situation.]
While I was visiting some friends, I felt the Lord leading me to fast for
Donna's healing. I fasted for eight days until I felt the Lord releasing me.
While nothing changed in Donna's physical condition, some interesting events
were set in motion. I feel the fasting resulted in a chain of events that were
to be a blessing to Donna.
"She Left Maryland Pain-Free"
I had been invited to speak in Frederick, Maryland, and a couple who specialize
in nutrition and chiropractic healing invited us to dinner. While there they
ministered to Donna and prophesied over her. She immediately noticed a lessening
in her pain. They told her that if she could come back, they would spend time
with her in ministry and nutritional and chiropractic healing. Donna did go back
to spend eight weeks in Maryland, being cared for by them and being hosted by
Cornerstone Church. She left Maryland pain-free.
Unfortunately, the healing lasted only a few months. We had been invited to
minister at a location away from Aslan's Place. Although I knew that the Lord
had instructed me not to go, our love for the people there affected my decision.
Donna and I decided to go. Only a few days after we returned home, the pain in
Donna's side returned. The pain progressively got worse and worse until she
spent the greater part of most days in bed, in pain, and sedated with pain
relief medication. Again, we turned to the medical community for help, but no
answers came.
"Why Isn't Donna Healed, Lord?" - A
Prophetic Dream
During the early morning hours of October 11, 2004, I had a dream that was in
response to my prayers about Donna. I had asked the Lord the night before why
she was not healed. In this dream I was on the Island of Cypress. I was on a
train and went the full length of the island. The train stopped, and I went up
to the conductor. As I looked at the conductor, I asked how long it would be
before we went back. I sensed there was a problem. The conductor simply said (as
if there was no problem), "We have to be here a little longer." The train then
started moving again to return to its origin. I looked in the car of the train
and I saw a woman with a baby.
Later, I was with a friend in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and we were taking
a drive around the outer banks of North Carolina. As we drove, we discussed the
dream. We looked up the story about the Apostle Paul and the Island of Cypress.
I was surprised by what I read in Acts 13:6:
"When they had gone through
the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet
whose name was Bar-Jesus . . . " (NASB)
I realized that the phrase "the whole island of
Cypress" was the same phrase in my dream. I called Donna and asked her if she
remembered when the pain had started up again, and she said she knew the exact
time. It was when we had gone to the ministry I had mentioned earlier. It was
then that I realized that, in both cases, we had been in contact with someone
who was involved in false prophecy. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul had
encountered on the island of Cypress.
It was my sense that the conductor in my dream
was the Holy Spirit and that He was telling me that there is a problem and that
it would be awhile before the situation with Donna would change. It was to be
almost exactly two months before the dream was fulfilled, starting with a trip
to Virginia.
Two months previously, in August, 2004, we had
a ministry school at Aslan's Place. While at the school, a word was given to us
by one of the participants. The word was very firm! We were not to change our
schedule for the remainder of the year. I was struck by the word, because I had
decided that I could no longer travel as much because I felt I needed to stay
home and take care of Donna. But that was not all. We had tickets purchased for
Donna and I to go to Virginia for the East Coast Healing conference. Without
that word, Donna may not have gone to Virginia.
Prophesied Healing from a Three-Year-Old
In November we were in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the Laulima Integrated Healing
Conference led by Dean Fujishima. Dean had felt that there was to be a birth at
the conference. On Sunday morning I was preaching in Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii, and,
at the end of the service, a woman started going through birthing pains. That
evening the birth was declared and, following a prophetic time, many prayed for
healing for Donna. She left Hawaii feeling that the pain had slightly subsided.
It was then that I remembered my dream about Cypress; at the end of the dream,
there was a woman (who I thought was Donna) with a baby. I felt that perhaps
Donna's healing had begun.
Our three-year-old granddaughter, Amber, told her mother that Nana would be
better by the time of the first snow and would be well when she returned from
the "horsey hotel." Amber had seen a picture of the Founder's Inn in Virginia
Beach, Virginia, with a horse drawn carriage and thus had tagged the hotel as the
"horsey hotel." I felt that Amber had just prophesied.
We live in Hesperia, California, at 3,500 feet. While snow can fall in the high
desert, it is not typical, and the fall is usually only around one to three
inches. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, in 2004, around 12:00am, snow began
falling in the high desert. The result of a two-day snowfall was twelve inches
of the white stuff. I was amazed because this was a direct fulfillment of the
prophetic word of our granddaughter. I had faith to believe that Donna's healing
was close.
"We Determined that We Had to Call 911"
I began feeling that we were to invite our pastor, Jim Rickard, to come to our
home to pray for Donna. Although he is extremely busy, he was able to come, and
so we flew him out from Minneapolis. During his stay he started prophesying that
there would be an apostolic healing center in Hesperia, California. He also
prayed with Donna and dealt with some inner healing and generational issues.
Ramona, Pastor Jim's wife, while praying at home, received the words "biliary
tree." We had no idea what the word meant. However, the time with Pastor Jim was
extremely meaningful.
On December 1 we began the International Forum on Healing in Virginia Beach,
Virginia, at the Founder's Inn. Although Donna did come to the Forum, she was
still in such pain that she spent most of the conference in our room. On Friday
she developed pain in her chest. Her blood pressure was elevated. We determined
that we had to call 911, and she was taken to the emergency room at a local
hospital. This was quite a picture. Here we are hosting a healing conference and
Donna is being taken through the hotel lobby in a stretcher!
Since we were away from our local area, we did not have to deal with the usual
protocols of our HMO. The doctors went into an urgent mode and determined there
was a problem with her heart. A heart catheterization was done. Her heart was
fine; the pain was the culprit. While Donna was at the hospital, our daughter, Corrie, shared with the conference the word that her daughter, Amber, had given.
A picture of the snow in Hesperia was shown. The one in charge of the conference
while I was with Donna in the hospital asked Amber if she wanted to pray for her
Nana. "No," she said. "Nana is already healed."
"The Lord Revealed to the Doctor Why Donna
Was in Pain"
Donna returned to the hotel that night. On Saturday, the conference was over,
and Donna was still not well. While I was in the midst of cleaning up from the
conference, a man came up to me and asked if I had heard the miracle that had
happened with Donna. Not knowing that anything had happened, he explained that a
woman doctor was on her way home to Massachusetts when the Lord told her to
return to the hotel because He had something for her to do. She went into the
hotel lobby and found Dr. Gordon Tessler, a nutritionist, who was one of the
presenters at the conference. She told him that she had to pray for someone and
asked if he knew who that was. He replied that he had been very concerned about
Donna and that she was to go up to Donna's room.
As she approached Donna, she asked if she could pray for Donna. She laid hands
on Donna and immediately the Lord told her why Donna was in pain. She said that
she was 100% sure that the pain was coming from her biliary tubes (connecting
the gall bladder with the liver). Although Donna had had her gall bladder taken
out some years before, there was still sludge in the tubes. The Massachusetts
doctor said she knew the best doctor on the east coast for the procedure that
would cure her.
Arrangements were made to get Donna to
Massachusetts. After the arrangements were made for Donna to go to the hospital,
I remembered that I had met and talked to a pastor and his wife at the
conference who were from New Hampshire. I found out that they lived only a short
distance away from the airport that Donna was flying into and that the pastor's
wife worked at the very hospital that Donna was scheduled to be admitted to.
On the first day of Hanukkah, 2004, Donna was admitted to the hospital by a
messianic doctor. Many tests were run to be sure that the E.R.C.P. was
warranted. She was then transferred to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston,
Massachusetts, for a morning procedure. On the last day of Hanukkah she was
released from the hospital pain free.
Healing, Prophecy, and God's Glory!
We praise God for Donna's healing! Through this experience we believe the Lord
answered the prayers of hundreds from around the world who prayed for her. The
Lord used the prophetic to encourage us. He used many of the different healing
disciplines to minister to Donna. Through all of the pain, God was glorified.
The Lord is good and His love endures forever!
by Paul & Donna Cox
Aslan's Place
www.AslansPlace.com
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"More
than a story book of amazing experiences, yet more than a primer on deliverance
. . . If you're serious about getting started or becoming more effective in
setting others free in Christ, then this book is for you." – Steve Shultz,
The Elijah List
"
. . . [a] valuable contribution to the difficult and controversial subject of
spiritual discernment. This book is a practical, balanced, biblical explanation
of the many ways that God communicates with His children." – Dr. Grant
Mullen, M.D.
"This
book by Dr. Paul Cox is a treasure of rich experiences. With writing that is
both pleasant to read and gripping, Dr. Cox describes for us the spiritual
conflict, the battle that is waged silently by millions of people that cry out
for freedom in Jesus. Behind that which is obvious there exists a spiritual
reality. The ministry of Dr. Paul Cox will put salve on your eyes to help you
discover the real reason for so much pain, and the authority we have in Christ."
- Rev. Claudio Freidzon, King of Kings Church, Argentina
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