Highway of Holiness

When I was returning from my trip in San Antonio a couple of weeks ago, I sat on a plane next to a woman from Texas who was coming to MN to be part of a prayer team praying along I35, which runs from MN to Texas. She was taking time off from her job as school teacher to do this. A recent Minnesota Monitor post fills me in on the context of this prayer event:

Running right through the heart of the Twin Cities is a spiritual road that dozens of evangelical churches say is specifically mentioned in the Bible as the "Way of Holiness." They call it the "Highway of Holiness." Others call it Interstate 35.

Evangelicals throughout the Midwest, from Laredo, Texas, to Duluth, Minn., have been praying at 24-hour prayer rooms for a month for Interstate 35 in order to "light the highway." Young people in the movement have been holding "purity sieges" in front of LGBT businesses, abortion clinics and stores that sell pornography. So far, Minnesota has been spared of "purity sieges," but 24-hour prayer rooms have been set up in Minneapolis, Albert Lea and Duluth.

The scriptural basis for the new movement comes from Isaiah 35:8, which reads, "And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it." Because of chapter 35, believers say the highway mentioned must be Interstate 35. In addition, a number of people in the "Highway of Holiness" movement claim to have had prophetic experiences that involve Interstate 35.

Andy Birkey :: Holy Highway: Evangelicals Pray to "Light" Interstate 35 Highway to Holiness prophet Cindy Jacobs told CBN News that it was an unnamed German prophet who saw the significance of Interstate 35 back in 1984. "And in this dream he saw a highway that went from the bottom of someplace to the top that had a '35' sign on it. And God showed him that revival was going to begin at the bottom of this highway and go to the top."

The collapse of the 35W bridge in Minneapolis in August has also been a topic of discussion among the "Highway of Holiness" believers. "I don't usually send what the Lord is downloading to me, however this is very timely and significant I believe," Highway of Holiness Community Coordinator Christine Pickett of Little Canada wrote to the movement's Web site.

Pickett says that last year's election of U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim, and his announcement of a trip to Israel the very same day of the collapse could be an omen. "I think the Lord may be saying that this man and his district and what he is about doing in Israel is connected. I could be wrong -- however, I just have to look at the timing and the fear of the Lord comes upon me."

"We are tired of seeing the destruction of what sin has brought on the world," Caleb Valdez, a student at Heartland Ministries in Dallas told TV station WFAA. "And so, we believe God has ordained this highway for us to go up and down ... to see lives transformed, to see people revolutionized for God [and] for the betterment of this place."

I don't usually send what the Lord is downloading to me either.