Posted on 02/09/2016 3:18:07 PM PST by Praxeologue
A controversial Christian evangelical leader whose endorsement is being proudly trumpeted by Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz works energetically to convert Jews to Christianity and has predicted that there will be a new period of concentration camps for Jews before the return of Jesus.
Mike Bickle is also notorious for having said that God sent Hitler to hunt Jews for not accepting Jesus as the messiah.
Bickle, the founder and director of the International House of Prayer, a Kansas City-based Pentecostal Christian missions organization, runs the Israel Mandate project, an effort to âmobilize an international prayer movement that would pray 24/7 for the nation of Israel to receive their Jewish Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus),â according to its website. The ministry hosts a regular livestream of such prayer for anyone to participate.
In public sermons over the years, Bickle has focused intensely on end-times prophesies, and has predicted that Jesus will not return until Jews embrace him as their Lord and savior. His website claims that âJesus âboundâ Himself by His own prophecy, saying He would only come back and rule in Jerusalem when Israelâs leaders ask Him to reign as King over them.â
For Bickle, this is what explains Nazi Germanyâs murder of more than six million Jews. In a 2011 sermon, Bickle cited a passage from Jeremiah 16:16 to elucidate the attempted extermination of European Jewry.
âThe Lord says, âIâm going to give all 20 million of them the chance to respond to the fishermen. And I give them grace.; And he says, âAnd if they donât respond to grace, Iâm going to raise up the hunters.â And the most famous hunter in recent history is a man named Adolf Hitler,â he told an audience.
On January 21, 2016, Cruz issued a press release announcing Bickleâs endorsement. It came a little more than a week before the Iowa caucuses, a contest where support among evangelicals helped Cruz edge out real estate mogul Donald Trump, who had been previously leading in the polls.
âThrough prayer, the Lord has changed my life and altered my familyâs story,â Cruz said in the announcement. âI am grateful for Mikeâs dedication to call a generation of young people to prayer and spiritual commitment. Heidi and I are grateful to have his prayers and support. With the support of Mike and many other people of faith, we will fight the good fight, finish the course, and keep the faith.â
The press release included a biography of Bickle and a description of the many facets of his organization, including its annual conference for young adults, three full-time ministry schools and â24/7 prayer led by worship teams.â It also included a statement from Bickle.
âOur nation is in a great crisis in this hour,â Bickle said. âWe need a president who will first be faithful to honor Godâs Word. We need a president who will work to defend religious liberty, uphold our Constitution, keep our country safe and our economy sound, and speak truth to the nation. We have been praying for righteous leaders, and Ted Cruz is such a leader. I am enthusiastically endorsing Ted Cruz.â
Cruz has faced some criticism in recent days over his use of the term âchutzpahâ to mock real estate magnate Donald Trumpâs âNew York values,â a comment some said reeked of anti-Semitism.
âUsing âNew Yorkâ as a euphemism for âJewishâ has long been an anti-Semitic dog whistle,â The Washington Postâs Dana Milbank wrote last week. The role of Bickle and evangelical leaders in past campaigns
This is not the first time Bickle has involved himself in national politics. He played a prominent role in former Texas governor Rick Perryâs Response Prayer event that effectively launched his 2012 presidential bid. Bickle spoke on stage during the event and musicians from the International House of Prayerâs worship team performed.
This is also not the first time that a controversial evangelical leader â and one with a history of calling Hitlerâs persecution of Jews an expression of Godâs will â has been involved with US presidential politics. In 2008, Sen. John McCain welcomed the endorsement of the Rev. John Hagee, a televangelist and pastor of a mega-chuch in San Antonio, Texas.
Audio from a sermon in the 1990s captured Hagee, like Bickle, citing the Book of Jeremiah and saying, âIf that doesnât describe what Hitler did in the Holocaust, you canât see that.â
Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., heaps criticism on the Obama administration's policies with Russia, Iran and other international hot spots as he questions Secretary of State Kerry during the committee's hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 8, 2014. (photo credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., heaps criticism on the Obama administrationâs policies with Russia, Iran and other international hot spots as he questions Secretary of State Kerry during the committeeâs hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 8, 2014. (photo credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
McCain eventually rejected the endorsement and denounced Hageeâs rhetoric, but not until three months after this sermon first came to light, and after he had secured the Republican nomination, although the veteran Arizona senator said he had been unaware of such comments at the time of accepting Hageeâs backing.
âObviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible,â McCain said in a statement. âI did not know of them before Reverend Hageeâs endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.â
His campaign would admit that it did not sufficiently vet Hageeâs background, while also saying that it had been seeking his support early in the election process. Bickle on the fate of Jews
Throughout Bickleâs ecclesiastical career, he has professed adamantly that biblical prophesy suggests a bleak future for the Jewish people, including another era of Holocaust-like conditions.
On December 2, 2005, he delivered a sermon that said âIsraelâs condition just before Jesusâ coming is described in scripture as being in prison camps and assaulted by foreign armies. Not all of Israel,â he clarified, âbut a significant number of Jews will be in work camps, prison camps or death camps.â
âA significant number of Jews will be in work camps, prison camps or death campsâ
Bickle went on to say that half the Jews in Jerusalem will wind up in those camps:
âGod says, âIâll gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city will be taken.â And it says âhalf of the city,â he said. âThereâs 600,000 Jews living in Jerusalem now. And I donât know what the number will be then, but according to the numbers now that would be 300,000 brought into prison camps from one city.â He then repeated for effect, âThree hundred thousand Jews.â
In a separate sermon, on July 23, 2006, Bickle cited more scripture to expand on what he claimed will become of the worldâs entire Jewish population.
âA lot of Israelâs going to get converted, but a lot of Israelâs going to worship the anti-Christ,â he said. âA lot of Israelâs going to have revival, a lot of Israelâs going to fall away. Portions of Israel will be supernaturally protected and portions of Israel will die and go away to prison camps.â
He explained that, according to the Book of Zechariah, one third of world Jewry will âget radically saved and become lovesick worshippers of Jesus,â sparing them from the inevitable apocalyptic fate of the rest of their fellow Jews.
âAnd so all of Israel, at the end of the day ⦠they end up dying or if they survive they get radically converted at the Second Coming.â
But itâs not all bad news, according to Bickle. âMany are going to get converted between now and then,â he said, reassuringly. âWeâre not giving up on Israel until the Second Coming. Itâs the efforts of leading people to the Lord right now thatâs significantly related to the events that are going to happen.â
The Cruz campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
And you have the gull to say Trump supporters are vile?
This is a disgusting post.
Tit for tat. It’s been posted before and by others, so tattle all you want.
Excellent post.
I hope people are paying attention to this aspect of the Cruz campaign.
So in your tiny little world, pussy is BAD but
your vulgar words are GOOD?
Hypocrite
What was vulgar? I merely insinuated that people were bleeding from their . . . wherever. Trump did it and it was okay with Trumpeters here. Are you Megyn Kelly? Is that why you’re in such a snit?
Keep typing, you devolve further with each new thought that tumbles out.
For the record, I am not your enemy. I am determined to share that basic knowledge with any posters who want Cruz, yet choose to demean me for choosing another. We have a country that is sinking, we are on the same team.
So I, by being Jewish, am harming you? Or somebody else? Can you elaborate?
So I, by being Jewish, am harming you? Or somebody else? Can you elaborate?
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