BABA RALPH AND THE PRISON ESCAPE (Charismatic Caucus)

Dr. Ralph Bethea has never taken the cautious road in reaching the world for Christ. "Baba Ralph" has been instrumental in leading many to the Lord in Afghanistan and other Middle East nations. He recently he went into Teheran, Iran to help six of his young evangelists who had imprisoned for winning hundreds of students to Christ in the University of Iran. Bethea says he has been wanted by the Iranian Islamic government since 1992. The Lord directed him to offer himself in exchange for the release of the young men. The secret police accepted the offer and sent a man to check up on the captives. Some of the Christian young men followed him and discovered their location.

"Thankfully" Bethea says, "the prison was not well built. I had always wanted to try a cool maneuver I saw 40 years ago in a John Wayne movie where he pulled the bars out of the cell wall. I asked the Lord for permission, rented a big truck and a long cable and joy upon joy, pulled those suckers right out of there late that night! In fact, we pulled a 12x12 ft. entire section of the wall out which opened up the adjacent cell to our boys. Turns out, they were political prisoners (out type folks) who had all accepted Christ from the witness of our boys a week earlier. So all six of our boys and eight of our new bold believers jumped on the truck and we scurried out of town laughing and praising God. Now, I know this is not God’s best plan and many would have done better, but, God forgive me, I did enjoy it so much! Our Lord allows us a few indulgences and the boys thought it was real "cowboy stuff." I did so enjoy myself!

They dropped their new brothers in Christ off near their homes and drove several hours to one of their "safe houses" where they had an old-fashioned "praisin’." When the worship got too loud several Iranian police officers and a magistrate came to the door and arrested everyone. Bethea says, "I turned out to be in their top 20 most wanted! For 14 years now our boys have blamed me as the instigator and their hirer every time they get caught printing Bibles or distributing tracts or CDs. The legend of "RaphAH" just keeps growing, even though I am in Iran only a couple of times a year now. I am having to slow down in my late 50s! It has, however, protected our boys hundreds of times and serves the cause of Christ well!"

Ramez, the magistrate, (a code name) threw Dr. Ralph and the young men into prison. The next morning he had them brought into an empty courtroom. "I asked him to let the boys go as I had hired them to help me. [This was true as Bethea pays each boy $5 a year for their "travel expense."] When Ramez dismissed the boys, they refused to go saying, "RaphAH is our Baba and elder. He brought the salvation news of Christ to most of us."

When he asked the boys what they were doing in Iran, one answered, "We are taking over Iran in the mighty name of Christ." As the boys went on to preach the gospel to Ramez, Bethea was worried thinking, "We were going to jail for a long time!"

Bethea says, "Magistrate Ramez sent the boys back to their cell and had the bailiff haul me to his ‘personal interrogation room.’ As soon as we were alone, he unlocked my handcuffs and began to weep! ‘For four years I have prayed to meet you, RaphAH! I was a close friend of your old friend Basrah was killed by Saddam just before Baghdad fell to the Americans. He told me about you and Christ the Savior many times." Ramez deeply regretted not accepting Christ then. As Ralph was the only other believer he had heard of, Ramez and his wife had prayed for four years that God would bring Ralph to them. Ramez said, "The secret police discovered your safe house last year and I took the responsibility from them of watching it, hoping you would show up one day. Today God has answered my prayers. He captured you, heh?"

Then Ramez opened a side door and his wife stepped in. "Please, show us the conversion."

"I cannot convert you," Bethea answered him, "but I can lead you to the Savior, God’s anointed King who died for your sins so that you might live forever with Him. On earth, God’s Son became as us. He was called the MessiYAH or Christ. He died on a cross for your sins. He wants to spiritually enter your life as Lord and Savior and give you eternal life today. He will convert you!

As they rejoiced, Bethea says, "The Holy Spirit told me a strange thing. Ramez was to send us to a maximum security Iranian prison so that when the Lord got us out, it would not be blamed upon Ramez. God had future uses for Ramez remaining undercover! Ramez objected strongly.

‘That prison is nearby but nobody gets out alive. There are not even beds or toilets.’

I assured him God would protect us (even though I did gulp hard at his description).

We forced Ramez to act out his part, which really protected him later. The boys all agreed with the plan.

"The maximum security prison was definitely high security, surrounded by three electrified fences, patrol dogs and armed guard towers. The cell blocks were solid. Had we made a huge mistake? Had I missed God? I have already lived ten great lifetimes, but the boys were just 20-24 years old!"

The prison cell was the filthiest, stinking cell I have ever seen. Several of the boys vomited. Small flashes of natural fear crossed a few of their eyes, but they soon recovered their faith. I hoped they had not seen the same in my own. I wondered why they had left us all together. I had expected solitary, at least for me. Then we found out why.

They threw two old, craggy, stinking wild men into our cell. I had heard of this. Insane maniacs are used to destabilize political prisoners. These guys had long hair all bushed out with penetrating strange eyes, one with azure blue and the other had emerald green eyes. They tried intimidating us but the boys were used to demonic oppression and started to cast out the demons.

Some of the boys started praising the Lord in preparation when these two men fell on their knees, lifting their hands to heaven and praising the Lord also! We were astonished! These were not insane maniacs nor demon possessed! They were Old Testament "Nabii" (prophets)! We all soon sensed it! These were spiritual prophets!

They knew the Torah of Moses and most of the Old Testament prophets in Hebrew like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel and Zechariah. They did not know of YAHUWshua the MessiYAH, so the boys took turns explaining the Gospel of Christ to them. They wept with great joy and received the Savior readily!

We knew then why our precious Lord had sent us there. These Nabii were already famous across Teheran and some other regions of Iran. They had publicly called the President of Iran a "son of Satan" in a presidential political rally! Only their "holy men" stature kept them from being killed. They had been in this prison for many years. They used the insanity bluff to get to know all the political dissidents in the prison.

The next three nights were some of the most marvelous hours of my entire life. The Nabii had dug tunnels all under that prison complex connecting most cell blocks. Most of the guards or their families had been healed by the Nabii’s prayers and they turned a blind eye if they saw us. We led 87 of the top political dissidents to present day Iran to Christ, including several former top ministers who had gotten fed up with President Mahmoud’s lies and dangerous rhetoric. It was a human gold mine for Kingdom missionary Christians!

After four of our boys volunteered to stay behind and disciple the Nabii and new believers, we began to pray for a way to escape. We invited the Nabii to join us. They refused!

"We do not get offended," they replied, "but we do not waste our God’s important time with such trivial matters! You should ask us first about small details." Their eyes danced with their delight at rebuking us.

"Well, just pardon us," I retorted. "I did not know escaping from Iran’s maximum security political prison is any small detail."

"It is if you have one of these," he grinned as he pulled out a key embedded in his bushy, unkempt hair.

He unlocked our cell, walked down several corridors to a rough wall of stones which both Nabii scampered up like squirrels on a tree hole. Soon, they led us to an ingenious passage outside the prison. They hugged us, asked [us] to come back when we "get some free time" and promised to take good care of our four boys excitedly staying behind to disciple the new believers.

Ralph Bethea’s ministry, No Greater Love International, supports 436 "underground" evangelists serving Christ in Iran. He says, on average, each of these brothers leads one or two Iranian students a day to Christ. Bethea is currently setting up his first Royal Ranch in South Africa to house and educate from 300-500 AIDS orphans.

Source: NGLI’s December, 2006 ministry report. Dr. Ralph Bethea can be reached at No Greater Love International, P. O. Box 1976, Claremore, OK 74018, E-mail: mailto:ralphcbethea@yahoo.com

TWELFTH IMAM COULD APPEAR THIS SPRING, SAYS IRAN

Iranian TV series explains signs of the "last days," suggests apocalyptic war against Jews and Christians could come in 2007.

By Joel C. Rosenberg

( WASHINGTON , D.C. , January 2, 2007)

The New Year may not be so happy if Iranian leaders have their way.

The Islamic Messiah known as the "Twelfth Imam" or the "Mahdi" may come to earth in 2007 and could be revealed to the world as early as the Spring Equinox, reports an official Iranian government news website. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website says the world is now in its "last days." It claims that the Mahdi will first appear in Mecca , and then Medina . He will conquer all of Arabia , Syria , Iraq , destroy Israel , and then set up a "global government" based in Iraq , interestingly enough, not Iran . Such Islamic eschatology (end times theology) is driving the Iranian regime and helps explains why Iran has no interest in helping the U.S. and E.U. create peace in Iraq or the region, much less in ending its bid for nuclear weapons, the Iraq Study Group Report not-withstanding.

Anticipation of the imminent arrival or "illumination" of the Islamic Messiah has been steadily intensifying inside Iran since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emerged as president of the country in June of 2005. A television series on IRIB called "The World Towards Illumination" has been running since last November to help answer the many questions Iranians have about the end of the world as we know it. The series explains the signs of the last days and what to expect when the Islamic Messiah arrives. The program also says that Jesus is coming back to earth soon as a Shiite Muslim leader and it denounces "born again Christians" for supporting "the illegal Zionist state of Israel ." An Israeli news site was the first to pick up the story and its significance to Israeli national security, noting that the Mahdi will soon "form an army to defeat Islam's enemies in a series of apocalyptic battles" and "will overcome his archvillain in Jerusalem ."

Some intelligence analysts are growing concerned by Ahmadinejad's announced plans "to hold the big celebration of Iran 's full nuclearization in the current year." Iran 's calendar year ends on March 20, which is the usual date of the Spring Equinox. Is Ahmadinejad signaling that Iran will have nuclear weapons by then? Is he suggesting that an apocalyptic war to annihilate Jews and Christians in Israel and the U.S. and could come in 2007, perhaps as early as this spring or summer? It is not yet clear, though Ahmadinejad today vowed to "humiliate" the U.S. and continues to vow that Israel to "vanish" soon.

The Iranian TV series is important in that it offers some intriguing clues as to how Iranian Shiites believe their prophecies will play out. "After [the Twelfth Imam's] uprising from Mecca all of Arabia will be submit to him and then other parts of the world as he marches upon Iraq and established his seat of global government in the city of Kufa . Then the Imam will send 10 thousand of his forces to the east and west to uproot the oppressors. At this time God will facilitate things for him and lands will come under his control one after the other .... He will appear as a handsome young man, clad in neat clothes and exuding the fragrance of paradise. His face will glow with love and kindness for the human beings .... He has a radiant forehead, black piercing eyes and a broad chest. He very much resembles his ancestor Prophet Mohammad. Heavenly light and justice accompany him. He will overcome enemies and oppressors with the help of God, and as per the promise of the Almighty the Mahdi will eradicate all corruption and injustice from the face of the earth and establish the global government of peace, justice and equity."

The TV series notes that "in our discussion of the world in the last days of the earth we had said in our previous editions of this programme that no source has pointed to the exact date when the Savior will appear and only God knows about the exact timing of the reappearance of Imam Mahdi....There are various versions of the exact day of his reappearance. Some say it would be Friday and the date will be Ashura or the 10th of Moharram, the heart-rending martyrdom anniversary of his illustrious ancestor, Imam Husain. Others say the date will be the 25th of the month of Zil-Qa'dah and may coincide with the Spring Equinox or Nowrooz as the Iranians call. A saying attributed to the Prophet's 6th infallible heir, Imam Ja'far Sadeq (PBUH) says the Mahdi will appear on the Spring Equinox and God will make him defeat Dajjal the Impostor or the anti-Christ as the Christians say, who will be hanged near the dump of Kufa."

Before the Islamic Messiah appears to the world, IRIB reports, "a pious person ... a venerable God-fearing individual from Iran " meets with the Mahdi. This individual will pledge allegiance to the Mahdi as he "fights oppression and corruption and enters Iraq to lift the siege of Kufa and holy Najaf and to defeat the forces of [Islam's enemies] in Iraq ." It is not clear whether the program is referring to President Ahmadinejad or someone to come.

Shiite Islamic scholars also say Jesus is coming back to Earth soon. He will not, however, come as the Son of God or even as a leader but will serve as a deputy to the Mahdi to destroy the infidels, such scholars say. "We read in the book Tazkarat ol-Olia, 'the Mahdi will come with Jesus son of Mary accompanying him,'" the series explains. "This indicates that these two great men are complement each other. Imam Mahdi will be the leader while Prophet Jesus will act as his lieutenant in the struggle against oppression and establishment of justice in the world."

"The apocalypse is a deep belief among humans regarding the end of the world," notes the Iranian documentary. "[O]ne of the characteristics of the West in the current era is obsession with the end of time. Experts say discussions about the savior and the 'end of time', have not been so prevalent before as they are now in the west .... They believe the Messiah [is Jesus and that He] will reappear and will establish his global rule with its center in [Jerusalem], with the help of born again Christians. This sect's religious leaders in the 1990's strongly propagated their beliefs in the US and European societies. In the past two years dozens of books have been published in this field .... These extremist Christians believe that certain events must be carried out by the Protestants in the world so as to prepare the grounds for the Messiah's reappearance. The followers of this school believe they have a religious duty to accelerate these events, for example planting the illegal Zionist state of Israel for the Jews of the world, in Palestine ."

Too many Western analysts are missing the central importance of Shiite eschatology in Iranian foreign policy. They mistakenly believe that Iran 's current leadership can be somehow cajoled into making peace with the West. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cadre of loyal mullahs are not being driven by the same goals and aspirations as are the diplomats in Washington , Brussels or at the United Nations. The President of Iran and his team fervently believe the Islamic Messiah is coming back soon, possibly as soon as this Spring. They are convinced that their divine mission is to create the conditions for the Mahdi's return. As a result, they are committed to instigating more anti -- American violence in Iraq , not less. They are determined to obtain nuclear weapons at all costs, not negotiate away their atomic research and development program. What's more, they are deeply committed to building political and military alliances with anti-Western powers, not finding accomodation with the West.

Bottom line: the leaders of Iran are preparing for an apocalyptic war with the U.S. and Israel . It's not a question of "if" but "when." The sooner the White House and our new Congressional leaders realize this and take decisive action to stop this nuclear nightmare, the better.

Out of the Closet: A message About America's Involvement in the Middle-East
Dr. Ray Ashmore
impartinglife@gmail.com
Jan 14, 2007

"Confronting Death -- Imparting Life"

OK. I'm coming out of the closet. No, no, it's not about an orientation lifestyle. It's about what I've received from the Lord and how it conflicts with what some others have prophesied.

A few night ago President Bush announced his new strategy for Iraq entitled, "A New Way Forward." This includes a surge in American forces, a shift in responsibility for Iraqi security to the Iraqi government, and the infusion of billions of dollars to rebuild the countries' infrastructure. Will this "new" approach work? Or is it a restatement and a dressing up of previously failed policies? Will any strategy, new or old, work long term?

It's been said that when the people laugh, the prophet cries; and when the people cry, the prophet laughs. What does this mean? Some prophets, not all but some, actually live in the future when moved on by the Lord. Their knowings are embedded in the future, their words come from the future, and their spiritual emotions respond, not to present circumstances, but future ones. The prophet who cries when the people are laughing is living in the future consequences of the people's lives. The same with the prophet who laughs when people cry. He experiences the end result of the present sorrow, future blessing. .

Back in 2002 when we had been moderately successful as a nation in the war with the Taliban, President Bush uttered one word in a sentence and the Spirit of God doubled me over with pain and grief. That word was "Iraq." I knew then that he was planning to invade and that this whole war in Iraq would be a complete debacle. Some of that knowing came from an anthropological understanding of histories and cultures. Some knowing came from the Lord's witness of future events, and still more came from insight into the heavenlies.

I shared this new revelation with a number of my family members and Christian friends, some of whom are rabidly conservative Republican types. To no one's surprise, they rejected what I said. "Hey, you some kinda democrat in disguise?" they asked with kidding sarcasm. "We're gonna get those terrorists." "No," I replied, "I'm a citizen of the kingdom." And guess what? My wife wasn't too happy with me either. "I don't want to hear it."

After all, Saddam Hussein was a bad man, a murderer and a threat to America. As one comedian said right after Saddam's death, "About now Hitler is showing Saddam to his apartment." A bad man, yes. A murderer, yes. But a threat to America? Not if we release even greater threats by our actions.

What would turn out to be a much greater threat to America--and Israel--would be a foreign policy where the dream of spreading democracy overrode an understanding of nations, their histories and the religious and cultural dynamics at work in them. And what of God's kingdom plans to pull down strongholds? Oh yes, it seemed like such a laudable endeavor to spread democracy throughout the middle-east. But really..

If George Bush or any of his myopic coterie had picked up any phone book and had called at random any cultural anthropologist connected to any research university anywhere in the world, I believe not one of them would have said that a true democracy would work in the middle-east long-term. Why? What does democracy promote? Individual freedoms. What does Islam demand? Complete submission to Allah. Individual freedom and the faith of Islam cannot co-exist where there is a significant majority of committed Muslims. Believe me, if the vast majority of Americans were Muslim, our constitution would be in trouble.

I remember when Afghanistan's leader, Hamid Karzai, was visiting America. He and President Bush made speeches together, lecterns side by side. In every speech, when Bush referred to freedom, Karzai never used the word. Instead he used the word "life." The same, you say? Not at all. It was a diplomatic way of appearing to agree with the President but disagreeing at the same time. "But Afghanistan is a democracy now," you say. Yes, sort of one, for now. But now also the largest supplier of Opium in the world. And what of the Taliban? They're making a resurgence.

As in Afghanistan, democracy will not work long-term in Iraq because of the antagonistic and factional movements within its borders. The Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds are historically religious and cultural antagonists. The only government that could hold down the ethnic violence in Iraq--an even greater violence than the government itself could create--would be a strong dictator. Yes, an evil man who was a murderer, but a man raised up by a sovereign God to hold down an even greater evil, that greater evil we are seeing unfold at this very moment.

Ro 13:1-4 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

Check out how God uses nations as revealed in the Old Testament. God raised up the Babylonians to bring severe discipline to His people in Palestine. Then God destroyed the Babylonians. "OK, that proves my point," you say. "God raised up America to discipline the leader of Iraq." Be careful now. Follow that to its logical conclusion. Does that mean that now we are in line for destruction from God? One can't press the analogy too far. The only point here is that God raises up nations, including bad ones, to suppress even greater evil.

To God, the greatest evil in the Old Testament was not the evil of the godless nations, but the evil of God's children turning from Him to idols. Those who have the greatest revelation and turn away from it have the greater sin. Dare I say, the greatest evil to God today is not the Islamic world, .but what? Think about it.

No nation, when it has not been directly threatened by another, has the right to usurp the work of God in the name of a so-called greater good. Because that greater good usually turns out to be a greater evil when it's at war with the will of God.

"But that can't be," you say. "President Bush prayed and asked God to lead him in this endeavor." You really believe that, don't you? Well then, just look at the results, not just now but in the future. Man, if indeed God led us into this whole fiasco, He must really be messing up. But He didn't.

The truth is, we ask God to bless our fleshly endeavors all the time, don't we? How's it working for you personally? How then will it work for the nation?

Ps 106:12-15 Then they believed His words; They sang His praise. They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.

Jas 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Or should it read, "spend it on your policies"?

Wait and see how our unwarranted involvement in Iraq will unravel the stability that God wants for the region. You ain't seen nothin' yet. For those of you who are deeply committed to pray for Israel, pray harder. Israel's security is much more at risk than it was before our invasion of Iraq. Think about it. What powerful nation in the middle-east is preaching the destruction of Israel, that they have no right to the land and should be bull-dozed into the sea? Iran. What nation, while being an enemy of Israel and Iran, was weakened and reduced to international sanctions, no fly zones, and UN inspections? Iraq. And what nation served as a buffer between Iran and Israel? Iraq. With Iraq now in shambles, Israel is at much greater risk.

And here's an insight that a cultural anthropologist can't give you. The spiritual powers over the middle-east have long dominated the region with a tight demonic hold. Every change that takes place always reverts to a religious and political chokehold. The same will happen in Iraq. In the meantime thousands will die from the infighting as the region finds another political system that will promote the agendas of the principalities of Satan. Political and military actions will accomplish little. Prayer, fasting and the advance of the kingdom of God is the only sure way to pull down these strongholds. Governments cannot do it. Only the saints as the priests of God can. Remember these verses?

Eph 6:10-12 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put
on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places.

2Co 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

And yet a number of prophets brought words that either directly or indirectly conflict with the ways of God. Several famous prophets have given words that sound like they equate America with the kingdom of God. And George Bush is presented as a kind of sub-messiah. The church in America is a Laodicean mess; and one reason for it is that preachers, prophets and television personalities blur the lines between the kingdom of God and the nation in which the kingdom of God resides. The kingdom is to be a priestly and prophetic voice within a nation. But to confuse the nation and the nation's culture with the people and work of God is to erode a biblical understanding of the kingdom. While adapting to the surrounding culture in non-essentials, the church is to have the cultural imprint of heaven--a testimony to and a witness against the world system.

The truth is, when prophets, no matter how exalted and previously right-on they've been, view world events as Americans rather than as citizens of a kingdom that is trans-national, cross-cultural and divorced from the political agendas of all nations, those prophets bring a false word. And now some of them are strangely silent.

Remember those rosy prophecies? Where did they get those words? I'm not sure whether it was cultural conditioning, kingdom ignorance, mere wishful thinking, or the cabbage they had for supper. I only know that they were dead wrong. Hananiahs? I don't think so. But it's up to prophets to get their words from God, not from their patriotic feelings or their digestive processes.

In the future when the middle east is transformed in a substantial way, it will not be because of any nation's political will or military involvement. It will be because the kingdom of God has pulled down strongholds of resistance to the gospel. Then the clouds will reveal His Majesty Jesus Christ, and the sons and daughters of Ishmael will joyously embrace their King. And no, the Lord will not promote a democracy in that day, but a surrender to His Sovereign Lordship. Every knee shall bow, not vote. "And He shall reign forever and ever."

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