We're Still in the Starting Blocks

I'll admit it. Even though I did not vote for Trump, nor did I ever feel any confidence in his candidacy, I did breathe a sigh of relief when Pennsylvania turned red, and Fox News called the Presidential election in his favor.

I'm still not confident in his future administration, and I do not feel that Christianity has won a huge victory. I am, however, relieved that Hillary Clinton did not win the election. At least now, there's a chance (a small chance) that the next round of Supreme Court justices will be friendly toward religious liberty. There is a chance that the executive branch of government might back off churches and para-church organizations. It's possible, but not guaranteed.

All that said, many of my Christian friends are actively celebrating this election. Seeing the nation outright reject a pro-abortion, anti-religion, anti-Second Amendment candidate is reassuring. It tells us our nation may not be too far gone. However, seeing this victory as a win for Christianity might amount to counting the chickens before they're hatched.

It's easy to look at an election win and think that things are okay, or that they're even getting better. However, elections do not effect change in the hearts of people, and if we are to see America truly come alive, it'll take more than a Trump victory to make that happen.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah notes that he saw the vision of the Lord, high and lifted up on His throne in the Temple, in the year that King Uzziah died. King Uzziah was a Godly king who restored a certain level of greatness to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Despite his sin that led to his untimely death, hs is regarded as a king who did right in the sight of God. Upon his death, his son Jotham became king. Jotham had been running the kingdom since Uzziah contracted leprosy as a punishment for unlawfully entering the Holy Place in the Temple. Jotham was also a good king, a Godly king, one who did right in the sight of God.

It would have been easy for Isaiah to think that, with Jotham's coronation, everything was going to be okay. However, it was at that time that Isaiah saw the vision of God in the Temple. Upon seeing this vision, Isaiah was reminded of his sin, his nation's sin, and was then told that his nation would rebel against God until the captivity came. Isaiah had work to do in order to reach those who would repent. He would be charged with speaking God's truth, and calling the nation to repent.

Despite the glimmer of hope that the 2016 election might have presented, we still live in a society where partial birth abortion is seen as a legitimate form of birth control to which a woman has a right. Sexual immorality is still being normalized. The family continues to break down. Younger Americans still want to trade in the opportunity of freedom for the "security" of socialism. And America continues to turn away from God, His church, and His Word.

Our work as Christians, pastors and missionaries did not come together and conclude with the 2016 election, it's just beginning. This is going to be a long race, and we are still in the starting blocks.

This election has presented us with an opportunity to spread God's word and spark a revival in this country. Let's not squander it.

Why This Election Will Not Stop The Great American Decline

Sorry for the reference to The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again," but I've been through enough elections to know that the results of this election will not bring sweeping change to our country. The United States has been on a downward trajectory for years, and it has less to do with whom we elect, than who we are.

Our elected leaders stink, because we stink. Our government is dysfunctional, because we are dysfunctional. Our society crumbles because we removed the bedrock foundation that made it great. I don't care how magnificent the structure, you remove it's foundation, and the whole thing falls.

The foundation of American society was faith. Faith in God who built this country and blessed it. Faith in the American people who built this country and defended it. Faith in the American dream which built the greatest society and economy the world has ever known. Faith.

In his book, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville noted the role that faith played in the American experiment. Faith, he wrote, was essential to democracy working, because it was the faith of Americans which convicted us that we had a responsibility not only to ourselves, but to do right by others.

Following de Tocqueville's logic, if you remove faith, then America descends into a conglomeration of warring factions, with each group and individual seeking pleasure and power at the expense of others. The nation degrades into a group of fractured demographics, all of which are opposed to the others, with leaders seeking the support of these warring factions until ultimately the country tears itself apart.

This is not Obama's fault, and it's not going to be solved by Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. This crisis will only be resolved by a revival in our country.

This Decline Is Evident In The Foster Care Crisis

Every week, I read stories about the supposed "failing" foster care system in Texas. There aren't enough workers, foster homes are overcrowded, and of course, there isn't enough money.

The problem with the foster care system, at least in Texas, is not that there's a lack of money, foster homes or case workers. It only appears such because we have an abundance of parents, who, after having rejected faith, have elected to abuse drugs and their children. Right now, there are approximately 6,000 children in the Texas foster care system awaiting adoption. That's not including the children who were taken into care last month, or those whose parents' rights have not been terminated. Think about that, there are enough children in foster care in Texas to populate a small city. That means that thousands of parents have shirked their responsibilities, and actively harmed their children.

The increase in abusive households is not the fault of the federal government, government policy, nor is it the fault of Child Protective Services. The increase in abusive households is the result of the degradation of society brought on by the abandonment of faith.

Poverty

The fact that, with all the prosperity we see in America, poverty affects families across generations is another sign that our foundation has been compromised. America is the land of opportunity. Despite all of our complaints with the tax system, welfare state, and corporate corruption, America is still the one place that you can go from rags to riches in one generation.

While millions of people find themselves temporarily in poverty, perpetual poverty is the result of the foundation of faith being removed from American society. Once again, if you remove faith, you remove hope, and you remove personal responsibility.

Currently, we have millions living in multi-generational poverty, when the formula for escaping poverty is as simple as it has ever been. The left-leaning Brookings Institute has released three steps to escaping poverty. Basically, if you follow these three steps, you will escape poverty without fail.

These three steps are: (1) Graduate high school, (2) wait until you turn 21 to get married, and don't have children out of wedlock, and (3) get a full-time job.

Yet, we have generations of Americans who are dropping out of education, who are having children out of wedlock, and who refuse to do what it takes to get a job. These decisions are influenced, not only by a lack of hope, but a never-ending list of voices who tell the impoverished that there is no hope, they are not responsible to make good decisions, and that their plight is caused by the rich man. These dishonest voices are motivated by greed, as an entire class of activists and political operatives draw their power and income from the plight of the poor. Once again, faith has been removed, and ruin follows.

Calling Good Evil, and Evil Good

America is going through a time of transition where our values are fundamentally changing. The institutions that made America great, the church, higher education, the family and the community, are metamorphosing in ways we never imagined. In order to remain relevant, many churches are abandoning orthodox teachings and normalizing sinful behavior. Many avoid standing on moral principle, or standing for God's word, by employing a "judge-not" philosophy on life.

Higher education no longer seems to challenge the thinking of its students, electing rather to avoid hurting anyone's feelings. (That's really a shame. Though I had liberal professors who challenged my conservative Christian views, it was through defending those views to said liberal professors that I learned to think for myself, and construct my own world view, which is even more in line with scripture, and more conservative than it was prior to going to college).

The family is being redefined from a mother, father, and children, to any group of people who happen to live together. This arrangement diminishes and even negates the responsibility to raise children, which gets relegated to government schools.

As these changes progress, the American world view degrades into a cesspool of self-loathing, moral ineptitude, and rampant sin, which will ultimately result in the loss of America's greatness.

I could go on...

... but I won't. I could address how rampant sexual immorality is victimizing today's children, thus perpetuating itself to the next generation, or how the abdication of personal responsibility is leading us to communism and the loss of all freedom. I could talk about the evaporation of the American economy as companies are less interested in creating value and products, and more interested in automating financial reports. I could discuss our fascination with violence, the loss of decorum, the rejection of truth, and the admiration of evil. But I won't. That would be running up the score.

So, if your candidate loses, don't lose heart. If your candidate wins, don't celebrate too much. The real problems in America originate with our hearts, and not in the Oval Office.

It's time for America to repent. It's time for us to turn from our sin and turn back to the Lord. It's time for us to renew our faith in God, our faith in each other, and our faith in the American way. If we fail to do that, even a resurrected Ronald Reagan won't be able to help us.

Renew your faith, and I'll see you in church on Sunday.

Let Us Not Do Evil, So That Good May Come

There's an old saying that "the ends justifies the means." Basically, if you get a good result, it does not matter how you arrived at your destination. Therefore, you can freely justify any behavior so long as your intentions were for a good result. This line of thinking has caused thousands of good Christians to sacrifice their integrity and surrender their testimonies, all for the sake of pursuing a goal, whether that goal was a legislative or electoral victory, or whether that goal was effecting change in their local churches or communities.

History is full of churches that died as a result of splits caused by members pursuing a Godly goal through unGodly means. Maybe the preacher did deserve to be fired. Maybe the church needed to launch a youth ministry or transition its worship style. Maybe the red carpet was the best choice... however in many cases, those changes were pursued using the unGodly means of gossiping, backbiting, slander, and vote stuffing. The results of this behavior have been devastating each time this strategy has been employed.

This morning on News/Talk 102.3 KXYL in Brownwood, TX, I once again drew fire from listeners for not defending Donald Trump's candidacy for President. Particularly, I said he was as deplorable as Hillary Clinton, and when asked about his Christianity, I expressed my doubts.

(1) He has never made a public profession of faith. Trump has never publicly stated that he has had a conversion experience.

(2) He has publicly stated that he hasn't had to ask forgiveness for anything, because he hasn't done anything wrong. (I'm referring to the statements he made back during the primary, not during a recent Presidential debate.)

What we do know about Donald Trump is there is a line of women accusing him of sexual harassment. There is audio tape of him describing his tendency to grope women (statements that mirrored a 1997 sexual harassment suit against him). There are questions about his business practices, and just a few years ago, he was pro-abortion, and pro-government healthcare. There are serious questions about his character.

Now, this is the part of the discussion where people ask me, "What about Hillary Clinton?" She's deplorable, and could possibly be the most despicable person to be elected President. However, Clinton does not claim to represent my values. Clinton does not claim to speak for my Lord, and Clinton is not trying to court my vote. Clinton represents the other side of the political aisle. It is not my job as a conservative, evangelical Republican to hold the Democratic Party accountable for its values and nominees. It is my responsibility to make sure my own house is clean. Before I should seek to remove the speck from the Democrats eyes, I must first make sure my own are clear.

While I understand that a Hillary presidency would be disastrous, I have no obligation to endorse anyone who opposes her. At the same time, I have to keep in mind that when I sign my name to a candidate, I am also putting my credibility and testimony on the line. While a Trump victory would give Republicans the White House, I would also have to explain why it's okay for Trump to commit adultery, but not Bill Clinton. I would have to explain why Trump is inherently innocent of all accusations brought against him, but why Hillary is automatically guilty.

Furthermore, I have to look at the girls in my youth group and tell them why we should support Trump, in spite of his "locker room" talk, while at the same time teaching them about living in holiness. For those reasons alone, I cannot bring myself to endorse Donald Trump. That's before we even delve into the issue of his changing positions on conservative issues.

Donald Trump may win the 2016 election. He may lose. Regardless, the Republican Party, and the evangelicals that supported Trump's nomination and campaign, are about to learn a hard lesson. Compromising the means to achieve a desired end leads to devastation each and every time. Perhaps we should have actually consulted our Bibles during the primaries, and remembered Romans 3:8, which says (paraphrased) let us not do evil so that good may come.