The Rise of Political Religion in America
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear Friends,
Welcome to Keep the Faith Ministry once again. Today, we’re going to examine the amazing and long predicted rise of a political religion in America. Political religion is not the same thing as a personal religion. It has negative effects on law and public worship. As we pay attention to this, we will begin to see the outlines of the final conflict being developed right before our eyes. Most of God’s people don’t see this. So, it will make for a very big surprise when the Sunday law is introduced and the crisis rapidly unfolds. So let us begin with prayer.
Dear Father in heaven, we are seeing the framework of the crisis. Help us to understand it clearly. And please inspire us with Your presence and Your Holy Spirit. May we rededicate our lives to Christ as America rededicates the nation to political religiosity. Please preserve the sincere ones that they won’t be too deeply caught up in the political steamroller. Please may we be renewed in the spirit of Christ and commit ourselves to personal purity and obedience to heaven’s principles, especially God’s law. Have mercy on us and please send us Your Holy Spirit as we study today. In Jesus name, amen.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation 13:11-12.
“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”
These verses explain something that most people miss. The second beast, which represents America, exercises all the power of the first beast. Now the first beast doesn’t have military power. It only has political power and religious power. And this caused great suffering to many of God’s people throughout the centuries. But the Bible declares that America will have the same power of the first beast, all of it as well as military power to enforce religion. The first beast in the old world had power to torture or execute those that did not agree with its narrative, but these were done by the state on behalf of church and state. That is significant. America is preparing for this right now, and has been doing so since at least 9/11, which is already 25 years ago.
America has been systematically developing methods that are cruel and unusual and are not befitting for a nation of freedom. For example, the United States has already normalized torture, and legally uses very brutal means to extract information or punish its enemies. She has been normalizing extrajudicial killings, which means executing someone without a trial, often by surprise. Here is a statement from Great Controversy, page 581.
“God’s word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.”
But that is not all America has done to speak like a dragon and prepare for the final crisis under her leader, the arch enemy of mankind. And all under the deception that she is doing God’s service. John 16:2 tells us discrimination and persecution is done for a supposedly good purpose.
“They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”
Now America is deporting illegal aliens, some real criminals and probably some not, to prisons in far-flung places not remotely related to the country they are from. This is different than deporting them to their own countries. Those prisons are not monitored, they can torture the prisoners and mistreat them, and nobody knows or hears about it.
Also, the United States now has the tools to debank people on a global scale. That means they can’t open a bank account or credit card. I’m sure these examples are only scratching the surface, but it illustrates the kind of power America uses. This power has not been used by the United States traditionally because of her constitution and the strong sense of justice of her people. But this has all been eroded. Now you cannot know what to expect. The things you see that are done to those who are accused of being criminals of various sorts are what will be done to God’s people when they are considered the worst vile criminals ever.
Let us read Great Controversy, page 615.
“As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness… This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death.”
God’s Sabbath-keeping people will be seen as the worst of criminals, deserving universal execration. They will be universally detested, and despised. It will be very easy for governments to persecute people who are loathed that much because nobody will object. In fact, it may be seen as necessary to rid the nation and the world of this hated sect. Don’t expect an easy time.
In the old world, Rome exercised political power over all the nations. She combined political power with moral power to accomplish her own ends and to serve her own purposes. And interestingly enough, America is doing the same thing today in the new world.
For example, rather than using classic tools of diplomacy, international aid, and covert operations, the Trump administration is making America powerful and influential through new tactics. They are using domestic criminal laws to exercise jurisdiction over the whole American hemisphere as though it belonged to them. It started with Maduro in Venezuela. He was indicted on charges related to domestic criminal laws of the United States and was spirited out of Venezuela one dark night by the US military to stand trial in New York.
Latin American countries are learning that the US can reach into their countries whenever it wants and pluck out the violent strongmen who have always confidently believed they can send drugs and terrorists through America’s formerly porous borders, co-opt local politicians and judges, and set up shop, all without any consequences.
It didn’t stop with Venezuela. Another Communist leader came into the crosshairs of America. Cuba’s dictator Raúl Castro came under indictment for violating US laws. He also came under diplomatic pressure to open up the Cuban economy and cease his cooperation with Russia and China as a base for them to spy on America. And if he wanted to know if America can actually do something to him, all he had to do was glance a little further down the Caribbean at Venezuela. Venezuela is now cooperating with America especially on the extraction and production of oil. Venezuela’s midnight decapitation is a standing testimony to Cuba and to all of Latin America, that America is now beginning to exercise unusual power. And that it is very potent. It is bringing Latin countries into cooperation with the United States very effectively.
Some quiet cooperation took place in Columbia recently. Colombian authorities arrested and extradited 24-year-old Jose Enrique “Chuqui” Martinez Flores to the United States at the request of the FBI. Chuqui Flores was one of the Tren de Aragua cartel’s “inner circle.” He oversaw criminal operations including drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, and murder. He was arraigned in Houston on terrorism related charges. His case is still in process.
This was a new thing. Colombia and other Latin American countries are not used to extraditing people at the request of the United States. Instead, they are used to cooperating with the drug cartels and other criminals because they get kickbacks from them.
Chuqui’s case is the latest evidence of the “Donroe Doctrine,” as it is euphemistically called, in which U.S. law enforcement agencies view the entire Americas as being within their jurisdiction, applying American law to top bad guys in the American hemisphere, bad guys who are directly or indirectly causing trouble in America. Will you cause trouble in the America someday either directly or indirectly? Will you be loathed because of your “criminal” religious activity? The situation is described in Great Controversy, page 592.
“Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected.”
The enthusiasm for a political religion is gaining greater influence because the Trump administration openly promotes it. And every time you have a political religion you eventually and inevitably have persecution of those who don’t go along with the religio-political narrative. It has always been that way, and it always will be that way on this earth. It starts with discrimination. Then isolation. And then more severe tactics are used to gain compliance, including prison and death.
Anyway, the Latin American gangs are starting to learn about America’s power, and we should too. They have been executed in boats bringing drugs to America. They are learning that their work is being watched and tracked. But the cooperation between Latin American countries and the United States is being called an historic development in US-Latin American relations. And indeed, it is historic. But it has been prophesied. America will have global power. Colombia’s Embassy tweeted,
“We’re seeing many countries that have not historically cooperated with things like extraditing criminals back to the U.S. or allowing, coordinating operations in their countries. That’s changing.”
If America is going to have global power to enforce the universal Sunday law, it has to have these connections and cooperations in place before that happens. And there’s lots of opportunity to develop them right now, because the Trump administration is willing to comply with the demands of religious leaders. This is a very prophetic moment in history. Don’t overlook its importance to God’s people.
But President Trump isn’t just concerned about controlling the American hemisphere. He started the war with Iran and is trying to gain control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which an enormous amount of oil traverses daily when it’s in full operation. Iran has resilience and refuses to yield to American military and political pressure. We will see what happens. Whatever, America will gain more power.
I mentioned recently that the United States under the Trump administration has made a cooperative deal with Indonesia which controls the Straits of Malacca. Most of China’s oil goes through the Straits of Malacca. So now, America has a lot of influence over there, which will directly influence US-China relations. This is very significant and important to the global power of the United States. Removing Venezuela’s dictator made the country much more friendly to the United States, to where U.S. oil companies can operate there again after many years. In other words, President Trump is trying to gain control of the bulk of the world’s oil supply. America can be energy independent, but that’s not all that it wants. It wants to control the energy sources so that it can control the whole world. Ultimately this will help the United States be able to enforce a universal Sunday law. Quite honestly, I don’t know why God’s people can’t see this or connect the dots. They are distracted with worldly things and are not paying attention to spiritual things. But to me it is as plain as the nose on your face.
The prophetic nature of what we’re seeing cannot be understated. Keep in mind that America has essentially kicked China out of the Panama Canal. And she is working on kicking Russia and China out of Cuba and bringing Cuba into America’s orbit. And the United States has essentially removed Communist influence from Venezuela. Relations are “changing” for one reason. It is the aggressive policy the United States through the Trump administration of policing the entire American hemisphere, using hard power, which works more effectively and quickly than the “soft power” games of the past. It’s not just about pushing China and Russia out of the hemisphere, though that is part of it, but it’s also about keeping the American hemisphere under the control of the United States. Bringing a few nations to heel sends a message to all the rest about what they can and cannot do.
Another way to look at it is that the Trump Administration is deploying lawfare against Communists all over the American hemisphere. American power and reach is growing very rapidly.
Now turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation 18:1-3.
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”
These verses describe a unity of church and state. Babylon represents the church, fallen because of her sins. It also speaks of a political religion. The kings of the earth commit fornication with her. Put another way, the nations and their leaders cooperate with Rome to develop similar circumstances as in the dark ages when Rome controlled the nations of the world and persecuted God’s people through them. Here is the statement from Great Controversy, page 606 that clearly states what Babylon is. Speaking of the time of the loud cry that arises when the third angel’s message is given with power, we are told that…
“The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power—all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these. In amazement they hear the testimony that Babylon is the church, fallen because of her errors and sins, because of her rejection of the truth sent to her from heaven.”
Notice also that the civil authority will enforce the observances of the church. Civil authority can’t do that unless it has power, the power described in Revelation 13:12.
“And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”
So, in other words, the Bible describes a time that is coming upon the earth when there will not be the separation of church and state in formerly free countries like America where presently there is a barrier, or wall between the church meddling in state affairs, or the state interfering in church affairs. There are many who hate the freedom that America has and are working to cancel it.
Church and state will unite to persecute those who don’t go along with her policies and share in her enthusiasm for Sunday worship. But this will only be a small minority. And since the Roman Catholic Church has developed a narrative that America is a democratic form of government, which doesn’t always protect the rights of the minority opinions, the majority opinion becomes a steamroller that tramples on the rights of minority religions. And because America has adopted the concept of the common good, personal rights and freedoms, especially freedom to worship according to one’s conscience, will not be respected any longer.
You won’t be able to attend your local Sabbath-keeping church. You won’t be able to have a platform on social media. Nor will you be able to open a bank account or obtain a credit card. You will be proscribed and eventually they will try to eliminate you. You will be left to the mercy of God and only His protection.
America’s constitution has enshrined religious freedom in its First Amendment, but that freedom is being eroded steadily and assuredly, as we shall see. Let us read from Great Controversy, page 592. I read part of it before.
“The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected. In the soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophet’s words: “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.”
Though this statement is a familiar statement, I want you to notice that in America liberty of conscience will no longer be respected. That is coming sooner than we think. The dragon is still making a relentless war against God and against His people. God’s people are currently being sealed in preparation for the coming crisis. Are you one of them?
During his campaign for president in 2016, Donald Trump invited evangelicals to a meeting in which he told them he was going to give them access to the government “like never before.” That’s a phrase he has used frequently. And during his 3rd campaign for the presidential nomination, he again told evangelical leaders that they will have unprecedented access, not only to his office, but to government policies and departments. He promised to give them more power on multiple occasions. And he has followed through on this promise, as is his habit. His appointments to his current cabinet and departments have been largely Christians who have a strong commitment to an outsized role for Christianity in American politics.
Recall that it was only a few short years ago that gay and transgender people were ascending to American politics and power in a frightful way. This created a reaction, which I have often predicted would happen, and it is now coming powerfully home to roost.
And while the debate rages about whether or not America was founded on Christian principles by Christians, the Trump administration is moving ahead with reformulating the equation that has placed Christians and Christianity on the political sidelines for many years in America. But that’s all changing now.
Just think about what President Trump has done. He has appointed several justices to the Supreme Court during his first term that has given conservatives a committed majority on the bench. He was given the opportunity to replace liberal justice Ginsburg who defended liberal causes and made the court weak toward conservatives. Her replacement by Amy Comey Barret, essentially flipped the court to a conservative majority. Most of the conservative justices identify with Roman Catholicism or variations of it in other denominations.
Ketanji Brown Jackson, appointed by President Biden and who is liberal, is no match for the conservative majority and will not stop them from imposing conservative decisions.
President Trump also took recommendations from the Roman Catholic Heritage Foundation and during his first term, he replaced an unprecedented number of judges on the federal bench with conservatives. Many of them are Roman Catholic. The coordination between the Trump administration and the Heritage Foundation is also unprecedented and has clearly made a more conservative court system at the federal level. Evangelicals and other Christians are enamored with the effect of this. And the justice system has been recreated as it were, into a conservative engine to remodel America in the image of Rome. It will support the idea that America is a democratic form of government, not a republican form of government. And it will support the idea of the common good against personal rights and freedoms.
Democrats don’t know what to do about their political fortunes, or misfortunes. They aren’t committed to personal freedoms. Just look at the way they handled personal freedoms during the pandemic. You might say they do support one freedom; the freedom to grossly sin. But the Democrats are on their back foot. But when the time comes for a Sunday law, the Democrats will join with Republicans to enact and enforce it. Like the Sanhedrin in the time of Christ when the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the conservatives and liberals, who were bitter enemies, united together to destroy Christ, so the liberals and conservatives, who are bitter enemies today, will unite together to mistreat God’s faithful children.
Anyway, the courts have faced threats to the personal safety of the justices and their families. Democrats have also threatened to stack the court, which means that they would expand the court, presumably with liberal justices when they have opportunity. But they had opportunity during President Biden’s tenure, and they did not succeed in stacking the court. Apparently, there are legal obstacles that they have to overcome, and they couldn’t do it.
But the fact remains that the Supreme Court has been remodeled and now hails a conservative mindset. And while President Trump has not appreciated a couple decisions that have been made, and has publicly shamed them, they have consistently delivered him conservative aligned decisions. Maybe he shamed them into alignment with his agenda.
There is another issue that is very important to the rise of a political religion. And I don’t think most people, including God’s people, recognize it for what it is. President Trump initiated the redistricting war in America. I don’t know what he saw, but the redistricting war has benefited Republicans and conservatives far more than it has benefited Democrats and liberals. This will make an impact on Congress and make it more conservative as well, and consequently more supportive of a political religion. Also, President Trump is so powerful right now that he can go against his Republican opposition in Congress and get strong party loyalists elected.
Nothing illustrates this better than President Trump’s successful attempt to oust Thomas Massie from Congress and have him replaced with a more aligned MAGA supporter. Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, was a man of principle. He voted his convictions whether or not they supported the Trump administration’s agenda. He was strongly opposed to the war with Iran, which is a war related to false prophecy in support of Israel, which evangelicals promote. Massie voted differently than President Trump would have wanted him to on a number of occasions. In the primaries President Trump endorsed his Republican opponent, calling Massie “the worst Republican congressman in history,” which is gratuitous ad hominem. But it was very effective.
Massie lost in the primary to a man who is a strong MAGA supporter. Now if a Republican wins the general election, which is likely, Congress will be shaped more toward the MAGA steamroller agenda. Republicans spent a lot of money on the Kentucky primary to get Massie out of the running. In fact, it became the most expensive primary election ever and was largely donated by various groups tied to Israel.
And Thomas Massie wasn’t the only one. There were several other candidates for Congress, which Mr. Trump endorsed. And the candidates won the primary election because of his endorsement. It shows that Mr. Trump clearly has control over the Republican electorate. Watch very carefully the effect of redistricting and these political maneuvers in the autumn general elections. President Trump is working to get Congress more fully aligned with his agenda as well as a stronger coalition of Republicans so they can maintain control of Congress in the second half of his presidency. That said, politics are not the same as principle. The lesson for God’s people is, if you are a person of principle, don’t run for political office, because you will be pressed to do things against your principles. We are told not to vote for people or parties, so it stands to reason that we should not run for these offices either. Listen to this statement from Fundamentals of Christian Education, page 475.
“The Lord would have His people bury political questions. On these themes silence is eloquence. Christ calls upon His followers to come into unity on the pure gospel principles which are plainly revealed in the word of God. We cannot with safety vote for political parties; for we do not know for whom we are voting. We cannot with safety take part in any political schemes. We cannot labor to please men who will use their influence to repress religious liberty, and to set in operation oppressive measures to lead or compel their fellow men to keep Sunday as the Sabbath. The first day of the week is not a day to be reverenced. It is a spurious sabbath, and the members of the Lord’s family cannot participate with the men who exalt this day, and violate the law of God by trampling upon His Sabbath. The people of God are not to vote to place such men in office; for when they do this, they are partakers with them of the sins which they commit while in office.”
I wonder why there are those among God’s people who run for political office. Here is another statement from Fundamentals of Christian Education, page 478.
“I call upon my brethren who are appointed to educate, to change their course of action. It is a mistake for you to link your interests with any political party, to cast your vote with them or for them. Those who stand as educators, as ministers, as laborers together with God in any line, have no battles to fight in the political world. Their citizenship is in heaven. The Lord calls upon them to stand as separate and peculiar people. He would have no schisms in the body of believers. His people are to possess the elements of reconciliation.”
This makes spiritual, thinking people wonder why some of God’s ministers invite political candidates to speak from the sacred desk on Sabbath morning promoting their causes. What has happened to their spiritual discernment? But the situation in God’s church today is very sad. We must sigh and cry for the abominations done in the church. Here is a statement from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 3, page 267.
“Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God and who murmur in their hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin.?… Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done” in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel.”
Jesus said in Luke 20:25, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.”
Mixing two, especially in the church, is an abomination. It is like the tree of knowledge of good and evil. You cannot do that and be faithful to God.
President Trump is no slough off. He is not a sleepy president. He is very active and quite public with most things. And he is shrewd. He won’t play games. But he is very dangerous, not in the way the mainstream media paint him. But from a prophetic point of view, he is deceived and deceiving. There is no doubt in my mind that he is prophecy’s man for this time. If you haven’t been paying attention to these things, it will be very difficult to see where we’re headed. Listen to this statement from Great Controversy, page 605.
“Heretofore those who presented the truths of the third angel’s message have often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that religious intolerance would gain control in the United States, that church and state would unite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God, have been pronounced groundless and absurd. It has been confidently declared that this land could never become other than what it has been—the defender of religious freedom. But as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce an effect which it could not have had before.”
This statement sums up the trajectory of where we are headed now at a time when America is celebrating its 250-year anniversary of its independence. President Trump has skillfully, but maybe unwittingly made it difficult to see the Sunday law approaching. For instance, President Trump proclaimed a National Day of Celebration of the Jewish Shabbat dubbed “Shabbat 250” on May 16, 2026, from sundown to sundown, as part of the Jewish American Heritage month. The proclamation then called on all Americans to… “celebrate their faith and freedom throughout this year, during this month, and especially on Shabbat to celebrate our 250th year.”
While U.S. presidents have a long tradition of issuing proclamations for National Days of Prayer or general religious holidays, this 2026 proclamation is the first time a U.S. president has issued a formal call for a “National Sabbath” to be observed by the Jewish people specifically to honor American independence.
There is no legal mandate and no legal consequences for failing to observe. Therefore, it is not a law. Presidential proclamations of this type sit in the same category as National Prayer Day declarations. And the courts have not treated these as Establishment Clause violations. The government may acknowledge religion. It may even express a preference for religious observance generally. What the First Amendment forbids is coercion, not encouragement. But the stage is being set. You must set the dinner table before the family can eat together.
Shabbat 250 was put in the context of a day that is celebrated by the Jews. There was little, if anything about the biblical Sabbath that is for all people, and that was given by God for all time before there ever was a Jew. This missing truth allows the false claim of the evangelicals and Catholics that the Jewish Sabbath was for the Jews but not for anyone else. It also supports the false theology that the Jews are still God’s chosen people, so only they are required to keep Shabbat. And Christians especially evangelicals are called on to support them. Hence the war in Iran.
But the 7th day Sabbath is not exclusively Jewish. Quite the opposite. It is a time of rest that is sacred because God made it holy at creation. But, to call a proclamation for the Jewish Shabbat is actually a deception. It promotes the lie that the 7th day Sabbath was only for the Jews. It is, at best, a very limited recognition of the true Sabbath that God intended for all mankind to celebrate and relegates it to only the Jews. The Sabbath has much more meaning than that.
It’s for everyone. Jesus said in Mark 2:27, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
He was talking to the Jewish leaders who were hounding Him and His disciples about trivial Sabbath matters. But this verse also tells us that the Sabbath was made for all mankind and for all time while ever there is a human being on planet earth. This limited Sabbath is something that is being brought before the world and the other churches to give God’s people opportunity to explain the character of the true Sabbath before the crisis. That was what all the discussion about Charlie Kirk’s Sabbath-keeping was designed to do as well.
President Trump also declared May 17, 2026, as a rededication of America as a Christian nation. The national prayer and celebration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., titled “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving.” The event was part of the Freedom 250 initiative, a White House–backed program marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. Their website says that the event is aimed at “rededicating” America to God ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday celebration. President Trump gave a short message by video.
Again, like at the funeral for Charlie Kirk, religious and political leaders publicly combined together to show that they are working to unite America as a “Christian Nation.” Speakers included vice-president J. D. Vance by video, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard by video, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, evangelist Franklin Graham and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, were among the 33 speakers lined up to present prayers before the thousands of people present. House Speaker Mike Johnson delivered a prayer of “rededication” and praised America’s founding principles and linking faith to the nation’s independence.
These events were one-off. They carry no recurrence, no legal obligation, and no enforcement mechanism. No litigation has been filed. No legislation has been introduced. But I am concerned with this because its in the context of the rise of a political religion in America. I am concerned about this not because of what was said so much as what was not said. This event was a conditioning to prepare the nation for more appeals to get back to God. A softening up to get the nation ready to support an eventual national Sunday law. The government is becoming aligned with political Christianity. It will eventually discriminate first against other religions. But it will also eventually require a certain type of Christianity and restrict those who keep the Sabbath that God sanctified. The second beast, America, has already begun to speak as a dragon. It will finish the task of making an image to the first beast, or Roman Catholicism, which is a mixture, a unity of church and state.
Let me say it another way. The enemy does not begin his assault on God’s people by a law requiring a day of rest. America and the rest of the world have to first be prepared to do that which was once unthinkable. So, there is a preparation, a conditioning that needs to take place. And we’ve seen a lot of this in the last 20 years or so; torture in secret prisons, surveillance, striping the first amendment of its protections, plus many more examples, and now a political religion. President Trump and his evangelical allies are conditioning Americans to accept more religiosity; a more political religion. They are conditioning Americans to accept the unification of church and state. And Rome loves it. She is waiting in the background for evangelicals to request her help.
It is time to prepare to enter the secret spiritual chambers of God’s protection. We can only do this as we enter a close relationship with God which means also keeping the Sabbath in its true setting. May God help us to be ready for the crisis.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we realized that we are right at the end of time, and the church is asleep. In fact, it is in comatose slumber. Please awaken your people. And show us how to live so as to be united with Christ in the closest connection we have ever had. Send your Holy Spirit to be our guide and our protection. And help us to see and understand what is happening around us. In Jesus name, amen.