God and Mammon  ·  Instrument V

The Present Tense

Four documents. All from the present century. No further context.

Read them.

Document I

"The family is the fundamental unit of society. The nuclear family — a married mother and father and their children — is the foundation of a free society and must be protected and strengthened."

"Scripture and natural law make clear that the institution of marriage is the union of one man and one woman... Federal policy must... prioritise and reinforce the two-parent married family."

Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership. The Heritage Foundation, 2023. Chapter 14, Department of Health and Human Services.
Document II

"The Seven Mountain Mandate calls believers to take dominion over the seven spheres of influence in society: government, education, media, arts and entertainment, religion, family, and business."

"It is not enough to influence culture. We are called to disciple nations. This is the Great Commission fulfilled — Christians shaping every institution until the Kingdom of God is established on earth."

Seven Mountain Mandate. Lance Wallnau and Bill Johnson, widely circulated in charismatic evangelical networks from 2007 onward. Core framework of the New Apostolic Reformation.
Document III

In January 2019, Scott Warren, a geography teacher and humanitarian volunteer in Ajo, Arizona, was charged with two counts of harbouring undocumented migrants and one count of conspiracy. He had left water and food in the Sonoran Desert for people crossing from Mexico.

Warren faced up to 20 years in prison. His organisation, No More Deaths, documented over 3,000 migrant deaths in the desert since 2000.

In the same region, armed militia groups patrolled the border. Some wore Christian insignia. Some carried Bibles. Several were photographed detaining migrants at gunpoint and posting the images online. None were prosecuted under federal harbourage statutes.

United States v. Warren, District of Arizona, 2019. Warren was acquitted after two trials. No More Deaths continues to operate.
Document IV

"The role of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."

"We believe the office of pastor/elder/overseer is open to men only, as set forth by Scripture."

Churches that ordain women as pastors "have acted in a manner inconsistent and out of accord with the Baptist Faith and Message" and may be disfellowshipped from the Southern Baptist Convention.

Southern Baptist Convention. Resolution and constitutional amendment on pastoral role, 2023. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
Where have you seen this before?

Four documents. The whole strand.

Document I — Project 2025
"Scripture and natural law... the two-parent married family."
The Heritage Foundation, 2023
Document II — Seven Mountain Mandate
"We are called to disciple nations... shaping every institution until the Kingdom of God is established on earth."
Wallnau and Johnson, 2007–present
Document III — The Border
Water left in the desert: federal prosecution. Armed patrols with Bibles: no prosecution.
United States v. Warren, Arizona, 2019
Document IV — SBC, 2023
"The role of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."
Southern Baptist Convention, 2023
Which earlier instruments do these documents remind you of? Explain your connections.

The Slave Bible was published in 1807.

It is still in print.