October 27, 2003

Revelation 6: 2 talks about a rider on a white horse (infers his coming in peace), who actually goes forth "conquering and to conquer." Daniel 11:21 (and on thru the end of the chapter) speaks of one who, "...shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries." These verses of course allude to the coming antichrist. Machevelli, as noted in an interesting commentary titled Dominion And Deception, also speaks of "“...one prince of the present time, whom it is not well to name, who never preaches anything else but peace and good faith, and to both he is most hostile…”

The fact that the American Empire is ripe for the coming of such a "prince" is not just a coincidence. By just tossing American Christians a few bones, the powers that be have more than secured their loyalty to the Elite's dreams of empire. In following such a path the Church has truly lost sight of Christ's commandments. So much so that even secularist and liberal theologians have no trouble in spotting the hypocrisy of a Church hell-bent on conquest "for Christ" at the expense of the least and the poorest among us. This is what happens when men harden their hearts to Christ's commandments and instead serve the forces of this world.

When this happens you get "Christian leaders" like the venerable Tom Delay, who as one of the most powerful men in Washington has done more to dishonor Christ in the past few years than most hells angels do in a lifetime. Molly Ivins says, "Brother Tom is given both to preaching holy propriety and running a political machine so shameless that it would make Boss Tweed blush. Those who were privileged to see him in action during the last days of the peculiarly hideous process of redistricting Texas know that ruthlessness and Christianity can be combined, no matter what Jesus had to say on the subject." Ruthlessness and Christianity combined... Molly has said a mouthful... and sadly, this is all just getting started.

Of course all this goes on while Cheney and all the Bush team prattle on in public about how the troops are winning over the Iraqi people, while Rummy is passing memos to his folks about how terrible things really are over there... and our soldiers are suffering terrible losses in a horrible expose of just which version is true. Not that you will find anyone in the Church willing to see the current situation for what it is. The laity is too busy waving the flag and bustin their humps to get Republicans into office and the leaders are to the point where they are unafraid to openly call for the murder of the enemies of the right-wing.

What's remarkable is that they throw guys like Sherman Austin in jail on trumped up charges and will someday step up their already acknowledged efforts to silence Antipas Ministries, but while we here at Antipas merely expose the Truth... those on the Right, both Christian and not, never face the music for their calls for death and destruction on their enemies... I guess the world loves its own.

October 16, 2003

News, news, and more news today. Just when the furor in the mainstream press had died down respective to the religious aspects of the US war against terrorism, along comes Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin, the new deputy undersecretary of Defense for intelligence. Boykin, a professing evangelical Christian recently stated this war against Bin Laden and Hussein (terrorism) is a clash between Judeo-Christian values and Satan. Other incredible statements from Boykin include: "We in the army of God, in the house of God, kingdom of God have been raised for such a time as this," Boykin said last year." and On at least one occasion, in Sandy, Ore., in June, Boykin said of President Bush: "He's in the White House because God put him there."

These statements are incredible because they shed a tangible light upon the mindset of a huge part of American Christendom. There is a thought among many that Bush was placed in office by God specifically to lead the forces of Christianity (or Judeo-Christianity) against the satanic forces of Islam. While not in any way defending Islam as godly, I have to say the arrogance and total disregard for God's word concerning our relationship to the world that Christians are displaying is ample evidence of how close we are to the end of the age. When men of power, such as Boykin, brazenly espouse such Dominionist ideology, it becomes evident that there is not much time left before this conflagration involving Christianity and Judaism against Islam, erupts into that prophetic event known as the "Gog Magog War".

The American Empire is also hard at work in Bolivia, where it's puppet regime is resorting to slaughter and brutality to combat indigenous protests against an oppressive government beholden to US multinational interests above those of its own citizens. This is the same government that allowed corporations such as the Bechtel Corporation to pillage its resources mercilessly, as S.R. Shearer elaborated on in his September 2002 article,
Coaxing Christians Out of Their Hiding Places.

An interesting critique and expose of the Left was recently offered by esteemed writer Anis Shivani. Shivani is very accurate in his exposure of the failings of the Left as a movement and as a mainstream party (the Democrats). The real problem however, which Shivani needs to see, is that there is no worldly battle plan or ideology that can rescue this world... only Christ Jesus. This is why it is so important for those of us in Christ to present ourselves as "not of this world" and as servants of "the heavenly kingdom". When we begin choosing sides and bargaining for solutions in the affairs of this world, no matter how well intentioned, we end up in a compromised state, worse than that we began with.

As the military man-power shortage worsens in the face of an expanding military empire and while middle America suffers from its worst job market in decades a curious divide is occurring in this country. Just as the legions of Rome ended up being manned by provincials, so to are America's armed forces being manned by kids from the heartland, where in many cases signing up offers the only way out of an economically dead Middle America. It is because of the man-power shortage that even Democrats like General Wesley Clark are calling for a Federal Civilian Reserve Force to augment the armed services. Combine our economic sufferings with a growing need for military personnel and one wonders how long before they bring back the draft.

The draft will probably be back soon, in spite of the fact that tens of thousands of military support positions are being filled by contract employees. So much so that the line between them and the soldiers is becoming blurred, as evidenced by recent casualties among US contract employees in Israel. Multibillion dollar corporations such as Dyncorp perform almost every conceivable type of support role for the military, including doing the actual fighting in places such as Columbia where officially the US is not supposed to have a fighting presence. Employing mercenaries in the service of corporate profits in the third world is not quite what one would expect from the Christian leaders of a Christian nation... Now is it?

Of course neither are the types of torture/interrogation methods employed by the US as revealed in a recent piece from the Atlantic Monthly and commented upon is our last article. While the Atlantic Monthly may think there is a time and place for "torture lite" others in the press are not so kind... Come to think of it neither will Christ be, when he executes his judgment upon a "Christian nation" so willing to torture its enemies in service of what Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin calls, "a clash between Judeo-Christian values and Satan."

October 13, 2003

Well, looks like we have a new governor in California, one who was successful in tapping into the white-country club rage that has been sweeping the state for quite some time. And then there's poor, embattled, prescription drug-addict Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh has made millions by fomenting rage against lefties, the homeless, and drug addicts. Now it seems the tables have turned on this lonely man. As a Christian I pray that he be delivered from his addiction in spite of his ill-will for all who would stand opposed to the greedy, murderous agenda of the hard-core right.

Then there's our old pal Pat Robertson, who now apparently advocates smuggling a nuclear device into the State Department's HQ, since they are, in his perception, standing in the way of Bush and the Pentagon's efforts toward world empire. Shouldn't John Ashcroft be arresting Robertson on terrorism charges about right now?

In the continuing saga of electronic vote fraud, evidence is now coming out of actual illegalities in the 2002 Georgia elections. Makes me wonder just how accurate things were in California last week, or how accurate they'll be in 2004 nationwide.

In Europe, religious faith is fast fading, while here in America it is growing by leaps and bound and its adherents actually think they can establish God's kingdom on earth.

Meanwhile there are folks who are opposed to this push for theocratic power and opposed to the corporate agenda of world hegemony that it thinly veils. For the most part, however, this opposition comes not from Christians, but those outside of Christ. Yet there efforts for economic justice are worthy of notice, if only for us to recognize that there are folks who are open to the real Jesus Christ and his message of mercy. These people are the fertile ground on which the seeds of the true gospel of Christ will find root.

No WMD's have been found in Iraq. Even GW has admitted some of his evidence is wrong. Yet Cheney doesn't care, as he continues to push the Iraq as terrorist angle to the hard-right base in spite of concerns within his own party, that he has lost it, so to speak.

The use of DU shells could have fatal consequences for US soldiers in Iraq. We at Antipas have been talking about this danger for many years, yet most Christians ignore it because it gets in the way of their patriotism and support for empire.

Sometime in the next day or two, the EndtimesNetwork will have a new front page that we hope will serve all of you better. Please feel free to provide us with feedback on this.

October 6, 2003

Tomorrow Californians go to the polls and it is looking more and more like the Terminator (or is the Predator more appropriate?) could very well end up the next Governor of this state. Lost in all the hubris is his roll and that of other prominent California conservatives in the energy crisis (be sure and read the emails linked in the article), which heavily contributed to bringing about the state's and the nation's current economic woes. Now in saying this, I am not playing Gov. Davis up as a saint, because as our last article clearly stated, the Democrats are just as complicit as the Republicans concerning the war the rich have declared against the poor.

Speaking of our last article... Its not that hard to see the truth that most Christians are headed towards their own destruction with a kind of Kafkaesque belief that things will all work out when the evidence of just where this nation and the church are headed is quite contrary to that belief.

Will the Bush Whitehouse leak that outed a CIA operative become TreasonGate? Not if evangelical Christians have anything to say about it. They are solidly behind Bush, despite the lies and subterfuge of this affair; WMD's, the economic and the human toll in Iraq;the economy, 9/11; etc. etc.

Even in a "liberal" state like California, hard-core evangelicals dream a theocratic dream for the state and the nation. Sadly, the kingdom they are dreaming of has nothing to do with Christ and merely shows the huge part they are playing in bringing about a Final Solution for the new millennium.

September 30, 2003

Well, needless to say I terribly lost my momentum after two straight days of journals, ending on the 10th. Antipas Ministries has been in a terrible financial crunch lately, which has forced some of us away from working full-time in this ministry and has forced me to bear down at my job... This has been to the detriment of our spreading of the Word, yet reality always wins the day... and our reality at this present time, requires us to spend more hours "making tents" than ministering to the saints. So anyone out there able to assist us in devoting more time to the ministry, please do so...

That being said, next I call your attention to Supply-Side Jesus. He has no problems raising funds and has no problems drawing a crowd. This comic depiction of the god of the Religious Right is dead on in so many aspects. In this day and age folks will much more easily believe a lie than they ever would the truth.

Speaking of lies... Isn't it amazing that the same crowd ready to string Clinton up by his petards for his lying and lechery are all too willing to close their eyes to lies by Bush and his team? Bear in mind these lies have cost us 150 billion dollars, 305 dead Americans, more than 1,400 seriously wounded and many thousands of Iraqi dead. In all honesty, answer this question for me... Whose shoes would you rather be standing in, when the books are opened? There is a history of lying and subterfuge with these guys. Mastermind Rove's pedigree of foul play is long and distinguished as are the rest of the player's on the Bush team.

Yet folks never throw stones when their inner desires are being sated. By that I mean that American Christians, by and far Bush and the GOP's largest constituency, yearn for the wealth and power that Bush and his cabal represent. They fervently desire a world-wide American empire, which takes no bull from anyone. They don't want to share what they have with the poor, the widows, the orphans, etc. All of them may be getting played for suckers, but it is a part they choose to play every day.

As if all the garden-variety scandals aren't enough, the latest eruption is over just who in the Whitehouse leaked a CIA agent's identity to retaliate against an opponent of the administration's Iraq. These are potentially issues of treason and bear watching to see how it plays out... and how patriotic Christians react. Things are no doubt getting troublesome, when even the mouthpiece used to accomplish the above act of retribution begins printing unflattering articles about those in charge.

Will it matter when the votes are counted next November? Who really knows, what with the goings on in the electronic voting business. Its beginning to look like you'd stand a better chance of getting an accurate audit from Arthur Anderson than to get an honest tally of the 2004 vote. Who knows though... if the economy continues to worsen and the haves continue to rob the have-nots there could possibly be a change. If more and more folks become marginalized, while breadlines similar to the depression-era US become more frequent, Bush and Co. could find themselves in deep trouble come '04. I tell ya though, I just don't see these guys relinquishing the power they now have... there are just too many chips on the table for them to walk away peacefully. What does this mean for 2004... what do you think?

September 10, 2003

Two days in a row for the journal... this somewhat of a record here lately. Be sure and keep your eye on news coming from the WTO summit meeting in Cancun. There are many protests planned as the corporate elite assemble together to iron out there plans to finish dividing up the world. Of course I would suggest you check out independent media outlets if you really want to know what is going on.

A fascinating story, which just won't die, is the airlift of prominent Saudi nationals, including members of the Bin Laden clan out of the US, just hours after 9-11 while all major air traffic was grounded. The story is just how intertwined the Bush family is with the Saudis in genera and the Bin Ladens in particular.

Iraq is truly turning into a fiasco for the Bush administration. There is a serious "man-power shortage" that even erstwhile right-wingers are beginning to comment on. I am afraid that what this is leading to is a worsening of events until the US brings out the big hammer and begins to crush the population in order to bring the country under control. This will of course bring about a huge reaction from the arab world, but this push towards a major conflagration is probably what the neocons want anyway, so they can remake the region in their image... something they have wanted to do long before 9-11.

This is perfectly in line with recent statements by VP Cheney, that the US will execute its war in Iraq (and against terrorism) until, "until all enemies of the United States are eliminated." (editor's note: the original version of the above linked article has bee replaced by a 'tamer version', which stated much more plainly US intentions to wage war against any perceived 'terrorist' enemy, anywhere in the world)

What we are seeing folks, is a rapid transformation taking place. The United States is transforming itself right before our very eyes from republic to empire. Just as happened with Rome some 2000 years, so to is befalling this nation today... and just as Caesar and the first triumvirate set into action the events, which had their eventual culmination in the "god"-emperor, Augustus; so too shall the tumultuous events of today ever so quickly lead us to a modern day Augustus, whose reign of terror will surpass all of past history combined.

 

September 9, 2003

Lots of interesting stuff going on around the world. The country has lost 3 million jobs over the past three years and that has made for lots of angry men and women. Meanwhile the US continues to extends its tentacles across the globe in the aprapos named World War IV (a.k.a the War on Terrorism). Don't fret though, because there is some good being made out of all of this: Halliburton's profits are going through the roof. So those of you invested in them are surely smiling in spite of all the other bad news.

Those profits just won't trickle-down to you and I. While we suffer from the stagnant economy and continuing layoffs, Bush is pushing another 87 billion to cover the war in Iraq... Not so suprisingly though, this still doesn't "cover it". From the description of what is actually going on in Iraq, 87 billion won't even come close to fixing the destruction we have wrought.

The noose is really tightening on all of us here at home also, as "Big Brother Takes Grip On America". Amazingly though, as this world-wide upheaval continues most Americans (Christian included) remain oblivious to it all. It is almost as if they were brainwashed.

On the religious front, there has been a movement underfoot, which is a mimicry of the homefellowship model we believe in here at Antipas Ministries. This is known in some circles as the "cell-church" movement and as highlighted in detail in a past article by Trish Tillan of Banner Ministries, "The name of the game is CONTROL and the cell-church system is designed both to control and to monitor church membership and to achieve the ultimate goal of the apostate religious empire: to bring planet earth under the government of the Global Church!"

 

September 3, 2003

What a busy last few days it has been. Here at Antipas Ministries, we had visitors over the Labor Day weekend and there is not much to celebrate insofar as the job market is concerned, we did have wonderful fellowship and much work to further the cause of Christ was accomplished. However, now I have an incredible backlog of news articles to share with all of you. Due to this, the commentary will be sparse and the links abundant.

Brother Ashcroft has been a busy man lately, what with trying to drum up support for his version of a fascist state, while obfuscating inquiries into his own past breaches of the law.. Maybe he thinks we'll need to be able to lock massive amounts of people up easily if the sagging economy continues to decimate the poor and middle class. You know its getting bad when a stalwart conservative newspaper in Memphis begin to report on all the jobs being lost. Of course even those who are working, are more often than not plugging away at an average hourly wage of $7.50 per hour at some WalMart-type corporate chain store. Meanwhile our CEO, I mean commander in chief is encouraging folks to make food donations to military families. Kind of ironic considering that with Bush's hundreds of billions in tax cuts to the rich, his 400 billion dollar military budget (to fatten up the defense industry), and the billions more in contracts to the corporations rebuilding Iraq; that he couldn't find enough compassion in his conservatism to ensure military families could be properly fed without relying on charity. In fact he actually denied and/or cut pay and benefit packages meant to improve the lot of the men and women who do the dying to help him build his empire.

Don't even begin to think you can change things at the ballot box, because it is looking more and more like the game has been seriously rigged to guarantee certain candidates a win. Apparently all it takes is a little "computer magic" to manipulate vote totals, without even creating a trail.

I reader sent me this link with some really interesting "propaganda posters" be sure and check them out.

August 23, 2003

Lots and lots of things going on this weekend. To begin with, Steve's new article, GREED, AVARICE AND THE COMING DICTATORSHIP is now available. Also Doug's second travel journal, which covers their time in Denver, CO during their recent trip has been released.

Along the news front... evidence is everywhere of just how bad the economy is getting, with the number of those known as, the invisible jobless, rising dramatically. Meanwhile, author Jim Hightower comments on just how much the American people have allowed the elites to ursurp their rights, and on the fact that in effect, we are living in a kleptocrat nation: "kleptocrat nation (klep toe krat nay shun), n. 1. a body of people ruled by thieves. 2. a government characterized by the practice of transferring money and power from the many to the few. 3. a ruling class of moneyed elites that usurps liberty, justice, sovereignty, and other democratic rights from the people. 4. the USA in 2003."

This is only the beginning of the sorrows. The men ruling this, the most powerful nation on earth, have much more in store for all of us. "They Work for the Devil and Call Him Jesus"... opines one scribe. He has no idea how close to the truth he actually is. Ringleader of their version of the Gestapo, John Ashcroft continues on his tour of the country to drum up support for the Patriot Act, while starting their push in Washington for VICTORY, which could make many more people at risk of being arrested and tried as "terrorist". Kinda make you long for the simple days of Benito Mussolini, doesn't it?

I don't know if we'll ever learn exactly what Bush and the government know and knew about 9/11, but it seems the wives of some victims are doing all they can to press for answers. In doing so, they have laid to bear a great deal of info suggesting that the administration knew full-well in advance that the attacks were going to occur. If so the question to be asked is, was it allowed to happen so that the acceleration of turning the US into a Corporate/Christian/Fascist Police State could occur?

Meanwhile, all is not well in Afghanistan, as the violence there continues... and many are saying a reconstituted Taliban is making a push to further bring down the US backed puppet regime. With all this bad news for Bush (WMD lies, the economy, and the Fghan/Iraq operations bogging down), it is no suprise that they keep reviving "Chemical Ali" so they can capture/kill him again. I mean haven't they gotten this guy like 5 or 6 times already?

Seriously though, the GOP has an "ace in the hole" in all of this mess. No matter how much flack they are catching come November 2004, they are still fairly confident about "winning" the election. Why you ask? Because if worst comes to worst, they own the voting machines. No matter who actually gets the most votes, I will not be the least bit suprised to see a GOP landslide. Lies cannot be hidden forever though, and eventually the truth will come out.

August 20, 2003

To begin with, I'd like to encourage everyone to read the latest updates from Doug Krieger's Travel Journals. It has all the info from our Santa Cruz Conference and lots of other really good stuff, which is very relevant to all that's going on.

Plus, we are also getting news reports that Al Qaeda is claiming responsibility for last weeks blackout. No doubt that will surely get Ashcroft's engines revving. He has probably been too busy writing more patriotic hymns and hasn't had time to examine what manner of beast he has actually become. Plus, not to be content with just spying on his own fellow-citizens, Brother Ashcroft is doing his best to get the lowdown on about 60 million Mexicans as well.

Then there's hard-core, self-professed "Christian Zionist" Tom Delay... who thinks by doing his part to rid the world of millions of A-r abs and Palestinians, while gerry-rigging Texas congressional districts that he is somehow pleasing God. My question is just which God is he aiming to please? All the while the Church continues to ignore the fleecing of Iraq's oil wealth being perpetrated by our fearless leader and his oil company cronies. If you follow these guys you would think there answer to the question of "What Would Jesus Do?" is buy preferred shares in Halliburton, BP, or Exxon-Mobil.

Along with fleecing Iraq, Bush and his cronies have big plans to continue and intensify their fleecing of the federal government as well. Privatization of government services is the name of the game my friend... and if you think the services provided by the corporate monopolies in the cable, electric, and insurance businesses are bad, just wait until fat cats with guaranteed billion dollar contracts are responsible for inspecting the meat and produce you eat every day. I predict a rise in Pepto-Bismo stock in the foreseeable future.

What I want to know is what any of this has to do with the kingdom of heaven? I mean if our leaders are such great Christians, isn't that what they should be striving for? (instead of capital gains tax cuts.) GW claims to be God's man of the hour, and this is exactly, "what scares so many people outside the U.S. (is) the President's religious, apocalyptic rhetoric. Is he really ready for Armageddon? Not likely..." From a scriptural stand point it doesn't seem like he has much idea what Armageddon is really all about.

There is just no getting around the fact that GW uses every opportunity he can to play "the religion card" , especially in the service of the war for profit agenda he truly worships. If he were really a man of faith then his actions and words would both be in line with the Word... yet the evidence clearly suggests otherwise. Yet he forges on in the path he has chose, believing he has some kind of divine mandate to rid the world of evil. He is dragging millions of American Christians along with him into an abyss where the light will never shine. I say dragging, but actually they go willingly by all accounts. Their love of the things of this world has far superceded any affinity they ever held for Christ.