1922-23 - International Church of the Foursquare Gospel founded by Aimee Semple McPherson based on British-Israel doctrine.
"[Aimee Semple McPherson and Robert Semple] were married on August 12,1908, but Robert died two years later. Four years later, Aimee Semple would remarry to Harold McPherson. He wanted the traditional wife and home life, but Aimee could not devote herself completely because of her commitment to her religious beliefs.... Finally, when she could remain confined no longer, Aimee left her husband (Epstein 75).
"In the years following her divorce from Harold McPherson, Aimee Semple McPherson achieved great success. She opened her own Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, started a radio station, opened a Bible college, and laid the foundation for what would become the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.
"Preaching in Oakland, California in 1922, McPherson had a vision based upon the prophet Ezekiel's vision of Man, Lion, Ox and Eagle. She saw four symbols: the cross, the crown, the dove and the cup. These, she believed, represented Regeneration of the Church, the Second Coming, Baptism in the Spirit and Divine Healing, respectively. The four symbols created a name for to call her religion, the Foursquare Gospel. (Epstein 264).
"At the same time, McPherson affirmed the beliefs of an evangelistic association called the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance, founded by George Jeffrys in Ireland in 1915. She had worked with Jeffrys previously. The Elim Foursquare Gospel was headed by Jeffreys and his brother, two of England's greatest evangelists.
"The Gospel Alliance embraced the same central beliefs that Aimee upheld in her own Foursquare Church.
"In 1923, McPherson founded her own Angelus Temple in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles, California." [Lawrence]
"Britain exhibits a combining of the symbols of Judah (the lion) and Ephraim, (the unicorn or stag). Nevertheless, certain nations, by their heraldry do exhibit some of the marks of individual tribes, such as America with Manasseh.
"Instead of trying to identify each tribe as a specific modern nation, we note that ancient Israel traveled in four brigades of three tribes each (see the on-line tract, 'What Is The Gospel?' -listed under Bible Doctrines, and also the reference given there to Alfred Edersheim's 'History of the Old Testament.')
"Each of these brigades had a dominant tribe; these were: Judah, Ephraim, Reuben, and Dan. These four tribes provided four chief emblems: Lion, Ox or Unicorn, Man, and Eagle or Serpent.
"To quote briefly from W.H. Bennett, 'Of the twenty-two tribal emblems of ancient Israel, at least nineteen still are, or until very recently have been, emblems of one or another section of the Celto-Saxon people. We also noted that, of the four Brigade emblems, two, the lion and the Eagle, are the chief emblems of Britain and the United States; that another, the Man, is a prominent feature of the official Arms of Denmark, Iceland and Greece; and that the Ox is also common to the heraldry of several sections of the Celto-Saxons. So all four of Israel's Brigade emblems are in use among the Celto-Saxons today.' (Symbols Of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage, page 89)" [Restoration]
1925 Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work (Stockholm)
"At Stockholm 1925 Dr G. K. A. Bell (then Dean of Canterbury) spoke of the formation of an 'International Christian Council' as desirable but not yet feasible." [Rouse 698]
1927 - First World Conference on Faith and Order
"Edinburgh 1910 gave the impulse which issued in the World Conference on Faith and Order [at Lausanne in 1927]." [Rouse 360]
See: Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism
1930 - Universal Christian Council for Life and Work
"In 1930 at its meeting in Chexbres the continuation committee of the Stockholm conference [of 1925] became the Universal Christian Council for Life and Work. But this was a change in name rather than in structure." [Rouse 698]
1933-39 - Jewish Immigration to Palestine
"From the records it seems that from 1933 to 1939, the Jews were expected to leave Germany and all Nazi-occupied territories. At the same time, there was a very definite selection system and a very restrictive immigration policy on who went to Palestine, headed by the Zionists. After 1939, it seems the annihilation camps were set up to rid Germany of those Jews who did not make it to Palestine or anywhere else...
"Lucy Dawidowicz, in her book, 'The War Against the Jews,' had this to say: 'At their 18th Congress in 1933, the Zionists established within the Jewish agency for Palestine a Central Bureau for the Settlement of German Jews, which, to begin with, excluded anti-Zionists as applicants for certificates.'
"'Young people in good health with some training for agricultural work or manual trades and person with capital were the preferred candidates for Aliya in a process where the needs and interests of Palestine took precedence over the strategy of rescue.'
"Nathan Birnbaum was an early Zionist; in fact, he was the one who coined the term 'Zionism.' He was also present with Herzl at the First Congress at Basel. Birnbaum left the movement in 1899 and became completely orthodox and absolutely hostile to the Zionist Movement.
"In his paper titled 'In Bondage to Our Fellow Jew,' he writes:
'''It seems, that we are better qualified with our bondage to the Gentiles than with our bondage to our brothers who are estranged from the Torah and its teachings. When our own estranged brothers, who, next to us, are the mere grain, not only persecute us but themselves give a handle to our persecution; when they not only meddle in our affairs but take them wholly out of our hands; when they not only refuse to let us go our ways in peace, but actually try to obstruct our road forever.'
"Birnbaum wrote these words in 1901.
"'In 1903, the Jewish pen of Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Shulem ben Schneersohn wrote: 'But the Zionists are far more cunning in their evil and they have made nationalism a substitute for Torah and commandments. Mendel Stam in his open letter stated that a Jew was not one who fulfilled the commandments but one who is a Zionist... [T]he leader of the Zionists has set up the Nationalism, rebellion against the Lord and denial of Torah and commandments, on the very site of the Temple of the Lord.'
"Michael Selzer in his book 'Zionism Reconsidered', says: 'Not even the events of 1933 aroused their political interest. [He refers to the Zionist Organization.] They were naive enough to see them as a God-sent opportunity for an undreamt-of wave of immigration to Palestine. When the Zionist Organization against the natural impulses of the Jewish people, decided to do business with Hitler, to trade German goods against the wealth of German Jewry, to flood the Palestine market with German products and thus make a mockery of the boycott against German-made articles, they found little opposition in the Jewish National Homeland, and least of all among its aristocracy -- the so-called Kibutniks...' How many Jews know these facts?" [Graham 72-8]
1937, August 3-18 - Second World Conference on Faith and Order
"[At the Edinburgh Conference] the recommendation to approve a World Council of Churches was carried. There was a growing feeling that the Universal Christian Council on Life and Work and the World Conference on Faith and Order tended increasingly to cover the same ground.
"Consequently, Faith and Order appointed a small committee to confer with a similar committee of Life and Work... This was the first hint of the movement which was to grow until it brought the two bodies together in the World Council of Churches." [Rouse 433, 426]
1937-38 - The World Council of Churches Provisional Committee
"[John Raleigh] Mott...was chairman of the second Life and Work Conference at Oxford in 1937 and vice chairman of the provisional committee of the World Council of Churches in 1938. In 1948 he was made a co-president of the newly formed council." [Gentz 713]
1942 - National Association of Evangelicals
"Unfortunately, the fundamentalist controversies of the 1920s (stereotyped by the media in the Scopes 'monkey trial' in Dayton, Tennessee) labeled theological conservatives as reactionary and anti-intellectual. Responding to the need for a positive, pro-active expression of unity, the National Association of Evangelicals was formed in 1942.
"Its leaders soon began to receive strong signs of interest from other countries. Discussions between leaders in North America, Europe, and Asia revealed that national bodies of evangelicals wanted to connect with each other worldwide but did not feel theologically comfortable in the orbit of the World Council of Churches (WCC), formed in 1948." [Fuller]
1945, June 6 - United Nations Created
"The [U.N.] Charter was signed in San Francisco on June 26, 1945, by 50 nations." [World Almanac 529]
1948, May 14 - State of Israel Created
"On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was declared by the U.N." [Graham 79]
"In September 1948 [Armin] Gesswein and [Edwin] Orr helped to organize a retreat at the Pacific Palisades conference grounds for the revival prayer network. About 120 ministers gathered from a variety of denominations ranging from Lutheran to Methodist to pentecostal.
"Said Norman Grubb, a British missions promoter who was at the meeting: 'It was a time in the heavenlies. The real break came the first night after impromptu testimonies to revival, from Mennonite and Presbyterian missionaries. Many were on their faces till 1 A.M. confessing need and failure. The next day and night took us to the heights, again ending about 1 A.M. After very many had come forward to have united hands laid on them for a new experience of the Holy Spirit in themselves and their churches.'
"Gesswein and Orr held another conference the following spring with Harold Ockenga as speaker... Orr and Gesswein held one more prayer conference in September 1949, just before the Christ for Greater Los Angeles committees city wide 'Big Tent Campaign.' ...
"This year their featured evangelist would be Billy Graham." [Carpenter 215-16]
1948 - World Council of Churches formed
"[John Raleigh] Mott...was chairman of the second Life and Work Conference at Oxford in 1937 and vice chairman of the provisional committeeof the World Council of Churches in 1938. In 1948 he was made a co-president of the newly formed council." [Gentz 713]
1950, April 18 - National Association of Evangelicals Annual Convention
"Now, more than ever, [Harold] Ockenga pleaded America needed revival showers of blessing. Prophecies in the books of Hosea 6, Joel 2, and Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 3 [sic], pointed to one last revival before 'the great holocaust of judgment falls upon the earth.'
"The revival now breaking, Ockenga speculated, 'may be the revival of the last time. It may be that God is now taking out his elect...before the awful wrath of God will be loosed in the atomic warfare of this day.' This was the kind of Biblical interpretation that would make most of the scholars at Fuller Seminary cringe in embarrassment for their president, yet its spoke to a pervasive feeling rippling through the evangelical network nationwide that these were extraordinary times." [Carpenter 229-30]
November 28 National Council of Churches
"The Federal Council of Churches changed its name to the National Council of Churches (NCC) on November 28, 1950." [Wardner 159]
1950 - Fellowship of the Burning Heart founded by Henrietta Mears
"Henrietta Mears was completely sold out to what she called 'the Cause of Christ.' By 'the Cause of Christ,' she meant winning the world to Christestablishing Christianity as the guiding force in society through evangelization of the world.
"Mears established the Fellowship of the Burning Heart, wherein she encouraged her students to be willing to die for 'the Cause of Christ.' She laid her hands on them to receive her mantle. Thus they received within themselves a 'burning heart.'
"These fiveMears, [Charles E.] Fuller, [Harold] Ockenga, [J. Edwin] Orr and [Armin] Gessweinworked together closely to establish ecumenical campus movements
After laying hands on Bill Bright to impart to him her mantle, and receive him into the Fellowship of the Burning Heart, Mears took Bright and his wife Vonette into her home. There they lived for eleven years, being groomed for leadership.
"It was in Mears's living room that Campus Crusade for Christ was born
"D.R. [sic] Riley, Henrietta Mears's pastor in Minneapolis, and later President of Northwestern Schools, envisioned that his mantle was to be passed on to Billy Graham just as Elijah's passed to Elisha. Graham at first balked at accepting Riley's impartation. Near death, Riley called for Graham. There Graham accepted his mantle.
"Thus, Graham was named acting President of Northwestern Schools. At the same time, he was teaching at Forest Home Christian Conference Center. There, one evening, J. Edwin Orr met with Graham and was persuaded that Graham had, indeed, received Riley's mantle. Orr then laid hands on Graham to receive his mantle.
"Thus, Graham became an accepted, anointed evangelist along with Bill Bright and Richard Halverson, all members of the Fellowship of the Burning Heart.
"While Bright was able to start with a ready-made network of college campus meetings, Graham went into every major city under the auspices of "Armin Gesswein's prayer meetings. Almost from the beginning, Graham would not accept any invitation to preach where ecumenical representationincluding Roman Catholic clergywas not present.
That is still his policy today."
1951 - Campus Crusade for Christ founded
"An indication of the amount of money conservative Christians are investing in their infrastructure is the Crusade for Christ.
"A consortium of conservative business leaders led by Nelson Bunker Hunt, one of the heirs of the Hunt Oil Company fortune, and Wallace Johnson, founder of Holiday Inns, is working with Bill Bright to evangelize every man, woman and child on earth in preparation for the second coming of Christ.
"Over $30 million has been raised, including at least #15.5 from Hunt. Hunt, whose [John] Birch Society background is documented by Conway and Siegelman in Holy Terror, also made a contribution of $1 million to the Moral Majority in 1981, according to Perry Deane Young. [Saloma 53]
"One of the secrets of Bill Bright's evangelism strategy is a streamlined conceptual approach. Prior to his career as an evangelist, Bright had been a fancy foods salesman. He realized early on that, like any product, the Gospel could be marketed with a few gimmicks, and to simplify the sales pitch of missionaries in the field, he developed the 'Four Spiritual Laws."... [Diamond 51]
Dr. William Rohl Bright - Council for National Policy Board of Governors (1982).
1951 - World Evangelical Fellowship established
"In 1951 at Woudschoten, Netherlands, 91 men and women from 21 countries met as the International Convention of Evangelicals. They voted to establish the World Evangelical Fellowship.
Two Anglican theologians, A. Jack Dain and John R. W. Stott, provided a biblical outline of the threefold purpose of WEF:
1. The furtherance of the Gospel (Phil. 1:12).
2. The defense and confirmation of the Gospel (Phil. 1:7).
3. Fellowship in the Gospel (Phil. 1:5).
[ff. 9. John Stott later drafted the historic Lausanne Covenant, 1974.]
"Evangelicals have since looked upon WEF as the organizational fulfillment, on an international basis, of the original vision of 1846 - a global umbrella for national alliances.
As church historian Mark Ellingsen notes, 'No history of the Evangelical Movement can ignore the founding of an international organization in 1846, the Evangelical Alliance (the predecessor body of the present-day World Evangelical Fellowship).'
"Today WEF, headquarted in Singapore, embraces 150 million evangelicals in 112 national and regional fellowships representing an estimated 600,000 churches. A Filipino lawyer/clergyman, Agustin Jun Vencer, is international director, responsible to an International Council elected by member bodies." [Fuller]
See: The Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism
1960 - Temple of Understanding founded
"The Temple of Understanding (founded in 1960 to unite all world religions)" [Hunt]
"In order to provide a forum for plainer speaking, an Ecumenical Youth Assembly for Europe was sponsored by the World Council of Churches at Lausanne in Switzerland in July, 1960." [Fey 405]
1966 - The World Congress on Evangelism in Berlin
1967 - Christian World Liberation Front started by Campus Crusade
"In 1967, [Bill] Bright launched a campaign called 'Revolution Now' on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley... In order to have an impact, Bright appointed several of his staffers to adopt the appearance of hippies and form a front for Campus Crusade, called the Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF), so christened to mimic the campus' Third World Liberation Front... Eventually CWLF formally split off from Campus Crusade, but not until it had developed a reputation as a leading 'ministry' in the 'Jesus People' movement, which in the late 1960s and early 1970s drew thousands of young hippies -- active or potentially active in progressive causes -- into an appealing form of born-again Christianity." [Diamond 52]
See: Another Jesus Revolution?
1974 - International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland
"In July 1974, the International Congress on Evangelism held a pinnacle gathering in Lausanne, Switzerland. The 10-day event, focusing on the theme of 'Let the Earth Hear His Voice,' brought together more than 2,400 evangelical leaders from 150 nations and ignited a passion and renewed commitment to 'carry the Christian Gospel to all corners of the world before the end of this century.'
"By the close of this unprecedented meeting, the Lausanne Covenant, a 3,000-word document had been written and signed by 1,972 of the attendees. It affirmed 15 points including the Purpose of God, Authority and Power of the Bible, Christian Social Responsibility, the Urgency of the Evangelistic Task and the Return of Christ.
"The document's final paragraph called each one to 'enter into a solemn covenant with God and with each other to pray, to plan and to work together for the evangelization of the whole world.'
"For many, this would be uncharted territory. Some had never worked with people outside their own denominations or language groups.
"Dr. Billy Graham, serving as the honorary chairman of the congress, urged everyone in the audience to go from Lausanne and 'do the work of an evangelist.' He called for rededication and total commitment to the task ahead." [Cedar]
"...we affirm that evangelism and sociopolitical involvement are both part of our Christian duty. For both are necessary expressions of our doctrines of God and man... Christ's evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform and enrich culture, all for the glory of God." [Lausanne Covenant]
1975 - U.S. Lausanne Committee formed as part of the International Lausanne Movement
1982 - Zionists Change the Law of Return
[See: 1933-39 - Jewish Immigration to Palestine]
1985 Global Forum launches Interfaith Conferences
"The Temple of Understanding collaborated with the global Commission of Parliamentarian leaders in early 1985 and gave birth to the Global Forum. The result was the beginning of worldwide conferences with an interfaith punch a movement geared to 'global responsibility' unlike any other up to this time.
"Global Forum is the strongest vehicle the New Agers and occultists have to use to merge the political with the spiritual." [Smith 84]
1989, January 5-8 - Second International Congress on World Evangelization [Lausanne II]
"In 1989, Lausanne II, the second International Evangelism Conference convened by the International Lausanne Committee in Manila, Philippines, became yet another place for inspiration and unity. Christian leaders from 150 nations were brought together again, and were commissioned to take the "spirit of Lausanne" back to their nations - with renewed vigor - as the millennium drew to a close." [Cedar]
"The Lausanne II Fact Sheet has this to say about the churches and denominations involved in the Lausanne Movement:
"The Lausanne movement is inclusive rather than exclusive. Individuals who are members of virtually every Christian church and denomination in the world are involved in the Lausanne movement. It includes members of the mainline Protestant denominations that are a part of the World Council of Churches, such as Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Baptists, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, etc. It also includes members of more conservative churches that are a part of the World Evangelical Fellowship, such as the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Pentecostals, Conservative Baptists, Independent churches, etc.
"'There are many para-church organizations involved in the Lausanne movement, such as Campus Crusade for Christ, World Vision International, the World Bible Societies, African Enterprise, Youth with a Mission, Youth for Christ, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, etc.'
"'OFFICIAL OBSERVERS AND SPECIAL GUESTS AT LAUSANNE II IN MANILA' were identified as coming 'from the Vatican of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome; from the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow; from the World Council of Churches in Geneva; from the Greek Orthodox Church in Athens; as well as special guests from many other churches, denominations, and para-church organizations which usually are not part of the Lausanne movement.'" [Foundation: Lausanne II]
Jay Gary was Program Director for the Lausanne Movement and organized the 1989 Global Consultation on World Evangelism (GCOWE) through A.D. 2000 and Beyond. During GCOWE, the Latin American contingent submitted a written statement expressing strong objections to the inclusion of Roman Catholic clergy as conference participants:
"The religious political force of the Roman Catholic Church is using all means available and is in fact the most fierce opponent of all evangelistic efforts on our part... Cooperating with Catholics goes beyond our historical and biblical commitment." [Gary 11]
1990 - Formation of AD2000 & Beyond Movement
"Following Lausanne II, the Lord impressed upon American Church leaders to respond to the urgency of the 'Great Commission' and the task of evangelism in a new era. As a prayerful response to the Manila Conference, the AD2000 & Beyond Movement formed in 1990.
"The AD2000 & Beyond Movement convened a national consultation in Phoenix, Arizona and introduced the concept of citywide strategies for the United States." [Cedar]
1991 - Bimillennial Global Interaction Network
"[Jay Gary] Launched the BIMILLENNIAL GLOBAL INTERACTION NETWORK as a global network of groups sharing information on how they plan to inaugurate the Bimillennial Era. It is this group, known as BEGIN or Celebration 2000, and Jay Gary, which appears to provide a link between global spiritualists like [former Asst. Secretary General of the United Nations] Robert Muller and evangelical Christians." [Kanz]
1993 - U.S. Lausanne Committee Prayer Summit
"In 1993, the U.S. Lausanne Committee convened a Prayer Summit in Portland, Oregon attracting some 300 Christian leaders. The committee adopted the basic agenda of the AD2000 & Beyond Movement for the remainder of the 20th Century." [Cedar]
1994, March 29 - Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document
"On March 29, 1994, evangelicals and Roman Catholic leaders released a...document titled Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium." [Foundation Mar/Apr 1994]
See: The Evangelicals & Catholics Together Document
1996 - Mission America Launched
"Mission America was officially launched and established an office in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1996 and began promoting the national evangelism initiative Celebrate Jesus 2000." [Cedar]
1997, June - United Religions Organization
"According to its literature, the United Religions Organization [URO] launched its written charter this past June, 1997. The institution should be fully in place by June 2000 and globally operational by June 2005. The headquarters will be at the Presidio...in San Francisco, USA.
"The UR is patterned after the UN, it has a General Assembly, a Security Council and a Secretary General, and 'the UR is meant to be for religions what the UN is for nations,' claims Cornelia R. Ferreira, a critic of the URO." [Howard]
See: The United Religions Organization
The Great Tribulation Period
The Planetary Pentecost
"Maitreya will be invited by the international media to speak directly to the entire world through the television networks linked together by satellites. On this Day of Declaration, we will see his face on the television screen wherever we have access. The biblical statement, 'All eyes will see him,' will be fulfilled, in the only way in which it can be fulfilled. We will see his face, but he will not speak. His thoughts, his ideas, his call to humanity for justice, sharing, right relationships and peace, will take place silently, telepathically. Each of us will hear him inwardly in our own language. In this way, he will re-enact on a worldwide scale the true happenings of Pentecost 2,000 years ago...In celebration of this event, Pentecost will become one of the major festivals of the New World Religion which, eventually, Maitreya will inaugurate." [Crme 24]
"You have come home to me. The bread and wine hold within them the substance of my new body. The key for you now each day is to breathe deeply in a 'birthing experience' of the resurrected body. Then do the communion and experience my body transforming yours. Do this in preparation for the Planetary Birth which will be induced through this experience given to the new disciples of Christ who chose to work together for the Planetary Pentecost, when the Spirit of God is poured out upon all people. This is the purpose of your mission on Earth. All your projects will be reoriented, aligned and empowered as you accept this purpose and put it first. . . . finally." [Hubbard 311]
"For many years Bob Jones has received valuable revelations on [the Day of Atonement] outlining activities of the Holy Spirit for the seasons ahead. The season surrounding the upcoming Day of Pentecost will be a point of demarcation for those identified as this generation of youth. The interval between Atonement and the Day of Pentecost will be utilized for indoctrination and consecration for those things following the release that should take place during the season of heightened spiritual intensity surrounding Pentecost... [A] portion of the revelations also highlighted the season surrounding the upcoming feast of Pentecost as a pivotal time of transition for the church. Again, we are admonished to allow the term between the Feast of Tabernacles and the season of Pentecost as preparation for those days that follow the 'shifting of gears' that will transpire around Pentecost." [Jones]
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matt. 7:21-13
Shrine of the Prophets
"What was David ben Gurion's idea? 'In Jerusalem the United Nations (a truly United Nations) will build a shrine of the Prophets to serve the federated union of all continents; this will be the Supreme Court of Mankind to settle all controversies among the federated continents'." [Graham 81]
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. II Cor. 6:14-18
Watch Unto Prayer
"[Aimee Semple McPherson and Robert Semple] were married on August 12,1908, but Robert died two years later. Four years later, Aimee Semple would remarry to Harold McPherson. He wanted the traditional wife and home life, but Aimee could not devote herself completely because of her commitment to her religious beliefs.... Finally, when she could remain confined no longer, Aimee left her husband (Epstein 75).
"In the years following her divorce from Harold McPherson, Aimee Semple McPherson achieved great success. She opened her own Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, started a radio station, opened a Bible college, and laid the foundation for what would become the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.
"Preaching in Oakland, California in 1922, McPherson had a vision based upon the prophet Ezekiel's vision of Man, Lion, Ox and Eagle. She saw four symbols: the cross, the crown, the dove and the cup. These, she believed, represented Regeneration of the Church, the Second Coming, Baptism in the Spirit and Divine Healing, respectively. The four symbols created a name for to call her religion, the Foursquare Gospel. (Epstein 264).
"At the same time, McPherson affirmed the beliefs of an evangelistic association called the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance, founded by George Jeffrys in Ireland in 1915. She had worked with Jeffrys previously. The Elim Foursquare Gospel was headed by Jeffreys and his brother, two of England's greatest evangelists.
"The Gospel Alliance embraced the same central beliefs that Aimee upheld in her own Foursquare Church.
"In 1923, McPherson founded her own Angelus Temple in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles, California." [Lawrence]
"Britain exhibits a combining of the symbols of Judah (the lion) and Ephraim, (the unicorn or stag). Nevertheless, certain nations, by their heraldry do exhibit some of the marks of individual tribes, such as America with Manasseh.
"Instead of trying to identify each tribe as a specific modern nation, we note that ancient Israel traveled in four brigades of three tribes each (see the on-line tract, 'What Is The Gospel?' -listed under Bible Doctrines, and also the reference given there to Alfred Edersheim's 'History of the Old Testament.')
"Each of these brigades had a dominant tribe; these were: Judah, Ephraim, Reuben, and Dan. These four tribes provided four chief emblems: Lion, Ox or Unicorn, Man, and Eagle or Serpent.
"To quote briefly from W.H. Bennett, 'Of the twenty-two tribal emblems of ancient Israel, at least nineteen still are, or until very recently have been, emblems of one or another section of the Celto-Saxon people. We also noted that, of the four Brigade emblems, two, the lion and the Eagle, are the chief emblems of Britain and the United States; that another, the Man, is a prominent feature of the official Arms of Denmark, Iceland and Greece; and that the Ox is also common to the heraldry of several sections of the Celto-Saxons. So all four of Israel's Brigade emblems are in use among the Celto-Saxons today.' (Symbols Of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage, page 89)" [Restoration]
1925 Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work (Stockholm)
"At Stockholm 1925 Dr G. K. A. Bell (then Dean of Canterbury) spoke of the formation of an 'International Christian Council' as desirable but not yet feasible." [Rouse 698]
1927 - First World Conference on Faith and Order
"Edinburgh 1910 gave the impulse which issued in the World Conference on Faith and Order [at Lausanne in 1927]." [Rouse 360]
See: Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism
1930 - Universal Christian Council for Life and Work
"In 1930 at its meeting in Chexbres the continuation committee of the Stockholm conference [of 1925] became the Universal Christian Council for Life and Work. But this was a change in name rather than in structure." [Rouse 698]
1933-39 - Jewish Immigration to Palestine
"From the records it seems that from 1933 to 1939, the Jews were expected to leave Germany and all Nazi-occupied territories. At the same time, there was a very definite selection system and a very restrictive immigration policy on who went to Palestine, headed by the Zionists. After 1939, it seems the annihilation camps were set up to rid Germany of those Jews who did not make it to Palestine or anywhere else...
"Lucy Dawidowicz, in her book, 'The War Against the Jews,' had this to say: 'At their 18th Congress in 1933, the Zionists established within the Jewish agency for Palestine a Central Bureau for the Settlement of German Jews, which, to begin with, excluded anti-Zionists as applicants for certificates.'
"'Young people in good health with some training for agricultural work or manual trades and person with capital were the preferred candidates for Aliya in a process where the needs and interests of Palestine took precedence over the strategy of rescue.'
"Nathan Birnbaum was an early Zionist; in fact, he was the one who coined the term 'Zionism.' He was also present with Herzl at the First Congress at Basel. Birnbaum left the movement in 1899 and became completely orthodox and absolutely hostile to the Zionist Movement.
"In his paper titled 'In Bondage to Our Fellow Jew,' he writes:
'''It seems, that we are better qualified with our bondage to the Gentiles than with our bondage to our brothers who are estranged from the Torah and its teachings. When our own estranged brothers, who, next to us, are the mere grain, not only persecute us but themselves give a handle to our persecution; when they not only meddle in our affairs but take them wholly out of our hands; when they not only refuse to let us go our ways in peace, but actually try to obstruct our road forever.'
"Birnbaum wrote these words in 1901.
"'In 1903, the Jewish pen of Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Shulem ben Schneersohn wrote: 'But the Zionists are far more cunning in their evil and they have made nationalism a substitute for Torah and commandments. Mendel Stam in his open letter stated that a Jew was not one who fulfilled the commandments but one who is a Zionist... [T]he leader of the Zionists has set up the Nationalism, rebellion against the Lord and denial of Torah and commandments, on the very site of the Temple of the Lord.'
"Michael Selzer in his book 'Zionism Reconsidered', says: 'Not even the events of 1933 aroused their political interest. [He refers to the Zionist Organization.] They were naive enough to see them as a God-sent opportunity for an undreamt-of wave of immigration to Palestine. When the Zionist Organization against the natural impulses of the Jewish people, decided to do business with Hitler, to trade German goods against the wealth of German Jewry, to flood the Palestine market with German products and thus make a mockery of the boycott against German-made articles, they found little opposition in the Jewish National Homeland, and least of all among its aristocracy -- the so-called Kibutniks...' How many Jews know these facts?" [Graham 72-8]
1937, August 3-18 - Second World Conference on Faith and Order
"[At the Edinburgh Conference] the recommendation to approve a World Council of Churches was carried. There was a growing feeling that the Universal Christian Council on Life and Work and the World Conference on Faith and Order tended increasingly to cover the same ground.
"Consequently, Faith and Order appointed a small committee to confer with a similar committee of Life and Work... This was the first hint of the movement which was to grow until it brought the two bodies together in the World Council of Churches." [Rouse 433, 426]
1937-38 - The World Council of Churches Provisional Committee
"[John Raleigh] Mott...was chairman of the second Life and Work Conference at Oxford in 1937 and vice chairman of the provisional committee of the World Council of Churches in 1938. In 1948 he was made a co-president of the newly formed council." [Gentz 713]
1942 - National Association of Evangelicals
"Unfortunately, the fundamentalist controversies of the 1920s (stereotyped by the media in the Scopes 'monkey trial' in Dayton, Tennessee) labeled theological conservatives as reactionary and anti-intellectual. Responding to the need for a positive, pro-active expression of unity, the National Association of Evangelicals was formed in 1942.
"Its leaders soon began to receive strong signs of interest from other countries. Discussions between leaders in North America, Europe, and Asia revealed that national bodies of evangelicals wanted to connect with each other worldwide but did not feel theologically comfortable in the orbit of the World Council of Churches (WCC), formed in 1948." [Fuller]
1945, June 6 - United Nations Created
"The [U.N.] Charter was signed in San Francisco on June 26, 1945, by 50 nations." [World Almanac 529]
1948, May 14 - State of Israel Created
"On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was declared by the U.N." [Graham 79]
"In September 1948 [Armin] Gesswein and [Edwin] Orr helped to organize a retreat at the Pacific Palisades conference grounds for the revival prayer network. About 120 ministers gathered from a variety of denominations ranging from Lutheran to Methodist to pentecostal.
"Said Norman Grubb, a British missions promoter who was at the meeting: 'It was a time in the heavenlies. The real break came the first night after impromptu testimonies to revival, from Mennonite and Presbyterian missionaries. Many were on their faces till 1 A.M. confessing need and failure. The next day and night took us to the heights, again ending about 1 A.M. After very many had come forward to have united hands laid on them for a new experience of the Holy Spirit in themselves and their churches.'
"Gesswein and Orr held another conference the following spring with Harold Ockenga as speaker... Orr and Gesswein held one more prayer conference in September 1949, just before the Christ for Greater Los Angeles committees city wide 'Big Tent Campaign.' ...
"This year their featured evangelist would be Billy Graham." [Carpenter 215-16]
1948 - World Council of Churches formed
"[John Raleigh] Mott...was chairman of the second Life and Work Conference at Oxford in 1937 and vice chairman of the provisional committeeof the World Council of Churches in 1938. In 1948 he was made a co-president of the newly formed council." [Gentz 713]
1950, April 18 - National Association of Evangelicals Annual Convention
"Now, more than ever, [Harold] Ockenga pleaded America needed revival showers of blessing. Prophecies in the books of Hosea 6, Joel 2, and Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 3 [sic], pointed to one last revival before 'the great holocaust of judgment falls upon the earth.'
"The revival now breaking, Ockenga speculated, 'may be the revival of the last time. It may be that God is now taking out his elect...before the awful wrath of God will be loosed in the atomic warfare of this day.' This was the kind of Biblical interpretation that would make most of the scholars at Fuller Seminary cringe in embarrassment for their president, yet its spoke to a pervasive feeling rippling through the evangelical network nationwide that these were extraordinary times." [Carpenter 229-30]
November 28 National Council of Churches
"The Federal Council of Churches changed its name to the National Council of Churches (NCC) on November 28, 1950." [Wardner 159]
1950 - Fellowship of the Burning Heart founded by Henrietta Mears
"Henrietta Mears was completely sold out to what she called 'the Cause of Christ.' By 'the Cause of Christ,' she meant winning the world to Christestablishing Christianity as the guiding force in society through evangelization of the world.
"Mears established the Fellowship of the Burning Heart, wherein she encouraged her students to be willing to die for 'the Cause of Christ.' She laid her hands on them to receive her mantle. Thus they received within themselves a 'burning heart.'
"These fiveMears, [Charles E.] Fuller, [Harold] Ockenga, [J. Edwin] Orr and [Armin] Gessweinworked together closely to establish ecumenical campus movements
After laying hands on Bill Bright to impart to him her mantle, and receive him into the Fellowship of the Burning Heart, Mears took Bright and his wife Vonette into her home. There they lived for eleven years, being groomed for leadership.
"It was in Mears's living room that Campus Crusade for Christ was born
"D.R. [sic] Riley, Henrietta Mears's pastor in Minneapolis, and later President of Northwestern Schools, envisioned that his mantle was to be passed on to Billy Graham just as Elijah's passed to Elisha. Graham at first balked at accepting Riley's impartation. Near death, Riley called for Graham. There Graham accepted his mantle.
"Thus, Graham was named acting President of Northwestern Schools. At the same time, he was teaching at Forest Home Christian Conference Center. There, one evening, J. Edwin Orr met with Graham and was persuaded that Graham had, indeed, received Riley's mantle. Orr then laid hands on Graham to receive his mantle.
"Thus, Graham became an accepted, anointed evangelist along with Bill Bright and Richard Halverson, all members of the Fellowship of the Burning Heart.
"While Bright was able to start with a ready-made network of college campus meetings, Graham went into every major city under the auspices of "Armin Gesswein's prayer meetings. Almost from the beginning, Graham would not accept any invitation to preach where ecumenical representationincluding Roman Catholic clergywas not present.
That is still his policy today."
1951 - Campus Crusade for Christ founded
"An indication of the amount of money conservative Christians are investing in their infrastructure is the Crusade for Christ.
"A consortium of conservative business leaders led by Nelson Bunker Hunt, one of the heirs of the Hunt Oil Company fortune, and Wallace Johnson, founder of Holiday Inns, is working with Bill Bright to evangelize every man, woman and child on earth in preparation for the second coming of Christ.
"Over $30 million has been raised, including at least #15.5 from Hunt. Hunt, whose [John] Birch Society background is documented by Conway and Siegelman in Holy Terror, also made a contribution of $1 million to the Moral Majority in 1981, according to Perry Deane Young. [Saloma 53]
"One of the secrets of Bill Bright's evangelism strategy is a streamlined conceptual approach. Prior to his career as an evangelist, Bright had been a fancy foods salesman. He realized early on that, like any product, the Gospel could be marketed with a few gimmicks, and to simplify the sales pitch of missionaries in the field, he developed the 'Four Spiritual Laws."... [Diamond 51]
Dr. William Rohl Bright - Council for National Policy Board of Governors (1982).
1951 - World Evangelical Fellowship established
"In 1951 at Woudschoten, Netherlands, 91 men and women from 21 countries met as the International Convention of Evangelicals. They voted to establish the World Evangelical Fellowship.
Two Anglican theologians, A. Jack Dain and John R. W. Stott, provided a biblical outline of the threefold purpose of WEF:
1. The furtherance of the Gospel (Phil. 1:12).
2. The defense and confirmation of the Gospel (Phil. 1:7).
3. Fellowship in the Gospel (Phil. 1:5).
[ff. 9. John Stott later drafted the historic Lausanne Covenant, 1974.]
"Evangelicals have since looked upon WEF as the organizational fulfillment, on an international basis, of the original vision of 1846 - a global umbrella for national alliances.
As church historian Mark Ellingsen notes, 'No history of the Evangelical Movement can ignore the founding of an international organization in 1846, the Evangelical Alliance (the predecessor body of the present-day World Evangelical Fellowship).'
"Today WEF, headquarted in Singapore, embraces 150 million evangelicals in 112 national and regional fellowships representing an estimated 600,000 churches. A Filipino lawyer/clergyman, Agustin Jun Vencer, is international director, responsible to an International Council elected by member bodies." [Fuller]
See: The Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism
1960 - Temple of Understanding founded
"The Temple of Understanding (founded in 1960 to unite all world religions)" [Hunt]
"In order to provide a forum for plainer speaking, an Ecumenical Youth Assembly for Europe was sponsored by the World Council of Churches at Lausanne in Switzerland in July, 1960." [Fey 405]
1966 - The World Congress on Evangelism in Berlin
1967 - Christian World Liberation Front started by Campus Crusade
"In 1967, [Bill] Bright launched a campaign called 'Revolution Now' on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley... In order to have an impact, Bright appointed several of his staffers to adopt the appearance of hippies and form a front for Campus Crusade, called the Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF), so christened to mimic the campus' Third World Liberation Front... Eventually CWLF formally split off from Campus Crusade, but not until it had developed a reputation as a leading 'ministry' in the 'Jesus People' movement, which in the late 1960s and early 1970s drew thousands of young hippies -- active or potentially active in progressive causes -- into an appealing form of born-again Christianity." [Diamond 52]
See: Another Jesus Revolution?
1974 - International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland
"In July 1974, the International Congress on Evangelism held a pinnacle gathering in Lausanne, Switzerland. The 10-day event, focusing on the theme of 'Let the Earth Hear His Voice,' brought together more than 2,400 evangelical leaders from 150 nations and ignited a passion and renewed commitment to 'carry the Christian Gospel to all corners of the world before the end of this century.'
"By the close of this unprecedented meeting, the Lausanne Covenant, a 3,000-word document had been written and signed by 1,972 of the attendees. It affirmed 15 points including the Purpose of God, Authority and Power of the Bible, Christian Social Responsibility, the Urgency of the Evangelistic Task and the Return of Christ.
"The document's final paragraph called each one to 'enter into a solemn covenant with God and with each other to pray, to plan and to work together for the evangelization of the whole world.'
"For many, this would be uncharted territory. Some had never worked with people outside their own denominations or language groups.
"Dr. Billy Graham, serving as the honorary chairman of the congress, urged everyone in the audience to go from Lausanne and 'do the work of an evangelist.' He called for rededication and total commitment to the task ahead." [Cedar]
"...we affirm that evangelism and sociopolitical involvement are both part of our Christian duty. For both are necessary expressions of our doctrines of God and man... Christ's evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform and enrich culture, all for the glory of God." [Lausanne Covenant]
1975 - U.S. Lausanne Committee formed as part of the International Lausanne Movement
1982 - Zionists Change the Law of Return
[See: 1933-39 - Jewish Immigration to Palestine]
1985 Global Forum launches Interfaith Conferences
"The Temple of Understanding collaborated with the global Commission of Parliamentarian leaders in early 1985 and gave birth to the Global Forum. The result was the beginning of worldwide conferences with an interfaith punch a movement geared to 'global responsibility' unlike any other up to this time.
"Global Forum is the strongest vehicle the New Agers and occultists have to use to merge the political with the spiritual." [Smith 84]
1989, January 5-8 - Second International Congress on World Evangelization [Lausanne II]
"In 1989, Lausanne II, the second International Evangelism Conference convened by the International Lausanne Committee in Manila, Philippines, became yet another place for inspiration and unity. Christian leaders from 150 nations were brought together again, and were commissioned to take the "spirit of Lausanne" back to their nations - with renewed vigor - as the millennium drew to a close." [Cedar]
"The Lausanne II Fact Sheet has this to say about the churches and denominations involved in the Lausanne Movement:
"The Lausanne movement is inclusive rather than exclusive. Individuals who are members of virtually every Christian church and denomination in the world are involved in the Lausanne movement. It includes members of the mainline Protestant denominations that are a part of the World Council of Churches, such as Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Baptists, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, etc. It also includes members of more conservative churches that are a part of the World Evangelical Fellowship, such as the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Pentecostals, Conservative Baptists, Independent churches, etc.
"'There are many para-church organizations involved in the Lausanne movement, such as Campus Crusade for Christ, World Vision International, the World Bible Societies, African Enterprise, Youth with a Mission, Youth for Christ, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, etc.'
"'OFFICIAL OBSERVERS AND SPECIAL GUESTS AT LAUSANNE II IN MANILA' were identified as coming 'from the Vatican of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome; from the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow; from the World Council of Churches in Geneva; from the Greek Orthodox Church in Athens; as well as special guests from many other churches, denominations, and para-church organizations which usually are not part of the Lausanne movement.'" [Foundation: Lausanne II]
Jay Gary was Program Director for the Lausanne Movement and organized the 1989 Global Consultation on World Evangelism (GCOWE) through A.D. 2000 and Beyond. During GCOWE, the Latin American contingent submitted a written statement expressing strong objections to the inclusion of Roman Catholic clergy as conference participants:
"The religious political force of the Roman Catholic Church is using all means available and is in fact the most fierce opponent of all evangelistic efforts on our part... Cooperating with Catholics goes beyond our historical and biblical commitment." [Gary 11]
1990 - Formation of AD2000 & Beyond Movement
"Following Lausanne II, the Lord impressed upon American Church leaders to respond to the urgency of the 'Great Commission' and the task of evangelism in a new era. As a prayerful response to the Manila Conference, the AD2000 & Beyond Movement formed in 1990.
"The AD2000 & Beyond Movement convened a national consultation in Phoenix, Arizona and introduced the concept of citywide strategies for the United States." [Cedar]
1991 - Bimillennial Global Interaction Network
"[Jay Gary] Launched the BIMILLENNIAL GLOBAL INTERACTION NETWORK as a global network of groups sharing information on how they plan to inaugurate the Bimillennial Era. It is this group, known as BEGIN or Celebration 2000, and Jay Gary, which appears to provide a link between global spiritualists like [former Asst. Secretary General of the United Nations] Robert Muller and evangelical Christians." [Kanz]
1993 - U.S. Lausanne Committee Prayer Summit
"In 1993, the U.S. Lausanne Committee convened a Prayer Summit in Portland, Oregon attracting some 300 Christian leaders. The committee adopted the basic agenda of the AD2000 & Beyond Movement for the remainder of the 20th Century." [Cedar]
1994, March 29 - Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document
"On March 29, 1994, evangelicals and Roman Catholic leaders released a...document titled Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium." [Foundation Mar/Apr 1994]
See: The Evangelicals & Catholics Together Document
1996 - Mission America Launched
"Mission America was officially launched and established an office in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1996 and began promoting the national evangelism initiative Celebrate Jesus 2000." [Cedar]
1997, June - United Religions Organization
"According to its literature, the United Religions Organization [URO] launched its written charter this past June, 1997. The institution should be fully in place by June 2000 and globally operational by June 2005. The headquarters will be at the Presidio...in San Francisco, USA.
"The UR is patterned after the UN, it has a General Assembly, a Security Council and a Secretary General, and 'the UR is meant to be for religions what the UN is for nations,' claims Cornelia R. Ferreira, a critic of the URO." [Howard]
See: The United Religions Organization
The Great Tribulation Period
The Planetary Pentecost
"Maitreya will be invited by the international media to speak directly to the entire world through the television networks linked together by satellites. On this Day of Declaration, we will see his face on the television screen wherever we have access. The biblical statement, 'All eyes will see him,' will be fulfilled, in the only way in which it can be fulfilled. We will see his face, but he will not speak. His thoughts, his ideas, his call to humanity for justice, sharing, right relationships and peace, will take place silently, telepathically. Each of us will hear him inwardly in our own language. In this way, he will re-enact on a worldwide scale the true happenings of Pentecost 2,000 years ago...In celebration of this event, Pentecost will become one of the major festivals of the New World Religion which, eventually, Maitreya will inaugurate." [Crme 24]
"You have come home to me. The bread and wine hold within them the substance of my new body. The key for you now each day is to breathe deeply in a 'birthing experience' of the resurrected body. Then do the communion and experience my body transforming yours. Do this in preparation for the Planetary Birth which will be induced through this experience given to the new disciples of Christ who chose to work together for the Planetary Pentecost, when the Spirit of God is poured out upon all people. This is the purpose of your mission on Earth. All your projects will be reoriented, aligned and empowered as you accept this purpose and put it first. . . . finally." [Hubbard 311]
"For many years Bob Jones has received valuable revelations on [the Day of Atonement] outlining activities of the Holy Spirit for the seasons ahead. The season surrounding the upcoming Day of Pentecost will be a point of demarcation for those identified as this generation of youth. The interval between Atonement and the Day of Pentecost will be utilized for indoctrination and consecration for those things following the release that should take place during the season of heightened spiritual intensity surrounding Pentecost... [A] portion of the revelations also highlighted the season surrounding the upcoming feast of Pentecost as a pivotal time of transition for the church. Again, we are admonished to allow the term between the Feast of Tabernacles and the season of Pentecost as preparation for those days that follow the 'shifting of gears' that will transpire around Pentecost." [Jones]
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matt. 7:21-13
Shrine of the Prophets
"What was David ben Gurion's idea? 'In Jerusalem the United Nations (a truly United Nations) will build a shrine of the Prophets to serve the federated union of all continents; this will be the Supreme Court of Mankind to settle all controversies among the federated continents'." [Graham 81]
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. II Cor. 6:14-18
Watch Unto Prayer
