CHRISTAFARIANISM IN ACTION

PART 2

“Unveiling The Christafarian Mystery”

 In Selassie's title the words "Elect of God" keep ringing in my head, for a king is supposed to be chosen by God and given authority to rule. Selassie was elect of himself. It is Royal tradition to be chosen or appointed as king and be crowned by someone of authority (other than oneself). Haile Selassie arbitrarily took the throne by force, through trickery and even murder. He chose himself and crowned himself despite public opinion. Even if he was Elect by God, according to the New Testament, Almighty God would not have chosen for things to have happened in this manner."

(Mark Mohr explaining how the Ethiopian Emperor is “elect of himself”)[1]

 “I do not deserve this and should not be doing this. You could find more raw talent in any 10 year old Jamaican boy than in me. But once again, this is how God works. I believe that he chose me so that He would receive all of the glory. One look at the Bible and you will realize that this is how he chooses leaders; from Moses who was a murderer with a speech impediment to King David who was an unlikely shepherd.” 

(Mark Mohr explaining how he is “elect of God”)[2] 

Rastafari ó Christafari. There’s more then just a surface-level symbolism to this name-play.  Much more then “just” a “snappy slogan”[3].

In fact, you can almost use everything Mark Mohr says about Rastafari and the Ethiopian Emperor, simply change the words “Rastafari” for “Christafari” and “Haile Selassie” for “Mark Mohr” and you will get a pretty fair description of what is actually going on.

There are allready many Christafarians who are out-right Christafari Worshippers.

Take a look at the quotes that started this chapter and realize they how are both about being “elected by God” to be a “person of authority”. Realize how they one is about the Ethiopian Emperor and one is about “Mark Christafari”, as I have called him for a while until I found out there were more people by that name.

The kingship of the Ethiopian Monarch is directly related to King David and Moses. His bloodline is the 225^th from King Solomon. His authority comes from JAH. The Emperor showed this in many ways, not in the least by accepting the name “Haile Selassie”, which means “Government Of the Trinity”. The kingship of Ethiopia comes out of the Old Testament and  was “Christianized” as soon as the Holy Spirit was poured out over the Church[4]!

All of this is sent at Mark Mohr’s deaf ears...

Yes, it’s another expression of discrediting the Emperor of Ethiopiah. When you realize that the quote was taken from the book that caused Buju Banton to get vexed at Mark Mohr[5], it shouldn’t be such a surprise that this Jamaican Artist got kind of emotional about it.

But it goes much further than that! 

Mark Mohr applies those things to himself, which he takes away from His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie.  Rastafari is once again being transformed into Christafari, completely in the “spirit of Christafarianism”.

He says that Haile Selassie came through power through “murder”. He says that Jah does not elect persons of authority that way in our days, the New Testament period.

But when it comes to describing his own self-proclaimed position of “elect of God”, namely that of the “founder and leader of christian Reggae” called to “plug the gap in the christian Industry”, he turns to the Old Testament and explains his self-proclaimed authority by comparing it to Moses and David!

Both Moses and David were people with “blood on their hands”. Moses killed an Egyptian and had to flee into the wilderness, David also had to fight many fights before he came to power. Moses and David were elected by God to lead the children of Israel.

Haile Selassie can be compared to Moses and especially David in many ways. Not only because of his bloodline, it goes much further than that. It is clear, that the Ethiopian Emperor took a name that clearly pointed out to the Source of his power. Because “Haile Selassie” means “Power of the Trinity”. And of course, Yesus Kristos is the Power of the Trinity!

It’s the creed on which the Church of Yesus Kristos is built. “Yesus Kristos is Lord”, means: “Yesus Kristos is Haile Selassie”.

But what comparance is there with a self proclaimed “Pastor”, someone who claims that in this “New Testament Times” “Almighty God would not have chosen for things to have happened in this manner”, and Moses as well as David who have been connected to the very same things which Mark Mohr claims “Almighty God would not have chosen for things to have happened in this manner”?

Why can there be no comparance with the Ethiopian Emperor and Moses as well as David, where the biblically based connections are evidently there, where Mark Mohr does make a comparance between a himself as a “Pastor” and Moses as well as David?

Appearantly, Jah chose Moses and King David, and Mark Mohr, but not the Ethiopian Emperor. And appearantly, Jah has different standards for Moses, King David and Mark Mohr on one hand, and the Ethiopian Emperor on the other.

Now of course I’m being sarcastic, because this blatant double standard isn’t authored by the Most High. It’s just what happens when you mess with the Bible in order to get yourself in a perceived position over others.

After all, that’s where all of this is all about. Power, authority over other people, and religion as justification for this power trip. Excuse me, mission trip.

Because if he would consequently apply the argumentation that he used for himself, he would have to acknowledge the authority of the Ethiopian Emperor. He would have to acknowledge that Haile Selassie is the Elect of God.

Hermeneutically[6], it’s also a disaster.

Mark Mohr claims to be a “pastor”. He presents that as a position of political authority. However, we will see how Yesus said completely different things about functions with the Christian Church!

But then, we have allready established how Christafarianism is the Ideology behind Mark Mohr’s personal “purpose”. Rastafari, and the Bible are all being transformed to “match the ministry description” of “the Christafarian”. So it shouldn’t really surprise us when we find out how seriously unbiblical the nature of Christafarianism actually is...

In the meantime, we’ve gotten used to the contradictions to an extend that we don’t even notice them. Surely, you can not apply Mark Mohr’s standards and reasoning in a consequent manner. There are not only double, but many standards.

And yet, there is only one. The standard of Christafari...

Let’s look at his critique on the Ethiopian Emperor, and simply compare it with Mohr’s own rise to power.

“It is Royal tradition to be chosen or appointed as king and be crowned by someone of authority (other than oneself)[7].”

“In 1996 I was ordained by Pastor Bob Beeman (Sanctuary International).[8]”

Because the Ethiopian Emperor has to be discredited in favour of Christafarianism, Mark Mohr actually says that Haile Selassie can not be a person of authority because he didn’t do it the same way as Mark Mohr did it. Welcome to the absurd logic of Christafari!

This may look a little bit too far-stretched. But then you have to take into consideration that Mark Mohr actually compares himself in his “position of authority” with King David and denies this very same to the Ethiopian Monarch.

So the fact that Pastor Mark compares himself with Moses and King David, indicates how he sees himself as a king in a kingdom. A “Christian Kingdom”, of course: “The Christian Industrial Complex”.

The New Testament isn’t mentioned at all, when Mohr compares himself with Moses and King David in order to proof how he is an “elect of God”. So Pastor Mark doesn’t look to the New Testament when he wants to describe his self-proclaimed position as person of authority over “all”[9].

All of this is directly related to the fact that there is no such thing as an “ordained leader of a genre in a christian industry who has to be obeyed by all” in the Bible. That’s why he turns to descriptions of Political Leaders in the Old Testament in order to tell his audience that they “all have to obey” him.

So, who are the people that he leads? If Mark Mohr is like King David, then who or what is his kingdom?

This becomes obvious when you check the context in which Mark Mohr describes himself as a leader, using standards which he does not want to apply to that real person of authority: The Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.

“Why do you feel God chose you to plug this gap in Christian music?

Because I am not worthy to. On my own strength, I am the last person in the world that should be singing, much less pioneering this genre of reggae. But this is how God works, He always chooses the most unlikely and undeserving messengers to proclaim His simple message. I believe that God chose a weak person such as myself for this calling to prove to the world that it is Him alone that is strong. God uses the simple things of the world to confound the wise. By no means do I deserve to be a voice in the reggae industry. It is a black music started in the ghetto of Kingston Jamaica. I am a white guy that was raised in one of the richest cities in white suburban America. When I think about this from time to time it makes me laugh! I do not deserve this and should not be doing this. You could find more raw talent in any 10 year old Jamaican boy than in me. But once again, this is how God works. I believe that he chose me so that He would receive all of the glory. One look at the Bible and you will realize that this is how he chooses leaders; from Moses who was a murderer with a speech impediment to King David who was an unlikely shepherd. (Pastor, ed.) God must get the glory at all times-- I pray that my life gives him the glory that He deserves.

Why do you feel so many people get hooked into Christafarianism?

Our music is original and unlike anything out there in the Christian industry. This unique roots sound cannot be replaced by the latest industry manufactured pop sensation that is on the cover of CCM. We have created our own culture within our fan base. And these fans are diehard. We may not have a huge crowd every night when we are out on tour, but the ones that come truly understand what we are trying to accomplish and often drive as far as 5 states away just to fellowship with us and praise God through reggae music.

I think that they also sense the authenticity in our spirits. We include the Word of God in all of our songs and clearly proclaim the gospel at all of our shows. We minister to the people after each show and are usually the last ones to leave the venue. They see the fruits of our ministry and want to give us long-term support. [10].”

I’ve underlined a few words in the above quote, that seem to indicate some of the particular groups that Mark Mohr considers himself a “person of authority” or “leader”  over. These are the “Christian Industry”, the “fan-base”, and more generally “the people who are ministered to and give long time support in exchange”.

On other places, Mark Mohr clearly states that he considers himself a “pastor” over “my mission field, the artists that we sign”.[11]

Quite a kingdom!

However, Mark Mohr has to turn to contradictional and hermeutically poor teaching when it comes to describing his “Pastorship”. For it is a fact, that the function Mark Mohr describes for himself is an unbiblical one.

This is what he writes about his own position:

“According to the scriptures, there are four authorities that all must be obedient to: God, the government, pastors, and parents. (...) An equally important authority to which we must be submissive is our pastor and spiritual leader. The author of the book of Hebrews states; "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you" (Hebrews 13:17). These spiritual leaders can be the greatest examples in a Christian's life because they have studied the word of God and can challenge others to "imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7b).”[12]

The kind of teachings as quoted above are disastrous. They are false teachings, and rely on wrong translations that have so many inner contradictions that many think the bible contradicts itself.

And for Christafari, even these translations have to be taken heavily out of context in order to proof his point of authority. For the writer of Hebrews speaks about elders in the church. Mark Mohr doesn’t.

You will not find a “Christian Industry” in the Bible. You will not read in the Bible about “plugging gaps in industries”. You will not read in the Bible how Paulus or even King David was “ministering” to “fans”. You will not read how Paulus and King David created their own culture to raise “long term support”.

You will not read in the bible, how you have to “obey” someone who calls himself a “pastor” because someone else who was also called pastor has “ordained” him.

But you will read it on the Christafari Website...

When you dig deeper you will find many shocking examples of the practical work-out of this corruption of the message of the Bible.

But before we do that, let’s take a closer look at what the Bible teaches.

Because, the mess that comes from Lion of Zion and Christafari is so far away from any sound biblical theology that it’s a spiritually danger for those who look upon Mark Mohr as a “man of god” and consider his teachings to be edifiable.

We will now see why Mark Mohr likes to challenge people to “imitate his faith”, but not to test his teachings. We will do so by testing his teachings.

Mark Mohr calls himself a “pastor” and claims that “all” have to “obey” him. As we have seen, he was “ordained” by “someone of authority (other than himself)” too.

Now look at what the Bible teaches about that:

“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph 4:11,v)

Here we have the first three unbiblical points in the “Lion of Zion” organization.

First, there is not a mention of “being ordained by another person of authority” here. It is the Most High Himself, Who “ordains”. Mark Mohr bases his function on the fact that Bob Beeman “ordained” him.

Second, There are “some”, not “one”. Mark Mohr is a “single” Pastor. He doesn’t work together with other pastors, he is the sole leader, the monarch if you will, in his kingdom. The one and only “leader” of “Christian Reggae”.

I just have to refer to the words that Bob Beeman wrote about Mark Mohr:

“We fully support Marks ministry.  He is officially an ordained Sanctuary pastor.  But in our organization, we are not a denomination. In other words, we do not have a structure that each must adhere to. Mark is free to do whatever he feels is best for his band and for the Christafari ministry. Our "connection" is one of support and encouragement”[13]

Mark Mohr himself takes this unbiblical “mission tripping” to a next level:

In 2003-2004 my wife Avion and I lived in her home country of Trinidad and planted a church together called "The Gathering." This ministry is still going strong today under my guidance and the leadership of a great friend Brenton Cherrie.[14]

Third, the pastors (multiple) are not ordained to plug gaps in industries and to be “obeyed by all”, they are there for one reason only: to serve the Church of Yesus Kristos. Not the Christian Industry, not “the artists that we sign”, not “the fans”, and so definitely not “all”!

Yesus Kristos Himself made this very, very clear too:

Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, [even] Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.  (Mat 23:10-12)

Have you ever heard about a “servant” who claims that “all” have to “obey” him? Have you ever heard about a “servant” who claims that his position is actually one of “authority”?

Well, maybe you did. But that One isn’t called Mark Mohr. That One is called Yesus Kristos, the Head of the church, Who really has to be obeyed by all! And Yesus Kristos cleary states so, Himself.

Wait a minute, I hear some say. Isn’t a “master” something else then a “pastor”? well, then I gladly refer to the fact that Pastor means “Shepherd”, and that the definition Mark Mohr gives to being a Pastor is in fact the same as being a Master.

Mark Mohr claims to have at least the the following titles: Leader, Founder, President, and the widely covered “Pastor”.

Yesus Kristos clearly states to ones like Mark Mohr: “Do Not Call Yourself Leader, Founder, President, Pastor, for One Is the Pastor”! Yesus Kristos said of Himself, that He is the Good Shepherd or Pastor. And the bible is very clear to “pastors” or shepherds. Look at these words from the Apostle Petrus:

The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over [God's] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (1Pe 5:1-4)

Now here we have even more points of which you can say that the Lion of Zion organization can never stand the biblical test, even when we forget how they apply Scriptures about the Christian Church to their business or “ministry”.

You see, that there is an interchangable use of “Pastor”, “Elder” and “Shepherd”. There is no mention of “being ordained”. Although it is true that the early apostles appointed certain leaders in certain local churches, they were not Officially Ordained Pastors. Petrus didn’t ordain anyone. He simply stayed with Yesus Kristos and became an elder among younger believers. That’s all.

Elder, or “bishop”, simply means: “a little longer experienced”. Nothing more. Nothing special either. And you can not be ordained to be elder or more experienced. You simply have to stay with JAH and grow up in righteousness. And the elder you will become, the less claims of authority you want to make concerning yourself.

Petrus brings an even deeper revelation about the unbiblical nature of the Christafari “Ministry”. For where he first makes sure that the “Pastors” are merely members of the church who are a little bit longer on the way, he continues to reveal that this group of people that we call “the church” is “the flock of JAH”.

Mark Mohr quoted the book of Hebrews (in an even more questionable translation than the King James Version) and said how he was to be seen as an “example”. So when you are in doubt that these scriptures are all about elders in the church and nothing else, think again.

There is not a mention of “authority”. Compare Mark Mohr’s claims how “all have to obey” him with Petrus’ remark to such people “not to lord over Jah’s heritage”: not to lead but to feed, and realize the blasphemic nature of all these claims of authority.

Mohr himself rather points out to Hebrews 13:7 while using a translation where it says “leader”. 

Does the Bible contradict itself, then? Can you pick and choose any text you wish to make your point? Of course not. But when you want to make unbiblical claims, it sure helps to pick and choose your “translation”.

Mark Mohr used a Bible translation which spoke about “leaders”, but as you can see in this clear words from the apostle Petrus, that word can’t a good translation. The word used in Hebrews 13:7 is hegeomai, and it can mean “person of authority” but also “someone who goes before”. You are an example, when you “go before”.

Now compare “someone who goes before” with “elder” and Petrus’ anti-autoritarian definition of what Mark Mohr gladly calls “leader”.

(..) spiritual leaders can be the greatest examples in a Christian's life because they have studied the word of God and can challenge others to "imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7)[15]

When you closely analyze what it is that Mark Mohr is saying here, it becomes clear how his idea of being an example has everything to do with the definition of a priest. A priest is a “mediator” between man and the Creator. He “knows what’s best” for he has “studied the word of God”.

Here comes the next problem. For when Mark Mohr applies scriptures about Elders chosen by Jah and translates that as Leaders ordained by other Leaders, and when he subsequently explains that leadership in a way which can only be seen as priesthood, what kind of confusion do we have here?

Although it is true that Jah chooses Elders by “simply” preserving them to an older spiritual age, and by that you could speak about a group within a group (elders in the church) it is not so that there is a seperate “class” of “priests” in the Body of Kristos. The apostle Petrus says:

But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9, KJV)

A word which should have been translated as “elder”, is translated as “leader” and interpretated as mediator between man and his God.

No, I wouldn’t consider the example of a “spiritual leader” who just picks verses from the bible, picks a bible translation that suits his needs best, and then totally disregards the complete context of the entire Scripture only to make people “obey” him!

Suppose the verse in Hebrews actually speaks about “leaders who have to be obeyed by all”. How would that relate to the scripture from Petrus? Because both the writer of the piece in Hebrews and Petrus speak about the same group, here.

Mark Mohr would prefer to call them “leaders”. However, these people were not even remotely similar to anything that Mark Mohr claims these verses are for.

Remember, he uses these Bible verses to show how he is a leader in the Christian Industry and all that.

What Petrus describes are not “leaders”. Instead he portrays them as elders, ones who “went before”. The only thing that makes them “lead” is the fact that they are older and (should) therefore (be) more experienced in being humble.

What Mark Mohr claims about himself, has nothing to do with any biblical authority. Only JAH has authority! Petrus calls Him “The Chief Shepherd”, where the elders are merely older sheep among sheep. He explicetly warns the elders against all these things which you can read on the Christafari Website.

In the Greek, there are several different meanings to what is translated as “leader”. We have allready touched that before. When you read the entire Bible, or at least take the context of the complete Bible into this kind of Scriptural hermeneutics, every Bible Scholar will immediatly see which particular definition of the Greek Word applies.

You don’t just pick the definition that suits you best, you have to take the Character of the Writer of the bible, Jah Himself, into context. So when Jah uses a word which is translated as “leader” to describe an elder in the Christian Church, this can never mean “someone who has to be obeyed by all”, and it doesn’t have to either.

For the definition of “someone who went there before” perfectly matches the definition of bishop or elder, which is simply “someone who went there before”. It’s simply someone who has a little bit more experience because he happenned to be on the road a little bit longer. He happens to be a little bit older... That’s all!

It really is a big mess.

Mark Mohr says he is a Pastor over a flock and quotes scriptures. “His flock”, however, is not the christian Church. They’re his “fans”. He claims he is a pastor because another pastor “ordained” him. The Bible, however, says that only JAH ordains.

Mark Mohr claims he can “challenge people to imitate” his “faith”. And he actually does it, too! A whole lot of people try to imitate his faith. He calls them their “fans”. And until recently he called them “Christafarians”.

But when we check the doctrines, the theology, the roots and fruits, neither of these things can stand the biblical test. We saw it allready in the actions that followed the publication of the previous book.

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