The NAR's Shane Idleman is back again to tell pastors everywhere to preach Trump and not Christ...

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"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV)

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Seventeen days left before Election Day and you can sense the NAR powers that be are getting quite nervous. Every day we are greeted with another slew of articles from dominionist pastors mangling the bible and common sense to try and convince Christians they must vote for Donald Trump and pastors to preach such from the pulpits of America. One such lackey is Shane Idleman who constantly refers to himself as a "spirit filled pastor." It is becoming clearer that he may indeed be full of it but it is not the Holy Spirit. You see beloved, God does not need us to lie on His behalf. He does not need us to conquer seven cultural mountains. He certainly does not require us to mangle the bible to try and prop up our carnal positions. Let us reason once more together through Idleman's latest NAR propaganda, linked above.

"In light of the current direction of America and the overwhelming silence of pastors going into the next election, I'm re-releasing what I said a few years ago. This article has never been more relevant than it is now. God has given us a wonderful gift known as America. The government isn't bad or good; her people determine success or failure. Why would God ordain our government and then not want us to steward His gift? Many have been guilty of not getting involved by saying, "We shouldn't say or do anything political. All we need to do is preach the gospel." Be careful--although the gospel is our primary focus, this shouldn't be an excuse against action. James A. Garfield, an ordained minister and 20th president of the United States, said, "Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption." We are actually voting for principles, not people--all candidates are sinners. "In what direction will they lead our country?" is the question we should be asking. Even more importantly, what country will we leave for our children?" - Shane Idleman

There is much to carefully unpack here. First of all, when Shane says pastors are being silent, he is actually saying they refuse to preach politics like he does. These so-called silent pastors could actually be using their pulpits to speak the Gospel, you know, like the bible commands them to. Secondly, God has not given us the "wonderful gift" known as America. This is straight up dominionist theology. By tying this pagan nation to God, Idleman can then demand the people of God do something. Thirdly, the government is actually bad or good and it depends on what you are comparing it to. Compared to Communist China or oppressive Russia, America must look pretty good. Compared to God however, America is quite bad. I do not think God approved of our slavery or working kids to death in early sweatshops. Pretty sure He did not agree with the genocide of the native people here or what we have done in other countries in pursuit of our own greed. I make this point because Shane and the NAR love to confer righteousness where it does not belong. Once you understand that America was not a gift, we understand that we are not beholden to God to steward this country. God technically ordains every country and leadership through His permissive will. Isn't it ironically sad that Idleman cannot see preaching the Gospel as an action? Next however is a staggering contradiction Shane completely misses. He quotes Garfield because he likes the fact that it encourages people to action but he cannot see that Garfield is actually stating we should not tolerate politicians who are ignorant, reckless and corrupt. Instead, Shane tries to make an impossible pivot by claiming we are not really voting for people anymore but rather principles. ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. We always cast our vote for people. If the people we elect have no principles then what good did it do to pretend to have them? You must understand the tremendous pickle Shane finds himself in. He knows that his candidate, that he is trying to persuade you to vote for, is entirely ignorant, reckless and corrupt. So he moves Garfield's goalposts to pretend we are not really voting for people. As for what world we are leaving for our kids I would hope one where pastors tend to sheep and preach the Gospel, no matter the shape of this fallen world.

"Don't Keep the Salt in the Shaker. We don't have to abandon our ethics or compromise our principles to be involved in politics--what good is salt left in the shaker, or a light that is hidden? Contextually, when Jesus referred to being the "salt and light," He was referring to holy living at the individual level, but the overlapping principle applies to all areas of life. "Politics" is not a bad word. In simple terms, politics refers to governing or leading a group of people. Politics won't save America, but in order to implement change and help others, we must take action--hence the political process. Would you have remained silent in the 1800s over slavery? Of course not. Politics, which once focused largely on the economy, national security and the deficit, now tackles important moral issues. These major issues have enormous implications; to remain silent actually makes a statement that we are not concerned enough. This is not just about the loss of jobs; it's about the loss of morality. We're not just talking about adding millions of dollars to the national deficit; we're talking about aborting millions of babies. We're not only talking about fluctuations in the housing market; we're talking about creating life simply to destroy it. This shift requires us to stay closely involved. Topics that are "too controversial" are often critically important; we can no longer ignore them. Interestingly enough, the stability of America is one of the top concerns on the minds of many today. There was a time in recent history when America felt secure knowing that the most formidable enemies were abroad. Not so today. While we are concerned with terrorist attacks--and rightly so--there is a greater threat from corruption within. We, like the mighty Roman Empire that collapsed centuries ago, are crumbling from within. There are people and groups who are strongly committed to the destruction of anything rooted in our nation's Christian heritage. They attempt to be "one nation 'above' God," rather than "one nation 'under' God." Scripture identifies this as foolishness, self-exaltation and arrogance--the downfall of nations." - Shane Idleman

Let the bible mangling begin! Shane refers to Matthew 5 and the Sermon on the Mount. The key verses today deal with the salt and light charge from Jesus. Remember now the premise here is that pastors who refuse to preach politics are wrong. So now according to Shane Idleman, if a pastor spends his days preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ without mentioning Donald Trump, he is leaving salt in his shaker. Right. As for the rest of this screed let me start with facts Shane may not be aware of. The phrase one nation under God was not added to the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954, during the red scare. What is foolish and arrogant is to pretend that a banal phrase such as this dictates the spiritual health of anything, let alone a nation. No one is suggesting by the way that Christians themselves should not act on behalf of the moral imperatives of their day. I know plenty of Christians who volunteer in clinics designed to give women an alternative to abortion. That is doing the hard work. What Shane is advocating for is legislating morality, ironically enough through the least moral president we have ever had. Perhaps these people would have more credibility about being pro-life if they weren't the same people who are against wearing masks during a worldwide pandemic. In addition to the bible, Shane also does not understand American history, recent or distant. He is apparently unaware that the political party he shills for is also the party that gave us the Roe decision. It is also the same party that reaffirmed Roe in 2000. Going back to our underpinnings, they don't represent a "Christian heritage." This is just more stale NAR talking points. Many of the founding fathers were deists and some atheist. The Christians that were there would not be allowed in most churches today. America is not under covenant with God. Please, just stop it.

"Are We Cowards or Watchmen? There is a saying that one generation plants trees for the next generation. I'm concerned that instead of planting, we are removing and destroying the very covering that protects us. As a result, our legacy as a great and noble nation has all but been forgotten. For instance, most schools no longer teach students about the spiritual foundation that has guided America throughout her history. Consequently, America's moral and religious heritage is often deleted, grossly distorted or revised altogether. Students often miss the critical connection between America's unparalleled greatness, her rise to world leadership and the spiritual foundation that made it possible. This should concern us. The ideas of the classroom in one generation will create the ideas of government within the next. Today, our culture promotes relativism, and man does what is right in his own eyes. Again, according to Scripture, to his own destruction. God's Word says to confront, confess and turn from our sins; relativism encourages us to ignore, overlook and continue in them. Although this position may seem radical or extreme, we are living in extremely critical times. Make no mistake about it: We are witnessing the rapid deterioration of a nation right before our eyes. But there is hope. 2 Chronicles 7:14 calls out from the past with resounding clarity to America today: "And My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. There are times to encourage, motivate and uplift, but there are also times to confront, challenge and contend for what is right. That time is now. Let it not be said of us today: "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord" (Judg. 2:10b). The day of the silent pastor who is more concerned about nickels and noses must end. Are we pleasing God or men? Are we cowards or watchmen?" - Shane Idleman

Wow. As a former teacher of American History and a minister of the Gospel let me just say this is wildly incorrect on both fronts. We built our initial wealth and expansion upon the backs of the slaves we owned. When we became industrialized, we expanded our growth on the backs of sweatshop workers, colonialism and eventually wars for greed. I still believe America is the best experiment amongst all pagan nations in history but please do not elevate it higher than it should be. Understand beloved, this is the heart of the warped mindset of the NAR dominionist. They actually believe that evangelicals landed here on Plymouth Rock and sought to establish a theocracy. They believe that as they honored God, God rewarded the nation with great material wealth and land, apparently at the expense of Native Americans who had done nothing wrong. It appears that while they were all worshipping one day, someone left the back door open and when they awoke in the 20^th century all of these other people with their other religions had apparently snuck in and settled down. These people apparently contaminated the gene pool and soon we were all sinners across America demanding homosexual abortions with our morning tea. Now they are on a mission from God (yes that is a Blue Brothers reference). That mission is to revive this once great bastion of evangelicalism by forcing their beliefs upon the heathen "others" and stealing Supreme Court seats.

Snarkiness aside, Shane still does not get it. Because his predicate is wrong, his entire vision is ridiculous. The people who settled this land did so not to establish a theocracy. You cannot revive what was always dead. Shane is right about one thing. We are witnessing the rapid decline of society. One of the primary drivers of this decline however is the apostate church abandoning the Gospel, such as Shane Idleman and the NAR. It is expressly because pastors refuse to preach the Gospel and are instead wasting their time on such trivialities as politics, that we see this decline accelerating. That is actually what the Chronicles verse means! Shane is still so blinded by his worship of this country that he cannot see it. It is the church that must repent! The land is healed when the church behaves as God has outlined it to behave. Do you honestly believe that you are being a watchman by preaching Donald Trump? Teaching Republican Party righteousness is not brave Shane. It is demonic. I can think of few greater schemes that the enemy has hatched against the church than to convince it that preaching about Donald Trump is more important than preaching about Jesus Christ. What evangelistic plan starts with alienating half the listeners?

Seventeen days left beloved. I can guarantee you one thing. On the morning of November 4, 2020, God will still be on the throne. He will not be surprised. He does not need your help to conquer cultural mountains and He never did. He has only charged the church with one task. Preach the Gospel. Maybe we can get back to that when this nonsense is over but I am not holding my breath. Carnality breeds further carnality. The flesh profits nothing.

Reverend Anthony Wade - October 17, 2020

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.