I’d been sitting here struggling with what to write in the journal for the past couple of days when it hit me.  It hit me that so many people in the Church are allowing themselves to be defined and even cornered by the troubles of their own lives.  We are living in the most significant era of church history.  We are living in a time when a great number of the prophecies relevant to the “end of days” are being fulfilled before our eyes… Yet most people out there… whether in the US or abroad… are allowing themselves to be dragged down to the pit by the things which seek to prohibit them from serving and obeying the Lord as He desires.

When I say these things I am not casting accusations without including myself… because I too fall prey to this situation.  Plainly speaking though… the truth is that there are neither exemptions nor exceptions to the call, which Christ has put upon the Church.  There are no caveats offered by our Savior insofar as obedience to His commandments are concerned.

So many of us are beset by very real, pressing, grievous, and urgent situations in our lives.  We allow those things to come between us and SERVING THE LORD.  Yet if we truly consider ourselves to be “servants of the Lord” then how can we allow anything to come between us and His will?  If we are truly of His flock then how can we not obey His commandments and hearken unto His voice?  As S.R. Shearer put it in his 2004 article, THE SPREAD OF AMERICA'S NEW WORLD ORDER SYSTEM NORTHWARD FROM LATIN AMERICA TO THE UNITED STATES:

"You say, but the Lord I know is a gentle and forgiving person - and, yes, that's true; but you should also bear in mind that you are His servant, and He is your master - and as such, He expects something out of you - and not just insofar as your responsibilities to your family and your job are concerned (everyone has those responsibilities, even the unbelievers), but also insofar as the Kingdom is concerned - or do you perhaps think that these verses were inserted into the Bible for naught? That Christ doesn't mean what He is saying here? That we can safely cross these verses out of the Bible with our black magic marker? If you think so, you're playing a very dangerous game with the Lord - and one you won't win.

You say, but I have so many responsibilities! I must take care of them first! There's my family! There's my debts! There are so many things I must take care of first before I can serve the Lord. Oh! - really? I warn you somberly, be careful here - there is NO excuse that will get you off on THAT day.

The Bible has already anticipated all of your pleas, and rejected them - consider the man who begged off from following the Lord because "... I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused ..." (Luke 14:18); or "... I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused ..." (Luke 14:19). These men were trying to beg off from serving the Lord because of their financial responsibilities - and these were, no doubt, GENUINE responsibilities, not just "pretend ones" - but the Lord would have none of it. Instead, what did the Lord do? - He left them behind, and never went back for them!!

But what about family responsibilities? - they certainly rate a higher place in the scheme of things. But, No! - even here you are out of luck! Citing your responsibilities to your family won't wash either! - consider the man who told the Lord, "... I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come ..." (Luke 14:20); or the man who said, "... suffer me first to go and bury my father ..." (Luke 9:59); or the man who said "... Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid my family farewell, which are at home at my house ..." (Luke 9:61). None of these excuses were good enough either! - and here the Lord appears to have been particularly harsh, for consider what the Lord said to the person who wanted to take care of his father? - "Let the dead bury the dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God!" (Luke 9:60) Pretty brutal! - wouldn't you say? And what about the man who just wanted to say good-bye to his family? - "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62). Again, a pretty sever and brutal answer."

As the Apostle Paul put it:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Romans 8: 35)

To put it bluntly… there is nothing or no one, which should come between our service and obedience.  That which we love most is always that which we serve first and that for which we are willing to sacrifice.  Therefore… no matter how much we claim to love the Lord… no matter how much we proclaim ourselves to be His servants… if our actions are not matching up with our words then we eventually expose ourselves to be hypocrites and frauds.

What God wants is a people that will truly and COMPLETELY die to self… not just to the excesses and peccadilloes of the “old man”, but also to the thought that we have to take care of our own business and get our own “house in order” before we can go on with the Lord.  The time for service is NOW… The time for obedience is NOW… since in all honesty, none of us truly know when our last day is going to be.  Christ gave the following parable meant to provide us understanding on this point:

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (Luke 12: 16-20)

Insofar as serving the Lord is concerned… there truly is no tomorrow.  What ever it is you bring to the table, you better put it out there today.  Some might say this parable deals only with those who have riches and abundance, but in doing so they miss the full point of what Christ is saying.  It is the same thing with the parable of the sower and the seed, which in part says:

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. (Matthew 13: 22)

In addition to the deceitfulness of riches it is also the “care of this world”, which chokes the word within us and causes us… as professing servants of Christ to become unfruitful.  So what exactly is the “care of this world”?  Our financial obligations, our family situations, our job situation, our health, etc. etc. are all included within this phrase.  In short… it is all the things within our present lives in this present world… which we always seem to place before serving Christ and obeying His word.

The sad thing is that Christ is able to deal with all the burdens, which we have… if we would only place them on the cross with Him.  This you see is what salvation is truly all about.  We are to lose our lives in that we might gain them again.  We are to let our life in this present world be crucified so that we can freely and fully serve God and not the sin inherent in grappling with this present world:

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  (Romans 6: 6)

The old man is to be crucified with Him.  In this respect, what part of our lives should we hold back or hold onto in order to take care of them ourselves?  If we are truly servants of Christ we should count ALL THINGS “but loss” when stacked up against the cause of loving, serving, and obeying the Lord.

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,  (Philippians 3: 8)

As I expressed at the beginning… so often so many of us fail to our lives this way.  We allow our troubles and liabilities to come between us and the Lord.  We allow our battles in this world to halt our service and obedience to God.  In light of the times in which we are living… this is a grave situation, which must be reversed.

You see… the stakes are higher now than they’ve ever been before.  The great majority of the Church has already been captured by deception.  The American New World Order System led by its “cabal of criminality” is rampaging throughout the world in partnership with the aforementioned apostate church.  Their plans include continuing the war in Iraq, while extending it to all enemies.  Meanwhile the world economy teeters on the brink, catastrophes abound, and the poor of this world find their already retched lives becoming all the more difficult.

Prophetically we are living in the final hours… and in this light God has placed a specific call upon the true Church.  He has called us to be a witness and testify on His behalf.  He has called us to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the world for a witness… and for those within the US (a.k.a. Babylon the Great) He has called us to flee from that terrible nation.

In light of this call there is no time for anything but service.  In light of this call there is no excuse for anything but obedience.  We must truly be willing to “suffer the loss of all things” and fully allow the “old man” to be crucified in order to complete the race, which is before us.  We must move beyond serving the Lord on our terms to serving and obeying Him on HIS.

Whether we find ourselves in Canada, Ghana, Korea, the Philippines, or the US we must move past the stumbling blocks before us to serve and obey Him in all things.  No matter the degree of difficulty or the ramifications of such blind service… it is what our Lord requires of us.  To fall short on this account is a dangerous thing… and it is my humble prayer that all those who love the Lord will answer the call on this matter.

A little over a year and a half ago G.W. Bush named John Negroponte as the new US ambassador to Iraq.  Shortly after this event S.R. Shearer wrote an article entitled, THE HORROR OF JOHN DIMITRI NEGROPONTE AND EVERYTHING HE REPRESENTS.  In the article he provided past evidence of Negroponte’s guilt in the instigation and running of “Phoenix-style” death squad activities in Central America and he also predicted Negroponte’s appointment to the ambassadorship in Iraq meant similar plans were in store as the US tried to put an end to the insurgency.  Specifically he wrote:

“BUT THE VERY CHOICE OF NEGROPONTE and his two assistants - James Jeffrey, who will become the deputy chief of mission, and Ron Newman, who will become senior defense attaché… (is) …an ominous and very foreboding sign that the Americans are planning AN EXTREMELY BRUTAL AND MURDEROUS, "ANTI-INSURGENCY CAMPAIGN" (I.E., A PHOENIX-STYLE OPERATION) AGAINST THE IRAQI PEOPLE BASED ON THE SWEEPING AND VERY SAVAGE USE OF DEATH SQUADS - the kind of campaign pursued by the very person they have now put in charge in Iraq (i.e., Negroponte) when he was ambassador to Honduras during the bloody Contra Wars of the early to mid-1980s.”

In the interim we have seen concrete evidence of the use of torture by US forces in facilities such as Abu Graib and now evidence is surfacing, which substantiates the statements we at Antipas Ministries were making over a year and a half ago.  The evidence is that of US trained Iraqi forces engaging in the very death squad activities of torture and murder, which Shearer wrote of shortly after the appointment of Negroponte.  A recent CS Monitor article reveals one such instance in its reporting of a torture cell being found in an Iraqi ministry building, which contained 173 Iraqi Sunnis, who were found brutally beaten and malnourished for weeks. These reports also indicate several dead bodies in the cell that showed signs of severe torture.

Hussein Kamal, an Iraqi investigator told Reuters:

"They were being treated in an inappropriate way ... they were being abused,"… "I've never seen such a situation like this during the past two years in Baghdad. This is the worst," he told CNN. "I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beating, one or two detainees were paralyzed and some had their skin peeled off."

As early as last July the international press began reporting that Iraqi police commandos were running secret torture units and the new evidence more than backs these reports.  Human rights organizations report that “disappearances” in Iraq have reached “epidemic proportion” and even Iraqi politicians have gone public with statements that Phoenix-style death squad activity is alive and well within Iraq:

"In order to search for one terrorist, they detain hundreds of innocent people and torture them brutally," said Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, a Sunni politician, according to The Daily Telegraph of London.

The evidence is shaping up to prove that Negroponte… the darling of the Bush family and of Religious Right stalwarts such as Pat Robertson, D. James Kennedy, Jerry Fallwell, James Dobson, and John Hagee… is in fact unleashing the same terror upon the people of Iraq, which he has previously done in Central America.

Just as we wrote back in May of 2004, there are serious implications for American Christians in all of this.  Bush, Negroponte, and many other high-ranking officials in the US government all claim to be servants of Christ.  The American Church, both leadership and laity, by and large support and defend these men at every occasion… even when reports of atrocities such as those listed above come along.  In doing so the US has linked the name of Jesus Christ to these heinous acts.  In doing so they have attached the Prince of Peace to the causes of torture and murder.

As bad as everything else is in Iraq… with the violence continuing along at a frightening pace… and even considering the rising number of civilians being killed by US troops… the news of US orchestrated death squad activity may be the worst.  For these are not deaths, which come about in the “fog of war” where men sometimes react just to survive… instead these are nothing short of premeditated, cold-blooded murders, which are orchestrated by men like G.W. Bush and John Negroponte who claim to be servants of Christ.

Meanwhile it appears things are truly starting to unravel for the US in many places throughout the world.  Even Israel is not immune to the misery, which comes from living in the reign of Pax Americana.  It seems Ariel Sharon’s Likud government is going to collapse.  Sharon himself plans to pull out of the Likud Party, a party he helped create, in order to form a centrist party.  The reason he is doing so is Likud’s continued lurch to the hard right.

At its inception… Israel was in essence a socialist state.  The line between left and right in the Israeli political world was drawn upon matters related to defense and the debate between secularism and orthodoxy.  Economically the socialist underpinning of Israeli society was truly not disputed by either side.  Yet as time passed and the right wing Neocons began to attain power in the US during the Reagan years, the Israeli Right also began to adapt America’s free-market inspired economic vision.  Doing so enabled them to gain generous support from their American allies and greatly increase their power at home.  It has also created an Israel, which in many ways reveals the worst aspects of America’s right wing, free market, New World Order System… and an Israel fully in position to play its part in bringing about the terrible events of the end of the age, which the Bible depicts as being centered upon the tiny nation.

As Jeff Halper noted in his recent article, Israel as an Extension of American Empire:

“One of the tragic developments related to this rightward shift of Israeli politics and social policies -- even defining Israel's view of itself in the world -- is its emergence as a center for the global right-wing, a constellation of nefarious ideologies, groups and forces that seek nothing less than American-Christian hegemony over the entire world. In a unique and, again, tragic confluence of historical processes, the rise of an aggressive neo-con ideology and militaristic foreign policy, centered in the US but not limited to it, coincides with the emergence of the Israeli rights and an expansionist Israel. "Coincides" might understate the case: in fact, the rise of a religious right in the West owes much of its impetus to Zionism and Israel, while Israel is able to pursue its Occupation only because of its willingness to serve Western (mainly US) imperial interests including acting as a galvanizing center for global neo-con forces.”

This partnership of right wing forces in both Israel and the United States… one forged by Apostate Christianity and their sycophants within the Israeli Right and nurtured by the American Elites in order to secure the wealth of the entire Middle East… is what will ultimately bring about the Treaty with Death and Hell, a treaty in which the US (Babylon the Great) will guarantee Israel’s security and one which the Bible indicates will “kick off” the last seven years of this age, a.k.a. Daniel’s 70^th Week.

Now back to Sharon… It appears he is unwilling to pull the trigger, so to speak… and take things as far the hard right on both sides want him to.  Yet the Right in Israel has so much power now… due largely to the tremendous support they receive from Bush’s right wing government along with the wealth of the Religious Right… that they have essentially stolen Sharon’s party from him.

A major concern of the US is for the Israeli Left to gain power and attempt to derail US imperial ambitions for not just Israel… but the whole region as well.  At this point there is a possibility this could occur… yet the US and its hard right allies within Israel would destroy any leftwing government quickly.  If Sharon is unwilling to pull the trigger on the plans of his American masters then they will turn to someone else… until they finally get their man.

The greater danger of derailment lies to the south of the US… in Latin America.  As evidenced by the protests at the Summit of the Americas, anti-Americanism and anti-Imperialism are on the rise throughout the hemisphere.  The US faces legitimate threats to its hegemony in Venezuela and a rising number of nations.  Argentina, Ecuador, and now Bolivia are on the cusp of all out revolt against the American New World Order System.

In Bolivia it appears the nations first indigenous President may soon be elected.  Left wing candidate Evo Morales appears primed to gain election and in doing so may push his nation in the direction, which Hugo Chavez has done with Venezuela… that towards a synergy of socialism and nationalism… which would reject American exploitation in order to use Bolivia’s resources for the benefit of its own citizens.  Understand here… that rhetoric and ideology such as this is the highest form of blasphemy to the US corporate elite.  They believe the wealth of Latin America exists to be exploited for their own enrichment… damn the consequences to the hundreds of millions who suffer in the process.  Their allies in the Religious Right share the same sentiments as exemplified by Pat Robertson’s recent call for the US to assassinate Hugo Chavez… for throwing off the American yoke in Venezuela.

Robertson accused Chavez of everything but stealing his mule… but the truth is that Chavez is guilty only of placing the interests of Venezuelans and the poor of the world above those of Exxon-Mobile, Royal Dutch Shell, Amoco, etc. etc.  In fact if anything… Chavez has proven himself more the servant of Christ by his actions than George W. Bush or Pat Robertson ever have.

Robertson calls for the assassinations of political leaders and Supreme Court justices on CNN while Chavez says things like this to Ted Koppel:

“One of the greatest rebels, who I really admire: Christ. He was a rebel. He ended up being crucified. He was a great rebel. He rebelled against the established power that subjugated. That is what rebellion is; it's rebellion out of love for human beings. In truth, that is the cause, the cause of love: love for every human being, for every women, for every child, for every man, for every brother.”

George Bush does things like cut over 700 million dollars from food stamp programs (though the number of US families living in poverty during his presidency has risen 13%) while Chavez does things like ordering the delivery of "12 million gallons of discounted home-heating oil to local charities and 45,000 low-income families in Massachusetts next month."

Finally… while Bush delayed providing real assistance in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Pat Robertson used the disaster as a chance to sermonize on God’s judgment against homosexuals and licentiousness… Chavez offered to provide $1 million of free petroleum via the state run Petroleos de Venezuela and its subsidiary CITGO for the relief effort and also offered two mobile hospital units, 120 rescue and first aid experts, and 50 tons of foods... all of which he was prepared to have on the ground before FEMA had begun any recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast.

Make no mistake though… just as the US elites will not stand for the left to have any real power in Israel… they also will not allow Latin America to be lost as their own tremendous source of enrichment.  Already the US military has a huge presence in Columbia.  It also has bases in Ecuador and a new super base in Paraguay.  From these launching points along with the destruction it is able to inflict from its naval and air forces the US will eventually deal with the revolt against the empire taking place in Latin America.  Yet at this moment it must rely upon proxies and paramilitaries to do so.  When the “time is right” probably once the Tribulation has started… the beast will bring those who oppose it to heel.  The assets are already in place… the plans have already been drawn up… all that is required are enough troops to man the garrisons and an American population willing to stomach total war.

As I said though… we aren’t quite there yet.  Besides there is no denying that Bush and the Right Wing are at their lowest points insofar as popularity in the US is concerned.  To attempt such actions now… i.e. attacking Venezuela, Syria, Iran, or even North Korea… could push Americans over the edge.  What Bush and company must do is hold out a little longer until they can play their trump card.  This play will be the one, which enables them to “shore up their base” at home and deal “properly” with those who continue to stand against the agenda of empire.

What I am speaking of here is another 9-11-type attack.  Maybe it will be the avian flu pandemic instead… maybe it will be a nuclear terrorist attack on US soil.  No one knows at this point.  Yet what is known is that when such an instance occurs (and an increasing amount of information is coming out, which indicates it will be allowed to happen)… the Right Wing will finally be able to play their trump card.

They will implement martial law at home.  They will round up and imprison dissenters. They will implement the draft… and they will begin to settle the score with all who stand against the empire, i.e. the Muslim world, North Korea, and those nations in Latin America, which have been “unfaithful” to their American masters.

Lest you think I am sensationalizing things… all of these things are already “on the books” so to speak.  Just as Hitler and the Nazi Party were very open about their plans to intern and exterminate the Jews and conquer the whole of Europe… so to has the leadership of the US Beast been open about their plans to conquer and rule the world while imprisoning and eliminating all dissent at home.

Under the guise of illegal immigrant internment the US has already begun constructing facilities nationwide, which are capable of “housing” up to 5 MILLION PEOPLE.  Plans are already solidified to begin mass round ups were the US to undergo a catastrophe, which required US armed forces to “restore order and maintain security”.  The language of these plans, taken directly from government documents sums it all up as evidenced below where their stated intentions are to:

"Develop a National Custody Management Plan promoting the effective utilization of available bed space and alternative detention settings.  In response to its fiscal stakeholders, DRO will develop a national custody management plan to ensure that the facility use is standard throughout the country and that bed space use is optimized for cost efficiency."

And in similar fashion the extent to which these measures will be implemented is laid out quite plainly as well:

“"Under this plan for the deployment of Operation Garden Plot, the use of CIDCON-1 will be mandatory. This direct support of civil disturbance control operations is to be used by the Army, USAF, Navy, and Marine Corp. with an airlift force to be comprised of MAC Organic Airlift Resources, airlift capable aircraft of all other USAF major commands, and all other aerial reconnaissance and Airborne Psychological Operations. This is to include control communications systems, aero medical evacuation, helicopter and Weather Support Systems. If any civil disturbance by a resistance group, religious organization, or other persons considered to be non-conformist takes place, under Appendix 3 to Annex B of Plan 55-2 hereby gives all Federal forces total power over the situation if local and state authorities cannot put down said dissenters. Annex A, section B of Operation Garden Plot defines tax protesters, militia groups, religious cults, and general anti-government dissenters as Disruptive Elements. This calls for the deadly force to be used against any extremist or dissident perpetrating any and all forms of civil disorder."”

The question to be asked at this point… is just what American Christians are going to do in the face of all this.  What are they going to do as the name of Christ is further dragged into the carnage, torture and death squad activities in Iraq?  What are they going to do while the while the US continues to subvert Israel to the point that she will eventually sign a treaty with the Antichrist?  What are they going to do while their nation and its form of Christianity seeks to rob, steal, plunder, and destroy the peoples of Latin America and the rest of the Third World?  Finally… what are they going to do when the type of martial law described above is imposed upon them?

Will they stand and fight like so many who attempt to put us off say?  Or will they remain silent and complicit to the horrors being committed in Christ’s name?  Jesus stated quite plainly that a “little leaven leavens the whole lump.”  By remaining within and suckling from a nation, which is the embodiment of evil… how can Christians think they will somehow stand against what is to come?  If those who choose to stay behind cannot now at this time stand against the Beast… what in the world makes them think they will do so in the “hour of provocation”?

The simple truth of the matter is that most who have chosen to stay within the US do so because they fear losing the things of their present life in Babylon the Great over the Lord God of Heaven.  In pride and vanity they choose to create their own reality… rather than OBEY God’s commandments.  He knows the extent of the evil, which encompasses Babylon the Great.  He knows the leaven within will eventually consume all who remain behind… making them partakers in the death squads, tortures, wars of conquest, imprisonments of citizens, and destruction of enemies, which the US is set to further unleash upon the world.  He knows this and as such has commanded His children to come out from this terrible nation… lest they become “partakers in her sins” and “receive of her plagues”, i.e. judgments. (Revelation 18:4, Jeremiah 50&51)

This isn’t about physical safety… it is about the eternal safety of one’s soul.  To be cavalier or flippant with God’s Word in such an instance is a revelation in and of itself.  Christ put it quite plainly when He said:

“… If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.” (John 14: 23-24)

God Bless,

Sean Mayfield

Antipas Ministries

The past week has been a tumultuous one indeed.  The war in Iraq rages on, Latin America continues to kick against the pricks of American hegemony, Europe is getting further drawn into the clash of civilizations between the American led West and Islam, and even seemingly neutral Arab states like Jordan are reeling from terrorist violence.  These events and many more conspire to push the world toward a crescendo of destruction known biblically as the Gog Magog War, which will usher in the era known Biblically as Daniel’s Seventieth Week, a.k.a. the Tribulation.

Significant insofar as recent news is concerned are the upheavals taking place in France.  Riots by Muslims, which spread through over 300 French towns and cities have revealed the great chasm existing between the Western and Islamic worlds.  The spark, which ignited the riots, was the resentment and rage of France’s Muslim population brought about from the deaths of two Muslim teens that were electrocuted while hiding from police… The larger issues, which have kept the riots going, are inequities in the justice system, a stagnant economy, discrimination, and marginalization at the hand of the native French.  On the flip side… already growing sentiments of anti-Islamism and xenophobia will continue to rise in the face of such violent protest.

The Muslim population in France has been a substantial and growing presence for the past 40 years.  Originally allowed to immigrate in order to serve as low wage workers in the model of America’s exploitation of Hispanic labor… the French have now found themselves in quite a mess.  Free Trade is destroying France’s economy with most of France’s industrial output having been relocated to the cheaper labor markets of Eastern Europe.  In the process France has seen millions of jobs disappear and resentments rise between native Frenchmen and the Muslim population over dwindling employment prospects.  Essentially the low wage jobs, which the French were formerly happy to accede to their dark skinned guests, are now gone… along with many of the better paying positions.  In this environment… where two cultural and “religious” groups are competing for a dwindling piece of the pie… tension will worsen and not get better.  Violence will increase… as well as hatred and animosity from both sides.

The lower and middle classes in France feel much as do their American cousins when foreigners “creep in”, refuse to conform to the culture, and “steal their jobs” by accepting lower wages to do them.  They are angry.  In response they have ghettoized the Muslim population in France, made laws meant to strip away cultural and religious distinctions, and worked to create an economic environment, which discriminates against all but native Frenchmen.  In response the Muslims of France took to the streets… rioting, marching, burning vehicles and buildings, and generally making a public stand against their unfair treatment.

Don’t think either that this environment only exists in France.  Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and practically every Western European nation are faced with the same dilemma.  Their situations have just not erupted, as has the one in France.  Yet, the true culprits here are not the native working classes, or Muslim immigrants.  The culprits are the European Elites.  In service to their American masters they purposefully brought in these populations over the past decades solely to drive down wages and adhere to the US model of reaching the absolute minimum wage possible in the manufacturing and service sectors of their economies.  So when the US moved its production to the third world to slash costs even more… Europe relocated its manufacturing base to the cheaper labor markets of Eastern Europe to keep pace.

So now the Europeans find themselves in a position where the native population must compete against those willing to work for less in a severely depressed job market.  To make matters worse… those willing to work for less are a different color and have an entirely different culture and religion than the native population.  In response to the riots in France look for anti Islamic sentiments to continue to rise across Europe.  Look for right wing political movements to continue gaining strength… and look for native Europeans to grow more supportive of the idea that somehow, sometime… the “Muslim question” is going to have to be dealt with.

This situation will lead Europe to acquiesce to the destruction, which America will unleash upon the Muslim world in the Gog Magog War.  It will also ultimately lead to the complicity of the Ten Kings (Revelation 17: 12-17) with the Antichrist during the period of the Great Tribulation:

“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.  These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” (Revelation 17: 12-17)

It will lead to this through the process of average Europeans identifying with and becoming supportive of the US aim of destroying Islam and the Muslim world and after that the Church.

The time is not yet right for such open conflict though.  Babylon the Great is not yet ready to openly begin this battle.  First they must “grease the skids” so to speak.  One aspect of this is Bush’s roadmap to peace for Israel and the Palestinians.  Bush and the US Elites are pushing this agreement upon the Israelis as a way to pacify its neighbors.  It is meant to somehow put them at ease towards the beast and make them forget the true nature of just what they are dealing with insofar as the US is concerned.

And just what is the true nature of the United States?  It is that of a nation willing to use chemical weapons (white phosphorous rounds) on its enemies.  It is a nation, which abducts, tortures, and murders civilians… levels entire cities… and condones the same from its allies.

Yet otherwise rational people refuse to see these things and examine whether US motives concerning the “roadmap” are legitimate.  If they were to truly look they would see it is a contrivance meant to by the US a little time.  Time to shore up the police state at home.  Time to get its ducks in a row in the Middle East.  Time to solve the military manpower shortage, which it is currently grappling with… and time to deal with the revolt against the American New World Order System presently under way in Latin America.

As mentioned at the beginning of this journal… all of these things are taking place against the backdrop of a western world being turned further against Islam… and in a more general sense… the billions of dark skinned poor throughout the world.  They are “the enemies at the gate” so to speak.  Yet the center point for the West is Islam and as S.R. Shearer touched upon in his 1997 article, Civilization Conflict… this “action reaction spiral” where each culture continues to ratchet up the hatred and violence against the other… will continue until it has reached its crescendo, the Gog Magog War.

In the meantime it is imperative that those who truly love Christ begin to earnestly heed His words and obey His commandments.  God has called those who love Him out of Babylon the Great… and He has called His Church to testify against the beast and the woman who rides it… This testimony is what Christ calls, The Gospel of the Kingdom.  In sharing this testimony with the world we serve notice that the United States and American Christianity are not of the Lord… we serve notice that the violent quest for empire being perpetrated in His name is in actuality not “of Him” at all.  We serve notice that Christ and the Church are first and foremost FOR THE POOR… and not the vehicle of oppression, which the rich have blasphemously used them for.  In this testimony eyes can be opened and seeds can be planted for salvation in Christ.  Yet for those within the Church to play any part in this… we must heed His words and obey His commandments.

News from Argentina today reveals just how much resistance there is to the American Empire by the poor of this world.  For those of you unfamiliar with what is going in Argentina, let me give you a little background.  This week the resort city of Mar Del Plata, has played host to the Summit of the Americas.  George Bush along with the heads of state of practically every Latin American nation have converged to discuss for the most part matters related to the economic future of the hemisphere.  Bush and the American contingent have used the summit as a platform to revive the Free Trade of the America’s Treaty and to reinforce America’s neoliberal economic policies as related to Latin America.

Yet the environment, which has greeted Bush, has been hostile at every turn.  From the outset Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez has pushed other Latin American leaders to turn away from US imperial policies and leadership.  Ideological allies in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, and even Cuba (who wasn’t invited to the summit) have also pushed to prevent the Summit from becoming yet another platform with which to further establish US hegemony over the hemisphere.

In addition to the political dance going on within the summit, tens of thousands of demonstrators have converged to protest the US, its foreign policies, its economic policies, and the catastrophic effects they have upon Latin America.  As president of the US… George Bush has been a focal point of the demonstrators’ efforts… and today the demonstrations turned violent.  Presently buildings are burning and riot police are preparing to disperse the protestors by any means before they get too close to the summit hall.  With security forces that look like storm troopers brandishing truncheons, shotguns, and armed with tear gas preparing to push back a crowd growing out of control… there is great potential for bloodshed and loss of life.

A question to be asked is what has brought the people of Latin America to this point?  Argentina was formerly one of the most prosperous nations in the world… yet these same people are now the ones who are out in the streets with their very lives at risk.  What has made Hugo Chavez stand so boldly against the US?  What has been the catalyst for the sweeping rejection of US leadership, which is taking place throughout Latin America?

The answer to this question is very telling… and the fact that American Christians do not see it is even more so.  The people of Latin America are not rioting in the streets and preparing to defend themselves against the US because they are evil and the US is good.  This has nothing to do with the supposed status of the United States as a Christian nation.  The fact that George Bush is hated throughout the world is not a persecution of the man because he is a servant of Christ.  In fact none of the backlash, which the US is currently experiencing in Latin America, the Middle East, or Asia is persecution or hatred based upon America’s faith, virtue, or righteousness as a Christian nation.

Latin America is rejecting the direction of George Bush and the United States because of the ruin, which has been brought to their lives by “God’s redeemer nation.”  The US has ravaged the nations of Latin America for the profit of the US Elites.  Mass murders, wars, revolutions, the raping of the environment, the ruination of national economies, and the privatization and subsequent failure of critical services have all been brought to the region via the hand of Uncle Sam.

To accomplish this Corporate America has used the US military, puppet regimes, paramilitaries, death squads, the CIA, and even US missionary organizations.  Think about it for a moment… the people of Latin America are no less human than their US counterparts.  They yearn for equality, justice, and opportunity no more or less than any other peoples throughout the world.  They have not been swept away by communism, Satanism, Islamism, Atheism, Anarchism, or any other “ism”.  They do not hate Christ nor do they hate the people of America.

What they do hate is oppression.  What they despise are the ramifications of continuing to exist as the lowest of cogs in the US imperial machine.  They want no part of the poverty, despair, and destruction, which the US has brought to them over the years.  They have no illusions about what free trade, globalization, and US hegemony portend for their future and that of their children.  They know a continuation of the present course sounds the death knell for the people of Latin America.

Yet American Christians refuse to see these things.  They refuse to recognize the evil, which has been wrought in their name by the US elites.  Those whom the Lord would willingly provide with “all understanding” have instead chosen to believe a lie.  In doing so they have allowed the name of Jesus Christ to be attached to the plundering of the planet.  They have aligned themselves with those who desire to “make merchandise” of the poor in this world.  In this respect there will truly be “hell to pay”… on that day.

What makes it so hard for American Christians to realize the true nature of the beastly nation in which they live?  Why is it so easy for them to disregard the truth concerning the identity of the United States as Babylon the Great?  How is it possible for them to so cavalierly disregard God’s commandment to come out of Babylon the Great (Revelation 18: 4; Jeremiah 51) even if they are somehow willing to admit the truth about the US?

The Bible plainly describes a time when the Church (and the world) will choose en masse to believe a lie over the truth.  It describes a Church that has given itself over to the things of this world and has erected a leadership willing to not only satisfy their “itching ears”, but to goad them further on into the depths of apostasy.  The fact that we are living smack dab in the middle of the fulfillment of these passages goes a long way towards explaining how so many within the Church have descended so far from the faith.

Yet prophetic fulfillment does not happen without cause.  The people involved are not brain-dead automatons mindlessly fulfilling the terrible truth of God’s prophetic Word.  All who are on this path to destruction have willfully chosen to be there.  They have allowed a wedge to develop between them and the Lord.  For most the simple fact is that they have placed themselves in the position of attempting to serve God and mammon…

When this happens the end result is never good.  Christ put it as such:

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6: 24) 

In this state of trying to please men and God…. of trying to have the best of both worlds… true faith and sound doctrine have been the first casualties.  This happens because seldom do men choose evil and call it such.  Instead they twist true faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into a perversion meant to justify the lusts of their own heart.  As it says in 2 Timothy:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4: 3-4)

Can there be any doubt the American Church has chosen fables over sound doctrine? Is there any confusion over the fact the American people have created a nation and a church founded upon their own lusts?  The whole of the American existence is based upon providing a godly self-justification for the ruthless pursuit of the things of this world.

In this warped belief system the wealth and power of America are proof of her godly status… regardless of the fact that it is through the RAPING OF THE WORLD that she has attained her riches.  In this perverted mindset… all who resist the yoke of American dominance are enemies of not just the US… but God Himself.  Those who have been captured by this damnable thought believe God has so blessed Christian America that she will always be victorious and will always be on top.  Concerning this fact the Bible says of America, i.e. Babylon the Great:

“How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” (Revelation 18: 7)

Why has Christian America chosen to blindly side with those who rule their nation?  Why have they chosen to demonize and denigrate anyone who dares to stand or speak against the evil perpetrated in their name?  Why is the American Church more willing to believe a lie than the truth?  Why have they chosen to serve their own greedy desires over the Lord?  Why do they not “endure sound doctrine?  Why have they chosen to serve their own lusts and “heap(ed) to themselves teachers, having itching ears”? 

They have done so because they love their lives in this present world more than they love Christ and the kingdom to come.  Specifically, they love their lives in America more than they love Christ and the kingdom to come.  In order to justify their stance they have created a church, which turns the doctrine of Christ on its ear.  In doing so they have also created a mythological belief system about America, which idealizes its violent past, justifies its fallen present, and gravely misses the mark on what the ultimate future is for the United States.

The mind-boggling belief system most Christians have pieced together about prophecy, the United States’ place in prophecy, and the Christian origins of the US is a construct meant to provide justification for Christians not to just stay behind in Babylon… but to also give approval to their very part in building the empire of antichrist.

They have created a world of their own making… in which God has given them a charge to bring about His kingdom upon the earth.  They see themselves as responsible for destroying wickedness not just within their own ranks… but throughout the world as well.  In their view America is the apple of God’s eye.  A nation birthed in godliness, by godly men, a nation whose destiny is to Christianize the whole world.

The facts however lay things out quite differently.  Christians have constructed this ruse and enabled themselves to be blinded to the truth in order to justify their own part in the creation of the American Empire.  They desire to be justified in raising the banner of their country as it goes about the world establishing said empire.  In their greed they continue to prove themselves willing to justify any action taken by the US, which the Elites deem necessary to maintain the status quo of American world dominance.  Whether it be wars of aggression, torture, treason, or outright murder matters not.

This status quo is one in which the people of the US are able to pursue a comfortable lifestyle off the broken backs and stolen resources of third world peasants who labor to produce the creature comforts (and keep them affordable) under the watchful eye of an American military/security apparatus that threatens to reduce them to the status of nonliving if they don’t tow the line.

This then… is the real origin of the blinding love of America (over Christ’s kingdom) that most Christians succumb to…  the love of money.  That is what America is all about… the freedom (or perception therein) to be rich and/or to pursue riches… a.k.a. the American Dream. 

Sadly though, most Americans are themselves being duped.  They too are being relegated to the same system of exploitation and peonage, which the US elites have used to enslave most of the world.  Yet, when caught in this trap people will allow themselves to be blinded to the truth of their own situation.  They will twist the word of God to justify warfare, extortion, oppression, torture, treason, hatred, murder, and God knows what else.

The fact that God’s name has been invoked in all this is the most damnable of all things.  It is this terrible aspect, which marks the true distinction between the US and the other nations of the world.  It is this characteristic, which leads God to command His people to come out of the United States, i.e. Babylon the Great (Revelation 18: 4; Jeremiah 51).

In his December, 2004 article, COME OUT OF HER, S.R. Shearer touched upon the reasoning behind this.  In conclusion I leave you with his words:

ESCAPING THE CRIMES OF BABYLON

How is it possible, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that we - as Christians - can allow our names to be linked to a country that is bent on oppressing the poor of the earth through the "force of arms" and military conquest - ALL IN THE NAME OF CHRIST? Don't think, even for a minute, that God will not hold such a person guiltless. In the light of this, can we do any less than what Moses did when -

"... he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

"Choosing rather to suffer affliction ... than to enjoy the pleasures of sin (i.e., Egypt) for a season;

"Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." (Heb. 11:24-26) ?

Therefore, God has called us out of this evil place; He has commanded us to -

"... COME OUT OF HER , my people ..." (Rev. 18:4)

And -

"... seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

"For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." (Heb. 12:1-3)

ONE LAST THING

Finally, one last thing - something which I have reiterated to you over and over again; something which a brother touches upon in his letter to us:

"If the United States is indeed the beast, then it matters very little where in the world anyone lives, whether in Canada or Costa Rica (because the whole world will be conquered by it) ..."

There are a whole slew of other letters like this one, the essence of which is, if the whole world is eventually to be subsumed by America and made a part of the American New World Order System, it doesn't really matter where we live - we will all eventually be engulfed and immersed by it.

But, as we have said before, such thinking is nothing more than a VERY WICKED CONTRIVANCE AND SUBTERFUGE. It's true, all the world will eventually be absorbed by the American New World Order System, just as all of Europe was eventually conquered and absorbed by Nazi Germany; but there was still a great difference to be remarked upon insofar as Germany's conquered territories were concerned (i.e., France, Denmark, Poland, the Ukraine, Norway, Holland, Belgium, etc.) and Germany herself; and there was a GREAT DISTINCTION to be remarked upon insofar as the conduct of these different populations were concerned vis a vis the people of Germany.

Germany's population actually PARTICIPATED in Germany's crimes; the population of Germany's "slave states" SUFFERED as a result of these crimes. There is a big difference here; it is, to put it in the vernacular, the difference between the "screwer" and the "screwee;" the difference between the one who is being raped, and the one who is doing the raping; the difference between the perpetrator and the victim; the difference between MASTER and SLAVE. SO ALSO INSOFAR AS AMERICA IS CONCERNED vis a vis HER CLIENT-STATES, i.e., HER SLAVE STATES - and in this regard, there is a big difference between Canada and Mexico (on the one hand), and the United States (on the other hand).

TIME HAS RUN OUT ON ALL OF US

Brothers and sisters, the end really is upon us. It's time for us all to begin taking the Prophetic Scriptures very, very seriously! The Scriptures warn us that we should not bury our heads in the sand and think that everything will be okay. The Bible says that you should not allow the "end of days" to -

"... overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." (I Thess. 5:4-6)

Jesus said,

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." (Matt. 7:24-27)

A quick glance at the headlines should make it easy to see that the George W. Bush presidency is not exactly running on all cylinders.  Problems abound, indictments are hovering, and public trust towards the commander in chief is at an all-time low.  Speculation even exists that there is a legitimate chance that Bush will face impeachment proceedings.

There is no doubt serious matters have arisen, which if to happen “in a vacuum” most probably would result in the impeachment of GW.  Yet we do not live in a vacuum.  Money and those who possess the most of it control the real world.  These men are not going to sit idly by and see a generation’s worth of work undone.  They will take measures to halt things if they do indeed veer to far off the appointed course.

When you look at a situation like that with Treasongate it is only natural to think this would be the straw, which brings the American people to their senses.  After all, it appears Karl Rove and Lewis Libby are to be indicted any day now.  There is even serious speculation that the Vice President and the President himself could eventually be caught in the web as this scandal unfolds.  Think about it… higher ups in the Whitehouse and maybe even the VP and President as well… were involved in the outing of a CIA agent in an effort to essentially settle a score.

The national security of the United States as well as the life of not just the directly affected operative, but the lives of others as well… were placed in mortal jeopardy so that the Whitehouse could get some payback against those who had disproven the worst of the lies responsible for sending America off to war in Iraq.

On top of that… there are now “officially” over 2000 dead American soldiers resulting from the war in Iraq.  Not only was the run up to war based upon lies… and apparently what could end up being treason… but said war has been terribly costly in terms of loss of life.  In addition to American deaths, over 30,000 soldiers have been wounded (and these numbers are the conservative estimates)… while the Iraqis have experienced over 100,000 deaths (not including military casualties, which may also be above 100,000).

While this goes on the Bush Whitehouse has flubbed up insofar as handling Hurricane Katrina is concerned.  He has also nominated the most unqualified candidate in the history of the Supreme Court, gutted the Bill of Rights, used and reaffirmed the use of torture upon suspected terrorists and insurgents, and continued the build up for future wars with Iran and Syria.  Once again… you’d think impeachment would be a legitimate subject to discuss here.

Sadly though… the truth of the matter is that the guy will never be impeached.  As I said earlier… if we were living in a vacuum things would be different.  Yet, the present reality is far from a vacuum.  In this world it is not about right and wrong.  It’s about power, politics, and the money, which drives them both.  Do people really think that a rightwing Republican dominated Congress is going to allow one of their own to be impeached?  Do people actually believe that the guys who have rigged two elections, turned America into a police state, and have no qualms about spying upon, arresting, detaining, and torturing anyone they damn well please are going to allow their president to be sent to the showers?

If you haven’t figured it out by now… the game is rigged.  Just take a peak at the stock market for an example.  Heralded as the world’s greatest example of unfettered capitalism the US stock market is the ultimate hypocrisy.  A recent report exposing the “Plunge Protection Team” makes this point very clear.  While people may want to believe the market chugs along in its own Darwinian way… weeding out the weak from the strong, insuring that the will of the people is always served… the truth is that the Elites have set up fail safe measures to insure they can keep the market propped up.  In an altruistic sense some may see this as a good idea… to protect the market against catastrophes, scandals, and whatnot… but the truth of the matter is that the US Elites, who trumpet free markets abroad, have rigged the system to insure they always land on their feet.  Their plunge protection team is nothing more than the establishment of a trust between the Elites and the Government to guarantee their wealth stays in their hands… no matter if the Darwinian principles of the free market have decided otherwise and no matter of the poor of the world suffer greatly in the process.

There we have it… an oppressive government, bent upon war, destruction, and the implementation of a police state… allied with the nation’s Elite to maintain and expand the status quo… no matter the cost to all of us cogs in the machine.  As I have said a billion times before what we are dealing with here is the creation of a fascist state… the likes of which the world has never seen.

I use the term “the likes of which the world has never seen” because there is an element to this entity, which makes it more evil than any past such creation.  This element is the involvement of America’s Church.  It is this distinction, which drags the American Empire to the lowest depths of hell insofar as the evil of men is concerned.  For in taking on the name of Christ as George Bush, Dick Cheney, Tom Delay, Bill Frist, and other such powerful men have done… they have linked His name to their cause of destruction. 

The complicit American Church has allowed this to happen as well.  They have sold their souls to the prince of this world in their slavish service of the US Elites.  In doing so they have fulfilled the role of harlot just as surely as America fulfills the role of Babylon the Great.  In this we should see that the woman has mounted the beast (Revelation 17) and that they have begun their ride to the apocalypse.  In this we should recognize there is no turning back from this present course… at least on the large scale.

Someone asked me just yesterday whether I would move back to the US if Bush were to be impeached and the US were to essentially turn back from the abyss.  My answer was quite plainly NO.  You see… America’s identity as Babylon the Great is not contingent upon GW Bush being President.  America was Babylon the Great when Clinton was President and through Bush the First, Reagan, Carter, etc. etc.  It will remain Babylon the Great no matter if Bush is impeached, serves out his term, or somehow finds a way to make himself president for life.

This is only an academic exercise though… because there is no way those in power will allow him to be the first President to ever be impeached.  There is no way they will allow him to be placed so far against the wall that resignation is the only course.  The Elites control the Right and the Right controls the Congress and the Judiciary.  They also control the churches… and as such this thing will be squelched before the room gets too hot for the President.

Besides… more than anything else I think all of this is serving to illustrate just how hard hearted and hypocritical the US and its Church actually are.  Faced with proof of grievous crimes and terrible sins by those it has anointed as its leaders… they choose to blindly continue down the path to destruction upon which their leaders are taking them.  What Jesus said of Israel during His ministry upon the earth is just as appropriate for America and its Church now:

“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” (Matthew 13: 14-15)

As such we can also see the fulfillment of God’s Word concerning Babylon the Great and the judgment to come upon all therein:

“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.  Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.  We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.” (Jeremiah 51: 6-9)

Just as with Israel… It was God’s will that Babylon, i.e. America, be healed.  Yet America is not healed… She will not be healed.  Just as Israel’s heart had waxed gross, ears had dulled of hearing, and eyes had closed to seeing (the truth)… so too has America’s.  There is no scandal, war, or catastrophe that will unseat the hardness, which has descended upon the heart of the US.  There is no turning back from the course upon which she is set.  God says to FORSAKE HER… because her judgment is to reach all the way to heaven.  It is my prayer that all who love the Lord take these words seriously.

In closing I want to encourage everyone who benefits from the message of Antipas Ministries to support us in our efforts.  Things have been very tight of late… even though our numbers have increased here at the ranch and our efforts on the Internet and abroad have increased as well.  The month of October has been hard upon us financially after we had really been able to catch up on some things over the previous few months.

Through August and September we were able to eliminate our budge deficit and pay off the remainder of the property tax bill.  We were also able to spend 500 dollars on building materials for the renovations still needed on the ranch.  Yet October is now almost completed and we are right at $700 short of what we need to cover our expenses for the month.

Though support has been down this month… our expenses have remained the same.  Please help us fill this breach so that we may continue and expand our efforts worldwide.  For all the details on these matters please check out our current Budget Statement (scroll down the page for the financial breakdown) and help out in any way you can.  Also feel free to contact me concerning these things at any time.

God Bless,

Sean Mayfield
Antipas Ministries

In the aftermath of the Pakistani Earthquake, which now stands as the worst natural disaster in the history of the nation, it is imperative for those who love the truth to pay serious attention to the times we are in.  God is warning His people throughout the world that there is not too much time left.  He is spurring His people to discern the events of the day and to act appropriately with the true testimony of Christ in their witness.

Just as is the case with the destruction of the American Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, many throughout the Christian world are identifying the destruction in Pakistan as being God’s judgment against the heathen.  In doing so professing Christians are making a grave miscalculation in their wrongful assumption of God’s true purpose regarding these calamities.

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4: 17)

Judgment must begin at the house of God.  These calamities and those, which are sadly yet to come, are a part of THIS process, which the Church must undergo.  The lost of the world are not to be judged until the end of the age, when Christ returns to carry out His judgment.  Between then and now there are many things, which must come to pass… but paramount among these coming events is the trying, testing, and judgment of the Church… Not judgment in the sense that the world will be judged… but instead that, which will reveal the true Church from the false… those who obey God from those who disobey.  God is also calling out to His people to make themselves aware of not just the times in which they live… but the nature of the deception, which is in their midst.

To Christians in America the warning is to come out of that evil entity… to sever the ties between themselves and the woman… along with the beast, which she rides (Revelation 17).  People within the US must recognize this fact and take fearful signs such as the hurricanes as they are meant to be taken… and they must act upon God’s commandments.

Insofar as Pakistan goes… in relation to the earthquake… or even India, Thailand, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka in relation to the December 2004 Tsunami… there is also warning of judgment from the Lord involved.  As stated earlier this warning is to God’s people, because judgment must begin at the house of God.

The warning to our brothers and sister in these nations is to turn away from Babylon the Great.  The warning is to separate themselves from the tentacles of the apostate American Church as it tempts them and attempts to draw them near.  We personally know many brothers and sisters in these countries and this is the major battle, which they are facing.  The American Church is on the attack in their countries.  It has allied itself to the CIA, the military industrial complex, and America’s corporate elites.  It bribes those it can bribe, flatters those it can flatter, and seduces all who allow themselves to fall prey.  It also crushes those who resist and kills the spirit of those who succumb, exchanging a life in Christ for service to the beast upon which the woman rides.

Once again the warning they should take from this is to recognize the times in which they live… to accept the signs for what they are… and to turn away from Babylon the Great and its apostate Church.

For you see… it is already a very difficult thing to do… but as the days continue it will become all the more difficult.  It may not be too long before the US completes the process of transitioning into a police state.  President Bush’s recent statements about using the military to quarantine cities and regions within the country in response to an outbreak of avian flu should serve as further warning.

In such an environment… one that essentially means martial law for the affected areas… the stakes will be raised considerably.  Dissent in America already carries a heavy price and the transition to total police state will only increase that price.  Because He loves us God warns us before danger arrives.  Because He loves us He provides us with a way to act upon those warnings before it is too late.  Let us all pray that in the US and throughout the world those who love the Lord will heed His warnings.

You see there is truly no excuse to do so in the eyes of the Lord.  As S.R. Shearer pointed out in his most recent article… THERE IS NOTHING, WHICH TAKES PRECEDENT OVER OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.  Family, friends, loved ones, jobs, bills, nor any other thing should come between the servant and obedience to the Master (Christ).

Additionally, It is no service to God to fail in providing His whole counsel to those along your path.  There is no glory in placing the fear of hurting feelings above warning those around you of the danger to come with all the strength that you have.  In a recent email exchange I summarized the situation as such:

“There comes a time... even when speaking with peers, family members, and loved ones... that providing the full counsel of God must take precedent over everything else.  If someone's house is on fire... when do you begin telling them so?  And at what point do you cease from warning them with all that you've got that their house is on fire?  You don't stop before they hear you.  You don't stop even when they acknowledge that the house is on fire.  The time to stop warning doesn't arrive until they are racing to get out of said burning house.

In the terms of this analogy, what should be our tone?  Does anything supercede the obligation to warn them?  If they refuse to listen when you warn them in soft tones do you drop it at that point?  If you really love them are you going to let it go and resign yourself to the chance they won't act upon your warning and remove themselves from a house, which is destined to be consumed in fire?

It is always up to individuals to decide for themselves insofar as matters pertaining to the Lord are concerned... Yet warning people you love, even in hard or heightened tones... is not an attempt to flail them into opening their eyes.  Grave dangers deserve dire warnings..