Click to join the conversation with over 500,000 Pentecostal believers and scholars

Click to get our FREE MOBILE APP and stay connected

William DeArteaga

The year 2017 saw the publication of an influential best seller that described the prophecies received by a retired fireman Mark Taylor.[23]  It pertained to how he had received various prophecies starting 2011 that Trump would be president and was chosen by God to bring America back to righteousness and its true Christian calling.  The book was co-authored by Mary Colbert, an influential writer and editor who worked to gather influential Charismatic and evangelical pastors to affirm the prophecy and pray for Trump’s election, and then his subsequent presidency.

The Taylor prophecies were not just one incident but a series of visions and “hearings” (called “locutions” in traditional discernment theology) supposedly from the Holy Spirit. These prophecies show many of the traits of false prophecy that have occurred throughout Church history. Among his predictions is the statement that Trump, after his election, would soon “captivate the media” and many in the mainline media will agree with his positions.[24]  This has proven to be the very opposite of what has happened r, and represented a “wish for” presented as prophecy – like those of the French Royalist we discussed above.

The Taylor prophesies are full of statements supposedly made by Lord that ‘tickle the itching ears” of conservative Republicans while affirming their beliefs and suspicions but are contrary to the character and a true message of God. For instance, there are several passages in which the Lord categorizes both President Obama and the Clintons as totally evil. The Lord supposedly said:

Beware, beware, the enemy roams about seeking whom he can devour and this sitting president [Obama] is doing that in this hour [2016]. He’s full of lies and deceit and is very hateful; he spreads division and corruption with every mouthful. Beware when he says, “look over here, what the right hand is doing” to divert your attention from what the left hand is doing, is his intention. This is a setup from this President and his minions, from the hate, the division, and Hilary Clinton. …For the signs are clear to see, that this President and his minions shall try for thee. A sign will be, he will try to and take the guns so the people can’t rise up and stop him when he tries to run [for a third term].[25]

The Holy Spirit does not rail against living persons and declare them evil, but if they are doing wrong, urges repentance.  Another intemperate salvo against Obama has proven false with time:

For this man who holds the title of President of the United States, will begin to lose his grip from it and be stripped of it, for I the Lord God will rip it from him. The man who calls himself the Commander in Chief, is nothing more than a lying deceitful Thief!”[26]

This has now proven to be totally false, Obama left the White House with dignity, and in his inaugural address Trump recognized the gracious cooperation that Obama gave his transition team. The “prophecy” is another demonic rant, manipulating and pandering to the ugliest areas of partisan Republican suspicions and hatreds.

The statement backing the pro-gun position of many Republicans and the NRA could not have been from the Lord. True Christianity has been reluctant to endorse weapons of any kind, and for instance, it is traditional for clergy to bless troops in war for their protection, but not their armament.

The above demonically influenced gun control rant echoes several conspiracy theories that circulated about Obama and his administration in conservative Christian circles. The most famous one was the bru-ha-ha over the Armed Forces exercise in 2015 in the South-West called “Jade Helm 15.” This involved about 1.200 servicemen practicing intercepting a vehicle loaded A-bomb brought in by terrorists via the southern border – a real possibility.

The conspiracy theory was that the Army was really sent to disarm conservative Texans of their weapons and bring them to empty Wal-Mart stores as makeshift concentration camps – several of which were indeed empty for renovation. Shamefully, this was widely believed, and the Governor of Texas pandered to this conspiracy theory (lie) by ordering Texas National Guard officers to monitor the exercise just in case Texans started to be arrested.

Like many conspiracy theories, hatred and suspicion override common sense. [27]  It is impossible for 1,200 soldiers to carry out a grossly illegal order and disarm millions of conservative Texans, who are often very heavily armed. That this conspiracy theory was believed by many Christian conservatives shows something very disturbing about their state of mind towards President Obama, i.e., hatred overrides common sense, and this is continued in The Trump Prophecies.

Back to the Trump Prophecies, we should note the important role played by the co-author of the Trump Prophesies, Mary Colbert. A well-heeled editor, writer and consultant, she read Taylor’s prophecies in manuscript form. She was from the same anti-Obama, anti-Clinton Republican mind-set as Taylor, and instead of as serving as a discerning elder, she fell for them whole. She then set out to organize Charismatic pastors and teachers to affirm the prophetic message that Trump was chosen by God to be president. That group has continued to pray for the president in his entire turbulent presidency.

That the Trump Prophesies is a false, and demonically laced work is quite plain. Had evangelical and Pentecostal elders been familiar with the traditional literature of discernment of prophecies this would have been clear to them. It was my opinion that certain elements of it may have been from the Lord, as in the part received in 2011 that Trump would be president. This is similar to the mix of true and false prophecies that sometimes occur in church prophetic uttering. A person may begin with a short word of wisdom from the Lord, but as he goes on past the revelation drifts into areas of his own prejudices and fears that are then utilized by demonic forces to incite fear, anger or mayhem.

The original fraction of true prophecy may be the factor why so many credible and anointed charismatic and evangelical pastors accepted it whole, and why Mary Colbert was able to rally such a large group of reputable pastors and teachers behind the prophecy and later convert the group into a huge prayer support team for Trump. Of course, praying for a sitting president is enjoined in scripture. (1Tim 2:2). But the group organized by Mrs. Colbert became uncritical and accepting of Trump’s actions and disrespectful and insulting tweets.

Here lies a large failure of the “Forever Trump” pastors. They became “court prophets” who agreed with all the Trump did and said, instead of discerning wither thy should on occasions play the role of Nathen to David (2 Sam 12), that is, to reprove sin when it occurred. To be biblically specific, the incident in 2 Kgs 22 shows four hundred court-supported prophets “tickling the inching ears” of the Kings of Judah and Israel by prophesizing victory in a coming battle. Only one (non-court) prophet, Micaiah, proclaimed the real message from the Lord – defeat. In fact, a very few Forever Trump pastors have had the discernment or courage to rebuke Trump in any of his intemperate sayings or actions. An exception to the rule is the popular TV evangelist Jentezen Franklin who publicly rebuked Trump for his vulgar language reference to some of the more backward countries of the Third World.[28]

This failure to give just reproof began even before his election. One of the most disturbing aspects of the Trump campaign was his declaration that the southern border wall would be built, and Mexicans would pay for it. Trump; “Who will pay?” Crowd: Mexico!” This dialogue was cruel, insulting and ultimately unrealistic, as time has shown. It unnecessarily offended the Mexicans and prevented a sane dialogue and diplomacy on the wall with the Mexican government. Christians who participated in this rant should repent of it. That the Christians pastors who supported and surrounded Trump during his campaign period did not reprove him for it was a scandal.

To be clear, I am for the wall being built, for our security, and for our right to have a culture not radically and immediately changed. But also, for a problem not much mentioned: the largescale migration of Central Americans to the US will leave those countries totally in the hands of various drug cartels that are forming “pirate states” that prey on their own people. The process is well under way in northern Mexico and sections of El Salvador. The solution to this is difficult since the drug cartels cannot be brought to justice in these countries as they control or terrorize the police and courts. In any case the continued depletion of the populace from Central America will mean that any solution to this problem will be impossible.

One last comment would relate to the failure of the Republicans to bring forth a reasonable health coverage issue. Here again I feel there is some outright sin involved.[29] Many Republicans enjoyed mocking the Obama Affordable Care Act as “Obamacare” and something out of hell. Indeed, it was a flawed bill, but it extended coverage to millions, and could have been the basis of a reformed health care bill. The Republican, and Trump’s, jeering dismissal made rational discourse and compromise with the Democrats impossible. Again, I invite Republicans who participated in this awful name-calling to consult their conscience in prayer and repent. The Affordable Care Act was very imperfect, but it brought millions health care coverage. In the two years of their total control of Congress the Republicans did zero on health care, and ultimately must bear much of the blame for the thousands of Americans who are dying every year unnecessarily from lack of health care, making us the laughing stock of the rest of the developed world.

I should make also clear that I believe that some of the things that Trump has accomplished have been good and long overdue, as in his challenge to the unequal trade relationship with China, and a revision of NAFTA. But even his accomplishments could have been achieved with less narcissist attachments. I do not intend to go further with a litany of Trumps political atrocities that have so harmed the civility and political discourse of our Nation. My intention is to affirm that Christians who have become “Forever Trump” need to reconsider, and perhaps repent, of their failure to be a Nathan to a very flawed David.

Christians need to pray that the present Trump cult deconstruct and fade to make possible a reasonable Republican Party again. It would be a party not dominated by conspiracy theories nor centered on an authoritarian style “cult of the personality” that has so injured and disfigured the present Republican Party.

[1] Link to Kenneth Copeland’s laugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag0-oXl-IDw

[2] Demos Shakarion, The Happiest People on Earth (Old Tappen: Chosen, 1975), 19-22.

[3] William De Arteaga, “Prophecy in the Church: Pathway to Revival.”  Pneuma Review, Feb 18, 2016.  http://pneumareview.com/prophecy-in-the-church-pathway-to-revival/

[4] ibid.

[5]For a balanced, extensive and sympathetic view of Montanism, see the work by R. A Knox, Enthusiasm: A Chapter in the history of Religion (New York: Oxford University Press, 1950), chapter 3.  The Wikipedia article on the Montanists is also balanced and excellent.

[6] John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries: The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians (Tr. Ross Mackenzie; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960) 376ff.

[7]Hans von Campenhausen, Ecclesiastical Authority and Spiritual Power in the Church in the First Three Centuries. Trans. J.A. Baker, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1969) chapter 8 “Prophets and Teachers in the Second Century.” Dr. William Spencer of Gordon-Cornwall Seminary believes that already by the end of the 3^rd century the gifts of the Spirit were waning. See his article, “The Chaining of the Church, Christian History #17 “Women in the Early Church,” posted 1/1/88.

[8] Herbert Thurston, The War & the Prophets. (London: Burns & Oates, 1915). Chapter 1. Available in reprint version. Fr. Thurston was a master of documenting false prophecies and spiritual phenomena of all sorts. His works deserve to be read in our day.

[9] Ibid., 40-41.

[10] Here I must confess that in my decades in the Charismatic Renewal I have issued forth some “wish for” prophecies but also a few valid ones.

[11]Among the best in the Catholic tradition is Karl Rahner’s Visions and Prophecies, in Inquiries (New York: Herder & Herder, 1964).

[12] An excellent Catholic critique of apparitions and false messages from Pseudo-Mary is by Fr. Herbert Thurston, “The False Visionaries of Lourdes,” in his Surprising Mystics, ed. By J. H. Crehan (Chicago: Henry Regency, 1955).

[13]William De Arteaga, “Marian Devotion and the Coming Second Wave of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal,” Pentecostal Theology, Posted April  9.   http://pneumareview.com/marian-devotion-and-the-coming-second-wave-of-the-catholic-charismatic-renewal/

[14] The crown jewel of Catholic spiritual direction and discernment literature is Augustine Poulain’s, The Graces of Interior Prayer. (St. Louis, B. Herder, 1910). Still in print in various editions.

[15] In particular, Edwards’ classic, Distinguishing Marks of the Spirit of God. I treat this issue in my work, Quenching the Spirit (Lake Mary: Creation House, 1996), chapter 3. On the false traveling prophets see my work, Quenching the Spirit (Lake Mary: Creation House,1996) chapter 3.

[16] On the rise and fall of this revival see: Barry W. Hamilton, “The Corsicana Enthusiasts: A Pre-Pentecostal Millennial Sect,” Wesleyan Theological Journal, 39 #1 (Spring, 2004) 173-193.

[17] Old Tappen: Spire Books, 1963.

[18] David Wilkerson, The Vision (New York: Pyramid, 1974).

[19] David Wilkerson, “The Coming Persecution,” Tape #DW-8, Springs of Living Water tape library. In author’s possession.

[20] Ibid.

[21] “Persecution for Charismatic Catholics?” New Covenant, (Jan. 1974) 13.

[22] Karl Rahner, “Visions and Prophesies,” in Inquiries (New York: Herder and Herder, 1964).

[23] Mark Taylor, and Mary Colbert, The Trump Prophecies (Crane: Defender, 2017).

[24] Ibid., 132.

[25] Taylor, Trump, 149

[26] Ibid. 165.

[27] William De Arteaga, “The Sinfulness and Destructiveness of Conspiracy theories,” Pneuma Review, June 29, 2015.  In this article I take special effort to deconstruct this ridiculous conspiracy theory more precisely.     http://pneumareview.com/the-sinfulness-and-destructiveness-of-conspiracy-theories/

[28]Video on this:  http://www.pentecostaltheology.com/thank-you-rev-jentezen-franklin/?fbclid=IwAR1Z3dxoPWzAr94AC36QS1ivBM-v5KDy9kpSBJddrETxLzjNGtTVq7abxKE

[29] I treat the spiritual negativity of the Republican Party to its slow and steady adoption of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, “Objectivism” and is specifically anti-Christian morality, as in her famous novels Atlas Shrugged, etc. See my “The Spiritual Decline and Fall of the Republican Party,” This was one of the blogs that was removed by Blogger, but now available at Troy Day’s web site:  http://www.pentecostaltheology.com/decline-and-fall-of-the-republican-party/

READ MORE

Mark Taylor: Trump Prophecies from the Man Who Saw Tomorrow and What is Coming Next

STOP the TRUMP Prophecies!

Pentecostals Beguiled by False Prophecies about Trump

Prophecies About Trump, 2020 Election

President Trump’s refuses to denounce QAnon

Theological Reflection on How TRUMP False Prophecy Influenced American Politics

Donald Trump’s Presidency and False Prophecy

ONLY cultural Evangelicals vote for Trump

Will Trump Sign the National Sunday Law?

This book is not just about President Trump. It is about every empire in history that has tried to usurp and use the Church in its political agenda. It is about the Last Days bewitchfull silencing of the true prophetic voices and replacing them with those of the false prophets. The ones who have sold out their anointing for political influence, financial gain or simply to be noticed in the vast wilderness of this present world. But ministry especially in the prophetic is not for sale. God still guards His Word with jealousy.

The author, William De Arteaga, Ph.D. is no small-time scholar. His best-selling book “Quenching the Spirit” has crossed many denominational boundaries transcending into the Biblical Charismata and advancing the work of the Kingdom. His historical essay on Agnes Sanford speaks to the women ministering in Pentecost opposing the cross-gender agenda. The recent publication on The Public Prayer Station proposes a new open paradigm for Christian ministry in the midst of physical and spiritual pandemic. And the book on Graceful Aging completes his public theological address to all generations touched and transformed by the eternal Spirit of God.

In a sense, this book is long overdue as it covers a much-needed research starting with the early forming of the historic evangelical vote prior to the 2016 presidential elections. Each chapter was birthed on the pages of the largest Pentecostal discussion group on the internet, PentecostalTheology.com. Each page was shaped by the painful reality of cross-genderism, racial protests, political unrest and hostile secularism in post-Christian America. Which also makes it a very timely book that transcends our current political and historic reality and speaks against every future empire aggressively enchanting the Christian Church into a spiritual agenda for globalism and world order that opposes the already, but not yet coming Kingdom of God.