God Chose Trump

[DCPatriot]

August 26, 2018
God Chose Trump
By James Arlandson

When Trump tweets something, the Self-Righteous Indignation Brigade demand that Christians immediately drop their support of the president.  If we don't, then somehow we have lost our integrity or compromised our faith.  Isn't that obvious?

No.  Here's why.

I used to be a harsh Trump critic and a NeverTrump, writing various articles in a mocking, condescending style (I won't link to them).  Through a series of circumstances and listening to various people in my church tradition and just observing, I changed my mind.  So I decided to flip this question 180 degrees.

How could God use a man with such a deficient character as Trump's?

That question is easily dispensed with.  The Bible is full of heroes of the faith who had moral defects.  It is time to disabuse ourselves of the notion that the presidency is sacred, in the sense that biblical and European monarchs underwent le sacre (sacred royal anointing and crowning).  John Adams was laughed out of court, so to speak, when he suggested that the president take the title "His Excellency."  This was not a far-fetched proposal, because that title appears everywhere in seventeenth-century colonial government documents.

Bottom line: God can accomplish his purposes even with imperfect vessels.

So I flipped the first question to this corollary opposite question:

What if God set up this whole Trump phenomenon?

Is it possible to see God at work nowadays with the Trump presidency?  We need a Christian analysis of current events, so absent today, based on our constitutional founding in the late eighteenth century and some old-fashioned biblical principles.

con't:   http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/08/god_chose_trump.html

_________________________________________________________________

[DCPatriot]

So there!!!  See?

It was God...not the Russians, that interfered with the 2016 election.   

@Frank Cannon

[aligncare]

So there!!!  See?

It was God...not the Russians, that interfered with the 2016 election.   

@Frank Cannon

You rascal, you. I can just hear the lamentations of the faithful over this article’s premise. Oy vey!

[DCPatriot]

You rascal, you. I can just hear the lamentations of the faithful over this article’s premise. Oy vey!

 

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

I've said it before;

Donald Trump is not my Priest, Pastor, or Rabbi.

He is the CEO of the most powerful nation/force for positive change/improving the quality of life in general On This Earth.

The fact that he's not Scripturally Pure enough for some here neither validates or excuses their Pontius Pilate/Leftist Street Mob attitude towards him.


"Are you better off now than you were 2 years ago?"

"Is the rest of the world a safer place now than it was 2 years ago?"

[DCPatriot]

I've said it before;

Donald Trump is not my Priest, Pastor, or Rabbi.

He is the CEO of the most powerful nation/force for positive change/improving the quality of life in general On This Earth.

The fact that he's not Scripturally Pure enough for some here neither validates or excuses their Pontius Pilate/Leftist Street Mob attitude towards him.


"Are you better off now than you were 2 years ago?"

"Is the rest of the world a safer place now than it was 2 years ago?"

Even if the answer is "no" to both of those questions, it's still a helluva lot better for America than the alternative choice at the time.

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

Even if the answer is "no" to both of those questions, it's still a helluva lot better for America than the alternative choice at the time.

Yup. No bout adoubt it.

And that alternative is now going to try to impeach Trump based on dragging an over the hill, overweight, porn floozy with tattoos and a bad boob job before the US House, as one of their Star Witnesses.

What was that word, DC?

The one they loved parroting about their last Marxist Floozy in the Oval Orifice?

He had 'Gravitas'.

As in Gravy to pour on your daily ration of Govt Beet Soup with Beet Vodka.

[Right_in_Virginia]

I've said it before;

Donald Trump is not my Priest, Pastor, or Rabbi.

He is the CEO of the most powerful nation/force for positive change/improving the quality of life in general On This Earth.

The fact that he's not Scripturally Pure enough for some here neither validates or excuses their Pontius Pilate/Leftist Street Mob attitude towards him. 

Amen, brother!  Amen!

[Silver Pines]

The title of the article is right.  The book of Romans says that ALL authorities are set by God. 

But the author’s attempt to place Trump in the company of Biblical heroes doesn’t work. The men he referenced all had a relationship with God.  All of them were repentant.  They were purged, THEN used.

[INVAR]

What if God set up this whole Trump phenomenon?

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to their debased minds to do what should not be done. They are filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Who having known the righteous judgment of God, that those doing such things are worthy of death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. - Romans 1:28-32

[RoosGirl]

Ninety-five bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety-five bottles of beer.  Take one down and pass it around.  Ninety-four bottles of beer on the wall.
Ninety-four bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety-four bottles of beer.  Take one down and pass it around.  Ninety-three bottles of beer on the wall.
Ninety-three bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety-three bottles of beer.  Take one down and pass it around.  Ninety-two bottles of beer on the wall.
Ninety-two bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety-two bottles of beer.  Take one down and pass it around.  Ninety-one bottles of beer on the wall.

[Wingnut]

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us.

[Sanguine]

The title of the article is right.  The book of Romans says that ALL authorities are set by God.

But the author’s attempt to place Trump in the company of Biblical heroes doesn’t work. The men he referenced all had a relationship with God.  All of them were repentant.  They were purged, THEN used.

That was true when Romans was written, but now authorities are elected by the people and not God, which implies, by the doctrine of free will, that they are NOT necessarily Godly-placed authorities.  I suppose they can be, but that is known by God and not us.

[Silver Pines]

That was true when Romans was written, but now authorities are elected by the people and not God, which implies, by the doctrine of free will, that they are NOT necessarily Godly-placed authorities.  I suppose they can be, but that is known by God and not us.

@ Sanguine

Okay, I did a little reading, and you’re right.  There are some passages in which God says the people set up evil leaders, but not by him.  It’s pretty much a consensus that he allows it as part of His plan.

[Sanguine]

@ Sanguine

Okay, I did a little reading, and you’re right.  There are some passages in which God says the people set up evil leaders, but not by him.  It’s pretty much a consensus that he allows it as part of His plan.

I'm glad you fact-checked me.  I strive for accuracy, but can make mistakes.  One should always fact-check. 

[Silver Pines]

I'm glad you fact-checked me.  I strive for accuracy, but can make mistakes.  One should always fact-check.

@Sanguine

Well, I wasn't so much checking you...I wanted to understand what you were saying.

[Sanguine]

@Sanguine

Well, I wasn't so much checking you...I wanted to understand what you were saying.

Oh....sorry, not very clear of me.

[INVAR]

@ Sanguine

Okay, I did a little reading, and you’re right.  There are some passages in which God says the people set up evil leaders, but not by him.  It’s pretty much a consensus that he allows it as part of His plan.

God always reluctantly gives his debased Children who have forsaken His Ways, exactly what they demand.  And they suffer the consequences of getting what they want.

They demanded to be ruled by kings, and God gave them kings, whom waxed worse and worse until they led them into utter destruction.

They demanded quail after eating nothing but manna for years, and so God caused quail by the hundreds of thousands to flock upon them, and they ate them and tens of thousands died because their bodies were not used to processing meat in large quantities.

God gives His people what they think they want, and allows them to be destroyed by it.  It's a form of punishment.  Not too unlike finally giving up on a child that continues to insist on stupidity.

"You want to go out, blow your money on booze and drugs?   Okay - but don't come crawling home to me to bail your sorry ass out of jail.  You get to figure out life by yourself, without my help."

It's what parents who love their kids do when reason and pleadings no longer work.

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

The title of the article is right.  The book of Romans says that ALL authorities are set by God. 

But the author’s attempt to place Trump in the company of Biblical heroes doesn’t work. The men he referenced all had a relationship with God.  All of them were repentant.  They were purged, THEN used.

OK. I read this link
https://liveasfreepeople.com/2018/02/02/why-evangelicals-can-support-trump/

Not the 2nd one, and your argument, given the times and culture we have descended into, remains opaque to me.

Who among us is to know well enough to tell others of Trump's personal relationship with the Lord?

Are we all certain his Evangelical connections are nothing more than vote pandering?

And even if they are, we as professed 'conservatives' should still believe in the 1st Amendment's Freedom of Religion. Not Freedom to be a devout Christian or else. Goes hand in hand with being a Nation of Laws rather than a Nation of Men.


I used to build guitars and basses and repair them.

Someone not knowledgeable in that craft could look around my workspace and bench with all manner of questions about tools and techniques. C-clamps, heat lamps, pressure cooker, router bits, plywood templates, some weird shaped cutouts of 5/8th plywood, jigger of wooden toothpicks, etc. 

Is it beyond possibility that the Lord's workbench here may be also rather cluttered looking and somewhat incomprehensible?

Why do we need DJT to make a public showing of Christian Religious Sincerity?

If we do we've boiled it down to requiring a candidate for public office to pass a Religious Test. Forbidden already.


If Trump starts bringing G-d into his public addresses, it raises the possibility of more bombings and mall shootings by Jihadis screaming about Crusaders.

But at least the consciences of people who already despise DJT will be salved with the argument he's not only Not a God Fearing Christian but a bumbling Incompetent too.

[Silver Pines]

Oh....sorry, not very clear of me.

@Sanguine

Nope, you were clear!  What you said conflicted with what I had read, or at least it seemed that way.   I needed a correction.

[Absalom]

So "What if God set-up the Trump phenomenon?" Hmm........
Suspect that the Almighty has much more important matters to deal with.
As for Trump, anyone who truly believes that economic betterment is the
fundamental answer to our deep cultural malaise, badly needs to get real.

[Silver Pines]

OK. I read this link
https://liveasfreepeople.com/2018/02/02/why-evangelicals-can-support-trump/

Not the 2nd one, and your argument, given the times and culture we have descended into, remains opaque to me.

Who among us is to know well enough to tell others of Trump's personal relationship with the Lord?

Are we all certain his Evangelical connections are nothing more than vote pandering?

And even if they are, we as professed 'conservatives' should still believe in the 1st Amendment's Freedom of Religion. Not Freedom to be a devout Christian or else. Goes hand in hand with being a Nation of Laws rather than a Nation of Men.


I used to build guitars and basses and repair them.

Someone not knowledgeable in that craft could look around my workspace and bench with all manner of questions about tools and techniques. C-clamps, heat lamps, pressure cooker, router bits, plywood templates, some weird shaped cutouts of 5/8th plywood, jigger of wooden toothpicks, etc. 

Is it beyond possibility that the Lord's workbench here may be also rather cluttered looking and somewhat incomprehensible?

Why do we need DJT to make a public showing of Christian Religious Sincerity?

If we do we've boiled it down to requiring a candidate for public office to pass a Religious Test. Forbidden already.


If Trump starts bringing G-d into his public addresses, it raises the possibility of more bombings and mall shootings by Jihadis screaming about Crusaders.

But at least the consciences of people who already despise DJT will be salved with the argument he's not only Not a God Fearing Christian but a bumbling Incompetent too.

@To-Whose-Benefit?, I'm not sure what the second one is that you mentioned.  To answer your questions, no, we can't be sure Trump isn't a Christian. But I'm not going to assume someone is Christian because I don't know he isn't.

Yes, I do think Trump pandered in a huge way to the religious right.  I thought that had been established. 

His evangelical connections/spiritual leaders consist of people like Paula White, Robert Jeffress, Jerry Falwell Jr., and Kenneth Copeland, among others.  I think those four are frauds of varying degrees.  James Dobson stated that Trump had become a Christian, but then said, well, no, he didn't know if that was true.

IMO a lot of people who supported Trump badly wanted him to be a Christian---still do.   I can't be sure, naturally, but I haven't seen anything that indicates it.  Nothing. 

I don't *need* him to make a public announcement, but it's just fact that past presidents have talked about their faith.  Sorry, I don't buy the idea that he can't do so because of Muslims. We still have  prayer breakfasts, etc.

[roamer_1]

This is stupid.
If it is true, then God also lifted up Obama.
Which should immediately put this 'divine right' into perspective.
Personally, I think it is true, and all y'all are getting exactly what you deserve.
REPENT.

[RoosGirl]

This is stupid.
If it is true, then God also lifted up Obama.
Which should immediately put this 'divine right' into perspective.
Personally, I think it is true, and all y'all are getting exactly what you deserve.
REPENT.

Hey buddy who the hell is "all y'all"? 

[roamer_1]

Hey buddy who the hell is "all y'all"?