When I was a little boy, and I know this will date me, I loved watching “The Howdy Doody Show” on TV. Our early 50’s TV had an 11″ screen, so it caused some serious eye strain to see it clearly; but I was hooked. At eight years of age, I had no idea how Howdy could move around and do all that he seemed to be doing. I just knew that I enjoyed the show.
Of course, I knew that Howdy was not real like the other characters, Buffalo Bob and Clarabell the Clown, along with various other humans who appeared on the show; but I still considered Howdy to be somehow…. alive. It was not until a few years later I discovered that Howdy was a marionette puppet, controlled by a person hidden behind a screen, using strings attached to the marionette’s body to cause Howdy’s movements, with a voice speaking for Howdy coming from…. somewhere.
I stopped watching the show altogether as I grew older and more knowledgeable. Even though I still liked the “old-Time Movies” segments and some of the more hilarious skits, knowing that Howdy was not real simply took some of the enjoyment away.
In the case of Howdy Doody and other marionette puppets, the person pulling the puppet’s strings is usually the owner of the puppet, and as such can make the puppet walk, jump, dance and fall down, along with making it seem as though his voice is coming from the puppet’s mouth. The puppet, being only a puppet with no life of its own, has no control over its actions or words. And, being an inanimate object, it is neither inherently good nor evil.
In recent years I have become aware of how real life imitates that which only ‘appears real’.
I am now becoming more aware every day of just how much we see and hear that passes for ‘real’ and ‘legitimate’ in the media, movies, television, and especially politics and religion, is nothing more than the movements of bodies attached to strings with the voices seemingly emanating from somewhere else. However, unlike the physical strings attached to a puppet, the strings used to cause movement and sound from humans are spiritual in nature but are just as powerful, even more so than the ones attached to a marionette.
Much has been written about politicians being controlled by their ‘Puppet masters’, and to a large degree this seems to be the case for a lot of those politicians who were elected to represent their constituents.
Just as in the case of Howdy Doody where the man pulling its strings does not want to be seen, since doing so would spoil the effect of the puppet’s movements on the audience, the real life political puppet masters also want to remain hidden for fear of being exposed as the ‘real powers’ behind their puppets.
Though it can be difficult, nearly impossible, to see the real puppet master, one can determine who they are by doing diligent research.
The hue and cry for researchers looking for the real perpetrators of political malfeasance is always to “follow the money.” This is true because politics, especially in America, is such a lucrative business that there will nearly always be a trail of money from the politician to his or her puppet master.
It is the draw of unearned riches and wealth, not to mention power, that allows various puppet masters to capture the minds and, to a certain extent, the spirits of their puppets.
However, unlike the inanimate marionette puppets such as Howdy Doody, made to walk, jump, dance and fall down by the physical strings attached to their puppet masters, the flesh and blood puppets in the world of politics are there, following the commands of their masters, as the result of choices they’ve made.
These political puppets, whom I describe as the “Marionettes of Darkness,” some of whom have been hiding in plain sight for years masquerading as ‘good people’, are capable of doing tremendous damage to our nation and its citizens by reason of their ability to make and change laws that affect us all. Though elected to represent us and our needs based on the requirements within the US Constitution, these phonies are only there to enrich themselves and their masters.
The only recourse, indeed the Constitutional one, is to first become aware of them and their hidden agendas and then to legally remove them via the ballot box.
Due to the alliances made within their ranks, they protect and cover for each other in a usually covert attempt to thwart those trying to expose them to the world. For this reason, it can be very difficult to rid ourselves of them. However, the effort must be made and, if successful, the nation can benefit by it.
Now, is politics the only arena where Marionettes of Darkness are at work?
Of course not, and we are now seeing the effect of the exposure of some of them whose real, dark motives are being brought to light. This is true of the entertainment world and the sports world. In both of these cases, the root cause of their dark acts is the lure of money and power and the ability to use them to gain control over people.
Many men have now been accused of sexual misbehavior by using their positions of power to control those who placed some level of trust in them. It is good that these evil persons are being exposed for who they really are. If they are indeed innocent, as most of them claim, they will have the opportunity to establish their innocence in a court of law.
Politicians and entertainers, at least those whose goals are to gain power and then use that power for evil, all have one thing in common: their puppet master.
Even though there may appear to be many humans who are controlling these puppets from behind the scenes, all are ultimately under the control of THE puppet master, Satan. He will use whomever will allow him to gain control over their lives, usually through the promise of money, power and fame. And he is a master of deception and lies.
Even though there are many who succumb to Satan’s promises and experience a certain level of success via the money and power they have gained, there is no guarantee that they will maintain the level of success they may have reached. After all, Satan only uses them to further his wickedness and, in fact, he hates them as much as he does any Christian person.
They may be temporarily successful in their evil pursuits, but when reality sets in that their false gods of money and power have failed them, and they need the only True Living God, their money and power will not save them. For most of them it will be too late.
There is another arena, possibly the most important one, where the Marionettes of Darkness seem to flourish, especially in view of the time in which we live, and that is the arena of religion.
I am not talking about Christianity, because the agenda and ultimate goal of ‘true Christianity’ is not about ‘religion’, rather it is about spreading and establishing the Gospel of Redemption—the Truth of God’s Word: The reality of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the fact that Jesus is the only Way to reach the Father (John 14:6 KJV).
This is the agenda that Jesus established by instruction to His disciples before He ascended to the Father, and it has remained so for nearly 2,000 years since. It has been successful in establishing the Church, the Body of Christ – NOT religion – on the earth and will continue to be successful until the Church is taken home to be with the Lord.
However, does this success mean that every person claiming to be a minister of the Gospel is real and genuine, a true disciple of Christ?
Unfortunately, no. There have been, and continue to be, many in positions of authority and responsibility throughout the religious world whose real goal and agenda is to become rich and powerful.
Just as he did in the Garden of Eden, Satan will use his power of persuasion, immersed in his lies and deception and combined with his authority over the kingdoms of this world (Luke 4:5-7) to turn the hearts of good Christian men and women away from God to follow him. As he is successful, he adds another name, or names, to his list of Marionettes of Darkness who, having sold their souls for money, power and/or fame, now walk, jump, dance and speak as he pulls their strings.
As they continue to serve Satan, their puppet master, in many cases they become wildly successful and live in the lap of luxury with every creature comfort known to man. Now, I have nothing against any person, even a minister of the gospel, having wealth, but a lot against those whose ‘desire’ is to be rich.
The Apostle Paul spoke much about this situation in I Timothy 6:9. The man Paul describes here is a person whose will is “to be rich,” and he states that those who pursue such a goal “will fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition” (I Timothy 6:9).
It is certainly not difficult to see that there have been many such Marionettes of Darkness in the religious world, some with well-known names and large, prominent, indeed international ministries, whose desire for money and power has caused them to stray from their callings and, more importantly, leads many to destruction. Unless they realize their error, repent and seek God’s forgiveness, they will end up like those Paul described in his letter to Timothy. No amount of money, power and fame is worth losing one’s soul.
I’m sure there are some who accepted Satan’s lies and received their success from him who have not yet been exposed, and indeed may not be exposed until the end. Some of these are very good at keeping their evil deeds hidden from public scrutiny.
But Jesus told us, “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have” (Luke 8:16-18).
We have the assurance that all things now done in secret will be uncovered and exposed to the Light.
So, how does one ever know who is true and who is not? It may be impossible to ever uncover all the bad ones, but the Bible gives some instruction for us in this area.
The apostle John said, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (I John 4:1).
Great, but how exactly do we “try the spirits?”
Since man is a being capable of expressing his thoughts and intents through his words, one must listen to the words of a person and then judge them against the Word of God.
We are told in Matthew 12:37, “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
If one listens to any person long enough and in enough situations, the person’s true intent will be heard. Just as important as a person’s words are his actions. If his actions or deeds do not match his words, a certain wariness around that person might be warranted. The Holy Spirit will also bear witness with your spirit if you are listening for Him to guide you.
Until a person has shown himself true to the Word of God, it would not be wise to place any trust or confidence in him. Too many Christians, especially new and untrained ones, make sudden decisions without knowing whether they are biblically correct. This is especially true concerning financial decisions when giving to ministries, or even tithing to any church. Tithing and giving are definitely encouraged by God, and every Christian should do both, but only after thoroughly vetting any minister or church organization.
Money is one of the most discussed topics in the Bible, and God expects that His children will be, or become, wise when making financial decisions. I also encourage every believer to become a tither and to give generously to the poor, but only after determining, to the extent possible, that the recipient is not a Marionette of Darkness.
This is a link to my earlier article entitled “The Love of Money.” In it you may find additional information to help: https://www.raptureready.com/2016/09/06/the-love-of-money-by-bud-hancock/