We have come to the end of a fascinating four-year period in U.S. history. I think it is important to think about what has transpired, so that we can learn from it. My focus will not be about the political lessons we might learn, but about what we need to know as we face what may well be the imminent end of “life as usual.” We have been talking about how the lamb will come to speak as a dragon for a long time, and we may be closer to that time now than we realize.
One year ago, in December, 2019, an amazing article appeared in Christianity Today, the flagship magazine of the evangelical world, established by Billy Graham and others for conservative, Bible-believing Christians. Mark Galli, the editor-in-chief, began his article with these words, “Politics is not the end and purpose of our being….Politics does not dominate our homepage….We love and pray for our president, as we love and pray for leaders on both sides of the political aisle.”
Notwithstanding these explanatory words, his next comments were startling. “The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see.” Galli then quoted from an editorial he penned in 1998, when Clinton was being impeached. “’The President’s failure to tell the truth—even when cornered—rips at the fabric of the nation….Unsavory dealings and immoral acts by the President and those close to him have rendered this administration morally unable to lead.’ Unfortunately, the words that we applied to Mr. Clinton 20 years ago apply almost perfectly to our current president….
“That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments. To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come. Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?
“We have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due, to try to understand their point of view, to see the prudential nature of so many political decisions they have made regarding Mr. Trump….[But soon] the whole game will come crashing down. It will crash down on the reputation of evangelical religion and on the world’s understanding of the gospel. And it will come crashing down on a nation of men and women whose welfare is also our concern.”
On December 20, this editorial was noticed by The New York Times. They noted that white evangelicals were the cornerstone of Trump’s political base and “their leaders are among his most visible and influential supporters.” Of course Trump lashed out at Christianity Today, calling it a “far left magazine.” He claimed that “no President has ever done what I have done for Evangelicals, or religion itself.”
“Because they are a third of the Republican base, Trump needs white evangelical Protestants to get elected,” said Robert P. Jones, chief executive of the Public Religion Research Institute. “And because white evangelicals see themselves as a shrinking minority, in both racial and religious terms, they need Trump.”
The Times article opined that “the middle is disappearing in American Christianity, just as it is in politics.”
Evangelicals who are troubled by the president’s conduct said they feared that he had done long-term damage to their cause. Peggy Wehmeyer, a journalist and writer, wrote, “The word evangelical has been sullied in a serious way. I don’t like to call myself that anymore. What has really troubled me from the beginning is why can’t people say on the one hand, ‘We love what he’s done on religious liberty, abortion, and the economy.’ But on the other hand say that ‘As Christians whose allegiance is to Jesus Christ, his behavior is despicable’?” She added, “You can support this man’s policies, but if the witness of this church is going to survive, you must speak out against sin.”
Evangelical leaders actually stated that that they had to vote for the lesser of two evils, and that Trump was acceptable because of abortion and his defending Christianity, and his support for Israel. Thus evangelicals were willing to overlook his character flaws. Jerry Falwell, Jr. said that they elected a commander-in-chief, not a pastor-in-chief. Christian activists have adopted the “one foot in sea, and one on shore” approach, which is headed for the medieval ditch of church-state abuse.
Conservative evangelical Christian leaders have been among Donald Trump’s most fervent and loyal supporters. National Public Radio reported the following on January 19, 2021. In a conversation with conservative activist Charlie Kirk on December 9, Christian author Eric Metaxas said he did not care about the overwhelming odds against any effort to overturn the election of Joe Biden. “What’s right is right,” Metaxas said. “That is so wrong. We need to do absolutely everything we can….We need to fight to the death, to the last drop of blood, because it’s worth it.” Three days later, Metaxas was the emcee at the Jericho March in Washington, where he and others implored God to keep Trump in office. “We are here because we know He is the God who does real miracles when His remnant cries out to Him in humility and love,” Metaxas said. “We are here to cry out to the God of heaven to ask Him to have mercy on the greatest nation in the history of the world.” A rally organizer, Robert Weaver, told the assembled crowd that God had appeared to him in a vision after Biden’s election victory and told him, “It’s not over.”
Pastor Darryl Knappen said in a January 9 Facebook message to his Minnesota congregation, “It was pastors who led the way in colonial times to encourage our country to shake off the totalitarian regime of the king of England.” Knappen said from his sanctuary, “I was tempted today to wear my black robe today and cover up my AR-15 beneath it….I would be part of that movement back then, and I may be part of that movement today.”
Speaking at the Jericho March prayer rally, the founder of the OathKeepers militia group, Stewart Rhodes, told the crowd he hoped Trump would use the Insurrection Act to “drop the hammer” on his opponents. “If he does not do it now, we’re going to have to do it ourselves later, in a much more desperate, much more bloody war.” Among the flags at the rally was a big yellow banner that said, “JESUS SAVES.” The same banner was seen again in the crowd that assaulted the U.S. Capitol on January 6. One of the leaders of the invasion of the Senate chamber, Jacob Chansley, actually asked the rioters to pause and join him for a moment of prayer to God. “Thank you for allowing the United States to be reborn,” Chansley said. The rioters, many of whom had quietly removed their hats, erupted in a cry of “Amen!”
Kristin du Mez, a historian at Calvin University, said, “Because the dangers are so great and the stakes are so high, that often will require violence. It’s violence for the sake of righteousness, violence to achieve order, violence to bring peace and security.” Pastor Darryl Knappen said, “There is a need in every one of our localities to have individuals, patriots, who are ready to arm up and be a part of a citizen militia to protect our freedoms.” He noted that he was in church, speaking in front of the cross.
We have wondered how a Christian-based republic will turn into the dragon of Revelation. Maybe we are watching that unfold before our eyes. Moral compromise in the apostolic church led directly to the use of force to compel compliance to the majority view of what God’s will was, and the Dark Ages was the result. We are well on our way to repeating that part of history.
A CULT OF IGNORANCE?
Here are some striking points from various studies in America regarding lack of civic knowledge and basic facts about political affairs:
Sixty-four percent of Americans can’t name the three branches of government or describe what they do.
Most Americans don’t know which party controls Congress at any given time.
Half can’t meaningfully describe the difference between liberals and conservatives.
Fifty-four percent cannot name a single Supreme Court Justice.
Only a bare majority can name even one basic purpose of the Constitution.
Fifty percent feel newspapers should not be allowed to publish stories without government approval.
The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs commissioned a civic education poll among public school students. (“Anti-Intellectualism and the ‘Dumbing Down’ of America,” Psychology Today, July, 2014) These were some of their findings:
Seventy-seven percent didn’t know that George Washington was the first president, or that Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence.
Three percent of the students passed the citizenship test.
This kind of ignorance about basic facts in regard to living in a constitutional republic breeds an increasingly apathetic citizenry which can easily lead to demagogic political leadership. Complacency breeds forgetfulness. It can easily lead to complete obedience to an authority figure. It is closely tied to the belief that some groups are superior to others. These groups tend to talk only to each other, and only listen to their chosen authorities.
LESSONS
We were told 1900 years ago that the new experiment of a lamb-republic would actually come to speak as a dragon-persecutor. We are now living at the very edge of the fulfillment of these ancient prophecies. We were further informed 100 years ago that the ones who would lead the way in this dark descent would be religious leaders professing to be the moral voice of those who believe in and worship an almighty God, exactly what happened in the human lifetime of Jesus Christ. The ones to fear in this end-time scenario would not be the atheists, the Communists, the scientists, the radicals leading society into immorality, or secular politicians. All of these groups will play their part in pushing religious leaders to take drastic steps to restore some semblance of morality to our societies. It is these religious leaders (in the United States, the Protestant-evangelical leaders) that will feed off the fears and the desperation and the anger of a deteriorating society, and will propose the solution that worked “so well” in the Middle Ages. Church-state union, with the state carrying out the desires of the controlling religious voices, will be seen as the only answer to a collapsing world order.
In the United States, the lead will be taken by the evangelical, conservative, Bible-believing churches. These are the ones who believe fervently in the soon coming of Christ (through a secret rapture), the restoration of Israel as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, a final conflict of Israel with the forces of evil, and a millennium of peace on earth with Christ as Supreme Ruler. They will lead the way in uniting with a rejuvenated papacy, and forming a deadly connection with spiritualism in false prophetic visions and miracles and supernatural demonstrations.
Right now, all Seventh-day Adventist eyes need to be wide open to what is happening all around us. We have become very comfortable with evangelical theology, especially on gospel-salvation issues. We have also been listening to strident conservative-evangelical voices informing us of how to restore the United States to its moral high ground and greatness. Evangelical theology and evangelical politics have become the greatest dangers facing the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and our blindness to these two aspects of Satan’s final efforts to deceive the “very elect,” may well cause this movement to “appear to fall.”
If it were not for the prophecies of 1900 years ago and the prophecies of 100 years ago, I would be very discouraged and even depressed about what I see in the “movement of destiny” right now. But I take courage in the promises of God that this movement will not fall; that the faithful ones will soon receive the seal of God and will survive the “time of Jacob’s trouble” without even one sin marring the characters of the 144,000. God’s magnificent plan to restore peace to the universe will succeed triumphantly, and He will have a “multitude” of witnesses to be His first-line defense against sin ever raising its ugly head in a perfect universe for all eternity.
How Spiritualism Has Affected Your Life
“The Spirit of God says, I have chosen this man Donald Trump for such a time as this. For as Benjamin Netanyahu is to Israel so shall this man be to the United States of America. For I will use this man to bring honor, respect, and restoration to America.”
As Mark Taylor watched a television program on which Donald Trump was being interviewed, a distinct voice said the above words in his mind. Hardly worth mentioning perhaps, except for the date it happened. Not 2016 or later, when Trump’s name was on every pundit’s lips, but early 2011, when no one was talking about Trump as president. The voice continued for a lengthy description of the restoration of American power under Trump and the glorification of Israel that would result.
Taylor wondered what to do about this vision. Indeed, what would you do if you heard a voice from nowhere on something so unexpected? He eventually put it out on the internet and was mostly ignored as just another soap box chatterer. His vision would come to be known only later as the most important of a new phenomenon in the evangelical world: modern prophecy. But who are the evangelicals and how do they influence the world at large?
The evangelical subset of the Christian world has become increasingly prominent in United States politics over the last forty years. It is no single denomination but instead a generic term for several conservative churches that believe in the full inspiration of the Bible and the literal second coming of Christ.
Always a prominent force in Christian thought, evangelicals got into politics in the 1960’s onward. But only in the 1970’s and early 1980’s did they get coordinated. Several forward thinkers from various churches organized the Moral Majority around several basic ideas. They pushed mandatory school prayer, anti-homosexual laws, pro-creation teaching in schools, and a pro-Zionism.
They also took an anti-abortion stance, co-opting this issue from progressive liberals who had failed to convince the Democratic Party to embrace this issue. (As we examined in “The Trojan Horse.”)[1] For an important issue that has been pushed vocally for decades by many politicians, little progress has been made in actually saving babies from being killed. A cynical viewpoint could easily conclude that very few politicians from either party really care about saving babies, but only care about persuading caring people to vote for them.
Regardless, the evangelical political movement scored increasingly powerful victories, starting during the Reagan era. They experienced ups and downs over the decades but things came to a head during the Obama administration. Obama gave preferential treatment to gay rights and pro-abortion activists which strongly motivated the conservative base against Obama. But Republicans needed a candidate to vote for and the Evangelical world was determined to provide one.
But something incredible happened first. A drastic changed occurred in the evangelical religious world. For the first time ever, they accepted modern prophets as valid messengers of God’s will. This is as dramatic a change as if they would have stopped believing in the Catholic teaching of the immortal soul. For over one hundred fifty years, the evangelical churches rejected the gift of prophecy.
They claimed that prophecy ended with the Apostles and would only possibly come back at the end of time. They condemned any church with a prophet as a cult. The Mormons had Joseph Smith and the Seventh-day Adventists had Ellen White. All were rejected automatically as false churches because they claimed to have a prophet receiving messages from God. Evangelicals were firm and unwavering in their stand on this issue: NO MODERN PROPHETS!
Then the Event happened. A retired firefighter, Mark Taylor, claimed he heard a voice saying, "The Spirit of God says, I have chosen this man Donald Trump for such a time as this." Taylor had been struggling with depression, insomnia, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts. During this troubled personal time of his life, he claims to have received visitations from demons, angels and even God himself. But this new voice went on extensively about the future presidency of Donald Trump. Taylor wrote it down in what has become known as the Commander-in-Chief Prophecy.[2]
This event would probably have passed into history unnoted and forgotten. Most people who read it would likely have dismissed it as delusional thoughts of a traumatized psychology. But one person who read it thought differently. Mary Colbert was an important player in the evangelical political machine. She had connections with key activists in the Republican evangelical movement and she used them. She spread the Commander-in-Chief Prophecy everywhere, telling everyone that this was truth and they needed to listen.
When the 2016 election campaign began to pick up steam, the evangelical leadership was tentatively backing Ted Cruz, as he had vocally supported their agenda on several social issues. But then this Prophecy intruded and began to have an impact. The leadership decided that perhaps Donald Trump was the better choice, if this was truly the voice of God.[3] Subtly, almost silently, the evangelical world embraced prophecy as truth. After fighting the gift of prophecy in modern times as virtual heresy, suddenly they accepted it as a valid conduit from God. Wow. Just wow.
Why the change? Did studying of Scripture lead them to a new understanding of the modern gift of prophecy? They have been presented with the truth in this area ever since James and Ellen White published Spiritual Gifts in 1859.[4] They have rejected these truths categorially ever since. Unfortunately, very little Bible study takes place among those focused on power politics. How to take advantage of the next guy is much more relevant than reexamining Biblical truths.
So this wasn’t likely to be a profound reawakening to a lost truth. Much more likely is simple expediency. This Commander-in-Chief Prophecy said something that they wanted to hear, specifically that the coming President of the United States would make America strong and join with Israel to bring about the coming era of God’s rule on Earth.
And make no mistake, Israel is key to all of this. Dispensationalism is a key tenet of the evangelical movement and has been since the 1800’s. ALL the prophecies of the Old Testament regarding the reestablishment of Israel MUST come true before the Second Coming can occur. Dispensationalists don’t understand the Biblical principle of conditional prophecy. Conditional prophecy means that God always has a Plan A that He asks His followers to accept. If they do, all is well. If they refuse to accept His will, He then moves to Plan B.
The prophecies for Israel were Plan A, but the Jews refused to follow God’s plan for them and failed in their mission. This left a lot of prophecies hanging with no fulfillment then or ever. But dispensationalist evangelicals maintain they WILL all be fulfilled and then all will be well. Israel must destroy its enemies, rebuild the Temple in its proper place in Jerusalem, resume the sacrificial system of slaughtering animals, and welcome the coming Messiah.
How to achieve these goals? No president had done enough to bring Israel to its rightful place in world affairs or defend the Jews from their enemies. Who would be the champion of Israel? The 2011 Prophecy gave a direct answer. Donald Trump would be the champion of Israel and with America’s support the two nations would unite to lead the world to God’s Dominion on Earth. This seems to be the turning point in acceptance of the Prophecy, since it directly pointed to a unification with Israel.
And here the flaw in the reasoning of humans throughout history regarding true or false prophecy is revealed. If a prophet tells you what you want to hear, you accept it. If a prophet tells you what you don’t want to hear, you reject it. It is very simple. If you agree with me, I will support you, otherwise you are the enemy. “They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.”[5]
The Bible is replete with a plethora of such examples: Jeremiah vs. the many who said to fight Babylon,[6] Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal,[7] Micaiah vs. the prophets of Samaria.[8] All of these “prophets” claimed that God spoke to them, but the proof of truth was when the message conformed to previous revelations from God, NOT if the message agreed with a personal agenda.
We know for a fact that these modern prophetic messages do not come from God. How? Because the revelations have not made any effort to correct the falsehoods that evangelicals believe. None of these prophecies have corrected the false day of worship that was instituted by the Catholic Church and adopted by Protestantism. They haven’t corrected the false understanding about the state of humans after death or a never-ending hell. They haven’t rebuked the doctrine of the immortal soul. They haven’t restored the Biblical mandate of only eating clean meats and never eating ANY blood in those clean meats. And not a single prophecy has shown that God can give humans the power to overcome sin. So we must conclude that these prophecies are not only false but are supportive of error, since they sanction the continued error held by its recipients.
But now we come to the key point. Are these prophecies the product of a sincere but delusional human mind or are they supernatural? They can’t be from God, because they do not correct error, which God’s messages always do. But are they from Satan? How can we tell? The most obvious way to tell if they are supernatural in origin is if they come true. A made-up prophecy has only a random chance of coming true, based on statistical probability analysis. The more detailed the prophecy, the less likely chance will fulfill its predictions.
Prediction: “It will rain next Tuesday.” No matter if you are good at weather predicting, if it rains you will get credit for being right, but not much credit. Prediction: “It will rain next Tuesday at 12:42 for 12 minutes and then an earthquake will hammer New York City right before a Blue Whale is stranded near Houston.” If you get this prediction right, you are officially receiving supernatural help, as no one could predict such a complicated series of events. So the more complex the prophecy, the greater the chance of failure without supernatural aid.
Now make no mistake. Satan cannot foresee future events. He is a created being with all the limitations of anyone not God. But he can make events unfold as he predicts, if God allows him to. This has happened many times with spiritualistic rituals and predictions, as Satan works to convince the gullible that his way works. A vision sent from Satan can be fulfilled in perfect detail, as long as God does not intervene. So let’s look at the predictions of the 2011 prophecy to see how accurate they were.
- Donald Trump will be president. Obviously, this came true. Some could say they saw it coming, as a Simpson’s cartoon predicted back in 2000. But really, no one serious would have made a claim like this. Trump was both a success and a failure at many things, but politics was definitely one of his failures. By 2011, Trump had switched parties about three times and failed to get any traction as a political candidate. Not only was he not running for anything in 2011, but showed no signs of doing so.
- Trump’s election will be a shock and will overrule the efforts of his enemies. This was the amazing event of the 2016 election season. First the “experts” said that Trump had no chance of winning more than a primary or two. Then he had no chance of winning the Republican nomination. Then he had no chance of winning the national election against Hillary Clinton. Then two weeks before the election, Trump was exposed by his own words as having no respect for women. Now for sure the die was cast. Even his inner circle virtually gave up. The “Never Trump” forces rejoiced; the election was a lock for Hillary. I personally remember sitting in front of the TV on election Tuesday as the “experts” detailed the many ways Clinton could win and the one near-impossible way Trump could win. And then the “miracle” happened. The key states that had to fall to Trump did so and history was made. The details of the prophecy came true.
- Trump’s enemies would fail to destroy him as he would be protected by Providence. The last three years have been some of the most amazing political years in memory. Unrelenting scandals in Trump’s White House. A constant turnover of staff and government officials as Trump either forced them out or they left of their own volition. Endless reports of misdeeds and conflict and chaos at the highest levels. A list of lies told by Trump and his representatives that stretches into the thousands. A two-year investigation by the Department of Justice. Nearly every action taken by Trump and his allies has been challenged in court. Many of Trump’s closest advisors and election allies are either in prison or heading that direction. Yet despite all of this, Donald Trump continues to be president and is likely to be so for the foreseeable future. He seems protected from harm and no attack on him seems to succeed. The prophecy continues to be fulfilled accurately.
- Trump will uphold Israel and protect it from its enemies. This part could be seen as the most self-fulfilling aspect of the prophecy, as the people supporting Trump continue to push this issue relentlessly. Much of this administration’s foreign policy can be seen to be centered on the uplifting of Israel and antagonism toward Israel’s enemies. The day the United States Embassy was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was viewed by the evangelical world as one of the greatest days in history. They gave it wall-to-wall coverage on their TV broadcast networks, with celebrations and speeches praising the move and the president who made it happen. Why should they be so happy? What has really been gained other than a change of address of the diplomatic core? It certainly has not made the diplomatic process easier, as the rest of the world’s embassies were still located in Tel Aviv and it is now more difficult to coordinate between agencies located in different cities. It unquestionably did not bring peace closer, since the reaction from the forces opposed to Israel became even more aggressive because of the move. So what was gained? The only tangible effect gained is the perception that Israel is slightly closer to regaining full control of the “Shining City on the Hill,” and that its enemies are one step closer to being forced out. This must happen according to the Dispensationalists before the Temple is rebuilt. Of course, several more steps have been taken along these lines since then, as Israel is given preeminent treatment in every decision made by America. As to Israel’s chief enemies, we see a steady pressure from the U.S. against Iran and others that could easily lead to another shooting war soon. In view of this we should remember Ellen White’s clear warning against focusing on Israel.[9]
- During his time in office, Trump will replace five Supreme Court justices. Now this particular prophecy was not in the original 2011 vision. This prediction was first articulated by Mark Taylor in 2015 with clarifications since then. This could easily be viewed as the most incredible prediction of the entire story, because of its specific make-or-break predictions. The first replacement would be made when a Supreme Court judge unexpectedly died while in office. That took place on February 13, 2016 when Antonia Scalia died while on a sport-hunting trip. (Scalia regularly amused himself by killing innocent animals for fun, often with his good friend Dick Chaney.) His eventual replacement was Neil Gorsuch. The second replacement would be made when a judge stepped down voluntarily from the High Court. That took place in July of 2018 when Anthony Kennedy retired and made way for the next replacement, which ended up being Brett Kavanaugh. The final three justices that will step down are predicted to be forced to resign all at one time due to unspecified scandals. This has yet to occur. Stay tuned!
It is a point of some interest that both Kavanaugh and Gorsuch attended Georgetown Preparatory School, a Jesuit college prep school. Kavanaugh is a devout conservative Catholic and joined the three Jewish judges and the other five Catholic or quasi-Catholic judges that now dominate the Court. Why are there no Protestants on a Supreme Court supposedly representing America as the Protestant Christian Nation?
Regardless, here is where we are. A detailed prophecy made in 2011 has been fulfilled in almost every particular. This forces us to conclude that it was sent from a supernatural source and we have already ruled out a true message from God. We are left with a message from Satan, and the evidence is clear. This means that the evangelical movement that has embraced these messages is following a broken cistern of Satan’s design. The movement is claiming responsibility for getting Trump elected by prayer and voting, and so we are left with a satanic source for Trump’s presidency.
But is this such a shock? Ellen White predicted a long time ago that the Protestant movement in America would become contaminated by Spiritualism as it joined forces with the Papacy and set up the Image to the Beast in America. “The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power.”[10] Note she says specifically that the Protestants will be foremost in this union, not innocent dupes. We should not be surprised by current events, because God told us it would happen over a century ago.
Spiritualism comes in many forms. We often think of the crudest, most demonic forms of spiritualism, as displayed in many corrupt and vile Hollywood productions. Or we think of the “sanitized” spiritualism that many people swallow routinely from such popular sources as Harry Potter and Star Wars. But these are not the most likely areas to corrupt devout Evangelical Protestantism. These people may read The Chronicles of Narnia, but they mostly steer clear of “witchcraft” and vampire stories.
Where they are vulnerable to Spiritualism is in the false view of life after death and the false dreams/visions that tell of a happy afterlife in heaven or dead relatives making contact from the grave. This has cropped up among them for years and is almost routine these days. Just recently, a major series on life after death was produced by the John Ankerberg Show.[11] Now that prophecy has been added to this, we have full blown Spiritualism taking deep root among these churches.[12]
And make no mistake, they are proud of their prophecy/spiritualism. Mark Taylor and Mary Colbert have written a book detailing his prophecies and her role in spreading them to the political evangelical movement. The Trump Prophecies was published in 2017. Then Liberty University made a 2018 movie called “The Trump Prophecy” for around two million dollars.[13]
Both are fearlessly bold in promoting the role these prophecies played in getting Trump elected, and they defend the visions as the voice of God. The movie portrays Mark Taylor as a mild-mannered sad guy with PTSD. Whether the real Taylor is such a sympathetic character is subject to debate, as he pushes conspiracy theories and gets angry a lot. But this is not really about him anyway, it is about the voice talking to him.
For we find that prophecy has spread far beyond a single “messenger from God.” Many evangelicals have claimed the prophetic gift besides Taylor. Some operate independently, creating their own ministries, and claiming the prophetic gift including faith-healing and tongue-speaking.[14]
Some evangelicals claiming the prophetic gift have formed their own organization called “The POTUS Shield.” What is this about? “POTUS” in the group’s name refers not only to the “President of the United States,” but also to a new “prophetic order of the United States” that God is supposedly establishing.[15]
They are anti-denominational but also favor Pentecostal methods of worship and tongue-speaking. They are vocally pro-Trump and pro-Israel and give various messages to convince Trump to comply with their agenda. And it seems to be working. This administration has backed almost everything they back and is thankful of the support they provide for Trump’s agendas.
Trump must love their core message. God will protect Trump from his enemies since he is God’s chosen instrument for America and Israel. How comforting that must be for someone who is attacked every single day of his administration. Nothing seems to stick to him legally or politically. His future is secure! Does this explain his apparent total indifference to criticism or political assault? Why worry when God is on your side?
And since secular media views prophets as crazy people, they tend to ignore them. Mainstream media propaganda machines such as FOX and CNN never talk about these prophets and so most Americans have no idea how influential the POTUS Shield actually is. This serves the Shield very well, as they are able to glide beneath the radar of all but the “faithful.” They are all over the evangelical TV stations and the internet but have you ever heard of them? Trump sure knows they exist and we are all the worse for it.[16]
So what can we learn from this tale of woe? How should this information impact our choices? Well, it would be obvious to most that we steer clear of support for Spiritualism, even indirectly. Let’s be clear. Support for Trump is support for his power structure and that officially includes Satanic Spiritualism. You can’t hold your nose and be waived of complicity. I can already hear those who support Trump saying that whatever Democrat opposes him will be just as tainted with evil in a different form, be it atheism or new age mysticism. You will get no argument from me. Evil has infiltrated nearly every aspect of politics and Satan uses all roads that further his agenda. Since there are evil aspects among Democratic candidates, does that mean we should support the Republican candidates, which now includes Spiritualism?
A remarkable story emerged after the last election. Starting in 2017, a group of witches began holding group “cursing” rituals against Trump’s presidency. In response, evangelicals began counter-meetings to pray for Trump’s protection against this attack.[17] As Ellen White pointed out, those in Babylon’s false churches who are praying in the wrong compartment of the Sanctuary will have their prayers answered by Satan.[18] How Satan must laugh to have two opposite groups both praying to him, but calling him by different names.
We also know that those who lie are servants of Satan. “Truth is of God; deception in all its myriad forms is of Satan, and whoever in any way departs from the straight line of truth is betraying himself into the power of the wicked one. Those who have learned of Christ will ‘have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.’”[19] Is there anyone left who pretends that Trump doesn’t lie, and lie spectacularly? People hardly care anymore that what he says on any given day contradicts what he said last year, last month, or last week. We have become a society that accepts flagrant lying. Again, many will say that all politicians lie. Yes indeed…. What should that tell you?
In fact, I could (but won’t, due to the nastiness and slime that I would be forced to repeat) go through the 10 Commandments and see where Donald Trump lives up to them. Yikes! Is there any of the 10 that he hasn’t broken? For the first time ever, we have a President that must have his public, televised speeches bleeped when he uses four letter words. This is our moral leader that will bring about God’s will?
To defend politicians in general and presidents in particular means stepping in the Mud of Shame and walking through the very narrow Rationalization Gate underneath the Bar of Decency. For many years this meant getting your feet muddy, but it was possible to tiptoe through without too much personal contamination. But as the standards of decency have been consistently lowered by modern presidents, the attempt to defend their actions has required an increasingly lower and lower defense. Trump has lowered the Bar of Decency so low that to defend him requires a complete crawl through the mud. Is he really worth it? Is that the mission of God’s followers?
The evangelicals recognize this and claim that Trump is a modern day Cyrus that is not spiritual himself but is used by God to accomplish His earthly goals.[20] So even his supporters compare him to a pagan king of a worldly power. Faint praise indeed! But is this a true comparison? God has often used worldly leaders throughout history to accomplish His goals. But He never gets involved in promoting them or urging His followers to do so. God always urges a distance from worldly systems, in order to spare His followers from the corruption that political involvement brings. Render unto Caesar….
Ellen White was very clear about what our participation in politics should be. The promotion of righteous causes is an acceptable activity for those wanting to better humanity. Temperance and religious liberty are the two causes that she personally involved herself in. She even urged people to vote for these issues when voting took place on Sabbath.[21] She opposed unjust laws such as the Fugitive Slave Act, an aggressive political statement by her![22] And she joined most other Adventist pioneers in the progressive/liberal cause of abolition.
But there were other causes where she did not get involved, such as women’s rights, even when she agreed with many of the sentiments promoted. The groups involved promoted issues besides the main pure cause. The women’s voting party became involved in Spiritualism itself and is a perfect example of why we should steer clear of Trump’s evangelical Spiritualism.[23]
Because of the baggage politics gathers around it, she clearly stated that we should avoid the muck of political parties. She even recommended that SDA pastors and employees who promote political questions be fired. And she gave a devastating warning for those considering voting for people. If we place in office by our vote those who attack religious liberty, we become responsible for the sins they commit while in office.[24] The horror! Show of hands: who wants to be responsible for the sins Trump has and will commit while in office? Anyone?
But don’t we have the duty to vote in every election? Are we Americans or not? There is always a difference in voting for issues and voting for people. Ballot measures are a clear example of the former; presidents are examples of the latter. It might be wise to reflect on James White’s thoughts regarding voting. When Abraham Lincoln first ran for President, James White concluded there was nothing in the Bible prohibiting an Adventist from casting his vote. He neither recommended nor opposed voting. He would not condemn those who voted, and trusted that they would not condemn him if he did not vote.[25]
Some say we must vote for the Lesser of Two Evils. Voting for the Lesser of Two Evils is still voting for Evil. There is always a third choice. A} Voting for the Greater Evil. B} Voting for the Lesser Evil. C} Not voting for either Evil. Which Evil would you like to be responsible for? Atheism or Spiritualism? Which is really the Lesser Evil anyway? Great American men and women died throughout our history to give each one of us the right to vote or not to vote. Exercise that right proudly! Be a thinking American, not a mindless dittohead.
Every single one of us has been impacted by the prophecies of Mark Taylor and the POTUS Shield. We have a president that in all probability was elected by evangelicals who believed the Commander-in-Chief Prophecy. This spiritualistic voice continues unabated to this day, and is having real-world political and governing impacts. Everything that has happened in America since Trump took over can be laid at the feet of the Spiritualism of these many modern prophets. This isn’t the first time that spiritualistic influences have invaded the precincts of the White House.
Any positive effects of our era must be weighed against the evil from which they were born. Strong economy? Border security? Moral judges? A president who keeps his promises? All irrelevant. God cannot bless a system poisoned by Satan’s voice and control. It makes no difference if a society is based on anti-God atheism or quasi-Christian Spiritualism. Both are Satan’s methods of controlling minds and making truth subordinate to power.
If we support a system or a politician that destroys religious liberty, we are guilty with them of their sins. We must step back from anything that does so, whether it is to promote a twisted version of equal rights or a religiously backed effort to place one religion preeminent to all others. We have seen both efforts in America and elsewhere over the last twenty years. God cannot bless either movement, and to pick either tribe as our own is to be dragged down to the abyss with them. Only a stand for truth as revealed in Scripture is safe in these dangerous times. All else is a quagmire of man’s whims and Satan’s schemes.
We have a perfect example of this danger from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Ellen White describes this danger very precisely. “It is not the open and avowed enemies of the cause of God that are most to be feared. Those who, like the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin, come with smooth words and fair speeches, apparently seeking for friendly alliance with God’s children, have greater power to deceive.”[26] “But it is his [Satan’s] secret working through those who avow themselves the friends of God’s work, that is most to be feared. Open opposition may be fierce and cruel, but it is fraught with far less peril to God’s cause than is the secret enmity of those who, while professing to serve God, are at heart the servants of Satan.”[27]
Often our attention is drawn to open defiance of God’s truths, such as evolution or atheism. But here God is directing our attention to those who profess moral values while deliberately trampling upon God’s laws such as the Sabbath. “Against such every soul should be on the alert, lest some carefully concealed and masterly snare take him unaware. And especially today, while earth’s history is closing, the Lord requires of His children a vigilance that knows no relaxation.”[28]
[1] See “The Trojan Horse” by Dennis and Matthew Priebe: http://advindicate.com/articles/2019/5/20/the-trojan-horse
[2] The Commander-in-Chief Prophecy can be found in its entirety on several websites. Mark Taylor has compiled all of his prophecies in one place: https://www.bibleconcepts.com/erics-library/books-and-studies-by-others/prophetic-words-by-mark-taylor/ See also: http://www.angelfire.com/ks/landzastanza/messages.html#01
[3] There was much questioning as to why Ted Cruz was losing Evangelical voters during the 2016 primaries. For example: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/why-ted-cruz-losing-evangelicals-donald-trump. After the national election it was clear that Evangelicals, Catholics, and Mormons were instrumental in electing Trump. See: https://religionnews.com/2016/11/09/white-evangelicals-white-catholics-and-mormons-voted-decisively-for-trump/
[4] The introduction to Spiritual Gifts is a detailed and well-reasoned Bible study on the gift of prophecy in modern times. See: Spiritual Gifts, Volume 1, pp. 5-16
[5] Amos 5:10
[6] Jeremiah 21 & 26
[7] 1 Kings 18
[8] 1 Kings 22
[9] See: The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White Letters, pp. 137-138. See also: Review and Herald, February 25, 1896
[10] Great Controversy, p. 588
[11] See: https://www.jashow.org/articles/life-after-death/
[12] See: Signs of the Times, May 28, 1894
[13] For movie details, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trump_Prophecy
[14] See: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Nigerian-exorcist-TB-Joshua-holds-gathering-for-thousands-in-Israel-593621/amp
[15] See: https://www.potusshield.com/
[16] A YouTube video is available which shows clips from various evangelical TV programs featuring Mark Taylor and some of the other prophets. In fact, this video was my first introduction to these issues and I want to thank Leonard Tucker for putting his presentation together. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoVmiQ2q28M
[17] See: https://stream.org/witches-seek-to-curse-president-trump-christians-plan-spiritual-warfare-prayer-against-it/
[18] See: The Day-Star, March 14, 1846
[19] Prophets and Kings, pp. 249-250
[20] See: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/23/cyrus-prophecy-evangelical-support-donald-trump
[21] See: Arthur White, Ellen White Biography, Volume 3, p. 160
[22] See: Testimonies, Volume 1, p. 264
[23] For a brief historical overview of the early connection between the founders of the women’s voting movement and Spiritualism, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_and_Isaac_Post
[24] The definitive statement by Ellen White on our political involvement is found in Fundamentals of Christian Education, pp. 475-484. The entire chapter is powerful and well worth reading for those wanting to understand God’s revealed will on this issue.
[25] See: Review and Herald, August 21, 1860
[26] Prophets and Kings, pp. 570-571
[27] Prophets and Kings, pp. 658
[28] Prophets and Kings, pp. 571