To the American Church,
“He that hath ears, let him hear,”
(Matthew 11:15). This message I would have assumed would have
been delivered through the mouths of such men as Dutch Sheets, Lou Engle, Perry
Stone, Rick Joyner, or others. I feel a weight to say it, and a duty to tell
you to carefully discern whether or not to listen to it. I have two great
passions in life, the Word, and politics (political theory/philosophy to be
more precise.) I have moved across the country and started over more than once,
based on wanting to follow the Anointing, follow spiritual authority. I have felt
at home in only one church. This church however no longer exists. I have gone
to amazing Spirit-filled churches, but never belonged. For ten years I have
been in the wilderness. For ten years I have been fed through close friends,
online studies (thank you Damon Thompson, Ravi Zacharias (rest in glory sir), and
others) and a deep abiding love for truth. Let me say this again and be clear.
I have not set foot in a church building for the last 10 years. I say this as a
warning, so you are not quick to affirm what I am about to say.
This letter is a collaborative effort.
The following is the culmination of a series of discourses, debates,
discussions, and conversations I have had with my friend and counterpart to
this letter. While I am the primary source of the authorship, this letter, this
message could never have been adequately expressed without his support and
feedback. While this letter is written in the first person, we will address
when my friend speaks as the primary author of content.
It is the nature of our friendship
that makes the core emphasis of this message resonate and hold such an
essential place in the days to come. I am a non-denominational Christian, born
again into a Pentecostal tradition and a charismatic church. He, raised in a
formal Lutheran faith, fallen away for years, then reconverted to Catholicism
where he remains devoted to the biblical and universal tradition through
Catholicism. Our two traditions, Protestant, and Catholic, have experienced
persecution through each other’s hands throughout the last two thousand years.
We believe our friendship was created by God, for many purposes, but at least
one was to write this letter. My friend is currently working on his PhD at a
prestigious Christian University. I am preparing to enter the teaching
profession, either in community colleges, or in high schools, where the message
of why America is such an exceptional nation is sorely lacking. Our differences
are overcome by the weight of the need for this message, we urge you to listen.
We initially hesitated to disclose our
credentials, but felt corrected by the Lord’s words to Moses, who would not
speak because of how he would be perceived, “go; I will help you speak and will
teach you what to say,” (Exodus 4:12). Our credentials were allowed by God, and
God chose us to articulate this message. Credentials aside, if you were to know
either of us, Duck Dynasty would be more towards the front of your mind than
elitism. We are united on this front, and in our friendship, but as has been
established we are not alike. An introduction having been made; we go forth
with our message.
The following is not going to be in
whatever ‘normal’ prophetic message format some of you have likely seen or been
accustomed to. I have little love for the catchphrases, and the lingo that goes
along with being in certain circles. You will not hear me say “thus saith the
Lord,” mostly because saying such a thing terrifies me (as it does my friend.)
The people that overuse the phrase “thus saith the Lord,” show their lack of
Fear in the Lord. While I freely admit I am worried about being inaccurate in
this letter. I must speak because I am terrified that I am correct in its
contents. I am foreseeing on the horizon a day coming that will radically alter
the way the Western American Body of Christ ‘does’ Church.
America as a Christian Nation and the
crisis of Marxism (Written primarily by my friend)
To warn of danger without a cause
would be meaningless and empty rhetoric. The cause is political, and it is
motivated by a particular political ideology. That Ideology is seeking to
change the core of America. The change sought by this revolutionary ideology is
intentionally destructive of Christianity. The destruction of Christianity will
come about with three levels of attacks against Christianity, with the
intensity of the attacks increasing over time. Initially, as we are already
seeing, there will be an assault on Christian Imagery. After the assault on
imagery will come an assault on Church buildings, and after the buildings we
will see an assault on Christians themselves.
America is directly attacked because
America is a Christian nation. America was founded on Christian Covenants. The
American Constitution is a result of political thought developed through
Covenants as foundational documents. The Declaration of Independence was
written as a covenant (as proven by Daniel Elazar). Even the more secular
influence on the founding, John Locke, based his property theory on God, “Men
being all the Workmanship of one Omnipotent, and infinitely wise Maker; All the
Servants of one Sovereign Master, sent into the World by his order and about
his business, they are his Property,” (John Locke, the Second Treatise of
Government, Chapter 2). This status as a country of and for Christianity has
given the church a powerfully protected country to thrive in, but the days of
safe Christianity are rapidly coming to an end. The current and active
hostility against Christianity and America is designed to replace the core idea
of America, to replace Christianity.
The anti-American and anti-Christian
sentiment is the core of the ideology driving these attacks, that ideology is
Marxism. Most in the church probably know Karl Marx’s thought that religion was
a comforting drug of compliance to stop class warfare. What the church may not
know is that the human nature the Church endorses: that of gender, the
traditional family, a monogamous procreative marriage, and general rules on
behavior are understood as “politics, laws, morality, religion,
metaphysics," all working together to support what he (Marx) thought was
an oppressive economic system. Marx called these philosophic conspiracies
“superstructures” and understood them to be the power tyrannizing people into
accepting capitalism. Let us say it again. Those things which you hold dear,
you hold sacred, you hold indispensable to the livelihood of not just yourself,
but your family and your community are the systems which must be attacked and
toppled in order to bring you liberty under the Marxist model.
Marxism, though initially economics
based, is now the foundation for Black Lives Matters, The Homosexual Agenda,
and radical feminism. Radicals in the 1960’ reconstituted the Marxist model to
include racial politics and thus generated “critical race theory.” Other
radicals took the same approach regarding gender, sex, and sexual orientation, and
created the new left. They are Marxists, and they think their pet oppression
(racism, sexism, “homophobia,” and all the other nonsense) is brought about and
reinforced by Christianity. Black Lives Matter, the homosexual agenda, the
transgender movement, feminism, and the modern state university are attacking
Christianity to “liberate” society. Attacking Christianity is an inescapable
conclusion to the Marxist premise of their ideology. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
once said of ideology, that in order for a human being to do truly barbaric and
monstrous things, they have to believe that what they are doing first is, good.
Marxists, high on their own moral superiority, are now operating in the major
cites under the ideology of “by any means necessary.” This modified version of
Marxism is driving the movement against America and against the Church.
The Warning for The Church After
Marxism
As a consequence of Marxism, I am
foreseeing on the horizon a day coming that will radically alter the way the
Western American Body of Christ ‘does’ Church. Gone will be the days of
building-centered churches. Today is a time of preparation for what comes next.
And what comes next is a time of relationships. A relationship-centered church.
This will look radically different than you might think though. Even the term
relationship-centered does not convey the severity of what I am about to
describe. I say relationship-based because everything will depend on
association. Nothing will be left to take for granted. And we take MUCH for
granted right now. Right now, this warning is being sounded because we are in a
period of preparation. This is the same kind of time that Joseph was sent to
prepare for. We may not see famine. But it will certainly feel that way. And it
will only be through local, and personal relationships that the Body of Christ
in America survives and thrives.
The Changing Needs of the Church
In order to express what I see, I need to use the following
illustration to make it concrete, rather than an abstract concept. Within
education there is a principle developed by a scholar named Maslow. He asserted
that human beings required certain needs, and only after certain needs were
provided or assured, would there be an emphasis on something else. I do not
want to spend too much time on this, it is the graphical illustration I feel
the absolute urgency to convey to you. Maslow did not incorporate God into his
hierarchy and while I am not here to split hairs on where Maslow erred
concerning this, suffice it to say, what we are about to see, is the stripping
away of two to three tiers in this hierarchy. So, if you consider yourself to
be squarely in the self-actualization phase of Maslow’s theory, soon you will
be in the safety needs category. I cannot stress this enough. For decades, we
in the church have heard prophets use Hebrews 12, and the subsequent passage
that alludes to “whatever that can be shaken will be shaken.” It has become
something of a favorite for travelling prophets, eager to invoke this passage
to cause believers to pay attention or to give in an offering. This next season
will strip away anything and everything that is not foundationally important to
you and your family. 
Because
America has stood for many generations as the unrivaled global superpower, it
is hard to imagine a day in which this could no longer be the case. And this is
pride, to assume that real substantial troubles, struggles, and turmoil would
continually be deflected away from us. Because of our comfort, we have indulged
in and been influenced by materialism. Materialism is not just something born
into, but we are raised in its culture. I am not here to demonize air
conditioning, or the internet. But most of us take it for granted. We assume it
will be there tomorrow. We expect it.
Few of us actually pay attention to people like Dave Ramsey. We give no
thought to savings, or investment. Because we live in a microwave culture,
where whatever we desire we can acquire without much work, we have lost the
discipline and the discernment to plan for the future. Proverbs 29:18 “Where there
is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.” Again, we expect tomorrow to be better than
today. But those days are running out. Prepare now. Store up now. Invest Now.
Because the investments you make now, will be the insurance your family has
then.
Cities and Food
In the coming days after this phase of
preparation, it will be important to understand logistically how and what
allows you and your family to survive and thrive. While this list is by no
means exhaustive, there really are only four things pushing on my heart to
reference. Escaping the Cities, the Food Supply, Home Churches, and Protection.
First, I need to discuss why I say escape the cities.
If you read headlines, pay attention
to politics, turn on the TV, listen to the radio, or surf the web, you have
doubtless been informed there is unrest in the cities. The turmoil we are
seeing in the cities is not however what it appears. These cities are being
attacked not because of perceptions of injustice, nor are they inspired by the
love for the American ideal. These political movements have been co-opted by
Marxist elements whose only concern is the destruction of the spirit of
America. This has even been admitted to, where headlines (from the Smithsonian)
now assert that traditional families, hard work, individualism, intimacy,
written tradition, and even being polite, is an effect of ‘whiteness.” Make no
mistake about this. Intersectional politics is fully within the vein of Marxist
thought.
I want you to consider these large
urban metropolises. People living on top and underneath each other. In a city
that houses millions, how long do you think food stores will last if those
trucks no longer bring food on a daily basis? What do you think crime will look
like in these cities, if food starts to be lacking? We have seen the breakdown
and the effects of police demoralization and, as of this writing, (July 2020)
Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Portland… have seen homicides and crime
explode by 400%. And this…. this is with a stable food supply.
My friend insists I add an additional
warning to this section. He wants me to remind you that in such cities, your
ability to live and act as free Christian people, will be increasingly limited.
We are now seeing in California, a governor who has, by fiat declaration,
banned church gatherings, along with many businesses reopening. Other governors
are saying you can go to church, but it is illegal to sing in church. Of
course, they do this for your own good. That’s the line isn’t it? Police wait
in a church parking lot in order to write tickets, church gatherings are prohibited,
but the Marxist protests…. Not only are these allowed, they are often endorsed.
So I ask you. How long in these cities, before your neighbor is allowed (or
encouraged) to report you for your devotion to God? (Insert the story of Daniel
here). Before you assume this is a bridge too far, consider this, Marxism (and
more broadly speaking, the illiberal left) have pushed onto our nation the
notion that “speech is violence.” We are now steeped in cancel culture. How
long before the next log in the dam adds devotion to God as being hateful,
violent, an attack on the liberties of society? For your own sake, and the sake
of your family, prepare now, and get out of these (and any large) city. Not
just because of the anti-Christian sentiment, but also because soon these
cities will crumble due to being unsustainable. And we are already seeing the
fracturing taking place on live TV.
Most people are not aware of the
logistical chain and process that ends up putting food on their plate each day.
Bananas spend but a few days on boats and trucks before ending up in a
refrigerated warehouse where they wait transport to another distribution
center, before finally being sent to the grocery store. This chain requires
consistent predictability concerning the money supply (else why would these
workers work these jobs?) Instability in the money supply (or even in the
perceived value of paper money) can and will cause these chains to disappear.
You need to prepare and move closer to the origination of the food supply chain.
The importance of being close to those who actually grow/produce food cannot be
overstated.
Home Churches:
It may seem strange, being talked to
about the importance of church from someone who has admitted to not being in a
church for more than ten years. But consider this. What is church?
Instinctively we all know the answer, it’s the Body of Christ. It’s the people.
The chosen. The saved. The sanctified. The….. ohh, its 12:30 pastor, time for
you to wrap this so we can have Sunday fried chicken and watch football. Or
it’s the knowledge that fellowship is realistically more one sided than we care
to admit. Or it’s the time of week when we dress up in ways we normally don’t,
and go to a building so people can see us all dressed up, acting as pillars of
the community even though we have never invited any of them into our dining
rooms. Or, it’s the predetermined amount of time we gave the worship team, to
sing from a stage, with more lights and effects than a rock concert, playing
instruments meant to get the hands in the air, rather than hearts prepared.
Or…. It’s the time after the sermon, when we give an alter call to save the
lost. Making sure no one looks around, and making sure confessions of faith are
private, so that we can get a little card saying someone accepted Jesus (and
can be added to our mailing list), and this collection of cards is how we
determine how we are affecting the Kingdom of Heaven. God help us.
Years ago, I asked a somewhat random
question to the man who was (and is) my spiritual father. “What do you think
the first century church was like?” His answer, though basic at the time,
started us on a depth of reflection that still resides in me (and I am sure in
him) to this day. This seemingly innocent question turned into months and years
of lessons and preaching on the topics of love, love for one another, and absolute
devotion to God. In recent years, a follow up observation has been piercing my
heart. And this leads me to now talk about what church might look like in the
coming years. I think sometimes we get so caught up in what is, we sometimes
forget that it was not always like this.
We need to understand the history of
home churches to understand the preparations that need to be made. Concerning
the 1st century church, a few key observations must be made, and
allowed to take root. First, these believers did not have the luxury of being
as vocal and as open as we are about our faith today. The church back in the
first century was actively being persecuted. Believers met in homes, not having
a formal building or a sign next to the road. They had to be careful, and
discerning in who they invited into their homes, because the simple fact was,
if you carelessly invited a spy into your home, not only did you risk your own
and your family’s safety, you risked all those in association with you (for it
was a home church.) The Chinese underground church knows this very well, even
today. We however take it for granted. We complain and expect, the freedom to
say what we want without risk. Yet when the church is asked to speak on matters
of virtue, on matters that hold political sway, the church claims “we are in
the world not of it.” We have lived off the sacrifice of others without truly
ever risking anything to preserve it. Those days are coming to an end.
The first churches were relationship
based. The first century church operated in each other’s homes. They knew each
other. They ate with each other. They prayed with each other. They worked with
each other. They loved each other. This was actually much like what the
colonists did when settling America. There was no police, no fire department,
no PTA. Just a body of believers who invested and sacrificed for each other,
because that was the only way to make it. If your house was on fire, your
neighbors rushed to help, because if their house was on fire, you would do the
same. If you were assaulted or robbed, the militia came (because you yourself
were also part of the militia.) These successful models are essential for us to
understand and imitate. Heed my words. How we operate in churches today is not
sustainable. If we are going to thrive in the coming years, we must cultivate
the same associations that the first century church and the American settlers
developed.
(This
is another area, where my friend and I differ a little bit. But I believe it is
paramount for you to hear the context of that which I speak.) It is important
to note, that Christian “churches” were not even a thing until the Roman
emperor Constantine. Constantine legitimized Christianity and turned it into a
structural organization. I think we have lost something essential in that trade
off. Think back to the portion of scripture that says the people ‘laid their
possessions at the feet of the disciples.” (Acts 1-5). Do not be fooled to
think this endorses socialism. They chose to invest in each other. Because in
investing in each other, they themselves were invested in.
The way America does ‘church’ is about
to be radically altered. Church buildings will not be able to assist people in
their needs. They certainly will try. Take a mega church for example. When this
turmoil hits, and food stores and supply chains break, these churches will
expend what they can in order to assist their congregation. (Commendable,
right?). But because their model is tied to the building, they will not have
the infrastructure or the relationships to truly help people long term. Once
their “food pantry” is empty, it will not get filled again.
Take this time and introduce
yourselves to your neighbors. Break bread with them. Have a cookout, just your
neighbors. Because your friends across town will be too far away to adequately
serve one another. This is not to say your friends do not matter. In a relationship-based
Christianity, your first mission field, has always been your neighbors. Gone is
the time of building-centered Christianity. We are about to enter
relationship-based Christianity.
Relationship
based Christianity is a community-based organization, and all communities are
centered around values (so says Aristotle.) One of the most under-preached
books in the Bible is Song of Solomon. And when it is used, it is usually
because a pastor feels the need (or is pressured) to reference God-honoring union
and intimacy. It is usually an awkward sermon. But there is a core lesson held
in this book. And it will be the cornerstone of relationship-based Christianity.
Let us take a moment and consider Song of Solomon. In Songs
chapter 5, verse 6 it says that the bride, looking for her beloved, finds Him
missing. The first reason for this, is because Jesus loves the LOST. So, we
have to go where THEY are. Because that is where He is. This is the search for
Jesus. Our communities must constantly be turned to Christ and His word in a
search for Him. By building our community around Christ we hope to bring the
Word to those without, as is shown by The Song of Solomon. “When the bride goes
out to search for the bridegroom, those in the city chastise and assault her,”
(Song 5:7). Notice this, Songs says they struck her, and wounded her, and
removed her shawl. This is not a simple insult. This is an assault. How does
the bride respond? It was her love and devotion to the bridegroom and her
depiction of who He is that softened their hearts and caused them to wonder who
this bridegroom was. It was through her depiction of who Jesus was that those
that struck her then said, “where is your beloved turned, that we may seek him
with you?” (Songs 6:1) This is relationship-based Christianity, this is how we
evangelize to a world where we must discern who we allow in influential
positions with access to our families and our associations.
Protection:
You
need to hear this and consider it well. In the coming days, and today as well,
it is your responsibility (as stated in the Bible) to provide for your
household. You (and your kids) rely on your neighbors, as they (and their kids)
rely on you. As such, you need to seriously consider buying, owning, and training
with firearms. 
If you truly desire to be a pacifist,
nothing I say here will change your mind. Go in peace, and God watch over you.
Truth be told, I think I would have an easier time being a pacifist if I were
only concerned about my own health. I am willing to bet this sentiment is
similar
to
many other’s belief in the same. But this is not biblical. One of the most
interesting passages in the Bible is John 18:10-11. We have heard this passage
preached many times. Jesus heals the ear of the High Priest’s servant. We,
however, often miss what is right before our eyes. Jesus did not rebuke Peter
for owning or carrying a sword. He only rebuked him for raising it in HIS
defense.
If the community described above is to
exist, it must be protected. With the current assault on Christianity, the
physical protection of these people may only be secured by you. Owning a
firearm does not make you a killer. It only makes you responsible for your
family, your kids, your neighbors. If you say, “I don’t need one as my
neighbors already have one.” I say this, how dare you. How dare you expect your
neighbor to raise their weapons in your defense if you are not willing to do
the same for them? Association requires mutual investment, in the spirit, in
food, and in security. If you are participating in association, without
defending it, you are degrading it.
How This Comes About:
The precise details of how the above
described turmoil will materialize are unknown. I see many things and many
possibilities that could play out over the course of the next years. I am
relatively sure that the election in Nov 2020 will play a pivotal part. A word
about that however. I see many Christians who make their President of choice
into some form of Christian warrior. If you are basing your ideas of
Christianity on the shoulders of any President, I pray you gain more
discernment. I am not suggesting you do not or should not pray for the
President. Praying for those in authority is needed and is biblical. But you
rest your hopes in a false hope by assuming that the President (any President)
is somehow spiritually pushing back on the forces of darkness.
No matter who wins the election in
November 2020, the stage is already being set to contest the election. If Trump
wins the left will yell corruption. If Biden wins, the right will claim voter
fraud. All these headlines are plants to make you think that whoever wins,
there is illegitimacy in the White House. And the left (predominately in the
cities) will riot. And the riots will make what we have seen in June/July of
2020 look pale in comparison. Consider this carefully, the Marxist elements we
have discussed in this letter are much less worried which candidate wins the
election than they are that this is their time for a revolution in the streets.
My friend points out that this may
have many similarities to what happened during the time of troubles in Ireland
with the IRA. Certainly Marxism (fueled by the spirit of lawlessness) acts like
its own religion, convincing its adherents that what they do, they do for
society’s good. This was the reference we draw from Solzhenitsyn. And that
turmoil, in the cities, matched with the unsafe conditions for those driving
supplies into these urban areas, will freeze all supply lines into those
cities. My friend would like to insist I pay close attention to the
anti-Christian rhetoric and assaults that will take place in these cities. And
while he is not wrong, it should be pointed out, that these attacks from the
left will not solely be only Christian targets. There will be fallout, there
will be nonbelievers swept up in the mob’s rage. Anyone daring to suggest an
alternative to the mob’s mentality, will be a target, and will be cancelled, or
worse.
There
have been rumors and whispers of civil war in America. I need to tell you, that
for the first time in my life, I am genuinely and truly worried about the
future of this great nation. Benjamin Franklin once remarked, concerning what
type of government the Founders were giving us, he said “A republic, if you can
keep it.” For too long, the church has misused, and abused the notion that we
were “in the world, not of the world.” We used this phrase, this biblical
truth, to imply that we ought not to be caretakers, or stewards over the
political reins in this country. And now, we, the descendants of those great
Christian men, will preside over its sunset.
Libraries:
The
following is my own personal admonition. I take great reflection in Hosea 4:6.
If you would heed the warnings in this letter, make provision for adding a
library of books for yourselves, your kids, and your neighbors. Aristotle,
Locke, Rousseau, de Tocqueville, Burke, Aquinas, Augustine, Plato, Shakespeare,
Cicero, The Federalist Letters, Machiavelli, C. S. Lewis, and others. Yes, make
sure you get your biblical libraries in order; a concordance, a Vine’s, an
interlinear, multiple translations (heavy emphasis on word for word literal),
but do not neglect the above philosophers and political thinkers. Of personal
note, also make time to read Solzhenitsyn and Dostoevsky. In the coming days it
will be important to be the primary educator for your families and your
children. As I begin to walk into the teaching profession, let me adjure you….
Education is more than simply making a more hire-able employee. This, however,
is how we currently look at education. Even our education system is steeped in
the notion that materialism (monetary success) is the primary validation for
being educated. Part (a large part) of why we have allowed our great nation to
fade into its sunset years, is because we have abandoned virtue as the
essential part of education for the next generation. Education must be first
and foremost about preserving and cultivating that which makes each of us, a
human being, and made in the image and likeness of our Creator. Knowledge is
key. Cultivate the gifts of the Spirit, and do not neglect the part the brain
plays in the Body.
In Christ,
Your Friends and Neighbors
Your Friends and Neighbors
