I SELDOM WRESTLE GOD OR FAST. A profile of my gut, which is swallowing my naval, would say “Amen” to the fasting bypass. But this evening I was typing an email response to a church administrator in Endicott, New York. I’ll call her Jane, because that’s her name. She was asking for one of our Casual English Bible® maps for the pastor’s sermon this Sunday. And I took her off track with my closing line:
Peace to you. And for heaven’s sake, peace to America.
That’s risky because she might have been someone voting for the chaos and candidates some people are supporting proudly or secretly.
She wrote back to thank me for an upgraded map I sent. She also said she liked what I wrote in an earlier blog about what we should be looking for in a leader. But she added that whatever happens, the Lord is in control.
My email to New York church administrator
Instead of telling you what I wrote, here’s the email:
Yeah, that’s true: the Lord is in control.
It’s also true that in this case, I’d like to be in control.
On the other hand, my family reminds me of mistakes I’ve made when I was in control.
“Still, please God don’t let us elect that crazy person.”
You know, in Bible times when folks thought something was especially important or dangerous, they fasted. I don’t really understand how that works. It feels like twisting God’s arm. Even so, I think it might be time, for me at least, to wrestle him through the nights from now till then.
Just typing this note settled it in my mind.
Thanks for listening. Send me your invoice.
God help us learn to love again.
Steve
My wife is clueless about this
My wife doesn’t know it yet, but we’re going to have a talk about how I might fast until voting is over.
I feel nervous and afraid and angry about what has become of us, a nation largely accepting of evil. Many of us can’t seem to hear its words or see its face. We don’t recognize it.
The man who wrestled God
There was a man in the Bible who was nervous and afraid and angry. Jacob was headed home, and terrified of what was going to happen to him there.
One evening, while alone after sending his family ahead, he encountered a mysterious man that some students of the Bible associate with an angel or God himself. Jacob seemed to think it was God:
“I saw the face of God with my own eyes, yet I was allowed to live,” (Genesis 32:30).
I don’t understand what warranted a fight. Jacob simply wanted the man to bless him. Many of the ancients seemed to believe there was genuine power in blessings and curses. Words, for them, could make things happen. Apparently the mystery man was going to leave and take the blessing with him. Jacob wouldn’t let him. They wrestled till dawn.
It’s a story I don’t get. Was it history? A dream? Or was it a metaphor for a man wanting a touch of God, a sense of God’s protection and power in this moment when Jacob felt powerless and vulnerable. He was returning home to the brother—a physically powerful man he had cheated and hurt. He could die there.
The mystery man blessed Jacob and gave him a new name: Israel. He lived and his family became a nation.
I’ll be wrestling God for a few evenings
I’m grabbing hold of God this evening. I’ll be praying for God’s will to be my will.
You got that right. I’m honest to God. But if his will is not mine, I hope he gives me the stomach for it. Pun largely intended.
I don’t want an evil person to grasp this kind of power. I want to see God overcome evil.
I’ve done what I could do out loud. Now I need to hang onto God until he blesses me.
And if he choses to rename me, may he not rename me Sue.
“Lord, say hello to Johnny. I still listen to him on Spotify.”
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During trying times, I usually over eat or over sleep, but I digress. I always looked at the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel, which we find out was God, as God intervening in Jacob’s life to guide him back on track. He would of never sought the promise if he didn’t have God to contend with! The problem with our modern day maga Christians is they have never had an encounter with the living God to wrestle and have God mold them into what God wants — they seek power, and like Jacob sought the promise with deception and their own schemes. Our hearts have become so dead that there is no angel ever present to wrestle with us! May God come to each of us…wrestle with us, break our joints, so that we seek the promise. The fact that there is 48 to 49% percent of the electorate voting for a tyrant shows me that the road is broad and few find the “narrow” road that is cramped and difficult. May God give us what we need in leaders, not what we deserve!
Thanks Wayne. It’s hard for me to understand the attraction to such an evil person. But I recognize the power of propaganda and lies repeated so consistently that they churn into perceived truth, like cream churns into butter. I understand that from history and from personal experience in people I have known who were drawn into personality cults and were lost to their families. Still, the attraction some Christians have to a person who is so antiChrist in words and actions stuns me and breaks my heart. They can’t see the evil, hear the evil, or smell the stench. It’s like they’re unconscious and on a Novocain IV.
Always love your spin on things. Thank you. May the Lord be with us all
These are head-spinning days. God help us all to choose wisely.
I voting for the candidate who is more likely to provide border security, economic health and fewer wars. The one who is less likely to sanction the murder of children not-yet-born.
I know, Greg. But what is biblical about any of those policies? The Bible doesn’t talk about any of them. The Bible talks about the character of the leader. And the character of your candidate is exactly and completely without excuse the opposite of what the Bible describes as godly character and God-appointed leadership. You may have the right policies from a secular point of view, but what is Christian about any one of them. Even the abortion issue isn’t mentioned though they were taking place in Roman times. In that issue, new laws value the unbreathing emergence of a life as higher than the value of the breathing human. Your vote is a secular one and has little or nothing to do with Christian faith. But it’s your right and your choice to vote any way you like. Just as it should be a woman’s right to preserve her own life and make her own choices about her body. I consider you a friend. But you got your vote wrong, I believe. I understand. I voted for Nixon.
When has any candidate had “godly character” ? I do believe Trump will do a better job if elected. Under Harris I think we are doomed.
Hi Teresa. Godly character has a measure to it. For me, there’s behavior that automatically disqualifies someone from holding public office. For one, treason. I watched the insurrection live, sitting wondering why the president didn’t call in reinforcements. It’s because he’s the one who started it. For another, I listened to him brag about grabbing women by the genitalia and later, when questioned about it, defending his right as a famous person to do that. Third, he was found guilty of sexual assault in one case and another 30+ counts of fraud in another case. Still other cases are waiting to be tried. The Bible might put it this way: “In God ’s judgment he was a bad king—an evil king. He reintroduced all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the country” (2 Kings 21:6). He has a long list of anti-Christ behavior. By any measure of decency and criminality, he belongs isolated somewhere by himself. Harris is an archangel compared to him. I know many people see him differently. But I don’t think they see him at all.
Hopefully Stephen, somehow our nation will get turned around and going in the right direction. My main concern is for my grandchildren, nieces/nephews and all the others growing up. Love to you & yours.
Thanks Teresa. It’s good that we can both express our feelings about this incredibly divisive state of affairs in our country without malaise toward each other. The fellow running for office is malaise defined. His name will someday become a verb no one will want directed at them. That’s my only prediction about this tipping point in American history. From a Christian standpoint, it’s shocking to see so many of us turning our backs on the Christin in the race to cheer on the pagan. People won’t understand this part of our history in a generation or two.
Trump has murdered fewer people than King David, Moses or the Apostle Paul. I do admit that Trump’s Christian “credentials” are highly questionable. I certainly wouldn’t want him to be my pastor. But just I want the most qualified surgeon for my daughter’s operation…even if he’s said some nasty things, I want the most qualified person to run a country. These last four years under the Biden Harris administration demonstrate that those two incumbents are not qualified. As for biblical values, failing to secure the border and allowing millions of unvetted people to enter our country is as irresponsible as leaving your front door open at night so that God-knows-who can come in to have their way with your family. It’s not what a good father would do. We are called to be compassionate, not irresponsible. Thanks for considering me a friend and for telling me straight up that you think I’m wrong. I like you…and your straightforwardness.
Thanks Greg. We could go back and forth contrasting the evil and goodness of the candidates and the worth of their policies. I think my list of objections to a candidate would be longer, raunchier, and far more disgusting than yours. I talked with the father of a third grader today who was curious about the candidates. She got on her tablet and researched them. Then she told her parents not to vote for your candidate. She said only that the candidate “hates people.” Her dad took her to the ballot box and while he was voting she asked, “Who are you voting for? The lady or the man? He shushed her quiet because she asked loudly enough for others to hear her. The dad whispered, “The lady.” His daughter…not quietly…replied, “Yeah, the lady!” We might not think a third grader knows evil when she sees it, but we would be wrong. The child isn’t programmed by slanted news stations or apologetic podcasts excusing the candidate. She hears him talk and she sees his character carried on the words that come from his mouth. We vote differently, yet we will remain bothers if I have my say. This candidate has already cost me friendships. Don’t say he hasn’t led us into war. He is nothing but war. Greg, you got this one wrong, but it’s okay. I brought the balance. Others have to make the decision for our nation. Peace to you. And for heaven’s sake, peace to America. May the Lord help us learn to love again. We’ve practiced war long enough.
It has been many years since since we have talked. You gave me several of your books, for which I am very grateful. Out of my 15,000 volume library. I am looking at yours in sight as I write. Yes, this is a crucial election regarding the things of pertaining to the freedom and protection that the gospel may still go forth. Yes, it would be wise for all of us to pray and fast that God’s choice prevail. Our part is praying and seeking. I’ll pray and fast with you. The outcome is God’s whoever wins. Like in the days of Samuel, God will give us who we ask for. May it not be to the leanness of our souls. May the Good News of Salvation be allowed to be shared freely. Soon and very soon, we will under King Jesus where there will be no agonizing who to vote for. He has no character flaws. After God’s judgement on earth. He will renovate the Earth the lion and the lamb will lay side by side. There will be no more war during Christ’s 1000 year reign on Earth that we refer to as the millennium. I often call it Eden II. Thank you for bringing up the importance of this election.
But, here is the problem, There are issues with deep roots that threaten the very existence of America itself this election. How we vote will determine the future or destruction of America and even the world as we know and can imagine it to be. This election is very complicated with multiple layers. We live in a world of deceit that as it, God said that if he does not cut these days short, even the elect would be deceived. Every campaign promise has the possibility of hidden agendas that can result in the opposite of what and who we think we are voting for. We are all sinners. Yes, I agree there are words that are spoken( if they were really said and some were in my opinion while others were not.) That makes me cringe. The other candidate has a corrupt past, including an illicit relationship with her state’s most acknowledged political power on her way to the top. She was also voted the most liberal of any Senator. True, character counts, but what is really at stake ?
There are so many other issues to investigate. This is not an inconsequential election like the choice of vanilla or chocolate and life goes on. The Bereans understood that what they were considering would be life changing. They searched the scriptures DAILY ( capitals intended) to see if those things were so.”( Acts 17:10). All of us are works in progress so it is not so much the person, but which candidate will hear the Lord’s voice and be his instrument. What we are really voting about is what will America look like 4 years from now.
Our past president, now candidate made his very first act to eliminate the (Lyndon)Johnson rule that threatened pastors with the elimination of their tax exemption if they involved themselves in elections. That was his 1st act. He saw that America needs her pastors to speak up and not be muzzled. Like the Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville that compared both the American which was based on Natural Law which was based on Biblical morals and providence and the French Revolution based on European Enlightenment. This led to the confiscating of churches and enshrining the Temple of Reason in the most hallowed religious edifice in France Notre Dame, just to show what they thought of Christianity, not that some chances were needed. Human life was not valued, morals became obsolete. In the 1830’s, Alexis de Tocqueville searched for the greatness of America, the fields, the constitution, the deep harbors, the boundless forests, the school system ( almost totally run by churches at that point). BUT, ” not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good and if America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
Today, we have party has members that consider Christian Evangelicals as the greatest of domestic terrorists and does everything within their power to cancel us, put us in prison, to separate children from their parents, just as Hitler smugly answered a protesting parent, ” your child is already mine”. Opposite of that, our past president, fought to keep America safe for our families. He spoke up more for the church, more against abortion, and more for Israel than any before him. As a billboard said,” It is you that they (Globalist Marxists controlling the D party want, but I am in the way. It sounds unbelievable, but I encourage to be a Berean and see if it is so. Example: False information and propaganda is everywhere. Did crime real go down in this present administration? Only if stealing under $1000 is no longer punishable and if rioters receive an amnesty, though they will include a the conviction of a person that uses the wrong pronoun or a father that stands up for his child.
On another level much higher than what we normally see is the survival of America. Nikita Khrushchev vowed “We will take America will fall without a shot. We cannot expect the American people to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism to awaken some day find that they have communism.”
So what does that have to do November 5, 2024? If we were all voting for a fun party, we would probably go where there is a lot of laughter and balloons and everything is free, until later anyway, but strings were attached to everything. How many times has a nation fallen in history that chose the fun road, but were irresponsible to safeguarding the city and their country. They fell for the sales pitch. But, who will stand as watchmen over the city. Ezekiel 4 claims that it is His people who can see with God’s perspective. What’s more it is our duty to share the coming dangers that can destroy us and the unbeliever as well.
But, this is America, we have a choice. There are two main candidates. One cannot be bribed, He could live the life that he had always lived. Both sides loved him before he got involved in politics, but apart from his personal success, he noticed a crack in American government. The D party was not really the D party anymore. It had been infiltrated with Socialism and Marxism to break America. To destroy our border, to weaponize our government until all agree that there is only one narrative. All must be lock step 2+2=5 for those that have read ‘1984’. Inevitable, George Orwell, the author was asked. How can we avoid this. His answer. ” don’t let it happen!”
Something I noticed a month ago is that nearly all the movers and shakers of the R party formerly were members of the D party. They understood the D party had been infiltrated and changed. Because it has changed, our own American government has now been weaponized against the people, against churches and Christian principles. God even warned us that in the end times that rulers and kings will persecute God’s people, These infiltrators are part of the “New World Order”, a cabal of rich and/or powerful people that like others in history that want to rule the whole world. Yes, these do the groundwork creating a softening of Christian values that like the unbelievers will lead the acceptance of the anti-christ ( he does not deserve a capital ‘c’.). Knowingly or unknowingly, They do Satan’s biding. Due to sin coming into this world, he is an angel of light and the god (small g)of this world. This is what is called the ‘Deep State’ or the “Deep Swamp”. The real question is; will we vote to hand America to the globalists or will we vote to dismantle the machinery that intends to destroy America and anybody that gets in their way. It sounds like fiction, but again, I encourage everybody to be a Berean. If you find that I am wrong. LMK, we will compare notes and search together.
Realizing that your readers may read this also, I would ask that everybody be a Berean like you are committed to be until we all have searched all sides and opinions not just one source with one opinion. I entered Law school for the very reason, Churches were getting killed in the courts. Truth to be known, needs the process of cross-examination to be just and fair. With that principle I wrote a couple of initiatives on ballots in California. I was able to present my case why this initiative deserves a yes vote and then an opponent received a turn to convince voters not to vote for it. Then the roles are reversed. In another example, Kipling’s Six Blind Men and an Elephant, one blind man holding a leg described an elephant like a tree. It was when all six shared that a truer image was determined. Another example was Justice Scalia. He always had a liberal on his staff and was a faithful friend of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg to make sure he understood all sides before rendering a decision. ” with many counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11;14)
To Steve and all that read this far, thank you for your faithfulness to search and answer. Seek (and keep seeking) and you will keep finding. Below are a couple of sources of where the presidential candidates stand regarding what the church may expect from this election.
May God bless you all. We want the Lord’s work to flourish. ” We have within our power to start the world all over” John Winthrop, leader of the Puritan migration to America in the 17th century. We were once the ‘City on a Hill and the world came to our doorstep to behold the light” Each vote for God is oil adds fuel to that lamp that it may once again shine brightly the hope for a better world.
(Edit)
Let me finish my response. My keyboard kicked it out before I was done. Back at you shortly.
Here we go:
Hi Larry. I deleted the links at the bottom of your notes. I don’t take the time to check any of them. They all die. For one, I’d rather keep people reading on this site. For another, I’m a one-man company trying to do this job myself, and I don’t prioritize taking the time to read links by commentators. But I do let them comment themselves.
One fact to check. The lady did reportedly have an affair with a married man who had been separated from his wife for a decade. You can read about that on Reuters, an objective news organization.
But your guy grabs lady parts, brags about it, and when questioned about it later in an interview said that since ancient times, famous people do that and have a right to do it. That’s the opposite of repentance.
He has also been found guilty of sexual assault, has paid others he assaulted so he didn’t have to go to court, and he has been found guilty of over 30 counts of fraud, for which he will be held accountable if the lady wins the election.
There’s nothing complicated about this election from a Christian’s point of view. The man grabs lady parts. Sometimes he does more than grab them and has been found guilty of in a court of law, for heaven’s sake.
He’s a horny old man with no guardrails to keep him in line. I can give you a very long list of reasons to automatically disqualify him. But grabbing lady parts should darn well be enough.
Larry, please don’t try to explain that away with another truckload of words. He says he’s famous and he has a right to grab lady parts. Well, I still have a right to tell him he doesn’t.
Maybe they disappeared during an edit.