Reverend Pastor Author Prophet Preacher Ponerizer John Hagee

[PopHistorian]

A Bit About Evangelical Leader Pastor John Hagee. Word on the street is that this guy is bursting with glee at the current Israel-Hezbollah bloodshed. He's been mentioned here and there on SOTT. Thought I'd research him a bit myself. Warning: he's bona fide SCARY, IMO because he is a political figure with the inhuman strength born of religious conviction and he has the ear of the White House. I think he's super-ponerizing an already ponerized Biblical, Evangelical community, with 50,000,000+ members!

Pastor John Hagee (http://www(dot)jhm.org/pastor.asp), born 1940 is a born-and-bred Texan, founder of the 18,000-strong, evangelical Cornerstone Church in San Antonio TX. He is CEO of John Hagee ministries, which broadcasts his radio and TV ministry to 99,000,000 American homes and into scores of nations around the world. He is a bestselling author of ten books, mostly about his End Times prophecies, and especially about roles he sees for Israel and America in them. He is powerful supporter of Israel and was voted Humanitarian of the Year by the San Antonio B'Nai B'Rith Council, making him the first gentile ever to receive this award. He has also been presented with the ZOA Israel Award, the ZOA Service Award, and numerous honors and accolades from national Jewish Organizations for his unwavering support of Israel. Pastor Hagee has been to Israel 22 times and has met with every Prime Minister since Menechim Begin. John Hagee Ministries has given more than $8.5 million to bring Soviet Jews from the former Soviet Union to Israel. Dr. Hagee is also the Founder and Executive Director of "A NIGHT TO HONOR ISRAEL" an event which expresses solidarity between Christians and Jews on behalf of Jerusalem, the State of Israel and the United States.

To his resume, Hagee also adds crusades, outreach ministries, magazine publishing, special events, and political-action events such as his organization of the recent march by Christians on Capitol Hill in support of Israel (http://news(dot)bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5193092.stm).

Among other things, Hagee is a "prosperity preacher." The Christian Research Institute writes:

John Hagee believes that all Christians should be financially prosperous so long as they continue to walk in obedience to God's ordinances. Although he does not subscribe to every doctrine common to the so-called Faith movement, he does agree with the movement's view that "poverty is caused by sin and disobeying the Word of God."1 Hagee, like most other prosperity preachers, believes that "poverty is a curse."

Christians achieve prosperity through giving, asserts Hagee. "When you give to God, He controls your income. There's no such thing as a fixed income in the Kingdom of God. Your income is controlled by your giving." According to Hagee, Christians grow prosperous through giving because "God created a universe where it is impossible to receive without giving. Everything that God controls, gives. . . . Givers gain. You do not qualify for God's abundance until you give."

Turning to the Bible, however, one finds a number of passages that run contrary to Hagee's teachings concerning prosperity. [In one,]Jesus Himself said, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. . . . But woe to you who are rich . . ." (Luke 6:20, 24 NASB).

Hagee and his church apparently provide something for Christians to give to. He is then very liberal with that money when it comes to giving to Israel.

G. Richard Fisher wrote (at http://www(dot)pfo.org/jonhagee.htm) that Hagee practices Christian Zionism and Ethnic Salvation:

Most people who see and hear the Rev. John C. Hagee are impressed. He is rotund, strident, authoritative (and could well pass for Rush Limbaugh's older and more serious brother). His delivery alone gives the impression of one who really knows what he is talking about. However, careful evaluation of the teachings of Hagee, pastor at the San Antonio-based Cornerstone Church, reveals false teaching and a defective view of a basic and essential issue regarding salvation and the Gospel.

Dr. (a title he uses despite never having earned any doctorate) Hagee believes that evangelism is the obligation of every follower of Jesus Christ. "The Lord commands us to go out and make disciples of all the earth."

Hagee believes that Christians have a Bible mandate to be supportive of Israel and the Jewish people. He believes that Israel has never belonged to the Palestinian people. He believes the land was called Palestine by the Romans & points to the fact that there is no Palestinian language and that before 1948, the Palestinians lived in Egypt, Syria & Iraq.

In his latest book, Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World, prophecizes that Russian and Arab armies will invade Israel and be destroyed by God, leading to a confrontation over Israel between China and the West, led by the anti-Christ, who will be the head of the European Union. That final battle between East and West - at Armageddon, an actual place in Israel - will precipitate the second coming of Christ. He says he formulates such prophecies from the contents of The Bible.

Wikipedia reports:

Hagee has said that Iran is a threat to Western civilization and does not believe that the Islamofascist mentality will ever respond favorably to diplomacy. He supports an American-Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran to take out its nuclear capability.

Hagee is spearheading the organization Christians United for Israel (CUFI -- http://www(dot)cufi.org), which aims to become a Christian AIPAC. (http://www(dot)mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=116). According to Sarah Posner writing on Alternet (http://www(dot)alternet.org/story/39748/):

At CUFI's kick-off banquet at the Washington Hilton, attended by over 3,500 members, Republican support for both Hagee's effort and his drumbeat for war with Iran were on full view. Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman told the group that "no regime is more central to the global jihad" than Iran. Just two days before, Newt Gingrich and John McCain made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows to sound the same message, leading Benny Elon, a member of the Israeli Knesset, to comment to the Jerusalem Post that their remarks originated with Hagee. Rick Santorum and Sam Brownback also addressed the group, and Bush sent words of support to the gathering. Republicans, and even some Democrats, spoke at CUFI events to show their "support for Israel." But while public and media attention was on the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Hagee's focus continued to be on Iran.

While the crisis at the Israel-Lebanon border drew more mainstream media attention to CUFI's activities, Hagee's supporters have long known that leading Republicans are listening. Rabbi Daniel Lapin, a prominent Jewish ally of the evangelical right (and friend of Jack Abramoff) has said that Hagee "without question, yes, absolutely" has the ear of the White House. Hagee's annual Night to Honor Israel at his church has drawn prominent Republicans, including Tom DeLay, who was the keynote speaker in 2002.

Although Republicans would never admit it -- they claim their support for Christian Zionists like Hagee is based on their own support for Israel -- it is clear that they know they need the votes of this constituency to win. In the same way that Karl Rove courted conservative evangelicals in 2004 by appealing to their homophobia, Republican campaign rhetoric for 2006 and 2008 has already shown signs of playing to voters who have been hearing hype for a war with Iran for months -- at church.

While Washington insiders wonder what it means when Republicans like Mehlman and presidential aspirants Gingrich and McCain finger Iran as the central player in an epic clash of civilizations, Hagee already has spent months mobilizing the shock troops in support of another war. As diplomats, experts and pundits debate how many years Iran will need to develop a viable nuclear weapon, Hagee says the mullahs already possess the means to destroy Israel and America. And although Bush insists that diplomatic options are still on the table, Hagee has dismissed pussyfooting diplomacy and primed his followers for a conflagration.

Hagee wields "a very large megaphone" that reaches "a very large group of people," said Rabbi James Rudin of the American Jewish Committee, who has studied the Christian right for 30 years. With CUFI, the pastor has exponentially expanded the reach of his megaphone beyond his television audience. Thanks to the viral marketing made possible by the hundreds of evangelical leaders who have signed on to his new organization, his warmongering has rippled through megachurches across America for months. Hagee calls pastors "the spiritual generals of America," an appropriate phrase given his reliance on them to rally their troops behind his message. [...]

New Ager Gary McDaniel writes on his site:

Many fundamental evangelical ministers such as John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, are downright gleeful that Israel is bombing Lebanon into oblivion and have petitioned the Bush administration and the US congress to support Israel and attack Iran in order to jumpstart Armageddon! It is estimated that Hagee has about 40 million devout followers around the world who have bought into his end day scenario as symbolized in the Book of Revelation and the
Battle of Armageddon.

Oh, and if you think this guy is trouble, well, check out this page (http://www(dot)atruechurch.info/hagee.html), which calls Hagee a false teacher and denounces his every statement because, they say, he doesn't take The Bible literally enough.

 

[John Chang]

Weren't all those Revelations prophecies, received from the lizzies?

I've gotten to the point in my life where I can't stand preachers. All that puplit pounding and finger wagging just turns my stomach.

 

[PopHistorian]

Hagee's star on the rise!! Check out what I received in the mail the other day. Not exactly your typical pitch for a charitable contribution. It was asking me to send money to help feed the citizens of a country with one of the highest standards of living in the world. A nation that already receives $5,000,000,000 (officially, some says it's really more) annually for free, no questions asked, from the taxpayers of the US (and apparently spends it all on WMD). But Hagee assures me that I'll have peace in my heart if I just send the money. I simply cannot imagine how successful this campaign might be.

Notice that Hagee gets equal billing with Robertson and Falwell, now, so, his star is indeed rising. Notice in his quote he suggests that some people have "God's favor" and he uses that word, "prosperity" that he's known for. I like how Falwell opens by speaking for all Chrisitians, too.

Of course, there was also a form letter and a sizeable certificate with Hebrew on it that you're supposed to sign and return with your gift, so the recipient can display it somewhere and remember that the US Christian Right has Israel's back.

 

[anart]

Aaaaccckkkk - those three faces are a trifecta from hell!

Very interesting to see what they're sending out though, thanks for posting it - wow - they really do create and live in a world almost totally cut off from reality, at least that's the world they promote to keep the money coming in --- I need a shower after reading that 'stuff'.

 

[Cyre2067]

wooo karma.

 

[moonwalker]

OMFG I actually feel sick just looking at that.

"You have a right to the holy land. It was given to you by God. And we are together with you"

mmmmm OK Psycho.

 

[Lotus]

A while ago I came across an advert on one of those 'god' channels, not that I pay much attention to these channels but I just came across this quite randomly. Well this advert was making a case for sending money, or charity, to bring Jewish children back home to Israel. It showed how you could sponsor a child, and an example was given of two Jewish children living in the Ukraine. Somehow it was trying to make you believe that these childen were having a bad time and that the viewer could help them have a better life by contributing money to send them back to Israel. Ok, if that's not weird enough, how about this:

"We [presumably christians] should share our material wealth with the Jews, since they have shared their spiritual wealth with us" (or something of the same effect), this was pseudo-logic behind it. I can't understand how anyone with half a brain cell working could fall for this, but I guess we all know what brain-washing can do. And again another example of how there is this drive to bring Jews back to Israel. Very frightening!

Reaching for the sick bag....

 

[Laura]

Of course, there was also a form letter and a sizeable certificate with Hebrew on it that you're supposed to sign and return with your gift, so the recipient can display it somewhere and remember that the US Christian Right has Israel's back.

I can't stand it... can you scan and post the letter and certificate so we can all admire the psychopathic "special knowledge" of how to manipulate people?

 

[Ryan]

"You have a right to the Holy Land. It was given to you by God. And we are together with you."

*blork* Sick bag please.

Ghastly. It was like some kind of sick joke I couldn't look away from. Talk about "False Prophets".... :O

 

[PopHistorian]

Phew, that was close! We're talking about the very bottom of two different recycle bins. Save accomplished! As you can read in the second bolded section, this "charity" seems to be a carrot (appealing to a life/death need) to get givers on a list that they may be targeted for further donations to aid the real goal, repatriation. Nothing fancy about the rest of the text, which could've been written from a template for these kinds of things (child sponsorship, disaster relief, etc.).

See how this could be a sister organization or front for John Hagee Ministries from the quote in my original post, "John Hagee Ministries has given more than $8.5 million to bring Soviet Jews from the former Soviet Union to Israel."

Much more interesting stuff can be found on the org's web site: http://www(dot)ifcj.org
This shows Rabbi Eckstein to be a buddy of Ralph Reed, former leader of the Christian Coalition and now honcho of right-wing think tank, Century Strategies (http://www(dot)ralphreed.com), who, for example wrote a speech for the ADL Leadership Conference featuring the line, "September 11, 2001 was the Pearl Harbor of the post-Cold War world." Oh, boy. You can almost hear the PNAC boys chuckling in the background.

The certificate is actually 16"x10" and has a broad orange border -- text only is shown.

 

[PopHistorian]

How timely that this article, featuring Ralph Reed, is on SOTT today:

Papers show Bush allies' inside access
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_go_pr_wh/abramoff_white_house;_ylt=Amr1RHguJBabbgi5R5sh21wDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

 

[Redrock12]

Psychopaths Everywhere! Especially in Amerikan Government and Religion! It's hard to believe that people still believe this crap, what with all the alternative internet news sites speaking out against these creeps and their satanic machinations.
I guess the masses really are mesmerized by the 'paths propaganda.
Oh well, gotta keep on slogging with the Truth.

 

[ThAEther]

Here is a new speech of John Hagee at recent AIPAC event:
part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDRxmqOn7x4
part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7p7o4f4Asg&mode=related&search=
part3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt5Urh7Ctzw&mode=related&search=
other speeches here: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173700683641&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Then I found this one. I was very much surprised to hear how John Hagee's conspiracy theory of the antichrist government is close to Alex Jones'! I don't know if the video was made by his initiative or if it's one of his fans that made it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SDjzW43XrY&mode=related&search=

This guy is VERY scary.

 

[PopHistorian]

With guys like Hagee pushing for a strike against Iran, I'm almost surprised it hasn't happened already. Don't forget that he also believes that China will be our foe in the ultimate showdown. That whole "EU is the anti-Christ" sounds like it's right out of the "Left Behind" books.

Is it my imagination, or have I heard more people on the news this mis-speak "Iran" when they meant to say "Iraq" than I've heard in all these many years of the middle east conflicts? I gotta wonder about that.

 

[Laura]

I was very much surprised to hear how John Hagee's conspiracy theory of the antichrist government is close to Alex Jones'! I don't know if the video was made by his initiative or if it's one of his fans that made it. ... This guy is VERY scary.

You are right. And you are also right that this whole theological issue seems to be what is driving Alex Jones.

50 million of them, eh? I say they should all move to Israel and convert if they love it so much.