Jesus, Trump & The Church

“Are you worried that they’re going to try and kill you? Why wouldn’t they try and kill you? Honestly.” —Tucker Carlson

Much has already been said by many reporters, politicians, pastors, teachers and YouTubers in regards to the events that transpired on July 13th in Butler County, Pennsylvania, to president Donald Trump. I refuse to be yet another “voice” that adds to the ever increasing avalanche of non-stop information, opinion(s) and speculation(s). Some of it good and worthy watches and reads, most others are pure garbage or attempts to increase their “following” by regurgitating what we already know to be some of the facts.

I would ask that you forgive me if I sound like a broken record in this post/opinion piece. My perspective though will be from a different vantage point—no pun intended. Some of my readers might agree with me, others might not. I’m certainly okay with that. At the end of the day, my hope is that we can agree to disagree agreeably should it come to that.

Some might think me insensitive with what I’m about to say. Please know that is definitely not the case.

As I was driving to do a little bit of ‘plane spotting’ with my family at LAX on July 13th, I got a text from my brother Rohn that read as follows:

“Shots fired at Trump.”

My first thoughts and words to my wife were: “It doesn’t surprise me at all. It was just a matter of time.” Now, please don’t think for one minute that I wasn’t bothered by what I read and saw. I know I wasn’t the only one that thought this could happen. In Tucker Carlson’s interview with President Trump back in August of 2023, Carlson made a factual statement and then followed it up with a very real and honest question:

“It started with protests against you and then it moved to impeachment twice and now indictment,” Carlson told Trump. “Are you worried that they’re going to try and kill you? Why wouldn’t they try and kill you? Honestly.”

Yet I think it’s important for us as the church to try our hardest to step away from the “noise” and try to look at the bigger picture. There’s something the lies a bit deeper for the church in all of this. An undercurrent of sorts. A posture the church has taken in regards to Trump that we don’t want to admit is there. I think it’s very important that we not ignore the massive elephant in the room.

As far as I know, including Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump, that would make six total in our country’s history. This is not including those presidents whose assailants were unsuccessful of inflicting any type of flesh wound on their targets. Abe Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and now Donald Trump. Of these six listed above, all but one were Republicans. Though I’ve often made the argument that Kennedy would be considered a conservative according to today’s standards. Nonetheless, these men went against the so called elite establishment and ended up either paying the price with their lives or having what I like to call a ‘come to Jesus moment’ or a ‘brush with eternity’. The latter, thank God, was the case for Donald Trump.

What I’ve observed thus far (speaking strictly of the reactions from many in the church) is that the focus for many is still on a man, instead of on the Great I AM. Unfortunately, that is where the church is making the same mistake the Israelites did centuries ago…and it cost them greatly! See if you can follow me on this one.

GIVE US A KING!

Samuel was the last of Israel’s judges. It doesn’t seem that he was the greatest father figure, in that both of his sons did not walk in the ways of the Lord. They were crooked and perverse…very reminiscent of today’s politicians (of course not all of them, but most). The people of Israel got fed up with the way that Samuel’s sons, Joel and Abijah…

“…turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.”

Samuel was the last ‘Judge’ of Israel. Up to this point, the One that was ruling over the day in and day out affairs of the Israelites was none other than God Almighty Himself. Let’s not forget that if we turn just two books to the left of 1 Samuel, we come to the amazing book of Judges. This is an awesome account of God’s patience, grace, mercy, deliverance and forgiveness over a stubborn and rebellious people—ahem…"the church"!

Back to 1 Samuel 8. The elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel…this is what they said:

“Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” (verse 5) NKJV

Samuel’s immediate reaction was understandable…he was angered, upset, indignant! I sure am glad that the Lord didn’t make me a Judge at that time. After everything the Lord did for them, they now wanted a king (little ‘k’) to rule over them? I know my reaction would have been much like Jonah’s towards Nineveh…take ‘em out now Lord! Praise God He’s so merciful, kind, loving and forgiving! Amen?

Despite Samuel’s indignation, the Lord spoke to Samuel…

“And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” (verse 7) NKJV

This was then followed by a strict warning that God commanded Samuel relay to the people of Israel. You can read about it in 1 Samuel 8:9-18. What’s striking to me wasn’t so much their desire for an earthly king, but their thoughtless, irrational and brainless response they gave Samuel despite being informed of the egregious actions their new king would commit against them, as we read about it in verses 19-20:

“Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

Their desire for an earthly, fallible, sinful leader superseded their desire of having the God of the universe, whose mercies are new every day, rule over them. Their eyes were on a man. That man turned out to be King Saul. A man who was arrogant, self-centered, selfish, and most of all, proud.

And, let me tell you that God hates pride!

SO WHAT?

So what does all of this have anything to do with what just happened to Trump?

Well, I believe that, though tragic and upsetting as it is, what this really did was bring to the forefront the focus of many within the church. Much in the same way that the Israelites longed for an earthly leader, the church is (and has been) making the same mistake for centuries. Essentially, the church by and large has been putting their focus on Trump, a man, as a means to “save” us from the rapid and inevitable decline of America. He’s been elevated to “savior” status by way too many pastors and congregations alike.

Much of the chatter and sentiment that came out of this assassination attempt via many in the church was implying that because God saved Trump from this (and the Lord surely did prevent it), he is somehow now endorsed by God Almighty to go forth, lay hold of the presidency and make all the wrongs right. There’s this prevailing attitude that Trump is God’s instrument for righteousness and therefore cemented his status as ‘savior’ of America. I know that sounds like a bold statement to make, but if we’re gonna be honest with one another, and especially with the Lord, we have come to look at Trump as ‘the only one’ that can save us…make America great again—again!

I remember reading a comment on a video I watched months ago that went something along these lines: “If you’re eyes are on a man, that means that your gaze is far too low.”

Family—as the body of Christ— I fear that our trust and our eyes have been on a man for far too long. And in light of what just happened to Donald Trump, that fixation on the man to remedy our “woes” is more real now than ever before. My hope is that the church would turn to none other than Jesus Christ Himself. May we cry out to the Lord in repentance for our blatant disobedience against Him. He is always at the ready to forgive us and heal our land.

This is all about the churches posture before God Almighty. And it’s not good.

BLESSED OR CURSED?

Much of what we see happening in our country today is eerily similar to what we read about in the Deuteronomy 28—the blessings and cursings. I would highly encourage each one of you to take time to read it.

It starts off with the Lord saying the following to the Israelites in verses 1-2:

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:”

This verse is very telling. It’s a conditional statement. Much in the same way we read of in 2 Chronicles 7:14. The seventh word in from the start of chapter 28 is “IF”. That’s a big word! Much diligence and Godly discipline is required in order for the “if” portion of the blessings to be met. Can we honestly say that we have been obdient, as the body of Christ, to ‘diligently’ obey the voice of the Lord our God? Have we as the church been careful to observe all of His commandments? Have we sought the Lord in Spirit and in truth? Have we been faithful witnesses of Christ as the church? Again, the honest answer to that question is a resounding no!

If anything, the American church has gone wayward. There are many engaging in wanton sin. Pornography runs rampant in many American churches. Fornication. Adultery. Drinking (and I don’t mean water). Gossip. You get the point.

Here’s another question. Have we as the body of Christ ever engaged in idolatry? You bet, we sure have. And, we not only continue to embrace idolatry, but we celebrate it as well. Some might be thinking right now that I’m off my rocker. But if there’s going to be any true blessings from our Lord rain down on us, we MUST be willing to come to grips with these problems. Sure it’s ugly, but it’s necessary to deal with head on.

The American church has for decades now elevated materialism, growth and appearances over the truths of scripture. We’ve created a mega-church culture that promotes ‘rock star pastors’ as the norm in the church. We’ve watered down and twisted the teaching of scripture so much that there’s hardly any difference or distinction between secular humanism and the Word of God. We’ve made the churches a place of entertainment where we are lulled into an experience rather than being confronted by the Truth of God. In essence, we’ve manage to replace God’s theology with man’s theology. The pulpits of America (not all) have shifted the focus of many from the Great I AM to the sinful man. And, when the church’s eyes are on a man rather than the Great I AM, we move into the ‘Curses On Disobedience’ portion of Deuteronomy 28 that NO ONE wants to talk about, let alone admit.

Let me see if I can put it into context. The blessings of chapter 28 span from verses 3-13. That’s 10 verses (yes, I can add). However, the curses that the Lord assures Israel will come upon them if they disobey the Lord span from verses 16-68—that’s 52 verses of curses!!! Now, anyone in their right mind would realize that it’s suicide not to embrace the blessings. And they’d be right! But unfortunately, the church—and by reason of influence our country—are on a fast track to the curses. I’d go as far as to say that we’re already experiencing some of them. That should be a very sobering thought.

Some may argue that those were just meant for Israel, God’s chosen people. But think about that for a minute. There hasn’t been any other nations throughout history as blessed as Israel and the United States of America, not one. If God meant what He said and said what He meant to Israel, don’t you think that His words would ring true for us, present day? What makes us think we’re any better? God has afforded the USA many blessings that no other nation has enjoyed (again, aside from Israel). In His delivery of the 10 commandments, we read about in Exodus 20, we see a crystal clear picture of how God feels about serving other gods. We read in verses 3-6:

“You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

Now, God doesn’t use the word ‘jealous’ as we do. He’s not envious of things others have. No, not at all. Essentially, what the Lord is saying is that He WILL NOT share His glory—which rightly belongs to Him—with anyone or anything else. Period! And that also includes Donald Trump.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Family, as always, let me see if I can land the plane on a short runway! Bottom line is that as tragic as July’s 13th assassination attempt on Trump’s life was, we cannot allow it to elevate ‘a man’ to the status of ‘savior’. That title belongs only to The Great I AM.

President Trump was allowed by God (don’t miss that word ‘allowed’) to survive that attempt on his life. Some are calling it providential. To say that God didn’t protect Trump would be ludicrous. He came within a little over a centimeter to eternity. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that in that moment Trump experienced his ‘come to Jesus moment’. A definite “brush” with eternity to say the least. Donald Trump said he even heard the sound of the bullet pass by his ear. I’d say it was more like the sound of eternity that “wizzed” right passed him.

My prayer, as I hope is yours as well, is that Trump will realize that the One that turned his head at the perfect moment was none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Not chance, coincidence, luck or fate. It was God Almighty! I would love to hear Donald Trump acknowledge Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior. I’d love to hear similar words spoken by Trump that were uttered by Nebuchadnezzar over two millennia ago…

^“And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever:

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?”

At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.”

There are two things we should be doing.

One: Pray that President Trump, much like Nebuchadnezzar, would praise and bring honor to God Almighty. For it is God Almighty that’s put him in the position he’s in. Remember God hates pride, as Nebuchadnezzar found out. May this humble ‘the man’ to get on His knees and acknowledge Jesus Christ as King of kings, Lord of lords, Savior, Risen Lord and the Great I AM! Pray for a true surrender to Jesus Christ!

There’s a picture circulating around that I found to be a very powerful visual of the position President Trump (and all of us) need to take before God Almighty. I’ll let the image do the talking, after all, a picture’s worth a thousand words.

Donald Trump is covered by Secret Service agents after being shot during a July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images)

Secondly, we, as the church, MUST look ONLY to God Almighty as our Leader, King, Provider, etc! After all, Jesus was the One that gave His life in our place on the cross. He is the One that saved us from eternity in Hell. He is the One that we call Abba Father. The Mighty One to save.

Continue to pray for president Trump, but don’t forget that our eyes MUST BE fixed solely and exclusively on the Great I AM and not on a man!

😁Have A Nice Day!👍🏻

P.s. Let me say this. I want to make sure nobody misunderstands what I am saying. I am NOT saying that we shouldn’t vote. It is our God given responsibility to do so. To not cast a vote and “sit this one out” would be akin to voting for tyranny. We must remember that we are not voting for Pastor of the United States. We are voting for the President of the United States. I am voting for the one who's closest to my biblical values, and that man is Donald Trump.

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