Prelude to the anti-christ - Part 2

The Mystery of Iniquity - Part 2

>>>WARNING - PLOT SPOILER: The first paragraph of this article is a spoiler to the movie No Way Out, staring Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. You may want to skip to the second paragraph so you do not ruin a great thriller.<<<

In the brilliantly done and grossly underrated movie, No Way Out, Russian Intelligence has developed a clever scheme where it has transplanted children into the United States, who will pose as American citizens, but who have been indoctrinated as emerging Russian spies. They will go through America’s educational system and will pursue careers that place them at the pinnacle of power. Their obligation is to embark upon career paths that give them access to national secrets at the highest level so that they can pass them along to their Russian contacts. The thing that makes this film such a treat to watch is that the screenplay writers do not leave any clues throughout the movie to the Russian intelligence officer’s identity. This, you do not discover until the last few minutes of the movie. 5 stars!

*****

Infiltrating one’s enemy is as old as civilization. In perhaps the most celebrated effort to secretly penetrate the forces of the opposition, the Aeneid, depicts the turning point in the Trojan War when the Greek army leaves a huge, wooden horse at the entrance of the city of Troy in what appears to be a gesture of good will before seemingly sailing back to Greece in defeat. The Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a spoil of war; however, they were unaware that there were 30 highly skilled Greek soldiers inside. Later that night, the Greeks sailed back to Troy and surreptitiously gathered at the entrance of the city, while the men inside the wooden horse crept out and opened the gates for the Greek army to enter.

The Trojan War ended decisively because the Greeks deployed an illusion that disarmed the Trojans’ suspicion and blinded them to their enemy’s deception. The most adroit of Trojan warriors, leaders, and citizens may have seen through the ploy as a hoax; however, those at higher levels of authority could not comprehend the seeds of their own destruction and to their peril, opened the front door and rolled out the red carpet for the enemy.

There has been an ongoing historical debate over whether the Trojan War was fact or fiction. However, the salient point of Virgil’s depiction of the deception by the Greek army is that those who are charged with the task of leadership have an awesome responsibility since they are often the only barriers between civilization and its destruction. This is why in all democratic nations, the decisions of the presidents and other top leaders come under such intense scrutiny. Unlike the mistakes of the average citizen, poor judgment on the part of the national leadership can cause the destruction of society. It is believed by some historians that President Herbert Hoover’s failure to act decisively during the economic turmoil of 1929 is what caused the Great Depression. This is not to say that he did nothing during the onset of the Great Depression as some historians have advanced, but it is argued by some that he demonstrated poor judgment during a time of economic crisis in America.

Historians may never agree on the role that Hoover played during the incipient stages of the Great Depression. However, in an age where tin-pot despots are attempting to ascertain weapons of mass destruction; and when the multi-trillion dollar derivative market has the potential to destroy national economies around the world in a matter of minutes; and considering that the globe is connected through the sinews of cyberspace and one cyber-attack could set off World War III, national leaders must weigh each word that they utter and each policy that they promote.

Adolf Hitler’s arrogant refusal to consider the apprehension of his generals over his decision to invade Russia in 1941 was the turning point of the war. In the game of “What-Ifs,” Germany would have still been at the mercy of a nuclear armed United States if Hitler had conceded to his generals’ demands and delayed the invasion of the Soviet Union. Had he been more circumspect in his war aims, it is clear that the end game of World War II would have been much different. Hindsight graphically demonstrates the folly of Hitler’s decision; however, the challenge that will confront national leaders during the rise of the son of perdition will not be political, economic or military. The challenge that all people will face with the beast of Revelation 13 (see Part 1 of this series) will be to sift through his charm and near invincible deceit to see his poisoned guile.

The book of Jude provides us with a key to discern the snares of deceitful men and simultaneously demonstrates the consequences for those who lack the spiritual perception to distinguish prophets of God from snake oil salesmen:

^3.Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. ^4.For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1:3-4, emphasis mine).

Jude is advancing an urgent message for the saints to challenge them to seek the truth that was once delivered to the earlier church. At least three decades after the death of Christ and the birth of the Church, the message in that region was so diluted that evil men had been able to slither past the church’s leadership into positions where they were imposing much harm on the congregation. This is profound, because these men slipped in past the apostles, past the bishops, past the prophets, past all those who had been charged with protecting the church from the mystery of iniquity. Jude graphically demonstrated that the church is not immune to surreptitious invasions by deceitful men if the saints have lost their passion for truth, because truth is the only insulation against deception.

Jude’s admonition is not unprecedented: The Scripture is littered with examples of wicked men infiltrating the church. In fact, combating fraudulent leaders and men with evil agendas who furtively entered into the church was the single most prominent issue that faced the apostles. Apostle Paul spent three years ministering in Asia Minor, and before he journeyed to Jerusalem, he warned the church leaders that wolves would sneak into the church and devour the flock. He was also concerned that notwithstanding three years of preaching and teaching, some of the church leaders who he trained would rise up and speak perversely against God’s Word and attempt to create cult followings:

^28.Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. ^29.For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. ^30.Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. ^31.Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears (Acts 20:28-31).

Why is the church such fertile territory for fraudulent leadership?

…to be continued

About the Prelude to the anti-christ: I will be publishing a 18 part series (including the introduction) titled, Prelude to the anti-christ, which will be divided into three segments: First, The Mystery of Iniquity will be a 6-part series that demonstrate that there has been a furtive hand in the affairs of humanity to create the rich soil for the anti-christ to rise; second, Western Civilization’s Unrelenting Expansion will be a 8-part expose on Western Civilization’s effort to control the destiny of human civilization; and third, The Rise of the anti-christ will be a 3-part series on the rise of the global leader who will lead humanity over the precipice into oblivion; and the final article will be a summary and postscript of the entire sequence of series. The introduction to this series was published on Sunday, January 23, 2011, and each subsequent article will be published on each successive Sunday through May. Your comments are welcome.

Note: Prelude to the anti-christ started out as a 12-part series; however, it has now taken on a life of its own and has evolved into 18 parts.

Prelude to the anti-christ - Part 1

The Mystery of Iniquity - Part 1

There has always been an allure about discovering the secrets behind a mystery. Researchers have investigated for thousands of years the mysteries behind the Great Pyramid, the hieroglyphs, Stonehenge and other inexplicable puzzles of epochs past. During the episode of the hit TV series Dallas, where we discover who shot John Ross Ewing, Jr.; also known as JR, a record 360 million viewers from 53 countries tuned in; a figure that has yet to be matched for a single television episode. And America was riveted to their seats during the O.J. Simpson murder trial to see if he really killed his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her alleged lover, Ron Goldman.

Understanding mysteries, from the benign to the profound, satisfies something in our curiosity; however, there are mysteries that we long to understand, but then once their secrets are revealed they become anticlimactic moments. I recall my time in Las Vegas while on a business trip when I visited the Magic Shop in Caesar’s Palace. The magician/salesman performed an illusion where he showed a quarter that was too big to fit through the mouth of a bottle. After he caused the coin to suddenly appear in the bottle, considering my personal interest in magic I had to know the secret behind this illusion; consequently, I paid the $29.95 to discover the key to this mystery.

After ringing me up, the salesman took me to a private room in the back and opened up the box that had the magic coin, and...surprise, surprise…it was a folding quarter. After demonstrating the trick twice for me and then giving me an opportunity to practice this surreptitious, sure to capture the attention of the crowd, illusion, my wife and I went on our way to explore the other treasures Vegas had to offer. Nineteen years later, the folding quarter is on a shelf in my basement, stuffed in the same box and bag that the salesman placed it in back in his secret chamber.

Notwithstanding the anticlimactic mysteries and those that torment our curiosity, there are secrets that people have very little interest in knowing. Perhaps you are familiar with the clandestine line, “I can tell you, but then I would have to kill you.” The threat of death is enough to prevent most people from pursuing certain knowledge, but there are also secrets that do not have the threat of death affixed to them, but we still discover a certain level of comfort in not knowing what lies behind their veil. One such secret is the mystery of iniquity. The Apostle Paul makes a puzzling reference to this mystery in his second letter to the Thessalonians:

^3.Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ^4.Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. ^5.Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? ^6.And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. ^7.For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. ^8.And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: ^9.Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, ^10.And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10, emphasis mine).

A mystery is something that cannot be explained or understood without the aid of one who has an understanding of the secret, and iniquity goes beyond simply an act of gross immorality. Many people commit gross immoral acts, but all of them do not rise to the level of iniquity. Iniquity comes from the Hebrew word “avon,” which speaks to the condition of the heart at the time of the moral failing. It is a direct and deliberate violation of God’s standard. The distinction between an act of iniquity and an act of sin is that one who commits iniquity has purposed in their heart that they will freely defy God’s standards and it is done in a conscious, remorseless act of rebellion against God. However, one who commits an act of sin may not necessarily want to violate God’s will, but they are either unable or unwilling to resist the temptation. However, to be sure, sin is still subject to the wrath of God.

Paul has revealed, perhaps for the first time, a furtive strategy by the coalescing of satanic forces and the political leadership that would at some future point result in the son of perdition sitting at the apex of human government. As a practical matter, in our modern society where this coup will take place, it is profound to consider that a satanically inspired cabal of men will control world politics to the degree that will inspire the election (or appointment) of satan’s handpicked heir. According to 2 Thessalonians above, this son of perdition will make the boast of being divine, and the book of Revelation buttresses this point by saying the masses will worship him: And they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him (Revelation 13:4b)?

One may ask, “How does humanity become so gullible, that it will initially select the son of perdition as its global leader, and then it will worship him as God?” Well this has less to do with naiveté than it does with the extraordinary ability of the forces behind this coup of human government to deceive the masses. In fact, the Scripture, remarking on the end-time political climate, says that the social atmosphere will be so saturation with incredible deception that if the days were not shortened even the elect would be deceived:

^22.And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. ^23.Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. ^24.For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect (Matthew 24:22-24).

Consequently, the more cogent question is, “How do the satanic forces gain the level of traction in society where it will deceive the entire world, and if it was not for an attrition in the number of days, even the elect would be deceived?” The answer: The mystery of iniquity.

...to be continued

About the Prelude to the anti-christ: I will be publishing a 12-part series (including the introduction) titled, Prelude to the anti-christ, which will be divided into three segments: First, The Mystery of Iniquity will be a 3-part series that demonstrate that there has been a furtive hand in the affairs of humanity to create the rich soil for the anti-christ to rise; second, Western Civilization’s Unrelenting Expansion will be a 6-part expose on Western Civilization’s effort to control the destiny of human civilization; and third, The Rise of the anti-christ will be a 3-part series on the rise of the global leader who will lead humanity over the precipice into oblivion. The introduction to this series was published on Sunday, January 23, 2011, and each subsequent article will be published on each successive Sunday through April. Your comments are welcome.

Prelude to the anti-christ - Introduction

What was the greatest atrocity of the 20^th Century? For some, the Holocaust immediately comes to mind. If you are of Japanese descent, Harry S. Truman’s decision to drop atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki may rank at the top of the list. Those of the African Diaspora may point to the genocide in Rwanda, the conflict in the Republic of Congo, or the tribal clash in the Sudan. Although the examples of butchery that have been noted above are worthy candidates for discussion, they all pale in comparison with other documented evil that has been unleashed on innocent populations of the world. According to Norman Davies’s Europe, A History, he demonstrates an orgy of violence over the last century that sadly depicts man as a beast:

· 27 million European civilians killed during WWII;

· 27 million Soviet citizens killed during WWII;

· 22 million victims of the Soviet Gulag;

· 12 million deaths during Russian Collectivization (Historian Roy Medvedev claims that as many as 40 million perished under Stalin[1]);

· 6 million died during the Ukranian Terror-Famine;

· 6 million Polish citizens killed during WWII;

· 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust;

· 5 million European civilians killed during WWI;[2] and

· Under the Regime of Mao Zedong in the People’s Republic of China, between 45 million and 72 million were killed (20 million died in the labor camps).

Discussions of human carnage will inevitably bring up other cases of mass killings that do not rise to the level of victims as the above, like September 11^th. However, they are all nonetheless choruses in a symphony of evil where dissolute men perpetrate wickedness over innocent people. If we simply consider the nearly 3,000 people who perished in the terrorist attacks on September 11^th; this number is an astonishing demonstration of maliciousness carried out by other humans. Although relatively speaking, September 11^th does not compare in scope to the Holocaust, or the Soviet Gulag, or Mao’s regime, and this is not to diminish its effect on society; most people still cannot fathom the level of depravity that is necessary to launch a plan that would target a few thousand people for death.

If September 11^th is difficult for most people to grasp, then the 60 million +/– people killed by Mao Zedong borders being far-fetched, and if it was not for documented proof, many people would deny that the most extreme examples of human cruelty ever occurred. Even limited trust in human nature makes it difficult to believe that men are as barbaric as history describes. Notwithstanding the years of scholarship that has been exhausted in studying the Holocaust, there are still academics who deny its existence. Certainly, it would be more credible for Holocaust revisionists to argue that the number of deaths were fewer than 6 million; however, to completely deny the Holocaust is to reject a mountain of evidence to the contrary: the gas chambers; testimony at Nuremburg; testimony from participants; testimonies from survivors; photographs; and the results of perhaps the most studied subject of the 20^th Century.

Unfortunately, the world that we are bequeathing to our children is full of theft, destruction, and murder.

Despite the horrors of the 20^th Century, the Scripture warns us of a period in the not too distance future that can only be described as the genocidal beginning of the end of the human race. According to Revelation 6, there will be contingency plans by men that will eliminate at least ¼ of humanity and possible as much as ½ of the human race. As you can see, I am fishing for a word in our English lexicon to describe these men, because words like evil, like wicked, like depraved, or like corrupt does not seem to be the right choice for men who have plans to rid the world of large segments of its population. We use words like these to describe men like Jeffrey Dahmer; a serial rapist loose in one’s community; terrorists who kill hundreds of people; or men like Hitler, Stalin or Mao. Although the limitations of English will not offer me a proper adjective to describe the men in Revelation chapter 6, I’ll use “evil” for lack of a better word.

Revelation 6 is shrouded in metaphors and symbolism as it describes the beginning of the end of human life as we know it on the earth:

^1.And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. ^2.And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. ^3.And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. ^4.And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. ^5.And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. ^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. ^7.And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. ^8.And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth (Revelation 6:1-8).

Considering the above, how does one eliminate between 2 billion and 4 billion innocent people? I mean, these men will dissolve entire nations from the map with the indifference of a cook at a fast food restaurant, flipping burgers for the afternoon lunch crowd. This will be a masterpiece of wickedness that is unprecedented in human history. As we saw earlier in this article, men have always imposed their will on others with instruments of barbarity; however, never have we seen it on a scale described in the Scriptures above.

In the next few months, I will be publishing a 12-part series on the Rise of the anti-christ titled, Prelude to the anti-christ. This series will attempt to describe how evil men attained ambitions to annihilate the human race. Man’s craving to destroy himself did not happen as an afterthought. It has been a cleverly weaved plan that has been in an incubation stage for more than 1,000 years, and if we are in fact living in the “last days,” then the arrangement to eliminate half the population of the planet is about to be unleashed on humankind.

Prelude to the anti-christ will be divided into three series: First, The Mystery of Iniquity will be a 3-part series that demonstrate that there has been a furtive hand in the affairs of humanity to create the rich soil for the anti-christ to rise; second, Western Civilization’s Unrelenting Expansion will be a 6-part expose on Western Civilization’s effort to control the destiny of human civilization; and third, The Rise of the anti-christ will be a 3-part series on the rise of the global leader who will lead humanity over the precipice into oblivion. The first article will be published on Sunday, January 30, 2011, and each subsequent article will be published on each successive Sunday through April.

In Revelation chapter 2, John admonished the church at Thyatira that there were some who did not “know the depths of satan.” Because of their naiveté, he was unable to give them deep, mystical insight into God’s Word through his writing: ^24.But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. ^25.But that which ye have already hold fast till I come (Revelation 6:24-25).

I close this introduction by saying; I trust that the end-time church has not lost its ability to discern good from evil. If so, what I will be advancing will border on the absurd.

…to be continued

---

[1] http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NWYvGYcxCjYC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=conquest+victims+million+stalin+wheatcroft+nove&source=bl&ots=4GwMCPSQZz&sig=6F2zvOt80xKNs-19FPlER0NiMjo&hl=en&ei=BjP8ScrwJIeO_Qa3yszJBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=conquest%20victims%20million%20stalin%20wheatcroft%20nove&f=false.

[2] Davies, Norman, Europe, A History, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 1,329.

The Spiritual Nature of the King Years - Part V

This is the final installment of a five-part series on The Spiritual Nature of the King Years.

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others…(from “The Drum Major Instinct” delivered by Dr. King on February 4, 1968 at Ebenezer Baptist Church).

As children, many athletically inclined boys dream of hitting a last second shot to win the NBA Championship, or of throwing the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, or of hitting the game winning homerun in game seven of the World Series, or any one of dozens of last second rescues where victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat. However, while many youngsters have impersonated those triumphant scenarios on the playground and rehearsed them over and over in their youthful minds, how many children dream of raising the consciousness level of humanity through a life of suffering, abuse and then assassination at the hands of the people they came to set free? Yes, King did much more than lead the black community out of its long night of despair; he liberated America from the absurd notion that blacks were somehow exempt from the bedrock principle of its founding documents – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness (taken from the Declaration of Independence).”

To be sure, Dr. King has not been the only social champion to give his life serving others; however, his force of will added a dimension to his efforts that has rarely been seen in America. He also possessed the five qualities that strike fear in the heart of those powerful men who attempt to assume control of the destiny of humanity: 1) King did not fear death; 2) He had little desire for earthly possessions, so there was not much to lose; 3) He was a very skilled orator; 4) He spoke out against injustice; and 5) He walked with God.

Many people do not fear death, have no desire for worldly goods, speak out against injustice and walk with God; however, if they possess those attributes, but are unable to use speech as a weapon, then chances are that history will never remember them. Words are more surgical than nuclear-tipped Cruz Missiles if used skillfully. Depending on your source, there are between 250,000 and 1 million words in the English language, and based on how one strings them together, you can get people to do anything from practicing Jim Crow with impunity to engaging in genocide. History is replete with many who have used their words to incite others to commit unspeakable acts, but there are also men, like Dr. King, who used their words for the greater good of society.

America’s long love affair with racial bigotry had never been confronted in the manner that King opposed it. His speech demonstrated the fallacy of racial superiority and amassed a following that established him, not only as a Civil Rights leader, but he also became the voice of opposition against the international policies of the United States. After receiving the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, King’s focus began to sharpen beyond Civil Rights to the human rights abuses that many were suffering abroad; often at the hands of the United States. As the unquestioned leader of the modern Civil Rights Movement, he became the de facto leader of two other movements of dissent: the anti-war movement; and labor union’s efforts to bring improved working conditions to its members. This was unprecedented in American history, where three major opponents of America’s foreign and domestic policies were coalescing under one voice, and that voice was the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Notwithstanding King’s longing to slay Jim Crow; an objective that would be considered logical by any reasonable white person today looking back on the 1960s struggle, it was his incisive ability to unite people of common interests that marked him as a threat to the aristocracy and men in political leadership. It seemed conspicuously providential that under his leadership, the nation was set on a collision course with the voices of opposition that would alter the course of American history directly and world history indirectly. To place a finer point on this line of reasoning, if America does not reverse the discredited policies of its racial past during the King years, then the country does not evolve by 2008 to elect Barack Obama as its president.

History has only produced a handful of peaceful men who have posed a threat to the established power structure. Why is this? It is because the ruling class has always insulated itself from threats from the working class. There have always been change agents who have cried “foul,” for one cause or another, while sacrificing their lives to reverse a situation. However, no one in American history pursued their cause with the skill, elegance, determination and epic refusal to resort to violence in the face of constant physical harm like Dr. King.

In dealing with men like Jesus, like King, like Gandhi, like Bonhoeffer, the political leadership has to gauge the level of threat that these men pose, and the simple formula that is used is thus: Intent plus Capability equals Threat. Many righteous warriors, both black and white, attempted to slay Jim Crow or correct some other societal ill; however, which of those men or women were able to marshal the forces of destiny to aid them in their efforts to rid the country of the stain of racism? Here we have plenty of Intent, but a very low degree of Capability, resulting in limited Threat; however, Dr. King’s leadership threatened much more than simply sanitizing the South of its segregated mentality. His opposition to segregation, dangerous working conditions and low pay, the war in Vietnam and other matters of domestic and foreign affairs made him a high priority target for the country and the aristocracy to destabilize.

Dr. King stood out among all of the other black leaders as the one most likely to alter the landscape of America if left unattended. Under the FBI’s Counter-Intelligence Program, also known as “COINTELPRO,” the nation’s top law enforcement agency infiltrated black nationalist groups in an effort to neutralize their effectiveness among the masses. Although other black leaders were considered possible threats, the FBI saw King as the black “messiah.” The imagery of a messiah is profound coming from the Federal government, for it distinguished King from his leadership rivals in the eyes of the national, political structure. The following is taken directly from the COINTELPRO program:

Introduction – The purpose of this new counterintelligence endeavor is to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalist, hate-type organizations and groupings, their leadership, spokesmen, membership, and supporters, and to counter their propensity for violence and civil disorder.

The pernicious background of such groups, their duplicity, and devious maneuvers must be exposed to public scrutiny where such publicity will have a neutralizing effect. Efforts of the various groups to consolidate their forces or to recruit new or youthful adherents must be frustrated. No opportunity should be missed to exploit through counterintelligence techniques the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups and where possible an effort should be made to capitalize upon existing conflicts between competing black nationalist organizations. When an opportunity is apparent to disrupt or neutralize black nationalist, hate-type organizations through the cooperation of established local news media contacts or through such contact with sources available to the Seat of Government, in every instance careful attention must be given to the proposal to insure the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited through the publicity and not merely publicized.

Intensified attention under this program should be afforded to the activities of such groups as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Revolutionary Action Movement, the Deacons for Defense and Justice, Congress of Racial Equality, and the Nation of Islam. Particular emphasis should be given to extremists who direct the activities and policies of revolutionary or militant groups such as Stokely Carmichael, H. "Rap" Brown, Elijah Muhammad, and Maxwell Stanford.

The Counterintelligence Program is now being expanded to include 41 offices. ... For maximum effectiveness of the Counterintelligence Program, and to prevent wasted effort, long range goals are being set… 2. Prevent the rise of a "messiah" who could unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement. Malcolm X might have been such a "messiah;" he is the martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael and Elijah [Muhammed] all aspire to this position. Elijah [Muhammed] is less of a threat because of his age. King could be a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed "obedience" to "white, liberal doctrines" (nonviolence) and embrace black nationalism…(COINTELPRO – Black Nationalist Hate Groups (1967-1971), page 1, emphasis mine).

It is significant to note that Dr. King fulfilled the government’s prediction of his role as the black messiah, and whether he saw himself as the savior, he sacrificed his life for all people of good will. Although, I believe that it is clear that America has embarked upon the course of reducing his stature as an historic figure, we still marvel in the fact that it has bestowed upon him the greatest honor that any nation can grant one of its citizens: It designated a national holiday in recognition of his birth; a distinction that was made to only one other before him, and that was the country’s first president, George Washington.

As we celebrate the life of Dr. King, let this be a day of public service, where you find an opportunity to do a good deed. There are more than 300 million people in America, and if only half of them committed only one virtuous act per day, the world would be a better place to live.

Long live the Dream, and may the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. live perpetually!

The Spiritual Nature of the King Years - Part IV (The Tradition of Jesus)

This series on Dr. King began as a four-part examination into the spiritual nature of his life’s work; however, in order to preserve the succinct nature of the series, I have added a fifth article that will look at the threat that Dr. King posed to the ruling class. It will be published on Wednesday, January 19^th.

If we examine the death of Jesus from a purely social context; not considering its spiritual basis, we will see something very significant in his ministry, as well as the ministry/works of great men who succeeded him as social activists. Jesus had amassed such a large following that he had become a threat to the aristocracy and to the social pecking order that they had established; consequently, the decision was made at the highest level of national government to assassinate him. Jesus was singular in His purpose and certainly understood the infamous nature of His leadership to the ruling class. This is why some of His most profound moments were concealed from the public until after his death.

In the 17^th chapter of Matthew we see the transfiguration of Christ, where, according to the Western theologian, Jesus demonstrated the harmony of Grace, the law and the prophets. However, Matthew chapter 17 is much, much deeper than a demonstration of the harmony between the messages of Jesus, Moses and Elijah (see note at the end of this article). Let us examine it for a minute, because this passage of Scripture gives us some insight into the inherent danger that all great men face who speak out against injustice.

The proper place to begin examining the Transfiguration is after the event has concluded and Jesus is headed back down the mountain with his three disciples. He says something very peculiar: And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead (Matthew 17:9). Why would Jesus want to conceal one of the great miracles of Scripture from the rest of His followers? The key to this answer is to understand what had taken place, because in the tradition of the Western theologian, he does not want you to know what you have just seen. Consequently, the best he will offer you is the “Transfiguration,” which is correct, but not complete.

Jesus has just performed what can be argued to be the greatest miracle of the Scripture: He reached back nearly 1,500 years and raised Moses from the dead, and although he did not reach back as far, he also raised Elijah from the dead. To say that this is profound!!! is an understatement. Just consider the global reaction if you or I reached back just 48 years and raised former U.S. President John Kennedy from the dead. It would be, on one hand, surreal, and on the other hand it would set in motion an international effort to understand the unusual powers that were demonstrated.

Now watch Peter’s reaction to what he has just witnessed: Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias (Matthew 17:4). He has fallen into the trap of many of Jesus’ detractors. Peter believes that He came to establish His Kingdom on earth, and in an unbelievable moment of apparent triumph over evil, Peter is gazing upon the men who he believes will make it happen. While looking at perhaps the three greatest men to ever live, he offers the suggestion of building three tabernacles – one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah, but what he is thinking is, “We can take over the world with the leadership of these three great men!” As the rest of this drama is unfolding, the voice came from Heaven telling Peter and others to pay attention to Jesus, because they (or at least Peter) were missing the point. However, what is not so clear is why Jesus cautioned them to keep this matter confidential until after his resurrection.

Let’s go back to my example of raising John F. Kennedy from the grave. Once this phenomenon could be verified as factual, the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, Naval Intelligence, the Mossad, the MI6, and many other alphabet agencies would be looking to apprehend me to place me on a rack, demanding that I give them the secret of my ability. Jesus understood the controversial nature of His leadership and, unlike the televangelists of today; He did not seek to add to His celebrity status or notoriety, depending on your view of him, by ministering in the limelight. He knew to do such would place Him in the crosshairs of the political leadership. Jesus stayed so far underground that when it was time for His apprehension, the men who came looking for Him had no idea what He looked like:

^4.Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? ^5.They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am He. And Judas also, which betrayed Him, stood with them. ^6.As soon then as He had said unto them, I am He, they went backward, and fell to the ground. ^7.Then asked He them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. ^8.Jesus answered, I have told you that I am He: if therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way (John 18:4-8).

Great spiritual men shun the spotlight, because they understand how fame can distract them from their objectives. It is not lost on me that although Jesus was a carpenter, He never built a church for worship services. His ministry was in the streets, to those who were downtrodden and in despair. In the tradition of Jesus, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in the middle of the Poor People’s Campaign just prior to his assassination. Despite the demands that were made on him during that period, he took time out from his effort to bring recognition to the suffering of the poor in America in order to assist the sanitation workers in Memphis during their strike to improve their conditions of employment. A. Philip Randolph called King “the moral leader of our nation,” and as such, King brought a very powerful voice to the plight of the men who were at the bottom of the social ladder. And for his unselfish leadership, he is recognized as one of the great voices in American history.

King, though misunderstood by many, including some in his own movement, rose above the controversial nature of his efforts to slay Jim Crow, and had a level of social success that is rarely found in the archives of human history. As we recognize his work today, I ask that you take a moment of silent prayer to ask God that America will never revert back to the discarded and discredited racial policies of the past. There is a proverb that says, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

May the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. be a constant reminder that the forces of good will always triumph over the forces of evil.

Long live the Dream!

…to be continued

Note: I am working on a book titled, Climbing Jacob’s Ladder, the Story of the Greatest Miracle in the Scripture, that will be published later this year, so I will not give it away here.

The Spiritual Nature of the King Years - Part III (The Tradition of Job)

Not long ago, I was at the barber shop having a discussion with a number of guys waiting for their weekly cut. We bantered back and forth about politics and religion as we attempted to solve the ills of our society, and I made the following statement that caught everyone’s attention: “There are three institutions in the black community that are contributing to its demise: fast food restaurants; liquor stores and churches.” This comment, as expected, provoked a passionate rebuttal from one of the guys as he concurred with me on my submission that fast food restaurants and liquor stores were destroying the black community; however, the notion that churches are also participating in its demise was absurd.

I responded thus to those who were listening: “The Western theologian had been enlisted by the global powers to offer a corrupt version of the Word of God by controlling the interpretation of the Scripture. Consequently, those who subscribe to it will never go beyond that Purgatory between darkness and light. And if the leaders of black churches [or any church] parrot what has been advanced by the Western theologian, then isn’t that corrupted version of the Gospel doing as much damage to you spiritually as alcohol and fast food does to your physical body?” I went on to ask the brother who was bothered by my comment if he could tell me what Job’s profession was before his engagement with the devil. He looked puzzled at first and then said, “I don’t know.”

I said to him, “See, you’re making my point. The Western theologian has controlled the story of Job, because he does not want you to know who he really was. He only wants you to see Job as an excessively patient man in the wake of personal calamity so that you will never aspire to be like him. I mean, who wants to follow in the footsteps of a man who lost his family and all of his possessions, and then had to contend with issues of health and betrayal? But if you understood who Job was and that the story of his patience that covers most of the book attributed to him is only a footnote in his life, then perhaps you, along with many other men [and women] would desire to be like him.

“The story of Job’s encounter with the devil and subsequent period of personal misery and misfortune is the story behind the story. The true story of Job is that he was the greatest social advocate of all time. If you look at the 30th chapter of Job, you will see that he was disturbed at the mockery he sustained regarding his condition and subsequent standing in society: But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock [Job 30:1]. The children of men who were so vile, Job said he would not permit them to be in the company of the dogs that watched over his sheep, were ridiculing him. However, if you go back to chapter 29, you will see Job lamenting over his inability to defend those in need.”

The 29th chapter of Job is his resume, and it has been buried in the cemeteries of the Western schools of theology so that you and I would not recognize how truly great this man really was. I mean, being patient in the face of personal turmoil is no more than what some of you have endured, or at least most of us have a parent, grandparent, or other loved one who has patiently borne extreme trials. However, Job’s activism has been duplicated by very few during the course of human history, because the aristocracy has always employed techniques of social control to limit the possibility of the rise of the Jobs of the world, or the Gandhis of the world, or the Bonhoeffers of the world, or the Martin Kings of the world, because these are the types of men who will alter the course of human history and disrupt their plans for the future.

We are introduced to Job through an encounter between God and the devil in the first chapter of Job:

1.There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil… 6.Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 7.And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8.And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9.Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10.Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land (Job 1:1, 6-10, emphasis mine).

It is significant to note when satan was queried about Job, he said, “Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him. [s]atan had already attempted to destroy Job, but was prevented from entering into his restricted airspace by God’s protection. Job was disrupting satan’s efforts in the land of Uz, and he wanted to have him assassinated, but when God issued the devil permission to encounter him, the one prohibition was that he could not take his life.

Let’s take a minute to see why satan wanted to destroy Job:

• The secret of God was upon him (see Job 29:4);
• The Almighty walked with him (see Job 29:5);
• In addition to the above, he was the most prominent man in Uz who pronounced judgement on wickedness (see Job 29:7);
• Job’s judgements were so profound that the mischievous refrained from his presence (see Job 29:8);
• The elders revered him (see Job 29:8);
• The aristocracy was fearful of him (see Job 29:9);
• Verse 10 seems to suggest that those who dared to speak out against him suffered strokes (see Job 29:10);
• The multitude were followers of him, because he delivered the poor that cried, and he aided the fatherless and those who were on the margins of society (see Job 29:11-12);
• The fortunes were reversed for those who were about to perish, and their good fortune was duplicated upon him as well (see Job 29:13);
• The widow; often society’s most downtrodden, was lifted to heights of joy that she had never experienced (see Job 29:13);
• Job was such a righteous man that when he spoke, the people thought they were hearing God’s voice (see Job 29:14);
• He corrected the vision impairment of those who could not see the truth, and he corrected the gait of those who were not walking in the ways of righteousness (see Job 29:15);
• He was the poor's only hope (see Job 29:16); and
• He plucked the spoils from the teeth of the wicked and returned it to those who had been devoured (see Job 29:17).

Job is not the only historical character whose life has been buried out of sight. If the men who stand at the signpost of civilization, directing our paths into the future can conceal the lives of the great men and women who opposed them, then it reduces the possibility that other men and women will rise to emulate them. To buttress my point consider that Enoch (see Genesis 5) is credited with perhaps the greatest miracle in the holy writ, yet have you ever heard one sermon that was exclusive to him? I mean, wouldn’t you think that a man who has escaped death, and to our knowledge has yet to die, that we would want to know as much about him as possible?

The dearth of material on Enoch and Job, as well as many others, can now be seen in the legacy of Dr. King. Immediately after his assassination, the networks stumbled over themselves producing programs on Civil Rights and his life. In fact, my family watched the documentary, From Montgomery to Memphis, so often that we wore out three video tapes. However, although today would mark his 82nd birthday and this Monday will be the national holiday that has been set aside in honor of his birth, I was unable to find one single program about his ministry or on his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. The two channels where one would expect to find programming dedicated to the life of Martin King around this time of year – Biography and BET – did have three episodes of American Gangster slated for the prime time slots on Monday and a Jamie Fox marathon running today.

The diminishing of Dr. King’s legacy has already begun, and I predict that within the next 25 years, the national holiday in recognition of his birthday will be expanded to include all men and women of conscience who opposed oppression and made a mark on society. Now don’t get me wrong, they do deserve a day of honor and recognition too, but I am one voice that is saying, “Do not dilute King’s legacy and work by renaming the date to include others.” And there is precedent for this alteration: Some of you are old enough to remember when the third Monday in February was celebrated as George Washington’s Birthday, but now it is considered Presidents’ Day. This apparently benign change, has effectively reduced the stature of the first president of this nation, and do not think for one minute that there is such loyalty to King’s affect on society that the holiday named in his honor will be immune from any amendment.

…to be continued