Greg Lehner has a day job, and it isn’t in leading any religious group.
Lehner is a full time sales representative with EMS Partners in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. EMS Partners describes itself as “a trusted manufacturer’s representative that is dedicated to matching OEM, C&I, Outdoor Lighting, and Energy customers with the products and services they need”.
EMS Partners is not a church.
The only time Greg Lehner has ever been mentioned as a religious leader is in one announcement by one organization, a Christian extremist group called Yasha Ministries.
The brief announcement declared that “Pastor Lehner is an anointed speaker. He will be teaching on the Holy Spirit and His gifts to God’s people.” Lehner gave two lectures, one on Friday evening, May 21, 2021, and another the following afternoon.
That’s it. There is no evidence that “Pastor” Greg Lehner has ever done any other pastoring than giving two lectures on one weekend three years ago.
Yasha Ministries referred to Lehner as “Pastor Greg Lehner - Global Destiny Builders”. What is Global Destiny Builders, though?
Search for Global Destiny Builders, and you won’t find much. It turns out that Lehner’s Global Destiny Builders is neither global, nor building anything, nor destined.
CauseIQ reveals that Global Destiny Builders was set up as a charity by Greg Lehner in 2018. The last time it filed taxes was two years ago, which indicates that it isn’t active any more. The organization has only taken in a few thousand dollars, and probably all of that was provided by Greg Lehner himself. The assets of Global Destiny Builders are only $2,964. Global Destiny Builders has never had any employees.
It looks like Global Destiny Builders was an idea that Greg Lehner got that never went much of anywhere, except as a platform to give two lectures to a Christian extremist group three years ago.
On this quite thin basis, the Trump for President campaign has declared Greg Lehner to be a “pastor” and a “faith leader”.
To be fair, there was also that declaration by Yasha Ministries that Greg Lehner is “an anointed speaker”. No qualifications are required to become an anointed speaker, though. All that’s required is for one Christian preacher to say that someone else is anointed, and presto, that person becomes anointed.
Yasha Ministries uses violent language to motivate loyalty among its followers, urging them to “join in the battle that is being waged for the souls of men and women” and promising vengeance against non-Christians, saying, “Victory brings salvation. In salvation we are avenged upon our enemies.”
Luckily for the rest of us, who don’t want to suffer under Yasha Ministries’ avenging, victory doesn’t seem to be coming any time soon for the organization. Last year, Yasha leaders announced that the organization was “temporarily closed”, and would be selling its headquarters.
Like Global Destiny Builders, Yasha Ministries seems to have been mostly hot air.
These are not the kind of organizations a presidential campaign should be proud to be associated with.
Greg Lehner is listed by the Trump for President campaign as a “pastor” in Linn County, Iowa.
There is no church in Linn County, however, that lists Greg Lehner as its pastor.
So, what exactly would it mean for Greg Lehner to be a pastor?
The role of a pastor is metaphorical. It’s derived from the concept of being a pastoralist, a herder of grazing livestock out in the pastures.
In this metaphor, the pastor is supposed to be directing people where to go, for their own good, as if they are herd animals who need to be told what to do.
The thing is, Greg Lehner doesn’t appear to have any people that he’s being a pastor to. There’s no evidence that he has anyone following his directions. He’s lacking a flock.
Many people have a difficult time understanding why some Christians are such fervent devotees of Donald Trump. To grasp what motivates Trump Christians, it’s essential to look at what they actually say and do.
In the new book Donald Trump’s Army of God, authors Clifford and Anise Cook provide a case study of Christian Nationalism in the Iowa Faith Leader Coalition.
Instead of speculating, they looked at the evidence available to the public, and found murder, terrorism, a lust for religious war, fraud, corruption, bigotry, demons and Nazi propaganda surfing through the minds of Donald Trump’s Christian supporters in Iowa.
It’s a bizarre realm of faith-based fascism, but we can’t just dismiss it. In 2024, more than ever, we need to take this strange movement seriously.
The Iowa Faith Leader Coalition is a radical political organization that violates American law
Let’s learn more about the extremist Christian Nationalists who are members of Donald Trump’s Iowa Faith Leader Coalition.