Sometimes I learn something, and I immediately get a pit in my stomach...and/or my heart sinks. When that happens, I kinda feel the need to speak, to clarify, to alert, to warn.
Well, something like that just happened and my heart just sank to a deep, deep pit. I saw a post on Facebook from CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) that Matt Hagee, (Pastor John Hagee’s son) had to apologize for allowing a group to attend their church – Cornerstone – for what ended being a political gathering. I hadn’t heard of the group – the "ReAwaken America Tour” – but I was familiar with the format presented and some of the names, so a warning buzzer immediately went off in my head. The format and advertising for other events I have researched in the past, are ALL exactly the SAME! So, I decided to dig a little deeper into "ReAwaken America Tour". As I had researched other groups like this and was familiar with many of the players, I became very concerned. The "tour" is sponsored by "Charisma News". Apparently there are also ties to Pastor Kenneth Copeland Ministries. Upon researching the tour group, I believe Matt was absolutely correct to apologize for hosting this event. In truth, there is a whole lot more to understand regarding this group, than even what Hagee eluded to in his apology. I want to write about that.
I am not at all surprised by what I learned. There seems to be a recurring message from these events. Though presented with different names for the "tours" or events, they are all very similar in their methodology. Now what happened according to the article at CBN was the crowd at the church broke into the chant "Let's Go Brandon". I think most people are familiar with that phrase by now, but for those who are not, this video gives a brief synopsis of how this chant began. I think this short video is accurate enough to explain the beginnings. But what CBN missed in their article was that it wasn't just the chant that was the problem. The group that Cornerstone had decided to host, has extremely questionable ties, and many of their speakers are not Christian. In fact, some of them are flat out over the top scary in their beliefs. I hope to explain in this blogpost. I have been researching this "movement" for a while now. This is why I became so concerned.
Truthfully, I am probably one of the most politically minded people I know. I believe the church has long been too silent on all things political and what is happening in our nation. I am a firm believer that too many Christians inappropriately use "separation of church and state" as an excuse to not be involved - even to the point of not voting. But politics mixed with faith isn't what happened here, even though that is how some are painting it. The problem is exactly who it is that is connected with this group. And honestly some of them are down right... ummm, not sure "evil" is too strong a word.
While the "tour" that appeared at Cornerstone Church was the “ReAwaken America Tour” and it is the group now making the rounds across our nation, the last tour group (even appearing at one of our local churches) was the "AriseFreedomTour” with Scott McKay, Leigh Dundas and Sacha Stone. The people speaking and leading these “tours” are all cut from the same cloth and even include some of the same speakers in both events/tours. I have found the people below to be some of the regular players:
Scott McKay – lunatic, in my opinion. Google his videos. Here is a link to his most recent video from November 16th. It comes with my warning - language and conspiracy. And I am being nice. This is the type of people associated with this tour and therefore my concern. He does not claim to be a Christian and his videos demonstrate that. Further, they are attacking the credibility of Fox News, and asking you to believe stuff like what is in his video instead. That should be a huge red flag revealing that they do not want you to know truth.
Leigh Dundas – human rights attorney and wellness guru. One of the major players in the "AriseFreedom Tour". Think critically on this one and dig deep. Associations matter and she seems to have no problem being aligned with McKay.
Mikki Willis - think "Plandemic" - the movie. You know; the guy that wanted us to believe the vaccine was the mark of the beast, among other conspiracies. You will be hard-pressed to find the movie at this point, but Willis does have a book out now by the same title. This man, (don't look at his eyes, too long) I believe, deliberately deceived Americans even hoping to frighten them with a narrative about the virus that was never proven, but easy to refute. This, at a time when so very little was known about the pandemic. It didn't matter it could be shown as untrue. It still worked on the psyche of millions of Americans. He is associated with a site called EleVate Films. The video explaining their mission has been removed, but clicking the link will still give you a feel of the website. At the time it originally appeared on the website, it was very well done and dramatic. Why are all clips removed now? The damage done? There is another series of this video now, but it will not allow me to link to it here. Willis also made a visual appearance in several of the videos making the rounds at the beginning of the pandemic. You remember; that would be all the videos they told you to hurry up and watch before they were taken down...stoking more fear and conspiracy. That was his only agenda in my opinion. Fear. *Edit: The videos now state that they are "private".
Robert Kennedy Jr. - I have been warning about him for awhile now. Although, he did just make an appearance on “Tucker Carlson Today”, and the part I saw was very good, that fact doesn’t really mean anything. People know in order to draw a certain crowd, they have to say the right things to some degree. This, in order to suck others in. Deceivers deceive. And as much as I like Tucker, this isn’t the first time he has been fooled by someone. Sometimes, honestly, I wonder about him. No one is 100% right on everything.
Gene Ho – Gene is the editor for George Magazine. You know; the magazine created by John F. Kennedy, Jr. It was a liberal magazine that stopped publishing in 2001, after JFK Jr. had been killed in a plane crash. Ho picked it up to begin republishing. I don't understand that. Why don't we question that connection. The magazine claims it is to present a more balanced content. Ho is also a former publicity photographer for President Trump. I am not sure President Trump would have given that much thought. But Ho is also reported to have been involved with Qanon. Why are so many of these people involved with QAnon liberal or semi-liberal??? If you are unfamiliar with QAnon, think Jan 6 Shaman – the shaman is the most public face of QAnon, but hardly the root, or the brains behind the movement – that would reportedly be Jim and Ron Watkins (CodeMonkeyZ on the questionable site 4Chan). I have blogged about QAnon here. Please read my article for further detail about what QAnon is all about. Ho is now running for mayor of Myrtle Beach, SC and it is reported he has scrubbed his connections with QAnon. This would appear to be true, because he was once listed on the Patriot Double Down Tour as a speaker. (This tour is still shown with a video on the "Past Events" page of The Patriot Voice. It was held in 2021.) Ho's name, photo and bio have been removed from that site - as have a few other reported speakers. Somewhere I have a screenshot of him being listed there. I want to learn more about Ho. I have hopes that perhaps he left QAnon because he woke up to who they really are. Maybe he just wanted to win his election. I will study him further.
Jim and Ron Watkins - largely reported to be the founders of QAnon. Their names always appear at the "Patriot Voice" site as speakers at their "tours". Originally when their page was listing a bio for each speaker, these two had their photos and names appear without a bio. Now at the updated site, no one has a bio...simply a photo with their name. These guys are flat out flakes and big fat trouble, in my view.
- Seth Holehouse –Qanon ties. He spoke at the QAnon Double Down Tour in Nevada in October. Or at least they advertised him as such. He also appears to now be scrubbed from their site. He does have a great video out that is very accurate. But so? We must question thoroughly someone's ties when they have reached the level of something like QAnon. No one should get a pass in this time we find ourselves. And everyone knows there must be a little truth to get anyone to believe the lies.
Judy Mikovitz – doctor, questionable ties with Mikki Willis, for one. She claims not to be anti-vax...only when she needs to. She makes some valid points, but her ties and previous accusations against her need to be considered. She can be right about some medical opinions and still be dead wrong about a new agenda. I will never trust her. And there is much I question about her. Funny, I once again find her in a movement I highly suspect. She is on my list of "deceiver". I am just not certain how deep.
Sidney Powell – attorney President Trump had to get rid of. I tried warning about her! Why do you suppose President Trump had to distance himself from some of these people?? I was incensed by what she did to the Trump defense.
Lin Wood – attorney Trump had to dump. Wood told Georgians to stay home and not vote. Who does that???? I warned about Wood, too. I don't believe he was ever in the Trump camp, but had his own agenda. These tours are giving him a speaking slot now. Why? So he can again tell Republicans not to vote??? He has made so many troubling decisions, one cannot help but question his motives and who he really is. He is either a big part of the deception or he is dangerously fooled. I believe the former. And he has been a Democrat far longer than his new found claim of "Republican".
Clay Clark - the man behind the ReAwaken America Tour. Founder of Thrive15 - "a website that provides entertaining education to entrepreneurs". It's goal is to help entrepreneurs thrive and grow. He is the owner of a TV network and the author of 3 books. He graduated from Oral Roberts University and soon launched into his career after being named "Oklahoma Entrepreneur of the Year". He has been the business consultant for several well-known and successful companies. His resume is impressive with experience in film, as well. But who is he now?
Clay Clark
His chosen business photoSeveral of the typical anti-vax gurus are speakers at these events. (Sorry, but I believe anti-vaxxers should be careful with whom they align - one being Sasha Stone - AriseFreedom Tour) They all seem to embrace each other for their own agenda. It is extremely troubling the radical nature and teachings of Sacha Stone. It is troubling to me so many anti-vaxxers will choose their message over who is delivering it.
I think some of the other members participating with the group, "ReAwaken America", are just honestly deceived. For example, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Stella Immanuel (I'm sorry, she has really strange beliefs, perhaps from her upbringing in Cameroon - Central Africa. I am not attacking her, but this cannot be left unsaid. Christians should be aware of being deceived by wrong theology.) Another is Dr. Simone Gold. Perhaps she is simply misinformed...or maybe it’s about money or fame. I really don’t know. I just know these people should be more careful with their alliances. Maybe they are deceived; maybe they are being used; maybe they are a part and a facilitator of the intentional deception. It is so difficult to fathom that they actually believe the messages of Scott McKay and Sacha Stone. But we have to ask, why would anyone align themselves with their message? Why would anyone who has done the slightest research about QAnon align themselves with that group? Yet that is what is happening with the "ReAwaken America Tour". There are also many other good people that I believe have been caught up in this deceit, and totally unaware of the degree of that deception.
Maybe, I too, have been too willing to give the benefit of the doubt to people like Michael Flynn. Well, no more; I will not any longer. This is going way too far...when people like Flynn (and he almost always seems to be at the helm of all of it) are aligning themselves with people like Scott McKay, they are in serious trouble. Watch a video of Scott McKay – but only with a strict warning – his videos are NOT for kids! You will not need to watch the full hour. Click anywhere in the video and you can hear the bizarre beliefs he holds. Others - people like Charlie Kirk and Mike Lindell; maybe Arizona State Senator, Wendy Rogers, (starting to wonder about her) should just flat out know better. I am so disappointed to see them involved in this. Sam Sorbo; Heidi St. John??? (I think Heidi has caught on and removed herself from all connections.) So very disappointed to read of their involvement. This movement and lack of vetting of it, is hurting conservatives!!! And that helps liberals. I learned a long time ago to look at who benefits, and you will be able to figure out who is behind an effort. I honestly wonder if that is the true intent of these groups making these tours. Who benefits??? Certainly not our nation, our churches or our communities. They are being misled and divided while deception thrives. Most seriously at risk, is a divide among Christians; ending in all of us looking like nuts or dangerous conspiracy theorists. YES! I believe that is the goal of this movement.
Too many churches are being deceived by these people and learning later it isn’t appropriate for church. And I am NOT just talking about people chanting “Let’s go Brandon”, as the article at CBN informs us. Scott McKay and those aligned with him, are flat out bizarre in their beliefs and speeches. The local church in my area, that became involved, had to apologize too, but they only offered an inadequate excuse and not much of a public apology. I think they wanted their error just swept under the rug.
Michael Flynn, as much as I hate to say it is traveling a dangerous path. Now calling for a one world religion as the article claims? Or was it a call for "Where We Go 1 We Go All" - the logo and mantra of QAnon? He has been known to have that logo on his Twitter page, but eventually removed. I know it was there, because I saw it. I believe, however, his call for a one world religion was simply a stupid gaff. I do believe he knows better. Read the article at the link I provided and decide for yourself. But still, when will Christians quit defending Flynn when he seems to be getting so far off track? Sean Feucht? Chad Prather? Pastor Greg Locke? Dang! I love those guys, but they need to pay better attention. They are aligning with evil, in my opinion. Some things are absolutely not more important than other things. They missed the line in the sand and too eagerly crossed to win another political battle, I suppose. But this movement needs people like them to legitimize their efforts. They need to deliberately deceive to bring in more people. In my opinion, that is what is taking place. I think too many people have become so absorbed and caught up in all the terrible things going on in our nation brought on by a corrupt administration, that they are not being careful with their methods in correcting it. They are being sucked in by whomever they see as fighting the battle, without thoroughly checking out just who they are. Their desperation is understandable, but we cannot go off half-cocked trying to get to the desired end. And they need to remember in just Whom their security lies. Yes, I still believe in action. But action, must use critical thinking and caution.
The deception is astounding, shocking, Those being sucked in - just plain sad. I have never seen anything like it. In my opinion, the people behind this "tour" are using Christianity and Christians to deceive and promote a dangerous agenda. I hope you will follow some of the links I have provided. I don't claim to know everything, but I simply followed TRUSTED links and viewed them to arrive at my conclusions. I also relied on words "from the horse's mouth".
What seems to be the common thread to draw these people together and then convince the public to join them? An anti-vaccine message. Now I have written about this many times before on this blog. Some are not going to like what I have written. But I really don’t care about anyone’s vaccine opinion. I don’t care if someone trusts vaccines, or if they do not. It is unimportant in regard to all of this. What I care about is people being deceived with a whole lot of misinformation, as well as people supporting people with questionable ties. People trying to make their point, or win more support without being careful with their facts or documentation. Christians are being used. Maybe some of the facts they bring are accurate; but many "facts" are not. In my view, once a lie is spread– a liar one becomes. But the thing is, this battle has gone well beyond vaccines, exactly as I knew it would. This is about division in our nation and it is working.
The other connection is, all of these people claim to be supporters of President Trump who believe the election was stolen. It was. But I do not trust that these people all support President Trump as they claim. It is my belief, deception abounds here. This is a "stirring of the masses" to create more division, disunity and confusion in not only the GOP, but America in general...and further, specifically the church - their main target. The church is the root that needs to be destroyed to fulfill a leftist agenda. They are using President Trump too, in my opinion. Or I guess I should say they are using the people who love and support him, Christian or not.
I don’t know. What do we do with information we learn, that may be offensive or controversial? Does one just sit on it, because it might bother someone? Does one remain silent because it might be different than what someone else believes? Do we dare not expose, because we like someone, or agree with their other efforts? How do we get to truth, if we let deception, or wrong thinking stand? Maybe some are ok with distortion being used to get to a desired end. Maybe some simply believe the end justifies the means. Nope. Not me. I have never been ok with that and never will be. Go ahead and fight stupid stinkin’ vaccines. I do not care. I support your decisions as long as it doesn't infringe on the Constitution. But we all had better dang well be careful with whom we align. Especially if we claim the name of Jesus.
I want to reiterate a very important message. The one thing, if anything, I hope to get across is this: The two things that drive these people together in this group are (1) a claim of support for President Trump. I am not convinced they ALL actually support him. I believe they may be intentionally undermining him by pretending to be a staunch supporter. And (2) the other thing that connects them is a vociferous anti-vax belief. It has long been my personal belief that anti-vaxxers are being used to divide citizens and specifically conservative Christians. Please do NOT read that WRONG. I certainly understand the problem with the Covid vaccine, and I have NEVER agreed with mandates! I am not attacking anyone's anti-vax belief. I respect that. I am saying I believe some of these people are intentionally using the fear of vaccines to instill more fear for their own private agenda. It is also causing great division and friend turning on friend, brother on brother; sister on sister. That division is intentiona,l in my view. Too many people, because of their deeply held beliefs, are not looking at the full picture and do not see the manipulation and where it all may be headed and certainly not from where it is coming.
It is my firm belief that these 3 groups - ReAwakenAmerica Tour, the Arise Freedom Tour and QAnon are all connected with many of the same players which I have tried to demonstrate here. Their websites, advertising and videos all look the same in quality and method. Their marketing is all the same. Their lingo is all the same. Let me tell you my conspiracy theory. I believe these groups are ALL connected to bring destruction on America. And I suspect it all comes from the left - "wolves in sheep's clothing" to use a well-known cliche. They want to destroy conservatives and the Republican party. More importantly, they need to destroy the church, before their agenda can be fulfilled. They want to keep our citizens in fear. They want them ready to revolt in the blink of an eye. They are working on the psyche of Americans and it appears to be working. Please prove me wrong.
I have included links of those I have studied and written about before.
I don’t have time to go through what they are selling at ThriveTimeShow - Clay Clark's website and the presenter of "ReAwaken America Tour". As I have said, Clark the founder of ReAwaken America, has had a great deal of success. But if they have to tell you it isn’t a scam, as they do on their Thrive page, it is probably a scam...or at least it makes them appear to have a questionable agenda. But then, Clark does seem to be the expert, doesn't he? Maybe he just knows how to use his talent. I don't claim to know who is at the root of all of this. I just know I do not like what I am seeing in many of the key players.
I read through the comments on CBN's Facebook post (regarding Matt Hagee's church) which I mentioned in the beginning. That is what prompted me to write this. I will say I was absolutely shocked at the lack of knowledge or understanding in those comments. Most were simply mad that Pastor Matt Hagee had to apologize for letting the crowd yell "Let's go Brandon", calling him weak and afraid to be involved in politics. I tried to get a few people to understand there is a whole lot more to this ReAwaken America Tour, with little success. No one knew, nor did they seem to want to know anything about the roots of this group. I suspect Pastor Matt found out the hard way. Below is his apology.
Hagee said that Cornerstone failed to properly vet ReAwaken America and that it was "not appropriate" to allow its event at the church. "I deeply regret and ask forgiveness, for what took place in the Cornerstone sanctuary as a result of my oversight," said Hagee. Hagee said Cornerstone is *not associated with and does not endorse the views of the organization and that it will more carefully vet outside groups going forward.
I respect his apology and the wording of the apology is exactly what led me to believe he has found out the truth about some of these people. Others within the group who may be innocent in their understanding and/or those carelessly supporting this group, need to come to an alignment with their involvement in what is at the root of the message presented. They are destroying their name and witness.
Just as the church in my home town had to come to a realization about the harm the "AriseFreedom Tour" brought, everyone who condones them, must quit looking away. We cannot simply remain quiet about it and hope it all goes away. It is not going anywhere. Someone needs to address it. Guess that would be me, for one...at least where possible. I blog. We all need to make a decision to pay attention and inform, in what ever means that might come. Wake up, America!! We are purposefully being divided. And we seem to have lost our First Love in much of the efforts for re-directing our nation where we want it to be. These people are not righteous, nor are they effective in their efforts. Most are deceivers, in my opinion. It is my firm belief someone is behind them to divide the church most importantly, because that is the only way they can win their agenda to destroy our nation. Sorry if that sounds conspiratorial.
Shame on the churches and religious organizations who are still supporting these groups, as well as those who refuse to vet them and see them for who they really are. Kudos to Pastor Matt Hagee for being bold enough to say he was in error.
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