THE DEVIL WAS HERE!

INTRODUCTION

The Bible says:

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." (Matthew 24:6)

There are a lot of Christians who take Matthew 24:6 as an excuse to be complacent regarding the "end of the age" - after all, doesn't the verse tell us, "see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." 

Yes, the end is not yet, but the Bible goes on to say that these things -

"… ARE THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS."

That's like telling someone who is on his death bed, "Yes, you are sick with a deadly cancer, but don't worry, you're not going to die in the next week or so."

So what's the Bible trying to tell us?  Going back to the main verse, we read, "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars." In other words, war will be in the wind, and its presence will characterize much of the "end of the age," and this fact will bring great sorrow to the people of the earth.

THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH: REVOLTING
AGAINST THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

And what are these wars all about? - well, one has only to avert his eyes from the minutia of the moment and take a look at the one dominating fact surrounding the "end of the age:" the presence of the AMERICAN NEW WORLD ORDER SYSTEM. There's a giant "abroad in the land," and he is treating the others in the land as if they were nothing more than Lilliputians with no rights to the land and no claim to any happiness of their own.

It's taken a long time for the peoples of the earth to come to grips with this situation; but some now have, and they are starting to fight back. Moreover, this fight is not being organized in a top to bottom fashion, but one that is being fomented from the bottom up. One can begin to discern what is occurring if one looks closely at what happened recently when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid a visit to Caracas, Venezuela. President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela welcomed the Iranian president to his capital as a -

"… brother and FELLOW REVOLUTIONARY."

A revolutionary against what? The American New World Order System, of course.

Commenting on what all this might mean, Alberton Garrido writes:

"There's a strategic alliance between Venezuela and Iran that is gaining momentum. There's an intercontinental strategy whose base is to unite themselves against the United States. Remember, BOTH SEE THE UNITED STATES AS A FUNDEMENTAL ENEMY."

Plainly Chávez and Ahmadinejad have been increasingly united by their deep-seated antagonism to Washington. Juan Forero writes:

"The two countries are looking to embark on a range of economic and social accords. Both are OPEC heavyweights, so energy is central to their talks. In Chávez, the Iranian president has a stalwart ally whose country, like Iran's, is oil rich. And he (i.e., Ahmadinejad) has a leader who is also ideologically opposed to the United States."

AN ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE OPPRESSED OF THE
MIDDLE EAST AND THE OPPRESSED OF LATIN AMERICA

Michael Penfold, a political scientist in Caracas, elaborating on what's in it for Chávez insofar as this "strange" alliance is concerned, writes,

"He (i.e., Chávez) is trying to build a coalition of different countries that … have an anti-American position, This lining up with Iran is … consistent with what his foreign policy is."

To that end, Chávez has become a leading defender of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, accusing the United States of using the issue as a pretext to attack a regime it opposes. He has promised to "take a stand with Iran" over this issue.

And what's true for Chávez  is also true for Ahmadinejad. Forero writes:

"In an increasingly hostile world for Tehran, Ahmadinejad is looking for friends in America's backyard."

Ahmadinejad calls Chávez -

"… a champion in the struggle against imperialism.”

And he continues by saying that there is  -

"… no person as important as Chávez on the world stage; no person as wise as Hugo Chávez."

LABELING CHAVEZ AN ATHEIST AND
CALLING FOR HIS ASSASSINATION

The church in the United States calls Chávez an atheist who like Ahmadinejad is an enemy of Christianity. Some Christians have even called for his assassination. For instance, Pat Robertson, host of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club and founder of the Christian Coalition of America, called for the murder of the Venezuelan President. Robertson said:

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he (i.e., Chávez) thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I THINK THAT WE REALLY OUGHT TO GO AHEAD AND DO IT. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger to the United States ... This is our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil. That could hurt us very badly. WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO TAKE HIM OUT, AND I THINK THE TIME HAS COME THAT WE EXERCISE THAT ABILITY. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

My heavens! Has Robertson never read Matthew 5:21:

"Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment." ?

USING RELIGION TO EXPOSE BUSH'S HYPOCRISY

Chávez, however, is no atheist. The very real fact of the matter is, he is probably more of a Christian than Robertson. Chávez has written:

"Our Bolivarian revolution is very Christian. I have a friend who isn't Christian, but lately has said he is a Christian … his name is Fidel Castro … I talk to [Castro] a lot about Christ each time we see each other, and he told me recently, 'Chávez, I'm Christian ...'"

Commenting on this, Mark D. Tooley writes:

"Chávez calls Jesus Christ a socialist and a revolutionary. And that's the kind of Christ he wants to follow."

A CHRISTIAN LEADER FOR THE POOR OF THE WORLD

Last Fall, Chávez addressed a rapturous crowd of poor Christians in the Bronx in New York city where he shared the pulpit with Jesse Jackson and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Also present were officials from the Cuban government. As he walked into church he was greeted with loud applause and chants of,

"Chávez, friend, the people are with you."

Chávez pulled a cross from his pocket and declared himself to be an "AUTHENIC CHRISTIAN WHO SERVES THE POOR." Chávez later said of the event:

"I felt a love for the poor people of the Bronx."

Father Roy Bourgeois, a Catholic Liberation Theologian who is perhaps best known for leading demonstrations against the U.S. Army's training school for Latin American military officers (and death squad leaders) at Ft. Benning, Georgia, said of Chávez:

"We've got a president and a government here THAT'S ON THE SIDE OF THE POOR that is offering the poor a vision that gives them hope and promise for a better way of life."

THE WORDS OF PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD OF IRAN
CONCERNING GEORGE BUSH'S BRAND OF CHRISTIANITY

And it's not just Chávez who takes issue with the brand of Christianity that George Bush and his right-wing Christian allies promulgate. Take president Ahmadinejad of Iran who wrote a letter to President Bush that read in part:

"Mr. George Bush, President of the United States of America:

"For some time now I have been thinking how one can justify the undeniable contradictions [in your brand of Christianity] … which are being constantly debated, especially in political forums and amongst university students [in our country].

"Many questions remain unanswered.

"These [questions] have prompted me to discuss some of the contradictions … in the hope that it might bring about an opportunity to redress them. How can one be a follower of Jesus Christ and not feel obliged to respect human rights? In the name of Christ, how can one announce his opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and WMDs and still make [war against the poor of the world] … which Christ will one day govern?  How can one set ablaze an entire village or city [in the name of Christ]? How can one kill people … on the slight chance that there are criminals in that village or city."

Ahmadinejad continues:

"Mr. President, You might know that I am a teacher.

"My students ask me how can these actions be reconciled with the … teachings of Jesus Christ … concerning peace and forgiveness.

"There are prisoners in Guantanamo Bay that have not been tried, have no legal representation, their families cannot see them and they are kept in a strange land outside their own country. There is no international monitoring of their conditions and fate. No one knows whether they are prisoners, POWs, accused or criminals.

"European investigators have confirmed the existence of secret prisons in Europe too. I could not correlate the abduction of a person, and him or her being kept in secret prisons, with the provisions of any judicial system.

"I fail to understand how such actions correspond to … the teachings of Jesus Christ  ...

"If … Jesus Christ were with us today, how would He judge such behaviour?"

MY BASIC QUESTION IS THIS

Ahmadinejad goes on to say:

"My basic question is this: Is there no better way to interact with the rest of the world? Today there are hundreds of millions of Christians … The Lord which knows that which is hidden and visible, the past and the future, knows what goes on in the hearts of His servants and records their deeds.

"The Lord is the possessor of the heavens and the earth. The universe is His court. He … gives His servants the glad tidings of mercy and forgiveness of sins. He is the companion of the oppressed and the enemy of oppressors. He is compassionate and merciful. He is a witness to the actions of His servants.

"The people of the world are not happy with the status quo and pay little heed to the promises and comments made by [people like you]. Many people around the world feel insecure and oppose the spreading of insecurity and war. They do not approve of … [your policies].  The people are protesting the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots and the rich and poor countries … They are equally dismayed with the fading of care and compassion."

The White House said that Ahmadinejad's letter did not deserve a reply.

HOW DOES A REAL CHRISTIAN
ANSWER AHMADINEJAD?

Just for a moment, dear Christian, forget about the fact that Ahmadinejad is not a Christian; forget all the very obvious failings of Ahmadinejad himself; forget about his own internal contradictions; forget about his undoubted anti-Semitism (as difficult as that might be).

Just for a moment, forget about these things, and ask yourself, "How - as a REAL believer in Christ - do I answer Ahmadinejad's questions here?" These are legitimate questions! - and they expose the horrendous contradictions in today's American form of Christianity - a kind of Christianity that keeps unbelievers from coming to Christ! These questions cannot be answered by pointing out Ahmadinejad's own contradictions! That's a "cop-out."

Jesus said,

"My name is blasphemed among the heathen because of you."

And if that's the case, what does that say about American Christians? And what does that say about George Bush? Plainly, it says that Bush and his so-called "Christian" followers are of the devil, because no one who causes God's name to be blasphemed can be called a "follower of Christ."

THE DEVIL WAS HERE

It's for this precise reason that Chávez could stand at the podium in the United Nations and say of George Bush, who had addressed the General Assembly the previous day,

"YESTERDAY THE DEVIL CAME HERE, and it still smells of sulfur today."

American Christians laughed at Chávez; but not so most of the delegates seated in the General Assembly. Chávez was saying things that many others there wanted to say, but were too afraid to do so.

THE REVOLT AGAINST THE AMERICAN
IMPERIAL SYSTEM IS SPREADING

During his visit to Caracas, President Ahmadinejad also met with a number of other left-wing Latin American presidents who have joined with Chávez to foment "revolution" against U.S. interests in Latin America: specifically with Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega, the former guerrilla chief who was a Cold War nemesis of the United States and a close friend of the Venezuelan leader; Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador and another close partner of Chávez; and Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, another Chávez ally.  All of these men - ALL of them - embrace the same kind of Christianity that Chávez embraces - a kind of Christianity that is TOTALLY at variance with the Christianity that Bush and his allies in the Religious Right embrace. Moreover, it could be said of these men that were prepared to ask Bush and his so-called "Christian" followers the same questions that Ahmadinejad had asked.

And what is the answer that American Christians give to these Latin American presidents? Like Robertson, they call for their assassinations. They may not do so publicly the way Robertson did, but you can be sure that many of them, behind tightly closed doors, are secretly praying for the demise of all these left-wing presidents, and in doing so, answering the demand of their corporate sponsors who are in deadly fear that a socialist revolution in Latin America will strip them of their riches - riches they have brazenly stolen from the poor of South and Central America.

SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

Fred Goldstein, speaking for the poor of the earth, writes:

"From Havana to New York to the Middle East, the voices of resistance to U.S. imperialism and the Bush administration have taken center stage ... With clarity and militancy, world leaders in the struggle for the poor have laid out the crimes of Washington … They have persuasively presented the arguments of the oppressed against a world dominated by oppressors. They are working to weaken … the grip of world imperialism headed by the U.S. ruling class.

"In Mexico City on Sept. 16^th a million people declared their refusal to recognize Washington and Wall Street’s choice for president, Felipe Calderón, declaring the election a fraud and pledging to create a rival government headed by the popular Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Goldstein goes on to say:

"On many fronts the ground is shifting under the feet of U.S. imperialism. The influence of the Cuban Revolution is growing in Latin America, as is the anti-imperialist influence of the Venezuelan Revolution.

"In a sign of the erosion of U.S. influence, even the president of Pakistan, a formerly loyal ally of Washington, has gone public with an exposure of U.S. government threats to bomb Pakistan "BACK TO THE STONE AGE " if Pakistan did not submit to Washington.

"The U.S. government is hated by the poor of the world for its aggression and bullying, not only in the world at large, but among the poor within its own borders It is the same government that watched with indifference as the poor in New Orleans drowned as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

"This is a government that taxes the poor to give to the rich, allows corporations to slash jobs and benefits, and spends hundreds of billions on militarism while poverty grows."

Goldstein is right here - and it makes no difference that he is a socialist. What does it really matter if Goldstein, Ahmadinejad, etc. are not Christians? They are still speaking the truth, and it is a SHAME that  this truth is not coming from Christians, but from non-Christians. Truly Jesus was right when He said,

"The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." (Luke 16:8)

RUMORS OF WAR AGAINST THE AMERICAN
IMPERIAL SYSTEM ARE SPREADING EVERYWHERE

Yes! - there is growing unrest against the American Imperial System everywhere today. And again, it's a revolt that is being driven from the bottom up; after all, it was the "people" that created (as it were) Hugo Chávez, Daniel Ortega, Rafael Correa and Evo Morales. These men are not the creation of the rich, but the creation of the poor. Even Ahmadinejad stems from a "people's revolt" in Iran against the American puppet regime of the Shah. While most Americans remain blissfully unaware of these facts, the rest of the world knows pretty well what's going on - and they applaud those brave enough to revolt against America's tyranny.

Take, for example, what happened Mar del Plata in Argentina when President Bush attended the "Fourth Summit of the Americas" there. While Bush held closed-door meetings with the leaders of America's client-states in the region, anti-American demonstrators battled police following a large, peaceful protest over President Bush's plans to revive the American sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas. The rioting broke out as the police attempted to stop the demonstrators from reaching the hotel where the leaders were ensconced.

REVELATION 6:6

Chávez left the meeting and joined the protesters at the barricades. "Each one of us brought a shovel, a gravedigger's shovel, because here in Mar del Plata is the tomb of the Free Trade Area of the Americas," Chávez told the cheering crowd of 40,000 at the noon rally. Among the protesters were Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona and Evo Morales. Much of the public's animus was aimed directly at Bush. Hundreds of protesters had traveled through the night from Buenos Aires in a mass pilgrimage led by Maradona. Others came from elsewhere throughout the Americas carrying signs comparing Bush to Adolf Hitler.

The protesters chanted in unison as they filed into the stadium: "Bush, the fascist! Bush the terrorist!" The Nobel peace laureate Alfonso Perez Esquivel and several labor union representatives also attended; there were huge portraits of the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara. Speeches were given condemning the injustice of U.S. economic policies, opposition to the war in Iraq and allegations of a U.S. plan to invade Venezuela in order to unseat Hugo Chávez. "We're a people united against free trade, because free trade is a policy of death for our countries," said Carlos H. Reyes, 54, of Honduras.

Behind the closed doors of the elites at Mar del Plata, the elites surrounding Bush sneered, "What do these poor people know about free trade?" But they know! - and they know that "free trade" is nothing more than an euphemism behind which America advances the economic policies of the American New World Order System, policies meant to advance the interests of the elites at the expense of the poor. These are policies that answer to Revelation 6:6:

"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." (Revelation 6:6)

The meaning of the verse is this: At the "end of the age" a situation would arise where the great mass of the people on earth would have to work a whole day just to put bread on the table (in the Ancient World, a penny was the wage of a whole day's labor), but the economic conditions prevalent at the "end of the age" would not "touch" or "harm" the rich. In other words, the poor would be reduced to grinding poverty under the impress of the American New World Order System, while the rich would grow ever richer - AND CERTAINLY, THAT IS WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD - and this condition of things is only growing worse day by day.

WE ARE CLOSE; WE ARE VERY
CLOSE - TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES

What does that tell you about how close we are to the "end of the age?" Truly the age that we are living in is "THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS," if not so much for the people of the United States, then surely for the rest of the world. And one should not be "put off the track" by all the nonsensical verbiage concerning the growth of the economies of such countries as India, China and Russia. The fact is, as these countries have joined the so-called "WASHINGTON CONSENSUS," the elites in these countries have increased in wealth, but the poor have only sunk lower on the proverbial "Totem Pole."

Yes, the rich are everywhere in places such as Mumbai (Bombay), Shanghai and Moscow, but the condition of the vast majority in these countries has only worsened, answering to the situation described in Revelation 6:6 AND PROVING THAT THESE COUNTRIES HAVE BECOME NOTHING MORE THAN "CLIENT-STATES" IN AMERICA'S NEW WORLD ORDER SYSTEM. The fact is, if one acts like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, then one is most likely a duck.

Yes, no doubt, we are at the "BEGINNING OF SORROWS" - the kind of sorrow that answers to the economic conditions portrayed in Revelation 6:6:

"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." (Revelation 6:6)

And the military conditions portrayed in Matthew 24:6:

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." (Matthew 24:6)

First comes Revelation 6:6; then comes Matthew 24:6 as the poor of the earth desperately struggle to escape the poverty imposed upon them by the American New World Order System.

Sadly, however, these wars of liberation will in the end prove fruitless once the United States quits playing with its adversaries, puts on its nuclear gloves, and takes them all out - and then there will be great SORROW, the kind of sorrow portrayed in the Scriptures when Herod killed the "INNOCENTS" in a vain attempt to kill Christ:

"In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." (Matthew 2:18)

ZECHARIAH 12:2-3

Yes, we are close to the end, and if Revelation 6:6 and Matthew 24:6 do not prove this to you, then surely Zechariah 12:2-3 will:

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people …" (Zech. 12:2-3)

And isn't that what has happened insofar as Jerusalem is concerned, even now as the Jewish people and the Palestinians struggle over control of that ancient city and the "Temple Mount" - "A CUP OF TREMBLING" and a "BURDENSOME STONE" for all the people of the world.

A LIGHT THAT SHINETH IN A DARK PLACE

As I have said before on many occasions, truly we are immersed in dark times. But the Bible says:

"We have … the sure word of prophecy; WHEREUNTO YE DO WELL THAT YE TAKE HEED, as unto a LIGHT THAT SHINETH IN A DARK PLACE ..." (2 Peter 1:19)

I URGE you, therefore, with all of my heart to sign up for the TRAINING here and begin putting your life on the line for Christ. This training well equip you for the hard times that are coming, and it well involve you in action. It will bring you out of your isolation into the open field where people will join you or cast insults at you and eventually persecute you for your belief. But isn't this what Christiantiy is about, and isn't this what Christ said:

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

"Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

"Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 5:11-12, 14-16)

WE CONTINUE TO NEED YOUR FINANCIAL HELP

Finally, we continue to need your financial support as we begin to transition the ministry out of North America to Germany. So I say to you, if the spiritual treasures that we have ministered unto you have profited you, then please respond with your material treasures. As Paul said under similar circumstances so many years ago:

"If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" (1 Cor. 9:11)

God bless you all,

S.R. Shearer
Antipas Ministries