NOTES ON MAGA CHRISTIANITY: DONALD TRUMP & THE DEATH OF AMERICA – A PERSONAL REFLECTION ON THE LOSS OF MY TWO CLOSEST FRIENDS: 2017-2021 – WITH VIDEO

SCRIPTURE. “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” – EPHESIANS 4:17-19, NKJV

KEY TERM: “FUTILITY OF MIND.” ‘Mataiotés’ [ματαιότης]: From a primitive root meaning, ‘Empty, profiles, an idol;’ i.e., ‘vain or vanity;’ without purpose, worthless, useless, fruitless; also, misleading [or ‘easily misled’]; aimlessness, hollowness, given to idolatry; transientness, moral depravity or perverseness, wickedness; ‘devoid of truthfulness and appropriateness;’ absence of vigor or strength [of character].”

QUOTATION. “‘Vanity and Pride are different things,’ though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, Vanity to what we would have others think of us.” ― JANE AUSTEN,Pride and Prejudice, 1813; edited

COMMENTARY. “The Apostle charged the Ephesians in the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus, that having professed the Gospel, they should not be as the ‘Unconverted Gentiles,’ who walked in vain fancies and carnal affections. Do not men, on every side, walk in the vanity of their minds? ‘Must not we then urge the distinction between Real and Nominal Christians?’ They were void of all saving knowledge; they sat in Darkness and loved it rather than Light. They had a dislike and hatred to a life of holiness, which is not only the way of life God requires and approves, and by which we live to Him, but which has some likeness to God himself in his purity, righteousness, truth, and goodness.” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

1. FIRST THOUGHTS

I will argue here that the FIRST SIN IN THE GARDEN has crept, long unnoticed, into the very Heart of America and her shamelessly Compliant Church. When the Serpent whispered that dark day long ago to Adam and Eve in that Primordial Garden,“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5),Mankind and its historic trajectory would never be the same again.

German theologian ERICH SAUER eloquently describes that prehistoric Moment when this First Sin was to entire God’s Universe.

“And yet! Into this Universe, which was appointed to the Highest, which the Creator had called that it should become a vessel to reveal His glory, ‘there has entered A BREACH!’ The United Harmony of the spheres is destroyed by a harsh Discord. Sin has appeared, and criminally set itself against the holy, loving plans of God to reveal Himself. ‘Through the Sin of Mankind this Lower Earth is devastated’(Gen. 3: 17, 18; Rom. 8:20), and, in the Heavenly World above, as the history of temptation in the Bible premises, ‘A FALL had taken place among the angels prior to the Fall of Adam and Eve’ (Gen. 3: 1-7; 2:15). Yet how this was possible, and why God permitted it, no one can say. THE ORIGIN OF EVIL remains forever a Mystery. Even the few hints that the Scripture gives are no more than suggestive.” – The Dawn of World Redemption, 1937; edited

Despite Sauer’s dalliance with German Fascism for a season, his work largely remains a milestone in bringing us to the monumental ‘Grasp of God’s Plan for the Universe and Mankind.’ To this point: Because of the Spiritual Infection that entered into God’s Creation before Time itself, we must deal with it on an unending, painful, and daily basis.

And even the Christian Church is subject to its gale force temptation to abandon her Creator and Redeemer. Especially, the Law, the Prophets, the Apostles, and the Messiah Himself, in the Last Days when ‘ANOTHER GREAT FALL’ would take place. 

“At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their association with Me] ‘and will fall away [from the One whom they should trust]’ and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another. Many false prophets will appear and mislead many. ‘Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold.’ But the one who endures and bears up [under suffering] to the end will be saved.” – JESUS CHRIST, Matthew 24:10-14, Amplified

II. MY PERSONAL CHRISTIAN STORY

I’m going to walk away from the pedantic lecture stuff for a bit, and get down in the weeds where most of us live and thrive and, unfortunately for most of us today, also hurt and fume and become bewildered at what is happening to America these days.

And to us.

I will tell my story by describing the LOSS OF MY TWO BEST FRIENDS between the years 2017 to 2021 – the same years that my new book covers in considerable, sometimes excruciating detail. I will be careful to keep their identities from you, but those very close to me can probably guess who I am describing.

I offer this as Tragic Microcosm of what we are all experiencing today to one degree or another. So here we go.

THE ROCK STAR. Now I don’t mean this literally, but as Metaphor. I led this young man to Christ in the early 80s when I was still teaching at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He is from a very wealthy family, speaks and dresses in the manner of someone intelligent and obviously cultured, and has always been gracious and respectful, even before his conversion. He and his wife are godparents to our children – or were – and are among the closest friends we have ever had.

The reason I call him a “Rock Star,” by the way, is because all he has ever set his hand to has prospered in the best of definition of that term. He has published several books, is connected with the Christian elites around the country, and ministers to inner city kids in Texas and other states. Though wealthy still, he has never demonstrated the heir of an aristocrat but rather is kind to all so far as I can tell. (Well, almost all. My wife tells me that their hired help for the grounds and gardens don’t always get the respect they deserve).

And it just may be that last little ‘chink in the armor’ could explain the rest of what happened.

A few years ago, around 2018, I visited him in his home in Colleyville, Texas on the way to interview for a position with a Christian university nearby. He and his family attend the Mega-Class Gateway Church in Southlake pastored by ROBERT MORRIS. According to Wikipedia, the church estimates its weekly attendance at 100,000 folks with an annual income of $300 million. Pastor Morris’s personal wealth is assessed at somewhere north of $117 million. Selah.

When I began to relate my concerns about DONALD TRUMP having been fired from Liberty University, I immediately sensed an unprecedented wall being put up, with his wife saying, “Well Cliff, Texas is Trump country.” As if to warn me that I had better get on board if I ever realistically expected to be able to work at any Christian institution in Texas. Wow. I had always been the respected mentor, but now, was being lectured to about how wrong I was to oppose The Donald.

Over the ensuing years, we had more and more difficult exchanges, mostly by distance, and got to the point of severe disagreement with my increasingly severe warnings being sluffed aside as misplaced anger. I remember one last exchange where I asked to meet for a one-on-one and got the same response I did from my former Mega-Church pastor here in Colorado Springs:

“No, I won’t meet with you since you’re just going to criticize my position.”

THE PROUD TEXAN. I met this dear man and his wife many years ago while teaching at Regent University in the 1990s. They came one day to my tiny office there with the wife literally in tears about what they perceived as ungodly, liberal views from some of the professors. They had left their little home in Amarillo, Texas, where he had grown up as the quintessential Texan, slow drawl and all, at considerable sacrifice to enroll at PAT ROBERTSON’S highly touted university.

In subsequent years they became dearest friends to me and Suzette, and many trips to visit them in The Panhandle welded us together even more tightly. But again: ‘Then Came Trump.’ One, possibly two of his wonderful sons had enlisted in the military (Marine Corp I think), and they had begun to drift more toward an open view of politics and spirituality, impacting their dad increasingly over the years.

He and I began to clash as he defended his “right to be free in Jesus Christ,” meaning that my opposition to Donald Trump was wrong-headed and judgmental. After a severe falling out, we tried to rebuild the bridges again and did so for about a year by not addressing the massive Elephant in the Room, but it didn’t last. Trump continued to be Trump, aggressively dominating the American news cycle – and the Church’s loyalty. We then separated again, this time for good.

Ironically, his own disillusionment with his former church (I cannot recall the issue) left him churchless and for some reason he gradually returned to a moderate use of alcohol along with his wife. The last time I was in his home describing the then somewhat nascent ideas for the first Sixth Seal book, she was drinking a gin and tonic and he was drinking beer. I overlooked it all and there was some enthusiasm over my ideas, more from her than from him, however.

After three attempts by me to reconnect, it went nowhere. I sent them a copy of the new book and the kind but telling reply from the wife (he would no longer speak to me) was: “It was sweet of you to send the book but we will have to just agree in Jesus while differing considerably over the rest (regarding Trump).” It was clearly another goodbye, and I have to say that these two kill shots affected me deeply.

IN SUM. Donald John Trump had not only destroyed my ability to ever work again for a Christian institution but devastated two of the most important friendships I have ever enjoyed. Selah.

III. LAST THOUGHTS ON THE DEATH OF AMERICA

Before my son Christopher and I knew our respective positions on Donald Trump sometime around 2017, I remember he came to me, lovingly but firmly, and told me this: “Dad, I just want you to know that if you and Mom ever went for Trump, we could no longer be a family.” Or words to that effect. He had not realized that I was even more committed than he was in opposing the Beast of Babylon at the time.

Now if you think that is too extreme, here are some CASE STUDIES from a heartrending essay by a team of reporters from Reuters (Tim Reid, Gabriella Borter and Michael Martina) entitled, “’You Are No Longer My Mother’: A Divided America Will Struggle to Heal After Trump Era” (Nov. 2. 2020; edited).

• MOTHER-SON. When lifelong Democrat Mayra Gomez told her 21-year-old son five months ago that she was voting for Donald Trump in Tuesday’s presidential election, he cut her out of his life. “He specifically told me, ‘You are no longer my mother, because you are voting for Trump,’” Gomez, 41, a personal care worker in Milwaukee, told Reuters. Their last conversation was so bitter that she is not sure they can reconcile, even if Trump loses his re-election bid.

• HUSBAND-WIFE. Gayle McCormick, 77, who separated from her husband William, 81, after he voted for Trump in 2016, said, “I think the legacy of Trump is going to take a long time to recover from.” The two still spend time together, although she is now based in Vancouver, he in Alaska. Two of her grandchildren no longer speak to her because of her support for Democrat Hillary Clinton four years ago. ‘She has also become estranged from other relatives and friends who are Trump supporters.’ She is not sure those rifts with friends and family will ever mend, because each believes the other to have a totally alien value system.

• BROTHER-SISTER. ‘Democratic voter Rosanna Guadagno, 49, said her brother disowned her after she refused to support Trump four years ago.’ Last year her mother suffered a stroke, but her brother – who lived in the same California city as her mother – did not let her know when their mother died six months later. She was told the news after three days in an email from her sister-in-law. “I was excluded from everything that had to do with her death, and it was devastating,” said Guadagno, a social psychologist who works at Stanford University, California. Whoever wins the election, Guadagno is pessimistic that she can reconcile with her brother, although she says she still loves him.

THE RESEARCH. ‘Trump’s election in 2016 divided families, tore up friendships and turned neighbor against neighbor.’ Many have turned to Facebook and Twitter to deliver no-holds-barred posts bashing both Trump and his many critics, while the President’s own freewheeling tweets have also inflamed tensions. A September report by the non-partisan Pew Research Center found that nearly 80% of Trump and Biden supporters said they had few or no friends who supported the other candidate. A study by a Gallup poll in January found that Trump’s third year in office set a new record for ‘Party Polarization.’ While 89% of Republicans approved of Trump’s performance in office in 2019, only 7% of Democrats thought he was doing a good job.

Today these rifts are even deeper, later studies show. BRUCE STOKES, Associate Fellow, with Great Britain’s think tank, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, commonly known as Chatham House, observes this at point blank range in a piece entitled, appropriate to this Commentary, “Is the United States Headed for a National Divorce?” (Feb. 20, 2024; edited).

The American Civil War (1861-65) was fought over Slavery and, to a lesser extent, States’ Rights and the future of the Economy. In the run-up to the 2024 US elections, there is ‘talk of another Civil War brewing’ over the country’s future. While there is no imminent threat of armies clashing on the battlefield, increasing hyperbolic Insurrectionist Sentiment is a product of a growing realization that the US is now more divided along ideological and political lines than at any time since the 1850s …

The deep divisions in the American electorate manifest themselves in early projections of the possible outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election. At this stage, Biden is judged by the highly respected Cook Political Report to have 226 out of the necessary 270 votes in the Electoral College, with the majority (116) coming from former Union states. Trump has 235 votes, with a majority (135) coming from former states in the Confederacy. The continuing legacy of the Civil War remains …

‘America’s friends and allies need to understand that the United States has become a Disunited States.’ There are effectively TWO AMERICAS – and they are at war. They are fighting over social, political, and Constitutional issues, and over what role the US should play in the world. The 2024 US election is just another battle in this war.” 

CODA. I am at some loss to know how to conclude this essay, since the issues and their consequences at hand are so massive. Thus, I turn to THE ONE VOICE who knows the Beginning from the End, who is the Alpha and the Omega over it all.

Hear what He says, beloved, and do accordingly.

“I have come to cast fire (judgment) on the earth; and how I wish that it were already kindled! I have a baptism [of great suffering] with which to be baptized, and how [greatly] I am distressed until it is accomplished! ‘Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division [between believers and unbelievers];’ for from now on five in one household will be divided [over Me], three against two and two against three.They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” – LUKE 12:49-53, AMP

Until now, I had never related this Passage to the explosion of a Culture War, indeed, a Second Civil War in America – but I do now, beloved. I do now. How could I have missed it? Because we have been asleep, my friends, every single one of us, lulled into the ‘Superbus Fabula’ the “Arrogant Myth” that has been shoved down our Christian throats that this could never happen here. I mean, this is America after all! We are, well, ever so “Exceptional,” don’t you know!

The Price. Just this morning the Lord whispered this passage to me without my realizing how relevant it would be to today’s conversation: “You have put my [familiar] friends far from me; You have made me an abomination to them. I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.” – PSALM 88:8, AMPC

Jesus Christ lost nearly all Israel but would see a third of them Return to Him later. May it also be so with us, beloved.

CODICIL. My last thought is captured in an age-old country saying: “Chickens are coming home to roost.” There is a War on, and it has been on for centuries, for Millennia actually, and longer – for Eons!  And now, its very Epicenter appears to be the United States of America. And its Prince by all appearances promises to be DONALD JOHN TRUMP to oversee the Final Act of a very Old Play.

Make Ready and Steady, therefore, and slumber no more. Nightfall is coming, so let us all make the very best of the Time left to us. For Rescue!

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/8hH_NpPjiLY