Introduction
Max Mell, a contemporary poet, has said that underneath the thin
"egalitarianism" of today's American culture and all of its shallow,
perfunctory pandering to the "worth of the common man" lies a great
longing for that which is messianic; for a savior - a kind of
resitiutor orbis who will emerge and rescue mankind from the chaos and
confusion of this present evil world; and this is especially true among
Christians, many of whom, sadly, hold the concepts of what we today call
"democracy" in utter contempt. To their mind, messianic leadership (by
which they mean, "charismatic" leadership) - not democracy - is the ideal.
To such people, the messy and disordered condition of "politics as usual"
- with all its sordid, back room deal-making and compromises - is a
disgusting and vulgar thing, something that has been made all the more
loathsome in recent years by people like Bill and Hillary Clinton and
their coterie of radical feminists, militant homosexuals, and effete
multiculturalists.
Messianism is very widespread
Mell thinks that it would be a great mistake to believe that such
thinking is nothing more than a silly "redneck" kind of aberration that
haunts only the fringe elements of American culture. He believes that the
longing for such a "messiah-king" rests on a solid bedrock of western
tradition and is very widespread in the culture at large. It's a yearning
that the forces of modernity can hide and gloss over, but one which they
have utterly failed to stamp out. It is too deeply embedded in the western
psyche to be readily rooted out - and so much so that British writers
Norris J. Lacy and Geoffrey Ashe can say that the longing for such a
"messiah-king" has been "... A persistently imagined and hoped for
political goal of countless numbers of people down through the centuries"
- a kind of hunger for a messianic leader who, as Carolly Erickson, a
professor at the University Of California at Santa Barbara, writes, "...
Has the ability to dwell in the circle of the miraculous." indeed,
it is precisely this kind of "messiah-king" (and the concomitant idealized
figure of "manhood" that inevitably accompanies such a concept - the kind
out from which such ancient mythical heroes as Lancelot, Tristan,
Parsifal, and Roland were fashioned) that modern-day Christian groups such
as the "Promise Keepers" have made such a phantasm out of this kind of
thinking - the kind that Max Mell, Norris Lacy, Geoffrey Ashe and Carolly
Erickson describe, the kind that generates "messiah-kings" - seems to
present itself on a regular (if not cyclical) basis in the history of
western civilization, producing in its wake the Barbarossas, the
Napoleons, and the Hitlers of Western Christendom. It's a phenomenon that
inevitably bubbles to the surface in times of great peril when it seems
that only "decisive" leadership can carry the day - and it is helped along
when it is has been preceded by a time of cultural dissonance,
demoralization, and disappointment; for example, the cultural and economic
turmoil and confusion that accompanied the socialist governments of the
Weimar Republic that antedated Hitler's rise to power in Germany, and the
so-called "reign of terror" that preceded Napoleon's seizure of power in
France in the last decade of the eighteenth century.
"Ready-Made Terrain" For
The Rise Of A New Hitler
The question that now fairly begs to be asked is, is such a phenomenon
beginning to reveal itself again in the snarled course of events following
the calamity of September 11, 2001? - a course of events that possesses
the power and vigor to generate a new Napoleon or a new Hitler. Have we
reached one of those points in the so-called "historical process" that
could lend itself to such an outcome?
Well-known academician Ian Kershaw says that - at least in the modern
world - there are three elements necessary for the emergence of a new
messiah-king: (1) the existence of an actual person around which a
"messiah myth" can be built; (2) a propaganda machine or "PR" mechanism
capable of generating the "mythos" which must accompany any new
messiah-king; and most importantly, (3) a willing population ready to
accept the new messiah. In this connection, one must bear in mind that,
according to Kershaw, messianic leadership is as much the product of the
people over which it takes hold as it is of the internal charisma of the
man who ultimately comes to hold messianic power; that there must exist a
symbiosis between the two (i.e., between leader and follower) so that - in
the end - the one cannot exist without the other. And perhaps even more
than that - that it is the people (i.e., the "messiah-king's" followers)
that produce the Hitlers of this world rather than the other way around;
that ultimately, people get what they deserve (and want) insofar as the
Hitlers of this earth are concerned; that the people are far more
responsible for producing the Hitlers of this world, than the Hitlers are
of producing themselves.
Finally, Kershaw says that there must also exist on a general basis a
kind of "Ready-Made Terrain of pre-existing beliefs, prejudices, and
phobias" which, when taken together, can provide the societal foundation
necessary for the emergence of the new "messiah-king." [Please see Ian
Kershaw, the Hitler Myth; Kershaw is a professor of history at the
University Of Nottingham in England; please also see J.P. Stern (Hitler,
The Fuehrer and the People) and R. Semmler (Goebbels: The Man
Next to Hitler ).]
We are a society much more predisposed
towards messianism than we care to admit
What we propose to show in this article is that all three of those
elements necessary to the rise of a new "messiah-king" are now in place in
today's American society [i.e., (1) the existence of an actual person
around which a "messiah myth" can be built; (2) a propaganda machine or
"PR" mechanism capable of generating the "mythos" which must accompany any
new "messiah-king;" and most importantly, (3) a willing population ready
to accept the new messiah.]. In addition, there also exists a "ready-made
terrain of pre-existing beliefs, prejudices, and phobias" which, when
taken together, provide the societal foundation necessary for the
emergence of a new Hitler-figure.
Accordingly, we will show that there is (just as Kershaw predicted
there would be) a pathology already afoot that is leading inexorably to
the emergence of a new Hitler-figure, only this time it will be a Hitler
not just with a European reach, but one with a world-wide reach, and there
will be no one able to stop him. [And please take note of the fact that in
demonstrating all this, there will be no need for us to resort to "hidden
knowledge" or "secret information" available only to us and to no one
else. The material we will use to demonstrate this point is freely
available in the public sphere. Believe me, brothers and sisters, we are a
lot further down the road to the "end of the age" than most of us care to
admit; and if we don't see it, it's because we choose not to see it.]
Finally, and most shockingly, we will expose the connection of the
Promise Keepers men's movement in the development of this coming
"messiah-king" - a connection that we did not make, but one which a
well-known secular author, Gail Sheehy, made. It seems that, once again -
"... The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the
children of light." (Luke 16:8)
Chapter II
Anti-democratic forces
in American society
Anti-democratic forces in our society
We begin by examining whether or not there exists in this country a
"Ready-Made Terrain of pre-existing beliefs, prejudices, and phobias"
capable of nourishing the growth of a "Fuehrer Myth;" and - more to the
point - where in our society will we find this "ready-made terrain of
pre-existing beliefs, prejudices, and phobias" that would be conducive to
the emergence of an antichrist-like figure?
One thing is for sure, this "terrain" would of necessity have to lend
itself in a very fundamental way to the nourishment of (or "absolutist")
belief systems if only because the antichrist will not be a person very
much given to the habits of democracy - and, if that's the case, those who
will form his core constituency will likewise not be particularly enamored
or given to these habits either.
Where, then, in our society is absolutism, political or religious
systems that are anti-democratic in nature, still practiced? Where does it
still hold sway? Some people, of course, would say, "Nowhere! We are a
democracy, and the institutions that prevail in our country are democratic
institutions." but, sadly, that's not really so anymore. The truth is,
there's not much democracy left in this country beyond the surface
symbolism that still exists, a fact that induced Michael Parenti to
comment that one -
... Might better think of ours as a dual
political system. First, there is the symbolic political system centered
around electoral and representative activities including party conflicts,
voter turnout, political personalities, public pronouncements, official
role-playing and certain ambiguous presentations of some of the public
issues which bestir Presidents, Governors, mayors and their respective
legislatures. Then there is the substantive political system, involving
multi-billion dollar contracts, tax write-offs, protections, rebates,
grants, loss compensations, subsidies, leases, giveaways and the whole
vast process of budgeting, legislating, advising, regulating, protecting
and servicing major producer interests - now bending or ignoring the law
on behalf of the powerful, now applying it with full punitive vigor
against heretics and 'troublemakers'. The symbolic system is highly
visible, taught in schools, discussed by academicians, gossiped about by
newsmen. The substantive system is seldom heard of or accounted for.
Still, as Parenti acknowledges, there remains, at least on a political
level, the requirement of rendering a certain amount of "lip service" to
the concepts of democracy, and it would be very difficult indeed for
anyone to ignore this necessity, the imperative for political figures to
make an open show of devotion to these concepts, without being immediately
"run over" by the masses.
But there are other areas in our culture where such an open show of
ardor is not necessary; indeed, places where such a pretense of devotion
to the concepts of democracy would be entirely out of place and even
inappropriate. Two particular areas spring immediately to mind: (1)
business and (2) religion.
Both of these areas, the world of religion and the world of commerce,
are extremely important because, as we will soon discover, it is out of
the business world that we will find the "PR" or propaganda mechanisms
necessary to the sustenance of the kind of mythos necessary to a
messiah-cult, and it is out of the world of religion that we will discover
a population "willing" to embrace the coming messiah-like figure, the
antichrist. And if that's the case, then we have discovered two of the
three elements Kershaw, Stern, and Semmler say are necessary for the
emergence of a new Hitler: (1) the propaganda mechanism, and (2) the
"willing population."
Business control of the media; and,
ipso facto, propaganda in this country
Some might be surprised by our contention that it is in the business
world that we will discover the "propaganda mechanism" necessary for the
sustenance of a new Hitler mythology. Wouldn't it be more proper for us
to be looking at the media? That the two, the media and the business
community, are not necessarily the same. Well, fifty years ago, that may
have been true.
At that time it probably could not be said that the business community
controlled the press or the media and for that reason, the media acted as
a genuine bulwark against the emergence of a Hitler-like figure. While the
business community certainly controlled more than its fair share of the
media at that time, there still was a robust labor and anti-corporate
press in the country. Not any more; not after the Vietnam War when the
elite lost control of the country and the war because they did not totally
control the press.
After the Vietnam debacle, the elite set about buying up the press
There is, after all, a reason why Westinghouse, General Electric and other
similar corporations that normally would have no business interest in
acquiring a radio and TV network spent millions and millions of dollars
buying up cbs, nbc, abc
etc. The elite business community wanted total control of the press and
today they have it. That's why there is no longer any real discussion of
economic matters in this country, why there is no real discussion of the
merits of free trade, the ftaa,
nafta, the WTO, etc. It's not allowed! There can be plenty of
discussion on social issues - abortion, feminization, race issues, etc. -
but there can be no real discussion on the matters that make the elite
"roll and go" That's off limits now!
Today the press belongs "lock, stock, and barrel" to the elite business
community and this community is a very anti-democratic community indeed.
It is, therefore, without a doubt a community that would support a "mass
movement" if one could be found that would be ready-made terrain for the
emergence of an anti-Christ-figure. The very anti-democratic nature of the
business community lends itself to such an outcome.
Absolutism in the business world
And there certainly can be no real doubt as to the nature of the
corporate systems of authority that predominate in the business sphere;
the fact is, they are so "dictatorial," some would even say "tyrannical,"
that if they were practiced in the political realm, the people who
practiced them would be "run out of town on a rail." Now in saying all
this, it's not our purpose to advocate "socialism in the workplace." It's
simply to say that, more than most of us care to admit to ourselves, the
world we live in is much more autocratic than it is advertised to be, and
while the "worth of the common man" is celebrated in our mythology,
democracy does not touch our everyday working lives quite as much as we
imagine. Moreover, unlike the world of politics, there is no need to give
"lip service" to the ideals of "democracy" in the business world.
Absolutism is accepted as a "given" in the corporate world. Or does one
imagine, even for an instant, that Ford, General Motors, IBM. Microsoft,
Cisco Systems, ADM, etc. are run as "democracies" where "everyone has a
say." Of course not!
The truth is, those who stand at the head of today's corporations are
every bit as much autocrats as Genghis Khan or Attila the Hun ever were,
and so much so that the men and women who have come to occupy the lofty
heights of today's corporate world look down on the rest of humanity, and
most especially upon their workers, with about as much contempt as Louis
XIV evinced when he gazed down on the inhabitants of seventeenth century
Paris. Moreover, by their business decrees and executive fiats they affect
the lives of their "subjects," workers, in ways that are just as profound
as those of the absolute monarchs of a thousand or five hundred years ago.
None of these businessmen and CEOs are given much to democratic modes
of living; they are in fact despots in the most severe and brutal meaning
of the word, megalomaniacs like Steve Case of AOL/Time Warner, Bill Gates
of MicroSoft, Sumner Redstone of Viacom, Michael Eisner of Disney, Rupert
Murdoch of News Corporation, Lawrence Ellison of Oracle, John Chambers of
Cisco Systems, C. Michael Armstrong of AT&T, Tom Feston of MTV, ad
nauseum - egotistical, conceited, presumptuous little tyrants - all of
them - and to say otherwise is to expose oneself as ignorant and naive!
Professor C. Wright Mills of Columbia University writes of such people:
these men transcend ... The ordinary
environments of ordinary people, and by their decisions they set up and
break down the destinies of others ... They are not 'confined' by their
'responsibilities' as are 'ordinary' people. They are not bound by their
communities. They need not merely 'meet the demands of the day and hour';
in some part, they create these demands, and cause others to meet them.
Whether or not they profess their power, they wield it in a manner which
far transcends that of the underlying population. What Jacob Burckhardt
said of great men, could be said of them: 'they are all that ordinary
people are not'.
So what do we have here? A press that is totally controlled by these
kinds of people, people who are absolutely and totally anti-democratic in
nature, and who are, therefore, given to using the press, the media, as a
propaganda mechanism. And it is the very anti-democratic nature of these
people that predisposes the press towards the emergence of a new Hitler.
Indeed, the American press today is less free of forces given to
anti-democratic proclivities than was the press of Germany in 1933 - and
that's quite a statement!
So much for the first element necessary for the creation of an
antichrist-figure in the United States. What about the other two elements:
(1) a willing population, and (2) the existence of an actual person around
which a "messiah myth" can be built? Let's take first the matter of
whether or not there exists a "willing population" in the country that is
predisposed to the emergence of an antichrist - and we will find that
there does indeed exist such a population, and, as we just indicated, it
exists, surprisingly enough, at least insofar as many evangelicals would
be concerned, in the world of religion.
Absolutism in the religious world
The fact is the same exact proclivities and biases that exist against
democracy in the business world, exist in the religious world as well.
Like the business world the religious world holds the concepts of
democracy in contempt. We speak here, of course, of the Evangelical
Christian community - and most particularly of that portion of evangelical
Christendom that aims at "restoring" what it perceives to be the "ruins of
our 'Christian nation'" (i.e., America ) by seeking more closely to unite
its version of Christianity with state power.
It is precisely here, in the Christian community, that we find the
"willing population" that is predisposed to the emergence of a new
Hitler-figure. What's ironic about all this is that this is the very
community that should be predisposed against the emergence of the
antichrist. It gives you an idea of how apostate evangelical Christianity
has become.
The very real fact of the matter is there exists today within the
evangelical community a predisposition of mind towards extremely
anti-democratic modes of thinking - modes which, like those in the
business community, make the religious community such ready-made terrain
for the emergence of a new messiah, which cannot help but nourish
autocratic proclivities and biases.
Indeed, the truth is, the pastoral system that now predominates in the
evangelical world is as despotic as is the one that is found in today's
business world, and so much so that those who stand at the head of most of
today's evangelical churches are as tyrannical and autocratic as their
corporate counterparts, maybe even more so: evangelical leaders like
Charles Stanley, D. James Kennedy, Tim Lahaye, The Late John Wimber, Juan
Carlos Ortiz, C. Peter Wagner, Beverley Lahaye, Ern Baxter, Kenneth
Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Chuck
Colson, Jack Hayford, David Yonggi Cho, Robert Stearns, Mike Bickle,
Reuven Doron, Che Ahn, Frank Hammond, Cindy Jacobs, Bill Hamon, John Eckhardt,
Bobbie Byerly, Dutch Sheets, Jim Goll, John Paul Jackson, James Ryle,
Frank Damazio, Ed Silvoso, Carlos Annacondia, Claudio Freidzon, Roger
Mitchell, Ted Haggart, Paul Cain, Chuck Pierce, Rick Joyner, Kingsley
Fletcher, Jim Laffoon, Barbara Wentroble, ad infinitum.
The list is endless and runs the entire gamut of evangelical
Christianity. These men and some women exercise as much autocratic power
as any CEO in today's corporate world. Perhaps even more so because they
make the claim that their power derives from the divine, a claim that only
a very few in the business world would dare to make.
Christian leadership has become
absolutist & tyrannical in recent years
As we indicated previously, these evangelical leaders, like the CEOs
they imagine themselves to be, are autocrats in the most severe and brutal
meaning of that word, megalomaniacs in love with their own presumed
"piety" and "holiness;" "little Gods" - everyone of them, egotistical,
conceited, and presumptuous; proud peacocks who strut and prance every
Sunday before their parishioners without any shame and embarrassment. Like
their business counterparts, these are not men much given to the
institutions of democracy or any kind of belief in the equality of
Christians within the community of God, let alone the community of man.
For example, the late R.J. Rushdoony and his estranged kinsman, Gary
North, both consider democracy to be a "heresy." Rushdoony called
democracy "the great love of the failures and cowards of life." he
insisted that true "... Christianity is completely and radically
anti-democratic" David Chilton believes pretty much the same thing. And
one is making a great mistake in believing that the thinking of Rushdoony,
North, and Chilton is that much removed from the thinking of most of the
other leaders in today's Christendom. Rushdoony appeared numerous
times on pat Robertson's 700 Club. North has also appeared on the same
program, and both made repeated appearances at D. James Kennedy's massive
church in Florida and other similarly disposed churches throughout the
country.
There are, of course, some evangelical Christians who might deny that
the thinking of people like Rushdoony, North, Chilton, etc. is
representative of most in today's Christianity - to which I would simply
say, "Where have you been for the past several years?" The truth is,
anti-democratic sensibilities are a common fact of life in most of today's
churches, and these sensibilities are easily discerned in the way that
most of these churches are organized: as corporate hierarchies that
promote a military-like discipline that is enforced by an extremely rigid
chain-of-command where one is required to "submit" to those who are
"above," and to "rule over" those who are "below."
The church as ready-made terrain
for dictatorial systems of government
Outwardly, the "system of government" in these churches (especially the
mega-churches) looks like a giant pyramid which by its very nature and
character emphasizes in a most unkind and incessant way "rank and
position" - and so much so that one's very "spirituality" is measured by
how high up one is in the church pyramid. No room here for any expression
of "individuality" (a concept that is totally at variance with what passes
today for "spirituality" in most of these churches); no chance either for
any kind of "personal walk" with Christ outside the church's system of
hierarchy. In the end, one's "spirituality" is measured simply by the
yardstick of submission - and by that, it is meant submission to church
authority. This is, of course, exactly the type of "ready-made terrain"
that nourishes the kind of blind, unthinking submission to authority that
is necessary to any antichrist system of government.
Sadly, by embracing this system of authority, most Christians are
utterly unaware of how close they are to embracing the antichrist. That
Christians could accept the kind of thinking that promotes this type of
blind submission to authority only underlines how brainwashed and
propagandized evangelical Christians are today with regard to the question
of authority!
Chapter III
Autocratic forms of
government within
the church prepare the way for antichrist
It shall not be so among you
The fact is, however, Jesus promoted no such hierarchical scheme of
things. Jesus taught the exact opposite. He said,
Ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles
exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority
upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great
among you, let him be your minister (i.e., servant); and whosoever will be
chief among you, let him be your servant (i.e., slave): "even as the son
of man came not to be ministered unto (i.e., served), but to minister
(i.e., serve), and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:25-28)
Indeed, instead of teaching that Christians should be dependent on an
outward chain-of-command, Jesus said,
... Ye need not that any man teach you:
but... The same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is
no lie [i.e., the same anointing (which is truth and no lie) teaches all
of you the same things]. (I John 2:27)
And exactly what is this anointing? Jesus said that it is -
... The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
(John 14:26)
And again, Jesus said,
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will
send unto you from the Father, even the spirit of truth, which proceedeth
from the father, he shall testify of me ..." (John 15:26)
God wants to rule in our hearts
God's will is that he should rule over us directly in our hearts; that
there should be no intermediaries between us and him, and that is
precisely why the Holy Spirit was sent.
Jesus dwells in our hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit! In all of
our hearts, and this is what makes Christianity so different from all the
other religions of the world! This is what makes Christianity so
revolutionary! So wonderful! This is why Peter can speak of the
"priesthood of all believers" (I Peter 2:9).
Sadly, however, the great truth of the "priesthood of all believers"
which evangelicalism did so much to recover in the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries is today more "dead doctrine" than it is reality - a
teaching "more honored in the breach than in the keeping."
Instead, most Christians in today's church have been taught to just sit
quietly in their pews week after week while the "paid professionals" teach
and otherwise function. What a shame that people who today call themselves
"evangelical" can put up with such a system, let alone encourage and teach
it.
But the people love their "kings." Why? Because they want to shirk
their responsibilities before God. In other words, instead of picking up
these responsibilities for themselves, they prefer to hand them over to
someone else who will do the work for them, whether that means taking
responsibility for their children's spiritual upbringing, studying the
word for themselves, counseling one another, etc., even if it means
accepting a tyranny over themselves as a result.
Isn't that the great lesson of 1 Samuel 8:4-22? Isn't that what the
people wanted when they demanded of Samuel, a king, even after Samuel had
"rehearsed" in front of them the kind of tyranny that would result?
The fact is, in the end, at least in this world, "kings" become
tyrants, whether they exercise temporal power or religious power. It is as
inevitable as the sun rising in the east; that is exactly why God told
Samuel to "... Show them the manner of ... King(s) that shall reign over
them." he knew the heart of man; he knew what eventually would happen.
Christians prefer autocratic leadership
And this is what is happening today! Christians don't want to take
responsibility for themselves; they want to be told what to do, so they
prefer autocracy; they prefer a "king." as a result, they have become, as
Ian Kershaw puts it, "ready-made terrain" for a new Hitler - a "fertile
field," so to speak, that lends itself easily to the nourishment of a
belief in autocracy; one that is predisposed towards a disdain for the
concepts of democracy - all essential predispositions of mind necessary to
the emergence of a resitiutor orbis or world-ruler; in other words,
the antichrist.
Again I say, stop and think for a moment how ironic all this is! The
very people through whom the concept of the antichrist was made known to
the world (and against whom they have warned the world for more than two
millennia) turn out to be the very people who, in the end, will present
him to the world.
Now that's deception! That's real and total deception! So that the
prophecy is fulfilled in them which says that in that day -
"... The very elect should be deceived"
(Matt. 24:24).
Chapter IV
Anti-democratic ways of
thinking
spread throughout the culture
How widespread is this threat?
So what does all this mean? - it means that unbeknownst (or at least
unrecognized) by most observers in our society, we have two very important
segments of our culture - i.e., the business community and the Christian
community - that are predisposed against democracy - i.e., to a mindset
that is inclined in favor of autocratic ways of governing, and are, as a
result, "ready-made terrain" for the appearance of the antichrist.
How great a threat does all this pose to us? We can get an idea by
measuring how large a portion of our population identifies itself with
this segment of our society. The liberal Jewish organization B'nai Brith,
no friend to conservative Christianity, and, as a result, not an
organization that would be much given to over-estimating the strength of
the conservative Christian community, believes that conservative
Christians - i.e., that portion of the Christian community that embraces
the idea of returning the nation to "Christ and the Church" (and, ipso
facto, to messianic concepts of leadership) - now encompass close to
one-third of the entire population of the United States. This figure
includes those Catholics who have "gone over" to this kind of thinking.
That would include 90 percent of church-going evangelical Protestants, and
close to 60 percent of church-going Catholics. Now think about that! -
that's one-third of the entire US population (again, according to B'nai
Brith) - quite a feat for a movement that less than twenty-five years ago
constituted nothing more than a small blip on the nation's political
radar.
Some would say that's only one-third of the population. Yes, that's
true. But when this one-third of the population is reinforced by the
business community with all its money and influence and which - like the
country's religious community - is predispositioned to a belief in
autocratic leadership, then you may very well have a powerful and
effective combination to create change! And this is especially true when
one understands that it isn't as if the one-third of the population that
constitutes the "new Christian right" is opposed by the remaining
two-thirds of the population. That isn't the case at all. The religious
right, in fact, is vigorously opposed by only the so-called "hard left"
such as the hard core feminists, the gay and lesbian community, the
minority community, the entertainment community, the liberal Jewish
community, those still given to socialist ways of thinking, the so-called
intellectual community. Like the Christian community they also constitute
about one-third of the population. This leaves the remaining one-third of
the populace "in play" and "up for grabs" - and if that's the case, the
religious right is in a very good position to "carry the day," especially
in light of the events of September 11, 2001.
The grim cadence of war
The truth is, since the events of September 11th, the Christian right
movement has been advancing with all the grim cadence of warfare. That's
what all the flag-waving and superficial patriotism of today is all about,
and as it expands, it is enveloping ever more of the population in its
absolutist thinking; and the so-called "War on Terrorism" is only adding
to the movement's growth.
This is pretty frightening when one considers the naked militancy that
is being employed to move the Christian right forward - the kind that
denounces church / state separation as "religious cleansing," "a socialist
myth," and "a lie of the left." Before the events of September 11th, this
kind of talk would have been denounced by the press; that's no longer the
case. Indeed, such former mouthpieces of "liberalism" as CNN, ABC, CBS,
NBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, etc., are now actually
helping to propel such thinking forward.
And one should be clear here, this new Christian militancy is no
"surface phenomenon." it's for real. Consider the belligerence Pat
Robertson, leader of the Christian coalition, is employing in describing
the effort of the Christian right to advance itself against the left:
Robertson writes that this -
"... is really the most significant battle
of the age-old conflict between good and evil, between the forces of God
and the forces against God."
The "most significant battle!" Think about that! That's quite a
statement! This is not the kind of mindset that lends itself easily to
compromise and moderation. Robertson goes on to assert,
"just like what Nazi Germany did to the
Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's
the same thing."
Wow! What liberals have done to Christians in America is "... Just
like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews!" Again, that's quite a statement -
but these people really believe it! They don't think they are
exaggerating. And if that's the case, think about what this kind of
thinking could justify. The mind fairly boggles at the thought. After all,
almost anything could be justified in stopping the Nazis - even
extermination!
Hyping up your enemies to
the status of satanic monsters
In this kind of environment, people on the left are not merely
political opponents, they are not merely wrong; they are "the enemy" and
they are "satanic." According to this rhetoric, feminists "kill their
children," "practice witchcraft," "destroy capitalism," and "become
lesbians." abortion is nothing less than the "final solution;" it is the
"state-sponsored extermination of an entire class of innocent citizens;"
not only that, but public education is "a socialist, anti-God system of
education;" and gays and lesbians comprise the "most pernicious evil of
today."
The hysteria of this kind of language excites hatred and loathing of
one's opponents, and opens up the eventual possibility of a "holy war"
against them - and it is precisely this kind of thinking that has spread
in one degree or another to the hard-core Christian right - again, almost
one-third of the u.s. population!
Moreover, with the "War on Terrorism" now at full throttle, one can be
sure that this kind of thinking is today rapidly diffusing itself
throughout the general population as evinced by polls that indicate a
tripling of church attendance since September 11th.
Chapter V
Gathering anti-democratic
forces around
the Bush Presidency in order to
promote globalism
George Bush
Given this reality, almost anyone could fulfill the Christian right's
"messiah-wish" now. After all, the pathology that is at work here has
powerful transforming properties attached to it, and once it takes hold on
a "host," who really knows what can happen? For instance, who would have
ever dreamed that a tiny little man of no repute from the remote island of
Corsica could have ever been transformed into a Napoleon Bonaparte? Or an
obscure, failed art student from Vienna could have ever been "morphed"
into an Adolph Hitler?
It is exactly this pathology that has now fixated itself on George
Bush, a man who before the events of September 11th had all the appearance
of a buffoon, but who now - under the impress of these events (and this
pathology) - is being transformed into a "war leader" on a par with
Winston Churchill, which is kind of like creating a silk purse out of a
sow's ear. It gives a person some idea of just how much the Christian
community in the United States has been prepared (adapted) by its own
apostate condition into ready-made terrain for messianic leadership. And
one should ask himself in connection with this development, "What's this
terrain now producing?" Is there a new messiah-king emerging? God help us
all if there is, for we may be about to descend into a nightmare so vast
that the Bible says of it,
... Except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall
be shortened." (Matt. 24:22)
Under normal circumstances, the idea of George Walker Bush as a
"courageous" "war leader," especially a "courageous" "Christian" war
leader, would be preposterous; it would be enough to take one's breath
away, especially in light of how he "whimped out" of Vietnam and hid from
his duty during that conflict in an Air National Guard unit that his
"daddy" pulled strings to get him into. And then didn't show up for duty
for six months at a time. Yet today countless numbers of Christians are
slavishly buying into the myth of Bush as a "war leader" without even
bothering to find out whether it is true or not, or whether or not they
are being "sold a bill of goods" by the elite. The fact is, they want to
believe it - and so much so that they call anyone who opposes the new
"myth making" surrounding the President "unpatriotic."
And there can be no question that something exceptional is happening to
Bush, especially insofar as his image is concerned. Everyone has noticed
what's going on. For instance, Alan Brinkley, professor of history at
Columbia University in New York (and someone who was openly hostile to
Bush prior to September 11th), says that something truly remarkable has
happened - something that has "remade" him in a really unprecedented way.
Also many of his political opponents have noticed the change too; for
example, Dick Gephardt, Democratic leader in the house, and Tom Daschle,
Democratic leader in the Senate. This is extraordinary for a man who just
a short while ago was being touted as a "pretender to the throne" having
lost the "popular vote," as opposed to the "electoral vote," in the
Presidential election of 2000 by over 500,000 votes and who was widely
perceived as having "stolen the election" by brazen "voter manipulation"
in Florida; and not only that, but who was seen as someone who was
generally thought of as "intellectually challenged," an "accidental
President," and an-all-around flop who was destined to be a one-term
President of little note and small achievement; an easy "knock-off" for
the Democrats in 2004.
Not any more
Not any more! Ever since the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in
New York came crashing down September 11, the media, almost as if on cue,
has made what amounts to be a 180 degree turn in their coverage of Bush,
and so much so that if one didn't know better, one would be tempted to
think that the press had been covering two different people. Moreover, the
sudden way it was done leads one to believe that all this is more than
just "happenstance;" that there is a good deal of surreptitious
coordination involved here.
In this connection, one should remember that in dealing with the
"mainline press," one is dealing with the "corporate-controlled" press;
that there is an "intersection of interests" between General Electric,
Westinghouse, Disney, Viacom, CNN / Time Warner, etc., and that this
"intersection of interests" is located around the process of
globalization. Thus, when the media suddenly closes ranks on any
particular subject such as NAFTA, the WTO, "Free Trade," the FTAA, "fast
track" authority, the Middle East, the so-called "War on Terrorism, the
so-called "War on Drugs," the necessity of strengthening the military, the
necessity of destroying the guerrillas such as the FARC in Colombia, one
can be reasonably certain that globalization is involved; that the vital
interests of America's "New World Order" are at stake; and, as a result,
a very methodical elite-sponsored undertaking is afoot.
What all this means is that the elite, anti-democratic partners with
the Christian right, have entered the fray and are very much behind the
effort to raise Bush's standing insofar as the voters are concerned - and
that they are doing so for their own very selfish reasons.
What everyone seems to forget in all the smoke and confusion that has
followed the events of September 11th (and, of course, what the elite
would like people to forget), is that prior to this date the elite had
been having a very rough "go of it" insofar as their globalization efforts
were concerned. The left had managed to weave together a very powerful
coalition of forces in opposition to the elite's globalist "New World
Order" dreams - as evidenced by how the left had been able to mount in
recent months very massive, well-coordinated, leftist (read "socialist"),
anti-globalist demonstrations in Athens, Prague, Dados, Washington DC,
Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Genoa, Quebec, etc., to say nothing of the way
the left had managed to block the elite's effort to push "fast track"
authority for the President through congress which the elite's need to
speed up globalization.
The "War on Terrorism" as a
Trojan horse for globalization
But the events of September 11th have very "conveniently," some people
on the left would say "too conveniently," allowed the corporate elite to
use Bush and the "War on Terrorism" as an integrating force around which
they can construct a "counter-force" against what they perceive to be the
very frightening efforts of the left to "shut down" globalization. This is
"a too convenient fact" that the left both here and abroad has been doing
everything in its power to bring to the attention of people.
But because the left lacks access to the corporate media, they have
been unable to get average people to make the obvious connection here:
·
that there has been a callous effort by the elite to use the
events of September 11th, 2001 and the new "anthrax scare" for their own
selfish ends;
·
that what's been happening has all the hallmarks of a
consciously contrived attempt by cynical, very manipulative
"behind-the-scene" "players" to "manufacture" consensus in the country by
making Bush a "point of reference" around which "the masses" can be
rallied in a patriotic, even jingoistic, crusade against "evil."
It's a campaign which right now is being characterized as a crusade
against "terrorism," but which is gradually being transformed into a
broader campaign against all those forces that oppose globalization. And
this is exactly what Bush was engaged in doing at the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Shanghai on Saturday, October
19, 2001, helping to transform the war against terrorism into a crusade
against those who oppose globalization, when he called the attack against
the World Trade Center in New York an attack against "world trade."
He said that he believed the World Trade Center was specifically chosen
as a target because it was a symbol of "economic progress." He urged the
leaders of APEC to "...show the world, enemies and friends alike, that
economic progress (the integration of the nations of the world into the
American "New World Order") will continue despite efforts by terrorists to
spread fear."
The effort here to turn globalization into a crusade against terrorism
has been callously designed to "stupefy" the American people with a
surfeit of patriotic flag waving, and then to benumb them in a toxic swirl
of jingoism. All this was calculated to wean them away from those
populist forces that oppose globalization and to move them towards a
"one-world," "counter revolutionary," "anti-socialist" mass movement that
favors the globalist goals of the American elite. These hot buttons can be
interpreted to mean support for unrestricted, unbridled corporate
capitalism.
Central to this enormous effort is the willingness of the Christian
community, especially the evangelical Christian community, to jettison for
all practical purposes the institutions of democracy in favor of a kind of
messianic leadership that cloaks itself in the flag.
And in this connection, it goes without saying that the willingness of
the Christian community to accept messianic leadership is conditional on
their perceiving this leadership as Christian leadership, and that's
dependent on the ability of Bush to pass himself off as a Christian, to
get evangelical Christians to believe that he is one of them.
Chapter VI
Trying to pass Bush off as a
Christian
The Bush testimony
This, of course, brings us to the matter of Bush's so-called
Christianity. The public effort to pass Bush off as a Christian has
revolved to a great extent around forging for Bush a believable "Christian
testimony." the fruit of this effort surfaced for the first time on a
national basis in the "Christian testimony" the Bush campaign distributed
in the 2000 Presidential election. It should be noted in this connection
that never before in the entire history of Presidential elections has a
Presidential campaign made it its business to distribute as an actual part
of the campaign the "Christian testimony" of the candidate himself. This
gives a person some idea of the importance Bush's campaign staff attached
to his "Christian credentials." The "testimony" read in part:
"... The seeds of my decision (for Christ)
were ... Planted by the Reverend Billy Graham. (several yeas ago)... He
visited my family for a summer weekend in Maine (i.e., in the late 1980s).
I saw him preach at the small summer church, St. Ann's by the Sea. We all
had lunch on the patio overlooking the ocean. One evening my dad asked
Billy to answer questions from a big group of family gathered for the
weekend.
"He sat by the fire and talked. And what he
said sparked a change in my heart. I don't remember the exact words. It
was more the power of his example. The Lord was so clearly reflected in
his gentle and loving demeanor. The next day we walked and talked at
walker's point, and I knew I was in the presence of a great man. He was
like a magnet; I felt drawn to seek something different. He didn't lecture
or admonish; he shared warmth and concern. Billy graham didn't make you
feel guilty; he made you feel loved. Over the course of that weekend,
Reverend Graham planted a mustard seed in my soul, a seed that grew over
the next year. He led me to the path, and I began walking. It was the
beginning of a change in my life. I had always been a "religious" person,
had regularly attended church, even taught Sunday School and served as an
altar boy. But that weekend my faith took on a new meaning. It was the
beginning of a new walk where I would commit my heart to Jesus Christ."
The problem with this "testimony" from a "conversion standpoint" is
that there isn't the slightest hint in it of any kind of an actual
"born-again" experience. True, there is a lot of talk about "warmth and
concern," about "being made to feel that you're loved," and about a
"commitment" to a kind of warm and fuzzy Jesus, a "teddy bear" kind of
"Christ" that one would feel comfortable nuzzling up with - that's it!
Where is the gospel in Bush's "testimony?"
But to claim to be "born again" one must at least recognize a wrong
path and choose to go another way. But there is nowhere in the so-called
"public record" or in any of the personal ruminations of his friends and
colleagues of any "acknowledgment of sin," or that he (Bush) was a sinner
in need of a savior? Sheehy says:
"His conversion certainly didn't come about
as a result of contemplating past sins. He proudly rejects introspection
and has no interest in looking back over the 'youthful indiscretions' that
characterized his first 44 years. In interviews Bush repeatedly says: 'I'm
not one of those people who say, gosh, if I'd have done it differently,
I'd have ...' he pauses for a few seconds to contemplate his life, then
confidently concludes: 'I can't think of anything I'd do differently'."
"I'm not one of those people who say, 'gosh, if I'd have done it
differently ... I can't think of anything I'd do differently" My heavens!
That's not something you would imagine a new Christian would say; at least
not someone who felt genuine remorse for his sins - and in Bush's case,
there certainly were a lot of them,
·
arranging an abortion for a girl friend in Alaska as alleged
by Larry Flynt on CNN's Crossfire. Flynt said he had statements to that
effect from Bush's former girlfriend, the doctor who performed the
abortion and the many friends of Bush in Alaska at the time. to alleged
cocaine use,
·
alleged marijuana use,
·
alleged orgies of every sort, etc.
We must remember what Christ is to Christians. He is called the
Savior! The savior from what? Our sins!:
"... Behold the lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)
If Christians fail to see this, if they fail to acknowledge this fact -
i.e., that we are sinners - then the gospel is of no effect insofar as we
are concerned. This is what the Bible says:
"If we say that we have not sinned, we make
him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:8, 10)
Lies and more lies
The Bible says that those who fail to acknowledge their guilt - i.e.,
that they are sinners - the truth is not in them; in other words, they are
liars in the most profound sense of that word. And, as a result, they are
of their -
"... Father the devil ... For he is a liar, and the father of
it." (John 8:44)
What's that say, then, about those who embrace this kind of
"non-judgmental" gospel? It says that such people are "not of Christ" -
that they are lying when they say that they belong to Christ; that they
are of their father the Devil! Pretty harsh! But this is exactly the kind
of gospel that is in vogue in today's Christianity.
And one needs to be clear here: without question, the "Christ" that
Bush is acknowledging in his so-called "testimony" is the
"non-judgmental," "non-doctrinal" kind of "Christ." It's a gospel where
there is "no conflict" and which suggests that "all roads eventually lead
to God;" the kind of "Christ" that Catholic leaders like Cardinal Mahony
of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Mormon leaders like Chip Rawlings,
the Mormon state President in southern California, can mutually accept.
But this is the kind of "false Christ" the Bible warns about in Matthew
24:
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall
show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect." (Matt. 24:24)
Bush as a Christian: his Midland days
False Christs! False prophets! And false Christians! - is this what
Bush is? - a false Christian? It certainly seems so. Gail Sheehy also has
a lot of questions concerning the veracity of Bush's Christianity - and
her conclusions only reinforce what we have already said.
In her incisive article on George Bush that appeared in Vanity Fair in
October, 2000, she traces Bush's so-called "conversion" back to the
mid-1980s when Bush finally gave up the bottle and his general all-around
carousing. But Sheehy reports that Robert McCleskey says that when Bush
abandoned the bottle, it had more to do with an ultimatum his wife, Laura,
gave him than it had to do with any personal experience with Christ.
McCleskey, a friend of Laura's since childhood, says, "Laura explained
it to him in a way he would understand it, and he quit drinking." Did that
mean his wife threatened to leave him if he didn't stop drinking? He was
asked. "That's right." in other words, he would lose his wife and his twin
daughters, Jenna and Barbara, born in November 1981 - the only structure
he had, reports McCleskey. He continues solemnly, "I mean that Laura and
those two little girls had changed his life."
McCleskey isn't the only one that claims that it was Laura that made
Bush give up the bottle. It was widely reported in the press throughout
Texas at the time that Laura had told her husband, "It's me or the
bottle," or "It's me or Jack Daniels."
However, Don Evans, perhaps Bush's closest friend and now the Secretary
of Commerce, indignantly rejects all this. And why is that? - Because, if
this is true, it does little to establish Bush's bona fides as a
Christian - and that is, after all, what is important here - i.e.,
establishing Bush's legitimacy as a Christian. One needs to remind himself
of what's happening here: if the elite are going to be successful in
building a Christian "mass movement" to counter the left's efforts to
sidetrack globalization, the man they "choose" to lead this movement must,
of course, be a Christian, or he must, at least, be perceived to be a
Christian.
The truth is, nonetheless, that there are many men and women - not all
of them Christians - who have given up the bottle in order to maintain a
marriage. This, of course, doesn't take away from what Bush did - it is an
admirable thing when anyone gives up a destructive habit like that. But it
doesn't mean that one has to accept Christianity to do so. Nonetheless,
Don Evans is insistent that Bush quit the bottle because he embraced
Christianity.
Don Evans & Don Jones
He claims Bush became a Christian when he and a few friends invited
Bush to attend some evangelical Christian meetings (meetings that were
arranged around a course of study by James Dobson) while Bush was still
drilling "dry holes" with Arbusto Oil back in Midland, Texas. Don Jones,
another close friend from Midland days, corroborates Don Evans' story - at
least up to a point. Jones says that Bush did indeed accompany him and a
number of other friends in Midland (including Evans) to a series of
Christian meetings in the mid-1980s - but Jones says that Bush never
really took the matter seriously.
The truth is, according to a rather sheepish Jones, Bush never "behaved
himself." he claims that George would be constantly cracking jokes like,
"What kind of pants did the Levites wear?" when the pastor asked, "What is
a prophet?" Bush sang out in front of forty other couples, "That's when
revenues exceed expenditures. No one's seen that out here in years."
another time the pastor asked the question, "What happened to the Jew on
his way to Jericho?" and Bush quipped, "He got his butt whipped." and when
his attention span was exceeded, he would set his watch to go off in the
middle of the pastor's lesson. The other men would guffaw, and the
following week they would all set their watches to go off at the same time
in the middle of the lesson and the class would turn into a cacophony of
alarm bells.
There are a number of other things that seemed to trouble Jones insofar
as Bush's claim to be a Christian was concerned. Jones, who can point to
the exact date when he became a born-again Christian, never heard Bush
describe an actual "conversion experience." Jones says that "he (Bush)
never said he was spiritually empty", that he "needed" Christ, something
that mystified Jones, and troubled him deeply. Mike Conaway, a
six-foot-three former football player who was another one of Bush's close
friends back in Midland when Bush is supposed to have become a Christian
says, "I didn't see any change in his behavior. I thought that's what is
supposed to happen when a person becomes a Christian. But I didn't see
that in Bush."
Chapter VII
Bush and the Promise
Keepers: religious rhetoric turned into political rhetoric
Bush is transformed by the Promise Keepers
The fact is, no matter how one cuts it, Bush's experience with
Christianity during the mid to late-1980s was at best a shallow and
superficial one - not the kind of experience that would go very far in
establishing himself as someone who took his Christianity very seriously.
But all that changed when he came in contact with Dr. Tony Evans (not to
be confused with Don Evans), the black pastor of one of Dallas's largest
mega-churches, the crystal-chandeliered Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, and
the Christian organization Evans helped to found, the Promise Keepers.
Sheehy says that Tony Evans was one of the early "movers and shakers"
in the Promise Keepers phenomenon that seemed to appear out of
nowhere in the early to mid-1990s. What seemed to attract Bush to the
Promise Keepers was its implicit political message, a message that he
came increasingly to believe that - had his father embraced it - he would
not have lost the White House to Bill Clinton.
The loss by "Bush the Elder" to the Clintons in the 1992 Presidential
election had infuriated "Bush the Younger," and it had ignited in him a
new, burning interest in politics. All of this coincided nicely with
Bush's new friendship with Tony Evans. Essentially, what Bush learned from
Tony Evans was a completely new approach to politics - a religious
approach rather than an economic one, an approach that Bush thought could
trump the economic message that Clinton had used to defeat his father.
Indeed, Dr. Martin Hawkins, Tony Evans's assistant pastor, says that what
Bush did was to imbibe a "whole new philosophy" about "how the world
should be seen from a divine viewpoint" - a view that Sheehy alleges was
essentially lifted straight out of the pages of one of Tony Evans' Promise
Keepers handbooks.
While the Promise Keepers themselves embrace no political
doctrine as such, Bush and many of his cohorts came to believe that they
did embrace a religious rhetoric that - if properly stroked and rearranged
- could be transformed into a powerful political message that would
resonate forcefully with a people who were growing weary with what many
considered to be the "out-or-control" liberalism of the last few decades.
The eschatology of the Promise Keepers
Most of the leaders of the Promise Keepers movement embrace a doctrine
of "end times" (eschatology), known as "dominionism." Dominionism pictures
the seizure of earthly (temporal) power by the "people of God" as the only
means through which the world can be rescued; only after the world has
been thus "rescued" can Christ return to "rule and reign." some
dominionists see the seizure of the earth as the result of "signs,
wonders, and miracles;" others picture it as the result of military and
political conquest; most see it as a combination of both. It is this
eschatology that Bush has imbibed; an eschatology through which he has
gradually (and easily) come to see himself as an agent of God who has been
called by him to "restore the earth to God's control" - a "chosen vessel,"
so to speak, to bring in the "restoration of all things." and make no
mistake about it - it is exactly this eschatology that motivates Bush
today. People are making a big mistake in underestimating this fact.
Al Dager, a recognized expert on the dominionist mindset, writes,
"Some two decades before Pentecostalism
found its way into the (mainstream) denominations (i.e., the
Episcopalians, the catholic church, etc.) as the 'charismatic renewal', it
experienced a new surge of experience-oriented theology within its own
ranks. It was from this neo-Pentecostal experience - what came to be
called the 'latter rain movement' - that charismatic dominionism sprang.
The more prominent leaders of that movement blended Pentecostal fervor
with teachings that the church was on the brink of a worldwide revival.
That revival would result in a victorious church without spot or wrinkle
... (which) would inherit the earth and rule over the nations with a rod
of iron."
Dominionism can run the gamut from the harsh, rather mean-spirited and
very militant kind propagated by a R.J. Rushdoony or a Gary North, to the
much more mild and palatable kind posited by dominionist aficionados and
votaries like C. Peter Wagner, the late John Wimber, John White, Dr.
Bill Hamon, Harold Caballeros, Sue Curran, Rick Joyner, John Paul
Jackson, Barbara Wentroble, Chuck Pierce, etc. It is this much more mild,
"feel-good" form of dominionism that the Promise Keepers embrace and
promote.
Barbara Wentroble, in her book People of Destiny, explains the
new cuddly and friendly form of dominionism that Bush ran into with the
Promise Keepers. Essentially, what these "New Dominionists " believe is
that the human race was created to be God's "representative in the earth."
They were to guard and care for all of God's creation under his direction
- and although many generations have failed in this responsibility, God
has never changed his mind. That's what the church is all about. The
church is the means through which God is going to re-establish his
authority on the earth. God put his power and spirit into the church to
change the world and bring it back under authority.
[Wentroble is somewhat of an anomaly; like Sue Curran, Wentroble is one
of the most popular "new dominionist" speakers in a very male-dominated
world. She is considered to be an "apostle-prophet" by many. Her "sphere
of operation" is bringing "latter rain," "new dominionist-type" churches
to small communities throughout the country.]
Sadly, according to the Promise Keepers, the church did not continue in
the power and authority of the early church, and because of a spiritual
principle at work in the world today - a principle that teaches us that
what ever happens in the church affects the world - the world has been
plunged back into darkness. In other words, when light goes out of the
church, light goes out of the world.
"when light comes into the
church it comes into the world"
But contrariwise, when light comes back into the church, light also
comes back into the world - and that is what's happening today in what C.
Peter Wagner calls the "restoration of all things." according to Wagner,
the Lord is today bringing the church into restoration. Wagner calls the
restoration now taking place, "the new apostolic reformation," a
reformation that will bring in "the new order." It is very interesting
that both the elite community and the Christian right started using the
"new order" about the same time - in the early 1990s; the elite began
using the phrase in reference to the globalization process they had
unleashed on the world; and the Christian right began using it in
reference to the "new dominionism" that the late John Wimber and C. Peter
Wagner were spreading throughout the church.
Wagner says that the church is now in a "season of transition." Old
things in the church are passing away and new things are taking their
place. It is a season of change. During this season, the church will
experience change in several areas. They will include evangelism, body
ministry, church life, and government.
The "new order church" (again, Wagner and Wentroble's phrase) will be
God's agent for the coming transformation of the world. It will reveal the
wisdom and power of God to the forces of darkness and wickedness. Many
features of wisdom and power will be evident in the people of the "new
order." They will have hearts to see lives and cities transformed.
According to the "New Dominionists ," the Lord has given several keys to
unlocking territories and peoples that have been locked in darkness by the
enemy. One of these keys is prayer and worship. A characteristic of the
"new order" is that worship and prayer (intercession) are mingled
together. Wentroble writes,
"New order' churches flow back and forth
from intercession and prayer. After praying the will of the Lord, they
flow back into worship and praise to the Lord Heaven and earth are joined
together in one unbroken symphony.
Wentroble continues:
Worship is more than singing Christian
songs. Worship involves the invitation for the Lord of hosts to overcome
the powers of evil on the earth. At the invitation of the church, the Lord
is binding the forces of darkness and allowing the lost to be receptive to
the gospel. People then receive the Lord in great numbers. As a result of
God's presence in the lives of many people in a city, laws in that city
change. Occult activity, immoral businesses, and crime are drastically
reduced. The city begins to transform."
New order worship as a "conjuring" device
So what we have is a dynamic that the church initiates that aims at
"restoring control of the earth to the Lord" by which the church in a very
real and profound sense sets out to conjure Christ to do its will. But
what they may be conjuring is not Christ, but antichrist. (Matt. 24:24)
What does all this say about
Bush and the Promise Keepers
What then does that say about the "New Dominionists ?" What's that say
about Bush who has embraced the dominionist mindset? "During the '70s and
'80s, the church received much revelation about God's name as Jehovah
Jireh. Teachers (like Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Charles Capps, Oral
Roberts, etc. - editor) expounded on scriptures revealing God's will to
bless his people. He is the God who 'shall supply all our needs according
to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus' (Phil. 4:19). That truth will
never change. God is a covenant-keeping God. When we walk in covenant with
him, he provides for us."
Poverty results from lack of faith
Wow! Think about that! - the problem of poverty and all the social ills
that result from poverty does not stem from the stinginess and
deceitfulness of the rich, but in the lack of prayer on the part of the
poor; when the poor walk in "covenant" with God, their financial problems
will be solved. Now that's music to a rich man's ears.
And if the poor pray night and day, and still nothing happens, then
there must be something wrong in their hearts; maybe some "hidden sin"
that they need to root out first before God will hear their prayer -
perchance the sin of envy, maybe towards the rich? Of jealousy? Of
covetousness?
Meanwhile, as the poor are sent scurrying out to find the "hidden sin"
in their lives, the rich can rest confident in their wealth, secure in the
thought that the poor are now too busy finding sin in their own lives and
in the lives of their neighbors to really think that much about how the
rich actually got rich - mostly by deceit and treachery! Come on now! -
isn't that how the Rockefellers got rich? Isn't that how the Mellons got
rich? And the Morgans? And the Duponts? Read your history books - after
all, it isn't much of a secret.
Oh well, the poor are too busy praying and rooting sin out of their
lives and the lives of their neighbors to think too much about that now.
Again, all we can say is, wow! - That's the kind of program the
George Bush's of this world can get behind, to say nothing of the
super-rich like Sumner Redstone, Lawrence Ellison, John Chambers, C.
Michael Armstrong, Tom Feston, etc.
Letting the rich off the hook
All this certainly let's the rich off the hook! No wonder the rich love
Christianity. No wonder the wealthy have always lined up behind the
church, from the old European elite like the Hapsburgs in Austria, the
Hohenzollerns in Germany, and the Romanovs in Russia to the new elite in
this country like the Rockefellers, the Scaifs, the Mellons, the Duponts,
etc. And no wonder they are lining up today to support the cultural agenda
of the conservative Christian community. But this is a depraved and
immoral perversion of the scripture - and it is precisely for this reason
that the Bible says,
"... The name of God is blasphemed among the
gentiles ..." (Rom. 2:24)
Nonetheless, the perversion continues, and so much so that the rich and
their lackeys among the congressional Republicans and within the Bush
administration have come to believe that a dollar spent on Christians
saves twenty dollars spent on the poor - Republicans Like Tom Delay, Dick
Armey, Dan Burton, Helen Chenoweth, J.C. Watts, John Peterson, Ken
Calvert, Bob Livingston, Karl Rove, John Ashcroft, Don Evans, Jim
Nicholson, Bob Barr, Asa Hutchinson, ad nauseum.
Perverting the scriptures in the service
of dominionism and the "good life"
Now it should be noted in connection with all this - i.e., with the way
the "New Dominionists " think that the "good life" is their due in the
"here and now" because they are "sons and daughters of the most high" -
that the word "intercede" that is used here by Wentroble and others like
her in connection with prayer means "demand." according to Wentroble,
then, we have the right to "demand" riches from God because we are his
children, and the very riches we receive from him prove that we are his
children. After all, God is Jehovah Jireh, the God of all abundance - and
if that is so, wouldn't it be his desire to share that wealth with his
children?
Isn't that what Philippians 4:19 says - that he "...shall supply all
our needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus;" that if we
are walking in obedience to Christ, we shall have a life of abundance? The
scriptural problem with such an interpretation, however, is that just
seven verses before verse 19 (i.e., Philippians 4:19 referenced above),
Paul says:
"I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where
and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both
to abound and to suffer need." (Phil.. 4:12)
In other words, "being abased," "being hungry," and "suffering need"
were common experiences for Paul - and not only that, but Christ had
taught him how to endure these conditions. Indeed, Paul says:
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil.
4:13)
Finally, if riches were the sign of one's sonship with God, than what
does that say about Christ? - After all, Christ said of himself:
"... Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of
man has nowhere to lay his head." (Matt. 8:20)
Chapter IX
Spiritual and military
conquest:
the one leads to the other
Taking back territory for the Lord
Now it is not without reason that we have spent so much time on the
rather bizarre belief system of the "New Dominionists " and the Promise
Keepers," and that's because this form of Christianity - i.e., the form of
Christianity that George Bush has now embraced - has, built into it an
imperative towards conquest. And it is precisely in those terms that Bush
is justifying his war against "evil." That word was not chosen
haphazardly; it is being used in a very purposeful fashion. "Evil" is a
religious term, and does not really fit in a secular context or in the
lexicon of the left.
One should be clear about all this. Bush's concept of "conquest" begins
in a religious context - the context that the Promise Keepers have
supplied him. Therefore, if one wants to understand what Bush is up to in
his "War on Terrorism," and what John Ashcroft is up to in his
concomitant and ancillary effort to establish a virtual "police-state" in
this country, replete with secret courts, warrant less searches, roving
wiretaps, etc. One must understand what the word "conquest" or the phrase
"taking back territory" means in the Promise Keepers lexicon.
As we indicated earlier, one of the underlying themes of the kind of
Christianity that undergirds the Promise Keepers is that prayer and
intercession, coupled with faith, and a life of holiness will produce
abundance and the "good life" in the "here and now." When this logic is
extended to the next level, taken from the personal level and lifted up to
the corporate level, it should follow that these same techniques used to
harness the power of God in one's personal life can then be used to "take
back territory for the Lord," -for conquest.
And make no mistake about it, control of the nation and through the
nation, the world, is what Wentroble and her cohorts are really after. It
has not escaped the attention of the "New Dominionists " that the United
States is the most powerful nation on earth. For example, Kenneth
Copeland, one of the leading figures in the evangelical world and someone
who is very favorably disposed towards the Promise Keepers, writes,
This country belongs to God ... He's the one
who brought the United States of America into existence. He had a special
purpose for it ... He raised it up, and it's not going to be taken away
from him.
Bill Hamon, pastor of one of the largest evangelical churches in the
country, and another pastor who is sympathetic to the goals of the Promise
Keepers, writes,
A new government must be established, a new
way of life for ... millions of people.
Gary Potter, President of Catholics For Christian Political Action,
says,
When the Christian majority takes over this
country, there will be no satanic churches, no more free distribution of
pornography, no more abortion on demand, and no more talk of rights for
homosexuals. After the Christian majority takes control, pluralism (i.e.,
multiculturalism) will be seen as immoral and evil and the state will not
permit anybody the right to practice evil.
Well known evangelical leader Sam Fife says,
"... Jesus is setting up his kingdom here on
earth... . We are the rulers of this planet - it's time we take over."
George Hawtin writes,
"But the saints of the most high shall take
(seize) the kingdom (meaning the earth), and possess the kingdom for ever,
even for ever and ever."
And, finally, writing in the Journal Of Christian Reconstruction,
Presbyterian pastor Kenneth J. Gentry, Jr. declares:
"The whole creation awaits the Godly
dominion of the New Creation Saints of God."
And be clear here, like others, Gentry is not talking about the "sweet
bye and bye," but the political "here and now."
Wentroble elaborates on what the "New Dominionists " mean when they
talk about "taking back territory" for the Lord:
When we walk in covenant with Him, He
provides for us. However, we are not to stop with having our own needs
met. The Heart of God is one who loves and gives to others. God's Heart is
for the whole earth to walk in covenant with Him. All nations will
acknowledge His Lordship.
"Apostolic "new order" churches have a
passion to see their families and neighbors worship the Lord. They are
willing to pray and intercede, "demand," for the lost ...
(as we intercede) ... God is able to unlock
entire regions, as homes throughout an area become houses of prayer ...
... Prayer is a key to seeing an entire
region come into transformation ... An apostolic church is a praying
church. The apostolic churches pray corporately. Prayer is in their homes.
People of the "new order" are people who live a lifestyle of prayer -
prayer powerful enough to transform regions
Prayer and intercession as a
means to "take back territory"
Wentroble gives an example of what she is talking about here insofar as
intercession is concerned; in reference to "taking the city of Waco, Texas
back from Satan," she writes:
"Recently I was part of a team of ministers
speaking at a conference in Waco, Texas. The conference theme was 'Seize
the City'. Intercessors gathered for several days to hear how they could
bring their city under the Lordship of Jesus. On one of the prayer walks
to historically strategic sites, we crossed a bridge over a river. About
halfway across the bridge, an intercessor faced the city and cried out
loudly, 'Waco, hear the word of the Lord'! She then made prophetic
proclamations about the will of the Lord for that city. The other
intercessors verbally agreed by shouting, 'Yes! Amen! Do it, Lord'. A
sense that the proclamations were not merely the words of a human being
came upon the team. God had spoken prophetically through one of his
representatives."
So, in the minds of people like Wentroble (and the Promise Keepers),
prayer is conceived of as a demand on the Lord. Make no mistake about it.
There is no spirit of humble supplication here. These are demands on the
Lord. That's precisely what they mean when they say, "Do it!" they mean
"Do it!" This has to do with conquest - the conquest of whole cities, and
whole nations, and the whole world - and not in the "sweet bye and bye,"
but in the "here and now." These people actually believe that they have
been destined by God to conquer the world - and the sooner the better, and
they are absolutely not afraid of transferring their prayers into
political activity! That's precisely what Wentroble means that "new order"
Christians should "care" for their cities and take "dominion" over them.
Bush and the Promise Keepers
intersect philosophically
That's a message with worldwide, earth-shattering implications. And it
is here, in the dominionist eschatology that the Promise Keepers
promulgate, that Bush apparently found a message that impacted him at the
very core of his being. It was not only exciting and even thrilling, it
was messianic! - the kind of message that a world-conqueror, a
restitutor orbis - in conjunction with a people who would submit
themselves to its imperative - could use to change not only cities, states
and the nation, but even the world.
This isn't to say that Bush was thinking of himself in such terms
(maybe, maybe not); it's only to say that he had stumbled upon an
extremely powerful religious message that had implicit within it potent
political connotations, and attached to this message came a body of flesh
and blood "true believers" who, if they were really serious about their
rhetoric, were prepared to pay the price to see the world brought under
God's jurisdiction, a modern-day army of "Knights Templar!" That is, after
all, what the imperative of their eschatology is all about. These people
are not ethereal or vaporous in their thinking; Heaven is not what they
are aiming at. Conquest of the earth is what they are after. It is an
imperative that is inherently built into their theology and one from which
they cannot escape and remain true to their system of belief. Indeed,
Wentroble writes:
The church has often considered heaven as
home and the earth as just a place to endure ... But the apostolic
churches (again, the "new order" churches) realize that the earth belongs
to the Lord. They are managers of the Lord's earth ... With this
understanding, apostolic churches have a burden for possessing the land.
"I remember a few brief times when my
husband and I rented houses. While living in those houses, we did not put
new roofs on them, install new carpet, or make major repairs. The reason
we did not do these things was because the houses did not belong to us.
"On the other hand, in all the houses we
have owned over the past 35 years, we have always had a new roof put on
when the old one leaked. New carpet was always installed when the old
carpet was worn. We repaired whatever was in need of it. The reason was
because we owned those houses. We take care of the things we own.
"The same thing happens in a city (or a
nation, or a world). When we have a revelation of owning a city (or a
nation, or a world), we take care of the city (or nation, or world).
Apostolic churches are concerned about evil government. These churches
care about the kind of education found in the schools. Neighbors and
neighborhoods are important. God has put his church in the city (and
nation, and world) and given it responsibility as his stewards. As
apostolic churches, we must become involved ... (in government)."
Spiritual mapping: moving from the
esoteric to the practical and back again
Notice here how easily people like Wentroble move from the spiritual to
the political and back again. Take another example: the concept of
"spiritual mapping." as we just indicated, the "New Dominionists ," people
like the Promise Keepers, believe that they are to "take back dominion" in
their cities for the Lord; as a result, they have been called upon to
"dismantle" the enemy's "strongholds" in the city. "Research" and
"investigations" are, therefore, necessary to "discover" where these
"strongholds" are. Harold cCaballeros, the "inventor" of "spiritual
mapping" explains:
When a territory has been inhabited by
persons who have chosen to offer their worship to demons, the land has
been contaminated and those territorial spirits have obtained a right to
remain there, keeping the inhabitants captive. It is then necessary to
identify the enemy and to go into spiritual battle until we obtain victory
and redeem the territory. Spiritual mapping is a means toward identifying
the enemy. It is our spiritual espionage.
In this endeavor, of course, "New Dominionists " are not averse to
"dismantling" the "strongholds" of the enemy politically when the
opportunity provides itself. Indeed, they consider such "opportunities" as
a gift from the Lord - an answer to their prayer. Hence, the "New
Dominionists " have very little trouble translating their activity from
one sphere to the other and back again. There are, of course, some very,
very sinister connotations in all this. What happens to those people whom
the "New Dominionists " have "spiritually mapped" once they, the "New
Dominionists ," gain political power? After all, if these people have been
worshipping demons, isn't that the sin of witchcraft? And what should one
do with a witch? Kill her (or him). Isn't that what you do with a witch?
There is certainly nothing vaporous about this. This is for real.
Again, over one-third of the population has already embraced this kind of
thinking at one level or another. One should bear in mind here that in a
crisis the most extreme elements of a movement have a way of surfacing and
taking control of it. Remember, this kind of thinking stems directly from
the belief that a life of faith leads to the "good life." one things leads
to another!
Of course, one might ask himself what this kind of thinking says about
Christians living in countries like China, Mozambique, Malaysia, the
Sudan, etc., to say nothing about poor Christians in this country.
Obviously, it says that they are failures in their Christian lives. And if
they are failures, shouldn't they be ruled over by those Christians who
are successful? After all, "success in the here and now" implies
success in the Christian life; it's for their own good that they should
submit themselves to their "betters!" This is exactly what
dominionists like North, Rushdoony, and Chilton would say. This is a
rationale for conquest.
This is a rationale for forcing the rest of the world, the "less
successful" into submission to the American "New World Order." It
gives a "religious" reason for naked economic imperialism, which no one,
not even the elite, like to admit to; instead they prefer to hide their
greed and avarice behind a facade of fake Christianity. It makes one feel
good about his greed. In time, even the greediest can come to believe
that what they are doing, they are doing in the name of God.
What does the Bush Presidency portend?
This is exactly the kind of so-called "Christianity" that Bush has
embraced from the Promise Keepers. And those who think that Bush is merely
"play acting" here for political advantage are wrong! Very wrong! We need
to take Bush at his word! When Bush says that he decided to run for the
Presidency because he "was being called like Moses," we should believe him
that he means it. While he may be "play-acting" about the essential nature
of his Christianity, he is not play-acting about what he has imbibed from
the Promise Keepers. He believes it.
Looking back at it now, it's difficult to say who found whom. Was it
Bush who found the Promise Keepers? Or was it the Promise Keepers who
found Bush? Who needed the other more: Did Bush need the Promise Keepers
more than the Promise Keepers needed him, or was it the other way around.
Theology matters
Theology matters! It is not heavenly and "other worldly." it has very
real practical and political outcomes not only in our own personal lives,
but in the lives (so to speak) of whole cities, whole nations, and the
whole earth. You may think, for example, that the gospel of affluence, the
so-called "green gospel," that so-called Christian leaders like Bennie
Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, etc. preach are just
"innocent spiritual aberrations," but there is a hook in these "innocent
aberrations. One thing leads to another. The "green gospel" leads easily
and naturally to dominionism; and dominionism, when it has taken root in
someone like George Bush, leads to political activity, and when this
political activity has borne fruit, it can lead to militarism (such as the
"War on Terrorism") and eventually to world conquest. Inherent in all of
this kind of thinking and activity, from its start with the so-called
"green gospel" to its finish with conquest and the "New World Order" - is
the Luciferic principle that proudly asserts -
... I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north: "I will ascend above the heights
of the clouds; I will be like the most high. (Isa. 14:13-14)
And if that's the case, what are we helping to create in our "War on
Terrorism" that Bush has called on the country to wage against "evil?"
What we are doing is helping to create a "New World Order," but not to the
glory of God, but to the glory of Satan. And there is a price to be paid
for anyone - Christian or otherwise - who gets involved in this.
Ready-made terrain
Now we are not necessarily making any statement here about Bush! Bush
is what he is, and the future will reveal exactly what that means. What we
are interested in here, however, is the existence of what Ian Kershaw says
is the "ready-made terrain" of pre-existing beliefs, prejudices, and
phobias" which, when taken together, can provide the societal foundation
necessary for the emergence of a new "messiah-king." and we have certainly
found such "terrain" in the conservative Christian community in this
country, and specifically the Promise Keepers movement. And this becomes
all the more apparent when one begins to realize how nicely the worldview
of the Promise Keepers fits in with the worldview of America 's
elite business community.
The Promise Keepers are certainly not a group given to socialist
schemes aimed at the re-distribution of wealth. Not at all! They believe,
as we have already demonstrated, that "as a result of God's presence in
the lives of many people in a city (or a state, or a nation), laws in that
city (or state, or nation) change, occult activity, immoral businesses,
and crime are drastically reduced" and Christians get rich "to boot" And
all this because of Christian intercession and worship! And if things
don't get better, it's because the people are not praying hard enough.
This is certainly something that the elite can support!
And if initially the elite may have had reservations about the wisdom
of linking themselves up too tightly to the Christian right (and Bush), if
they at first vacillated between the "moderates" and the "Christian
right," one must excuse them - they are, after all, not "true believers"
when it comes to anything spiritual.
Bush leads his Christian warriors off to do battle for the "New World
Order"
Bush enters politics in a big way
But Bush believed, and he took what he learned from Tony Evans and the
Promise Keepers and soon began calling America 's Christians to become
more involved in politics. And as he did so, he initiated a process of
translating the Promise Keepers' message from a religious "call to arms"
into a political "battle cry" that he began using to create a "Godly army"
(his words) to "renew" not only the nation, but perhaps even the world.
Bush first tried this new rhetoric out in his campaign for Governor of
the State of Texas in 1994 when he began to preach what Gail Sheehy calls
"promise keeper-like sermons" in many of Houston's largest mega-churches,
laying the blame for America 's "failed culture" on the excesses of his
generation in the '60s:
The culture of my generation, our
generation, has clearly said, 'if it feels good, do it, and be sure to
blame somebody else if you have a problem'.
To counter this "failed culture," Bush called Christians to enlist in a
"Godly army" dedicated to restoring "religious values" not only to the
nation, but to the world.
Sheehy says that by using this new rhetoric, something no President,
not even Reagan, had ever done before, at least not on such a deliberate
and premeditated basis, Bush began tapping into a mindset in the culture
that, as we have already indicated, had grown increasingly weary of the
hedonism of the last forty years, a weariness that the Clintons and
their cabal of hard-core "libertines" and "debauchers" had done so much to
exacerbated, and had also grown intensely concerned with the degree to
which the culture had been feminized and enervated (softened). Bush gave a
kind of legitimacy to a genuine longing throughout society by men, and a
good many women, too, for a restoration of what they considered to be
their rightful place of authority not only in the family, but in the
community and the nation, even to the point where he began, like his
Promise Keepers counterparts, urging men to "take back" authority from
their wives, and telling women to "let your man be a man."
"Amazed." That is the word his father used when Bush whipped Ann
Richards in 1994 using his new Promise Keepers rhetoric. In 1998 Bush -
again using the rhetoric of the Christian men's movement - trampled his
democratic opponent, Garry Mauro, to be re-elected Governor with 68
percent of the vote.
In both the 1994 and 1998 Republican Party conventions, the Christian
right were what carried the day for Bush. In fact, the conventions
themselves resembled Promise Keepers meetings. Delegates prayed in the
aisles and even witnessed to reporters in the press pit. Open bars in
"hospitality rooms," a venerable tradition at Texas political conventions
- were converted into gourmet ice-cream-sundae bars where chefs whipped up
high-cholesterol, custom-order deserts. Bush and the Promise Keepers
had tasted victory and they were ready now for the Presidency.
So were the elite. Here was a way for the Republicans (and the elite)
to trump the economic message that Clinton and the Democrats had so
successfully used against them in the past two elections. Religion trumps
economics! It certainly seemed that way. As a result, after his
re-election as Governor of Texas, while Bush was in California, he was
approached by a member of the ultra elite, George Schultz - former
President of the giant Bechtel corporation and who had also served as
Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State. He reportedly told him,
I think you ought to be President.
Twenty-five years ago Reagan stood on the same spot, and I said the same
thing to him. Now I am saying it to you."
Sheehy reports that in essence what Schultz had done on behalf of the
Republican elite was "privately anoint him as President."
Bush returned shortly thereafter to Texas and began mulling over a run
for the Presidency. Bush later described his musings as a religious
epiphany. His musings had "Promise Keepers" written all over them. Bush
wrote concerning the experience:
Today, two weeks after Jeb's inauguration,
in my church in downtown Austin, Pastor Mark Craig (Bush's pastor), was
telling me that my re-election was the first Governor to win back-to-back,
four-year terms in the history of the State of Texas. He said it was a
beginning, not an end People are starved for faithfulness. He talked of
the need for honesty in government. He warned that leaders who cheat on
their wives will cheat their country, will cheat their colleagues, will
cheat themselves.
Pastor Craig said that America is starved
for honest leaders. He told the story of Moses who had been asked by God
to lead his people to a land of milk and honey. Moses had a lot of reasons
to shirk the task. As the pastor told it, Moses' basic reaction was,
'sorry, God, I'm busy. I've got a family. I've got sheep to tend. I've got
a life. Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel
out of Egypt? The people won't believe me', he protested. 'I'm not a very
good speaker. Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person', Moses
pleaded.
But God did not, and Moses ultimately did
his bidding, leading his people through forty years of wilderness and
wandering, relying on God for strength and direction and inspiration.
'People are starved for leadership', Pastor Craig said, 'starved for
leaders who have ethical and moral courage'. 'It is not enough to have an
ethical compass to know right from wrong', he argued. 'America needs
leaders who have the moral courage to do what is right for the right
reason. It's not always easy or convenient for leaders to step forward',
he acknowledged. 'Remember, even Moses had doubts'.
'He was talking to you'," my mother later
said. The pastor was, of course, talking to all of us, challenging each
one of us to make the most of our lives, to assume the mantle of
leadership and responsibility wherever we find it. He was calling on us to
use whatever power we have, in business, in politics, in our communities,
and in our families, to do good for the right reason. And his sermon spoke
directly to my heart and my life ... There was no magic moment of
decision. After talking with my family during the Christmas holidays, then
hearing this rousing sermon, to make most of every moment ... I gradually
felt more comfortable with the prospect of a Presidential campaign. My
family would love me, my faith would sustain me, no matter what.
During the more than half century of my
life, we have seen an unprecedented decay in our American culture, a decay
that has eroded the foundations of our collective values and moral
standards of conduct. Our sense of personal responsibility has declined
dramatically, just as the role and responsibility of the federal
government have increased. The changing culture blurred the sharp contrast
between right and wrong and created a new standard of conduct: 'if it
feels good, do it, and 'if you've got a problem, blame somebody else.
Individuals are not responsible for their actions', the new culture has
said. 'We are all victims of forces beyond our control'. We have gone from
a culture of sacrifice and saving to a culture obsessed with grabbing all
the gusto. We went from accepting responsibility to assigning blame. As
government did more and more, individuals were required to do less and
less. The new culture said: 'if people were poor, the government should
feed them. If someone had no house, the government should provide one. If
criminals are not responsible for their acts, then the answers are not
prisons, but social programs ....
For our culture to change, it must change
one heart, one soul, and one conscience at a time. Government can spend
money, but it cannot put hope in our hearts or a sense of purpose in our
lives ... But government should welcome the active involvement of people
who are following a religious imperative to love their neighbors through
after school programs, child care, drug treatment, maternity group homes,
and a range of other services. Supporting these men and women - the
soldiers in the armies of compassion - is the next bold step of welfare
reform, because I know that changing hearts will change our entire
society'.
During the opening months of my Presidential
campaign, I have traveled our country and my heart has been warmed. My
experiences have reinvigorated my faith in the greatness of Americans.
They have reminded me that societies are renewed from the bottom up, not
the top down. Everywhere I go, I see people of love and faith, taking time
to help a neighbor in need ... These people and thousands like them are
the heart and soul and greatness of America . And I want to do my part. I
am running for President because I believe America must seize this moment,
America must lead. We must give our prosperity a greater purpose, a
purpose of peace and freedom and hope. We are a great nation of good and
loving people. And together, we have a charge to keep."
this is, of course, Promise Keepers stuff from beginning to end.
The campaign begins
And from start to finish, Bush's campaign for the Presidency was a
Christian affair, and Sheehy says that as the campaign warmed up, the
rhetoric it was using sounded -
... More like an evangelical movement than a
political campaign.
And that's exactly what Bush wanted his campaign to sound like. Over
and over again, he could be found remarking -
"... To truly change the culture we must
have a spiritual renewal in the United States."
Another time he told Connecticut state-party members at a fund-raiser
in June of 2000,
We are about the quality of life ... Love
thy neighbors. We understand the limitations of government; government can
hand out money, but churches ... are places that warm the cold. The great
challenge is to work to change the culture, unleash the armies of
compassion."
Essentially all these remarks sounded like they had been pulled
straight out of a Promise Keepers manual, and they had been.
Many pundits let all this pass and simply didn't report on it. They
thought - like Lacey Neuhaus, that he would discard his "Christianity"
after the election. They believed that Bush's seeming devotion to his
Christian allies was nothing more than a "put on" - a useful device in
dismissing questions about his "youthful indiscretions." All he had to say
was since he had accepted Christ his life was now changed. He was a new
person, and his earlier, irresponsible conduct was now irrelevant. But
contrary to what the pundits believed, Bush held firm to his Christian
allies, and they held tightly to him.
John McCain and south carolina
The early going for the Republican Party nomination proved to be a
particularly difficult time. Bush was attacked as an "intellectual
lightweight," and a "ne'er-do-well" trying to ride into the Presidency on
the coattails of his father. Senator John McCain of Arizona hounded him
every step of the way. By the time the campaign reached South Carolina,
many political pundits were "counting him out." but his Christian allies
rallied to him in South Carolina. Thousands of Christian volunteers poured
into the state from everywhere in the union to help turn out the vote for
Bush and against McCain. McCain saw immediately what was happening, and he
attempted to discredit Bush's Christian allies.
On Monday, February 28, 2000, McCain delivered a brutal attack against
what he considered to be the "stranglehold" Christian conservatives had on
the Republican party. He singled out Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as
special targets of his angry assault - calling them "self-appointed
leaders" of intolerance and religious bigotry. He compared Robertson and
Farwell to "union bosses who have subordinated the interests of working
families to their own (religio-political) ambitions. [In this connection,
it should be noted that there is nothing more damning in Republican
circles than to be called a "union boss" - "Them's fighting words."]
Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of 4,000 at a high school only a few
miles from the headquarters of the Christian coalition in Virginia, McCain
said,
The politics of division and slander
(presumably practiced by Bush's Christian allies) are not our values. They
are a corrupting influence on ... Politics, and those who practice them in
the name of the Republican party or in the name of America shame ... Our
party and our country."
He continued by saying,
"Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of
American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis
Farrakhan and Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell
on the right."
Falwell and Robertson were no better than Farrakhan and Sharpton? Is
that what McCain meant to say? Nothing could have been better calculated
by McCain and his "moderate" cohorts to inflame Bush's Christian allies
more than such a comparison. The entire Christian community in the United
States rose up in wrath against McCain and delivered South Carolina to
Bush in a decisive victory. State after state followed, all delivered to
Bush by his aroused Christian allies. Throughout the campaign, whenever
Bush got into trouble, he returned to his Christian base to get him out of
it.
Al Gore and Florida
Finally, when Bush was "tested" in Florida against Gore, his Christian
allies were there too, fighting for him like banshee roosters. The country
had never seen anything like it before. Christians, armed with homemade
signs and wearing t-shirts reading "Bush Recount Team," seemed to be
everywhere. This was something one would expect the left to do - i.e.,
demonstrate in the streets - but not button-down Republicans. Democratic
Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman likened the
Christians to a "mob," saying that they were pressuring Florida recount
officials. Christian activists milled around everywhere in Florida passing
out signs and t-shirts. In Fort Lauderdale, many Christian activists said
they had received automated phone calls from church officials urging them
to rally outside the courthouses in Broward County and in Miami-Dade.
Whenever Gore supporters tried to do TV interviews, Christian activists
blew whistles and shouted through bullhorns to disrupt them. Gore
supporters called the Christian activists an "illegal mob." Only a few
Gore supporters braved the relentless shouting of the Christian activists
- "No more Gore! No more Gore!" Democrats thought they were witnessing a
coup.
Chapter XI
Bush wins the Presidency and
begins the Christian revolution
It worked
It worked! Bush won the Presidency - but just barely. The electoral
margin was razor thin. Insofar as the popular vote was concerned, Bush
lost the election by more than 500,000 votes.
Most pundits thought that, because of the closeness of the election,
Bush would have to govern from the center - and that, as a result (and as
we indicated earlier), he would jettison his Christian allies almost
immediately after he got to the White House. This is what Reagan did. This
is what his father did.
But the pundits were wrong! They had underestimated Bush's devotion to
his Christian base. His Promise Keepers-kind of Christianity was for real.
He was a "true believer!" - Something Washington is not used to. Bush set
about proving them wrong almost immediately when he nominated Sen. John
Ashcroft, a devout Pentecostal from Missouri, to be Attorney general.
Ashcroft was not just any Pentecostal believer; both his father and his
grandfather had been high officials in the Assemblies of God - one of the
largest Pentecostal denominations in the country. Moreover, Ashcroft
embraced fervently a belief in dominionism. He was a perfect fit for Bush
and his Promise Keepers-style of Christianity.
At the time, many observers made much of the fact that Bush first
offered the nomination for Attorney general to Marc Racicot of Montana, a
"moderate." but those who know Bush say that he knew that Racicot would
turn it down. They say that he had been "forced" to offer the nomination
to Racicot as payback for an old political favor. This is what Howard
Fineman and Michale Isikoff of Newsweek believe. Both say that Bush was
relieved when Racicot said no. And no sooner had Racicot opted out, than
Bush was on the phone to Ashcroft who, Fineman says,
.personified the fiercest elements of the
Religious Right and who, GOP insiders insist, was the leading candidate
all along.
Ashcroft's ascent to power launched a virtual holy war in Washington -
a kind of "last stand" for the so-called "moderates," one that Isikoff at
the time believed threatened the first days of the Presidency. Like Bush,
Ashcroft was no wilting flower insofar as his Christianity was concerned.
He once declared, at Bob Jones University no less, that "America has no
king but King Jesus." with Ashcroft on board along with his old Christian
allies, Karl Rove (who is also a long-time friend of Ashcroft's) and Don
Evans, his old friend from Midland days, the Christian credentials of the
Bush Presidency were solidified. All these men are true believers! And all
these men are consumed with the prospect of "returning America to Christ"
(or at least, their version of Christ) - and now the events of September
11th have made that a very real possibility.
Grave implications
for the future
But we need to ask ourselves what will happen when these men - and
millions more true believers like them - finally solidify their control of
this nation in the name of a Promise Keepers-kind of Christianity? This
is, after all, the most powerful nation on earth - and whoever controls it
can ultimately control the world. Indeed, Charles Krauthammer, speaking
concerning this very matter, remarked:
What the 1991 war against Iraq proved is
that no national army or combination of armies in the world today could
stand up against the military might of the United States; and what the war
in Afghanistan has proved is that no guerrilla army can do so either.
America rules the world now, and no one can make war against her, so
that now the prophecy is fulfilled that says,
... Who is able to make war with her ...
(Rev. 13:4)
What will happen when these men and millions more true believers like
them solidify their control of this nation in the name of a Promise
Keepers-kind of Christianity?
And don't think that we are merely dealing with hypotheses here. The
fact is the events of September 11th and the resultant "War on Terrorism"
has now made this a very real possibility, indeed, almost a certainty. The
"War on Terrorism" provides the "cover" now for Bush to finish
consolidating, in the name of a Promise Keepers-style of Christianity,
America's "New World Order."
The elite, of course, have always been pressing towards economic
globalism. But their efforts were bound to stall (and they did) in the
absence of a wider imperative, a wider "world-view" - after all, what was
in it insofar as average people were concerned, especially average people
in the United States. The fact is, the left had pretty much brought the
elite's process of economic globalization to a standstill, and the efforts
by the elite to convince ordinary people that globalism was in their
interest (an utter lie) had come to naught. People everywhere, from Brazil
to Colombia, from Zambia to Egypt, from the Czech Republic to France, from
India to Indonesia - had come to realize that globalization was nothing
more than a very selfish effort by the elite to further enrich themselves.
Imposing globalism on the
world at the point of a gun
Now, in the name of the "War on Terrorism" and a Promise Keepers-kind
of Christianity, American military power can be brought to bear against
recalcitrant nations throughout the world that refuse to submit to
America's "New World Order." and this power can be utilized without fear
that it will be hindered either internally, by citizens within the
country, or externally by opponents outside the country. Indeed, speaking
to a hushed and very subdued audience at the United Nations in early 2003,
Bush made it very clear what would happen to those nations that refuse to
"toe the line" insofar as the "War on Terrorism" is concerned:" they would
be cut off from the "community of nations," and they might even become a
target of the war. And insofar as dissension within the country is
concerned, anyone who dares to dissent from what's going on today is in
grave danger of being labeled "unpatriotic" - and, in Christian circles,
of being labeled "unchristian" - so that the prophecy is fulfilled that
says -
They shall put you out of the ...
(churches): yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think
that he doeth God service.and these things will they do unto you, because
they have not known the Father, nor me." (John 16:2-3)
That's pretty heavy stuff! Jail or death for not going along with
what's happening? But, of course, that's the logical extension of what
Rick Joyner meant when he wrote ominously,
Some pastors and leaders who continue to
resist this tide ... Will be removed from their place.
And again,
... There will be many 'stumbling blocks' circulating in the church ...
Those serving in leadership must trust their discernment and remove the
'stumbling blocks'.
Can there really be any doubt as to the logical end of such statements?
- a person would have to be an utter and totally unrepentant Pollyanna not
to see it. And that's exactly where the country is apparently headed.
That's where syndicated columnist Richard Cohen, who had supported
Ashcroft's nomination for Attorney General, thinks we're headed, as he
explained in a column that appeared throughout the country on Monday, the
19th of November, 2001:
"Attorney General John Ashcroft ... (is no
longer considered) anymore as the comforting head of the Justice
Department but, instead as the scariest man in government. I see him as
the Director of the Office of Homeland Insecurity ... Ever since September
11th, Ashcroft has functioned as the real-life equivalent of the Prefect
of Police in "Casablanca," rounding up "the usual suspects" and, like him,
doing so without the usual legal safeguards. Their exact number is not
known, nor are their names. They exist in an American gulag ... [for some
time now, the figure for those who have been rounded up and not yet
released has been estimated at about 1,200 prisoners; recently, however,
a new figure has surfaced which places the number at over 5000. And
contrary to what most people think, a good number of American citizens are
believed to be included in this figure - they are not all "non-citizens."
In addition, it should be noted that on the 28th of November, Ashcroft
gave a reduced figure of about 700 "that are still in federal detention."
That does not necessarily mean they have been released. The difference
between and among all these figures (i.e., 700, 1,200, and 5000) can be
accounted for on the basis of "word games" and bureaucratic obfuscation
that the Justice Department is engaged in having to do with how prisoners
are being classified, where they are being held, how they are being
charged, and so forth. Civil libertarians believe the higher figure. I
prefer that figure as well, given the reputation the feds have for telling
the truth. - editor.]
"This is serious stuff.
"More recently, Ashcroft broadened his
powers to the point where much of the legal community snapped awake. In
the name of battling terrorism, he authorized the Federal Bureau of
Prisons (where all these people are held) 'to monitor mail or
communications with attorneys ... Subject to specific procedural
safeguards'. And what are those safeguards? Nothing to trouble a judge
about. The feds will decide the matter for themselves
The point to remember here is that not one
of ... (these prisoners) has been convicted of anything. In many cases,
they have not even been indicted ... Ashcroft acted within the spirit of
the recently enacted, Orwellian-named USA Patriot Act, which is a broad
expansion of the government's police powers ... There is a virtual
certainty that ... (these powers) will be tenaciously retained (and
expanded upon) by the government (in the foreseeable future).
Now that's power! That's real power! And all in the hands of men who
feel that they have a divine calling to "save the world for Christ and the
church." But one thing is for sure, it is no Christ we know. It's not the
Christ of the Bible. Again, it's the "false Christ" the Bible warns about
in Matthew 24:
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show
great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect." (Matt. 24:24)
Bush's "New World Order" has
nothing to do with Christ
There is no escaping its implications. Two very, very serious errors
are "in play" here with extremely dangerous connotations for us
personally. Life is not a movie that we can watch and not get involved
with.
What all these men, not just Bush, Ashcroft, Rove, Evans, etc., but
their millions and millions of Christian followers throughout the country,
are aiming at is, as Wentroble puts it, setting up a "New World Order."
but what do we as Christians have to do with such a thing? The Bible says:
"The whole world lieth in the evil one." (1
John 5:19)
That means the whole world! Satan controls the entire world. As God's
children, we have been called out of the world for there is nothing that
we can do to make it any better. The church is a calling out from the
world (John 15:19; 17:14-16; gal. 6:14; James 4:4) - she is called out to
witness that she is not of this world, but of heaven; that she is united
to a glorified Christ in heaven (Eph. 1:18-23; Eph 2:6), and not of this
world, even as he is not of this world (John 18:36). That's why Jesus
said:
My kingdom is not of this world; if my
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight ... But ... My
kingdom (is) not from hence. (John 18:36)
And that's why he further said:
Do not love the world, or anything in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For everything in the world ... Comes not from the Father ... (1 John
2:15-16)
Satan is called the "prince of this world" (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).
What is meant by the term "world?" The word "world" is the translation of
the Greek word kosmos, which means an harmonious order or
arrangement, and it is used in three ways in the new testament:
- First, it means the material universe (acts 17:14;
Matt. 13:35; John 1:10; mark 16:15).
- Second, it means -
- The inhabitants of the world as whole (John
1:10; 3:16; 12:19; 17:21);
- The whole race of man alienated from God and
hostile to the cause of Christ (Heb. 11:38; John 14:17; 14:27; 15:18).
- Third, it means the whole circle of worldly goods,
endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, which though hollow and
fleeting, stir our desires and seduce us from God, so that they are
obstacles to the cause of Christ (I John 3:17; Matt. 16:26; I Cor 2:12;
3:19, 7:31; Titus 2:12; II Peter 1:4; 2:20; I John 2:15-17; James
1:27). It is the world of our split level homes, two cars, good careers,
good educations, bank accounts, vacations, etc. It is when these
pleasures and even so-called necessities of life "possess our hearts"
and crowd out our commitment to the Lord and to his people that they
have in reality become part of the kosmos.
Moreover, the word kosmos, taken in conjunction with the three meanings
described above, implies that behind all this there is a mind - the prince
of this world - which gives order and arrangement to it all. Again, John
says:
"The whole kosmos [as described above] lieth in the evil one."
(John 5:19)
He is the kosmokrater or world-ruler - a word which, however,
appears only once, and is used in the plural of his lieutenants: "The
world rulers of this darkness" (Eph. 6:12). The world [kosmos] is
Satan's grand creation and he has directed all his strength and ingenuity
into causing it to flourish. To what end? To capture man's allegiance and
draw him to himself. He has one object - to establish his own dominion in
human hearts worldwide! Whose purpose, then, do the "New Dominionists ,"
the Promise Keepers, George Bush, John Ashcroft, Carl Rove, Don Evans,
etc. serve when they attempt to set up a "New World Order?"
Is this such a hard thing to see? If you don't see it, it's because you
have chosen not to see it so that in you:
... Is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias,
which saith, by hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and
seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive ... (Matt. 13:14)
I tell you the truth! I somberly warn you: those who involve themselves
in a Promise Keepers-kind of Christianity have involved themselves in
satanic work! [One needs to remember what lies at the core of Promise
Keepers thinking - again, it's not without reason we spent so much time on
that matter!]
Again, I plead with you - look what's happening! Open up your eyes! We
have now reached the cusp of the "end of the age." the events of September
11th have changed everything for us. Prophecy no longer has much to do
with things future, but with things present!
Get out before it's too late
Irresistible forces are now "in play" both in this country and in the
world at large that are propelling us in a direction from which there may
be no return. The "War on Terrorism" is growing in intensity and the
people in charge of this war have no thought of stopping with Afghanistan.
What's next? - Iraq? The Sudan? Syria? Iran? - The whole world? And what
about this country? There are already five thousand people in jail (not
just the 1,000 that is commonly reported), and they are being kept in
secret detention with no one able to contact them - and, I repeat, not all
of them are non-citizens. Where will it end? Indeed, how many of you who
are reading this material right now would dare to speak out in your
community and in your churches against what's happening? Not many, I would
imagine. And why not? Because you are afraid! Be honest here! - isn't
that the case? Of course it is! That should give you some idea of how far
down the road we have traveled in recent months.
Eternity is at hand - your eternity! What you do now will affect you
for all time. You will never get away from it. Your actions today will
follow you into the "kingdom of heaven," and will determine whether you
are known as the "greatest" or the "least" in that glorious realm. (Matt.
5:19) the fact is, we can't pretend that we don't know what's happening.
We do know! This knowledge hangs like some kind of biblical sword of
Damocles over our heads. To do nothing is to invite it to fall on us. The
Bible says:
Son of man, speak to the children of thy
people, and say unto them, when I bring the sword upon a land, if the
people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their
watchman: if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the
trumpet, and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the
trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his
blood shall be upon his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall
be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the
watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be
not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is
taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's
hand.
We are being called to warn people everywhere about what's happening
(believers and unbelievers alike) - even at the cost of our own security,
our own wealth, and our own lives. To this end, we urge you - we implore
you - stand up and be counted; take this material, copy it, and pass it
out in your churches, in your family, in your communities - everywhere! I
have no doubt what will happen to you when you do - you will be
ostracized, and worse! But do it anyway!
One dear brother e-mailed us recently from Canada concerning this
matter. He said:
"I came across this website several weeks
ago. I can hardly believe what I have been reading! The articles have
moved me so deeply that I find it very difficult to think about anything
else. God's word has been opened up and the light of the truth has shone
deep into my heart. I was raised in a Christian home, so I have been
exposed to the Bible all my life. But never before until now have I had as
good an understanding of the word. How could I have been kept in such
utter darkness about such important parts of the scriptures? I remember as
a child and later on as a teenager I had so many questions about the
Bible, and the answer I received most often from pastors and other leaders
was 'we can't understand everything in God's word'. Well that was
understood by me even at a young age. I wasn't asking to understand the
whole Bible. All I wanted was to have a clearer picture in my head about
God and his son Jesus Christ, the plan of salvation, and some accurate
understanding of the 'last days'. I finally have that now and as I type
out this e-mail I can hardly hold back the tears of joy. God has answered
my prayer to help me as a father and husband to make sense out of Sept.
11/01 so that I might provide answers to my family. This ministry has
helped my family and me more than I can say.
"I have been thinking about sharing this
site with other people in our church, but I feel very uneasy about the
kind of response I would get. The way Antipas presents the Bible, and
other issues like church state, and western civilization is quite radical.
I would be tarred and feathered and run out of town. And yet I know what
you say is the truth. I also know that the people need to hear the truth,
"God's truth." I would like to be involved in this ministry and be a
Canadian connection to help spread the truth!" [emphasis added]
Your friend in Christ,
--------------
What a wonderful note! What a wonderful letter of encouragement to us
all! And believe me, the fear he exhibits about what probable would happen
to him in his church and community is a fear that we must all face! It is
real! Nevertheless, what else should any of us expect? True Christianity
is not popular - especially to those who are religious among us. It was,
after all, the "established religious community" of Christ's day that
persecuted Christ and finally killed him. Remember what the Lord said:
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated
me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his
own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto
you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me,
they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep
yours also." (John 15:18-20)
With every passing week and month, the country (and the world) moves
ever more towards the installation of a "Christian-terror-state," all in
the name of Christ! Again I ask, where will it ultimately lead? To a kind
of Fourth Reich where all those who disagree with the "established
religion" will be ostracized and murdered?
It's a trite but true saying, "The way to hell is paved with good
intentions!" More murder and slaughter have been carried out in the name
of God than we as Christians might care to admit. Maybe there's a good
reason why secularists and unbelievers are afraid of Christians; maybe
that's why they refuse to be drawn to Christ. They can't hear his gentle
voice calling them over the din and slaughter and mayhem we have created.
I hope and pray that God will raise up many of you to speak out against
what's happening. People everywhere are waiting to hear, maybe not the
ones in your churches, and maybe not those who call themselves
"Christian," But they are there, waiting to hear from you. Do what Christ
did. He started in the synagogues. Not many listened to him at the time;
they even tried to throw him off a cliff. But he kept at it and in doing
so he raised up quite a din by his preaching, and people were drawn to him
because of that, and some began listening. That's what will happen to you.
Start preaching where you are at; copy this material and pass it out! In
your church, even though you think no one is reading it, in your
community. As you do, you too will cause a din. And they will threaten to
throw you off a cliff too. But nothing can happen to you unless God
permits it. You are in the hands of God, and eventually you will find
people who will listen.
There is no easy way in this matter. There was no easy way for Christ,
and there will be no easy way for you either. As Jesus said,
"The servant is not greater
than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you."
(John 15:20)
Edited from GEORGE BUSH, THE
"PROMISE KEEPERS," AND THE PRINCIPLES OF
MESSIANIC LEADERSHIP by: S.R. Shearer Complete text at
http://www.endtimesnetwork.com/oldnews/george1.html