Hey everyone… welcome to the Antipas Audio Journal… I’m your host Sean Mayfield.  It’s Friday, June 02, 2006 and as you may have noticed… we are a day behind in offering our end of the week broadcast.  I do apologize for the delay… but there was just no avoiding the delay of this broadcast.  Hopefully… the extra day of preparation will make this broadcast all the better.

I do have a lot on tap for today’s show… I want to talk a little more about that Left Behind video game that I mentioned during Monday’s broadcast… and I also want to talk some more about the showdown between the United States and Iran.  Also on tap is more information on what is going on in Right-wing Columbia… and also some comments on the construction of the New National Security State within the US.  Plus… we have the beginning of a new series on S.R. Shearer’s segment of the Antipas Audio Journal.  Today Steve will begin with Part 1 of his series on MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT: THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATION OF THE EARTH.

All in all we’ve got a lot of things to go over today… so without any further adieu… let’s get started.

To begin with I want to once again draw attention to the World News section of our website… which is available on the top menu of our homepage at www.antipasministries.com .  By clicking on that link you can access various reports and articles written by dear friends and brothers throughout the world.  Over the past week we have had the first report from Anthony Showell in Liberia… and Eugene Bonsu’s April report from Ghana… which was released yesterday.

What is significant about these reports is that they provide an honest glimpse of true faith and love in action.  These brothers pay a very real price for their efforts in Christ… and my point here is not to give them the big-head or anything like that… but to remind people that the Lord requires that we honor, serve, and obey Him… regardless of the difficulties, persecution, or inconvenience involved.

It would be much, much easier for these brothers in this present world… were they to drop the inflammatory message of Antipas Ministries and align themselves with Christian elements within their respective countries, which are a part of the religious wing of the American New World Order System.  Doing so would tie them into a church that is heavily backed by the wealthy American Church… it would open numerous doors for them in their homelands… and it would proffer them a tremendous amount of respect among those who judge success and well-being by how ingratiated one is to those holding power within the American system.

Yet these brothers have chosen to reject this quote-unquote, wide path to destruction… and call it for what it is.  They have chosen the narrow path here… an unpopular message… which agitates, infuriates, and divides.  Think about it though… isn’t this what Jesus said was the true nature of His message?  Isn’t this the circumstance He predicted for those willing to speak His truth?

Well of course this is the case.  I bring these brothers to your attention in this case because I want to stress to everyone out there… whether you are within the United States… or anywhere else throughout the world… I want to stress to everyone out there that there is literally NO EXCUSE for failing to obey God’s call.  There is no excuse for not fully serving Him when it might actually cost us a little bit… or “a lotta bit”.

When I think about this I am reminded of Christ’s parable about the great supper… where He said:

Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. (Luke 14: 16-24)

The point to be made here is that our lives… our testimonies… should not be defined by what is holding us back… insofar as serving the Lord is concerned… because quite honestly… God’s Word clearly shows that those who end up in this state are fulfilling Christ’s statement that “none of these men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”  Instead… what is imperative is that we obey Him… serve Him… follow Him… regardless of whatever else may be in the way.

This is what I get from the testimony of our friends in Africa… and in all honesty… it is a testimony that all of us should have.  I am just getting started here… but before I continue… let’s pause so that we can listen to the following message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.

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Welcome back to the Antipas Audio Journal.  Sean Mayfield here and let’s continue with today’s program.  Before the break I was talking about the testimony Christ requires of us… and speaking specifically about our friends in Africa… and how they have indeed made the hard choice to take the narrow path.

The contrast to that is quite obviously the wide path, which is epitomized by the course of the American Church.  Whereas God’s Word clearly shows that His quote-unquote path unto righteousness is a treacherous one… involving much hardship, duress, and privation… the path representative of American Christianity is one founded upon comfort, feeling good about one’s self, and standing for what can only be described as maximizing one’s existence in the here and now.

To take this one step further… this is at the root of what has led the Church into its current Dominionist mind-set… which quite honestly is the logical conclusion of a religion predicated upon this present world.  As such it is also the root cause of what has led the American Church to so firmly align itself with the Elites and the US State.

Think about it… a religion… and we are indeed talking about religion here and not true faith… but anyway… a religion that focuses on success, power, and conformity within this present world to the degree, which American Christianity does… is inevitably going to end up embraces the militaristic Dominionism, which has consumed the American Church.

Even those perceived by neutral parties as being “above the fray” are not immune to all of this… as further information involving the new Left Behind video game clearly indicates.  On Monday I talked about this game… in which players can virtually participate as a member of a tribulation force and go around blowing away heathen and other such enemies of the cross.  This thing isn’t some sort of small-time operation either… put together with cheesy graphics and only to be marketed in Christian bookstores.

No… this is a state of the art video game… to be mass produced and marketed through both Christian and secular venues.  It is also one that will be available in Wal-Marts, Targets, and other large retail chains throughout the US.  It is also one backed by one of the most powerful men in Christian America… that feel good, watered down, purpose-driven, super-pastor… Rick Warren.

On a public level… Warren has gone to great lengths to separate himself from being identified with any sort of eschatology… lest he marginalize potential customers to his purpose driven marketing empire.  And while he may still publicly refuse to identify with the Tim LaHaye’s, D. James Kennedy’s, John Hagee’s, Pat Robertson’s, and Charles Stanley’s of this world… especially insofar as Church-state involvement and prophecy are concerned… He has nonetheless revealed himself to be a major behind the scenes player in the Dominionist tilt of the Church… through his association and complicity in the production and marketing of this violent and apostate Left Behind video game.

To understand more fully what I am talking about here… check out the introduction to an article I found on the Raw Story Website, tit led Purpose Driven Life-Takers, by Jonathan Hutson.  The introduction reads… and I quote:

“Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life.

The game, slated for release by October 2006 in advance of the Christmas shopping rush, has been previewed at video game exhibitions, and reviewed by major newspapers and magazines. But until now, no fan or critic has pointed out the controversial game's connection to Mr. Warren or his Dominionist agenda.”

I wanted to share that introduction to give everyone a bit of an idea of what this video game is like… and to also introduce the fact that Warren is indeed very much involved.  It is important to note this… because as I said earlier… there are a lot of people in the US and throughout the world… who want nothing to do with the Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell-types… but look upon the unassuming Warren and his Purpose-Driven message as harmless insofar as Dominionism is concerned.

The article goes on to show how Warren is linked to the game through the activities of one of his executive directors… it also goes into greater detail as to just what the game is all about… and the hypocrisy involved in having those who have lobbied the hardest against violent video games… now producing one themselves.  I would like to note that my reason for drawing attention to this whole affair has nothing to do with it being a violent video game… I am not into that sort of thing… but that is not the point.  The point is that this game depicts Christian Warriors going out into the field to slay the enemies of Christ… and it does so in a unanimously positive light.

There is still a lot more to cover on today’s audio journal… before I continue though… let’s pause so that you can listen to another message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.

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Alright… welcome back to the Antipas Audio Journal.  Sean Mayfield here and let’s jump right back into what we were talking about… which was the fact that a Christian video game… that promotes and glorifies the sort of militaristic, Dominionist, religious violence one finds in the operation of South American death squads… is being backed by one of the most powerful quote-unquote mainstream players in American Christendom.

The game itself my friends… is extreme apostasy… and in all truth… something like this would never have an audience… nor would it ever be created and produced… in any other country except for Babylon the Great… i.e. the United States.  The article detailing all of this then concludes with an update providing further clarification of just why Rick Warren is complicit in all of this… though his name does not directly appear anywhere within the chain of creation, production, marketing, or distribution.  To make his point… the author of the piece, John Hutson… writes:

“UPDATE - Endorsement by Association: What is going on here is an old fashioned business idea of endorsement by association, in which a corporation gains the implied endorsement of a product by being able to invoke the name brand of a prominent person or celebrity. In this case, this is an alliance of business and ministerial interests invoking the name brand of the Mr. Warren's Purpose Driven Church. Mr. Warren does not have to explicitly endorse or be involved in the product in order to be held accountable for allowing his name brand to be used in the selling of this antisocial product.

Some people have commented that the link between Mr. Warren's purpose driven empire and this product is casual. Let's be clear: Mark Carver is Executive Director of the Purpose Driven Church, and therefore works directly for Mr. Warren in one of the most senior roles in his empire. It would seem unlikely that Mr. Warren, who plans an international stealth evangelism campaign that already includes the president of Rwanda, is unaware of this project, the biggest Christian video game in history. Mr. Carver's role on the Advisory Board of Left Behind Games, the corporation created in October 2001 specifically to develop and market this violent video game, is an association clearly more active than a casual. People are involved on this Advisory Board because of their expertise, and their connections to markets -- in this case, Mr. Warren's. On its corporate web site -- part of its merchandising pitch -- Left Behind Games touts its association with Mr. Carver, and makes clear his prominent role in Mr. Warren's Purpose Driven Church.

In other words, Left Behind Games is invoking its association with Mr. Warren's Purpose Driven Church as part of its product marketing strategy. Do we think that Mr. Warren would allow his name brand and reputation to be casually invoked in a major business venture that involves one of the largest publishers in the Christian marketplace, who published the Left Behind novels, one of the best selling fiction series of all time? Does anyone think that Left Behind Games invoked the name brand of Mr. Warren's Purpose Driven Church without his permission? Since this possibility is farfetched, what we are looking at here is a business/marketing alliance between several evangelical business and ministerial entrepreneurs for whom the Great Commission also means great profits.

Left Behind Games plans to market directly to pastoral networks and mega-churches, using the same network marketing strategies that turned Mr. Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life into a best seller. Mr. Carver has a lot of expertise and connections in this area. Will Mr. Warren's mega-church be offering this game for sale to its members? Will Mr. Warren's global pastoral network be used to distribute the game? On the other hand, if Mr. Warren is unaware and uninvolved, do we think he will fire Mr. Carver for marketing a product that helps children practice killing New Yorkers?”

What do you think?  Think Warren will fire Carver over this… or is it much more likely that Warren will make millions off of all this?  Like I said earlier… the whole nature of American Christianity… which is neatly encapsulated by Warren’s brand of the faith… is such that this is the ultimate conclusion we have always been headed towards.

Violence and destruction on behalf of a righteous cause are favorable in the religious climate they have created.  America is the vehicle through which godliness, morality, and the blessings of the good life can be bestowed upon the masses in their eyes… even through the barrel of a gun if necessary.

It is this sort of theology, which underpins the indoctrination that America’s soldiers undergo… in order to serve as instruments of war for the American New World Order System… yet when this happens… and this is something else I mentioned the other day… but when this happens… something dies within a man… and places him that much closer to the edge of committing the sort of bestial crimes that are now on display in the news of the massacre in Haditha, Iraq.  And the thing is… Haditha is no isolated incident… it is not some singular “My-Lai” as the mainstream American press and the Bush administration are depicting it to be.  No… like a recent article on the Information Clearinghouse Website says… it is the 10,000^th such incident.

This accounts for why there has been no terrible uproar within Iraq or the Muslim world over this event… since they have known that these sorts of things have been going on continuously since the US invaded Iraq in 2003.  It shows just how willing the American people and the American Church are to stick their heads in the sand… in that 3 years into the war… the first inkling of a backlash finally occurs after thousands of innocent civilians have already been killed like those in Haditha.  In fact… the sentiment among hard-core American Christians is that even murders such as these are justifiable… since the soldiers involved were doing God’s service in securing Iraq for the American Empire in the first place.  Machiavelli would be so proud.

Before I continue… let’s take a break so that we can listen to another message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.

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Hey Sean Mayfield here… bringing you the Antipas Audio Journal.  Before the break I was talking about the massacre in Haditha, Iraq… and how it is one of what could be thousands of such massacres committed by US forces in Iraq… and how the people in the US… specifically those within the Church… have chosen to ignore this fact… and still justify such ghastly aspects of war in the context that the greater good is being served by liberating Iraq for Christ and the American New World Order System.

I ran across another article this morning… in which a former soldier who fled to Canada recounts how he came across a field in which numerous decapitated bodies were strewn with a couple of American soldiers kicking the heads around like soccer balls.  The area showed no sign that the Iraqis who had been be-headed were involved in any sort of fire fight or altercation with the US troops… what appeared to be the case was that the US soldier just snapped and shot and decapitated the Iraqis enmasse.  The details of this story can be found at the following URL: http://www.alternet.org/story/36899/

Lest you think I am entirely making this up.  This is what happens in war my friends… In order to kill and destroy… especially on the scale in which the American military does… you have to dehumanize and demonize the enemy.  Once this takes place… and especially when involved in a country where it is not easy to identify the enemy… then the old action-reaction spiral sees to it that the point finally comes where barbarity like that, which I recounted earlier takes place.

And once again… I must stress that this is the sort of activity, which the American Church… as led by men like Rick Warren, James Kennedy, Charles Stanley, C. Peter Wagner, Pat Robertson, John Hagee, Jerry Falwell, and Tim LaHaye… both sanctions and glorifies as being a part of what is necessary to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth… through the power of the American Empire.

And if you think all that has transpired thus far is bad… then just wait and see what else they’ve got on tap.  Iran is what I am talking about here… and make no mistake about it… George Bush and the gang are not going to be deterred from remaking Iran in the same way they are trying to remake Iraq.  Over the past few days a couple of really good articles have come out, which show just what the US may have in store for Iran… and what the ramifications may be once such an attack takes place.

The first article is titled, Iran: Gulf War 3: Attacking the Islamic Republic would mean steep costs and uncertain victory.  This article is found on the American Conservative website.  While it no doubt over-hypes the threat, which Iran offers to the US… and as such offers the premise that something has to be done about it… it nonetheless does provide some chilling insight into just how devastating an attack would be on the Iranian people… and what the consequences might be to the US and the world.

The second article is by Mike Whitney… and I found it on the Information Clearinghouse Website… its title is, Endgame Iran.  The significant point Whitney makes is just how unwilling the Bush administration is to find a diplomatic solution to all of this… and how what they really want is a pretext to attack.  My thought on this is that this is obviously the case… since only through military strikes can the Bush regime unrest control of Iran’s economy and oil reserves from its own people and break any Iranian attempt to subvert the American New World Order System.  The article goes into great detail to show how the US is pushing things to the point where military action is the only solution… and even goes so far as to say that such an attack may come as early as sometime this month.

I realize that is somewhat hard to fathom… but at this point can anyone say they do not think Bush and company are either capable or willing to make such a decision?  I didn’t think so… So I guess what we need to consider is what the ramifications of all this are going to be prophetically… once what appears to be the inevitable does eventually take place.  The Muslim world is so unstable right now… a direct result of American Imperialism and aggression… and the match may soon be lit, which creates a firestorm culminating in World War 3.  As a result… in addition to the capitulation of US puppet regimes within the Islamic world… we will probably also see a radical change within the US itself.  Total police state may well become a reality… and economic misery may be visited upon the majority of the population as a result of all this.

What I am trying to say here is that our world… which has changed so much over the past half-decade… may be getting ready to move things into overdrive… insofar as ushering in the end of the age is concerned.  As such… the question to be asked is what are you gonna do?  If you are in the US… when are you gonna get out?  If you are already somewhere else… when are you gonna step up and have the bold testimony of truth, which Christ requires of us all?  Things are not going to get any easier and the price to be paid for following the Lord is going to increase… not diminish… so it is high time people get serious about the call God has placed upon them… because the call is the same for all of us in this sense… We are called to obey… we are called to serve… and we are called to bear witness to His testimony… no matter the cost… no matter what or who stands in our way… and no matter the hardship and persecution this calling entails.

You know… I was going to talk about the situation in Columbia and South America… before I wrapped things up for my segment of today’s audio journal… but actually… I think this is a pretty good stopping point instead.  I hold off on talking about Columbia until Monday’s audio journal… so that will give you all something to look forward to over the weekend.

To wrap things up here… the point I have been trying to make today is that the direction in which the whole of what calls itself Christianity is headed… and especially that which we identify as American Christianity… is in fact the exact opposite of what Christ Himself identifies as His body… in other words His Church… their path is the wide path that ultimately leads to destruction.  It is the path of those who desire to reap their reward… their spoils… in this present world.  And as such they have fallen into this trap… this snare… which is identified as Dominionism… in essence it is the belief that God mandates His church to subdue and conquer His enemies in the here and now… and that through this not only will His kingdom come to the earth… but the blessings are to be obtained now.

This has led to bloodshed throughout the centuries and is directly responsible for what the US is doing in Iraq right now… what it plans to do in Iran… and the rest of the world.  The Elites have aligned themselves with the religion because it can be manipulated to serve their interests in cementing the American New World Order System… and the depth of delusion within the American Church has reached the point where a video game depicting the massacre of heathens and sinners at the hands of a tribulation force can be produced, marketed, and distributed, by some of America’s most powerful Christian leaders and be overwhelming accepted by the American Christian masses.

All of this is the exact of opposite of what God has in mind for His Church… and as I said at the beginning… the testimony of our dear friends in Africa… reveals the fact that Christ requires neither military might, wealth, privilege, an institutional religious infrastructure, or even good fortune… to accomplish His will upon the earth.  What He requires is that those who love Him obey His commandments… and bear His testimony in the face of all things… regardless of the consequence upon our own lives.

With that said let’s rap this segment up and head into Part 1 of Steve’s new series on MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT: THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATION OF THE EARTH.  Before we start with that though… let’s pause once again so that we can listen to another message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.

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[Today’s ISRP Journal is an edited transcript of the May 29, 2006 Antipas Audio Journal… There are multiple links to articles reinforcing the points made during the audio broadcast… so please do read this linked material as well.]

O.K. everyone… Sean Mayfield here with another addition of the Antipas Audio Journal.  It’s Monday, May 29, 2006 and I want to thank everyone who is tuning in to this broadcast.  Lot’s of things going on in the world at the moment and hopefully throughout the course of today’s audio journal… we can make a little sense out of it all.

Before I jump into the crux of today’s program though… I do have a few initial remarks to share.  We released the second part of our training series just this past Saturday and as I mentioned late last week… the number of people signing up for this course continues to increase.  For all the details on this… please do check out the Antipas Training section of our website… which can be accessed from our homepage at www.antipasministries.com.

It is not too late to get signed up… in fact there are not going to be set semesters or anything like that… Since this is an online course of study… we will in fact be very flexible on this matter… As I said though… please check out the website to get all the details on this.

This weekend we also released the first international update from Anthony Showell who is in Monrovia, Liberia.  Anthony came into contact with the message of Antipas Ministries, while living in a UN-run Liberian refugee camp in western Ghana.  Anthony was in that camp for several years following his exodus from the terrible violence surrounding Charles Taylor’s regime… He was introduced to the message by Eugene Bonsu… our dear friend and brother from Accra, Ghana.  Eugene made the westward trek from Accra to the refugee camp last fall to meet up with Karrus Hayes… another Liberian refugee who had come across our website in his own searching on the web.  Through Karrus… Eugene was able to meet up with Anthony, while visiting with Karrus and others in the camp… and through that meeting… Anthony was able to learn of and subsequently come to embrace the message of Christ and the Kingdom to come, which we have been preaching here at Antipas Ministries.

Now I realize this all starting to sound like one of Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story” segments… but I just wanted to let everyone out there know that our efforts here can have a ripple-effect… that will spread the message of truth throughout the world.

Now that Anthony has returned to Liberia… he is active working to evangelize those throughout Monrovia… and He is sharing with them the message of prophecy, which we preach here at Antipas Ministries.  He is also striving to bring people together into home-fellowships… since the institutional churches in Liberia… are no doubt just as corrupted and subservient to the Imperial Interests of American Christianity… as are those which Brother Eugene has encountered in Ghana.

As for Eugene… Please do keep him in your prayers… as our financial situation here has been so tenuous… we have been unable to send him any support for the past several weeks.  Hopefully… we will be able to do so very soon though… since it is our hope that many of you out there will respond to our needs… included among them Eugene’s needs.

Please do also pray that He will continue to find success in reaching out to other such dear brothers as Anthony… who are hungry for the Truth in Christ… and willing to take the message of truth to the streets.  These brothers are a powerful example of what is required of us all… in that no matter the limitations or difficulties placed before us… the call upon us is to boldly stand as a Witness… with the testimony of Christ.

Alright now… since I forgot to mention it earlier… I’ll go ahead and mention it now… after I have concluded my segment on today’s journal… we will jump into Part 12 of S.R. Shearer’s series on George Bush, the Promise Keepers, and the Principles of Messianic Leadership.  This the final part of this series so I really encourage everyone to listen closely as Steve wraps everything up.  I am not sure what Steve’s next epic is going to be… but by Thursday’s audio broadcast we will of course have that figured out.

Well… I guess at this point we should go ahead and get started with what today’s broadcast is really all about huh?  I want to talk about some interesting things surrounding our old friend the Right-Reverend John Hagee… or Pastor Strangelove as he was recently deemed. I also want to talk about the terrible revelations concerning US Marines gunning down whole families of civilians in Haditha, Iraq… and how that all fits into the larger scheme of things.  By that I mean how the quote-unquote action-reaction spiral between the US and the Muslim world is on ample display in these actions and others such as the violent riots that took place in Kabul… the continued insurgency in Iraq… And how all of these things play right into the hands of the American agenda of empire.

Lastly… I want to take a peek at what is going on in South America… on both the left and the right… and examine what this struggle may ultimately lead to.  That’s all I can think of for now… but if anything else comes up… I’ll just wing it I guess.  Before I get started on all this though… let’s pause so that we can listen to a message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.

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Alright, welcome back to the Antipas Audio Journal.  I am your host… Sean Mayfield.  Before the break I was providing a bit of an overview of what we are going to discuss on today’s show… I guess at this point the best thing we can do is go ahead and get started.

I ran across an article in the American Prospector… which sadly can only be accessed by subscribers.  Nonetheless… the info in the article was too good to pass up insofar as sharing with you is concerned.  The article talks about Pastor Strangelove… otherwise known as the good reverend John Hagee of the Cornerstone mega church in San Antonio, Texas.  Good old brother Hagee has always been at the forefront of those who lust to kill and destroy the perceived enemies of Christ in this present world.  Hagee’s weapons of choice are not the ethereal arms of spiritual warfare… but the high-tech destructive machine that is the United States military.

Well… it seems brother John has taken things to a new level here recently… with the revelation that he believes the Old Testament Book of Esther predicts… or in essence calls for a military strike against Iran by the United States and Israel.  Of course this rotund maniac thinks this is a very good thing.  In Hagee’s esteem… The US is God’s chosen nation for His New Covenant people… the Church… while Israel is of course God’s chosen people according to the Old Testament.

What Hagee sees here is a future in which the joint forces of God’s two peoples will wipe out all their enemies in the Middle East… and then… it gets hazy from here… but he sees the Church being raptured out… and this debilitating America so that the antichrist can take over the world.

In reality though… it should be pretty clear that Hagee is a Dominionist… and that his latest “prophetic discovery” concerning God’s mandate for an attack against Iran is just another part of the plan for the US… a.k.a. God’s redeemer nation… to liquidate several more thousand of it’s enemies.  I know I have stressed this point a bazillion times… but THIS is direct evidence of exactly why the United States IS NOT God’s redeemer nation… but instead the arch-enemy of the kingdom of heaven… Babylon the Great.

It is not America’s overwhelming military strength that makes it Babylon the Great… It is not its transition to police state that does the trick either.  It is not that the US is seeking a world empire that makes it the beast nation… nor is it the overwhelming wealth and economic power, which it possesses.  The simple truth is that in and of themselves… all these points are very much a reality… but it is the fact the US empire is so firmly wedded to American Christianity… it is the fact that the Church within the US is indissolubly co-related to the state… which serves as the foundational piece of evidence proving the identity of the US as Babylon the Great.

Now there is no doubt that John Hagee is out there… so to speak… and that most Christians within the US have not yet acquired the taste for blood to the same degree, which he has.  The thing is though… Hagee is still just the tip of the iceberg.  Aside from the fact that George Bush, most members of Congress, and many of the Corporate Elite actively profess to be servants of Christ… which in and of itself is pretty damning evidence… most of Hagee’s colleagues are on the same course he is.  The course I am speaking of is that which provides, support, approval, and spiritual covering to the conquests of the US military machine.

And one more thing on this… the overwhelming majority of Christians within the US are supportive of the direction the Religious Right and the Corporate Elite want to take America and the world… in that they either voice their approval… or remain complicit in their silence.

After cheering on the destruction of Iraq and that of Afghanistan and painting these actions as serving Christ… now Hagee and the rest of the Church appear to be preparing to do the same regarding Iran… and to take things one step further… now Hagee is actually saying God calls for this to happen in His Holy Word.  Now you might be saying… wait a minute Sean… the rest of the Church isn’t preparing to go as far as Hagee… and to that I say… look at what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq… before hostilities began the leadership of the American Church began beating the war drums and the great majority of their congregants jumped on board… Even now when everything has gone to pot in Iraq… most American Christians STILL WILL NOT PUBLICLY SAY ANYTHING CRITICAL ABOUT THE BUTCHERY THAT HAS OCCURRED IN THE NAME OF CHRIST OVER THERE.

So why should things be any different this time?  Has the American Church become more compassionate? More loving?  Has it rebuked the wolves within the flock that got them into this mess in the first place?  Of course not… Everyone has been too busy driving the kids to baseball practice, lambasting homosexuals, or attending choir practice to actually do or say anything, which might put them in any sort of hot water.  Like I said… why should things be any different this time?

Christians might be a little burned out on Bush’s Imperial agenda at the moment… and they might look at guys like Hagee as being “out there”… but the dude is extremely powerful… and there are literally millions who are sympathetic and supportive of his type of Christianity… and the rest are too damn apathetic and self-absorbed to risk even the smallest amount of persecution that would come from testifying on behalf of the truth.

Hey now listen… I am just getting warmed up here… but before I continue… let’s take another break so that we can listen to the following message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.

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Welcome back to the Antipas Audio Journal… I am your host, Sean Mayfield.  Before that last break I was talking about John Hagee… and his newest prophetic discovery, which approvingly purports a strike against Iran, is foretold in the Old Testament Book of Esther.  I say Hagee and the rest of American Christendom will once again goose-step behind the Elite… when the bombs start dropping.  Old habits die hard… and for the past 60 years there has been no bigger ally to the war machine… than the American Church.

In this environment of Christian-sanctioned violence… we should not be surprised to learn about massacres like that being reported to have taken place by the hands of US Marines in Haditha, Iraq… where confirmed reports indicate that several infantry Marines fatally shot as many as 24 Iraqis and that other Marines either failed to stop them or filed misleading or blatantly false reports in effort to cover up what happened.

We shouldn’t be surprised because this is just another example of the action-reaction spiral at work.  US Imperialism, invasion, and torture leads to an insurgency… Insurgents strike back at US forces… and US forces widen the arc of who is in their cross-hairs… the US response leads to more indigenous joining the insurgents and intensifying their violent efforts to force the US out of Iraq.  This leads to US troops finally snapping and killing ‘em all for either the purpose of revenge… or to eliminate the threat by eliminating everyone…. And so goes the plunge into madness.

Additionally… to go back to Christianity’s crime in all of this… The message of the Church is supposed to be one of peace and goodwill… not one of righteous murder… Yet the Church has chosen the latter route here in their support of doing whatever is necessary to attain victory in the war against evil.  In this environment… the moral compass is thrown out the window.  That which should be serving to reign in the more beastly impulses of fighting men… the true message of Christ… has instead been replaced by a message which says the war is just… our cause is true… that which I do here is forgiven… because we are fighting on the side of good.

Any thought that the close relationship between the Military and the Church would serve to make US fighting men more likely to do the right thing should be thrown out the window… because the religion they are being offered is one meant to further equip them to serve as killing machines for the empire… once again… further evidence the distinguishes the US from among all the nations as Babylon the Great.

As I mentioned earlier… Afghanistan is spiraling out of control as well.  An incident in which a US military convoy slammed through a traffic jam in Kabul causing death and injuries to civilian traffic.  From this sprang riots, so severe that Afghani and American troops had to come in and fire shots into the crowds to disperse them.  The aftermath saw 8 dead and over 100 wounded… and also saw a nation move another step closer to the sort of total anarchy now taking place in Iraq.

Here’s the thing though… Bush and the US Elite certainly don’t want things to spiral out of there control… but they really do want to push things to a point where the only alternative is to wage total war against their enemies… While giving lip-service to Christ as their raison d'etre … the truth is that they are in this for the ungodly wealth and power, which will come from taking complete control of the Middle East, the Caucuses, and the Muslim lands of Southern Asia.

In this sense… it is with hidden glee that Bush and the rest of the US leadership speak about how long and protracted the war against terror is going to be.  The fact that their present actions are creating a huge backlash against the US throughout the Muslim world is not lost on them… since they think that they will ultimately annihilate these enemies.  The fact that the whole of the Muslim world is about to go up in a blaze of anti-Americanism is not some unplanned for contingency.

All the rhetoric about freedom and democracy is only meant for soothing the masses at home… not those in the eye of the storm… and what a storm it is becoming.  An article by Tom Porteous, on the Agence Global website provides a pretty good run down of just how close to the brink the Muslim world is.  In the article titled, Losing the Long War, Porteous writes:

“In Afghanistan, more than four years after the United States and its allies intervened to oust the Taliban and install a pro-Western regime, NATO forces face more than just another spring offensive by Taliban "remnants." May 2006 has witnessed little short of a countrywide rebellion. Significant masses of Afghan political and military forces are mounting a serious challenge to the status quo.

In Iraq, the formation in May of a new government under Nuri al-Maliki may or may not halt, or slow down, the steady collapse into sectarianism that has unfolded since the U.S. invasion of 2003. But the insurgency continues and opposition to the intervention grows even among those Iraqis who once welcomed it. In Muslim communities world wide, the U.S. military intervention fuels anti-Western sentiment among extremists and moderates alike. Furthermore, the failure of the United States to control the situation in Iraq has dispelled the illusion of American military dominance in the world.

In Palestine, experts and politicians -- few of them apologists for Islamism or admirers of Hamas -- have argued to no avail against the U.S. policy of cutting off aid to the Palestinian Authority following the Islamists' election. Such a policy they point out leads to further chaos in Gaza and the West Bank, strengthens the hand of extremists, and sets back even further the prospects of Arab-Israeli peace. Meanwhile Western complicity in Israeli's continuing occupation of Palestinian territory remains a rallying cry for Islamists and anti-Western sentiment throughout the Muslim world.

In Iran, the hard line Islamists have rolled back political reform and are thumbing their noses at the United States and Europe, rushing ahead with a nuclear enrichment programme in defiance of U.S. and Israeli threats, safe in the knowledge that the political and military position of the United States in the region is now so precarious as to render the option of U.S. military action against Iran catastrophic for Western interests.

In Egypt, long regarded as a pillar of pro-Western stability in the Middle East and the most populous Arab state, the judiciary is now standing against the corruption and political stagnation of the Mubarak regime. There are signs that further repression of the burgeoning Egyptian movement for political reform is leading to a serious political crisis. There is little doubt that the main winners of any genuine political opening will be the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.”

Keep in mind too… that this is a pretty general overview of the situation… which does not mention unrest in Turkey, or the Muslim States of the former Soviet Union.  What it does show though… is how wide spread the reaction to overt US aggression in the region has become.  What it also shows is that the end is no where in sight.

Important to remember though… is that the US leadership was not unaware that their actions might bring about these sorts of results.  The fear generated throughout the US in the face of a radicalized, terrorist oriented Islam can be totally exploited by the US leadership to cement their rule in police state fashion and to further justify their own military ambitions.

Let’s face it… we have been building up to this point for some time now… and as I said earlier… the people are for all practical purposes in line with their leaders on these things.  In a recent commentary on the Counterpunch website… old-school conservative… and former Reagan administration official, Paul Craig Roberts… wrote:

"Americans think that they are the salt of the earth. The hubris that comes from this self-righteous belief makes Americans blind to the evil of their leaders. How can American leaders be evil when Americans are so good and so wonderful?

How many Serbs were slaughtered by American bombs released from high above the clouds, and for what reason? Who even remembers the propagandistic lies that the Clinton administration told us about why we absolutely had to drop bombs on the Serbs?

Wasn't it evil for the US to bomb Iraq for a decade and to embargo medicines for children? When US Secretary of State M. Albright was asked if she thought an embargo that resulted in the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children was justified, she replied, "yes."

The former terrible tyrant ruler of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, is on trial for killing 150 people. The US government murdered 500,000 Iraqi children prior to Bush's invasion. When the US government murders people, whether Serbs, Branch Davidians at Waco, or Iraqi women and children, it is "collateral damage.""

Like I said much earlier today… the people… most especially the Church… have stood by and either cheered or allowed all of these things to happen.  They have become willing participants in the construction of the beast state.  The trick for Bush and the Elite is to not hoist too much upon them at once… but to instead progressively ramp things up to the level of total civilization war… i.e. the Gog/Magog War… A war, which they do not identify as such… but one which they believe they are destined to win.

To that I say… and this is applicable to all of America as well… they may indeed win the battle… but they will lose their souls in the process.

I have a few more things to go over today… but before I continue let’s take another break and listen to another message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.

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Hey… welcome back to the Antipas Audio Journal… I am Sean Mayfield.  Before the break I was wrapping up my thoughts on the consequences of the action reaction spiral between the US and the Muslim world… which will culminate in the Gog/Magog War.

This whole thing isn’t going to stop there though… the hit-list extends beyond the Middle East into Latin America as well.  That situation is a bit more tricky though.  The US cannot resort to subliminally labeling this a religious war or civilization war… since most all of Latin America is Catholic and their fusion of European and New World culture is not so different from the US.

In this arena the US is forced to be more open about the economics behind their quest to eventually subdue South America.  Though Bush tries his best to trot out the old freedom and democracy lines… even he is forced to tip his hand while attempting to frame leftist governments as threats to the American people.

In another article from the Counterpunch website, written by Roger Burbach, titled “Defender of Imperial Property Rights: Bush Targets Chavez and Morales” this point is made very apparent.  In the article Burbach writes:

“George W. Bush has come out with harsh words for the governments of Bolivia and Venezuela. ``Let me just put it bluntly--I'm concerned about the erosion of democracy in the countries you mentioned,'' Bush said in response to a question put to him about Venezuela and Bolivia. ``I am going to continue to remind our hemisphere that respect for property rights and human rights is essential for all countries," he added.

While Bush's hostility towards Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is well known, his critical comments about Bolivia came as somewhat of a surprise, given that Evo Morales has served only four months as the country's first Indian president and has done nothing to thwart the democratic process. As Bolivian foreign minister David Choquehuanca noted: "We are creating a participatory democracy and the world knows it. I don't understand how the United States can say democracy is eroding..."

Bush's true agenda is reflected in his call for "respect for property rights." A change is taking place in South America as Morales and Chavez move to exert greater control of their energy resources and challenge US plans for a hemispheric free trade zone. As the president of the Bolivian Senate, Santos Ramirez, noted: "Bolivia and Latin America are no longer the servile democracies that tolerate...poverty and the surrendering of sovereignty."”

That phrase, “respect for property rights” is the most telling there… since this is at the heart of the Elite’s qualm with the new left governments in Latin America.  One of the hallmarks of both the Chavez government in Venezuela and the new Morales government in Bolivia is their efforts to undo the raping and pillaging of their countries’ resources at the hands of US multinational corporations.  So when Bush speaks about respecting property rights… what he means is Latin American governments should never seek to undo the old environment, which enabled US petroleum, water-system, mining, agricultural, and financial institutions to essentially own and operate the Latin American economy and all of its resources without any restrictions or tax liability whatsoever.

What Bush and the Elite want is for the whole of Latin America to be more like Columbia… good old right-wing, paramilitary infested, labor leader assassinating, cocaine trading, Columbia… now there’s the sort of Latin American utopia the US Elite can get happy about.  The June edition of the Nation has an excellent article about Columbia and its ultra-right-wing president, Álvaro Uribe Vélez… written by Christian Parenti.  Parenti lays out in detail… just how complicit and subservient to US corporate and military interests Uribe’s government is.  He also describes how brutal it is toward its own citizens as well… and how unresponsive it is to the abject poverty in which the overwhelming majority of its citizens live.

Like I said… this is the type of government the US can get excited about… but the point to be made in all of this… is that the US will eventually have to deal with the rebellion in Latin America… just as it will ultimately deal with its enemies in the Muslim World.  On all fronts in this present battle and the battles to come… the American Church stands at the forefront as the most ardent supporter of that which must be undertaken to subdue the poor discontented masses of this world.  They are the instigators and cheerleaders of empire… They are the spiritual covering for massacre and torture… and they are the ultimate reason why the US is the nation identified in the Bible as Babylon the Great.

If you do not see this fact by now… heaven help you!

The thing is though… God has not just given us this insight… and by us I mean all of us… He has not just given us this insight so that we can sit on our backsides and talk out of the sides of our mouth.  He has given us the knowledge so that we can take action upon it.

Those within the US must obey God’s commandment to come out of that nation… And those all throughout the world must stand and serve as a testimony to God… as a Witness for Him… Because you see… the people of the world must be warned… because this beast is not to be content with the Middle East and South America… it seeks to consume the whole of the earth.  And marching lockstep with it is the false Church… the woman, which rides the beast… as it says in Revelation 17.  Those who truly love the Lord must have a testimony in truth for Christ… and against this evil entity.

This call is upon all of us… and it is what the message of Antipas Ministries is all about.  We are working to equip and assist the saints in Ghana, Liberia, Pakistan, India, Korea, Latin America, and throughout Europe… so that they may boldly testify for the truth… and so that they may begin the process of coming together into fellowship as God so desires… in the true expression of the Church.

With that said I am going to wrap up my segment on today’s audio journal… so that we can proceed into the final part… Part 12 of Steve’s series on George Bush, the Promise Keepers, and the Principles of Messianic Leadership.  Upon its conclusion I will come back to briefly wrap things up… but before we jump ahead… let’s pause so that we can once again listen to another message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.

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