With 2020 looming, the NAR Trump forces are coming out strong and in some cases blasphemously.

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And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. -- Luke 24:19-21 (ESV)

https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/renewing-america/76342-why-it-s-unacceptable-for-christians-to-stand-on-the-political-sidelines

https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/76336-pastor-rebukes-those-who-say-we-shouldn-t-be-political

https://relevantmagazine.com/culture/politics-culture/what-is-st-louis-make-the-gospel-great-again-billboard-trying-to-say/

Let me preface this by saying it does not matter who you vote for. Your right to vote and civic responsibility are entirely carnal, meaning they belong to the things of this world. The notion that when we stand before Christ He is going to say, "Well, I'd love to let you in but c'mon, Clinton in 96?" is biblically illiterate and moronic. Man has been trying to leverage God in His politics forever and will continue to do so. The disciples themselves wanted Jesus to be political. They wanted Him to deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Empire but He was having none of it. He came to deliver them eternally from their sin and that still remains the goal beloved. The Gospel is not about this world but the next. How much were they driven by their desires for worldly deliverance? The key verses come from the story on the Road to Emmaus, three days after the crucifixion. Jesus appears to some followers walking to Emmaus and asks them what they are talking about, as He blinded them from who He really was. What was their big takeaway even though they had heard the body was already gone from the tomb? That Jesus did not deliver them from Rome. Jesus did in fact redeem Israel but they were still focused on their political reality. As it was so it always goes and today we see the influence of the New Apostolic Reformation instill generations with the same political focus at the very same expense of ignoring the Gospel.

We saw it explode in 2016 and 2020 is looking to be even worse for the true cause of Christ as we are already seeing an onslaught of attention and press paid to protecting their perceived political messiah, Donald Trump. Hyperbole you think? The third link above is to an article about a Facebook group called, "Make the Gospel Great Again." Putting aside the stupidity of that name, they found themselves in some controversy recently when they paid for a billboard in Missouri which only had three elements:

1) The phrase, "The Word became flesh"

2) The verse, John: 1:14

3) A picture of Donald Trump's face

The correct outrage among mildly discerning Christians was that the billboard blatantly was blasphemous in equating a man to Jesus Christ. The group founders balked at the obvious charge and before you think maybe this was just poor judgment, here is the mission statement from this group:

"MGGA exists to help spread the truth of God's great champion on earth -- President Donald Trump. The Lord anointed Mr. Trump to bless America, and we live out our faith by following him. Donald Trump has already won many victories for Jesus by stopping abortions, telling the truth, proving that the real racists are not white, and fighting against the liberal media and their War on Christians! " MGGA will work tirelessly to remind Christians to be loyal to President Trump and trust him in all circumstances. As Proverbs 3:5 reminds us, 'Trust him with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.'"

We live out our faith by following Trump? Real racists are not white? Was Proverbs 3:5 written about God or Trump because these guys cannot tell the difference anymore. Now I recognize these are the fringiest of fringes when it comes to this subject and most will admit they are absolutely unchristian and possibly demented but they are only one side of a sliding scale that keeps tilting in their direction. MGGA is simply not that far away from mainstream Christianity today in that they simply removed the pretense. The first two links above are to two new articles out this week about politics and Christianity. We can only expect this assault on the bible and our sensibilities will intensify as the 2020 elections come closer and I pray Christians are not duped by people who worship this country and are trying to revive Sodom. By no means does that suggest you should not vote for whoever you feel led to. Just do not pretend that the thrice married bastion of immorality is the second coming of King Cyrus with an Elijah anointing and a Deborah mantle. The world sees our crazy beloved and it damages the witness for the Gospel. We either stand for what we believe in or just admit that we are those men on the Road to Emmaus still hoping for a political deliverance that Jesus had no intention of providing. So let us reason again through the first two links. One is from David Lane, who is a political operative disguised as a Christian. The second is from Pastor Shane Idleman, who we have highlighted before. For the sake of time I will highlight points they tried to make as we see what the bible actually says:

'Senator James Lankford (Oklahoma) once invited an audience to "name one book in the Old Testament that is not written by, to or about political leaders." He then offered, "I think there are three in total. I'll make you figure out the three ... Job is one."' -- David Lane

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. -- Shane Idleman

James Lankford should not give up his day job because he clearly is not called to divide the word. None of the books in the entire bible were written by a politician. The conflation Lankford traffics in here is common among NAR dominionists. They muddy the theocracy of Israel with the current country of the United States. The reality is that there were plenty of worldly politics surrounding all the bible writers and none of them got involved with them. When Paul stood before one of the chief political figures of his time, King Agrippa, he mentioned not one iota of politics. Instead he proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which even amazed Agrippa! With no apologies to Idleman, God did not give us America. The Gospel is our action Shane. It is the only thing with the power to save man. You remember saving men Shane?

'There is a staggering lack of biblically-based knowledge and impact in America's public square. Secularism, Christianity's chief competitor, thrives solely in the absence of morality, and Christians have handed over the culture and its mountains of influence to those in rebellion against God. Any casual observer will recognize that secularism's dominance of academia, newsrooms, sports, the courts, big business, Hollywood and medicine is a direct result of Christians "not doing politics." It would seem that modern Christianity is "not doing education" either, given that the secular worldview now is being spoon-fed to 85% of America's youth. Until Christians step into the public square, reestablishing a biblically based culture, the "sexualization" and secularization of youth, allied and abetted by Hollywood and media cliques, will continue to bring the nation to ruin."' -- David Lane

"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, it refers to governing or leading a group of people. Again, 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." -- Shane Idleman

If secularism is our competitor; what exactly are we competing for? The public square? Who cares how the deck chairs are arranged on the Titanic? Lane's reference to the mountains of influence reveals his NAR bonafides as the Seven Mountains Mandate is central to their dominionism. The areas he rattles off as being dominated by the world are indeed those seven mountains. Instead of wanting to bring the Gospel to the lost, Lane wants the church to fight for control of a dying world through these cultural mountains. Many of his ilk believes this conquering is required to facilitate the second coming of Christ. You might think that is crazy but is it that far away from erecting a billboard exclaiming that Donald Trump is the word made flesh among us? They are just different points on a sliding scale beloved. Idleman's fanciful notion is just silly. Everyone who enters politics abandons their ethics and compromises their principles. Jesus warned us that even a little leaven eventually leavens the entire batch. You cannot dance with the devil and think you will lead. Salt and light are accomplished through the Gospel, not partaking in the very evil we try to see people saved out of. The example of slavery is a perfect way to try and explain the folly of the NAR and folks such as Lane and Idleman. Slavery was bad and as an issue the church should stand against it. That does not mean preachers should have been preaching about it. That means Christians who have been properly taught the bible should know it is wrong. To interject politics is to interject carnality into the discussion. The problem with what Lane and Idleman espouse is that they confer righteousness upon one party even if all they do is rail against the other. The reality is that neither party cares about the cause of Christ. The Republican Party led the charge against slavery and just a couple generations later led us into the Great Depression. None are righteous, not even one.

"The Founding Fathers established the Bible as the anchor and cornerstone in order to judge, thereby inducing unity, structure and shape, which in due course joined a people together, and so fashioned a unique culture that came to be known as American Exceptionalism." -- David Lane

"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

Another hallmark of NAR dominionism is a very poor understanding of American history. You can say those that settled this land were mostly committed biblically but not so with the Founding Fathers. For every "God-infused" quote I can find two against. Most were not born again believers either. Many were Deists, which believed in "a" god but denied Christ as the Son of God. Thomas Jefferson produced his own bible where he removed any mention of the deity of Jesus and removed all of his miracles. To the NAR they believe in a fantasyland where America was founded by people who looked like them, sounded like them and believed like them and that is as crazy as erecting a billboard in Missouri exclaiming the president is Jesus Christ. The Lanes and Idelmans simply wield facts they know so little about they embarrass themselves. The term American exceptionalism was first coined as a critique of America by Joseph Stalin. The "One Nation Under God" was not added to the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954 as a response to the red scare from rogue senator, Joseph McCarthy. So these terms had nothing to do with our founding as a nation. The NAR script needs for these lies to be true because then they pretend that the US was once under covenant with God as Israel before it and if we could just get back to behaving correctly then maybe God will stay His coming wrath. Spoiler alert! He will not. God does not care about the behavior modification of people who do not believe in Him to begin with. We will let Idleman close us out today:

"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: "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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."' -- Shane Idleman

So sad. First of all, these verses are not meant to be applied today as they were written for a specific time for the people of Israel. But even if you insist, they are directed at the church beloved. The church must repent and pray. The church must seek His face and turn from its evil ways. The reason why the world is deteriorating is that the church has abandoned its role. Not as morality police or theocracy enforcers but as the source of the Gospel here on earth. The land is healed when the world sees the shining city on a hill. It is healed when the world sees the peculiar people who do not confer righteousness where it does not belong. I recognize that the MGGA Facebook group is as crazy as it gets but if you asked the average non-believer they would not see them so far off from Shane Idleman and David Lane and that is a real problem for the Gospel. 2020 is rapidly approaching and by all means pray and vote as you feel led. Just do not confer righteousness upon any man beloved. No man is the word made flesh and dwelt among us. We lean not unto the understanding of any man. We do not live out our faith by following any man. You may think these notions are obvious but the scale is starting to slide in the wrong direction and we need to correct it before it is too late. It is idolatry, plain and simple. The Gospel is already great. We just have to tell it again and let God be God.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- May 14, 2019

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.