Christianity Today's Assault on Trump (3 min read)

Yesterday the outgoing editor of CT wrote a hatchet piece concerning President Donald Trump that was scurrilous on two counts. 1.  Since he had resigned as the editor this was one of those, "Now I get to write what I really think..." This reminds me of the pastor giving his resignation to his church and on his last Sunday using the sermon to blast everyone and everything he had been holding in for all his years.  2.  He presumed to speak for the late Billy Graham and what he would've thought about Trump. (A tad arrogant assuming the gift of omniscience...)  

That Trump has certain qualities that are annoying is beyond dispute.  But annoying qualities are not grounds for impeachment or I dare say, every president from Adams forward (Washington was perfect of course) could have been impeached. So the salient point for debate is not whether Trump is this, that, or the other, but has he broken any laws that permit impeachment and he has not which the Democrats know full well. This will become more evident in the days to come. 

But how can the Christian defend him much less support him? If one keeps their eye on the ball and not on the MSM, I would say it is the Christian obligation to support him.  Make a list of 5-10 moral, social issues that are important to and reflective of the character of God Almighty.  Off the top of my head in no certain order: murder of pre-born (and now post-born) humans, greed, homosexuality, sexual perversion and LGBTQ, transgender, strong military, fairness that goes both ways with allied countries, enforcement of all duly enacted laws, responsible freedom, a biblical work ethic, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of thought, and freedom of religion. Now make a list of the moral, social issues being highlighted by the Democrats. (I could end here.)

No one in my lifetime has even come close to what Donald Trump has accomplished most if not all of which in fact reflect the heart and mind of God.

Now--the Lord in His unquestionable omniscience and sovereignty is ultimately the One orchestrating the affairs of man. No we are not automatons, we have free will, but the Lord is never hampered by our sin natures or recalcitrance even as believers. That is, He is quite able to “get what He wants” without violating our “free will.” Example—A command is given for whatever reason, “Everyone must evacuate this room immediately.” A few have determined they are not going to leave. Behind the scenes however, the Lord of the universe desires everyone to leave so He sends a swarm of bees to fill the room. Voila—suddenly everyone now chooses to leave of their own accord. Silly perhaps but God really is in control. 

In the book of Daniel, we find a recalcitrant leader—King Nebuchadnezzar with whom the Lord has to deal in a strange way to bring him to the place where God Almighty wants him. I trust you know the story. What is resoundingly clear and the Lord wants to make clear to us, is that HE is the One in charge: Regarding the orchestration of the King’s heart the Word is written-- ""This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers, And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And bestows it on whom He wishes, And sets over it the lowliest of men."" (Daniel 4:17)

It is instructive that this is repeated 4 times in this short book. Meaning what in the context of this current president? Throughout biblical history the Lord uses many unsavory rulers, leaders, Kings, princes, etc. to do His bidding. Sometimes because of their character but more often than not, in spite of their character. Sometimes they are faithful people, Abraham for eg. and David (talk about flawed…) and sometimes complete pagans—Darius, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Pilate, etc. 

So we need to endeavor to keep our eyes on the ball—the real ball, not the sleight of hand, illusory whiffle ball to get us distracted. What is the singular issue for America today (besides the obvious of everyone coming to Jesus) is demanding that the duly enacted laws of the land are enforced across the board. This is NOT the case today and not only in Washington. Solomon writes-- "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil." (Ecclesiastes 8:11) Meaning—The more evil is allowed to be practiced with impunity, the more wicked man will become. 

The REAL Christmas

Christmas—not the popular Christmas devoid of Christ but the “real” Christmas, you know, A Charlie Brown type Christmas. Where Linus, the smallest of the littles who, after the fashion of Isaiah 11:6, leads them to the “real” meaning of it all. What’s the hub bub all about?  The writer of Hebrews nails it.

"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they."  (Hebrews 1:1-4)

In a little over 100 words, the open minded can see clearly just who the little babe in the manger is.  The One spoken of is not a phantasm, a spirit being, apparition, or an angel. He is profoundly, “God Incarnate” literally, God with flesh--fully God while being fully Man. He is not an iteration of God, a version of God, an inspired individual reflecting God, but in the words of Isaiah, He is Immanuel—God with us and there are no others like Him. The whole point of Hebrews 1 is to make it clear that Jesus is superior to any and all, above the created order being the Creator Himself. He is the FINAL Word to mankind.  In the words of singer song writer Michael Card:

“He spoke the Incarnation and then so was born the Son
His final word was Jesus, He needed no other one
Spoke flesh and blood so He could bleed and make a way Divine,
And so was born the baby who would die to make it mine.”

Which is why Chapter 2 begins “Therefore” meaning, consequently, in light of who Jesus is from chapter 1, "…we must pay much closer attention to what we have HEARD, lest we drift away from it."  (Hebrews 2:1)

This is the challenge of modern day Christmas—to stay fixed upon the Inspired, Infallible, Inerrant, Authoritative WORD of God who became flesh and dwelt among us.  

The Mythical Spiritual Realm...

One of the tenets of life for the follower of Christ pertains to one's involvement in this "life." It is too easy, too common place for the Christ follower to relegate personal convictions to a "conscience closet" where it is contained at a personal level but never sees the light of day the rest of the time. Let's face it, that is precisely where the enemy of our souls and the enemies of Christ want us to keep our faith. Thank God there have been a few faithful "Lights" willing to be shown for the darkness to see--and at great cost. "A major theme for Dietrich Bonhoeffer was that every Christian must be fully human by bringing God into his whole life not merely into some "spiritual" realm. To be an ethereal figure who merely talked about God, but somehow refused to get his hands dirty in the real world in which God had placed him was bad theology." Bonhoeffer by E. Metaxas p. 361 The Proper Pursuit of Prosperity (Tate Publishing)explains.

More "Prosperity" Deception

America's Pastor of positivity tweeted this yesterday: "There is a direct correlation between declaring favor and receiving favor. Declare that you are expecting "unprecedented favor!” This is the old "Name it, Claim it" theology of the hucksters of charlatans like Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagen, Paula White, and too many to list. When one wonders, "Where does this come from in Scripture," one must answer--"It doesn't."

I read the Bible through cover to cover nearly every year and have been studying it for over 30. I can say, this is NOT from the Bible and yet from the affirming tweets I read replying to Pastor Joel, people love it! And it will be the death of their spiritual life, their faith walk and perhaps even the church if it doesn't get a clue. http://bit.ly/rrXGGz

New Comments on The Proper Pursuit...

"I just finished reading The Proper Pursuit of Prosperity by William E. Cripe, Sr. It was a breath of fresh air. Many seem to treat God like a magic genie where all wishes come true. Sin has many negative effects. I was reminded that we truly can not trust our heart, but need to use Scripture as our life compass. Thanks Bill Cripe, let me know when you publish your next book."

Gary Morin
Georgia

Words From One of the Past's Greats

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran Pastor who was executed for participating in a plot to assassinate Hitler. He was a theologian in his own right. His words below reminded me--yet again--of the waywardness of the prosperity preachers and the god they have created; a god who is always there when and where one wants him to answer their beck and call. The God Bonhoeffer describes is NOT the god of the prosperites.

"If it is I who determine where God is to be found, I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in someway, who is obliging, who's connected with my own nature. But if God determines where he is to be found then I'll be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which is none at all congenial to me. This place is the cross of Christ and whoever would find him must go to the foot of the cross as the sermon on the mount commands. This is not according to our nature at all; it is entirely contrary to it but this is the message of the Bible."

Bonhoeffer on the lack of theology in America circa 1930

On coming to Union Theology Seminary Bonhoeffer already a PhD noted, "There is no theology here… We talk a blue streak without the slightest substantive foundation with no evidence of any criteria. Students--on the average 25 to 30 years old are completely clueless with respect to what dogmatics is really about. They're unfamiliar with even the most basic questions. They become intoxicated with liberal and humanistic phrases, laugh at the fundamentalist and yet basically are not even up to their level.


Paul tells Timothy that the believer in Jesus is a soldier with loyalty and complete focus on the mission, remembering there are rules in this endeavor of Faith,--it isn't an "anything goes," benign spirituality and through hard work and wise application of knowledge there is a payoff. (2 Tim 13-11)

But never forget:

The mission is about Jesus Christ risen from the dead; that is the foundation of it all and if that is ever lost through distraction, ever corrupted by false preachers, ever diminished through pseudo-scholarship or reinterpreted to some candy lozenge as a nicety rather then necessity, we will forfeit eternity and our promise of being with Him!