The Donald is on fire.
And so is American culture.
Coincidence?
Nope.
In the past month, The Trumpinator has moved from a merely dominant top spot in the polls to an even more “absolutely amazing” position, leaving his fellow Republicans struggling to figure out just how to tackle the brash billionaire who promises to “make America great again” without the slightest bit of apology for his self-assessed awesomeness and without the slightest need for pesky things like repentance, submission to God, or respect for Republican Party leadership (with the last one being the only one that matters to “the experts”, of course).
The All-American “conservative” pride concept, having shaken off any residual semblance of a true Christian foundation, seems to be embodied by Trump. He “tells it like it is”, Americans – including many professing Christians – like to say. And nothing reflects this modern American “Christian” sensibility and worldview as clearly as Trump’s utter dismissal of the concept of repentance. (See: When Conservatism Trumps Christianity.)
Fellow Republican Statist President wannabe Ben Carson recently picked up on Trump’s “absolutely amazing” dismissal of the core Christian concept of repentance and tried to score some political points by reminding us all that The Donald isn’t, you know, the most humble sort of guy and that, you know, that might tell us something about his faith. (We will try to replay and examine some of Carson’s rambling, pseudo-spiritual “critiques” in a future episode of The Fire Breathing Christian Podcast, Lord (and schedule) willing.)
As Politico reported yesterday:
Trump, who says he is a Presbyterian, has faced growing questions about his faith. In a recent interview with Bloomberg’s “With All Due Respect,” Trump said that his favorite book is the Bible, but declined to name a specific passage. A church he has named as his parish said he is “not an active member.”
Weeks earlier, he told a crowd of religious conservatives in Iowa that he couldn’t recall ever asking God for forgiveness, though he said he has taken Communion.
“When I drink my little wine — which is about the only wine I drink — and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed,” Trump said.
Before he announced his presidential bid, Trump told the Christian Broadcasting Network, “I will be the greatest representative of the Christians that they’ve had in a long time.”
And this guy is rocking the polls.
Republican polls.
Where politically active “conservative Christians” hang out.
Sure, it’s early, but right now most politically active professing “conservative Christians” would vote for this guy in a heartbeat if he won the Republican Party nomination. And many of them will likely vote for him to win that nomination.
What does that tell us?
What does it say about America?
What does it say about American “Christians” and the lordship of Christ over their politics and views on law, liberty, and civil government?
What does it say about whether our imploding culture is going to finally repent and submit to the lordship of Christ in practice…or whether it will continue to cling to pride and rebellion, believing that “We the People” can “make America great” apart from submission to Christ? (See: Will America repent or will America be destroyed?)
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When The Donald says both that A) He has never repented, and B) He “will be the greatest representative of the Christians that they’ve had in a long time,” he seems in many meaningful ways to be…absolutely correct.
American “conservative Christians” don’t seem to be much into the whole repentance and submission to Christ deal and they are totally eating up The Trumpinator’s All-American pride- and arrogance-fueled approach to “making America great again”, so…
…it ain’t lookin’ good.
For America, anyway.
But remember always: We don’t need America.
God doesn’t need America.
We need Christ.
We need repentance.
We need restoration.
We need cultural resurrection by and through the Christ that Donald Trump (and most “conservative Christian” Americans) don’t seem to have the time for these days.
Whether America is blessed with such pride-crushing humiliation and restoration-enabling repentance or not, God’s people and Kingdom will endure and prosper forever. (See: Roaring into Post-America Christianity.)
So pray for Donald Trump.
Pray for America.
Pray for repentance and restoration all around…while there is still time…
~
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What belongs to God? Everything, right? So, what is left to render unto Ceasar? nothing
If you “fire breathers” are going to make being a born-again, all-believing, repentent, submissive Christian your litmus test for a Presidential Candidate, you will be waiting a very, VERY; long time; you will also be irrelevant.
I’m much more interested in finding someone who wants to return this country to the rule of the Constitution – which includes respect for religion and reverence to Our Maker – than I am in having to have a Jerry Falwell as our candidate.
The issues today are jobs, our broken economy, illegal immigration, our weak military, our weak foreign policy, our stupid foreign policy, the lack of respect and trust in America throughout the world, and let’s not leave out our corrupt Federal Government.
I pray for redemption of our country each day, and I believe that one day that will come. Meanwhile I will support those who have a plan to get us out of the debt and the holes that Obama and the corrupt Congress have dug for us. As far as I am concerned the candidate that is supporting the right things is Trump.
It's amazing how the same people believe the same lies year after year and decade after decade. The fact that Christ IS King and that operating anything – whether one's individual life or the management of a large centralized Socialist State (like America) – in a manner contrary to His Word can and will only ultimately lead to increasing darkness and death is, of course, totally lost on the spiritually blind as they cling to their favorite lies, myths, and idols while attacking those who won't play along.
If you read the Constitution there is no mention of God, or Jesus, and no requirement to govern according to the Bible or any other religious document. Yet the Constitution protects religious liberty, primarily through the First Amendment, so that you can practice any religion you want, in any way you want.
There Constitution is a secular document outlining a form of government. Should a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist or other believer run for President by saying that America must live according to their set of beliefs, they will lose because they are discounting people of other faiths who vote too.
I encourage you to believe what you will, and practice your religion as you choose. But out government is secular by design to allow for the inclusion of everyone, regardless of whether they believe as you do, or believe something different
And, yes, I pray each day to the same God you do, that He will save America and bring her to her senses. I will wait for that. In the meantime I’ll support Trump, despite his flaws, failures and frailties.
John, you are absolutely right.
I too am much more interested in finding someone who wants to return this country to the rule of the Constitution – which includes respect for religion and reverence to Our Maker – than I am in having to have a Jerry Falwell as our candidate. Jimmy Carter professed to be a 'Christian'. Yet he was one of the worst presidents.
This country needs Trump.
When one operates from a man-centered, fear-of-the-world perspective in place of a biblical worldview centering on the necessary "fear of the LORD", they will radically misunderstand and misrepresent the meaning of terms like "irrelevant", as you have here. From that satanic launching point, the idolatry of everything from secular/unbelieving approaches politics to secular/unbelieving approaches economics is also a given, and is also on display in your answer.
The "irrelevant" ones are those who proudly cling to rebellion in this fleeting vapor of a life. Those who will ultimately inherit the earth and every good thing therein are those who submit to the One who created and owns all of it.
As a Born Again Believer in Jesus Christ, it would be great if a B.A. Christian would be running, BUT this country is so far down the tubes it's going to take a "fire breathing, take no prisoners" approach from the POTUS to make a difference in DC (if it's not too late— I fear it is). I would vote tomorrow for D. Trump; I'm looking for someone who has a proved track record of success, with a hugh dose of common sense! This is why D. Trump is garnering support from both sides of the aisle, all others in between.
The only candidates who I believe are "true" Christians are Carson and Huckabee. Can you think of a President we have had since our founding who has been a "true" Christian? And when I use that term, I mean someone who truly knows the Lord. Anyone can "say' they're anything, but that doesn't make it so. Sitting in a church every Sunday doesn't make one a Christian anymore than sitting in a garage makes one a car. I don't believe one can purport to be a Christian and remain a liberal. Jesus was not a liberal. I believe that because America has turned her back on God, He has said "you no longer want to acknowledge Me, have at it, do what you think is right and suffer the consequences". Very scary.
And the alternative to Trump is?…the truth is, in my opinion, there are really no true Christians running at all. I’m no fan of Trump’s religious views (or lack thereof), but at least he’s honest about it. I’m even less of a fan of the ones that proclaim Christianity and then disprove themselves by their actions. There really are no winners here, but as always, God is in control. But does that mean we should just lay back and do nothing. Absolutely not. When was the last time we had a true Christian president? I’m 45, and I’ve never seen one in my lifetime. ..
You're quite right, William, there are really no true Christians running at all. Never has been.
In fact, a true Christian would not even run for the office of president — nor even get involved in politics.
He knows his job is to wait for the return of his savior and the King of Kings, and to live a life that is pleasing to his Creator. In other words, true Christians are "strangers and exiles on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13; NAS) "seeking a country of THEIR OWN" (verse 14-16).
America is a country founded in Judeo-Christian PRINCIPLES. Yet the country is governed by secular law. That was as intended by the Founding Fathers, each of whom was a Christian in his own way. Yet they set up the country to allow each person to hold his/her own religious views, while recognizing that the best way to allow the variety of religious views that exist to co-exist with one another is to govern by secular law that does not pit one Christian against another, or Christians against Jews, or any other group. I’m OK with that.
There is a place for true Christians in our society, and in the political arena. If a true Christian is as you describe, he or she can still participate in the political process, and can act as a sort of conscience for the people by bringing forward ethical or moral views as seen by Christians, thus acting as a moral compass. The failure to take on this role by the Christian community is why I have for some time been sorely disappointed in the Christian community. I see very few Christians speaking out on principle. There are almost no preachers or other Church officials who talk about the issues of the day or the immorality of our society from the pulpit. They do not cry out against the things that are destroying our culture and the population’s respect for faith or the principles on which this country was founded. It’s disheartening.
This country and every other is subject to the present rule of King Jesus (see: Matthew 28:18-20), who commands repentance and obedience in all areas of life. To propose that one can truly honor what you describe as “Christian principles” while denying the present authority of Christ as King in practice over the realms of law, civil government, economics, and everything else, is to embrace a thoroughly satanic view of reality. It is America’s large scale embrace of that satanic worldview that is (and should be) killing her now, and apart from repentance and submission to Christ as King in practice, there can be no real, lasting hope.
I share many of your frustrations, but add to them a frustration of sorts inspired by those who would hold up the Founding Fathers as the “gold standard” in law givers and the Founding Documents as the “gold standard” in law, when they are anything but. God is the gold standard in law giver and His Word is the gold standard in law. The sooner we repent and submit to Him, and the sooner we realize that anytime anyone (the Founders included) contradict the Word of God, they are always in error and their error will always produce pain and darkness (as we are experiencing now).
I hope that these clarifications are helpful and I pray that we will all strive to repent and exalt the Word of God as our standard for law, civil government, and everything else.
With all due respect, I think you are missing the point. While you may believe in “King Jesus” (a term that many Christians would have a problem with), and while you may believe that Jesus is superior and has authority over law and government, I would remind you that Jesus himself said “Give unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar’s, and unto God that which is God’s.” Even he recognized a distinction between the spiritual world and the secular world.
I do, in fact, view the Founding Fathers and our founding documents as a “gold standard” for secular life. It is the best way man has developed so far for people who have different religious views to live together in relative peace, and without one group becoming second class citizens and subject to persecution by another, all because they have different beliefs. Like the Christian persecution by the Pagan Romans, for example.
If you want to put Jesus’ authority over and above the laws that are in place to protect your right to believe what you chose, and knowingly violate those laws, then there may be consequences.
Christianity is not a one-size-fits-all religion. Just look at all of the Christian denominations that exist. You must hold to your beliefs as you see it to believe them, and respect the beliefs of others, expecting them to respect yours. Or to put it another way, again by Jesus, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
The fact that many *professing* Christians may in practice oppose the Kingship of Jesus in no way makes His present reign any less real. It only confirms His Word on the prevalence of false converts. As for Jesus' statement on rendering unto Caesar and rendering unto God, the full context in which it exists utterly contradicts your unbelief/rebellion-rationalizing spin. The way that you pervert the words of Christ in a vain attempt to prop up beliefs that flatly contradict His crystal clear commands reveals your worldview to be in harmony with the serpent's presentation in Genesis 3. Unbelieving man has always hated the thought of Christ ruling over him in detail, so the serpent's spin (and your echoes of that spin) are popular with unbelievers even today. False converts love to claim Christ as a trinket or a prop and they like to "honor" Him as just another god to be "kept in His place" with all other little gods beneath the true god in practice of The State (and true religion in practice of Statism), which you are not surprisingly and quite zealously pitching here, whether you realize it or not.
As for doing unto others as we would have them do unto us, from a biblical/Christian perspective this is a Gospel-centered concept, not a pagan-centered or "live and let live" concept. It does not advocate letting anyone do or believe or pursue anything they like because it makes them feel good or they like it or whatever, however much unbelievers who don't want to be confronted and corrected by the Gospel may try to spin it that way. Instead, it means that if an actual Christian truly loves someone and cares for them as Christ has modeled and commanded, they will confront and correct sin in accordance with the Gospel-fueled Great Commission, which itself makes plain Christ's present rule and comprehensive authority as the basis upon which this is to be done:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
It is very early. At this point in the process last time, Michele Bachman was the republican front runner and 8 years ago, it was Guiliani. Neither made it past winter.
Trump will flame out, eventually.
no flaming out for Trump….