On May 16, 2025, the White House officially announced the appointment of two controversial figures to President Donald Trump Names Advisory Board Members to the Religious Liberty Commission: Ismail Royer and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, co-founder of Zaytuna College.

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Ismail Royer, currently serving as the Director of the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team at the Religious Freedom Institute, has a complex history. In 2003, he pleaded guilty to weapons charges related to assisting the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and served over a decade in prison. Since his release, Royer has worked with various nonprofit organizations to promote interfaith dialogue and religious freedom.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf is a prominent American Islamic scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College, the first accredited Muslim liberal arts college in the United States. He has been recognized for his efforts in promoting classical Islamic learning and interfaith understanding. Yusuf has also served as an advisor to the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union and was a member of the State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights during the first Trump administration.

These appointments have stirred concern across multiple sectors. According to an official release by the White House on May 16, 2025, Ismail Royer and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf were formally named as members of the new Advisory Board of Lay Leaders (Source: whitehouse.gov). Meanwhile, coverage by the Times of India highlighted Royer’s past involvement with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) training camps in Pakistan, citing his 2003 conviction and later advocacy work as part of the context surrounding his selection (Source: Times of India).

It is important to reflect that what is being called the ‘Religious Liberty Commission’ could, in practice, become a vehicle for spiritual compromise — a platform that ushers in not liberty, but bondage. If not guarded carefully, it risks enabling the very destruction of the Judeo-Christian values upon which America was founded. In the name of inclusion, we may be witnessing the erosion of truth.

I remember clearly our dark spiritual drought in Europe during the 1990s, especially in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where I lived for 33 years. I was only 30 years old. During that time, ecumenism swept across Europe. The only nourishment we had came from American preachers via TBN. But then came the spread of mosques, the dilution of doctrine, and the persecution of those who dared to preach the gospel to Muslims.

I was among them. As a theology graduate, I taught classes at Albeda College in world religions—until the subject was renamed ‘levensbeschouwing’ (view on life), and I was forced to teach all religions equally. It was no longer about truth, but about appeasement. The terror of radical Islam began to grow from within, dressed in polished suits, well-funded, and socially accepted. The mayor became a Muslim. Society shifted.

We evangelicals fought for an evangelical school and eventually won — but by then, the church was weakened. We were losing youth to Islam, drawn not by faith but by the money, glamour, and influence of Gulf oil oligarchs and UAE propaganda. We saw Dutch, German, and Scandinavian young men and women — beautiful, bright, and full of promise — converting to Islam, seduced by its structure, discipline, and false promises of belonging and purpose.

We European leaders and the Church fell into the trap — not being watchful, and thinking it was a good and amazing thing to reach the Muslims for Christ. But in our zeal, we compromised, and we failed. We underestimated the spiritual battle and overestimated our influence. May America not fail the same way.

And among the prominent names on this commission is Pastor Jentezen Franklin — a man whose voice once echoed across Europe, bringing hope and clarity through the TBN broadcasts during some of our darkest spiritual years. Many of us were strengthened by his boldness and love for the Word.

We, as European leaders, once believed that we could influence from within — that our presence would bring light. But instead, many were slowly drawn into compromise.

I speak to my fellow pastors in Europe from that generation — they understand. But in America, they are not listening.

We are witnessing a convergence: a compromised America elevating controversial voices, even as Israel fights for its prophetic survival.

I have seen this unfold in Europe and the UK — the rise of so-called ‘ecumenism,’ which often dilutes the gospel under the guise of unity. It is now one of the strongest ideological pillars influencing the White House. This is not true spiritual reconciliation; it is a counterfeit unity that weakens the Church’s prophetic voice.

However, we must not forget the values upon which America was founded — values that defend biblical truth and uphold the Judeo-Christian principles that shaped the very fabric of this nation. These are values that honor God, uphold truth, and recognize the covenant God made with Israel. The erosion of these foundations places not just America, but the world, at spiritual risk.

“Gideon’s Chariots” Has Begun

Simultaneously, Israeli forces have launched a major offensive operation in Gaza and northern sectors—known as Operation Gideon’s Chariots. This operation has mobilized tens of thousands of reservists across the nation. These are not just soldiers—they are sons, fathers, and daughters being summoned for a time such as this.

The name is no accident. Gideon, in Scripture, led a small remnant against overwhelming odds—not with human strength, but by the command of the Lord. These modern chariots are not merely tanks and aircraft—they are prophetic instruments of divine purpose.

The war on the ground is intensifying. The war in the spirit is far deeper.

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This article was originally published at Koenig World Watch Daily. Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian.