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NOTES ON A FINAL APPEAL TO THE AMERICAN PASTOR: SPEAK NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE. – (WITH VIDEO)
- THEOLOGY
SCRIPTURE. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron …
If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
These things command and teach.” – 1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2, 6-11, NKJV
KEY TERMS:
- “DEPART.”‘Aphistémi’ [ἀποστήσονταί]: “‘To remove or instigate to revolt;’ to desist, desert; ‘to fall away from [the truth];’ to make to stand away, draw away, repel, take up a position away from, withdraw from, leave, abstain from.” NOTE: “The Greek verb ἀφίστημι (‘aphistémi’) primarily means to cause someone to move away from a point of reference, either physically or metaphorically. It can refer to a physical departure, a withdrawal from a position or belief, or a falling away from faith or truth. ‘In the New Testament, it is often used in the context of spiritual departure or Apostasy.’”
- “REJECT.” ‘Paraiteomai’ [παραιτοῦ]: “To beg off, deprecate, decline, shun;’ to avoid, refuse, reject; to entreat that something may not take place; to excuse oneself from an invitation.” NOTE: “The Greek verb παραιτέομαι (‘paraiteomai’) primarily means to refuse or reject something offered or requested. It can also imply avoiding or shunning something. In the New Testament, it is often used in contexts where individuals are urged ‘to reject or avoid certain behaviors, teachings, or requests that are contrary to God’s will.’”
- “COMMAND.” ‘Paraggelló’ [Παράγγελλε]: “To enjoin [with authority], to have or hold in charge;’ to declare or give a command [to be obeyed]; to entreat solemnly; to order.” NOTE: “The Greek verb ‘paraggelló’ is used in the New Testament to convey the act of giving orders or instructions, often with a sense of authority. It implies a directive that is meant to be followed, reflecting a hierarchical relationship between the one giving the command and the one receiving it. ‘This term is frequently used in contexts where Jesus or the Apostles are instructing others on matters of faith and practice.’”
- “TEACH.” ‘Didaskó’ [δίδασκε]: “To become learned [in order to teach]; to instruct, direct, advise; to put in mind; to catechize; to initiate into certain mysteries to learn a secret.” NOTE: “The Greek verb ‘didaskó’ primarily means to teach or instruct. It is used in the New Testament to describe the act of imparting knowledge or skills, often in a formal or authoritative manner. ‘This term is frequently associated with Jesus’ ministry, where He taught the crowds, His disciples, and individuals about the Kingdom of God, moral living, and the fulfillment of the Scriptures.’”
QUOTATION. “The Truth that is variously enacted by such agents is not an idea or a proposition. It is rather a habit of life that simply (!) refuses the totalizing claims of power. The Governor, on behalf of the Empire, will continue to ask, ‘What is truth?’ And the Apostles will continue to give answer, uncommonly unintimidated: ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority!’” (Acts 5:29).14” ― WALTER BRUEGGEMANN,Truth Speaks to Power: The Countercultural Nature of Scripture, 2013; edited
COMMENTARY. “‘Now the Spirit’ — By calling the Christian Church, in the end of the preceding chapter, ‘the pillar and support of the truth,’the Apostle taught, that one of the important purposes for which that great spiritual building was reared, was to preserve the knowledge and practice of True Religion in the world. Nevertheless, knowing that in After Times great corruptions, both in doctrine and practice, would at length take place in the Church itself, and that the general reception of these corruptions by professed Christians would be urged as a proof of their being the Truths and Precepts of God, on pretence that the ‘Church is the pillar, &c., of the truth,’ the Apostle, to strip these corruptions of any credit which they might derive from their being received by the multitude, and maintained by persons of the greatest note in the Church, judged it necessary in this chapter to foretel the introduction of these corruptions, under the appellation of ‘an Apostacy from the faith,’ and to stigmatize the authors thereof as hypocrites and deceivers.
And to give his prediction the Greater Authority, he informed Timothy that it was revealed to him in a peculiar and express manner. ‘The Spirit … speaketh expressly’— As concerning a thing of Great Moment, and soon to be fulfilled. Some have thought the meaning of the Apostle to be, that the Holy Spirit had revealed what follows by Daniel, and some of the other Prophets; but, says Macknight: ‘The things here mentioned are not in Daniel, nor anywhere else in Scripture, not even in thePprophecy which the Apostle himself formerly delivered concerning the man of sin. I therefore think these words were, for the greater solemnity and certainty, pronounced by the Spirit in the Apostle’s hearing, after he had finished the preceding passage.’ But the Apostle might mean, that the Holy Spirit had revealed this, not only to him, but also to other contemporary Prophets.
‘That in the latter, or after times’ — As the phrase εν υστεροις καιροις may be translated, because it denotes Future Times, without marking whether they are near or remote. Or if, as Mede thinks, Daniel’s Four Monarchies are referred to, as it was under the Roman that the God of Heaven set up the Kingdom of his Son, the ‘latter, or after times’ here intended, may be the last part of the duration of the Roman empire. ‘Some shall depart’ — Or rather, ‘shall apostatize, from the faith’ — The Apostle had predicted the same thing before, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where see the notes. There the character of the Teachers who were to introduce the Apostacy is described; but in this Epistle the erroneous opinions and corrupt practices which constituted the Apostacy are foretold. And as the Apostle hath introduced this Prophecy immediately after his account of the Mystery of Godliness, is it not probable that his design in so doing was to give the faithful an opportunity of comparing this ‘mystery of iniquity’ with the ‘mystery of godliness,’that they might be more sensible of the pernicious nature of it?
‘It may be proper to observe, that it is not every error or heresy that is an Apostacy from the faith. It is a Revolt in the principal and essential articles – As when we worship God by an image or representation, or when we worship other beings besides God, and pray unto other mediators besides the one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.It is the very essence of Christian worship, to worship the One True God through the one True Christ; and to worship any other God or any other Mediator, is Apostacy and Rebellion against God and Christ. It is, as St. Paul says, (Colossians 2:19,) ‘not holding the Head,’but depending upon other heads; it is, as St. Peter expresses it, ‘denying the Lord that bought us,’and serving other lords; and the denial of such an essential part may as properly be called Apostacy, as if we were to renounce the whole Christian faith and worship. It is Renouncing them in effect, and not regarding God as God, or Christ as Christ. ‘Such is the nature of Apostacy from the Faith, and it is implied that this Apostacy should be general, and infect great
numbers.’
‘Giving heed to seducing spirits’ — Who inspire False Teachers; or to men that persuade others to believe them by the Pretence of some inspiration or revelation of the Holy Spirit, and thereby cause people to err from the True Faith of the Gospel. The Apostle means those gross frauds by which the corrupt teachers, in the Dark Ages, would enforce their erroneous doctrines and superstitious practices on the ignorant multitudes, under the notion of ‘Revelations from God, or from angels, or departed saints.’ In the same sense St. John is to be understood, when he says, (1 John 4:1,) ‘Believe not every spirit, every pretender to inspiration, but try the spirits whether they be of God. And to doctrines of devils’ — Or rather, doctrines concerning demons. The word διαμονια, translated ‘demons,’was used by the Greeks to denote a kind of beings of a middle nature between God and man. They gave the same name also to the souls of some departed men, who they thought were exalted to the state and honour of demons for their virtue. The former sort they called ‘superior demons,’ and supposed them to have the nature and office which we ascribe to angels. The latter they termed ‘inferior demons.’ These were of the same character with the Romish saints. And both sorts were worshipped as mediators.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited
- TEACHING
“PURGE.” “‘To cleanse or purify by separating and carrying off whatever is impure, heterogeneous, foreign or superfluous.’ As, to purge the body by evacuation; to purge the Augean stable. It is followed by away, of, or off. We say, to purge away or to purge off filth, and to purge a liquor of its scum. To clear from guilt or moral defilement; as, to purge one of guilt or crime.” – NOAH WEBSTER, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828; edited
What we are witnessing in just the last few days under the Second Trump Regime is nothing less than an arguably Unlawful Purge of the Federal Government of employees not swearing fealty to the President. – “Who did you vote for?”
Ninety years ago, within only one year of Adolf Hitler becoming elected Chancellor of Germany in 1933, he executed what is known as “Night of the Long Knives.” Having determined that the German government and military leaders were riddled with the Disloyal to the Nazi Party, he “cleansed” German institutions through summary seizure and executions toward all who did not march to Hitler’s Cadence.
Now of course President Trump has not actually executed anyone (yet). ‘But the Mentality, the Strategy, the Purpose and the Spirit of the Trump Purge is identical to the Hitler (Röhm) Putsch.’ And if that does not alert American Church leaders and Christian Nationalists, I am not sure if anything will.
“BLITZKREIG.” Another term harkening from the German Fascism of a century ago is the sheer speed with which Trump is moving, leaving government officials and journalists alike stunned.
Thus the term heading this section, defined as: “A military [or paramilitary] tactic calculated to create psychological shock and resultant disorganization in enemy forces through the employment of surprise, speed, and superiority in matériel or firepower” (RAYMOND LIMBACH, Britannica, Nov. 30, 2024; edited).
The Chaos President. “This is four years in the making. ‘It’s Days of Thunder!’ The scale and the depth of this has blown the Democrats out. It’s blown out the media. He vowed to start fast and now knows what he’s doing. This is a totally different guy than in 2017.” – STEVE BANNON, cited in Jonathan Lemire, “The Strategy Behind Trump’s Policy Blitz,” The Atlantic, Jan. 28, 2025; edited
THE TRUMP BLITZ. For the application to what Trump is doing as of this writing, I turn to an excellent review by AP reporters ELLEN MICHMEYER et al. titled, “Firings, Freezes and Layoffs: A Look at Trump’s Moves Against Federal Employees and Programs” (Jan. 28, 2025, 3:38 pm Eastern).
- INSPECTORS GENERAL. “Each of the Federal Government’s largest agencies has its own Inspector General who is supposed to conduct objective audits, prevent fraud and promote efficiency. Trump has fired at least 17 of them across the Federal Government, including Inspectors he appointed in his first term. At least one Democratic appointee — Michael Horowitz, appointed to the post at the Justice Department by President Barack Obama — was spared.”
- FEDERAL PROSECUTORS. “It’s normal for politically appointed U.S. Attorneys to be replaced, but not as standard for career prosecutors to be ousted. The Justice Department said Monday that it had fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal prosecutions of Trump, abrupt terminations targeting career prosecutors who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s team investigating Trump. The firings were effective immediately. By tradition, career employees remain with the department across presidential administrations regardless of their involvement in sensitive investigations. Multiple senior career officials were also reassigned.
- NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL. “The National Security Council provides national security and foreign policy advice to the President. Last week, 160 of its career government, nonpolitical employees were sent home while the Administration reviews staffing in an attempt to align with Trump’s priorities. The employees, commonly referred to as ‘Detailees,’ were summoned for an all-staff call and told they would be expected to be available to the Council’s senior directors but would not need to report to the White House. Incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz had signaled before Inauguration Day that he would look to return holdover civil servants who worked in the Council during President Joe Biden’s administration to their home agencies. That was meant to ensure the council is staffed by those who support Trump’s goals.”
- NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD. “A federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board is tasked with preventing unfair labor practices by employers and unions, and protecting the rights of private sector employees. On Tuesday, Trump fired its acting chair, Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve as an NLRB member, according to Josh Boxerman, of the National Employment Law Project. Wilcox’s term as a board member was set to run through August 2028. According to national labor law, board members can only be fired for neglect of duty or malfeasance. In a statement to Bloomberg, which first reported her firing, Wilcox said she believed her removal violates ‘long-standing Supreme Court precedent’ and that she would ‘be pursuing all legal avenues to challenge it.’”
Christianity Today. “In the first week of his second term, President Trump plunged communities into fear, upending life for thousands of refugees, and moved to stop charities from helping immigrants already in the US.” – ANDY OLSEN, “Trump’s First Week Sends Shudders,” Jan. 27, 2025
THE OPM. Many of you have already learned about or even read “The Fork in the Road” letter issued on January 28, 2025, to 2 million federal employees. On its face, it is a questionably legal effort to “buy out” employees by asking them to resign, promising them six months of pay without working. Underneath, however, it is a First Move to “cleanse” the OPM of all disloyal (non-Maga) workers.
Eyewitness Account. This is from an ‘Anonymous’ career federal employee to personalize the very human impact from The Trump Purge.
“I’m a current employee at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). This is a throwaway account for obvious reasons. I’m posting this because people need to know what’s going on at OPM.
I’ve been an OPM employee for nearly a decade and a Federal Employee for almost 20 years. I’ve never witnessed anything even remotely close to what’s happening right now. In short: ‘There’s a hostile takeover of the Federal Civil Service.’
Let me say this in no uncertain terms — OPM has been compromised and taken over. The very backbone of American Government, the HR of all HR in the U.S. Government has been taken over by outside politicals. In just five days, they managed to push aside dozens of non-political, career civil servants who were there specifically to prevent the Civil Service from becoming the President’s henchmen.
The current Acting Director, Charles (Chuck) Ezell is a low-level Branch Chief. He’s the friendliest ‘yes man’ you’ll ever meet. He never says no. It’s clear they pushed aside all the high-level non-political civil servants who refused to do Donald Trump’s bidding, until they found Chuck.
Under his name, they’ve sent numerous requests to all the agencies to collect information on gov’t employees that they see as a threat to their Agenda. Instructions say to send these lists to Amanda Scales. But Amanda is not actually an OPM employee, she works for Elon Musk. She wasn’t even properly cleared by OPM Personnel Security.
Our CIO, Melvin Brown (also a non-political career public servant), was pushed aside just one week into his tenure because he refused to setup email lists to send out direct communications to all career civil servants. Such communications are normally left up to each agency. Instead, an on-prem (on-site) email server was setup. Someone literally walked into our building and plugged in an email server to our network to make it appear that emails were coming from OPM. It’s been the one sending those various ‘test messages’ you’ve all seen. We think they’re building a massive email list of all federal employees to generate mass RIF [Reductions in Force] notices down the road.
The non-political civil servants here at OPM are watching helplessly as our government is being systematically dismantled bit by bit. Even the IGs are being fired to prevent them from investigating the numerous whistleblower complaints we’ve filed.
Please share this and tell the world that OPM is not the bad guy! We’re just as helpless to stop this as the rest of our fellow public servants. Hopefully someone out there can help us, but it’s looking pretty grim.”
Selah.
- LAST THOUGHTS ON SILENCE
Most of us have read at one time or another the indelible words of German theologian and Lutheran Pastor FRIEDRICH GUSTAV EMIL MARTIN NIEMÖLLER. A fearless opponent of Hitler’s Nazi regime, he is quoted in the United States Holocaust Memorial in 1946 as stating the following:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”
SILENCE AS COWARDICE. The hopeful element of Dr. Niemöller’s Story (Honorary Doctorate conferred by Eden Theological Seminary) is this: He was formerly an anti-Semitic supporter of Hitler who ended up co-founding the German Confessing Church with Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others. The Point:
‘Men can change, beloved!’
But they must want to. Deeply, sincerely, humbly, before their God. In secret at first, quietly at first – then loudly, boldly, courageously! As my Navy submariner dad would have said it:
“Soon as they get their sea legs.”
It has been said that ABRAHAM LINCOLN once observed: “To Sin by Silence when they should Protest, makes Cowards of men.” This is especially, painfully true when it is the mouth of the Man of God that remains Silent in the midst of our Perilous Crisis, as clearly is the case in the American Church today.
THE GOOD NEWS. As with the German Pastor-Heroes Niemöller and Bonhoeffer, God has given us the Freedom to Choose whom we shall serve, beloved, even at this very late hour. So do I close with that Clarion Call from the Great Prophet:
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then [Isaiah] said, ‘HERE AM I. SEND ME!’ And He said, ‘Go, and tell this people: “Keep on listening, but do not understand; Keep on looking, but do not comprehend.”’” – ISAIAH 6:8-9, AMP
PASTOR: Man of God, Shepherd of His fold, Prophet to the Church and to the State: I adjure you, I plead with you – yea, I beg you on bended knee if I could:
Awaken to your Calling, Sir, while there is still just a little Light left to us! For Darkness is fast approaching, when no man can work.
YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/sFhxL4OkLq0