I’ve been talking about Resurgence, so why divergence today to what might seem off-topic? Answer: because it’s not. I’m setting the stage for the next group of resurgent men for the black community, ones with a different function than cleats on the ground. It’s not a political post per se, but I want to talk about 7 keys to understanding Trump, both as our President and just as a person. Bear with me please, Christians, and you’ll understand.

While the election was going on and writers like David Brooks and George Will were marching in lockstep with other NeverTrumpers, and nationally-known pastors and Bible teachers, too, were verbally ripping Trump limb from limb, some of you may have hated my posts about grace and Christian witness. Who was I? Just a Nobody talking about prayer, Christian witness, and God’s grace.  And why was I doing it?  Because after the Inauguration, that’s all any Christian would have left to show for him/herself before God, isn’t it?  Irrespective of who won. Wisdom trumps prejudice.  (Matthew 11:19)

So publicly I was writing, but behind the scenes, I was praying and engaging in a deep dive of learning about this man Trump who was elected that night in November. Just as in seminary we study hermeneutics to unlock Scripture, Americans would benefit from finding the keys to unlocking, to understanding Trump.

Without these keys, journalists, pastors, and just knees-on-the-ground-Christians trying to pray our way through this will fail to appreciate what God may be doing and just end up confused, aimless, and angry like the whiny white women’s march.

Or end up joining something stupid like Michael Moore’s 100 Days of Resistance campaign. (Just a little advice from your Seminary Gal: Rebelling against God’s work is always a bad idea. And Michael Moore seems to have cornered the market on bad ideas unless George Soros still has some more up his sleeve).

So after studying while other Christians were busy criticizing, here they are–what I would call 7 Keys for Understanding Trump:

1. He’s a developer who sees potential in others.

   To him, a wrecking ball and a bulldozer are a means of clearing away what’s presently not fit for habitation (in order to create a firm foundation for building something new).  On the surface, everything to Trump is a negotiation for a “deal” but slow the pace down and we see snapshot moments of development.  But he doesn’t develop alone. He sees the potential in other people and vast human capital just waiting to be invested in a worthy cause and he deals in order to lead people to a wise and results-oriented investment of themselves. As a Christian, I look at the private faith of Trump and I have no idea if he knows that this is how God does discipleship. Whether Trump knows why he’s doing it or if it just comes naturally to him (or God’s gift even?), he’s developing people because he sees their potential. God takes broken people, gives them new birth, and then equips them for work…all because God sees the potential in every single image-bearer. Trump –whether he knows it or not—gets what God is doing. God is building an eternal house (2 Corinthians 5:1-18, especially verses 1 and 17) and develops using reclaimed materials.

2. He’s a visionary.

   Trump sees beyond what-is-now to what things can be … after he’s finished building. He has a clear vision of American greatness—the goodness we can be to each other and for the world—and how together, we can be better than a loose coalition or a jar of marbles. Trump casts a vision “Make America Great Again” with slogan-appeal, but the vision is not one he will do alone. Understanding Trump did not emphasize and exalt “I will MAGA”, but we. As a mighty engine of progress together we will do it, if we catch the vision of working together.  In the private faith of Trump, I don’t know if he understands the spiritual power of unity and the beauty of delegation, but it’s biblical (Romans 12:1-13). We can’t do it on our own, but we can do it together.  And with God’s wisdom, we delight in delegating to achieve the vision.  God says we’re “living stones” for a “spiritual house.”

1 Peter 2: 4 As you come to him, the living Stone– rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him– 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus said our unity is what tells the world we belong to Him (John 17:20-23). Does Trump understand development of people as his calling or is he just doing what comes naturally? I don’t know, but unity, diversity, and delegation are biblical and that’s God’s vision (Ephesians 4:1-13) if only we’ll catch it.

3. He’s a change agent who can’t stand incompetence.

   Change is by its very nature painful. Trump is not intending to make things painful for America, but fighting the molars because they hurt won’t prevent their coming in. We suffer through the growing pains to achieve something more, something greater. For Christians, it’s an eternal weight of glory. No pain no gain as it were. Yeah. It’s biblical too (2 Corinthians 4: 17-18).

Trump is willing to work hard through the tough stuff and the hard choices to do his best for excellence. He is a leader who wants results.  He dares to imagine others doing the same. And yes, it’s biblical.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

In his private faith, does he understand that faith in God and being born-again results in powerful, effective, and radical change? Not a mere tweaking but a total overhaul. I don’t know about Trump’s private faith and I can’t read his mind, but I know the change God made in my heart (Galatians 2:20) and it wasn’t tweaking.

4. He’s a brand manager and it’s all about the brand.

   This is a huge key for understanding Trump!  In his business life, he’s built the Trump brand and he sees his presidency as an extension of his name. He’s zealous for it. His whole family gets the brand manager concept and their Instagram accounts and followers are evidence they do.  Understanding Trump means seeing that he’s got something to prove and therefore he will work to build that brand of executive-branch style presidency that commands the desk in a suit and tie and he doesn’t put his feet up on the furniture.  It’s a brand that transcends talk and achieves results for his constituency. That’s why he adopts a zero-time approach to addressing attacks upon his personal brand of presidency. It’s not random attack, thin skin, or a huge ego, it’s how brand managers protect the brand.  He views any attack upon the brand as an attack upon his constituency. Crowd size wasn’t his ego. Crowd size was his supporters, and his defense of them—that “basket of deplorables”–is what propelled him to victory in the first place. Whatever the label, whatever the brand, a zeal for protecting and a love of what is God-honoring is good.

What’s in a name? Maybe nothing to a rose, but to Trump, it means a lot. And it’s biblical: the Name of the LORD is of utmost importance to God (Ezekiel 39:25) which is why the Third Commandment (Exodus 20:1-17) tells us not to misuse it. Furthermore, people called by God’s Name are important to the LORD, 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Does Trump in his private faith understand this? I don’t know but he cares about his name, loves his family, loves his friends with a loyal love, and protects that brand image in everything he does.

5. Media Master.

   He understands the world has changed because of social media. He views the world of information and news differently. Twitter trending, for example, don’t take into account positives or negatives…only numbers. In the long haul, people forget the negatives and just see the popular topic and remember the name. He also knows that information overload will take a toll on any group’s ability to mount an attack. When journalists are always on their heels trying to drink out of a firehose of news, unable to predict the random shot of a perceived loose cannon, they’re unable to keep up as the hits just keep on coming. As the pack of media hounds runs after the narrative bone with a bit of red meat, the independent journalists who are worth speaking to will remain and listen to what’s substantive. In that regard, he’s not shooting from the hip, he’s sorting and he’s using media to do it. It’s not without biblical precedent (Luke 8:10). When Jesus spoke in parables, it’s not because He couldn’t figure out the right words to convey meaning. He was using words to sort people’s hearts.

Even if there’s a godly end to such means, it’s tough for Bible-believing Christians to embrace what are insulting and careless words. I wish the world were different because if everyone only did good things and spoke only the truth, such means would be unnecessary. But some people believe the fake news and moreover want to believe it so they will even create it. They love the lie and the politics more than they love the truth. About such end times behaviors, the Bible tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2:10 b “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

Most of us in the Christian community are uncomfortable, if we’re honest, about the idea of God’s sending delusions, causing disaster (Isaiah 45:7), bringing calamity (2 Samuel 12:11), using people’s propensity for deception and falsehood (Genesis 27:19), and even Jesus’ using parables to create an unequal playing field of understanding to harden people’s hearts. Our discomfort doesn’t mean God can’t use it.

6. Intellectual property.

   Trump is often trashed as insane and stupid, but every businessman knows that “knowledge is power” and keeping cards close to the vest conserves power.  The random element may not be stupidity or insanity at all, but a power play in the art of the deal.  Maybe he is already thinking a few steps ahead.  A fine line exists between genius and insanity. Three great quotes, maybe four, offer insight here:

• “There was never a great genius without a touch of madness.” (Seneca the Younger)
• “Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.” (Arthur Schopenhauer)
• “Creativity is just learning to do something with a different perspective.” (Dr. Benjamin Carson)

Then there’s Winston Churchill’s quotation about Russia (and who can talk about understanding Trump without bringing Russia into it somewhere?). From a radio broadcast from October 1, 1939 which might apply to understanding Trump: “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.”

Donald Trump is an enigmatic–but also a genuinely patriotic–American looking to act in America’s best national interest as best as he can tell. Hard to see, perhaps, but understanding Trump requires looking outside of the box more than in the bottom of it. You see, a genius is not someone who is exceptionally smart or exceedingly talented. A genius isn’t necessarily better at thinking than the general public. They just think differently. And it shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point that President Trump values innovation, thinks differently, and keeps his plans and strategies close to the vest. That too is a biblical idea (Matthew 24:36) since God’s ways (Isaiah 55:9) are even harder to understand than President Trump’s.

7. Apolitical deal-maker.

   The final of 7 keys for understanding Trump that I’ve found so far is that he’s not a political person. He’s less about political consensus of governance by committee and more about leading a committee and getting stuff done. Blasphemy to many in the DC bubble and a huge liability to those who love to govern by trial balloons, think tanks, and focus groups, but it is also his perceived greatest strength in flyover country. Understanding Trump is a vision caster and a delegator on a very simple mission to build and protect the American brand. If he has to make deals with the political left or the political right to do it, so long as it’s in the best interest of building toward the goal of being winners, the color of the ribbon being cut can be red, white, and blue. And hey, if it can be highest quality, on time and under budget, then we’re all winners, yes?

Understanding Trump in this way, we see a great irony that this man who

• once called himself a Democrat,
• ran as a Republican
• as an apolitical non-conservative anti-establishment figure,
• and now he’s building a cabinet and Supreme Court far more conservative than conservative presidents before him
• getting more socially conservative policies accomplished than would have been electable in a normal year,
• and he’s bringing together disparate groups into the very big-tent Republican party they claimed they always wanted but didn’t have the guts to reach out and deal with because they were always being political… which Trump is not.

Understanding Trump via these 7 keys won’t make the riddle less mysterious, the days any less turbulent, but maybe those of us who are knees-on-the-ground Christians can all breathe easier and just find something to enjoy in the wild ride of the next four years as we pray like saints for God to guide him to discern America’s and the world’s best interests…not as Trump, but as God sees them.  Amen?

“Do you think God is using these elections to bring about the Antichrist?” Before you read this and think YIKES ALERT (!) Priscilla is not alone in asking this question. It’s actually a question in the hearts of many Christians, if they had the honesty and the guts to ask it like Priscilla did.  My Conversation with Priscilla concludes and may your heart be encouraged like hers was by someone being willing to give her a truthful answer and not just run around judging the question.

QUESTION: “Do you think God is using these elections to bring about the Antichrist?”

ANSWER: I am long on record that neither President Obama nor the Pope is the antichrist. Hillary is not the great whore of Babylon. And Donald Trump may have language I cannot stand, behavior I would imagine he regrets these days, but he’s one of 3 anti-Clinton candidates…not the antichrist.

The spirit of the antichrist has been in this world since Jesus ascended into heaven and this is what Scripture says about how we’ll know.

1 John 2: 18 “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”

1 John 4:2 “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Therefore, I will not worry about the future.  The Holy Spirit residing in every believer will keep us safe and deliver us from evil and through any difficulties so that even if our bodies suffer in this world, they cannot snatch us out of the loving hand of God our Father. As in the days of the flood and the exodus from Egypt, God delivers through it…not rapturing us from it.

If you choose to vote for one or the other candidate for reasons related to issues, your vote will be a vote for change of direction… or more of the same, but I don’t think the man of lawlessness is on the ballot. (I’ve got my own ideas of who is fomenting disorder and anarchy, rebellion against authorities and exaltation of a borderless government, but he’s not on the ballot.)

I’ll close with what Scripture says about him:

2 Thessalonians 2: 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Verses 13-17 make a fitting closure and benediction, do they not? 🙂

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The full Q&A plus follow-up commentary with Priscilla can be accessed here

I’m moving on now to the healing we’ll all need after the election, regardless of how it turns out.  I’ll be doing it with my Advent devotional series called Timeless.

But I cannot move on from this conversation without letting you know that as much as we’re all sick of politics, a conversation about the Truth and how a Christian relates to the culture is an important conversation to have.  Thank you, Priscilla, for your bravery in asking these important questions.  May we all be blessed by it.

While everyone has their “eye of Sauron” fixated on the Supreme Court with Roe v. Wade, they have totally lost sight of Rostker v. Goldberg  and how the government can, in fact, tell women what to do with their bodies. Until now, a balanced Court has affirmed that it is lawful to require 18-25 year old men (both citizens and immigrant non-citizens) to register for Selective Service in accordance with the MSSA (Military Selective Service Act), with women still exempt. What will be the fate of decisions like Rostker v. Goldberg? Unlike Roe v. Wade which would go back to the individual States and frankly, leave legalized abortion largely unchanged from its present status, Rostker v. Goldberg is entirely within the federal government’s province and its fate is in the balance.

Don’t you think that the issue at least deserved to be raised during the election season regarding a woman as Commander-in-Chief, especially since she is also a candidate wanting to put women’s equality issues advocates on the Supreme Court?

If we have a woman as Commander-in-Chief… and we already have women in combat (December 3, 2015), the reasoning behind the Rostker decision is changing. The MSSA was reinstated by President Carter after President Nixon used executive order to abolish the draft.

Why did President Carter do it?

Because the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan and he didn’t want the US to be caught without enough soldiers should volunteerism prove to be insufficient.

To anyone willing to pooh-pooh the fate of women conscripted for military service, just tell that to Norway which just mandated it (August 25, 2016). And why? Because of equality for women.

The Supreme Court is an important issue since Rostker v. Goldberg, like Roe v. Wade, was a split decision. The progressive members of the court dissented and, like President Carter, wanted to open MSSA to women. Yes, the fate of the Courts is, and ought to be, an important consideration.  While those fixated on a woman’s reproduction are using fear and panic to drive the women’s vote, maybe a little truth ought to tell these delicate little flowers who are afraid of bad words on campus what women’s equality really looks like.  It may be a foxhole.

To those thinking deeply about the fate of America like Priscilla, A Conversation  continues:

PRISCILLA:  “Any Biblical insight would be appreciated. I feel like America will seal its fate on election day….and I still don’t feel confident about who to vote for. It seems like the “western” world: Europe, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia is slowly crumbling.”

ANSWER:  Yes, it does seem that way. The basic flow recently has been from Christianity’s truth declining to secular relativism to Islam’s insurgence/infiltration. That is why Europe is waking up a little too late from their romantic naiveté. May it not be for us. Ultimately this is a spiritual thing and why my goal has been to frame this entire election in spiritual terms and in Christian truth…

…FOLLOW-UP

Much of the media spin is making people think Trump’s ego is out of this world (when if you read a 2006 article about Tara Conner, former Miss USA, he’s certainly no tyrant, but a man who cherishes 2nd chances for others). For anyone to run for president, they have to have a healthy ego in order to survive…Really rather sad how much we’re being steered…and played, really.

But, like you, I’m reassured to know that even when Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, God preserved them and even fulfilled Scripture through it! Genesis 50:20 “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Yeah, God is pretty amazing! 🙂

After the election, there will be many hurting people. So many people are burdened for America. They deeply desire a course correction from where America has been headed in the past 20 years and they’ve invested their hearts and hope. It’s not just nostalgia. It’s love for a way of life we call America and the cuts have been deep during this election season.

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The conversation continues…

The Chicago Tribune had a letter to the editor in which a woman proudly proclaimed she was voting for Hillary because she’s the first woman. She had tears in her eyes because of a first. I got tears in my eyes that someone would vote on such flimsy grounds.  What a terrible insult to the intelligence of women.  You see, I’ve been a woman in male-dominated fields my entire adult life and I know how hard it is to move beyond a first…to a second or a third…if the first has been selected for any reasons other than excellence and honesty.

I could have used my opportunity to preach about “girl power” when I was the first woman selected as the featured preacher from the student body in my seminary’s history. I chose differently. I chose better. Yes, I broke a glass ceiling, but that itself wasn’t as important for future generations as HOW I did it. 

Here’s what I have joy in the LORD about:  I was faithful to the TRUTH.  I proved I was the woman in ministry by doing my level best to do ministry with honesty, faithfulness, and excellence. I preached from Revelation 5, definitely not a girl’s text.

Today, we come to the point in A Conversation with Priscilla that explains why many pastors do not want to venture into talking about politics and why many people don’t want to touch this campaign with a sterilized 10 ft. pole. Priscilla wrote:

QUESTION: “I am also skeptical about voting for a woman for President.”

ANSWER: I hear you. There are many reasons we elect a President: (1) to lead us at home; (2) to convey protective allegiance in friendship among our allies, (3) to present strength and resolve in the face of our enemies, and (4) to cast a vision Americans can unify behind to work toward a noble goal.

Perhaps my greatest fear is that some women will vote for Hillary simply because she’s a woman and they’re not concerned with the impact this superficiality will have on those 4 areas.

Regarding (1) It’s hard to lead at home when we know she considers many of us irredeemable and deplorable. Those words cannot be softened to mere disagreement.   They’re fundamental. (2) Our allies have learned what she is like from her role as Secretary of State. She has a record here that’s all her own. (3) But it is our enemies that I believe present the greatest danger. The enemies of America do not respect women. We cannot force them to do so. I dread the idea that we will be targeted for destruction because they believe women should not get an education or show their faces in public…and certainly not lead the last remaining superpower. Easy to topple. I would hate to see a day when our military cannot regard our Commander-in-Chief as authoritative and the Selective Service would require enlistment of women and turn back into a draft to fight wars on many fronts against a Legion of Enemies. Why do I fear this? Past experience. Forcing women into the pastorate has split churches. Forcing women into any male dominated institution alters it or destroys it. Regarding the military echelon, I do not believe this is an experiment to be tried at this time no matter how noble in principle it might seem.  The innocent days of an honorable Thatcher have given rise to an enemy that beheads. And finally (4) I do not know that I can pinpoint a vision for America with Mrs. Clinton since she doesn’t appear to be leading anywhere other than where we’re already going.

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Priscilla followed up with commentary to which I replied:

A couple more points associated with your follow-up, yes, pastors are disinclined to preach into the political (particularly against the status quo) even to display the spiritual. Part of that is fear that they will be punished with revoking of their non-profit standing… [it’s called the] Johnson Amendment, which restricts First Amendment freedoms of all nonprofit organizations by prohibiting political speech… Repealing it would certainly be in the direction of a more faithful Church.

I am presently working on a video (amateur but the best I can do) outlining why American women shouldn’t use their vote as a statement of sisterhood, rather they should consider this vote with the same care and concern with which they’d choose a babysitter, a house painter or a surgeon. We’d never choose a surgeon based upon skin color or gender…or choose a house painter that had done many homes, but whose reviews didn’t convey quality workmanship. If women vote for Hillary based upon agreement with her on the issues, that’s different than choosing her simply because she’s female.

Ironically, this type of frank, biblical discussion is what gets lost when people stray from the issues to talk instead about things that are more like gossip than fact. This is why I’ve been so sad about the debates. I don’t think it would be an unfair exploration to know how she was treated as Secretary of State by leaders of Muslim nations and whether their permitted use of creative lying within Islam (there are 4 different words in Islam takiya and tawriya are the 2 I remember) gave them the freedom to lie to us because she’s a woman, women don’t matter, and the cause was important to them. If so, how much more as president? It’s what Iran did to us… 🙁

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The conversation continues…

And the video I mentioned is here:

“I am not sure whether I should cast my vote or keep my hands clean of this whole election? Both Trump and Hillary have some good and bad qualities.” Wow.  If that doesn’t boil down the Christian’s concern in this election to its most basic level.  Thank you, Priscilla, for outlining so clearly the choice ahead for Christians. 

The Bible doesn’t tell us how to vote or even that we must. 

What does the Christian do?

As I began this series, A Conversation with Priscilla, I mentioned that I’ve been answering Bible questions for a long time.  And I’m grateful that there are women like Priscilla who are paying attention and deeply desiring to act as a Christian in this election season. 

Today, the answer to her next question:

QUESTION:  “I am not sure whether I should cast my vote or keep my hands clean of this whole election? Both Trump and Hillary have some good and bad qualities.”

ANSWER:  I can easily understand the dilemma. Many Americans feel the same way. This is where I believe Jesus’ Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) sheds light on this election for Christians. Of course each American only gets one vote, but the principle (that we are given a situation and God holds us accountable for putting it to work for Him as best as we can) still applies. Judging the candidates as not worthy of a selection is the equivalent of the “wicked servant” saying (v. 24) “‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ” That servant met a bad end. The ones with 2 and 5 talents didn’t sit around complaining or wishing for better, they just did the best they could with what they’d been given. So it will be with me. I see good and bad qualities, no record (which makes me uneasy) and a record of public service (that troubles me deeply), but I will do my best to seek truth and vote accordingly.

Perhaps that’s why the thing I find most troubling is what the media is doing on this. When gossip passes for truth and collusion is occurring, we’re in a world of hurt.   It’s no surprise that the media has long abhorred Christians and what we stand for. It’s suspicious to me that suddenly the situation is presented to divide Christians from one another on morality grounds.

Is this just a tactic to further bury Christianity with our own shovel?

I think so. That’s why the issues are important and I’m taking great pains to read widely and evaluate critically. Sex sells, but truth saves.

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The conversation continues….

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For the record, there are other candidates besides Trump or Hillary.  There are actually 22 named candidates on my November election ballot for President.  Aside from the ones we’ve heard exist, there are plenty of other write-in choices.  The media has done a terrible job of educating so that we can vote with our conscience and our reason…and of course for you and me “to keep my hands clean.”

Do I vote for Trump or Hillary?  That’s a question on many Americans’ minds.  Well, don’t look at me.  (LOL)  I’m not going to tell you.  But I will tell you my answer when Priscilla asked it.  In the previous post A Conversation with Priscilla, I mentioned that I have been answering Bible questions for many years and I applauded Priscilla for asking a series of questions many people have on their hearts.  And wanting a biblical perspective.

The previous question was “As a Christian, what do the upcoming elections foreshadow for the USA?”  Today, I’ll share with you my coffee-time answer with my sister in Christ and new friend, Priscilla. 

QUESTION:  “I don’t know who to vote for….Trump or Hillary? I feel like no matter who I vote for in this upcoming election that our country is doomed. It seems like our days as “The Land of the Free” are coming to a swift end soon.”

ANSWER:  You’re right: It’s hard to feel good about voting for either of the candidates, but it’s easy to see the track record they’ve both had as public servants on the issues. The real issues, not the tabloid ones.

Hillary Clinton has been a public servant since Arkansas (1976), earning her family’s living from the taxpayers for 40 years, has had the blessing of being responsible for legislation, and accountable to the public who elected her and her husband.

Donald Trump has no public record. He’s been a business man looking out for a different set of priorities…that of his private companies, as it should be. He has earned his money privately, as the fruit of his labor, and he is accountable to his employees and boards. He has abided by the laws the entire time.

To judge Donald Trump by the public servant standard gives us no data points. Hillary Clinton has a record to defend. The converse is also true. Donald Trump’s only record is his business, whereas Hillary has no record as a privately employed citizen for decades and therefore her record for job creation, business taxes, etc. does not apply.

As a general rule, I believe “The Land of the Free” idea prospers best in a limited government environment where individual freedom like God gives us can be exercised according to one’s conscience. Christians are free to be Christians first.

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To be continued …

The information I gleaned was found at these links you might find helpful.

• A biography of Hillary Rodham Clinton from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.  http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2744
• It is nothing short of arduous to find a biography of Donald Trump from before his presidential run, but here is one.  He’s at number 6.   http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/biz-monday/article2673915.html

It’s a genuine pity that so many recent biographies of both candidates are so steeped in smear that they serve to become useless for information regarding either Trump or Hillary.  Google and Bing results produce little but a bazillion versions of character assassination on both sides.  As a general rule, Christians should stick to the facts which are as close to the truth as possible.

Some of you are probably sick of 2016 political posts with good reason, they are Legion. I do them is because of Priscilla and those like her…who seek answers to questions burdening their hearts.

They cannot go to their pastors or to publications–even ones with Christianity in their name–with questions about the 2016 elections and yet, they want answers from a Christian perspective.  And I think they deserve to be heard as serious Christian Americans.

So today, I invite you, as a dear reader, to enter in to the conversation I had with Priscilla.  I applaud her for seeking answers … and I always try to treat my questioners as though I were having coffee with a friend. 

In a series of posts, I’ll share her questions which were asked publicly but about which I also requested her permission to repost them here.  And now, Priscilla’s question:

QUESTION: As a Christian, what do the upcoming elections foreshadow for the USA? I don’t know who to vote for….Trump or Hillary? I feel like no matter who I vote for in this upcoming election that our country is doomed. It seems like our days as “The Land of the Free” are coming to a swift end soon.

I am not sure whether I should cast my vote or keep my hands clean of this whole election? Both Trump and Hillary have some good and bad qualities. I am also skeptical about voting for a woman for President. Any Biblical insight would be appreciated. I feel like America will seal its fate on Election Day … and I still don’t feel confident about who to vote for. It seems like the “western” world: Europe, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia is slowly crumbling.

Do you think God is using these elections to bring about the Anti-Christ?

ANSWER: Thank you, Priscilla, for your excellent questions and for trusting me to answer them. There are so many competing voices in Christianity right now and sad to say, far more finger-pointing among Christians than is God honoring.

Kindly allow me to take your points one at a time.

“As a Christian, what do the upcoming elections foreshadow for the USA?”

Great question! The upcoming elections are part of the flow of time to Jesus’ return. Scripture is abundantly clear that in the last days, there will be great tribulation. In Matthew 24, Jesus outlines the end times and all the world sufferings (birth pains) we can expect before His return. We’re seeing it worldwide.

Here’s the key though: Jesus doesn’t want us to focus on the sufferings, but on being found faithful in spite of them at the day of His return.

So, the elections foreshadow a real choice Americans have about the direction this country will go.   Boil down the issues to the Gospel level and we can see that arguing about who is the greater sinner, Hillary or Trump, misses the point that we’re all sinners in need of a Savior. That should be our Christian focus even while we exercise our patriotic duty as Americans.

The conversation continues tomorrow…

God is not an open border God. Heaven is not an open border place. That’s hard news for many modern Christians to hear, particularly as we consider nations and immigration in the earthly realm. There is a reason why Immigration is such a hot election issue: it’s spiritual. And what we believe about an open border actually reveals more about our sincerity and purity of faith than we’d probably like to acknowledge.

Heaven has diversity, you say. Diversity of surface things, yes, but not when it comes to faith. There’s only One God and He is not the least bit divided about borders and walls. They exist from Genesis to Revelation and God’s purpose with them is (1) security, protecting what is good from what is evil, (2) boundary for promise and preservation, and (3) separation. Even in creation, God began by separating.

I know some of the things I’ve written in this series have been provocative, even difficult, and you may have a certain umbrage at reading them.

I have been conflicted writing them and have many times thought of removing or softening certain things, to which the Spirit has said, “No. Leave it in.” Christians need to be provoked out of their comfort zones to see beyond the surface, the sentimental, and the sound-byte … and to set their eyes on the spiritual.

So for those of you Christians who think a wall is nothing short of sin, consider this:

Revelation 21:10 “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates… 17 [The angel] measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using… 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Described here is a physical wall, capable of being measured.  It has gates that are open, but it’s guarded by angels.  Border security.  No one impure will ever enter.  Only those whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life will be able to enter.  Immigration control.

Heaven: You can’t come in just because you want to.  There is no open border.

Yes, there will be a diverse multitude of people… united by one identity, one singular belief: Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

All genuine Christians belong to Christ…but not all people belong to Christ just because they’re human or just because they call themselves Christian all the while rejecting Christ’s supremacy.

Don’t you see that an open border kind of thinking parallels the false religious teaching of universalism?

That false doctrine that says what you believe isn’t important, that God doesn’t care how you live and what you do. The false notion that Jesus died so all men—irrespective of what they believe, how they act, and what they worship—can enter heaven.

It’s a resident thought in many of our churches. It’s preached from their pulpits. Some denominations even have that as their hallmark. Sin isn’t sin and their leaders lead the way in it.

Certainly regarding borders, we can all agree that the United States isn’t heaven. Not even Iowa. But even in the Field of Dreams, there were borders and ground rules. Heaven’s hallmark will be discernment of truth, belonging, belief, and action, not the color of one’s skin, the ethnicity in one’s DNA, whether one was an unaccompanied minor or a dreamer.

It comes down to this: Did you believe Jesus and show it by obedience to Him?

Consider the words of the Risen Lord Himself: Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

What is the testimony of our churches? We are called as missionaries to go into all the world. And I suppose if the Church fails to go to the nations with the Gospel, God will bring the nations to us so they can hear it.

But what testimony will the nations receive from American Christians?

A Church proclaiming to those unrepentant sinners who will be outside the wall of heaven that it will all be okay, they’re in…that breaking laws and engaging in sin is no barrier? Uh, hello.  That’s not the Gospel. God won’t bring the nations to hear that.

Or will it be to hold the Light of the Gospel to each person in darkness? Offering compassion even if no open border exists because practical help can occur on either side of a closed border, offering asylum for those yearning for the freedom of Christ, but most importantly by preaching God’s Word?

Frankly, way too many churches are happily demanding an open border with nothing to offer spiritual refugees by way of truth. Way too many Christians are happily proclaiming open borders for all nations and all religions as sanctified syncretism. God won’t bring the nations to hear that.

The first border in recorded history was keeping sin out of paradise (Genesis 3:24). The final border does the same thing (Revelation 21:10-27). Let’s make sure our preaching honors that principle so we don’t find ourselves outside the walls with a whole lot of weeping and gnashing in a spiritually, morally, religiously, and ethnically diverse hell.

Here are a few passages for further study.  If you have time for only one, do John 10.  Identify the “wall” in each instance and what it was designed to do:

• Genesis ch 6-9—Noah and the Great Flood (6:5-9)
• Genesis ch 10-11-The Table of Nations and the Tower of Babel. (Gen 11:6-7)
• Genesis 12:1-4—the Call of Abram
• Genesis ch 18-19—the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 18:17-23)
• Genesis ch 45-47—Migrants to Egypt. Gen 46:31-34
• Exodus 14–The Exodus to the Promised Land. Exo 14:19-22)
• Lev 20:22-26 Be holy, I am holy…and judging the nations
• Numbers 20:12—Moses and the Rock at Meribah
• Deut 4:34-35 The Lord is God. There is no other.
• Deut 6:13-19 Do not follow other gods
• Joshua 2:14-20 Rahab
• 2 Kings 17:7-23 Israel exiled
• 2 Kings 24:20-25:21 Judah into captivity
• Nehemiah 2:17-18 Rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem
• Esther 8:11-17 Edict and witness
• Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus fulfills the Law
• Matthew 13,  22:1-14 ,  25:1-30—a few parables on discernment, closed door, separation, and faith
• John 10—I am the door
• Acts 16:6-10. No Mysia for Paul

* * *

Today’s was the final installment in the series which also contained:

• An overview of each party’s platform http://seminarygal.com/comparing-political-platforms-part-1/
• Part 2 Overarching principles of individual vs. state and rights of self-determination
• Part 3, on Freedoms of Speech, Religion, and Expression
• Part 4, Government Transparency and a Right to Privacy
• Part 5, Human Relationships, Sex, and the Law in a Divided America
• Part 6, Abortion
• Part 7, Education
• Part 8, Drugs
• Part 9, Criminal Justice
• Part 10, the Death Penalty  
• Part 11, Guns and The Second Amendment
• Part 12, Taxation
• Part 13, the Environment
• Part 14, the IRS and the Size and Scope of Government
• Part 15.1, Immigration and National Security: the Platforms
• Part 15.2 Immigration and National Security: The Wall as a Spiritual Battle

The Christian has a conundrum in immigration and national security that requires discernment. In Part 1 of Comparing Political Platforms (15.1), we examined the beliefs of each of the three major political parties. Volumes of words. And it’s both clear…and clear as mud. Christians need discernment to sort it all out.

Think immigration and suddenly we have romantic ideas of hope.  But for all the hope, Ellis Island was feared by those seeking to come here—even the honest, healthy, hardworking, and moral immigrants still knew it as a barrier to entry. It has an interesting history that includes deportation and imprisonment.  It was a barrier an immigrant was never assured of getting through. Just like The Wall.

Frankly, The Wall presents emotionally-charged issues that move Christian hearts with compassion and justice. After all, we’re a nation of immigrants. However, it’s also more complex than feelings and there’s a spiritual dimension Christians must acknowledge exists even if the secular world cannot see it.

Do you find it odd that the removal of political boundaries in Europe coincided with the precipitous decline in Christianity and has resulted in massive migration of followers of Islam?

Is there a parallel with the US and where we are spiritually today?

Discernment on immigration. We need it.  We need it now. 

Because the decline of Christianity is happening in America and the “Nones” who have no religious belief at all are becoming the fastest growing demographic. 

According to the National Geographic, the source of the photo,

There have long been predictions that religion would fade from relevancy as the world modernizes, but all the recent surveys are finding that it’s happening startlingly fast.

Do you believe America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles? Do we still uphold those or have we become a melting pot of no religious inclination? Is that what God intended? 

• Is it compassionate, for example, to allow young girls being trafficked or the beleaguered foreigner forced to smuggle opioids to be exploited on the way to the border, at the border, and then on US soil as a wide open market for these “products”?  Is that what Jesus would do?
• Is it compassionate toward the citizen Hispanics or others working as ranch hands to be assaulted for their vehicles or murdered because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and encountered smugglers?  Would the Father approve?
• Is it hospitable to allow anti-Christian followers of other world religions to invade, recruit, and proselytize on American soil with anti-Christian and anti-Semitic “Death to America” ideology, harming the host that let them in?  What does the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob think about that?

The Christian Conundrum:

Love without justice isn’t love at all. Justice without truth and love isn’t really just. And freedom without love, truth or justice jeopardizes all.

There are 2 problems intersecting in this issue which further complicate this conundrum for Christians:

1. Identity politics, which is a dangerous game since not all Hispanics are the same, not all migrants are the same or even Hispanic, and not all those crossing the southern border have honorable intentions.
2. Confusing language because Satan, the architect of confusion, wants Christians to get sucked in by terms like immigrant, evoking romantic images of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and America as the great hope of freedom…instead of having Christians use a more factual term like lawbreaker. We are a nation of immigrants who followed our immigration laws.  But those who break the law are lawbreakers, not the innocent sounding “illegal immigrant” as if their only crime was stepping over an imaginary line for a loaf of bread or a day’s wages.  What is compassion and how do we discern what to do with lawbreakers?

Put it all together and here’s the deal: Each and every Christian must begin to look at individuals instead of groups. The Church must step up from the confusing political slurry of language and develop some discernment.

From Christ’s Church we need “men of Isaachar” (1 Chronicles 12: 17-38) who understand the times. We do not need Satan’s Welcome Wagon with goods to peddle in his hand-basket for hell on the wide, well-trampled path of tolerance with no narrow gate of Christian discernment.

Discernment: Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

Why did Jesus connect the two?  The whole passage of Matthew 7 is about judging well, using discernment regarding open doors when it comes to matters of faith and truth.

There’s a strange little passage in 2 John that ought to scare the socks off of any Christian who wants to throw the gates wide open as a testimony of their social tolerance and hyper-piety.

2 John 1:6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. 7 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11 Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.

Do your efforts advance the Gospel or are they just giving other world religions (false prophets) a foothold for advancing their own beliefs unchecked? If you’re advancing theirs, according to 2 John verse 11, you’re sharing in their wicked work.  Go ahead.  Read the verses again.

There’s a way to make sure that you’re advancing God’s work and God’s Kingdom.  Move beyond group thought and unaccountable government. Make it personal and personally accept responsibility for what each and every one under your supervision does. You’re sharing in it, remember?  And God knows the difference between giving the enemies of the Gospel a foothold for advancing their own beliefs versus compassion and witness–which is our ideal!–as we advance the Gospel until all evil of this world will be made Christ’s footstool.

There is probably no greater illustration and modern example of the spiritual battle in American culture than the debate over The Wall. Is it the Original Sin of Trump? Don’t take the “Nones” word for it if you’re a Christ-follower!  By understanding the times with discernment, it is the Christian’s opportunity to dig deep, to decide which side of the spiritual battle we’re really on, to choose whether the wide road or the narrow gate is the better path, and to display with our actions which kingdom we’re truly interested in advancing. 

* * *

This series contains:

• An overview of each party’s platform http://seminarygal.com/comparing-political-platforms-part-1/
• Part 2 Overarching principles of individual vs. state and rights of self-determination
• Part 3, on Freedoms of Speech, Religion, and Expression
• Part 4, Government Transparency and a Right to Privacy
• Part 5, Human Relationships, Sex, and the Law in a Divided America
• Part 6, Abortion
• Part 7, Education
• Part 8, Drugs
• Part 9, Criminal Justice
• Part 10, the Death Penalty  
• Part 11, Guns and The Second Amendment
• Part 12, Taxation
• Part 13, the Environment
• Part 14, the IRS and the Size and Scope of Government
• Part 15.1, Immigration and National Security: the Platforms

Is The Wall the Original Sin of Trump?  Many US Christians who are concerned about immigration and the plight of refugees believe the idea of The Wall has been the genesis of everything evil in America.

But is it in the eyes of God?

What does the Bible say about immigration, security, and the nations?  It says much and presents the Christian with quite a conundrum.

In this final installment of our series Comparing the Political Platforms, I’ve grouped together these interconnected issues. Let’s see what the platforms say about national security and immigration in Part 1.  In Part 2 we will define the conundrum, and then we’ll look at the Bible’s clear instruction about walls in Part 3.

Part 1: The Platforms:

(I know it’s long, but please read it if you care about immigration, refugees, and national security.  I included every idea each party says and removed words only to have comparable word counts between DNC and RNC, as a testimony of my fairness.)

Clearly, the platforms address these issues in their own ways.  Every reader plants firmly between each line, their own beliefs about the political parties, their preconceived ideas about compassion, the law, and a worldview that is either globalist or American.  It calls for discernment.

So we look to the Bible to see how God sees walls and immigration, compassion and the law.  What you find will surprise you.

The Christian’s Conundrum is outlined in Part 2 which will lead us to ask the question,

What does the Bible say to Christians about the purpose of walls and Christian responsibilities for immigration, hospitality, separation, and security? 

We’ll address that and provide questions and verses for a little Bible Study in Part 3.

* * *

This series contains:

• An overview of each party’s platform http://seminarygal.com/comparing-political-platforms-part-1/
• Part 2 Overarching principles of individual vs. state and rights of self-determination
• Part 3, on Freedoms of Speech, Religion, and Expression
• Part 4, Government Transparency and a Right to Privacy
• Part 5, Human Relationships, Sex, and the Law in a Divided America
• Part 6, Abortion
• Part 7, Education
• Part 8, Drugs
• Part 9, Criminal Justice
• Part 10, the Death Penalty  
• Part 11, Guns and The Second Amendment
• Part 12, Taxation
• Part 13, the Environment
• Part 14, the IRS and the Size and Scope of Government