OK...we are all familiar with the story of Gideon....particularly in that God whittled his army down to 300 men....but that's not too hard to figure out as God wanted to make sure that the Israelites knew that it was God alone who brought the victory.....and there are other instances in God's Word like this....but why the method of the lapping of the water to pick out those 300 men? Well....there are differing opinions on this....but only one makes sense to me. Those men who just reached down and grabbed some water wanted to keep going. Their mind was on the business at hand. The bulk of evangelicals today would be as those who kneel to drink....particularly as it relates to Donald Trump. They think that they're on a mission. I listen to them call in to radio programs and its the exact same language as it was in 2016....as if nothing has changed....as if we don't have almost three years of a President Trump to weigh....but we were fooled then....we weren't soldiers....we didn't even do any thinking....we just sat down as if at a rally and cheered.....and yes voted. They call us Never-Trumpers....or Deep-Staters and even worse....even though we voted for Trump....and celebrated! There may not be that many of us....but we have thought this through.....and have found the person of Donald Trump severely wanting in fitness for that position. Following someone like this isn't going to bring us victory or even relief. We're tired....I know I'm tired....let them have their rallies....we're not veering off to some mirage....where if there is water it's poisonous....but will drink only from the fountain of living water. Should God have mercy upon us then the eyes of evangelicals and conservatives will be opened to Donald Trump....and Rush Limbaugh. May tomorrow be the Lord's Day that the Holy Spirit moves mightily upon our pulpits to turn us back to Christ and away from lying vanities....that a soberness might return....and a vigilance restored.
We might want to pay attention to President Trump's....what seems to be evolving relationship with Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli ambassador to the United States had requested of President Trump that he release $12 million to Palestinian security services. According to reports....the President's response was typical Donald Trump...."If it's so important for Netanyahu, he should pay the Palestinians $12 million." According to another Israeli newspaper report..."Several weeks ago Netanyahu told cabinet members in a closed-door meeting that US President Trump would not act against Iran until US general elections in November of 2020 at the earliest." It is my contention....and this from reading fifty books on Donald Trump....after voting for him....after celebrating....and after it became apparent in early 2017 that he was not who he said that he was....(the latest book being Donald Trump Jr.'s just released Triggered)....that Donald Trump would turn on anyone....anyone....on a dime....as he did the Kurds....because there is not an ounce of truth or transparency in him. The language....tone....choice of words....used in the first report was troubling. The second report mentioned above shows very clearly that Donald Trump's reelection is more important to him than any promise....than any threat....and more important than our ally Israel. Evangelicals have been blinded....and bewitched....but they're not quite yet bewildered....and certainly not bothered. There is concern is that support from the Democrats on Israel is waning....but there should also be concern that Donald Trump looks more to the economic relevance and potential of the Middle East....than Israel's security. This is a cold cold man....overflowing with rhetoric....but devoid of principle.
It has been my contention that Christians....evangelicals in particular....have fallen for a false prophet in the church....but more accurately 'to' the church....in Donald Trump....as he tells us constantly....using the imprimatur of 'God'.....never 'Jesus'.....(I've only heard him use the name Jesus once)....that things are going to be better than they ever have....that we are "one glorious nation under God".....which we are not....and that we are going to keep 'winning...winning...winning"....and that..."the best is yet to come"....when the Christian with even the slightest bit of discernment should know that this world and our nation are heading to a showdown with Almighty God. This whole MAGA campaign has been an affront to what God has made very clear to us. It has been pure arrogance to think that economic and governmental and military issues somehow assuaged our guilt from the culture and society and greed and self-centeredness and increasing rebellion and indifference to a call to be a peculiar people that has been our calling card for almost an entire century. We've come to the point that we have become like Donald Trump of whom our dependence is now solidly anchored. Speaking to the Christian here....this nonsense of Donald Trump being a modern day Jehu has blinded us from....and laid the groundwork for....the manipulations of a false prophet. Dates and time periods and events have become our of method of interpreting Scripture as it all centered around us....and our view of exceptionalism....and not Christ. The way is no longer narrow....but wide....its width subject to the effectiveness of rallies and tweets and polls. Our pulpits have let us down....failing to see that they are susceptible as anyone in the pews. "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour"....this warning (1 Peter 5:8) has long since been discarded in our determination to find a prince that will restore that which God said He will then tear down again. There is a call to repentance on us....not a call to make America great again. We have all fallen sway to the lures of this world....and to nationalism....of which none of us in this arena are exempt. May God not fulfill our desires....but change our desires....for His name's sake....and for His glory not ours.
Note: In case you are not familiar with it....the latest Christian book best-sellers....Jonathan Cahn's The Paradigm and The Oracle....have convinced evangelicals that God has politically endorsed Donald Trump.
IT'S TIME TO FALL ON OUR KNEES.....THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE ARE DOING!
Somewhere between Frank Sinatra's....'I Did It My Way'....to set the people up.....and the Rolling Stones'...."You Can't Always Get What You Want"....to send them home....and in between referencing God often....and asking at one point how many people of faith were in the arena....while often embellishing and at times lying....President Trump concluded his Kentucky rally with his usual...."We are going to continue winning....winning....winning".... in this...."One glorious nation under God"....and that...."the best is yet to come." Brothers and sisters in Christ.....the epistle of Jude comes to mind....where someone creeps in unnoticed amongst the brethren....pronouncing judgment....."one-way ticket to hell'....and rushing "headlong into the errors of Balaam"....a hidden reef.....caring for himself....causing divisions.....worldly-minded...."arrogantly flattering people for the sake of gaining advantage." When someone....Donald Trump in this case.....gives the church a false prophesy....again and again and again....one such that Ezekiel warned of...."they have misled My people by saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace...."....then is it not ours to.....as Jude implores....."contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."?
President Trump needs to resign....to let the Republican Party pick another candidate....and that will only happen if those in the Congress tell him behind closed doors that enough is enough....thank him if they want....but tell him to please step aside....not so much that we could find another candidate....important as that is....but more so that we might clear our heads....and once again see how far as a people we have fallen. Folks....Kanye West...Hip Hop....I really haven't a clue on this music....but I'll tell you what I do have a clue one....I forget the year....the artist is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame....it was in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena....that lost power to the lights for a little while.....to pass time the singer threw his sneakers into the crowd of worshipers who rushed for them like the Carp after bread at Pennsylvania's Pymatuning spillway....and he then told a few stories.....and led the entire audience in chants of 'Thank you Jesus'....and I'm sure that I shouted along. This is how weak we can be merely over entertainers and showmen....and really....nothing demonstrates this better than how we fell hook, line and sinker for the mother-of-all reality shows....and the greatest showman in America....Donald Trump.
It was a blessed morning.....Saturday....320 calories and 3.6 miles on the treadmill.....and a sermon by John MacArthur on the headphones titled An Appeal To Charismatic Pretenders. (You can easily Google this) The blessing was in the sermon but the exercise helped. I encourage you to somehow incorporate sermons from men who preach like men from the past into what may be your very busy schedules. You know what you might find out? You may wind up trying to incorporate those busy things into your schedule around hearing the Word of God.
In 1988 I attended an $100 a plate dinner in Pittsburgh for Pat Robertson's campaign for president. I certainly did not know it at the time but I was just a grassroots pawn in a huge and powerful somewhat secretive networking conservative organization called the Council for National Policy....the good guys....as opposed to the Council on Foreign Relations....the bad guys. Robertson, Falwell, Dobson, and dozens more names that we here would all be familiar with....along with big conservative names like Richard Viguerie and Paul Weyrich...were building a conservative/Christian base that would in theory return America to its roots. This is all well and good so far. These issues....abortion, the family etc....are all our issues....we're on the right side of the issues....but we were....and still are today....necessary soldiers for political conservatism....but not necessarily soldiers for Christ at all. As I was looking at the names of the group of evangelical leaders who were praying over President Trump the other day in the White House....I saw leaders of organizations and megachurches....(magachurches?)....but it was as if I was looking at representatives of a political party....not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Political campaigns today want megachurch pastors and presidents of activist organizations who can storm the bulwarks of the progressive left to win America back to God.....or so they say.....but that's not in reality the case.....we may win America back to conservative politics....but Jesus may still look at us and say....."depart from Me....I never knew you." There is not much I can say in a 'preface'....even a long 'preface' like this....on a topic such as this....but it may strike a chord with some who have wondered why many of these Christian organizations....and even churches....seem more political than Christian....and answer the question that the mainstream media has been scratching its head on for four years now....'How can evangelicals support someone like Donald Trump?
I mentioned above that I just read Donald Trump Jr.'s book Triggered...How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us. I don't have any ill-feelings for Don Jr. primarily because I feel sorry for him that Donald Sr. is his father. As for the book....it was like reading the transcript of Donald Jr. on a conservative talk radio show....where for almost three years now.....having abandoned honest investigative conversation....these talk show hosts spend three hours a day on non-stop spin in favor of the President....totally ignoring and obscuring everything else. Don Jr. did the same thing in his book which as I said.....did not read as a book.....but as a transcript.
We might want to pay attention to President Trump's....what seems to be evolving relationship with Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli ambassador to the United States had requested of President Trump that he release $12 million to Palestinian security services. According to reports....the President's response was typical Donald Trump...."If it's so important for Netanyahu, he should pay the Palestinians $12 million." According to another Israeli newspaper report..."Several weeks ago Netanyahu told cabinet members in a closed-door meeting that US President Trump would not act against Iran until US general elections in November of 2020 at the earliest." It is my contention....and this from reading fifty books on Donald Trump....after voting for him....after celebrating....and after it became apparent in early 2017 that he was not who he said that he was....(the latest book being Donald Trump Jr.'s just released Triggered)....that Donald Trump would turn on anyone....anyone....on a dime....as he did the Kurds....because there is not an ounce of truth or transparency in him. The language....tone....choice of words....used in the first report was troubling. The second report mentioned above shows very clearly that Donald Trump's reelection is more important to him than any promise....than any threat....and more important than our ally Israel. Evangelicals have been blinded....and bewitched....but they're not quite yet bewildered....and certainly not bothered. There is concern is that support from the Democrats on Israel is waning....but there should also be concern that Donald Trump looks more to the economic relevance and potential of the Middle East....than Israel's security. This is a cold cold man....overflowing with rhetoric....but devoid of principle.
It has been my contention that Christians....evangelicals in particular....have fallen for a false prophet in the church....but more accurately 'to' the church....in Donald Trump....as he tells us constantly....using the imprimatur of 'God'.....never 'Jesus'.....(I've only heard him use the name Jesus once)....that things are going to be better than they ever have....that we are "one glorious nation under God".....which we are not....and that we are going to keep 'winning...winning...winning"....and that..."the best is yet to come"....when the Christian with even the slightest bit of discernment should know that this world and our nation are heading to a showdown with Almighty God. This whole MAGA campaign has been an affront to what God has made very clear to us. It has been pure arrogance to think that economic and governmental and military issues somehow assuaged our guilt from the culture and society and greed and self-centeredness and increasing rebellion and indifference to a call to be a peculiar people that has been our calling card for almost an entire century. We've come to the point that we have become like Donald Trump of whom our dependence is now solidly anchored. Speaking to the Christian here....this nonsense of Donald Trump being a modern day Jehu has blinded us from....and laid the groundwork for....the manipulations of a false prophet. Dates and time periods and events have become our of method of interpreting Scripture as it all centered around us....and our view of exceptionalism....and not Christ. The way is no longer narrow....but wide....its width subject to the effectiveness of rallies and tweets and polls. Our pulpits have let us down....failing to see that they are susceptible as anyone in the pews. "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour"....this warning (1 Peter 5:8) has long since been discarded in our determination to find a prince that will restore that which God said He will then tear down again. There is a call to repentance on us....not a call to make America great again. We have all fallen sway to the lures of this world....and to nationalism....of which none of us in this arena are exempt. May God not fulfill our desires....but change our desires....for His name's sake....and for His glory not ours.
Note: In case you are not familiar with it....the latest Christian book best-sellers....Jonathan Cahn's The Paradigm and The Oracle....have convinced evangelicals that God has politically endorsed Donald Trump.
IT'S TIME TO FALL ON OUR KNEES.....THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE ARE DOING!
Somewhere between Frank Sinatra's....'I Did It My Way'....to set the people up.....and the Rolling Stones'...."You Can't Always Get What You Want"....to send them home....and in between referencing God often....and asking at one point how many people of faith were in the arena....while often embellishing and at times lying....President Trump concluded his Kentucky rally with his usual...."We are going to continue winning....winning....winning".... in this...."One glorious nation under God"....and that...."the best is yet to come." Brothers and sisters in Christ.....the epistle of Jude comes to mind....where someone creeps in unnoticed amongst the brethren....pronouncing judgment....."one-way ticket to hell'....and rushing "headlong into the errors of Balaam"....a hidden reef.....caring for himself....causing divisions.....worldly-minded...."arrogantly flattering people for the sake of gaining advantage." When someone....Donald Trump in this case.....gives the church a false prophesy....again and again and again....one such that Ezekiel warned of...."they have misled My people by saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace...."....then is it not ours to.....as Jude implores....."contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."?
President Trump needs to resign....to let the Republican Party pick another candidate....and that will only happen if those in the Congress tell him behind closed doors that enough is enough....thank him if they want....but tell him to please step aside....not so much that we could find another candidate....important as that is....but more so that we might clear our heads....and once again see how far as a people we have fallen. Folks....Kanye West...Hip Hop....I really haven't a clue on this music....but I'll tell you what I do have a clue one....I forget the year....the artist is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame....it was in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena....that lost power to the lights for a little while.....to pass time the singer threw his sneakers into the crowd of worshipers who rushed for them like the Carp after bread at Pennsylvania's Pymatuning spillway....and he then told a few stories.....and led the entire audience in chants of 'Thank you Jesus'....and I'm sure that I shouted along. This is how weak we can be merely over entertainers and showmen....and really....nothing demonstrates this better than how we fell hook, line and sinker for the mother-of-all reality shows....and the greatest showman in America....Donald Trump.
It was a blessed morning.....Saturday....320 calories and 3.6 miles on the treadmill.....and a sermon by John MacArthur on the headphones titled An Appeal To Charismatic Pretenders. (You can easily Google this) The blessing was in the sermon but the exercise helped. I encourage you to somehow incorporate sermons from men who preach like men from the past into what may be your very busy schedules. You know what you might find out? You may wind up trying to incorporate those busy things into your schedule around hearing the Word of God.
In 1988 I attended an $100 a plate dinner in Pittsburgh for Pat Robertson's campaign for president. I certainly did not know it at the time but I was just a grassroots pawn in a huge and powerful somewhat secretive networking conservative organization called the Council for National Policy....the good guys....as opposed to the Council on Foreign Relations....the bad guys. Robertson, Falwell, Dobson, and dozens more names that we here would all be familiar with....along with big conservative names like Richard Viguerie and Paul Weyrich...were building a conservative/Christian base that would in theory return America to its roots. This is all well and good so far. These issues....abortion, the family etc....are all our issues....we're on the right side of the issues....but we were....and still are today....necessary soldiers for political conservatism....but not necessarily soldiers for Christ at all. As I was looking at the names of the group of evangelical leaders who were praying over President Trump the other day in the White House....I saw leaders of organizations and megachurches....(magachurches?)....but it was as if I was looking at representatives of a political party....not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Political campaigns today want megachurch pastors and presidents of activist organizations who can storm the bulwarks of the progressive left to win America back to God.....or so they say.....but that's not in reality the case.....we may win America back to conservative politics....but Jesus may still look at us and say....."depart from Me....I never knew you." There is not much I can say in a 'preface'....even a long 'preface' like this....on a topic such as this....but it may strike a chord with some who have wondered why many of these Christian organizations....and even churches....seem more political than Christian....and answer the question that the mainstream media has been scratching its head on for four years now....'How can evangelicals support someone like Donald Trump?
I mentioned above that I just read Donald Trump Jr.'s book Triggered...How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us. I don't have any ill-feelings for Don Jr. primarily because I feel sorry for him that Donald Sr. is his father. As for the book....it was like reading the transcript of Donald Jr. on a conservative talk radio show....where for almost three years now.....having abandoned honest investigative conversation....these talk show hosts spend three hours a day on non-stop spin in favor of the President....totally ignoring and obscuring everything else. Don Jr. did the same thing in his book which as I said.....did not read as a book.....but as a transcript.
