(OPINION) The Telegraph – As lawmakers prepared to impeach Donald Trump for inciting a mob to attack the Capitol and D.C. readied for Joe Biden’s inauguration, Cliff Dyrud wasn’t focused on man-made actions.
He was listening for the words of prophets. Five years ago, a prophetess Dyrud follows said she’d gotten a message that Donald Trump would be president and save Christian America. Trump would be “as fearless as a lion being robbed of its cubs,” and cause the “tall and lofty mountains” of establishment types to fall, her prophecy went.
And Dyrud, a 73-year-old missionary, saw her words come true. So last week, he brought his “Appeal to Heaven” flag from Fargo to D.C., and marched with thousands of other Christians: Christians who, like him, believe another dimension – high above the news frenzy – is in charge, a supernatural one where God reigns, and where Donald Trump has very clearly already been prophesied to serve a second term.
Another prophet Dyrud follows has assured him that “Trump is still our president,” and is facing a moment much like when Moses and the Israelites fled Egypt and were not able to cross the Red Sea until God parted the waters for them. God will do something miraculous for Trump, too, Dyrud believes.
Images and references to being on the march for Jesus were common at the massive Jan. 6 rally – and later, riot – including a segment of American Christianity that believes it has the power of prophecy. Some experts say charismatic, prophetic Christians who operate largely outside denominations make up U.S. religion’s fastest-growing subset.
In recent decades, millions have been increasingly seeking out these prophets and apostles on YouTube channels, in books, group prayer calls, via regular group text chats, and at conferences where breakout groups practice faith healing and raising people from the dead.
And nothing has focused on this disparate, independent group like Donald Trump. While mainstream evangelical conservatives, including Trump’s own evangelical advisors, didn’t appear at the event, the day had been heavily promoted and covered by media and leaders of this charismatic, prophetic segment of Christianity. CONTINUE