Ted Cruz, Glenn Beck, and Cult-Like Religion

Sundance at The Conservative Tree House has written posts commenting on Ted Cruz's proselytizing as an electoral campaign strategy. Freepers have seen at least a couple of examples of this strategy recently, with threads being posted about Cruz calling on supporters to "don the full armor of God" to resist "incoming attacks" (presumably from dark forces!), or that the "Body of Christ" must be energized to gain the victory.

This type of rhetoric is also heavily prominent in his campaign fund raising. One of the more epic and cringe inducing examples comes from an apparent leak by the Cruz campaign of hours and hours of videos to Youtube, apparently done to get by laws that forbid cooperation between SuperPacs and the campaigns they support.

In these examples here and here, we get to see the Cruz family do multiple takes to get the candid-camera family prayer just right, and we also get to see his mother cringe after Cruz states that she spends "hours" praying for him every day.

It's entirely incomprehensible to me why a campaign would allow such uncomfortable and damaging footage to ever see the light of day, but it does help me illustrate just why the Cruz campaign is so vulnerable outside of the primary season. No, it's not because the general electorate is anti-Christian. It's that most normal people, including Christians, recognize at first glance that praying in public-- or implying that God supports your campaign as you beg for more money-- is extremely artificial and painfully obvious pandering.

On top of that, besides the pandering, which is bad enough in and of itself, the type of so-called "Christianity" he associates with isn't exactly the religion of Charles Spurgeon or Jonathon Edwards. Nope, it is the lowest of the low of New Age/Eastern Mysticism and Dominionist theology that is, unfortunately, invading huge swathes of Christendom today. And Cruz's deep connections with these types of people are extensive, beginning with none other than his own father, Rafael Cruz.

First, a brief explanation of what Dominionism/Kingdom Now theology even is. It is a very theologically diverse movement. It is not a denomination. It started from the weirdo confines of the New Apostolic Reformation, where self-proclaimed "Apostles" and "Prophets" declared a latter rain revival/revolution. However, there are Baptist "Dominionists," there are Roman Catholic "Dominionists," there are leftist "Dominionists," and people who are greatly influenced by their teachings but differ in some ways, or perhaps are not as extreme in their Charismatic "spiritual gifts" and "health and wealth" Gospel as other Dominionists are. In general, Dominionists believe that a great end times army of super Christians will take Dominion over the Earth and bring about the Kingdom of Christ, no longer a Kingdom "not of this world," as the Gospel teaches, but one which begins here on Earth and must precede the coming of Christ in order for Him to arrive. Total physical unity of "Christians" is necessary, which is why a large number of Dominionists are also heavily involved in the ecumenical movement. Some of these people are more covert in their beliefs than others, but generally they all work together for the same goals.

As time has passed, this very diverse Dominionist movement has become increasingly mainstream among Evangelical or conservative circles (I highly recommend you read that link in its entirety), so much so that many people probably don't even notice when 7 Mountains theology gets slipped in or the weirdos of the New Apostolic Reformation trot on out. The problem is so bad, in fact, that I call the unnoticed infiltration of Dominionists into GOP/Conservative politics the "dirty little secret" of our movement, and one which should be recognized and dealt with. These "Dominionists" have managed to get into prayer meetings or religious events all over, meeting with members of the GOP and pretending to represent mainstream Christendom, including with candidates like Newt Gingrich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry, Huckabee, Trump (in one meeting with the odious Copeland, among others) and on and on and on, who have all received hands on prayer by Dominionists and other errant pastors. However, no other candidate in this election has the ties Cruz has with the Dominionist movement.

Sometime in 2012 the Cruz campaign was apparently soliciting the endorsement of the megachurch Dominionist pastor, Larry Huch. Besides being a Dominionist, Huch is the kind of guy who sells CD Collections explaining how Christ's blood won back our "willpower... prosperity... health... Dominion over the things we touch...[and] Dominion over the places we walk." In other words, this is typical prosperity gospel and Dominionist materialism.

Huch remarked, during a sermon he was preaching along side Rafael Cruz, that he had received a phone call from the Cruz campaign to meet with them to see if he would be willing to "get behind" Cruz's run. Evidently the meeting bore fruit for the Cruz campaign, as it not only won an endorsement from Huch, but Rafael Cruz also came and preached at his church.

As you will see in this link, (in the link I provided just before this one, there is a transcript of this same event. I provided this second link because the commentary surrounding the video is useful) Rafael Cruz taught the congregants about how God has anointed two types of Christians: Kings and Priests. It is the job of the Kings to take control over the "market place" in order to bring the wealth back to the priests. According to Rafael, the "wealth of the wicked" belongs to the church, and God has anointed the "Kings" of the Christian church to go forth and initiate the great transfer of wealth from the "wicked" to the "righteous" as part of the end-times establishment of the kingdom. (Notice how heavily materialistic all of this is.)

Keep in mind, this wasn't Rafael Cruz just showing up at random at some church. Rafael is here operating as part of the Cruz campaign, selling to the congregation that Cruz believes the same things they do.

It is worth noting at this point just how shady Cruz's father is. Virtually every part of his biography has been disputed based on the facts.

For example, the True the Vote Summit website listed Rafael Cruz as "Director of Purifying Fire Ministries, ministering in the U.S., Mexico and Central America. He is also a professor of Bible and Theology, and the president of Kingdom Translation Services." This is a common bio you will find provided on many websites or speaking events Rafael has attended, though sometimes differing in details, such as in spelling or names. Sometimes he is a "pastor" of a Dallas church, other times that is not mentioned.

There was no Purifying Fire Ministries that he was "director" of. It does not exist anywhere. There is no location for it anywhere. There are no remnants of a website somewhere. There is the Purifying Fire Ministries that was operated by Suzanne Hinn (the ex-wife of Charismaniac Benny Hinn), but the Cruz campaign has denied any connection with them, claiming that he "only used the name" for a little while before dropping it. Keep in mind, this "dropping" would have to have been pretty recent, because Rafael Cruz was being identified as "Director" of Purifying Fire Ministries as recently as January of this year.

Bizarrely, the Suzanne Hinn affiliated website was actually identified as belonging to Rafael Cruz in this speech he gave, despite the denials of any connection with the Purifying Fires franchise. That same website actually came down sometime after February of 2015, possibly in May (I see dates listed in May on the wayback machine, but cannot view them), and you can only view the about page mentioning Suzanne Hinn via the way back machine.

Of course, Rafael Cruz has no church in Dallas either. He is a "one-man" pastor, which the campaign admits.

We find similar problems when we examine his "Presidency" at Kingdom Translation Services. It is a real business, it seems, where he is listed as both Director and President, (I'd have gone with Supreme Chancellor and Senate) and, in the past 3 years since it was founded, has only put out an audio bible of Rafael Cruz reading the Bible in Spanish. The address associated with this business takes you to a residential address--- which all leads me to believe that Rafael Cruz is the Director and President of a business with probably just one employee, himself, a sort of Trinity at least. The writer of this blog claims that it is indeed a one-man show, but I wasn't able to verify that independently, only deduce it.

Moving on: Rafael Cruz's claim of being a Professor of Bible theology. Well...(from the same link as above):

"He's also claimed to be President of Kingdom Translation Services (another one-man gig that he started a year ago), and a "professor of Bible and Theology", first at Advance Institute, then Advanced Bible Institute, neither of which can be found... anywhere..."

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. Cruz's immigration story (he might either have broken immigration law or embellished his story), his life in Cuba, his "fire bombing" for Castro, of having witnessed certain revolutionaries die (when they were on the other side of Cuba), and so many other details, are all contradicted.

Ted Cruz's ties with Dominionism do not end with his dad or this pastor. Cruz is also supported by David Barton who leads Cruz's Keep the Promise SuperPac. Barton is also a Lecturer for Beck's "online university," is the Chairman of Beck's Mercury One charity, and his work is featured heavily by Beck's program. It is also reported that Beck has raised millions for Keep the Promise via Barton. Like Ted Cruz himself, Barton is heavily promoted by Glenn Beck, though Beck performs virtually no vetting of this man whatsoever.

As an example, Barton's historical work tracking the Christian roots of the nation are apparently plagued by exaggeration and poor scholarship. I didn't have time to do a full scale study on the issue of the accuracy of Barton's historical claims, but there are enough examples of misquotes available that makes you doubt Glenn Beck's assertion that Barton is the "Library of Congress in shoes." Ted Cruz has said something similar, describing Barton as a "good friend" and a fantastic scholar.

The blogger at Fanatic for Jesus blogspot describes Barton, as of 2011, as tending "to keep his ties to the Dominionists under wraps, and no one has heard him explicitly advocate Seven Mountains Dominionism ... until yesterday on his radio program (4/4/11)." The blogger then goes on to quote him thusly:

"Barton: That's right. Christians got to get involved. And there's a Scripture they used that came out of Isiah 2:2 and it says "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains," so this is now called the Seven Mountain Prophecy, there's a book out by that name. It says the Lord's house is going to be established on top of the mountains and these are the seven mountains. If you're going to establish God's kingdom, you've got to have these seven mountains and again that's family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business and government. Now that's what we believed all along is you got to get involved in this stuff. Jesus said "you occupy 'til I come." We don't care when he comes, that's up to him. What we're supposed to do is take the culture in the meantime and you got to get involved in these seven areas."

This is a pretty clear declaration of Dominionist teaching. The book he mentions is by Johnny Enlow, a Dominionist author who has called for "superimposing" a "virtual theocracy" onto the United States government. Interestingly, Enlow describes himself as a "social reformer," a red flag for a social just warrior, and on his website he rails against Donald Trump's appeal to "White man's pride." Here's a larger quote:

"I believe we are witnessing a phenomenon in the present political landscape, as Donald Trump is directly appealing, to what I sense God is presently judging in America- white male pride... what I sense from the Lord is that He is actually confronting and judging our white male pride (WMP). This is a kind of pride that blinds you from realizing that it is God Himself that has drawn a line in the sand and determined to bring a necessary correction. You can be a white female and also be affected by this pride, but I believe itâ€™s primarily something that a significant portion of white males deal with... Donald Trump has stirred and blown a trumpet that is awakening WMP on a mass scale. His political platform has been horribly divisive and polarizing..."

As I said, Dominionism is a strange world where many different people with different visions of what a Christian nation should look like can all meet together under one tent.

Even Glenn Beck is not an unwelcome member of the Dominionist movement. David Barton defends Glenn Beck's Mormon faith (the LDS is polytheistic and pelagian in nature, thoroughly heretical) as being Christian, though this probably also has something to do with Dominionism's Ecumenical efforts.

Barton's ties with other Dominionists are also quite extensive, including with Kenneth Copeland, who, besides his Dominionism, pushes New Age/Eastern mysticism. He also says things like this:

"You're all God. You don't have a God living in you; you are one! ... When I read in the Bible where God tells Moses, 'I AM,' I say, 'Yah, I am too!'" ("The Force of Love," Tape BBC-56).

This same Kenneth Copeland managed to land a 3 hour meeting with the Pope due to the sheer level of his popularity, which, perhaps, is less a condemnation of the Pope not vetting him, but more a problem with the American Evangelical movement that really does give more honor to guys like Copeland than is deserved.

Rafael Cruz has also echoed concepts repeated by David Barton, such as the concept of a "black robe regiment" of Christian pastors.

Moving on: Glenn Beck himself, not surprisingly, also brings up the "7 Mountains" of society, mouthing the same talking points that first originated with hardcore Dominionists years ago.

In case you think that maybe Glenn Beck doesn't know the full implications of what he's saying, Chuck Pierce, a radical Dominionist and self-proclaimed prophet of the crazy New Apostolic Reformation, gave Glenn Beck a holy "mantle of the future". To help you understand that, think of the Roman Catholic concept of Apostolic succession, then insert lunacy, mix it up, and drink till you pass out. The New Apostolic Reformation believes they are the restored Apostles and Prophets of God, basically like the return of saint Paul or saint John, and they have all the authority implied therein, though they use it mostly to rake in donations from the faithful.

The blogger at Spirit of Error noted that the timing of Chuck Pierce's granting of the prophetic mantle to Mormon Glenn Beck was interesting. He writes:

"With the presidential election around the corner, the timing of Pierce's mantle-giving is no coincidence. Beck didn't just happen to stop by Pierce's church last Sunday morning. Pierce didn't just happen to present Beck with a mantleâ€“out of courtesy for his high-profile visitor. This event was orchestrated. Think about it. Pierce gives a mantle to Beckâ€“and, as a result, people in the NAR movement will now listen to Beck when he speaks in support of a presidential candidate. Who will he speak in support of? He's thrown his support to Ted Cruz, who, just yesterday, announced that heâ€™ll run for the Republican Party nomination for 2016.

Ted Cruz's ties with Glenn Beck should be well known to all at this point, but is worth summarizing with a few bits of new information. Cruz, of course, joined up with Beck to hand out Teddy bears to illegal alien children awhile back. He is a frequent topic on Beck's programs and appears often. He has praised both Barton and Beck as good friends and patriots. Through David Barton, Beck also is involved with Ted Cruz's superPAC Keep the Promise, and Beck's support for Cruz is blatant. Beck in November declared he is currently working on a documentary about Ted Cruz (I do not know if he's finished it and has already aired it on his irrelevant internet TV show), and has declared that Ted Cruz has been "supernaturally" raised to lead the country. (Cruz has been implying the same thing over the past month, which makes me wonder whether this is a combined effort to create a "Savior" narrative.)

Currently, Cruz attends Houstonâ€™s First Baptist Church. The senior pastor is Gregg Matte. He was one of the pastors associated with Rick Perry's controversial prayer meeting with prominent "Evangelical" leaders. Here is Martha West explaining the problem:

"In my article series "The Religious Right uniting with Religious Renegades" I expressed alarm over some or our Christian leader's decision to attend Gov. Rick Perry's The Response: A call to prayer. Many evangelicals were distressed that respected leaders would be standing shoulder to shoulder with folks who are associated with fringe groups such as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), the International House of Prayer (IHOP) and the Word of Faith (WoF). These groups hold many of the same unbiblical beliefs such as "positive confession."

Evidently these warnings went unheeded, and Gregg Matte was among those standing side by side the weirdest weirdos of the Dominionist movement. Gregg Matte has also had David Barton as a guest speaker at his church, as seen here. Beyond this, Barton's sermons that I have seen were bland enough that I didn't notice any problems, except, perhaps, for a hint that he believes God speaks to men audibly, but not clear enough for me to be sure. There was no other information on him. I suspect it's because he just isn't that famous.

Beth Moore, on the other hand, is a different matter. She has taught at Houston's First Baptist Church for more than two decades, producing Bible studies and giving sermons. She believes that God speaks audibly to her, in "full sentences," and that, while writing her book, she had supernatural experiences accompanying it. She has also taught "contemplative prayer" and is close to the Osteen family. Besides this, she is also tied to Dominionists like Joyce Meyer, with whom she has done work promoting Ecumenicalism. According to Beth, she has had supernatural visions where Roman Catholics are also members of the body of Christ (controversial for the average Baptist, but a regular theme with most Dominionists).

Joyce Meyer, as mentioned, is a Dominionist, and also gives to her congregations pretty little gems like this:

"The Lord recently showed me that we can bless or curse the financial seed we sow. We can speak positively about our financial future, or we can say things like, 'I can't afford it' . .. 'Every time I turn around something happens to take my money'. . . . We should water our giving with the water of His word and expect an abundant harvest. Sow your seed and speak prosperity scriptures over your finances" (Joyce Meyer, "Your Mouth is a Weapon," Life in the Word March 1997, p. 4.)

"While Meyer's previous salary is unknown, a recent series of investigative articles in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch revealed Meyer's ministry purchased for Joyce and Dave a $2 million home, a $10 million private jet, and houses worth another $2 million for the couple's children, who also work for the ministry. The articles also outlined Meyer's recent personal purchases, including a $500,000 vacation home. Meyer, 60, lives in Fenton, Missouri, near St. Louis." (1/1/2004, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/januaryweb-only/1-19-13.0.html)

Is it any wonder why con men are so drawn to the "Christian" Evangelical/Charismatic scene? It is insanely profitable, provided you have the right message. That is probably part of the reason for Beck's downward spiral into Dominionist theology-- it's to get at the money while his original audience shrinks into nothingness. At the same time, however, Beck really does seem to think he has some kind of Messianic mission. You see this in the way he talks and how he seems to be having "prophetic" inspiration when he declares Cruz to be supernaturally-sent. The fact he's working on a documentary for Ted Cruz was also quite a bizarre revelation for me. There's not exactly that much to talk about.

Returning to Moore, the blogger at "The King's Dale" did an extensive study on her (he read all three of her books), concluding, among other things, that she preaches a "false Gospel of pragmatism, self-improvement and prosperity." Or, in other words, the usual "believe it and claim it" materialistic pablum that is omnipresent among these people. Beth Moore has also preached sermons with common New Apostolic Reformation themes, such as this one at James Robison's church. Robison himself is a hyper-Charismatic who has featured Dominionists like John Wimber, and has done ecumenical work. Also note this from the same link:

"In the November/December 1986 issue of Day of Restoration, James Robison wrote that the miracle of Christmas is "that Christ is formed in you;" that "our actual purpose in this world: receiving and expressing the fullness of the life of Jesus." He goes on to say that "God wants us to see Jesus as merely the big brother in a huge family of brothers and sisters like Him." Further, he states that II Corinthians 5:17 means that we "have the divine nature, the eternal life of God." Still Christ must be "formed in you." He goes on to say that Jesus was a pattern; that "Jesus Himself pioneered the process He is putting us through." He claims that "God reveals that Christ had to be formed even in Jesus. ... That same Jesus also will be formed in you -- in anyone who will receive the light of this truth."

For those of you familiar with Mormon doctrine, you'll notice that a lot of Dominionist thinking has a strong Mormonic flavor. The LDS believes that men are gods in seed form. If they perform all the duties of a Mormon, they will graduate to full fledged Godhood in the Celestial Kingdom. It makes sense then why a lot of Dominionists, such as those in the NAR, are willing to declare him to be a prophet. Though, they probably like the prospect of money, publicity and power as well.

So there you have it folks. Here are Ted Cruz's ugly ties with cult-like religion, as well as Beck's descent into Dominionist madness. I could keep going, and there is much more research to be done. However, this is as much as you'll get for now.

"We're winning right now, and as a result, I want to tell everyone to get ready. Strap on the full armor of God. Get ready for the attacks that are coming. We've already seen hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in attacks directed at us. Well I went to tell you that come the month of January, we ain't seen nothing yet."

"I want to encourage everyone to get ready, because starting tomorrow morning, we are in a 90-day sprint to win this nomination, and then to turn around and win the general election," Cruz said. "To defeat Hillary Clinton in November of 2016 and to turn this country around."

Senator Ted Cruz

Thank you for this comprehensive and informative post. I was prepared this morning to get into the work of finding out just what platform and basis formed Ted Cruz’s faith. To my relief, you’ve done it! I was already very familiar with the charismatic televangelists you mentioned. I was a bit surprised to learn of Cruz and his father’s connections. As for Beck, I was once an avid fan but I backed off as far as I could get when he began to go balmy.

I really wish Ted Cruz hadn’t made his faith a talking point in his campaign. It will only open him up to endless and unresolvable(at least until Our Lord returns) issues of doctrine and dogma. I was hoping to see him in a Cabinet position. Now I’m not so sure.

I will continue to support Trump because I like his business model and plans for America. I have a deep faith in The Word of the Almighty. However, I don’t hold my doctor, my cab driver, or anyone with whom I do business to my model of worship; neither will I do so for one that serves me, my country and The American People as President of the United States.

This is a large country with many beliefs. They are equally protected. Anytime one religion seeks political power based on their superiority, disaster will follow.

If you replace Religion with Denomination their beliefs make much more sense.

John Quincy Adams on Islam

In the seventh century of the Christian era, a wandering Arab of the lineage of Hagar, the Egyptian, combining the powers of transcendent genius, with the preternatural energy of a fanatic, and the fraudulent spirit of an impostor, proclaimed himself as a messenger from Heaven, and spread desolation and delusion over an extensive portion of the earth.

Adopting from the sublime conception of the Mosaic law, the doctrine of one omnipotent God; he connected indissolubly with it, the audacious falsehood, that he was himself his prophet and apostle. Adopting from the new Revelation of Jesus, the faith and hope of immortal life, and of future retribution, he humbled it to the dust, by adapting all the rewards and sanctions of his religion to the gratification of the sexual passion. He poisoned the sources of human felicity at the fountain, by degrading the condition of the female sex, and the allowance of polygamy; and he declared undistinguishing and exterminating war, as a part of his religion, against all the rest of mankind. THE ESSENCE OF HIS DOCTRINE WAS VIOLENCE AND LUST: TO EXALT THE BRUTAL OVER THE SPIRITUAL PART OF HUMAN NATURE.

Between these two religions, thus contrasted in their characters, a war of twelve hundred years has already raged. That war is yet flagrant; nor can it cease but by the extinction of that imposture, which has been permitted by Providence to prolong the degeneracy of man. While the merciless and dissolute dogmas of the false prophet shall furnish motives to human action, there can never be peace upon earth, and good will towards men. The hand of Ishmael will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. It is, indeed, amongst the mysterious dealings of God, that this delusion should have been suffered for so many ages, and during so many generations of human kind, to prevail over the doctrines of the meek and peaceful and benevolent Jesus (Blunt, 1830, 29:269, capitals in orig.).

Yes ... but not unexpectedly. Some simply enjoy fighting or creating conditions for that.... like the man they are following......Just another typical Trump tactic that comes from his play book that ‘drives a wedge’ telling voters why his competition is “not like us.”....

Apparently Trump’s classic “us versus them,” campaign tactic will likely work. It has worked for Trump many, many times before, it is a tactic that is particularly effective with the masses when combined with some sort of racial, ethnic or religious component...pro or con....Let’s remember that Trump is trailing Cruz in Iowa so he’s going to “create” an environment of “them vs us”.

It’s pretty astounding that Trump attempts to present the idea that he’s a Christian....His lifestyle, attitudes and speech are entirely diametrically opposed to biblical principles across the board.... There’s not a single characteristic you could point to that could even loosely be termed “fruit of the spirit”.

OTOH people historically have not been too concerned about candidates' religious details.

Correct. The First Amendment religious protections have two parts: the prohibition of an "established" religion and the "free exercise" clause, which says you're free to practice your religion, not just keep it packed away for private use in Church.

These two parts only come into conflict when one's practice of religion attempts to impose observance requirements on others (which is the main reason why Sharia is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution). So for example, while it's admirable that Chick-Fil-A chooses to not do business on Sunday, mandating that all businesses be closed on Sunday is attempting to impose a religious observance requirement on others, which is why so-called "Blue laws" are unconstitutional.

So this sort of fear-mongering is baseless. Cruz or anyone else is free to hold and practice whatever faith they choose. Moreover, they can freely attempt to persuade others to join them is these beliefs and practices. But others are equally free to ignore such proselytizing and live their lives peaceably however they choose. That's the American way and I'm sure Cruz, as a constitutionalist, would be the first to agree with that.

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