Hope for America crusade likely to address end-times

Anyone who attends the Hope for America crusade at the Show Me Center can expect to get a "straight-line" Gospel message from some well-known preachers and authorities on the end-times.

The crusade begins at 7 p.m. Monday and continues through the week. Doors will open at 6 p.m., with local music groups performing during that time.

Admission and parking is free but offerings will be collected each night to help offset costs. All expenses associated with the crusade are being paid by the Horizon Foundation, a charitable organization set up by Jerry Lipps, a Cape Girardeau businessman.

Crusade organizers expect name recognition will draw some 4,000 people to see the Rev. Dr. Jerry Falwell or best-selling authors Tim LaHaye and John Hagee.

While the end-times and second coming of Christ isn't the theme for the crusade, it is likely to be addressed, said David Griesemer, a spokesman for the Horizon Foundation.

"They will preach on the second coming but it will be a Gospel application and how people need to be ready when that time comes," he said.

Falwell will speak Monday about a spiritual awakening in America. While some would say that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 created a religious awakening in the nation by bringing people back to church, Falwell disagrees.

"It's not yet been so profound that it could change the national lifestyle," he said during a telephone interview from his office in Lynchburg, Va.

Hagee, who is pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, has written a book "Attack on America" that examines the reasons why the escalating violence in the Middle East has reached America. Hagee will speak on Friday.

He believes terrorism in America has to do with the battle for Jerusalem, a city considered holy by both Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

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