Hello to everyone and welcome to the Antipas Audio Journal.
I am your host… Sean Mayfield. It’s Friday, August 11,
2006 and I am very happy to be bringing you today’s broadcast.
I had planned to run this program yesterday… but alas
it was not to be. Nonetheless… everything is a go for
today… and I do believe we have a pretty good broadcast
on tap for today.
I want to talk a little bit about some things related
to what is happening in the Middle East… but I kind of
want to go at things from a slightly different angle.
I’ll explain later what I am talking about. We are not
going to have Part 4 of S.R. Shearer’s series entitled:
Sowing
the Seeds of the Gog/Magog War on tap for today,
but instead I have a special segment… which is an audio
clip of Stephen Colbert, of The
Colbert Report on the Comedy Central TV Channel…
available in the US and Canada. I have a clip of Colbert’s
speech he gave at the 2006 Whitehouse Correspondent’s
Dinner. It is really funny and very much hits the mark
in a satirical way insofar as the truth about the Right
Wing leadership of the US
is concerned… and who knows what else I might throw into
this broadcast.
For starters… I do want to thank those who responded
to my recent dialogue concerning our financial difficulties.
The help, which has been sent our way, is truly a God-send…
and while we do still need further assistance… of which
I pray the Lord will touch hearts to provide… I am ever
so grateful for those who stepped up to the plate so-to-speak.
It can get rough living out here on the edge… on the frontlines
you know… and I once again thank those who are willing
to support our efforts.
Also… I do hope everyone enjoyed last week’s interview
with Fred Palmquist. I am releasing the transcript of
the Monday broadcast today… and as of yet do not have
the portion with Fred’s interview transcribed. I will
see what I can do about getting that done… though it may
take me a bit of time.
Speaking of Fred though… He is now back home… preparing
for his upcoming mission trip that will essentially cover
North America. As I said last week… I do encourage anyone
serious about all of this to contact Fred and arrange
a visit. You can reach him by sending an email to fred@antipasministries.com
or give him a call at 916-455-1719.
With that said let’s go ahead and get moving on the crux
of today’s program. I want to talk about the Middle East…
but I want to talk about something very specific… which
is related to all that is occurring there. Over the past
couple of weeks I have commented upon a couple of stories,
which detail John
Hagee’s efforts to wrangle the support of the
American Church for a joint US/Israeli attack against
Iran. Hagee
has painted a picture in which he believes the Bible predicts
and God calls for this attack… and he presents himself
as operating along the lines that America
must do this to be spared judgment from God… and
also to do what is necessary to bring about further prophetic
events.
This last point is the one I want to look into today…
this idea that Christians are to be about the business
of fomenting events or conditions in order to hurry or
even bring about the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
In many ways Christianity shows it has no idea about just
how true believers are supposed to live in this world…
and this is part and parcel to what I am talking about.
The idea that God needs Christians or anybody else to
act supposedly on His behalf to make prophetic events
happen or assist in creating conditions conducive to prophetic
fulfillment is really quite ridiculous. God does not
need our little fingers in the pie… especially when placing
our fingers in said pie means taking part in movements
and activities that are a mockery of the truth in Christ.
This truth is that as Christians we are no longer citizens
of this present world, but instead citizens of the Heavenly
Kingdom… and as such our efforts are to be spent bearing
a testimony of that Kingdom… whose ruler is Jesus Christ.
We are to be about the business of leading souls to Christ
through our testimony for Him (in both word and deed)
and our testimony against that which is falsely done in
His name.
As such… where is the justification for believers to
take part in the violence of this world? How is the Kingdom
of Heaven glorified in nuking Iran?
How is Christ magnified by destroying the lost in the
Muslim World? The truthful answer is there is no
justification… the kingdom is not glorified and
Christ is not magnified by these things in any way.
Yet the simple truth is that the part, which the American
Church believes it is destined to play, is not one of
evangelizing and testifying on behalf of Christ the King.
Rather… what the American Church believes is that they
are to serve as an instrument of force and power in this
present world… meant to defend the goodness of God against
evil… to defend Israel against it’s enemies… and to use
America’s wealth and might as a vehicle to hurry up the
prophetic timeline.
Do you see what I am saying here? What guys like Hagee…
Pat
Robertson and many others believe… is that the
US should use its power to defeat Iran… and Islam for
that matter… as well as assist Israel in securing all
of Palestine… in order to create the proper conditions
as they see them… for the return of the Lord.
What vanity this is… as if somehow the Lord needs those
who claim to serve Him to take part in the carnage, which
is going to produce the conditions leading the return
of the Lord. It is a very similar line of thinking to
that which seeks to justify the betrayal of Judas… since
his betrayal set off the chain-reaction, which led to
the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of the Lord.
But hey… this is no new thing at all… Christians have
always wanted to manipulate world events in order to hasten
the return of the Lord… even if it meant getting blood
on their hands. And this stuff has only accelerated since
Israel once again
became a nation back in 1948. Heck… I remember back in
the early 80’s… when Reagan was in the Whitehouse… there
were even Christians working
with hard right Zionist groups in Israel…
attempting to blow up the dome of the rock so that the
Third Temple could be built.
Seriously… just as today… these cats thought it was somehow
God’s Will that they take part in efforts to destroy the
Dome of the Rock… and rebuild the Temple… in order to
hasten the return of the Lord. Think about it… scores
of right Christians were sneaking around Jerusalem… not
to share the Good News of Salvation in Jesus Christ… but
to instead plot with those that wanted to destroy the
Golden Dome and rebuild the Temple… regardless of the
subsequent violence and blood shed to come from such an
event.
As I said earlier… vanity is what this is… and American
Christianity possesses a streak of vanity unrivaled throughout
the annuls of Christendom… and this is exactly where we
are today. In its vanity… and intoxicated stupor… the
American Church somehow feels justified in supporting
the present violence in the Middle East and calling for
even more… under the pretext that they are doing God’s
Will. I tell you what though… I do not want to be in
the shoes of those who will have blood on their hands
from all of this… ON THAT DAY.
Hey I have a bit more to talk about today… but before
I continue… let’s pause for a brief message from those
of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.
--- Message Break ---
Welcome back to the Antipas Audio Journal. Before the
break I was talking about this mindset within American
Christendom, which justifies participation in the present
wars and those
to come as being something, which God requires
of them in order to usher in His Kingdom. It is odd…
because this is so blatantly wrong to me… as I open my
Bible… but apparently it feels so right to most of the
40-plus million evangelical Christians in the US.
I believe the root of all this is just as the Bible says…
the love of money. These American Christians do not so
much worship Christ as they worship their Christian American
lives. Included in this lifestyle is a sense of self-righteousness,
which enables them to somehow remain blind to the blood
that has been spilled in order for them to continue chasing after
the American Dream… all the while seeing themselves
as Godly instruments to be used of Him in delivering His
judgment upon the wicked nations of the earth. Isn’t
that what the fight against evil-doers is all about?
Isn’t that the concept at the center of the thought that
God requires America
as a good, Christian nation to bomb the hell out of Iran?
But to take this back to money… all that other stuff
is really just a pretext… it is a sham… which has been
perpetrated in order to give religious covering to the
Imperial action of the US Elite. And the thing is… people
could see this if they really wanted to… they could hear
this truth if they really wanted to… but they love their
American lives much more than the truth… so they allow
their religion to be twisted into a vehicle, which serves
the purposes of the rich… even when this means
advocating and taking part in war, assassinations, terrorism,
torture, slavery, and genocide.
It is truly sad in one sense… that we have gotten to this
point… and by that I mean it is sad that Christians are
so deluded that they somehow believe they are doing God’s
service in destroying Iraq and soon Iran… all the while
precipitating the commencement of World War 3. As if
God wants His sheep… whose Shepherd is supposed to be
the Prince of Peace… as if God wants His sheep out there
devouring the supposed wolves of this world? It would
blow my mind if I wasn’t already crazy… but crazy I am
indeed.
But you know what… I’d rather be crazy than somehow think
Christ justifies killing in His name. I’d rather be crazy
than cast my lot among those who believe it is good to
use evil means to destroy evil-doers. I’d rather be crazy
than think that the Kingdom of Heaven is being served
by the deaths of Lebanese, Palestinian, and Israeli women
and children. Hell… I’d rather be judged as crazy than
sane by the hypocritical standards of the American Church.
What did Paul say? Something about us being “fools for
Christ”… well… I would rather be crazy in that sense…
than play the sane and rational role of Judas… which is
what American Christianity is surely playing. They are
selling out the Savior for their own 30 pieces of silver…
all the while convincing themselves that they are vessels
of honor hastening the return of the Lord.
Alright… let’s go ahead and move on to another subject…
how about the recent terrorist plot, which British authorities
foiled. It seems British security services foiled a Muslim
terrorist
plot to blow airliners between the UK
and the US.
My first thought when I saw all of this news was that
it is always interesting how something like this always
happens whenever the news in the war on terror gets too
negative.
Look at things… Iraq
is in shambles… Afghanistan is exploding into
violence in its own right… and world sentiments are turning
against Israel, the US, and Britain insofar as Lebanon
is concerned… then WHAM we get news guaranteed to scare
the hell out of westerners… and reinforce the idea that
the Islamic World wants to kill us all.
I guess what I am saying here is that usually… once the
smoke settles on these things we end up finding out that
the threat was not nearly so severe as originally depicted
if there was any threat at all. Yet… I guess my point
is that even if this all is true… and terrorist were in
the final stages of such a dastardly operation… it still
nonetheless serves to push the good citizens of the western
world further into a state of mind, which will justify
the preemptive extermination of such enemies.
And there is one more point to make as well… which is
that things like this also serve to take away a little
more freedom from the people and place more power to surveille
and even detain… into the hands of the police state.
Most of all though… what it does instill the proper level
of fear into the populace… thereby making them more amenable
to state action they might otherwise oppose.
Hey listen… I have just a few more things to discuss
today… but before I do so… let’s pause for another message
from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.
--- Message Break ---
Welcome back to the Antipas Audio Journal… I am your
host, Sean Mayfield. Like I said before the break… I’m
only going to take a few more minutes today before we
head into Steve’s segment on today’s program and I want
to spend that time speaking a bit more about what American
Christianity is truly all about… because it surely isn’t
the Jesus Christ that I know… the Jesus Christ of the
Bible.
The way I see it… and this is something that I have said
before… Americans worship their own lives. They worship
their toys, their jobs, their houses, their power, their
wealth… and they have constructed another Christ who justifies
that which they truly adore.
Think about it… think about how hypocritical American
Christianity is. We are talking about a Church that violently
opposes abortion… yet relishes the death penalty. We
are talking about a Church that claims their God is love…
yet revels in war and violence. We are talking about
a Church, which honors the rich and powerful… all the
while claiming to serve a poor carpenter from Nazareth.
What we are dealing with here is not a people who truly
love the Lord… but instead those who love their own lives…
glorify their own selves… and see God as nothing more
than a combination of some sort of Dr. Phil in the sky
crossed with a justifier of wealth and power in this world.
I read a really good article recently which encapsulates
this all to well. The article is entitled: Megachurches
Court Cool to Attract Teens, by Courtney Watson...
and it can be found on the AlterNet Website. The article
deals specifically with Ted Haggard’s New Life mega-church
in Colorado Springs, Colorado and how they are packaging
their message to reach young audiences. Yet within the
article what is revealing to me is just how self-absorbed
and self-righteous American Christianity has become… and
yes it is fair to lump the whole in with New Life… since
theirs is the blueprint being copied by literally thousands
of other churches throughout the US.
New Life is the perfect symbiosis of the consumer culture
and Christianity. It is a Church built to serve the fleshly
and soulish desires of its congregants. Check out this
paragraph from the beginning of the Watson article to
see what I am saying. Watson writes… and I quote:
“Despite the cushy chairs and mainstream decor, this
is not Starbucks. This is New Life
Church -- some say the most politically
influential site of evangelism in the nation. Kids come
to this megachurch on the outskirts of northern Colorado Springs
not only to be saved but also to sip mocha lattes. They
come, sometimes in the thousands, to this megamall
of worship to praise Jesus, not through quiet, mannered
prayer, but through the gut-vibrating baseline of the
three electric guitars that begin services. In the words
of the lead singer, who sports flip flops with his white
button-down shirt and gelled, hipster hair, the kids come
because: "God, you are so awesome!"”
And to bring it all home… as to what this is really all
about… just check out this quote from near the end of
Watson’s article:
“But unlike the brand of confusion produced by electoral
politics that promises a "stronger America"
or health care for all, New Life
Church promises concrete rewards. Both pastors
spoke often about the payoff for those who are faithful;
Pastor Ted even referred to "the toys" that
those who pray will undoubtedly receive, holding up Sam
Walton of the Wal-Mart fortune as the quintessential example.
For teenagers, unlike aging adults, the ultimate reward
is not yet heaven — it is being "cool,” being entertained,
being inspired. The teenspeak-talking
evangelists assure these insecure kids that if they pray
hard enough, they will not only be loved, but rich. Unlike
the hell that is junior high, at New Life, they are resolutely
on the side of the powerful and popular.”
--- End Quote
Do you see what I am talking about here? American Christianity
is very much a self-absorbed, mocha-latte sipping affair
in which faux-casual attire and hipply coiffed hair pass
for humility and earthy realism. Yet ultimately… what
these guys are selling is the payoff. You can have the
toys like Sam Walton if you are holy enough and servile
enough. If you pray hard enough you will not only be
loved… you will also be rich.
This is what American Christianity is all about. It
is about false piety and defining one’s level of service
to the Lord as how vigorously one fights the evils of
homosexuality, abortion, secularism and Islam… and thusly
receiving the riches of this world as a payoff for your
service. This is the agenda of the God, which American
Christianity worships… and I am here to tell you… their
God is not THE GOD OF HEAVEN. Their Christ is not Jesus…
but another Christ altogether.
Long story short here… when I read that article… I was
really struck with how far gone the American Church is.
I truly believe there is no hope for most who are within that institution. They have been given over
to a reprobate mind… since only a reprobate mind could
do that which they do and call it Christ.
The simple truth is that those within the US
who are true believers… must get out of that nation.
Eventually… all who remain within it will become infected
by the leaven, which the Ted Haggard’s and Ross Parsley’s
of this world are passing off as the truth. In partaking
of this one will find themselves on the receiving end
of judgment from the Lord… because more than anything
else… what He despises is those who do evil in His name.
What He despises is those who justify their own wantonness
and avarice… their own murder and destruction by claiming
their actions are service to Christ. Better to be to
be Anton Levay than Tim LaHaye on the Day of Judgment
is what I say. Better to do evil in the name of anyone
else… rather than in the name of Christ.
Yet best of all… is to truly repent… accept and serve
Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior of the world.
This route won’t get you any riches or power in this present
world… but it will get you a place with Him for all eternity…
and joy unimaginable in spite of the persecutions and
hammering of this present world.
With that said I am going to wrap things up for today…
and get started on today’s special segment, which is Stephen
Colbert’s speech from the 2006 Whitehouse Press Corp Dinner.
I realize this is a little out of the ordinary for us…
and somewhat lighter fare than you usually find on these
broadcasts… but I really think this is a great piece and
want to share it with you all… but before we get to that
let’s pause once again for another message from those
of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.
--- Message Break --- Segment End ---
Welcome back to the Antipas Audio Journal. I am your
host Sean Mayfield. Before the break you were listening
to Stephen Colbert’s speech from the 2006 Whitehouse Press
Corp Dinner. As I said before… this is different from
what you usually find on this program… but hey… if I could
be that funny I would have more comedy on this show.
Well… I hope we don’t get into any trouble for running
that whole clip… I suppose I’ll just plead the 5th
if it comes to that.
Before we shut things down for today I want to once again
thank those who have stepped up to assist us financially…
and I also want to encourage more people to stand with
us in this way. We still have a significant shortfall
to cover to avoid some serious problems… and I trust the
Lord to make provision… and that a part of this provision
will be through your assistance. For details on how to
help out just click on the Support link, which can be
found at the top menu of our homepage: www.antipasministries.com.
And with that said I will go ahead and wrap things up
for today… and in closing leave you with a presentation
of the true gospel message… from those of us here at Antipas
Ministries… So until next time… God Bless You All!
--- Program End ---
Welcome to the Antipas Audio Journal. I am your host
Sean Mayfield. It’s Monday, August 07, 2006 and I am
really happy to be able to bring this broadcast to you
today. I think we have a good broadcast on tap for everyone
today. We are going to talk about events in the Middle
East for the most part… since that is what is dominating
the news… and most probably also dominating the thoughts
of most of you.
Additionally… I am going to be interviewing Fred Palmquist
of Antipas Ministries… who has been here with us in British
Columbia throughout much of the summer. Fred though…
is headed back out on the road early this fall and I want
to get his thoughts on that upcoming trip… as well as
everything else that is going in the world. We’ll do
that interview with Fred after Steve’s segment today.
And speaking of this…
We also have Part 3 of S.R. Shearer’s series entitled,
Sowing
the Seeds of the Gog/Magog War on tap for today…
So all in all… there is a lot to cover… especially considering
that I didn’t get a broadcast released on Thursday or
Friday of last week.
And before I get started on today’s show… I am going
to tell you why there was no end of week broadcast last
week. I had planned on doing one… and in fact had even
started working on it… while at the same time we were
going over our budget and saw how huge our shortfall was
for the month. I spent most of Thursday working on how
to take care of this… and then on Friday we got a cut-off
notice for our electric bill… So I spent more time dealing
with that issue…
I realize it is bad that I let these things interfere
with getting the Word out… believe me I know this… but
in all honesty we are in severely dire straits right now.
Aside from a handful of faithful contributors and a new
donor… there has been no other support over the past several
weeks. We are presently in a position where if things
do not change we will lose our electricity, high-speed
internet (which is necessary to upload these audio files),
and our phone service within the next week or so.
Look… I am not trying to give everyone some kind of a
sob story… because I fully realize that each of us have
our own struggles… and in particular our own financial
struggles. What I do know however… is that many, many
of you have written to us over the past months and years
expressing how firmly in agreement you are with this message…
and how much you have benefited and stand with us. I
guess what I am saying to those of you who fall into this
category… is don’t forget about us when it comes to supporting
us.
We have committed ourselves to bringing this message
to as many people as we can… in every way that we can.
We also do everything we can to alleviate our expenses
by living frugally and managing to provide about half
of the income we need every month ourselves… through our
own present and past efforts. And we do all this while
literally spending most of our waking hours researching,
writing, recording, answering emails, and managing the
websites. So I just want to put that out there… in the
hope that a few of you will respond and help us out...
and not because I have made you feel pressured to do so…
but because you know before the Lord that sending even
just a little bit our way is the right thing to do.
Now to clarify just a couple of more things before I
move on… because in response to this I will get several
emails from folks within the US who will jump all over
me for taking money from America when we preach to get
out. My response is this… the majority of the people
who assist us are at this point not in the US… and most
of the rest are those who are in agreement with the message
to get out… and are in some stage of acting upon said
message.
So do not inundate me with letters calling me out on
this. If the Lord moves you to help us out… then do so…
if He does not… then obviously… don’t worry about it…
and if you are already helping us out… Thank you so much…
and please know this segment is not directed to you.
Additionally… if by some reason we do fall short and are
unable to update the website for a while… don’t think
we are gone forever… I will sell a kidney or something…
if necessary… to get us back as soon as possible.
Alright… before we move on I guess I should say that
if you are so led to assist us… just click on the Support
link, which can be found at the top of our homepage at
www.antipasministries.com
for all the details on how to do so.
Well then… let’s go ahead and move forward… shall we?
Before we jump into our interview with Fred Palmquist…
I do want to make some brief observations about the continuing
conflict taking place between Israel
and Hezbollah. Just like we were talking about a couple
of weeks ago… the plan, which the US
has calls for this thing to push the envelope to the point
that the US and
Israel can attack
both Iran
and Syria.
Already… over the weekend… their has been not just an
escalation in the violence between Israel and
Hezbollah… but also US rhetoric implicating Iran and Syria
as suppliers of weaponry to Hezbollah… which must be stopped
I might add. Plus… the US
is really ramping up the alarm concerning the danger the
world faces with Iran’s
purported efforts to build a nuclear weapon.
Along these lines… it must also be noted that if the
US Elite really and truly wanted a ceasefire… there would
already
be one. They would not have shipped laser-guided
munitions to the Israelis… and would allow the Israelis
to so jeopardize the already precarious situation in Iraq.
Do you know what I mean Vern? Think about it… since
the conflict between Israel, Hezbollah, and also Hamas
broke out… the Iraq insurgency has exploded into an orgy
of violence… to the point that the mainstream press is
openly discussing the specter of all out civil
war in Iraq … one in which US control of the region
will be even harder to maintain. To get back to the point
though… there is no way the US
would allow the Israelis to continue and in fact rearm
them… if it were not part of a bigger picture, which the
US Elite see as favorable.
And what they see is a continuation of the present conflict
until circumstances can support the attacking
of Iran and Syria … and when this turns Iraqi
Shiites into combatants against their American occupiers…
it will also provide the US leadership with the opportunity
to destroy Iraqi population centers with the same sort
of vigor the Israelis are presently using in Lebanon and
Gaza. What we are talking about here is a war of extermination…
which the US
leadership feels will enable then to exert total control
over the region.
And let me be clear… Iran, Syria, and Iraq are only the
first step… all of this will culminate in the Gog/Magog
War… in which the Muslim world will for all practical
purposes be utterly destroyed as any sort of obstacle
to US hegemony over the region.
Hey listen… I still have a few more things to talk about…
but before I continue let’s pause so we can listen to
the following message from those of us here at Antipas
Ministries.com.
--- Message Break ---
Welcome back to the Antipas Audio Journal. Before the
break I was talking about how the present Israeli conflict
will lead to a US/Israeli attack
against Iran
and Syria… which
will somehow lead to the Treaty with Death and Hell… which
will lead to the Gog/Magog War. Well… I didn’t throw
the part about the treaty in earlier… but have done so
now.
Interestingly I received another email from the guy who
told me the Tribulation had already started on July 12
of this year… after saying back in 2005 that it would
start in July of that year. Well this guy wrote me late
last week to tell me that the Gog/Magog War was to begin
this past weekend. He once again said we missed it because
the Lord has taken the gift of prophecy away from us due
to our being unrepentant sinners.
Well… let me tell all of you… I am a sinner… but I am
a REPENTANT sinner… I pray the Lord forgive my transgression
by the blood of Jesus Christ who died for my sins. And
as to the matter of our having the gift of prophecy taken
away from us… and specifically Steve having it taken away
from him… The answer here is that we have no special dispensation
from the Lord. We are not dreaming dreams or seeing visions
here. We do as all those in Christ can… we seek out the
truth of God’s Word letting the Spirit of Christ show
us that which is so… and we keep our eyes open to what
is happening in the world… looking at things through a
lense in which Christ leads us to understanding.
We are not casting chicken bones… or looking for hidden
meanings others cannot see… we are just letting the Lord
lead us… and using the capacity to think and understand,
which He has given us… show us the way. Well… like I
said a while back… this guy who has told us the Tribulation
has already started and followed it up with a prediction
that Gog/Magog would happen this past weekend… well… this
fellow should be glad we are living in the times of the
New Covenant… because back in the Old Testament days…
the call would have been to stone this fellow. Praise
the Lord though… those times are past… and we are now
rescued from the curse of sin and the stumbling-block
of the Law… through the grace extended by the blood of
Christ.
All we have to do is repent our sins to HIM… that is
it… and let Him lead us into His will… one more thing
though… what we also ought to do… is stay away from those
who unrepentantly go about making false prophecies… do
not hate them or stone them… just stay away from them…
lest the leaven, which is percolating in their little
lump… work its way into yours.
To change gears a bit…
As I said earlier… I want to
talk about the Middle East today and we have done so…
but in talking about the Middle East… I also want to talk
about the Church… the American Church… spe cifically its
part in bringing the US
into the coming wars against Iran
and Syria… and
eventually Gog/Magog.
There was another interesting article about John Hagee
last week… which goes into just how involved the American
Evangelical Church is in beating the war drums for the
US Elite. I want to share liberally from that article…
which is entitled, Lobbying for Armageddon,
and was written by Sarah Posner, on the AlterNet Website.
In the article… Posner writes… and I quote:
At the center of it all is Pastor John Hagee, a popular
televangelist who leads the 18,000-member Cornerstone
Church in San Antonio, Texas.
While Hagee has long prophesized about the end times,
he ratcheted up his rhetoric this year with the publication
of his book, "Jerusalem Countdown,"
in which he argues that a confrontation with Iran
is a necessary precondition for Armageddon and the Second
Coming of Christ.
Hagee insists that the United
States must join Israel
in a preemptive military strike against Iran
to fulfill God's plan for both Israel
and the West.
Shortly after the book's publication, he launched
Christians United for Israel
(CUFI), which, as the Christian version of the powerful
American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, he said would cause "a
political earthquake."
At CUFI's kick-off banquet
at the Washington Hilton, attended by over
3,500 members, Republican support for both Hagee's effort
and his drumbeat for war with Iran
were on full view. Republican National Committee Chair
Ken Mehlman told
the group that "no regime is more central to
the global jihad" than Iran.
Just two days before, Newt Gingrich and John McCain made
the rounds of the Sunday talk shows to sound the same
message, leading Benny Elon,
a member of the Israeli Knesset, to comment to the Jerusalem
Post that their remarks originated with Hagee. Rick Santorum
and Sam Brownback also addressed the group,
and Bush sent words of support to the gathering. Republicans, and even some
Democrats, spoke at CUFI events to show their "support
for Israel."
But while public and media attention was on the fighting
between Israel
and Hezbollah, Hagee's focus continued to be on Iran…”
Later in the article Posner reveals just how much stroke
Hagee and his evangelical allies have in Washington… based
upon their ability to deliver the votes of their congregants.
Along these lines Posner writes:
“…While the crisis at the Israel-Lebanon border drew
more mainstream media attention to CUFI's activities, Hagee's supporters have long known that
leading Republicans are listening. Rabbi Daniel Lapin,
a prominent Jewish ally of the evangelical right (and
friend of Jack Abramoff) has
said that Hagee "without question, yes, absolutely"
has the ear of the White House…
… In the same way that Karl Rove courted conservative
evangelicals in 2004 by appealing to their homophobia,
Republican campaign rhetoric for 2006 and 2008 has already
shown signs of playing to voters who have been hearing
hype for a war with Iran for months -- at church…
… Hagee already has spent months mobilizing the shock
troops in support of another war. As diplomats, experts
and pundits debate how many years Iran
will need to develop a viable nuclear weapon, Hagee says
the mullahs already possess the means to destroy Israel
and America.
And although Bush insists that diplomatic options are
still on the table, Hagee has dismissed pussyfooting diplomacy
and primed his followers for a conflagration…”
And just who is involved in this push
for war with Iran?
Just who among the American Church are so willing to carry
the lunch-pail for the greed inspired ambitions of the
US Elite? Well… Posner provides a few names when she
writes:
“… The CUFI board of directors includes the Rev. Jerry
Falwell, former Republican presidential candidate and
religious right activist Gary Bauer, and George Morrison,
pastor of the 8,000-member Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada,
Colo., and chairman of the board of Promise
Keepers. Rod Parsley, the Ohio televangelist
who is rapidly becoming a major political player in the
Christian right, signed on to be a regional director.
Next… Posner shows just how rabid Hagee is in support
of this cause… and I must add… just how devoid of anything
resembling the love of Christ as shown by his willingness
to advocate the destruction
of thousands upon thousands and resort to the
worst sort of un-based fear mongering to do so. On this
point Posner writes:
Hagee argues that Iran's
development of nuclear weapons must be stopped to protect
America
and Israel
from a nuclear attack. Preying on legitimate worries about
terrorism, and invoking 9/11, he vividly describes a supposed
Iranian-led plan to simultaneously explode nuclear suitcase
bombs in seven American cities, or to use an electromagnetic
pulse device to create "an American Hiroshima."”
When addressing audiences receptive to Scriptural
prophecy, however, Hagee welcomes the coming confrontation.
He argues that a strike against Iran
will cause Arab nations to unite under Russia's
leadership, as outlined in chapters 38 and 39 of the Book
of Ezekiel, leading to an "inferno [that] will explode
across the Middle East, plunging the world
toward Armageddon." In Hagee's telling, Israel
has no choice but to strike at Iran's
nuclear facilities, with or without America's
help. The strike will provoke Russia
-- which wants Persian Gulf oil -- to lead
an army of Arab nations against Israel.
Then God will wipe out all but one-sixth of the Russian-led
army, as the world watches "with shock and awe,"
he says, lending either a divine quality to the Bush administration
phrase or a Bush-like quality to God's wrath.
But Hagee doesn't stop there. He adds that Ezekiel
predicts fire "upon those who live in security in
the coastlands." From this sentence, he concludes
that there will be judgment upon all who stood by while
the Russian-led force invaded Israel, and issues a stark
warning to the United States to intervene: "Could
it be that America, who refuses to defend Israel from
the Russian invasion, will experience nuclear warfare
on our east and west coasts?" He says yes, citing
Genesis 12:3, in which God said to Israel:
"I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse
him who curses you."
To fill the power vacuum left by God's decimation
of the Russian army, the Antichrist -- the head of the
EU -- will rule "a one-world government, a one-world
currency and a one-world religion" for three and
a half years. (Hagee adds that "one need only be
a casual observer of current events to see that all three
of these things are coming into reality." The "demonic
world leader" will then be confronted by a false
prophet, identified by Hagee as China,
at Armageddon, the Mount of Megiddo in Israel.
As they prepare for the final battle, Jesus will return
on a white horse and cast both villains -- and presumably
any nonbelievers -- into a "lake of fire burning
with brimstone," thus marking the beginning of his
millennial reign.
--- End Quote
Now that quote reveals just how far out in lala-land
Hagee is insofar as eschatology is concerned. Regardless
of the facts on the ground concerning who presently rules
the world… and who is working actively to tighten that
grip… Hagee insists upon pushing some fantasy scenario
where the EU… which has no military to speak of… and has
no economic might outside of the US
system… will somehow give birth to the Antichrist.
To get straight to the point… these fantasies ought to
reveal that men such as Hagee do not worship Jesus Christ…
but America.
America is his
savior… and along with millions and millions of Christians
within the US…
he is going to do everything he can to promote her dominance
and perpetuity. Included in this is pushing the flock
to support the coming war with Iran as being a Godly directive…
and I would even venture to guess… these guys won’t even
recognize Gog/Magog for the war that it is… but will instead
cheer
and goosestep along with the forces of the antichrist…
i.e. those of the US rather than recognizing the true
enemy of the cross in all of this.
Hey that’s about all I have to say for today… at least
for this segment. So this is what we are going to do…
we will take a break here in a second… and when we come
back we’ll begin Part 3 of Steve’s series on the Gog/Magog
War… and after that segment is concluded… I’ll come back
for our interview with Fred Palmquist. Before we move
forward though… let’s pause one more time for another
message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.com.
--- Message Break --- Segment End ---
--- Steve’s Segment ---
--- Interview with Fred:
At this point I want to welcome everyone back to the
Antipas Audio Journal. Before the break you were listening
to Part 3 of Steve’s series entitled: Sowing the
Seeds of the Gog/Magog War. Now let’s move on
to our interview with Fred Palmquist of Antipas Ministries.
Fred has been working with Steve… for several decades
now… and rather than give you a huge back story here…
I will just get started.
First of all… welcome Fred and please say hello to everyone
out there.
--- [Editors note: Sorry guys, Fred’s interview
still has not been transcribed.] ---
* My first question is just how long have you been
laboring with Steve in this message? How far do you guys
go back?
*So my next question is… what all have you guys done
over the years in order to get the message out there to
everyone? I know Steve first wrote the Antipas Papers
back in the late 70’s… and well… I know the story anyway…
but would you please share a little bit with everyone
out there as to some of the efforts you guys have made
over the years?
*Now a lot of folks out there have either met you
on one of your trips or have corresponded or spoke with
you over the phone… what do you think is the pulse of
the people out there… and what would be your advice to
those who are touched by this message?
*Now Fred… You are also heading up our Training Program…
and while we have spoken about this before on the audio
journal… why don’t you share
what your involvement is… and why you think this training
is important.
*And you are going to be taking a trip fairly soon
to reach out to those interested in all of this right?
Can you tell us what you itinerary is at this point?
*Now this trip is taking place against the backdrop
of the conflict in the Middle East… and
all the other major events going on in the world. Can
you give me your thoughts about where we are at prophetically…
and what you believe the Lord desires of His children
in light of all this?
Fred, I really want to thank you for sitting here with
me and sharing this with all of our listeners. It has
been a great blessing to have you here with us this summer…
and I will certainly miss you while you are out on the
road.
Listen up everyone… if you are interested in meeting
with Fred while he is out on the road… if you are serious
about this message and want to learn more about getting
involved… then reach out to Fred and let him know. You
can send an email to Fred@antipasministries.com
and until tomorrow you can reach him here via the phone
at 250-397-2555. Once Fred is back on the road you can
reach him via his cell phone at: 916-730-7099 or also
at 916-455-1719.
Well look… that pretty much wraps things up for today…
so I am going to go ahead and close things out. In closing
though… I’ll leave you with a presentation of the Gospel
Message from those of us here at Antipas Ministries.
So until next time… God Bless You All.
--- Program End
