any computer literate people are aware that the revolution back in the 1980's that was known as desktop publishing revolutionized the periodical publishing industry. The advent of low cost computing platforms not only streamlined existing magazine and newspaper production, it opened the door to a vast number of small, independent publishing operations.

That revolution has yet to subside as huge numbers of ministries, large and small, jumped all over the computer revolution and learned how to produce modest quality periodicals in short order. This breakthrough in technology lowered the bar for admittance into the universe of periodical publishing - and ever since that time, the nation has been awash in the next generation of false prophets working their wares via newsletters.

Every Conceivable Doctrine

The news is not all bad as certain doctrinal perspectives that were previously suppressed found a voice through personal computer publishing; unfortunately, the paper prophets in the world of publishing closely mirrors that of the society at large - an end times arena in which Jesus Christ said "many will come in my name saying I am Christ [claiming Jesus is Lord]; and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:5).

In the murky spiritual waters of the great "falling away" that is presently underway, even Christ's basic statement about those that come in his name is still widely misunderstood. The churches continue to propagate the fiction that Christ was warning of false messiahs. He did caution on that level as well, but the warning of false saviours was in a different verse. When Jesus said "many" will arrive on the scene, and they would be coming "in my name," He was warning us many would come claiming to be Christians, and Christian leaders - and they will be the ones that will deceive "many."

Thus, we anticipate at this point in time there are "many" deceiving leaders, teachers, and writers, preaching in the name of Jesus, and "many shall follow their pernicious ways...." (II Peter 2:2). Contrast this with verses that speak of the "few" that find the truth, and by the scripture's own definition, we would expect the majority of "Christian" teachers and ministries to be propagating false doctrine. There are few places in which this conclusion is more appropriate than in the area of Bible study and prophecy publications. Here Are A Few Examples.

THE HOUSE OF YAHWEH NEWSLETTER.

Published by one of the many so-called "sacred name" cults, this group is run by one Yisrayl Hawkins, a leader that has unabashedly portrayed himself as a prophet. How curious then that he issues prophetic statements that don't line up with the scriptures!

For instance, in the February 2005 letter, he coolly informs us that "the prophets in your Bible spoke of a seven year peace plan that they said would destroy many...." (HYN, Feb 2005). Although he doesn't footnote the scriptural authority for this statement, he is obviously utilizing the same old hackneyed 7-year treaty nonsense from the Rapture Cult - the same mainstream group he claims is part of the apostate church. How ironic that Rapturists comprise a portion of what he refers to as "godworshipers" - a term of derision since he thinks the English word god refers to demons; yet he continues to espouse basic staples of their false doctrine.

Yisrayl Hawkins goes on to tell us not only is there "a 7 year peace plan...we are in the last three and one-half years of this plan...." (HYN, Feb 2005). If we're now in the last half of the so-called 7-year treaty, it would have to have been signed in the last few years; but since his letter didn't give me the date of the historic event, I had to go to this cult's website to get the details:

"Daniyl's prophecies have come to pass, except for the destruction which will end the Seven Year Plan of Peace. This will be the worst time of trouble ever for all nations. We only have a few months left of this Seven Year Plan. It was signed September 13, 1993 and went into effect October 13, 1993. The plan has been inactive...."

When I was in school I did have some problems with math, but the last time I looked, this was 2005 - so evidently my calculator is deficient as well, because we're now 11 ½ years into Yisrayl Hawkin's 7 year treaty!

The so-called 7 year treaty is grotesquely fastened upon the classic verse of Daniel (9:27), which never mentions a treaty, never mentions the Antichrist, and never mentions what Hawkins brazenly states is "42 moons of war" (HYN, Feb 2005, pg 1). However, if Yisrayl Hawkins feels the need for textual support, he conveniently utilizes his own version of the scriptures marketed as The Book Of Yahweh.

In that same newsletter, we get a taste of Hawkin's translational abomination. "Overseer" Yisrayl Hawkins, who is reputed to believe he is one of the two witnesses, renders Revelation 11:3 as "And I will give to My two Witnesses to perform their prophetic offices, and they will foretell events about the three and one-half years, those cast about with darkness." (HYN, Feb 2005, pg 1).

The venerable King James Version has it as "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand, two hundred, and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth."

This hideous twisting of the Word of God in Hawkin's reprobate "sacred name" Bible takes outrageous liberties with the underlying manuscripts and very definitely removes certain words while adding others - a spiritual offense even young believers know better than to perpetrate. For instance, the manuscripts actually use the Greek word for days - as opposed to Hawkin's more abbreviated "three and one-half years."

As we believe the 24 hour day will be literally "shortened" by one third as both Jesus and John prophesied (Matthew 24:22, Revelation 8:12), 1,260 days may very well turn out to be a completely different period of time than 3 ½ years. But the textual abuse doesn't stop there, for Hawkins goes on to change the very act performed by the Two Witnesses from the original "they shall prophesy" to "they will foretell events."

The Word of God teaches us that the practice of prophesying is not exclusively comprised of the making of predictions - it is broader than that. Indeed, this same Revelation tells us "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" - in effect saying that testifying of the majesty and glory of Christ is also to prophesy (see also Acts 15:32 where exhortation is linked to the gift of prophecy).

However, the most obscene item in his apostate translation is in the very end of the same verse where Hawkins just inserts a phrase that does not appear in the manuscripts at all. The Textus Receptus (the long established body of about 5,000 manuscripts that validate the KJV as the Word of God) renders the last phrase of this same verse with a description of the Two Witnesses by plainly stating that during the period of their prophesying they will be "clothed in sackcloth."

Hawkins's "sacred-name" abomination makes this completely incoherent by translating that the Two Witnesses will "foretell" events about the three and one-half years, "those cast about with darkness." We might ask what, pray tell, does "those cast about with darkness" have to do with being "clothed in sackcloth?

The answer is apparently in the newsletter itself, where we're treated to a photo of this creep in a suit and tie clutching his corrupt "Bible." Since Hawkins sees himself as one of the witnesses, maybe he just changed that verse so he won't have to wear any uncomfortable sackcloth in order to convince the suckers that buy into his particular brand of bovine scatology (II Timothy 3:5).

THE LORD'S COMING HERALD

An amillennial newsletter coming from the Wesleyan (Methodist) perspective, this letter produced by a small ministry with the unlikely name Rapture Revival Ministries, looks on its surface to be sound theologically. Edited by Gary Cutler, this newsletter pointedly attacks the rapture doctrine.

Like so many other aggressive groups that continue to expose the fallacies of the much larger Rapture Cult, publications like this one can quietly slip into the pack without their true agenda being revealed at the outset. Indeed, just because a prophetic publication seeks to expose the fraud of Darbyism (a term derived from John Darby, the Irish pastor who introduced pre-trib to America in the 19th century), does not mean they are on track scripturally themselves.

The fact is, the Wesleyan theological worldview is just as spiritually bankrupt as the cult they propose to counter; and it's not always that easy to detect as these folks quote from the Word very effectively - but the hidden perspective eventually emerges.

I had to read three different editions of this newsletter before these people came out in the open with their doctrine. In the Fall 2004 issue, I finally got the scoop:

"Here are two prominent New Testament end-time prophecies that have been fulfilled through the rise of Darbyism in our modern times. The first is found in Revelation 11:7-10. There we see the two witnesses of God, the truth Church of Jesus Christ, being killed by the Beast in old Jerusalem."

Now we find at least part of what The Lord's Coming Herald is propagating - the idea that the Two Witnesses of Revelation are actually the "church." This particular issue of the Herald didn't explain why the body of Christ is split into two personalities, but I can't help but wonder if it's related to the double-minded men that espouse this nonsense.

The Wesleyan propagandist goes on to tell us that since "Christians are citizens of the new heavenly Jerusalem, they have no business returning to the earthly old one" (LCH, New Testament End-time Prophecies Fulfilled In Modern Times, Fall 2004). This I take to mean that the Methodists don't believe that Christians should be involved in the troubles in Jerusalem.

Scripture, of course, tells us that we are to keep an eye on Jerusalem, for Christ's statement that "when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh" (Luke 21:20) plainly instructs us to maintain an awareness of what is transpiring.

Although this passage obviously has application to the Roman siege of 66 AD, significant scriptural evidence indicates that another siege of Jerusalem will occur during the finale of human history. Furthermore, the LORD's admonition to "watch  and pray" is hardly license to ignore what occurs for the Psalms also tell us to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalms 122:6).

Just because Remnant Christians like those of us here at Christian Media are not Darbyites and do not believe the faulty 'Jews as the chosen people' myth, does not necessarily mean that we reject the broader prophetic concept of futurism - the doctrine that significant prophecies are yet to be fulfilled in the days ahead. Indeed, this is one of the common perceptions of the rapturists, for they have been programmed to respond to theological opponents as though they are all essentially the same as Catholics with their requisite replacement perspective that the so-called "church" is a separate entity and God is now finished with the construct known as "Israel."

God can hardly be finished with Israel when He grafted the Gentiles onto the singular entity in combination with the believing Jews to form the solitary body of believers that is known as "the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16). Conversely, the racist chosen people myth is just as unscriptural as the Methodist non-millennialism (formally known as amillennialism).

The Lord's Coming Herald posits that you and I are living in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Since Satan is to be bound with a great chain during this period, as one wag put it, if this is the millennium, then the devil's chain is too long. Amillennialists evidently believe the concept of a literal thousand-year reign of Christ requires some sort of reversion to a Jewish worldview, so they instead choose to spiritualize practically everything.

For instance, in the same edition of the Herald, after citing the passage where Revelation tells us the ten kings that hate the whore of Babylon will burn her with fire, Herald publisher Cutler tells us "The ten horns are nations of the earth, particularly those that derive from the break-up of the ancient Roman Empire" (LCH, ibid.). This reversion to the Rome-centric view of the rapturists demonstrates how the Wesleyans really haven't worked out just how much of the end times passages in Revelation actually are unfolding in our time.

On the one hand, they slam the faulty Rome centered view of the cult with their ludicrous "revived Roman Empire" clap-trap, then they themselves later revert to the same deficient scenario! In effect, they're saying, 'this is the Millennium, but there may be ten kings; and those kings may have some association with the rapture cult fraud that focuses everything on Rome, but the cult is wrong about everything else.' In other words, this theological system is double-minded to the max.

Cutler's craziness then gets positively surrealistic as he writes "The beast is the Devil." Apparently, in his rush to abandon all things futurist, he forgot to examine how the beasts in Daniel's seventh chapter that form the constituent parts of the beast in Revelation are plainly stated to be "kingdoms" (Daniel 7:23). Thus, to simply say the "beast" is the Devil is to grossly oversimplify the basic teaching of a one world evil kingdom in the end times that scripture characterizes as a "beast."

The thinking deteriorates from there. When he treats of the 1,260 days of the Two Witnesses (who he has already stated is somehow equated with the Christian church), he turns the very specific period of time of their ministry into "1,260 day ages" (emphasis mine) into an indeterminate period of time that equals "...as long as the Christian church has maintained her authentic, primitive testimony to the Christ..." (LCH, New Test End-Time Prophecy). In simple-speak, this means 1,260 days somehow equals about 2,000 years.

Then he tells us the witnesses (the church) will "uncharacteristically 'finish their testimony,' and, as a result, they will be overcome - spiritually speaking, of course - by Satan, the unleashed Beast in old Jerusalem..." (ibid). Since Cutler has just said his version of the "church" is to be overcome spiritually, is that not the same thing as the backslidden harlot church? And since that church is to be burned by the ten kings (all from the Roman empire, mind you), how then can this 'overcome, two-witness church' be attacked by the "beast" who he's already said is the Devil?

And in the midst of this Babelian hodge-podge, he really confuses things and tells us "there will be a great revival at the very end..." (ibid). Presumably, this "revival" will occur in some incorporated Methodist church - complete with a non-prophet tax permit issued by the beast...er, the Devil, oops, the whore...well, somebody.

Finally, these nice folks living in the millennium have no personal Antichrist at all - and after all, if we're in the millennium now, we can't very well have an Antichrist, can we? The nonsense continues as Cutler writes "The man of lawlessness is not personal Antichrist, friend, it is antinomianism, which means 'lawlessness'" (ibid).

So now, the Scripture that plainly speaks of a "he" - the same verses that refer to this Antichrist "non-person" with the personal ignominious title of "the son of perdition" (a title previously applied to a historical person named Judas Iscariot) didn't really mean he is a person - it meant he was bad doctrine!

This perspective is so far off the mark that it's easy to refute - but people have been buying into it for centuries. The short version is, beware the Wesleyan-Methodist church, it's just another manifestation of the corporate whore of Babylon.

BATTLE CRY

A newsletter produced by Chick Publications, the publisher of those clever little cartoon tracts that have been so widely circulated among believers. Jack Chick, the writer-cartoonist behind it all, has commonly avoided scrutiny of the theological views posed in his tracts due to the relatively shallow nature of the materials.

Salvation tracts are one thing, and in recent years it seems as though Chick has sought to downplay his Rapture Cult posture, but the man has now had decades to correct the Jewish Supremacism that is inherent in the cult. Unfortunately, Jack Chick is a bit too busy bashing Roman Catholicism to find the time to tell his readers the truth.

In fact, Battle Cry has a sub-title which gives us a clue as to the agenda inherent in his constant droning about the evils of the Vatican. It reads "Serving the Bible-believing Protestants of the World." Granted, during the historical period known as the Reformation, there was a time to be identified as a Protestant, in that the Papacy had become a monstrous evil that threatened to decimate any and all rivals.

However, the so-called "Protestant" churches supposedly "served" by Jack Chick's literary output are every bit as reprobate as the Catholic hierarchy he so ardently attacks. Indeed, over the years we've learned the single-issue crusader role routinely masks a superficiality of content in the doctrine of the would-be reformer. Nowhere is this more true than in Jack Chick's narrowly construed version of Christian fidelity.

Every issue of Battle Cry not only points out the apostate behaviour of Catholicism, it commonly seeks to demonstrate how people are using Chick tracts to teach people the "truth" about the false religion that is Romanism. Outside of a somewhat two-dimensional portrayal of sinners repenting, accepting Christ, and then settling in for the long haul as new believers, we rarely see the doctrinal "truth" that underlies the superficial presentations that are endemic to tracts.

The truth is, Jack Chick is a 'died in the wool' advocate of the false gospel of Dispensationalism, and he is long overdue to be addressed as a purveyor of the racist dogma that he helps to perpetrate.

For instance, in a recent edition of Battle Cry, the comic king printed an essay entitled Who Really Owns Jerusalem?  In this revealing article he wrote

"Islam teaches that any land that Muslims conquer belongs to Allah forever. Jews stand on the promises of God in the Old Testament that Palestine was given to Abraham and his seed forever. The pope, who claims to be Christ's vice president (vicar) in charge of earth, also wants control of Jerusalem" (Battle Cry, Who Really Owns Jerusalem, Nov/Dec 2004).

While these statements are essentially true, the way Jack Chick slants the debate is setting up his desired conclusion. Bible believing Christians reading the piece recognize Allah is a false deity. They also recognize the very real fact that the papacy greatly desires to take jurisdiction over Jerusalem. That leaves the seemingly reasonable statement that the Jewish people have a legitimate claim based upon God's "promises" - language that is guaranteed to evoke a theological knee-jerk reaction.

Note how the paragraph says "Muslims conquer" even as "The pope...wants control" - all emotionally laden terms. In contrast to this, we see that "Jews stand" - a seemingly heroic phrase as Chick plainly shows his preference for the claims of the Jewish people on Jerusalem.

Having set up his straw man argument, Battle Cry then sets out to demonize what would appear to be any "Christian" perspective that disagrees with the Jews. The stilted newsletter writes how the pope's

"...claims are based on what is called 'replacement theology,'  that teaches that God is finished with Israel because they rejected their Messiah. Those who follow the pope are now the 'people of God,' replacing Israel as God's chosen people" (Battle Cry, Who Really Owns Jerusalem, Nov/Dec 2004, page 1).

In this diabolical paradigm, Jack Chick subtly implies that anyone that opposes the Jewish claim on Jerusalem must be a papist and an adherent of "replacement theology." This is a despicable tactic, and it is a classic theme that runs through many Rapture Cult rehearsals of the matter. The simple truth is, in Chick's three fold statement concerning the claims of Moslems, Jews, and Catholics to Jerusalem, not one of them is valid.

But Chick isn't yet through twisting the perspective to make it fit his Jewish supremacist mindset. In the process of pitching a new tract on the subject, he repeats his propagandistic approach to the problem. He states how his new tract, cleverly entitled Squatters,

"...lays out in simple form, how God promised the land of Israel to Abraham, how Islam and Catholicism conspired to own it and how Jesus will soon come back to defend it against the armies of the world" (ibid, page 5).

Similar to the prior spin, Islam and Catholicism "conspired" to take it, but God will "defend it" - apparently on behalf of the Jews as "Israel" received it because "God promised the land" to Abraham. Once again, these are emotionally charged terms that manipulate and persuade in subtle shades.

Most readers don't stop to notice that the only reference to the superiority of the Jewish claim is the reference to the "Jews [that] stand on the promises of God in the Old testament that Palestine was given to Abraham and his seed forever."

Jack Chick doesn't bother to document who that "seed" of Abraham is, because it doesn't fit his brazenly deceptive presentation of the "facts." The New Testament flatly states that "if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). Since the Moslems are not in Christ, they are not Abraham's seed and have no right to the land. Since the Catholics are not in Christ, they also are not Abraham's seed, and since the Jews are not in Christ, how is it that Jack Chick teaches the obvious falsehood that they are Abraham's seed?

Even Jesus Christ directly addressed this issue as He encountered the Jewish leadership. John tells us "They answered him, We be Abraham's seed...." The LORD pointedly rebuked them and said "Ye are of your father the devil..." (John 8:44). The Apostle Paul told us this "promise" to the "seed" of Abraham was not through the authority of any Old Testament claim as Jack Chick has erroneously written, but it is "through the righteousness of faith" (Romans 4:13).

Since this "righteousness of faith" is plainly taught to be faith in Jesus, how can the Jewish people claim to be the heirs of the reward of righteousness (the land), when they have zero faith in Jesus Christ? Paul went on to remove any ambiguity whatsoever when he wrote "they which are the children of the flesh [the Jews], these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed" (Romans 9:8).

The irony is, in the process of deploring the power of the papacy on a regular basis, Jack Chick and his Battle Cry newsletter have jumped out of the proverbial frying pan of the pope, and landed in the fire of the false claims of the Pharisees.

-- James Lloyd

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