Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look, I need to be straight with you. I am writing this not as someone trying to play politics from the pulpit, but as someone who has been around long enough to recognize when something is seriously wrong. And right now, something is deeply, dangerously wrong in American Christianity.

What I am seeing in our churches today is not primarily a problem “out there” in the world. It is a problem in here , in the church. And Scripture is clear: “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household” (1 Peter 4:17).

The Burden I Cannot Shake

Brothers and sisters, my heart is heavy. I have watched pastors tell their congregations that questioning certain political leaders is the same as questioning God. I have seen sanctuaries turned into campaign headquarters. But I now realize I was looking at the fruit of a deeper problem - the seals being broken, the horsemen riding, the judgment of Christ upon His own bride.

The book of Revelation doesn’t start with Babylon deceiving the nations. It starts with Christ walking among the lampstands, examining His churches. “These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands” (Revelation 2:1). Before the world is judged, the church is measured.

The Seals and the Horsemen: Judgment in the Church

When the Lamb opens the seals, He releases horsemen that represent the spiritual decline within His own people:

The White Horse (Conquest/Deception) - “I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest” (Revelation 6:2). This is not Christ on His white horse (that comes in chapter 19). This is deceptive conquest - spiritual leadership that looks righteous but seeks earthly dominion. To Ephesus, Christ said: “You have forsaken the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:4). When we lose our first love for Jesus, we start conquering for ourselves.

The Red Horse (Conflict) - “Another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other” (Revelation 6:4). To Pergamum, Christ warned about those who “hold to the teaching of Balaam” and the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:14-15). When compromise enters the church, division and conflict follow. We are watching this now - Christians at war with Christians over political allegiances, families torn apart, congregations split.

The Black Horse (Famine) - “I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand” (Revelation 6:5). To Thyatira, Christ confronted tolerance of Jezebel, “who calls herself a prophet” and leads servants into sexual immorality and idolatry (Revelation 2:20). When false teaching is tolerated, spiritual famine results. Measure out the Word carefully because truth is scarce. We are starving for authentic gospel while gorging on political rhetoric wrapped in Bible verses.

The Pale Horse (Death) - “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him” (Revelation 6:8). To Sardis, Christ declared: “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1). This is the church that looks vibrant, has the numbers, the buildings, the influence, but Christ sees death. We are there, beloved. We have celebrity pastors, megachurches, political power, and we are spiritually dead.

From Church Judgment to World System

Here’s what I missed in my first letter (#1225360): The Babylon system, the Beast, the False Prophet - these don’t corrupt the church. They are the inevitable result of an already-corrupted church.

Behind it all stands the Dragon - “that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9). His strategy is always the same: corrupt the bride first, then use her corruption to deceive the nations.

When the church loses her first love (White Horse), she turns to Baal - the ancient pattern of hedging spiritual bets with worldly power when survival feels threatened. Israel wanted both Yahweh and Baal; we want both Jesus and political dominion. “How long will you waver between two opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21).

When the church embraces division over doctrine (Red Horse), the Dragon builds Babylon - the merger of religious authority with political and economic power. “Come, let us build ourselves a city… and make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). What starts as spiritual compromise becomes a complete system where the church’s resources, language, and authority are redirected toward empire.

When the church tolerates false teaching (Black Horse), the Beast emerges - political power demanding ultimate allegiance, now baptized as God’s will. “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” (Revelation 13:4). Opposition to earthly rulers becomes framed as opposition to God Himself.

When the church dies while maintaining appearances (Pale Horse), the False Prophet arises - religious leaders who “speak like a dragon” while appearing “like a lamb” (Revelation 13:11), sanctifying the Beast’s demands and declaring that loyalty to the throne is the test of faith.

The great prostitute who “sits on many waters” and is “drunk with the blood of God’s holy people” (Revelation 17:1, 6) is not an external threat to the church. She is what the church becomes when she abandons Christ for earthly power. The world doesn’t corrupt a faithful bride. It simply mirrors and magnifies the church’s own compromise.

The Pattern Playing Out

Let me be specific about what this looks like in American Christianity right now:

White Horse - Conquest Without Love : We have pursued cultural dominance, political victory, and social conquest while abandoning Jesus’s call to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us. We measure success by Supreme Court seats and election outcomes, not by transformed lives and sacrificial love.

Here’s the bitter irony: America’s founding documents explicitly reject the very premise of Christian nationalism. The Treaty of Tripoli (1797), unanimously ratified by the Senate and signed by President John Adams, states clearly: “The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” This was not controversial at the founding. It was consensus among those who actually wrote the Constitution.

Yet today we hear pastors proclaim that America is a “Christian nation” and that opposing certain political agendas is opposing God’s plan for America. This is the White Horse - conquest dressed in religious garb, seeking dominion through deception. Research shows Christian nationalist ideology correlates more strongly with political allegiance than with biblical discipleship or love of neighbor. We are conquering for a kingdom our founders never intended and Christ never authorized.

Red Horse - Division and Strife : Our churches are torn apart not over the gospel but over partisan politics. Brother is set against brother, not over the deity of Christ or the authority of Scripture, but over voting records and policy positions. The peace Christ gave us has been taken away, and we are making each other our enemies.

And as the church divides, Babylon consolidates . The system loves our division because divided believers are controllable believers. When we fight each other over Caesar’s business, we stop being prophetic witnesses to Caesar’s limits. The Dragon’s strategy succeeds: a church at war with itself cannot challenge the powers that be.

Black Horse - Spiritual Famine : Despite endless podcasts, conferences, and bestselling “Christian” books, we are starving for actual gospel truth. Pulpits that once proclaimed “Christ crucified” now offer political commentary. Studies show over half of evangelical pastors believe God blessed America because of its founders’ faith - a theology that replaces the cross with national mythology. We measure out truth carefully because it’s scarce, while false teaching is abundant and cheap.

In the resulting famine, the False Prophet thrives . When people are starving for meaning, they’ll accept any prophet who promises bread, even if that bread is nationalist mythology dressed as gospel. Religious leaders with no spiritual authority receive it by sanctifying political power, and suddenly opposing earthly rulers is framed as opposing God. This is the Dragon’s masterstroke: using spiritual hunger to make believers accept counterfeit food.

Pale Horse - The Appearance of Life : Our churches are full of activity, programs, and influence. We have access to power. We have the numbers. But Christ’s assessment is devastating: “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1). We are so busy conquering culture that we haven’t noticed we’ve lost our souls.

And from this death, the Beast receives its authority . A dead church cannot resist political idolatry - she becomes its greatest champion. “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” (Revelation 13:4). When spiritual death is masked by institutional vitality, believers mistake worldly power for God’s blessing. The church’s corpse is propped up by political influence, and we call it revival. The Dragon has achieved his goal: a church that bears Christ’s name while serving Caesar’s throne.

What Scripture Actually Commands

Before Babylon falls in Revelation 18, there is a command: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins” (Revelation 18:4).

But here’s the hard truth: We can’t come out of Babylon until we recognize that we have become Babylon.

The call is not to fight the culture war harder. The call is to repent.

To Ephesus: “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first” (Revelation 2:5). To Pergamum: “Repent therefore!” (Revelation 2:16). To Thyatira: “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling” (Revelation 2:21). To Sardis: “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die… Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent” (Revelation 3:2-3).

The call to every compromised church is the same: Repent.

The Hope That Remains

To each church that overcomes, Christ makes promises:

“To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life” (Revelation 2:7) “The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death” (Revelation 2:11) “To the one who is victorious… I will also give that one a white stone with a new name” (Revelation 2:17) “To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations” (Revelation 2:26)

Notice that last one. True authority over the nations is given to those who overcome spiritual compromise, not to those who grasp for political power.

The Philadelphia church - the one with “little strength” who kept Christ’s word and did not deny His name (Revelation 3:8) - receives no rebuke. The faithful remnant exists. They are those who refused to confuse Caesar’s authority with Christ’s kingdom.

What We Must Do Right Now

For Pastors and Church Leaders : Stop the conquest mentality. Repent of treating the pulpit as a political platform. Return to your first love. Preach Christ crucified, not culture war victory. When you tolerate false teaching that baptizes political allegiance as spiritual faithfulness, you release the Black Horse of famine into your congregation.

For All Believers : Examine yourself. Have you lost your first love for Jesus? Are you more passionate about political outcomes than the gospel? Are you in conflict with other believers over Caesar’s business? Are you spiritually starving while consuming endless political content? Do you have a reputation for Christian faith while your heart is cold and dead?

If any of this describes you - and it describes most of us - the command is clear: Repent . For Churches : Audit your teaching and practice. Where have you compromised? Where have you traded prophetic witness for political influence? Where have you measured success by cultural power rather than faithfulness to Christ? Call the church to repentance, starting with leadership.

The Urgency of This Moment

“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).

Seven times this refrain appears - once for each church. The call is urgent because the seals are being opened. The horsemen are riding. Judgment has begun with the household of God.

But here is the mercy: Repentance is still possible. The letters to the churches come before the final judgments. We still have opportunity to hear, to repent, to overcome.

The question is whether we will recognize our condition in time. To Laodicea - the church that thought it was rich and needed nothing - Christ said: “You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17).

That is us, beloved. We think we are winning. We think we have influence. We think we are blessed. But Christ sees us differently.

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:19-20).

He is knocking on the door of His own church. Let us have ears to hear and hearts to repent before the final horseman finishes his ride.

The Vision That Remains

After the horsemen, after the trumpets, after all the judgments - what remains? “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1). The New Jerusalem descends - not built by political conquest, not established by culture war, not achieved through earthly power.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

This has always been God’s plan. Not our conquest of culture, but His redemption of creation. Not our political dominion, but His righteous rule. Not our Babylon dressed in religious garb, but His holy city where “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4).

The choice before us is the same one Elijah posed: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21).

We cannot serve both Christ and Caesar. We cannot love both God and political power. We cannot build both His kingdom and our empire.

Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord - not the donkey, not the elephant, but the Lamb who was slain and is worthy to open the seals.

Written in the bonds of Christ and the urgency of truth, A Fellow Servant Who’s Seen the Horsemen Ride

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2:7) References

Pew Research Center. “Christianity’s Place in Politics and Christian Nationalism.” March 15, 2024. Public Religion Research Institute. “Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2024 American Values Atlas.” July 2, 2025. Whitehead, Andrew L., and Samuel L. Perry. Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. Oxford University Press, 2020. Lifeway Research. “Half of Pastors Support Trump, but Many Are Hesitant to Share Preference.” September 17, 2024. Du Mez, Kristin Kobes. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Liveright, 2020.