BECOMING A
REVOLUTIONARY FOR GOD
WHERE YOU LIVE

"Don't pity the poor soldier who has tried and failed; save your pity for the sucker who has never had the guts to even try"      - adapted from a saying      by: Pete Seeger

INTRODUCTION

Most Christians in the United States live in a world of half-truths and lies insofar as their "world-view" (Weltanschauung) is concerned; a cosmos filled with phantoms and ghosts, and haunted by such bizarre and mysterious shadows as the "Bildeburgers," the Illuminati, the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, black helicopters, road signs written in Chinese, and strange "goings on" in the United Nations; a universe in which it is difficult to separate fact from fiction, and reality from fantasy.

And for those Christians who eschew this fantasy world, they often resort to the opposite extreme, and delight themselves in the fact that they have no "world view" at all; that the world of politics, business and culture is of no importance to them. All they care about is the Bible - as if being ignorant of all things political, cultural and economic makes them that much more "spiritual." These are people who seem to revel in their own naiveté, and who wear it almost as a badge of honor!

THE SYSTEM OF INDOCTRINATION THAT SURROUNDS US

Unfortunately, what Christians like this don't realize is that simply by virtue of being American, they are, as James Peck writes in his introduction to the Chomsky Reader, being subjected all the while, whether they realize it or not, to a -

"... pervasive, omnipresent, and subtle ideological process of INDOCTRINATION that permeates (the world they live in) ... and BLINDS THEM TO WHAT IS ALL TOO OBVIOUS."

And while this system of indoctrination is not as brutish as others, it nonetheless permeates their every waking moment by saturating the content of the newspaper articles they glance at in the morning, the TV they watch at night, the magazines they read in their leisure time, the movies they see on the weekends, ad nauseum. It is precisely the ubiquitous and extremely subtle nature of this particular "process of indoctrination" - and the fact that it is so little recognized for what it really is by Christians in the United States - that makes it so different from the mechanisms of indoctrination that were at work in the old Soviet Union, or those that are at work at present in countries like Iraq and Communist China - mechanisms which were (are) relatively simple and quite transparent. The fact is, while people in countries like China and Iraq are expected to parrot the official "party line" and stay within the proscribed boundaries of political and intellectual expression, these same people, nonetheless, fairly well understand the difference between what is state-sponsored "propaganda" and what is "truth."

In the United States, however, the mechanisms of indoctrination, while equally omnipresent (and, in fact, probably much more so), are very different, and - as we indicated above - much more subtle and indirect; and this is true whether this propaganda is directed at the "left" or at the "right;" whether it comes from a program like the O'Reilley Factor, or PBS and Pacifica Radio. And it is by now so all-encompassing and universal that it has come to resemble nothing less than the "Newspeak" in George Orwell's world of "Big Brother."

THE MANUFACTURE OF CONSENT

Walter Lippmann, a member of the elite class (so to speak) to which Orwell's "Newspeak" was dedicated to serving, approvingly labeled this process of indoctrination "THE MANUFACTURE OF CONSENT" by which he meant "educating" (to put it facetiously) the "brutish masses" (in our case, Christian evangelicals) in such a way that they would come "naturally," as it were, to the belief that the interests of the elites were their interests also - EVEN IF THOSE INTERESTS MEANT CONSIGNING SOME OF THEM TO PAUPERISM AND INDIGENCE, AND BESMIRCHING THE TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH.

Edward Bernays (likewise a member of the elite) called it "THE ENGINEERING OF CONSENT." And, finally, Harold Laswell - like both Lippmann and Bernays, also a card-carrying member of the elite - cynically thought of America's artful and very astute technique of "mass indoctrination" (which he believed to be absolutely necessary in order to keep the masses (again, you and me) "DISCIPLINED") as "... cheaper than violence, bribery or other possible CONTROL techniques" - a system so powerful in its ultimate effect that it could, as Peck suggested, make those who fall under its influence -

"... BLIND ... TO WHAT IS ALL TOO OBVIOUS."

Moreover, the fact that a great many of you who are reading this material - and again, I mean here EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS - might be tempted to ask, "What is it that we are not seeing that should be obvious to us?" is a testimony to the truth of what Peck is saying.

MAKING CHRISTIANS CO-CONSPIRATORS
IN THE "NEW WORLD ORDER SYSTEM"

The very tragic fact of the matter is - as we have said over and over again - average Christians are being played for suckers by President Bush, John Ashcroft, Karl Rove, Tom DeLay, etc. and their cronies in the American business establishment - the very same elite establishment the so-called Religious Right has allied itself with in the Republican Party. AND THE GREAT DANGER TO CHRISTIANS IN ALL OF THIS IS THAT IT HAS HAD THE EFFECT OF MAKING THEM CO-CONSPIRATORS WITH THE BUSINESS ELITES IN THEIR EFFORT TO CREATE A "NEW WORLD ORDER SYSTEM."

EXPECTING THAT THE CONSTRUCTION OF A "NEW WORLD ORDER" WILL BE ORGANIZED OUT OF THE UNITED NATIONS OR SOME OTHER MYSTERIOUS AND ILL-DEFINED "INTERNATIONALIST GROUP" SUCH AS THE "BILDEBURGERS" AND THE SO-CALLED "ILLUMINATI," CHRISTIAN EVANGELICALS CONTINUE THEIR SHADOW WAR AGAINST THESE SPECTRAL CABALS WHILE ALL THE TIME THE VERY ELITES THEY HAVE ALLIED THEMSELVES WITH IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ARE CONSTRUCTING THE "NEW WORLD ORDER" RIGHT UNDER THEIR VERY NOSES. And in this regard, one should not be too certain that in the end, "truth will win out" - at least insofar as those Christians who buy into the elite's propaganda and, as a result, link up with them. This is especially true given the reality of the power and influence that is being used to win them over, and given too the way American Christians are predisposed to deflect painful truths, and for that reason to deny all the more fervently that they are being duped by their leaders in the evangelical church and their collaborators in the Business Right.

HAVING A DEBATE THAT IS RIGGED

Quite understandably, Christians who find themselves in such circumstances prefer not to see themselves as a caste of dupes for the elites. They would like to think that the so-called "facts" they have obtained from their allies in the Business Right and from shows like the O'Reilly Factor are the truth, and that in repeating these facts verbatim, they are acting as fervent apostles of truths which often place them in conflict with the "elites," especially as these conflicts are connected to social issues like abortion, radical feminism, prayer in the school, vouchers, etc.

Yet to see just exactly where the shared consensus is between the Business Right and conservative Christians (i.e., that philosophical territory that if Christians dare to venture out on will cost them the support of their allies in the Business Right), one needs only to look at what these so-called critics of the elites within the mainline Christian establishment do not challenge. There the extent to which they are submissive and obedient to the business elites can be expected to reveal itself. AND IT IS EXACTLY HERE, IN THE TOADY-LIKE RELATIONSHIP THAT THE LEADERS OF CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANITY HAVE WITH THE BUSINESS RIGHT OVER ECONOMIC ISSUES, THAT THE CONSENSUS REVEALS ITSELF, AND THAT THESE LEADERS ARE EXPOSED FOR WHAT THEY REALLY ARE: SERVANTS IN THE EMPLOY OF THEIR PAYMASTERS, THE BUSINESS ELITES.

This isn't to say that on occasion leaders in the Religious Right do not question the "business ethics" of their partners in the Economic Right, especially in a "Third World" context - and that they don't from time to time attack those practices fiercely at that level. But furious debates over isolated instances of business improprieties (such as those that occurred at Enron, Worldcom, Global Crossing, etc.) are not indications that consensus values are being questioned.

But should one focus on whether or not what U.S. business interests are actually doing in the "third World" is a good thing, or whether or not their economic policies at home and abroad really serve the interests of "ordinary people," he will likely be dismissed as "simplistic," or as a "vulgar economic determinist" - i.e., as a socialist or a "commie" and, therefore, hardly a Christian. And if documents are then unearthed that show that U.S. business interests actually take precedence over the interests of "ordinary people" at home or abroad, this is explained away by maintaining that this discordance must be understood within a "wider parameter of concern," a "parameter of concern" that "ordinary Christians" are not really equipped to understand. So, as it were, just take the money and keep your mouths shut!

Thus we have the spectacle of having a debate in which nothing of any consequence is ever debated. For example, one is permitted to speak in general terms about the "power drives" of a nation, but never about the needs of the elites for cheap labor or oil; and one must speak of these "power drives" as distinct from specific social and humanitarian considerations. And before, during, and after each debate, one must remind his audience that in the end America is different - a well-intentioned, uniquely non-imperial, non-exploitative power, ultimately benevolent, and attuned to the aspirations and strivings of individuals throughout the world. Under these terms, the debate is permitted to "rage" (as it seemingly does on programs like "Crossfire," the "O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity and Colems," "Evans and Novak," etc.), and these debates can then be held up as an example of just how free America really is.

THE CHRISTIAN ELITE: "SELLING THEIR
FLOCKS OUT" FOR "FILTHY LUCRE"

But in all of this, average Christians will never be permitted to see - either by the elite media or their flunkies in the Religious Right - a more realistic view, both biblically and historically, of what America is really up to. And all this as a result of the Religious Right's toady-like relationship with the Business Right, a relationship in which leaders in the Religious Right - for economic and political considerations - ALLOW THE BUSINESS RIGHT TO PROPAGANDIZE THEIR PARISHIONERS WITH IMPUNITY AND WITHOUT CHALLENGE OF ANY KIND.

And so we have, in the end, the tragic fact that Christian leaders in America have made a pact with the devil - AND THEY ARE DRAGGING THEIR PARISHIONERS INTO THIS CORRUPT AND DEPRAVED ALLIANCE. Thinking that they are doing service for God as the "end of the age" approaches, Christians are in great danger of being made servants of the very "antichrist system" they think they are opposing. Without really knowing what's happened, they have been "sold out" as "rubber stamps" to the savage, self-serving economic policies of the Business Elite, policies that in the end have the potential of reducing people to grinding servitude in an anti-Christ system that has nothing to do with God, and everything to do with the devil.

TRAPPED IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST

The very real fact of the matter is, American Christians have been reduced to the status of "dupes," "chumps," and "dopes" to the elites; "flunkies" programmed to do the bidding of their masters in the Economic Right. Of course, this is not what most American Christians are being told by their religious leaders today. Just the opposite! But then, what would one expect to hear in the "belly of the beast?" - and that in fact is exactly where we live and "have our being" today: in THE BELLY OF THE BEAST!

There simply is no other way to describe what the United States has become: a ruthless, savage BEAST that is stalking the world seeking the souls of men. And those Christians who make excuses for what the United States is up to today, who think they can "RIDE THE BEAST" (Rev. 17:3), will find themselves on the wrong side when "push finally comes to shove" - a partaker NOT of the blessings of God, but of the plagues of the BEAST.

"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

"For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, THAT YE BE NOT PARTAKERS OF HER SINS, AND THAT YE RECEIVE NOT OF HER PLAGUES." (Rev. 18:1-4)

COME OUT OF HER

The Bible offers us only one solution here: we are to get out. That's what the Bible says: "COME OUT OF HER." We are not to remain and try and fight the system from within. It says that we should get out, and that if we don't, we are in danger of "partaking in her sins" and - as a result - being judged by God. Isn't that what the Scriptures plainly say? - of course it is! The Bible teaches that if you remain in the system, you will be compromised by it - and so much so that you will eventually be found WILLINGLY participating in the sin that diffuses and permeates the system - AND, AGAIN, YOU WILL BE JUDGED FOR IT! The Bible says:

"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (Gal. 5:9)

If you do not immediately deal with it, if you do not immediately get out, you will be changed. Don't think that you will remain the same. You won't! - and when you are changed, it won't be in the direction of Christ, but in the direction of anti-Christ; so that "... seeing you will no longer see; and hearing you will no longer hear, neither will you any longer understand, and in you will be fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive: For your heart will wax gross, and your ears will become dull of hearing, and your eyes will close ... " (Matt. 13:13-15)

Do not think - EVEN FOR A MOMENT - that you can resist this leaven. You ABSOLUTELY cannot resist it. Do what the Lord commands you to do: GET OUT! This, of course, is a very hard thing to do, but we face nothing more than what those Jewish Zionists of a century ago faced when they - as obscure figures in now forgotten Zionist discussion groups in Poland, White Russia, and the Ukraine - began putting feet to their dreams and began leaving their homelands to answer a mysterious yearning in their hearts to return to their ancestral home: the Holy Land. They left because they realized that if they stayed, they faced annihilation; and more than that, they realized that they as a people could never truly be a "people of God" in the lands they had called "home" for two thousand years. And the same is true of us: as we live the churches and denominations we have grown up in, we are leaving in a very real sense the "homelands" we grew up in. But - like the Jewish pioneers before us - we know if we stay, we will be COMPROMISED, and our testimony besmirched as a result of the apostasy our churches have fallen into. What can we do, other than leave? - and, again, that's EXACTLY what the Bible is telling us to do!

OUTCASTS AND IDEALISTS

Listen, brothers and sisters, Israel came into being contrary to all prevailing reason, in a barren land that had been waste for almost 2,000 years. It resulted from a modern Volkerwanderung (people's movement) of OUTCASTS and IDEALISTS without any outside support. The Jewish settlers that arrived in the Holy Land before World War II came as young men and women who had left behind well-to-do middle-class homes. Their hard-working but generous fathers and doting Jewish mothers had hoped that their sons and daughters would become academicians or go into the professions or business. Instead, they settled in Israel and WORKED AS FARM LABORERS. Dressed in rags, they frequently went hungry, were regularly stricken down by attacks of typhoid and malaria, and were often forced to defend their farms against armed attacks from their Arab neighbors.

But this Volkerwanderung made possible the modern state of Israel. Without their sacrifice there would have been no Israel for those Jews who later escaped Hitler's Holocaust to flee to. Unlike those who came as a result of the Holocaust, those who migrated to Israel prior to the Second World War had only their dreams to guide them. There were no bayonets at their back, only a yearning in their hearts. But what they accomplished with their dreams transformed a people who had lived in virtual slavery to the Gentile world for two millennia into a free people - AND PROVIDED A PLACE OF SANCTUARY FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE FLEEING THE HITLER HOLOCAUST.

SO ALSO WITH US: as we begin our own Volkerwanderung (i.e., as we leave the denominations and churches we have lived in and loved), it will not be a comfortable life in the "land" to which we are traveling. It will be a life full of hardship and tears; friends and loved ones will not understand what we are doing, and many of them will cut off their relationships with us. Moreover, there is no comfortable "establishment Christianity" where we are traveling to, to tell us what to do; no system of paid professionals on which to rely.

But if we are "CHILDREN OF VISION," what else can we do? We have our Bibles, and we have the Spirit within us - that's all we need; and relying on them, we MUST allow our "heavenly vision" to carry us forward.

And it is precisely for this reason that WE MUST BE PEOPLE OF VISION. We must be able to say with Paul as he faced imprisonment in king Agrippa's court for the testimony committed to him by Christ:

"Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I WAS NOT DISOBEDIENT UNTO THE HEAVENLY VISION ..." (Acts 26:19)

BEGIN WHERE YOU ARE: BEGIN BY PASSING OUT OUR CD

In beginning this journey, there is no need per se for you to leave where you are now; there is no need for you to abandon your friends and loved ones as such; no need to give up your job or any other such thing; in fact, there is no need for you to even leave the church you are attending. The only thing you need to take is to begin passing out the CD we have prepared for you. IT'S FREE! There are 28 articles on the CD, including the ANTIPAS PAPERS. They are in PDF format and have been arranged in book form. Again, THE CD IS YOURS FREE OF ANY CHARGE. You don't even have to send money for postage (even if you live in a foreign country). It's yours FREE.

Once you get the CD, make copies of it, and pass it out to your friends. Or, if you wish, print the articles out (then make additional copies at a Kinkos) and distribute them in your church. THAT'S WHEN THINGS WILL START HAPPENING! - AND THAT'S WHERE YOUR JOURNEY WILL BEGIN. If you persist in this matter, I can assure you that it won't take long for you to be asked to leave! Jesus said:

"THEY SHALL PUT YOU OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUES (i.e., your religious meeting halls): yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." (John 16:2)

And He continued by saying:

"But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues (religious meeting halls) ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them." (Mark 13:9)

And yet again, He said:

"Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you ..." (John 15:20)

But be of "good cheer" - there will be people in your churches watching what you do. They will take note of your courage and read the material, and, eventually - if you are persistent enough - they will come to you and ask questions; some will even "rally to your cause."

BEGINNING YOUR JOURNEY BY
STARTING A HOME FELLOWSHIP

Take these people, and begin meeting with them. There doesn't have to be many. Meet in your homes - in your living rooms. This is what the churches in China do! In the early church, meetings rarely numbered more than twelve people or so. Remember what Jesus said:

"For where TWO or THREE are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20)

AND IT IS HERE - IN THESE SMALL MEETINGS THAT WILL EVENTUALLY DEVELOP AROUND YOU AS YOU PERSIST IN DISTRIBUTING THIS MATERIAL - THAT YOU WILL FIND THAT - READY OR NOT - GOD HAS MADE YOU A SHEPHERD IN HIS FLOCK. YOU HAVE THE WORD (i.e., the BIBLE); AND YOU HAVE HIS SPIRIT IN YOU - and if such is the case, you can say with Paul -

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil. 4:13)

Don't wait! Get started today! Remember what prophecy is all about. Prophecy is like a road sign saying: "slow down, sharp right hand turn ahead!" But if we fail to heed the sign, if we fail to slow down BEFORE we get to the turn and see it physically with our eyes, it will be too late to brake when we finally see the curve, and we will surely slide off the road and crash.

Like a road sign, prophecy tells us things BEFORE they happen so that we can take action BEFORE events catch up with us. If we wait until they finally overtake us, it will be too late to do anything - we will crash! Watch, therefore, for the "signs of the times," and don't wait to take action. YOU MAY WAIT TOO LONG!

Jesus said,

"... When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" (Matt. 16:2-3)

And Paul warns us,

"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should 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)

God bless you all!

S.R. Shearer
Antipas Ministries