Saturday, February 18, 2017

COMPETING NEW WORLD ORDERS - PART 4



God’s Trumpet: Trump-Pence

  
          While the ideas of the Reconstructionists can be seen in the popular magazine, Christianity Today, the place to read the dominionist views in the Pentecostal/charismatic tradition is Charisma Magazine. In its October, 2016 issue, Charisma carried an article called, “Why I Believe Trump Is the Prophesied President,” by Lance Wallnau. The writer believed he received a word from God as he met with Trump in Trump Tower alongside ‘notables’ like Franklin Graham, Paula White, Kenneth Copeland, and David Jeremiah all of whom were invited to meet with Trump and pray over him. Wallnau says that God revealed to him at that time that Trump was His chosen anointed, Cyrus.

            King Cyrus was a Babylonian king in the Old Testament that God used to assist the Jews in returning to Israel to rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Though Cyrus was not a Jew but a Persian, God still used him to fulfill His will and he returned to the Jews the Temple treasury that had been looted. The prophet Isaiah prophesied of him:

“Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. ” – Is 45:1

In October, 2016 Charisma’s publisher, Stephen Strang interviewed Wallnau about his ‘word from God’ that Trump was God’s chosen leader. The 20-minute tape was widely distributed to churches across America. Steve Shultz, the founder of The Elijah List, (an umbrella group created for the propagation of so-called words of knowledge and prophecies by today’s popular prophets, apostles, dreamers, and seers) sent it to his millions of subscribers to rally them to vote Trump. In his intro to the interview he wrote:

“The encounter Lance Wallnau had with God and the things FROM SCRIPTURE that God told Lance is nothing short of shocking…PLEASE go out and VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE. But this time... THIS TIME... you can vote according to the WISDOM God has given to you through Steve Strang (owner of Charisma Magazine) and Lance Wallnau. Ready? Hold on to your hat.” [e-mail dated Oct. 5, 2016, emphasis in original]

The link to the podcast on Charisma’s Podcast Network (https://www.charismapodcastnetwork.com/shows/strangreport/950eca02f9c9b5e7eaa9882caabd3e73 ) still contains the discussion. 

Wallnau convinced Strang that God told him that Trump was to fulfill in our day the same prophecies in Isaiah 45 that King Cyrus did on behalf of Israel thousands of years ago. Wallnau had seen a facebook picture of Trump shown as the 45th President of the United States, which he interpreted as confirmation of the Isaiah 45 prophecies that dealt specifically with King Cyrus who lived 3,000 years ago. 

Many other pastors and leaders grabbed ahold of this ‘word from God’ and built upon Wallnau’s testimony. Well-known prophecy teacher Perry Stone posted his numeric spin on the Cyrus anointed Trump on his Facebook page dated November 3, 2016: 

“Donald J. Trump was born June 14, 1946 and is presently 70 years of age as of June 14, 2017. Going forward 7 months would be January 14, 2016, and adding 7 days brings us to Jan 21st, which would be Trumps first full day in office if he were elected. He would begin his first full day one day after his official inauguration on Jan. 20th. These three sevens - 70 years, plus 7 months plus 7 days are three sevens - which may be linked, from a rabbinical perspective, to the Jewish year we are now in, 5,777.”

Messianic pastor, Curt Landry, took it even further in his blog post dated November 20, 2016. He restated the Isaiah 45 and Jewish year 5777 ideas without attribution as evidence that Trump is God’s anointed Cyrus and spoke of the prayer circle around Trump that Wallnau participated in:

“I personally believe that Donald Trump found God during the election process. When the pressure was getting to him, he placed an Evangelical circle around him who laid hands on him and prayed for him, and it is reported that he accepted Yeshua as Lord!... Donald Trump is open to the prophets and the prophetic word. There are good prophets of God surrounding him and speaking into his life…

“George Washington had a vision and a prophecy in 1777 about this season of time. So isn’t it interesting that just as Isaiah prophesied that there would be someone like Cyrus from Persia raised up for that season; George Washington referred to a season of time when God would raise up someone like Donald Trump.” [https://www.curtlandry.com/is-donald-j-trump-a-cyrus-or-a-nebuchadnezzar/# ]

Wallnau is the co-editor of a 2013 book, Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate, with Bill Johnson, the infamous pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California, most notable for their ‘fire tunnels’ and a prayer room inside a pyramid structure. Wallnau defines them as: “The 7 Mountain Mandate, in which Christians seek to gain influence over the "mountains" of government, church, education, family, media, arts, and business…this can be done either overtly or covertly, as ‘infiltration.’” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQbGnJd9poc ]

He attributes the idea for the mandate to a conversation he had with Loren Cunningham (founder of Youth With a Mission {YWAM}) who had bounced the idea off of Bill Bright (founder of Campus Crusade for Christ), which evolved into the thesis for the book, which featured chapters from like-minded leaders including C. Peter Wagner, Ché Ahn, and Patricia King.

As already documented, the Post-millennial aspiration of the church taking global control over all earth’s institutions was the stated goal of the Reconstructionists in the mainline denominations. However, these ideas parallel the dreams and visions of so-called prophets that arose in the mid-twentieth century, from whom the charismaniacs got their inspiration. So it is hard to say which came first – the chicken or the egg.

Joel’s Army and the Coming Civil War

            Much has been written about the development of the “Latter Rain Movement” popularized in the 1940s-1950s by men such as William Branham and others in the big-tent “healing revivals” of that time. One of the best historical analyses of its development was written by Albert Dager, publisher of Media Spotlight, a quarterly that is still in print.

            “In the fall of 1946, a major teaching on fasting and prayer as a means to revival and the ‘restoration’ of the Church was spread throughout Pentecostalism. The principle textbook for this teaching was Franklin Hall’s, Atomic Power With God Through Fasting and Prayer. . . Hall’s book melded biblical concepts with occult methodology.” [Al Dager, Latter-Day Prophets, Media Spotlight Special Report)

            The Hall book is still available at Amazon. In its book preview, the original endorsements of two major names in healing revivals of that day demonstrate its impact of the time:

·         T. L. Osborn: “Brother Hall, we wanted you to know, we do appreciate your vision, and the tremendous way you have stirred the world with fasting and prayer. We are going to handle your books at our meetings.”

·         Gordon Lindsay: “We know of no writer whom God has so signally used to bring out Scriptural truth on fasting as Evangelist Franklin Hall. We feel that “Atomic Power with God” is the book of the hour for believers.

Others that said Hall’s book had a major influence in their ministries are Oral Roberts, A.A. Allen, O. L. Jaggers, and W. V. Grant. Yet did none of these men see the merger of the Bible with the occult? If they did, that didn’t seem to matter. Just the first chapter of the book says: 

“The writer shall endeavor to present a spiritual atomic power far greater than the physical force of all the atoms in the universe… In 1848 A.D. the Aquarian Age was introduced to the world. The era of invention began and the machine came into being.”

Dager quotes Hall’s book again making reference to astrology:

“In the zodiacal sign, ‘Scorpio,’ which is the eighth sign of the Zodiac, we have a picture of a scorpion with its stinger lifted ready to strike… Just before this sign in the heavens, there is a sign of the Judge, Jesus, who is the giver of LIFE. Jesus proceeds toward death and pulls the STING OUT OF DEATH. (Emphasis Hall’s)”

Dager records how anti-Trinitarian false teacher William Branham, took Hall’s book and added his own spin on it in 1948. The Latter Rain movement evolved into the teachings of “The Manifest Sons of God” popularized by John Robert Stevens, a cult leader in the 1970s of a group known as The Walk. The manifested sons played up Hall’s idea of the immortalization of believers who tap into this atomic power and then put it into an eschatological context. Dager lists the basic tenets of the Latter Rain that can be seen as foundational to many of today’s new apostles and prophets.

1.      The restoration of the offices of prophet and apostle in the last days;
2.      Perfection of the saints in stages leading to godhood;
3.      New apostles to rule Church under their covering;
4.      Signs and wonders would be wrought by them in a worldwide revival;
5.      Revival would result in the defeat of demonic spirits via prayer and fasting;
6.      Overcomers under apostle’s leadership will defeat death and become immortal;
7.      Church will become Christ on earth and rule the nations with a rod of iron.

The chain of groups that tapped into the ‘atomic power’ can be followed into the 1980s in the ‘ministries’ of the Vineyard churches and Fuller Seminary’s Church Growth Department in the School of World Missions. The late John Wimber headed up the former; Prof. C. Peter Wagner was the voice of the latter. The two teamed up to do a class called “Signs and Wonders” at Fuller, an apostate seminary that rejected biblical inerrancy in the 1960s.

Wimber had been an assistant pastor of Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel association of churches that arose during a true revival of the days of the hippies in Southern California. Wimber’s slogan was “doing the stuff,” as he developed formulas for reproducing healing results by studying true spiritual gifts that were present in that revival. He can be compared to Simon the Magician in the New Testament that was impressed by God’s power and wanted a piece of the action for his own selfish gain. Smith and Wimber went separate ways after dividing over whether the emphasis should be on the Bible or on the ‘power.” Wimber wrote several books on that atomic power, including “Power Evangelism” and “Power Healing.”

C. Peter Wagner, a church growth expert at Fuller, saw the potential in Wimber, a former producer of popular musical artists that included The Righteous Brothers. Their partnership at Fuller was very successful as their co-taught classes became the most popular ones in the catalogue among the students for many years. They furthered Franklin Hall’s ideas that through spiritual exercises, which included fasting and centering prayer, they could ‘do the stuff’ themselves by their own supposed authority. God was no longer the Healer; they were -- if they could just tap into the power.

Enter: Mike Bickle. At the same time the Vineyard movement was becoming popular under Wimber’s leadership, many so-called prophets were showing up at conferences and crusades. Names like Bill Hamon, Paul Cain, Bob Jones, and Rick Joyner would show up in ads in Charisma Magazine, promising to astound the crowds with revelation knowledge and testimonies of visions, dreams and disembodied heavenly voices. One of those voices inspired a young man, Mike Bickle, to launch a ministry to combine forces with the prophets “to touch the ends of the earth.” Kansas City Fellowship was born.

 “In 1986, the leaders of Kansas City Fellowship formed Grace Ministries, described as a ‘ministry team of men committed to seeing the church fully restored to the glory described in God’s Word.’” [Dager, Latter-Day Prophets]

Bickle’s para-church group became known as “The Kansas City Prophets.” They published a newsletter called “The Shepherd’s Rod” and when some of the ‘prophets’ were discovered to be living in immorality – not immortality – they invited John Wimber to be their ‘covering.’ Wimber and his associate Jack Deere provided some twisted doctrine for the false prophets in order to stop the mouths of those warning of their collective false prophecies. Wimber wrote articles claiming that New Testament prophets did not have to have the same 100% accuracy as required in Deuteronomy 18 for Old Testament prophets. He said that today’s prophets were like babies, needed to practice to get better at it, and were just “messy” like all babes.

            One of Bickle’s favorite ‘prophets’ was Bob Jones, a man that convinced women to disrobe for his sick pleasure by tacking a ‘thus saith the Lord’ onto his requests. Jones was considered to be a super-prophet that supposedly had instant access to the heavenlies at will.

            The Kansas City Prophets were thought to be a fulfillment of Hall and Branham’s Joel’s Army, the new breed.

            The KC prophets were seen as “the ‘new breed’ an elite group of believers endowed with supernatural power that would enable them to be a part of the army of dread warriors that God was said to be raising up in our generation. According to John Wimber, this is a type of ‘Joel’s Army’ who will overcome all opposition to the gospel and eventually subdue the nations. This teaching is part of what is known as ‘dominion theology,’ which teaches that an elite army of overcomers will either destroy or subdue all the enemies of Christ until they eventually gain power and authority throughout the world. The government of the nations will be upon their shoulders and when all the secular authorities, governments, princes and kings have finally submitted to them, Christ will return and they will present the kingdom to Him.” [Clifford Hill, ‘Kansas City Prophets, Prophecy Today Magazine, quoted from www.geocities.com/Bob_Hunter/8.htm]

                        The biggest obstacle standing in the way of these ‘prophets’ are those in the church that expose them for what they are. The new apostles/prophets refer to their critics in the church as the “old paradigm,” and they are the “new paradigm.” The discerning people are old wine skins; while they are the new wine. The old has to make way for the new, join up with them or be cast away and out of the limelight.

            “I believe that God is going to renovate the entire understanding of what Christianity is in the nations of the Earth,” said Bickle on a tape entitled, “Overview of Corporate Long Term Vision,” 1/5/86. “In twenty years there will be a totally different understanding of what Christianity is from what it is right now. . . I believe God is going to restore it and change it in the Earth in this generation.”

            Wimber cut ties with the Kansas City Fellowship when he could no longer defend their long stream of false prophecies given by poo-poo baby prophets. The same mantle was picked up by C. Peter Wagner who was seen as the leading apostle of those following the views of the Latter Rain. His new venture was named the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), and became an umbrella group for the movement. The false prophets had a new defender in Wagner and under the NAR banner they continued to operate alongside Word/Faith churches around the world.

            Renowned false prophet Rick Joyner, pastor of MorningStar Ministries, located in North Carolina on the grounds of the former PTL Club of Jim and Tammy Bakker, has written about a coming “Civil War” against all opposition to the “New Breed.” Charisma Magazine ran a cover story on Joyner in the April 2001 issue, called “God’s Lightning Rod.” It pointed out Joyner’s record of delivering prophecies that failed. Joyner responded angrily to the article in a letter to the editor. He said that God told him that now was the time for Matthew 13:41-42 to be fulfilled.

“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

            Joyner says that God revealed to him that he is one of those angels and “this is a special assignment that is now being given to some who are about to arise.” He referred to his critics as “illegitimate authorities in the church who are in jeopardy of being stumbling blocks, which the Lord said was worse than not having been born.” He and other false prophets say that their critics will soon drop dead just like Ananias and Sapphira did when lying to the Apostle Peter in the fifth chapter of Acts. “The end-time spiritual seals unit will be an invincible band who lead the church in dominion on the earth,” said KC Prophet Paul Cain. “A purging of the wider church of those who will not follow the new order is necessary to constitute a unified global church.” [Quoted in an article by Orrel Steinkamp, “The Second Pentecost Leads to the World Church, March 2000]

            In the past ten years or so, the political aspirations of the NAR and their global agenda began to take center stage. They would latch onto Christian politicians such as Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin who would participate in their dominionist/political rallies or speak at their churches. They seemed to be looking for a political leader to carry their own mantle to take back America. If they failed, they would be forced to admit that all the ‘prophets’ of the past century were indeed speaking with forked tongues. Their very reputations were on the line.

            Washington D.C. became a favorite locale for their rallies. In November 2010, one such rally featuring an array of false prophets such as Rick Joyner, Bob Jones, Chuck Pierce, Dutch Sheets, Heidi Baker and representatives from ministries such as Bethel Church Redding and CBN, Pat Robertson’s ministry, gathered under the title: “The Shift; Can a Nation be Re-Born in a Day”?

            The promotional material for the event laid out the aims of these NAR affiliated speakers:

            “The Shift is a call to the Bride of Christ who solely contains the power of God to rescue the nation from the spirit of greed that is destroying our nation, and realign our country with her destiny course… History has witnessed the Ancient of Days who used His prophets to change entire nations overnight and turn captivity into triumph time and time again… Extraordinary economic miracles are ready to explode upon our nation as we gather around the Throne of God in holy assembly. New signs and wonders of unprecedented proportion will become the clear guideposts on the road to recovery.” 

            All efforts to find a political leader to head up the take-over of America for Christ seemed to fail until Donald J. Trump put his hat in the presidential ring. The NAR, like the other streams of Christendom, saw Trump as their long-awaited leader. Through one of their own, televangelist Paula White, NAR false prophets like Sammy Rodriguez and Lance Wallnau were invited to lay hands on Trump in prayer for his success. Trump no doubt is totally in the dark about their agenda, but he received them as religious names with big followings that could bring in the vote.

            The Trump fever has caught on with the rest of the Pentecostal/charismatic Americans. The Elijah List online TV network aired a recent church service on November 20, 2016 with Messianic Pastor Curt Landry, in which he had his large congregation stand and repeat a decree after him. A loud shofar was blown before and after the stated affirmation. I’ll end this section with a portion of that ‘prayer’ --

            “We agree with the decrees that Donald John Trump, president elect of the United States of America – we agree with his proclamations and we decree he is sent to the United States in 2016, biblical year 5777 as an anointed Cyrus. We receive him and we set him in place in Yeshua’s name. And we agree out of Zion and out of the courts of heaven that you would release new angels and Michael the archangel and the heavenly hosts of Israel around him his family and all his administration. We decree they are off limits to the attacks of the enemy. We cover them in the blood of Jesus. We thank you Lord. There is a wall of protection around their life and everywhere they go. Father, God, in the name of Jesus, we receive the Cyrus anointing into our life into our mountain. We touch and agree that this next 8 years be a season of prosperity, a season of great health, a season of revival and a wakening blast… and we as the one new man, as the inheritance of God decree and declare that President elect is a Cyrus, sent to the United States and to Israel and to the nations to bring alignment with God’s ways, to bust open the gates of iron. Father God, this 45th president will break open the gates of bronze. Father God, this Jubilee year, he will subdue the nations; he will loose the armor of kings; he will open the double doors so that the gates will not be shut. We as a nation will go before and make a way to make the crooked places straight again so other nations might align with the United States and not make war but that we would prosper. . . We release the key of David and the sure mercies of David over President-elect Donald John Trump... and we put a demand on the treasures of darkness and hidden riches in secret places, come forth now in Yeshua’s name. We decree in the courts of heaven that the transfer of wealth with the Cyrus anointing (King Midas?) sitting in the highest place in the land, that the economy… will recover, with exponential growth, witty inventions, and Cyrus will prosper and the remnant of God, following God’s ways will prosper for God’s kingdom, in Jesus’ name. Father God, we seal it in Yeshua’s name…”

Friday, February 10, 2017

COMPETING NEW WORLD ORDERS - Part 3



Reconstructionists and Kingdom-Now

            Just as the New Age Movement of the 1980s morphed into today’s progressives, the Reconstructionists of that decade still exist but shy away from labels. The beliefs of both remain intact. The Recons of the 21st century can be seen in groups like the Tea Party – political activists who wave the American flag over President Trump. They have a better argument than the other religious factions for claiming to be the secret to his election victory.

            As the Catholic apologist pointed out, the Protestant view of the end times is similar to their own. Both the Catholic Church and the denominations that broke off from the mother church take their eschatology from Augustine, author of The City of God. Both deny the biblical view that Jesus will return and establish the Kingdom of God on earth for 1,000 years, ruling out of Jerusalem – when the “New Jerusalem” comes down out of heaven. The former are A-millennialists and the latter are Post-millennial.  

            The author of The Late Great Planet Earth, Hal Lindsey, explains the difference:

            “By the time of Augustine (A.D. 354—425), the famous Bishop of Hippo, Origen’s system of interpretation dominated the Christian scene. But it was Augustine who systematized the allegorically based teachings into a cohesive theology that would dominate the Church for over a thousand years. Even the Reformers continued to hold most of his views, including his allegorically based, unrefined eschatology. The Roman Catholic Church… instituted the teaching that they were the inheritors of the Kingdom promised to Israel and therefore must take ultimate authority over the political powers of this world. “ [The Road to Holocaust, pp 9-10)

The Catholic A-millennialists  saw no future reign of Christ on earth; saw His second coming as marking the end of history. That would be one big resurrection of all people who ever lived, good and bad together and then the final judgment and all would go to heaven or hell. 

Lindsey defines Post- millennialism as the theory that “states that Christ will come only after the Spirit-empowered Church has established God’s Kingdom on the earth by progressively subduing the world and taking dominion over it.” Both A & Post- millennialists “believe that the present age is the Kingdom of God and understand the word millennium only in a symbolic sense. The major difference between them is that Postmillennialists believe the Kingdom of God is not just a spiritual reign of Christ in the hearts of believers, but an actual reign of the Church over all society in this age… they have transferred to the Church all of Israel’s covenants and promises concerning a global Theocratic Kingdom, and shifted the time of their fulfillment to before Christ’s Second Advent rather than after it.” [Ibid. pp 28-29]

            Both Catholics and mainline Protestants kept eschatology on the back burner for hundreds of years until the rebirth of the belief in Pre-millennialism - the view of the imminent return of Christ – had its zenith in the mid-twentieth century. Although this was the view of the ancient church for the first three hundred years of the Church, the old guard saw it as a threat to their own church membership. In fact, many became downright hostile to teachers like Hal Lindsey and other scholars out of Dallas Theological Seminary that taught the Dispensationalist view of end times.

Dispensationalism views Revelation as a book of future events, taken literally, yet acknowledging its use of symbolism and typology in its apocalyptic language. From the study of the prophetic books of the Bible, both old and new testaments, and the words of Jesus in the Gospels, came the clear teaching of a literal 1,000-year-reign of Christ on earth following a 7-year time of trouble called the Great Tribulation in which the devil, in the person of the Antichrist, would be in charge of a global government.  God’s wrath would be poured out on him and his followers during that time until most life on earth would be destroyed. Then Jesus would return with His saints that had been taken up bodily into heaven in the Rapture of the Church and the devil would be bound for a thousand years during the newly established Kingdom of God on earth.

In response to that teaching, mainline Protestants came up with an alternative interpretation of Revelation called Preterism, which views the events in the apocalyptic books as allegorical -- describing past events of Bible history. Preterism became the remedy to what they considered End Times Fever. It took some real Scripture twisting to project their desired eschatology into the Bible, but they sure made it sound scholarly.

The biggest name in Reconstructionism is Dr. Rousas Rushdoony (1916-2001) a Presbyterian minister and author of over thirty books. He founded the Chalcedon Foundation. His high-minded plan for Christianizing modern society is in his Institutes of Biblical Law, published in 1973. He was assisted by his son-in-law Gary North who served as editor of The Journal of Christian Reconstruction until the two split over some doctrinal differences in 1981, according to Lindsey.

Both men fell off the scene at the turn of the century: one died, and the other’s reputation was shot after loudly promoting the hysteria of the time, the Y2K scare. He had Christians in a panic that at the turn of the century, New Year’s Eve, 1999 at the stroke of midnight, all computers would shut down due to the date no longer starting with a ’19.’ There would be blackouts, airplanes would fall from the sky, and every modern contraption that uses computers would cease to operate. Planetary chaos would ensue.

North referred to Pre-millennialists as ‘pessimillennialists,’ since he saw them losers for not having a victorious view of their mission. His associate, David Chilton spelled out their dominionist aspirations:

“The Bible gives us an eschatology of dominion, an eschatology of victory. This is not some blind, ‘everything-will-work-out-somehow’ kind of optimism. It is a solid, confident, Bible-based assurance that, before the Second Coming of Christ, the gospel will be victorious throughout the entire world.’” [Quoted in Road to Holocaust, pg. 41]

            North calls the beliefs of the faithful Bride, “escapist religion.” He explains what he means by that:
“This is the second great tradition of antichristian religion. Seeing that the exercise of autonomous power is a snare and a delusion, the proponents of escapist religion have sought to insulate themselves from the general culture – a culture maintained by power. They have fled the responsibilities of worldwide dominion, or even regional dominion, in the hope that God will excuse them from the general dominion covenant… The basic idea lying behind escapist religion is the denial of the dominion covenant… This rival religion proclaims peace because it has little interest in the systematic efforts that are always required to purify institutions as a prelude to social reconstruction. In short, escapist religion calls for flight from the world…” [North, Liberating Planet Earth: An Introduction to Biblical Blueprints, Dominion Press, 1987]

            There is nowhere in Scripture that calls on the Church to rule the world. The only dominion given to man in the Bible is in the book of Genesis when God gave Adam dominion over the animals. He never gave man dominion over other men as any sort of spiritual mandate. These people are so self-deluded. Rather than growing in power and influence in the world, Jesus told us the world would hate us just as it hated Him. And the Apostle John reminded us of that fact: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” – 1 John 2:15

            North’s ridicule of biblical Christianity could very well have played a role in the LORD removing him from any influence. His feet are firmly planted in this world, as can be said of all Reconstructionists, but the true believer is a citizen of Heaven from which we eagerly await our Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ. That’s not escapism, that’s “the Faith once and for all delivered to the saints.”

Unfortunately, the dominionist aspirations of North and Rushdoony are alive and well on planet earth, although under a different label. In the forefront is a group called the Coalition on Revival (COR), a Reconstructionist group pushing the belief that churches, working in unity, could impose the Old Testament laws upon believers and unbelievers alike. Thirty years ago they produced a large document called “A Manifesto for the Christian Church: Declaration and Covenant,” that was distributed to many churches and para-church organizations, mostly those of the Reformed (Calvinist) and Protestant camps. In fact, COR’s website is www.reformation.net, since the unfinished reforms of the Catholic Church in the Reformation of the 16th century is their badge of credibility.   
   
            One of the aims of the Manifesto is to get all of Christendom to work together to accomplish a new Theocracy, with them at the top. They push a unity with all and envision a hierarchy to which all must submit.  They summarize it in what they call “A Plan” (same term used by the New Age movement), which says that the church (generic) needs to be taught: “The need for and strategy to achieve the restructuring of society – in the home and in the fields of law, government, business and economics, education, the media, the arts, science and medicine, etc. – that all these fields may be brought under the Lordship of Christ and operate according to the principles of the Bible.”

            One of the points in the Manifesto clearly shows an opposition to Premillennialists, an attitude upon which all dominionists find common ground. It lays it out like this:

            “We have concerned ourselves more with Heaven, the future, and escaping this world at Christ’s Second Coming, than with preparing His Bride to be spotless, beautiful, glorious, and pleasing to Him when He comes.”

            “We believe that it would be strategically wise for the sake of getting God’s will to be done on earth to seek to reclaim America and reset her on the biblical law base on which she was originally founded. From a reborn and rebuilt America could be launched an increased missionary explosion and the exportation of Christian-influenced business, government, art, and technology.”

            The National Coordinating Council, the political arm of COR, back in 1990 shows how far-reaching and inclusive the leadership of the Recons is. Some better known names that sat on the Council included: Ted Baehr, Good News Communication, Cal Beisner, Prof. Covenant College, Harold O. J. Brown, Prof. Trinity Evangelical Seminary, Gary DeMar, American Vision, Duane Gish, Inst. For Creation Research, D. James Kennedy, Pastor Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Harold Lindsell, Editor Emeritus Christianity Today,  and representatives from Reformed seminaries and Protestant churches. They even had “The Charismatic Council” with such dignitaries as: Jack Deere, author associated with The Vineyard, Vinson Synan, mastermind of the ecumenical Congress on the Holy Spirit mega-conferences, Rodman Williams, prof Regent University, Karl Strader, Carpenters Home Church (that started the holy laughter craze), and names with ties to Oral Roberts University and YWAM.

If you look at the magazine, Christianity Today, you can see the fragments of COR from cover-to-cover.

            COR’s recommended books to help church leaders along include, Taking Our Cities for God, by John Dawson, Creation House, The Harvest, by Rick Joyner, MorningStar Publications, The Church Triumphant at the End of the Age, by Nate Krupp, Destiny Image Publishers; Winning the Battle for the Minds of Men, by Dennis Peacocke, Alive and Free Publishing and a variety of books and manuals by Reformed writers. The point in placing books by charismatics into the list, no doubt, is to sell the dominion mandate to them. Unfortunately for COR, they did such a good job of it that those they were trying to convert, broke free and began their own Kingdom-Now efforts, excluding the Reformed camp, plagiarizing much of the theology that the Reconstructionists already worked out.

            The charismatic alternative to COR, the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), is headed up by a group of men and women, claiming to be the new prophets and apostles (something that would cause the Reformed camp to cringe), that replaced the Manifesto with what they call The Seven Mountain Mandate. It has the same Kingdom-Now aims, but with a ‘prophetic’ vision tacked on – another competing New World Order to the New Age-inspired globalists, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Protestant Reformers. They too have grand plans for President Trump.

To be continued . . .

Monday, February 6, 2017

COMPETING NEW WORLD ORDERS - Part 2



The Church Over the State

            President Trump is an American Patriot. His slogan, “Make America Great Again” makes the globalists cringe. His platform of putting America first enrages the socialists on the political Left. Never in the history of America has there been such unreasonable opposition to a Commander-in-Chief. The New World Order and its allies hate the Donald and have spent untold millions of dollars bankrolling his enemies in order to create chaos in the streets. There is no length to where the NWO is willing to go to take Trump down. 

            The president is very aware of the globalist agenda of the United Nations and stands in opposition to the leftist conspiracies against America, Israel, and the western world. Those who have been programmed by the NWO oppose Trump’s efforts to protect this country’s sovereignty, culture, and borders. He’s not in their control as were his predecessors.

            What Trump doesn’t realize is that he has aligned himself with a competing One World Agenda. A song from the 80s put it this way: “Everybody wants to rule the world.” 

            Bible prophecy foretells a global religious system will arise that rides the beast of the political one-world government (Revelation 17). She is personified as a spiritual whore called “The Mother of Harlots.” She cooperates with the antichrist that will turn on her and “burn her with fire” (vs.16). These two competing one-world systems are now developing and will eventually unite. That time is getting very close.

            Let’s take a look at the destinies envisioned by various “Christian” institutions with global ambitions that see Trump as their own personal knight in shining armor.

The Roman Catholic Church’s Destiny

            The oldest group that institutionalized Christianity as a means of controlling the people is, of course, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). It is well documented that this megalith had its start in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine declared Christianity to be the state religion. The bishop of Rome therefore determined he was superior to the bishops in other ancient cities. He took on the emperor’s title of Pontifex Maximus (a title lifted from the Roman Emperors meaning “greatest bridge-builder”) and declared himself the spiritual leader over the kings of the earth. All other bishops had to be subservient to the one at the top of the heap known as the pope, or the “Vicar of Christ.” Later as the traditions of men evolved, he was determined to be infallible and the singular representative of Christ on earth.

            The Roman Catholic Church had global aspirations from the beginning. Secular rulers in Europe, then known as the “Holy Roman Empire,” could not reign without the pope’s blessing (just look at the story of King Henry VIII). To expand their authority, they began adapting the local pagan festivals and pageantry adding ‘Christian’ meanings to them to make them their own. This of course led to the persecution of any Christians that would not recognize the authority of the popes. They also carried the sword (and instruments of torture), as in Constantine’s vision of the cross, “Under this sign conquer,” which justified centuries of crusades and inquisitions.

            The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century kicked the teeth out of the Roman beast, allowing rival Christian institutions to arise, starting in England and then in Germany and beyond. And so the competition for the loyalty and offerings of the laity spread among the others donning clerical robes and mitres to signify their hierarchies. The RCC of today has been stripped of her power over the kings, although given the opportunity; she’d take it all back.

            [The reason for the female pronouns is that the RCC refers to their institution as “The Holy Mother Church.” They personify her as a woman and recent popes have dedicated themselves to another ‘woman,’ the Queen of Heaven, known by many names all believed to be various materializations of Jesus’ mother, Mary.]

            Few people realize that the RCC does have an eschatology, an expectation of the end times. They did not arrive at their vision of coming events from Scripture, but from centuries of sayings of ‘saints,’ mystics, and apparitions. The visions that were ratified by the Magisterium formed the body of ‘knowledge’ and took precedence over Bible prophecies. In fact, the words of Scripture were twisted to comply with and ratify these strange doctrines of demons. And like other extra-biblical prognostications, specified dates have come and gone proving them to be false prophecies, but that has not stopped the ‘faithful’ from trusting in them.

            One of the most famous and trusted visions of the end is Don Bosco (1815-1888) – who built on the vision of the ‘Three Days of Darkness’ predicted by many Catholic saints, including stigmatic Padre Pio. Wikipedia even has an entry for the vision:

“Blessed Anna Maria Taigi (1769–1837) is the most known seer of the Three Days of Darkness and describes the event in this way: ‘There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing can be seen, and the air will be laden with pestilence which will claim mainly, but not only, the enemies of religion. It will be impossible to use any man-made lighting during this darkness, except blessed candles. He, who out of curiosity, opens his window to look out, or leaves his home, will fall dead on the spot. During these three days, people should remain in their homes, pray the Rosary and beg God for mercy. All the enemies of the Church, whether known or unknown, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few whom God will soon convert. The air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms.’”

            [Subsequently to this prediction, many Catholic eschatologists interpret the three days of darkness to be a longer period of time, possibly a three year period during the coming reign of the Antichrist.]

            St. Don Bosco’s famous vision of war ships on the sea and the pope at the helm of one of them trying to escape enemy ships steers it toward the center of two columns. One Catholic website attributes this quote to him of his vision of May 30, 1862:

Breaking through all resistance, the new Pope steers his ship safely between the two columns and moors it to the two columns; first to the one surmounted by the Host, and then to the other, topped by the statue of the Virgin. At this point something unexpected happens. The enemy ships panic and disperse, colliding with and scuttling each other… Many others, which had fearfully kept far away from the fight, stand still, cautiously waiting until the wrecked enemy ships vanish under the waves. Then, they too head for the two columns, tie up at the swinging hooks, and ride safe and tranquil beside their flagship. A great calm now covers the sea. Very grave trials await the Church. What we have suffered so far is almost nothing compared to what is going to happen. The enemies of the Church are symbolized by the ships which strive their utmost to sink the flagship. Only two things can save us in such a grave hour: devotion to Mary and frequent Communion.
[https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/vision-john-don-bosco-two-columns-mary-eucharist/ ]

            A letter from Bosco to the pope gave a prophecy regarding the earlier vision, rebuking the pope and the Magisterium for their lack of zeal. “These things shall inexorable come to pass, all in succession,” Bosco wrote. “Things follow too slowly upon each other, but the great Queen of Heaven is at hand; the Lord’s power is Hers. Like mist She shall scatter Her enemies. She shall vest the Venerable Old Man (from Rome, the Pope) with all his former garments. There shall yet come a violent hurricane. Iniquity is at an end, sin shall cease, and before two full moons shall have shone in the month of flowers (May), the rainbow of peace shall appear on the earth.” [“Vision of Don Bosco; Two Full Moons in May; Good Newsletter, Vol 10, No 1, Lent 1998, Bob and Penny Lord)

            The authors concluded, “We are not doomsday people… But we can’t ignore the signs before our eyes…. The two full moons in May will occur again in 1999.”

            To summarize the RCC’s mystical idea of the time of the end: it starts with an apostasy consisting of corruption in the priesthood, decimating church membership (Pedophile priest scandal). An antipope comes to power that abolishes long-held church laws (Pope Francis?). The antipope works in conjunction with a wicked ruler (Antichrist?). Horrible dark times of doom and gloom – wars, earthquakes, upheavals (as Jesus’ prophecies of the birth pangs). The ‘faithful’ church militant kicks into action and with the power of many, many rosaries and Eucharistic adoration, the Queen of Heaven shows up, installs a new holy pope and righteous king, and defeats the antichrist. An undetermined long time of peace follows, all the world is converted to Catholicism, a good worldly king and holy pope are in full control of the new Kingdom of God covering the entire earth. At the end of that long kingdom era, Jesus returns to initiate the eternal heavenly Kingdom and that’s the end of planet earth. Whew!

            “Dominion and the bringing of all temporal authority under the papacy has always been a goal of Roman Catholicism,” wrote Al Dager in the Summer, 2005 issue of Media Spotlight. “What do you think ‘the Holy Roman Empire’ was about?... The entire world will one day recognize the pope as the spiritual head of mankind.”

            Today a very large portion of Catholics believe that the three days of darkness followed by the defeat of the Antichrist is very close at hand. In fact, it is the more devout Catholics who share that collective concern over the unfolding of current events. Gay rights, abortion, terrorism, climate change, corrupt clergy – all point to the unparalleled reign of sin and the devil.

            The global era of peace seems to be a predominant idea in the RCC that can’t happen until the Vatican unites all Christians under her rule. The so-called apparition of ‘Our Lady of Fatima,’ confirmed Bosco’s vision. Cardinal Mario Luigi, the Papal Theologian Emeritus, wrote a letter to the pope, dated Oct. 9, 1994: “Yes, a miracle was promised at Fatima, the greatest miracle in the history of the world, second only to the Resurrection. And that miracle will be an era of peace which has never really been granted before to the world.“… Our Blessed Mother promised us this era of peace if we say the daily Rosary, practice the First Saturday Communion of Reparation, and live lives consecrated in the truth.”

            Rev. Kevin Barrett, the Apostolate Chaplain of Catholic Familyland in Ohio, wrote in his newsletter of March 8, 1999 that “Of all the prophecies Mary made at Fatima, only two have not yet come true; the annihilation of nations and the Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart. Remember, all prophesies are conditional and dependent upon our response.” Good thing he added that unbiblical reminder, since he also pointed out in the same letter the Don Bosco put a timeframe onto his pillars-vision. “But before the year 2000, he (Bosco) foretold, the Church would win a glorious victory through the laity who are loyal to the pope, devoted to the Eucharist and to Our Lady.”

            To put this Mariology into some biblical context, Michael Voris, head of a Detroit-centered apostolate called Church Militant, teaches the official catechism of the RCC. He sees prototypes of Mary outside the four Gospels. She is the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant since she carried Jesus in her own temple body. She is the ‘new Eve’ since when Jesus told John at the foot of the cross, “behold thy mother,” he represented all of mankind of which she is now the mother. She is the co-mediatrix and co-redemptrix and co-author of our salvation. Voris shared an excerpt from his new book, The Weapon, on his Church Militant website:

            “Mary is a tenderloving mother, absolutely. But She is also the Queen of the heavenly armies, the angels, and Queen of the saints. She may be sweet Mother to us, but to Hell and the devils, She is a terrifying sight to behold… She is the Woman of Genesis, the Woman of the Apocalypse. And She is the greatest terror of the serpent. In Eden, the diabolical legions could not know they had already achieved their high-water mark, their most supreme victory. As the sun set that first night following the Fall of mankind, a new day was in the offing, a slow, constant march of rolling back from their victory. What would appear at the dawn would be a New Woman, a New Eve, Who comes forth brilliant as the dawn, terrible as an army arrayed for battle (Song of Solomon 6:10)… After Eden, Hell searched in vain for the Woman, looking, wondering precisely what the Most High could have meant by the prophetic decree that it would be a Woman who would crush the head of their lord.”

            The Weapon is the rosary – that makes devils quiver. The Bible would identify it as prayers by rote and endless repetitions – that the heathen do thinking God will hear them.

            Rome sees the Catholic Church as the legitimate heir/replacement of Israel. Catholic apologist, Carl E. Olsen wrote in his 2003 article, “Are We Living in the Last Days?” – “The Catholic Church has always understood herself as being the New Israel… Interestingly enough, even Luther and Calvin understood the Church to be the true heir of Israel. They also would have rejected dispensationalism, which only emerged as a method of biblical interpretation in the last two hundred years or so.”

            However another Catholic theologian reviewing the Left Behind series in a major Catholic newspaper, Our Sunday Visitor, admitted the premillennial return of Christ was believed by the early church. “Since the fourth century, when the expectation of Christ’s imminent return passed, the Catholic Church (and subsequently most mainstream Protestants) has followed Jesus’ instruction that ‘you know not the day or the hour” . . . Following the example of St. Augustine in The City of God, the teaching Church has been cautious about interpreting the visions in Scriptural apocalyptic literature literally, and, most especially, about connecting these visions to contemporary events.”

            So the official RCC teaching is there is no earthly millennial rule of Jesus Christ. Catholic apologist Karl Keating’s ‘ministry’ Catholic Answers gave this official version:

            “Pre-tribulationism is biblically bankrupt and does not know it. What is the Catholic position? As far as the millennium goes, we tend to agree with Augustine and, derivatively, with the amillennialists. The Catholic position has thus historically been ‘amillennial’ as has been the majority Christian position in general, including that of the Protestant Reformers, though Catholics do not typically use this term.”

            Keating is not contradicting Fatima with this statement. The coming days of darkness Rome anticipates is not connected with any millennium rule of Christ personally. They just see the fulfillment of His millennial rule as ruling through them.

            So that brings us to Trump.

            In a recent article in the New York Times, critical of President Trump and his religious allies, such as Michael Voris, writer Samual G. Freedman, writes:

            “As the Trump administration prepares to take office, the use of Church Militant theology has gone well beyond its religious meaning and has taken on a political resonance. To fully grasp what “church militant” means in this highly politicized atmosphere, it helps to examine the broader movement and the role of a traditionalist Catholic website called — to no surprise — ChurchMilitant.com… Michael Voris, the senior executive producer of ChurchMilitant.com, said the website’s positions were a righteous defense of patriotism and morality on behalf of people who believe those virtues have been attacked by liberals, secularists and global elites.”

            Voris is out in the open about his support of Trump. In fact, he credits Trump’s victory with the rosaries recited by all his Catholic viewers of his YouTube channel. He credits Trump’s victory to the number one spiritual weapon prophesied to make the difference during the time of darkness that he sees his church is currently in. On a recent broadcast, Voris elaborated.

“And to Trump has fallen the role (whether he yet realizes it or not) of Constantine, the ambitious man who wanted to be emperor of Rome, but who was ignorant of the fact that Heaven would step in for him for Heaven's own reasons. …  The forces aligned against him were too great. And then Heaven intervened with the famous vision or dream on the night before the battle whereby Jesus Christ told Constantine to bear His standard of the Chi-Ros on his army, and he would win the day. "In hoc signo vinces" — "In this sign you shall conquer." And conquer he did. ..Constantine entered Rome the undisputed emperor, ended the persecution against the Church, and a year later elevated the Church to the level of preferred religion of the empire. … and a new era of history — salvation history — was inaugurated. Whether Donald Trump could unwittingly be another Constantine, in at least holding back the enemies of the Church, who knows? Heaven has certainly used other earthly rulers in the past for Heaven's end — good and bad rulers. Millions of Catholics all over America are in the middle of a 54-day Rosary novena for a good outcome to the election, past the midway point, in fact. Since the start of the novena, almost to the day, Diocletian's fortunes have tumbled and Constantine's have risen, drawing near parity. Could the Rosary be the sign of conquering in this case? If Heaven wills it, yes. But Constantine has to respond correctly.”  Vortex Tuesday, January 31, 2017

            Voris often speaks of the current crisis in the Mother Church. Just look at the stats he shared on a recent Vortex:

“No other religion in America is losing adherents at the rate the Catholic Church is… For each person standing there being baptized, six others have jettisoned the Faith in their lives. At current trends, the Catholic Church in the United States will cease to exist in just 50 years! Stop and think about that for a moment — a story of epic failure. If you are in your twenties or even early thirties right now, you will live to see this: the eradication of the Catholic Church in the United States, with only a few very small tiny pockets here and there.”

            So where does Trump, Pope Francis, and the Queen of Heaven fit into the visions of these Catholic saints and apparitions? When the real Great Tribulation occurs, will Catholics interpret it as the “Three Days of Darkness?” We’ll examine these questions more closely after we examine the other triumphant churches.

            The Catholics now have their Constantine. We will now look at the end times expectations of Protestants and Evangelicals and their new hero, King Cyrus.

To be continued. . .