It was strange when I learned that my sister and her husband were both Hillary supporters (despite being born-again church going Christians), and so were other members (unsaved) of my family, all belonging mainly to the “learned” class. This caused me to ponder on this situation, and I’ve come to realize a few things:
1) Hillary lost more than Trump won. What I mean is that the various issues of corruptions and lies played a key role in motivating many of her supporters to switch, including a significant number of Obama supporters who chose not to pitch in for Clinton.
2) The churches across America probably had a major role in the increased turn-out in rural conservative America. These were the people who realized the deeper meaning for what America stands, and the sacredness of her Constitution. They stepped up.
3) Many in the 20 to 45 age bracket, especially women, were aghast with the Trump victory, many broke down crying. Seems to be a young, educated lot who reasoned away the first two amendments promise of sacrilege to the need of the hour, without deeply considering the consequences, and with complete disregard of God and His blessings the country has enjoyed over the centuries. They have become humanists, paying only superficial reverence to the Bible, but really, they would rather do away with it. This segment is growing and that is the worrying part. The conservatives have won today, but the battle is not over, unless the church storms Heaven with great prayer and asks for guidance on how to overcome the challenge ahead.
4) Listening to HIllary’s emotional post-result speech convinced me that the ideological divide in this country is huge. They believe they are right, all issues they stand for are real, and meaningful, for the citizens of this country. They seem unable to comprehend the people’s verdict, and are definitely shell-shocked.
5) The pollsters were a joke. Knowing the methods used in research, I realized they completely disregarded the people who didn’t matter (in their small minds); these people, who usually couldn’t be bothered with politics, stood up to be counted. Hallelujah!
Clearly, America is in need of a great revival. The learned generation, needs to learn about God and His saving grace, they need to step down from their lofty pedestals and open their minds to divine wisdom. But, reaching out to them needs a new strategy; these are not people who accept the message without questions. If we are in a situation where the person is living in sin, according to the Bible, our presentation needs to be different.
A recent experience comes to mind. In Daytona Beach, my host, in the Air B and B home I was staying in, was very angry with the fundamental Baptist church in his area. I mean vociferously, vehemently angry. He had been divorced for several years, and had begun a relationship with a woman in a dead-end marriage. She went through a painful divorce, and then suddenly, she found God. She began fellowshipping at the Baptist church, and soon she was convicted strongly enough to end the relationship. Needless to say, he was devastated. He was a Democrat, and had enough of this old-fashioned religion. On trying to appeal to his sense of reasoning, I ran against the “Bible-is-not-the-Word-of-God” block. This block is universal among the school/college graduates of the last couple of decades. Colleges which were founded on biblical principles, to teach God’s Word, are today producing citizens with a clear conviction that God does not exist.
There seems to be no debate between creationism and evolution anymore. The schools seem to have done away with the biblical narrative. With the administration filled with modern day evolutionists, and with humanism as a philosophy reigning strong, the education system is being abused, in the effort to make it theologically neutral. Except when it comes to some minority groups who insist that their way is more important to them, and their rights need to be protected; therefore, their syllabus will contain what they believe it should. So fundamental Christianity is being compromised while other forms of religion are being protected. How strange can that be in this land of the free and the brave?
Conservative Republicans need to take this God ordained position of power to make those corrections. Bring God back into our education system, make prayer an integral part of our children’s education, teach them the Word along with the other views to give them proper balance. We need to sack those who think otherwise, the damage done is unbelievably extensive.
I firmly believe that children must be taught that it is not okay to be “gay,” or whatever other abomination that’s trending these days. We need to teach them that God loves them, but because they chose to turn their backs on God, they do not/will not enjoy God’s blessings and cannot be a part of our life in eternity with God.
But, we mustn’t exclude them (those living in sin) from our lives; instead, love them and in creative ways show them the wrong in their lives; never joining them. It is not for us to condemn them, that’s the job of the Holy Spirit to convict them. We must pray for them, and share the Gospel with them, and when they are in need, be the first to step up and support them, help them in anyway possible without compromising our own convictions.
I am in the world, but not of the world, and this principle needs to be understood by all of us. Yet, we are commanded by our Lord to love our neighbors, and also our enemies. This would include the ungodly; therefore, the love of God needs to touch them through our lives, and our witness of His salvation. It’s time for an awareness of the world we live in. We know it, but while we resign ourselves to our church services and the weekly preaching, the neighbors are crying for our attention, and we as God’s children need to reach out in love; God’s love.
Is this an idea, that we have special services for new believers, build up their foundation, before allowing them to experience the greater truths which convict us all along the way to the marriage supper as the bride of Christ. A kind of an invitational service, with all the reverence (which they expect) and an enlightening, life-changing basic teaching message from the Word.
I am convinced the enemy’s attack is direct on the Word of God, and this is where the church is going to be hurt the most. Perhaps special prayer times to address this issue would be a good way to start?
Pastor, I do not mean to preach, this is just a sharing of my thoughts with a person who has espoused God’s Word and God’s values have been a blessing to me during my stay here in San Francisco.
Ronnie