And Then He Came For Us......Our pulpits knew that 2016 candidate Donald Trump was a despicable individual....using evangelicals....but they said nothing as he bullied his way to the nomination....they witnessed high numbers of evangelicals worshiping him at rallies.....but said nothing....they saw these same evangelicals save him time and again from impeachments....but said nothing....they lived through a pandemic of biblical proportions....which they should have recognized as judgement from God....but was laughed at by evangelicals....and continued to say nothing....they watched in horror with the rest of us....January 6, 2021....and then saw the same evangelicals turned into vigilantes....ready to hang anyone who did not bow down to their new savior....and the pulpits said nothing....and now....with their own Bibles filled with warnings on just such a man....they amazingly continue to say nothing....and when Trump....if we even have the time....would eventually come to get us....no longer having need of evangelical support....it would be far too late to say anything.
The Only Thing Necessary For The Triumph Of Evil....Is For Good Men To Do Nothing" We in conservatism have been quoting this for decades....O how we love to use the phrase! Edmund Burke may have said or written these words.....or he may not have. President Kennedy used the quote back in 1961. What is most amazing here is that it is almost a mantra of ours in conservatism.....but after Donald Trump deceived us in 2016....and six years of rolling carnage followed in the Republican Party and in evangelicalism because of our being taken in.....right up to today....we constant quoters of this supposed Edmund Burke quote.....did nothing! Most in the party....other than the Trump true believers....have admitted for a long time now that Trump is a disturbed individual....yet they refuse to say anything....but they still like to use the quote?
Christian Nationalism....the new gospel....We were traveling this past week so we heard an unfamiliar preacher from the pulpit....and there was a warning given in the sermon....not a warning to examine ourselves....or that God's judgment was here....but that we in America were losing our liberties. Christian Nationalism is the new gospel today....subtle at times such as the sermon I mentioned.....but overt at other times. We do not need Christ at this time of dire emergency....what we need are at least two of the three branches of our government....preferably all three....and let truth and integrity stay out of the way in attaining that goal if it knows what is good for it! Folks....we will indeed lose our liberties some day soon....but it will be because we in this present darkness....valued those liberties....more than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Born Again....Charles Colson and Jeb Stuart Magruder both served Watergate prison sentences....and both were born again as a result of the mistakes they made in politics. This time period....(the late 70s)....was the beginning of an explosive movement of people all across America becoming....born again. May God....if it be His will....do the same thing with all of these people around Trump who claim to be Christian....wearing crosses and yakking it up on Christian TV programs....but are clueless and naive on having missed a genuine biblical false prophet....and became more like him….then he influenced by them.
Mickey Mantle....Pete Maravich....and Jesus Christ....The saying is usually attributed to Mickey Mantle but it goes further back...."If I had known that I was going to live this long....I would have taken better care of myself." Pete Maravich was born about eight miles from where I'm typing right now. He became a Christian later in life....born again....I shouldn't have to add that....but I do. He said once that he wished that all the time in his life that he dedicated to basketball....he had dedicated to the Bible. He died in 1988 on a basketball court.....in a pickup game.....James Dobson present. As Bobby Richardson tells it....his friend Mantle had taken a turn for the worse in the disease that killed him....and the former Yankee second baseman....a Christian....took a plane out to see Mantle. He was going to lay it on the line....but Mantle called him over right away and told him...."I can't wait to tell you this. I want you to know I'm a Christian. I've accepted Christ as my Savior." Richardson cried a little.....but asked Mantle...."Mickey let me go over it a little bit with you to make sure you understand." Oh....memories of stories like this. We don't want to be the soul who when standing before the Lord of Glory....and gazing rapturously upon His glory....would think...."If I had known how glorious the Lord Jesus really was....I would have dedicated my life to seeing Him in His Word."
Steve McQueen....CBN has a story out right now that I would like to relate. It had been reported for many years now how Steve McQueen came to faith in Jesus Christ before he died in 1980. Greg Laurie decided to research that a little....and here is a short synopsis....a pastor was involved in evangelizing the actor....who as we all know developed an aggressive cancer. He somehow met with Billy Graham before going to Mexico for surgery....who gave him his personal Bible. Greg Laurie had confirmed this story years ago with Billy Graham. Steve McQueen had the surgery....and was left alone in the waiting room....and died there....holding on to Billy Graham's Bible. This quote is attributed to him after coming to faith in Jesus Christ...."My only regret in life is that I was not able to tell people about what Jesus Christ did for me."
"And You Shall Be Called By A New Name That The Mouth Of The LORD Will Give...." (Isaiah 62:2) Our government is in the process of attempting to change the names of military forts that were named for confederate generals....Benning and Bragg and Hood for instance. My last duty station was Fort Bragg....and confederate general Braxton Bragg never even came to mind.....for when I think of Bragg....I think of the 82nd Airborne....(of which I was not a part.) I do not even know who Fort Dix was named after....where I had my basic....or Fort Devens....where I had my training. What is going on with these name changes is close to insanity....or 'madness'....as the dictionary defines insanity. They can change the name of Bragg to Fort Liberty....(how absurd)....but they will never change it in my mind.....just as it will always be to me....Saigon....and not its new name....a name I refuse to even pronounce. They can take down all the statues that they want. It means little. Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson would not want his name on any equestrian monuments....for he would care only that his name were written in the....Lamb's Book Of Life....of which no power on earth can erase a name once it had been written down....which in biblical truth is before the earth was even created.
