SPECIAL NOTE ON SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER (A FOLLOW-UP): NOT BY MIGHT, NOR BY POWER, BUT BY HIS SPIRIT – OR NOT AT ALL! (WITH VIDEO)

THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “The Lord said to him, ‘Who has MADE man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, or the seeing or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and will teach you what you shall say.’” – EXODUS 4:11-12, AMPC

KEY TERM: “MADE.” ‘Suwm’ [יָשׂ֣וּם]: “To appoint, to call, to change, to charge; i.e., ‘To determine.’” NOTE:“שׂוּם occurs some 583 times, making it one of the most‐used action verbs in the Old Testament. It speaks of deliberate placement—physical, relational, judicial, covenantal, emotional, and spiritual. Whether describing the LORD’s sovereign acts or human responses, the verb anchors the narrative in Purposeful Order: ‘Nothing is random; everything is ‘SET’ by Divine Intention.’”

NOTE: FREE WILL. The person to fulfill it may vary; the manner and style of it may likewise vary; and the place of it may vary. But the TIME AND ACTUALIZATION of it is Determined by God’s Sovereign Will.

THE PRINCIPLE. “So shall MY WORD be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” – ISAIAH 55:11, AMPC

QUOTATION. “‘An Unbelieved Truth can hurt a man much more than a Lie.’ It takes great courage to back Truth Unacceptable to our Times. There’s a Punishment for it, and it’s usually ‘Crucifixion.’” ― JOHN STEINBECK, East of Eden, 1952; edited

COMMENTARY. “Moses continued backward to the work God designed him for; there was much of cowardice, slothfulness, and unbelief in him. We must not judge of men by the readiness of their discourse. A great deal of wisdom and true worth may be with a slow tongue.

‘God sometimes Makes Choice of those as His messengers, who have the least of the advantages of art or nature, that His Grace in them may appear the more glorious’ [1 Cor. 1:27]. Christ’s disciples were no orators, till the Holy Spirit made them such. God condescends to answer the excuse of Moses. Even self-diffidence, when it hinders us from duty, or clogs us in duty, is very displeasing to the Lord. But while we blame Moses for shrinking from this dangerous service, let us ask our own hearts if we are not neglecting duties more easy, and less perilous.

The tongue of Aaron, with the head and heart of Moses, would make one completely fit for this errand. ‘God Promises, “I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth.” Even Aaron, who could speak well, yet could not speak to purpose, unless God gave constant teaching and help; for without the constant aid of Divine Grace, the best gifts will fail.” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

II. TEACHING

Back in the days when I was a professor teaching Public Speaking to freshmen (Academic Purgatory to be sure, a veritable Parris Island hazing for all new Ph.D.’s in my field), I recall the absolute ‘Terror’ it brought to so many of my students. In fact, Public Speaking remains one of the most common fears among most humans.

An excellent piece on Phobia of human phobias was penned by British writer TOM LAMONT, titled: “Is Public Speaking Really that Scary?” (The Guardian, Nov. 2, 2013; edited). Here are some of his opening thoughts.

“‘I wasn’t so surprised, last week, to read the results of a Poll revealing that people feared Public Speaking more than they feared being buried alive.’ Sure, I thought. Because being buried alive at least would be private. No audience to watch you writhe! Jerry Seinfeld once defined people like me, neatly, as those who would be ‘better off in the casket than doing the eulogy,’and I was touched that (according to one Poll’s findings) more than half of us feel this way. ‘Yes, public speaking is “really that scary.’”

THE PROBLEM. So here’s the Crisis of Communication in the American Church, at least as I have watched it over the past, inarguably intense years since the emergence of Donald Trump on the American and World scene. It is neatly diagnosed by Reform Bible scholar CHRISTOPHER VAN DEUSEN, writing for Bearing Christ Crucified (Nov. 1, 2025; edited).

The telling title of his timely piece on the anniversary of MARTIN LUTHER on the 508^th anniversary of the great Reformer’s nailing of the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Door on October 31, 1517: “Church Reformation Will Require ‘Rebuke.’”

Perhaps now you see the Church Problem before we even continue. He writes:

“We Westerners [have generally lived] in a generally soft, comfortable, passive, and cowardly society.’ Although there are plenty of zealots who are willing to Call Out what they perceive as evils and crimes directly to people, the Majority of Westerners and Americans strive to AVOID ever doing anything that might offend or aggravate others. We want to be liked by everyone, and want opposition from no one.

Yet as believers in the Lord Jesus and seekers of Reformation, we have been told in Scripture that the world will hate us, and that we will likely even experience mistreatment from our spiritual brethren in Christ. ‘Thus, we should always be ready to suffer the disapproval and ire of people to whom we bring HARD MESSAGES, just as our Lord did.’

THE URGENCY. As we enter the ‘Eleventh Year since Truth died’ at the Arrival of Donald Trump’s Deception on the American Political Stage, we bear agonizing Witness to the White Evangelical Church’s mindless, continued support of this vilest of men.

In order to comprehend the immensity of this historic aberration, I turn once again to a Black pastor, prelate, and theologian, TALBERT SWAN, for some clarity. Gordon-Conwell and Harvard educated, Bishop Swan outlines the colossal compromise and collapse of most White Churches for the following REASONS (adapted from an AI Overview, Feb. 16, 2026; edited).

OPEN. Bishop Talbert Swan, a prominent critic of the intersection between White Evangelicalism and Donald Trump, argues: ‘Much of the Church refuses to Rebuke Trump because they have aligned their Religious Faith with Political Power, White Supremacy, and ‘MAGA Theology’ rather than the Teachings of Jesus.’

POWER. Swan argues that many Christians, particularly White Evangelicals, have prioritized obtaining Political Influence over Moral Integrity. He asserts they: ‘ABANDONED the Teachings of Jesus, all to protect Political Power.’

SUPREMACY. Swan contends that Trump embodies the values of many White Evangelicals, arguing that their support is not a ‘Departure’ from their values, but an ‘Expression’ of them. ‘He describes this faction as “The Church of the Klan,” and suggests they are complicit in RACISM.’

SELECTIVITY. Swan highlights a HYPOCRISY where some leaders condemn specific sins (like abortion or homosexuality) while ‘ignoring or rationalizing others’ such as blatant racism, immorality, and cruelty from Trump.

FEAR. He describes the SILENCE in the face of dehumanizing rhetoric as a “Sin” and “Cowardice in the Pulpit.” He argues that by refusing to call out Racism, these Church leaders act as “Useful Tool[s] for White Supremacy.”

HISTORY. Swan frequently draws parallels between current support for Trump and the historical role of White Evangelicals in justifying ‘Slavery and Segregation,’ arguing that this is a continuation of using Scripture to rationalize ‘Oppression.’

CO-OPTION. Swan also critiques Black Pastors who support Trump, describing their actions not as ministry, but as ‘Political Puppetry’ and ‘Minstrelsy,’ [the Racist practice of white singers using blackface to mock African people] which he believes justifies the Oppression of their own people in exchange for access to Power.

HERESY. In essence, Bishop Swan defines “MAGA Theology” as a dangerous, idolatrous, and Anti-Christian Movement that weaponizes the Bible to protect White Supremacy and Political Power.

DK NOTE. ‘This is precisely why I view MAGA Christians as HERETICS, barred forever from Eternal Life for having Replaced the True Christ and Gospel for the Antichrist’s Gospel.’ Without Repentance (no longer taught in most American Evangelical Churches today), the Scriptures are relentlessly clear on this matter.

“But I am afraid that, even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted and led away from the simplicity of [your sincere and] pure devotion to Christ. For [you seem willing to allow it] if one comes and preaches ANOTHER JESUS whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a DIFFERENT GOSPEL from the one you accepted. You tolerate all this beautifully [welcoming the deception] …

I am astonished and extremely irritated that you are so quickly shifting your allegiance and deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a DIFFERENT [EVEN CONTRARY] GOSPEL;which is really not another [gospel]; but there are [obviously] some [people masquerading as teachers] who are disturbing and confusing you [with a misleading, counterfeit teaching] and want to distort the gospel of Christ [twisting it into something which it absolutely is not]. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we [originally] preached to you, let him be CONDEMNED TO DESTRUCTION!” – 2 THESSALONIANS 11:3-4; GALATIANS 1:6-8, AMP

NOTE ON “DESTRUCTION.” ‘Anathema’ [ἀνάθεμα]: “A Religious Ban or Excommunication; a thing or person Accursed greatly.” NOTE: “‘In the New Testament, ‘anathema’ is used to indicate of persons accursed and thereby excluded from the favour of God and destined to Destruction.’ In Scripture, the term denotes an object or person formally consigned to Divine Judgment. Originating in the idea of something ‘devoted,’ whether to God for Destruction (as with Jericho in Joshua 6) or to His Service: ‘It came to signify a Judicial Curse that places the offender OUTSIDE the Sphere of Covenant Blessing.’”

Selah. Selah.

III. SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

Armed with a much better understanding of the towering crisis in the American Church in 2026, we now turn to the more specific and frankly desperate need to SPEAK THE TRUTH in this hour. Yes, to the Culture at large, but vastly more urgently, to the House of God.

“For it is the time [destined] for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not respect or believe or obey the gospel of God? And if it is difficult for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the godless and the sinner?” – 1 PETER 4:17-18, AMP

Indeed, beloved. Indeed.

ORIGINS OF CHRISTIAN COURAGE. ‘The True Church has always been rooted in Courage and Integrity because the God of the Scriptures is the very Source of such Character.’ One cannot miss, if truly, ‘In Christ,’ the catastrophic absence of such Character in today’s White Evangelical Church.

But not to despair. We turn to a brilliant essay by DR. CHRIS WATKIN, titled, “The Christian Roots of Speaking Truth to Power” (The Gospel Coalition, Aug. 8, 2024; edited). Dr. Watkin (PhD, University of Cambridge) is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and associate professor in European languages at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He has written many books, including the award-winning Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture.

OPEN. “In the late Modern West, we’re accustomed to hearing the phrase ‘Speak truth to power.’ It implies Truth and Power aren’t the same thing, that Truth can come from the ‘MARGINS OF POWER.’ But have you ever considered how peculiar that assumption is and how our Society is among the first to absorb that Principle as a Self-Evident Reality? ‘Why on earth would Truth not be the same as Power?’”

STANDPOINT. “For us to truly pass Judgment on the way things are, or to Critique it with Authority, we need an External Yardstick. We need some ‘Standpoint:’ From ‘Outside’ the Status Quo from which to Judge the Status Quo, otherwise we’ll be caught in a circular argument that magnifies our existing prejudices. We can’t authoritatively say, ‘This is unjust,’ unless we have a sense of what ‘Justice’ looks like that runs deeper than ‘This makes me feel bad’ or ‘Everyone around me agrees.’”

MARGINAL MANDATE. “In our Society, we find it in voices that come from below and in Voices that come from the Margins. ‘This is what I’ll refer to as the “Mandate of the Margins.” Those to whom we accord the Right to Critique Society are the Marginalized, the Victims, and the Oppressed.’ They have what philosopher Sandra Harding calls an ‘EPISTEMIC PRIVILEGE.’ And those on the Margins do have a Different View of things, a Different Experience of the world that can provide a powerful critique of the Status Quo.”

ORIGINS. “The notion that the Margins have Wisdom in them—that critique comes from below—is Profoundly Christian. ‘From the Bible’s beginning, it’s clear the Center of a Nation’s Power isn’t the center of the nation’s truth and that an Authoritative Critique of the Status Quo often comes from the Margins and from Below—that is, from the places one would least expect.’ Although Israel eventually had kings like the other nations, ‘their Monarchy was a Concession and not a crowning glory.’ In 1 Samuel 8, God only gives the people a king because they demand one, and he warns that the king will abuse his power and exploit the people. ‘The Authoritative Voice came not from the Potentates but from the Prophets, and they were far from Central.’”

[NOTE]. “The DOCTRINE OF THE LESSER MAGISTRATES posits that when higher-ranking government authorities enact unjust or immoral laws, lower-level officials (‘Lesser Magistrates’) have both the Right and Duty to refuse obedience and actively RESIST that Tyranny. It acts as a ‘Check on Power,’ allowing for Lawful Interposition to protect citizens. The Doctrine was formalized in the 1550 Magdeburg Confession by Lutheran ministers, who argued that local leaders could defy the Holy Roman Emperor’s unrighteous demands.” – AI Overview, ret. Feb. 17, 2026; edited

THE BIBLE’S VOICE I. The Bible is the Model for the Modern Mandate of the Margins, but [its] Biblical Voice from Outside is different for TWO REASONS. ‘First, God truly is Outside the contemporary cultural Status Quo in a way no human voice from the Margins can be.’ This is nowhere more vividly demonstrated than in a strange encounter in Joshua 5. Joshua is the warrior leader conquering the Promised Land for the Israelites. Here’s what happens to him: ‘Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.’” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, ‘What message does my Lord have for his servant?’ The commander of the LORD’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so (vv. 13–15, NIV). What a remarkable encounter! This is clearly an Authoritative Voice, and it critiques Joshua’s status quo.”

THE BIBLE’S VOICE II. “‘Second, God’s Voice from the Margins is different is because of the extraordinary way the Bible messes with power structures.’ The Biblical Voice from Outside is both a Voice from the Margins and a Voice of Power. A Voice from the Margins is of little use unless it has the ‘Power to bring about Change.’ This is what the Critique of the Status Quo really requires: A Marginal Voice that’s also a Powerful Voice. But as a voice gains in power, it loses its Marginality. What we need is the insight of the Margins combined with the Power of the Center, and that’s the very thing we cannot have. But this is precisely what Christianity claims: ‘JESUS CHRIST embodies BOTH the Insight into Change that comes from the Margins and the Power to Change that comes from the Center.’”

CLOSE. “Our instinct that Truth is spoken from the Margins and from Below is a good one, and one shaped by the Bible. But no human individual, group, or ‘Outsider’ can deliver on the Promise of providing an Authoritative Critique of the Status Quo. For that: ‘We need a Voice truly from ‘The Outside,’ truly from the Margins. Those criteria can only be fully met by GOD’S VOICE.’ So if we want what the early 20th-century Frankfurt School philosopher Theodor Adorno calls a ‘Standpoint of Redemption’ from which to Critique the Status Quo, what we’re crying out for is the insight ‘that only JESUS can bring. He’s both the Model of Speaking Truth to Power and its richest fulfillment.’”

DK.This is precisely what today’s American Church cannot bring, since it has overwhelmingly, tragically and fatally become: ‘The Voice of Society’s Status Quo.’ Selah.

IV. LAST THOUGHTS

“But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be GIVEN to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” – MATTHEW 10:19-20, NKJV

From all that has gone before, we are faced with TWO REALITIES that are indelibly and logically clear. One: The Church in its present form cannot be The Voice from either the Outside nor from the Center. Two: Therefore, the only entity with sufficient Divine Authority that can speak from both ‘The Outside’ and ‘The Center’ is the ‘FAITHFUL Remnant of Christ.’

“The Lesser Magistrates.”

THE BARMAN. So now we get down to some theological brass tacks about what it is we are to ‘SAY ‘to both the largely Corrupt White Evangelical Church and the larger American Social Order. It comes to us this time from DR. KIMLYN J. BENDER, the Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University. His primary area of research is in 19th and 20th century theology with a particular specialty in the theology of Karl Barth.

The important title of his essay, “5 Lessons Christians Can Learn from The Barman Declaration,” published in Christianity Today (Oct. 9, 2024; edited). Here are his MAIN ARGUMENTS.

OPEN. “In recent weeks, a group of Evangelicals crafted a ‘Confession of Evangelical Conviction’ in response to: ‘The Social Conflict and Political Division plaguing the American Church, especially amid another contentious Presidential Election season.’ Few know, however, that this confession was conspicuously modeled on another: the BARMAN DECLARATION of 1934, a framed copy of which hangs in my office. It was penned during Nazi-Era Germany by Christians who ‘Opposed’ indirect state interference in the work and life of the Church.”

TEMPLATE. “The Barmen Declaration has since become a ‘Model for Resistance’ against other forms of ideologies and political systems that domesticate the Gospel and compromise the Church’s Witness. It inspired both the Belhar Confession, penned in opposition to South Africa’s apartheid, and the International Orthodox Opposition to the Russian Orthodox Church’s Nationalist views after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

PRECEDENT. “In the 1930s in Germany, a group called the ‘German Christians’ was already sympathetic to the Political Goals of National Socialism long before the rise of Hitler since they shared its convictions of Racial and Ethnic Nationalism and Antisemitism. They hoped to unite various German confessions under a single bishop and establish a single ‘Volkskirche’ or ‘People’s Church’—one sympathetic to the Nazi Government and supportive of the Germanic ideology of Adolf Hitler’s Reich.”

DECEPTION. “These German Christians believed the Divine Will was revealed in Jesus Christ and in Scripture, but they also insisted that it could be discerned through Natural Theology—‘in Nature and Historic Events.’ They concluded that the existence of different races and people was God’s Design and that each group was to be kept Distinct (the intermarriage of Aryans and non-Aryans, specifically Jews, was officially forbidden by the government in 1935). Natural Theology for the German Christians was thus one of ‘Volk’ (‘Peoplehood’), a Mystical Fusion of: ‘Culture, Blood (racial supremacy), and Soil (land/nation).’”

CONFESSORS. “In contrast, a group of Christians who called themselves the ‘CONFESSING CHURCH’ sought to ‘Oppose’ the German Christian teachings and governance. In May 1934 in the city of Barmen, 139 concerned delegates gathered for what would become the Confessing Church’s most famous Synod, not least because of the ‘Barmen Declaration’ that it produced.”

BARMAN. “Lutherans Hans Asmussen and Thomas Breit and the Reformed theologian Karl Barth were commissioned to write the confession, with Barth as its principal author. The Confession has Six Articles—the most well-known article of which is the First, which states: ‘JESUS CHRIST, as He is attested to us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God Whom we have to hear, and Whom we have to trust and obey in life and in death. We REJECT the False Doctrine that the Church could and should recognize as a source of its proclamation, beyond and besides this one Word of God, yet other events, powers, historic figures and truths as God’s Revelation.’”

CHRISTOCENTRICITY. “‘[E]very Resistance to National Socialism by Confessing Church Members—such as DIETRICH BONHOEFFER and KARL BARTH—was sustained by an appeal to the singular and supreme Revelation of God in JESUS CHRIST as attested in Scripture.’ These Christians perceived that, no matter how much Traditional Christian Language its leaders used, National Socialism was a Rival Religion that appealed to ‘a Different God’—whether a god of a Mystic Ideal of Racial Superiority, or of the State itself, or of a ‘Generic, Divine Almighty.’”

EXCLUSIVITY. “‘We as Christians can NEVER place our ultimate hope in earthly political leaders or movements, no matter how promising or powerful they seem or however threatened we may believe ourselves to be. (Many Germans overlooked problems with National Socialism and Fascism because they were terrified of Communism and the Russian Revolution of 1917). ‘When rightly understood, Barmen offers a basis for both Theological and Political RESISTANCE against any claims to absolute allegiance made by a State or Government.’ It also serves as an Inoculation that fights against any Ideology, whether of the Left or the Right, that might invade the Church body.”

INTEGRITY. “‘Those who Assented to the Barmen Declaration not only viewed it as a Binding Confession but also LIVED a Confessional Life together in Community.’ These committed Christians strove to remain Faithful to the one Word of God and to be in service to the Church and the Vulnerable. ‘Though few,’ they lived a life of intentional witness and corresponding suffering … ‘Despite its shortcomings, the Confessing Church was the only German entity to RESIST the Nazi regime.’”

MANDATE. “What can be directly applied from Barmen, though, is that the Ultimate Task of the Church is NOT to align itself with the levers of Political Power for its own self-preservation. Rather, the Church should trust its safeguarding to the Lord, in whom we find our true and proper Power. ‘Faithfulness to the Gospel, not political effectiveness, is the CHURCH’S DIVINE COMMISSION. And there are real Dangers when these are reversed or when the first is replaced by the second.’”

HEROISM. “Friedrich Justus Perels was a Christian lawyer in Germany who was deeply involved in the Confessing Church. With remarkable clarity of conviction, he worked to free political prisoners, help relatives of those in concentration camps, and assist Jews in Germany. For these actions, he was arrested in October 1944. On February 2, 1945, he was condemned to death. During the trial in Berlin, Freisler, the judge who presided over the trial, screamed at Perels: “After the War the Church will be wiped out.” But Perels calmly replied, ‘The [TRUE] CHURCH will endure!’”

CODA. Therefore, beloved, you now know a little bit more about this 5-year old Community: “The Peloton Confessing Fellowship,” formed in 2020 with the highest regard for the German Confessors of a century ago. So to our Final Instruction from the Words of the Prophet:

“SET THE TRUMPET TO YOUR LIPS! [The enemy] comes as a [great] vulture against the house of the Lord, because they have broken My Covenant and transgressed against My Law.” – HOSEA 8:1, AMPC

Therefore are we all of us “Lower Magistrates,” members of the True American Remnant, ordained to ‘SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER’ in this Dangerous Hour.

‘For the Glory of Christ, and the Rescue of as many lost as shall hear us.’

MEDIA

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/wwd-2X_OC1w