Right-wing evangelists and MAGA cultists Lance Wallnau and Mario Murillo held a "Fire and Glory Tour" event in Colorado earlier this week that was part political rally and part spiritual revival.
The idea for this sort of event was birthed by Wallnau in 2021, when he urged former President Donald Trump to begin holding public rallies that were infused with right-wing Christianity in order to bring about a revival in the United States.
The event in Colorado was precisely that, with Murillo declaring that "what we need in America right now is an intercessory prayer movement that is linked to a political revolution." The morning sessions generally featured political speakers, while the evening sessions tended to focus on revival.
The political session on Tuesday morning featured Bill Cook of America's Black Robe Regiment, who delivered speech that laid out the far-right Christian nationalist worldview in stark detail.
"What we're doing in America's Black Robe regiment is we're seeking to establish chapters of pastors within every political jurisdiction in the country, at the state level, at the county level, and wherever there's a government happening," Cook said. "Because we believe that the church has to assert itself in government."
"The gospel is inherently, is fundamentally political," he continued. "The Great Commission begins with 'all authority is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth.' That's the beginning of the Great Commission. What was Jesus saying? He was saying, 'It's all mine. I have all authority in Heaven and on Earth. It's been given to me.' And the next thing he said was, 'Then go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.' Essentially what he said was, 'Go into every square inch of my realm—it's now my realm—and preach the gospel to every creature, commanding them to obey everything I have told you.' Now, that's a political statement."
"Essentially what Jesus told the apostles, the 11, was, 'Go into all my realm, preach this good news, preach the gospel of liberty, [and ] commanded them to obey me,'" Cook claimed. "Basically, institute the government of God throughout every square inch of the Earth. So why do we think the gospel is not political? It is political. Which is why our enemies know it's political, and that's why they seek to destroy the church and exterminate Christianity all over the Earth. If COVID was anything, it was an effort to exterminate Christendom throughout the Earth."
"We are called as the church to govern," Cook declared.
Cook's organization is committed to getting pastors to sign a "Gideon's Pledge," vowing to focus on "the actions of civil government," promising to preach an election sermon before every election, and agreeing to instruct their congregation that "voting in every election for the most godly candidates is a sacred duty incumbent upon every person professing faith in Jesus Christ."
In 2020, Cook was among the speakers at prayer rally aimed at keeping former President Donald Trump in power where Cook wore an Oath Keepers T-shirt. On the same stage later that day, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes threatened bloody civil war if Trump did not stay in power. Earlier this year, Rhodes was found guilty of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
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