Posted on by Richard Bartholomew

Karl Rove needs no introduction; Grant Jeffrey, by contrast, will perhaps be unknown to most people who don’t consume Christian fundamentalist apocalyptic paperbacks and DVDs. Rachel Tabachnick, who discusses the above event at Talk to Action here (which brought it to my attention), notes that Jeffrey is the author of works such Shadow Government: How the Global Elite Plan to Destroy your Democracy and Freedom. According to the DVD’s blurb:

What if there were hidden forces with no ties to democracy or constitutional rights in power? What if new laws, media propaganda and Secret Societies labeled John a danger to society? And what if all this set the stage for a Biblically prophesied global government run by the Antichrist? Leading researchers, authors and minds like Grant Jeffrey… take you through the incredible and hidden world of Surveillance, Rights and Freedoms, Global Government and Bible Prophecy.

Books by Jeffrey include The New Temple and the Second Coming: The Prophecy That Points to Christ’s Return in Your Generation (“Grant Jeffrey investigates… developments among rabbinic authorities to reveal a prophetic, Temple-related timeline that points to Jesus’ return in the current generation”), as well as The Signature of God: Astonishing Bible Codes Reveal September 11 Terror Attacks (“Remarkable new computer discoveries from the Bible Codes reveal astonishing details about the September 11 Islamic terrorist attack on America that were encoded in Hebrew text thousands of years ago”) and The Next World War: What Prophecy Reveals about Extreme Islam and the West (“How Russia and extreme Islam will launch World War III”). Walid Shoebat used to credit his conversion to Christianity to Jeffrey’s Armageddon: Appointment With Destiny, although he tends to downplay that these days.

The site for the “G-20 Summit Faith and Business Leaders” event – which had no links to the real G-20 meeting, as a tiny notice on the site makes clear – includes a blurb by Canadian Christian Right bigwig Charles McVety:

As you know the G-20 World Leaders are coming to Toronto, June 25 – 27. On Saturday evening, June 26th we are going to gather in praise and prayer to petition God to guide these leaders toward peace and freedom. … The world is fraught with peril today. Countries such as Greece are already bankrupt and cannot pay their employees. Spain is in deep trouble financially and the United States owes over $13 Trillion. Canada is going deeper in debt every day as our government wastes billions of dollars on needless projects. Our environment deteriorates as pollution grows while the G-20 throws trillions of dollars at reducing CO2, a natural necessary part of air. War in the Middle East could break out any day with President Ahmadinejad of Iran building nuclear weapons and threatening to “wipe Israel off the map”. With these leaders down the street in our city of Toronto we have an ideal opportunity to pray for them. Dr. Paul Dhinakaran will lead us to the Throne of Grace for such a time as this. He has one of the largest ministries in the world and is a world leader in prayer receiving over 20,000 prayer requests per day. His prayer rallies average over 500,000 people per night. God has spoken to Dr. Paul giving him a special impartation for us in these days. Please try to clear you busy schedule and be with us on Saturday, June 26th at 7:00pm Admission is free. This is part of a larger G-20 Summit for Faith and Business Leaders. Karl Rove will speak to us on how to effect change democratically. Dr. Grant Jeffrey will teach us history and prophecy and several other speakers will prepare us for these days. On Sunday evening we will gather for a Rally to Stop Nuclear Iran.

The swipe at “reducing CO2” is typical for apocalyptic Christian fundamentalism: while the movement as a whole manipulates uncertainties about the future (wars, diseases, earthquakes, and such) to instil fatalism, fear, and hate, wider political considerations mean that climate change has to be dismissed out of hand. McVety, as Rachel notes, is close to John Hagee and co-chairs the Canadian branch of CUFI (Christians United for Israel); she also notes this 2006 Walrus article which explains McVety’s role in the Canadian Christian Right.

Dhinakaran is an Indian Pentecostal evangelist and the son of D.G.S. Dhinakaran, from whom he inherited his “Jesus Calls” ministry. According to his ministry’s publicity materials, D.G.S. enjoyed an international reputation:

Great servants of God, like Pastor.Benny Hinn, Dr.Pat Robertson, Dr.Dave Roberson, Pastor.John Osteen honour Dr.D.G.S.Dhinakaran as the apostle of this age in India. …Dr. M.G. “Pat” Robertson, Chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network, USA has decribed the spiritual nature of Bro. Dhinakaran very aptly in the following few lines: ” Frankly, I cannot recall any figure in the Old Testament or New Testament who has had such a profound and ongoing encounter with the Deity. ”

As for Paul’s own profile:

A man who frequently rubs shoulders with eminent leaders of the nation, Dr. Paul was appointed by the present Prime Minister of India as a Member of the National Monitoring Committee for Minority Education and as a Member of the Governing Council of “Education for all” Committee, both in the Education department of the Government of India. He had also served as a Syndicate Member of the Bharathiar University for two consecutive terms appointed by the Governor of the State of Tamilnadu. …As a visionary, he revolutionized the “Jesus Calls” ministry in several ways. He was instrumental in establishing Jesus Calls “Prayer Towers” throughout the globe in 7 countries and all over India where Prayer Intercessors offer dedicated prayers all the 24 hours for thousands of people daily.

This link between prayer, geography, and spiritual warfare is suggestive of C. Peter Wagner’s teachings.

Karl Rove, of course, does not take any of this very seriously – in 2008 Christopher Hitchens mentioned that Rove does not consider himself to be “a person of faith”, although when a Christianity Today journalist asked Rove about it he affected to some sort of vague religiosity. But if he wants to cement his links with this crowd, perhaps he could include one of Jeffrey’s books in his new book club, once he has done with Brad Thor‘s latest potboiler. There are plenty to choose from…

Various organisations are listed as suppporting the “Faith and Business Leaders” event, with their logos next to the image of Jeffrey. They are: Canada Family Action; Conservative Values of Canada; McVety’s Insitute for Canadian Values (founded in 2005 with “a gala dinner tutorial from Ralph Reed”); and – somewhat more surprisingly – the B’nai Brith Canada.

Rachel notes that B’nai Brith Canada’s executive vice-president Frank Dimant also spoke at the event. Dimant has long-standing links to McVety; in 2003 McVety joined Dimant in denouncing Jews for Jesus for “preaching Christianity under the guise of Judaism”. Dimant also teaches at McVety’s Canada Christian College, where the “Faith and Business Leaders” summit took place.

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