Were the 'Trump Prophets' Right After All?

Given that the whole story of Trump’s reelection is almost impossible to believe (it seems almost miraculous) I have no problem believing that God may have showed people in 2020 that he would serve two terms. However, the major prophetic FAILURES at that time were . . .

Were the 'Trump Prophets' Right After All? | Articles | The Line of Fire

It was all the rage back in 2020. A chorus of prophetic leaders announced with certainty that Donald Trump would be reelected and serve a second term in the White House, but he did not – at least, not in 2020. 

Now that he has been reelected, resoundingly at that, does this mean that these prophets were right after all? 

First, some of the “prophets” (I will let God decide their actual status and calling) said that Trump would serve 8 consecutive years. They were dogmatic and clear and aggressive, even after the 2020 election results were announced. 

“Watch and see” they proclaimed, but nothing happened.

Second, after Biden’s victory was announced, the prophets predicting his reelection doubled down. Many said that he did win the election, but it was stolen. 

But that raises the question: if Trump would win but actually lose, why didn’t God show them this too? This would be like me giving you a prophetic word that a rich man would be giving you a Porsche next week, entirely for free. I just failed to tell you it would be carjacked on the way to your house and you would never see it. 

Others doubled down by saying, “In the coming weeks, the results will be overturned and Trump will be declared winner,” with some prophesying specific timetables in which this would take place. 

None of this happened – not in a single instance or court case – despite their guarantees.

Others claimed that there would be a coup and Biden would be removed from office. It would happen right after the inauguration. 

Still others claimed that Biden was not inaugurated, that there was an actor (or shapeshifter!) taking his place, and that Trump was the true president in God’s sight. Seriously!

Still others moved into other realms of spiritual fantasy, as characterized by this “vision” allegedly received in April 2021: 

“As I was praying today I saw a vision of DJT seated on a throne holding a golden scepter. He also had a golden crown on his head. This, I was shown, is his PRESENT status from heaven’s perspective. That becomes all I need to know, as to should I back off saying ‘the steal will not hold’. Heaven does not recognize JB having any scepter nor wearing any crown. From heaven’s perspective, there is only the legitimacy of DJT. God has assigned a massive contingency of angels to that scepter and to that crown. They have not ceased assignment and anointed seers can see this. To repeat, the prophetic word has been true all the way from Nov 3. On that date, DJT won the election “as spoken by His servants the prophets”. IT WAS FULFILLED. The only thing presently yet to be made visible is will an outrageous steal hold for a whole term. It will not! The answer from God to the question of when is—SOON. Do I have a date on that SOON? No, I don’t.”

You might say, “But what if God did show these prophets that Trump would be reelected, but they just misinterpreted what they saw?”

That’s actually a valid question, and it’s in keeping with biblical prophecy, in which the prophets did not always understand the timing of the revelations they received. 

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:10–13).

That’s why we have no business setting dates and putting time frames on prophetic words we claim to receive unless God Himself gives us those dates.

Given that the whole story of Trump’s reelection is almost impossible to believe – whether you’re for him or against, it seems almost miraculous – I have no problem believing that God showed people in 2020 that he would serve two terms.

If He did, the failure was in speaking prematurely and giving false hopes and expectations, rather than praying secretly for God’s will to come to pass based on prophecies received. 

It would also have been fine if they had said, “God showed me Trump will serve two terms, but I have no idea if they’ll be consecutive or not.” Today, we’d be shaking our heads in awe and marveling.

Let us, then, tread carefully when it comes to speaking for God.

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A Safe Place in the Midst of These Volatile Elections (Pt 2)

Psalm 91 invites us to take refuge in God alone, the ultimate place of safety. In part 1, we covered verses 1-4. Now, we continue with the rest of the psalm. . .

A Safe Place in the Midst of These Volatile Elections (Part 2)  | Articles | The Line of Fire

Psalm 91 invites us to take refuge in God alone, the ultimate place of safety. 

In part 1, we covered verses 1-4. Now, we continue with the rest of the psalm. Enjoy!

Verses 5-6: “You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.” (NIV)

The Hebrew word pakhad can refer to a “fear” or to the thing feared (as in something fearful), translated here as “terror.” Dwelling in that holy hiding place, we do not fear anything night or day, not nighttime terrors, which seem especially frightful, or the daytime arrows – yes, demons and people are out to get us! We don’t even fear the pestilence (Hebrew dever, which was used in 3) or the plague (Hebrew qetev), which some even take as the name of a demon, as it comes stalking during the middle of the day. Yet still, we have no fear, despite flying arrows, menacing plagues, and all kinds of terrors at night. No fear!

Verses 7-8: “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.”

This underscores the reality of the promises. People are dying – by the thousands all around us, as in a terrible time of war or epidemic – yet death does not touch us. To the contrary, we will only see God’s judgment wipe out the wicked (which describes those who are dying all around us). 

To be clear, these verses are not saying that if one person dies during a plague and the other does not you can conclude that the one who lived was righteous and the one who died was wicked. The Book of Job urges us not to think that way. But these verses are saying two things. First, if you love the Lord and walk with Him, when He pours out judgment on the wicked, it will not touch you. Second, even if others are dying in plagues and battles, in that hiding place, you will be secure.

Verses 9-10: “Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent” (ESV).

Now the psalmist speaks directly, addressing each of us personally – that is, addressing those of us who have taken shelter in the Lord. He describes Yahweh here again as the Most High, speaking of Him in the first person as “my refuge,” just as we did in v. 2. And he describes us as those who have made Him our dwelling place (Hebrew ma‘ohn), a word found in Psalm 90 as well, where Moses wrote, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.” (Psalm 90:1) 

To say it again: this is where we live – or, better yet, He is where we live. So, if someone asked you, “Where do you live?” you could answer, “I live in the Most High!” Consequently, no evil will befall us (the Hebrew ra‘ah speaks of evil or disaster) and no plague – here, the word nega‘, which speaks of something that afflicts or strikes us – will come near our tent, implying our family as well.

Verses 11-12: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 

This supernatural protection comes about as a result of God sending His angels to guard us wherever we go, lifting us up so we don’t even smash our foot against a rock. What amazing care! As it is written in Psalm 34:7, “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.” Nothing can get past the angel of the Lord.

Verse 13: “You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.” 

This verse anticipates the authority we have as believers in the New Testament, underlying these words of Jesus in Luke 10:19: “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Here, even in a pre-cross, pre-resurrection context, the believer who lives in Yahweh can trample these foes underfoot, described here in vivid physical terms and likened to dangerous lions and deadly snakes.

The Hebrew peten, translated here as “cobra,” can speak more broadly of a venomous snake, while Hebrew shakhal, rendered “great lion” in the NIV, might refer to the young lion. As for the word translated “serpent,” Hebrew tannin, in other verses, it speaks of a crocodile, a sea-monster, or a dragon. Whatever it is, it is under our feet!

Verse 14: “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.”

Now the Lord Himself speaks, sharing His heart and His perspective. And what matters most to Him? That we love Him! But this is not the normal Hebrew word for love. Instead, it is khashaq, which speaks of a loving attachment to someone, as expressed well in the ESV: “Because he holds fast to me in love.” Yes! Others render with “clings to me” (NJB) or “has his heart set on me” (CSB) or “has devoted his love to Me” (TLV).

Because of that, Yahweh promises to rescue us, a recurring theme in this psalm, and because we know (or acknowledge) His name, He will protect us, by setting us on high, where we are out of danger. And what does it mean to “acknowledge His name”? In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “The man has known the attributes of God so as to trust in him, and then by experience has arrived at a yet deeper knowledge, this shall be regarded by the Lord as a pledge of his grace, and he will set the owner of it above danger or fear, where he shall dwell in peace and joy.”

Verse 15: “He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.”

Take a moment to grasp what God – the Almighty Creator and King – is saying here. Because of the intimacy we enjoy with Him, because we know and honor Him, He, in turn, will honor us. Yes, God will honor us! When we call to Him, He will be near, hearing us and answering us. And when we go through times of trouble – Hebrew tsarah, which the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation renders with thlipsis, tribulation – He will be right there with us to help and deliver. 

And yes, the Lord says He will honor us, using the exact same word in Hebrew (kabbed) that is used in the Ten Commandments, where we are called to honor our father and mother. To say it once more (since it is so amazing beyond human comprehension), when we live in Him and devote our love to Him, He will honor us.

Verse 16: “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

The Hebrew reads just as the English, giving a promise of long life, which is found throughout the Old Testament in conjunction with obedience (see, for example, Exodus 23:25-26; Proverbs 3:1-2). Yet here, uniquely, God says He will satisfy us with that life, meaning it will be a blessed life, a life enriched by Him. And He will show us His salvation (Hebrew y’shuah), a word used quite holistically in the Hebrew Scriptures, speaking of both physical and spiritual deliverance. God will make it real in our lives!

(Adapted and excerpted from Michael L. Brown, When the World Stops: Words of Hope, Faith, and Wisdom in the Midst of Crisis)

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A Safe Place in the Midst of These Volatile Elections (Pt 1)

There may be other so-called gods and powers, but there is none like our God. He alone is eternal. He alone is immortal. He alone is omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent. He is the Most High God, the only one worthy of being called God. Even the demons understand this, crying. . .

A Safe Place in the Midst of These Volatile Elections (Part 1)  | Articles | The Line of Fire

Whoever wins on November 5, of this we can be sure: America will be in turmoil, and emotions will run high. 

But for those who have a personal relationship with God, there is a place of refuge from the storm. It is God’s hiding place – or secret place – and it is described in Psalm 91 (unless otherwise noted, the NIV is used below).

Verse 1: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

This first verse lays the foundation for everything that follows. The opening Hebrew word is yoshev, which is an active participle. This refers to continuous action, to life habit, to what one does all the time. 

Used as a noun, it can refer to someone who lives in a particular place, as in, “I’m an inhabitant of New York City.” So, Psalm 91 is giving promises to someone who lives in God’s shelter and protection. 

Put another way, if I asked you, “Where do you live?” your answer would be, “I live in the shelter of the Most High.”

But there’s more to that Hebrew word for shelter, which is seter. 

It is not just as a shelter; it is a hiding place; it is a covert; it is a secret refuge. It is found in verses like Isaiah 32:2, which says, 

“Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.” (Isaiah 32:2, my emphasis) 

It is also found in verses like 2 Samuel 19:2, when Saul is threatening to kill David, and which emphasize the aspect of “hiding place, secret place,” even more: 

“And Jonathan told David, ‘Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself” (ESV, my emphasis). 

This is where God is calling us to live. In that hiding place, that divine shelter, that secret place where no one can touch us and nothing can harm us. And, even though that place is spiritual rather than physical, it is even more than a physical shelter or hiding place. The Lord Himself is impregnable.

You see, this is not just the hiding place of any god or higher power. This is the hiding place of the Most High God, a term that is found dozens of times in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms (starting in Psalm 7:17) and Daniel (where the one true God is contrasted with the false gods of the nations, starting in Daniel 3:26). As expressed in the Song of Moses in Exodus 15:11, “Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?”  

There may be other so-called gods and powers, but there is none like our God. 

He alone is eternal. He alone is immortal. 

He alone is omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent. 

He is the Most High God, the only one worthy of being called God. 

Even the demons understand this, crying out to Jesus in the New Testament, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” (Mark 5:7; see also Acts 16:17) In fact, when Gabriel announces to Miriam (Mary) that she will give birth to the Messiah, he says, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,” (Luke 1:32) 

This psalm is for those who live in His divine shelter, in His hiding place.

The second half of verse one describes this person as someone who regularly spends the night lodging in the shadow of Shaddai, normally translated “Almighty.” And while scholars debate the exact meaning of the word, it seems that the aspects of power and provision are clearly associated with Shaddai. As for shadow, this image speaks of covering as well as refreshing, a place away from the heat of the day.

The obvious question is: “How do I live there? I can’t pray and read the Bible and worship 24 hours a day. I have a job to work. I have kids to raise. I have responsibilities.”

First, we take serious time, committed time to meet with God daily. We put our roots down deep, alone and with Him. This is the foundation. Second, we live in obedience to His commands, seeking to please Him in our daily conduct.  

Verse 2: “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”

Now an unnamed individual speaks, but the intent is that it could be you or me. Let these be your words and mine! So, say this about Yahweh (Jehovah), the only true God. He is your refuge, the safe place to which you run and hide where the enemy cannot find you. He is your fortress, that impregnable place where the enemy cannot touch you. He is your God, and you place your trust in Him.

Verse 3: “For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.” (ESV)

This verse indicates that we are still living in a dangerous world, even while we live in God’s hiding place. In other words, He doesn’t take us out of the world but rather delivers us from evil and disaster. This is in harmony with the Lord’s prayer for the apostles in John 17:15: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” (John 17:15) 

Just as a fowler puts out his snare (Hebrew pakh is a trapper’s net), the enemy will set traps for us, including destructive plagues. But our God will deliver us.

Verse 4: “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler” (ESV).

Here the image changes to that of a protective bird – pointing to God’s personal and gentle care for us – with His faithfulness serving as a large shield and a small shield (or, a shield and protective wall; see NET). We stand behind His truth, and we are safe.

If the Democrats Lose It’s Because They Have Become the Scorpion Party

There is something going on, something that is driving many voters away from Harris and the Democrats...

If the Democrats Lose It’s Because They Have Become the Scorpion Party | Articles | The Line of Fire

Most of us heard the fable of the scorpion and the frog. As paraphrased on Wikipedia, it goes like this: 

“A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: ‘I am sorry, but I couldn't help myself. It's my character.’”

In the same way, if Donald Trump is reelected, especially with a major electoral margin, and all the more if the GOP takes control of both houses, a major reason will be that the Democrats are similar to the scorpion. 

They continue to hold more and more radical positions, positions that are becoming increasingly out of touch with mainstream Americans. 

And yet rather than act on political pragmatism and modify their extreme positions, they hold to them anyway, even to their own detriment.

It's true that Kamala Harris is proving to be a very unpopular candidate. In fact, according to a recent poll, “When asked which candidate they rejected ‘more,’ 50.1 percent said Harris, while 48.6 percent said Trump.”

That is really quite striking when you just think of how much hatred there is towards Donald Trump. Yet, according to this poll (conducted from October 25-29), more of them “rejected” Harris than Trump.

But if Trump and the GOP do triumph next Tuesday, it will not just be due to Harris’s unpopularity and Trump’s popularity. That’s because Trump has too much baggage. Too many haters. Too many alienating flaws. Too many obstacles to overcome.

Plus, Trump has disappointed many Christian conservatives by taking the teeth out of the GOP platform on important issues such as abortion and same-sex “marriage.” 

No, there is something else going on, something that is driving many voters away from Harris and the Democrats. As articulated by the left-leaning political pundit Van Jones, 

“I just wonder if we look back on this period — there’s no excuse for the stuff that Elon Musk is doing, the stuff he says, he’s irresponsible — but if progressives have a politics that says, all white people are racist, all men are toxic, and all billionaires are evil, it’s kind of hard to keep them on your side. And so, we might want to think about, if you’re chasing people out of the party, you can’t be mad when they leave. And maybe if we had a different politics, where we actually said, dignity for everybody, everybody’s respected, and we need you, more people might stay.”

Quite true. Except for the fact that the scorpion isn’t thinking rationally and pragmatically. It’s being true to its own nature. It can’t help but sting the very one that it’s depending on for survival.

Put another way, defending tampons in boy’s bathrooms (as per Governor Waltz) is not a winning strategy. 

Advocating government-funded sex-change surgery for trans-identified illegal immigrant inmates (as per Vice President Harris) will not garner popular support.

Or telling Black voters that they’re disloyal if they don’t vote for Harris will hardly encourage a greater Black turnout for the Democrats.

When it comes to younger male voters (18-29), op-ed writer Erika Sanzi notes that, “From the 2016 Trump-Clinton race to now, the percentage of these voters that identify or lean Democrat has taken a nosedive from 51 percent to 39 percent.”

She attributes much of this to what they’re learning in school, writing, 

“Schools of education that train teachers are steeped in the worldview that sees girls and women as victims and boys and men as their victimizers. They are told that to be born female in 2024 is to be ‘oppressed.’ Aspiring teachers now spend their college years marinating in anti-male content and rhetoric where slogans like ‘Smash the patriarchy,’ ‘toxic masculinity’ and ‘the future is female’ abound.”

“Just as the school-aged boys begin to wonder, ‘is there anything on offer here for me?’, so do the young men in that 18-29 year old demographic when looking at the political left and the Democratic party.”

“The steady drumbeat of denigrating messages heard from the front of the classroom and from the stage of the Democratic convention has left young men feeling alienated and looking for something else.

“They seem to be finding it in the GOP.”

Then why doesn’t the Democratic party make a shift towards the center?

That’s similar to the question the frog asked the scorpion: “Why Mr. Scorpion, why did you sting me? Now we will both surely drown.”

The scorpion replies, “I don’t know, I guess it’s just my nature.”

Hearts of Compassion Backbones of Steel: How to Discuss Controversial Topics with Love and Kindness

The Moral Blindness of Kamala Harris’ Position on Abortion

What Harris failed completely to address is why many people rightly oppose abortion, namely, because abortion takes the life of another human being. That’s why we have laws against murder and laws against rape and laws against kidnapping. All of them are transgressions against another person.

The Moral Blindness of Kamala Harris’ Position on Abortion | Articles | The Line of Fire

In a surprising statement during a townhall meeting earlier this month, presidential candidate Kamala Harris said, 

“I’ll tell you, there are probably many here and watching who, rightly, have made a decision that they do not believe in abortion. The point that I am making is not about changing their mind about what’s right for them or their family. It’s simply saying the government shouldn’t be making this decision.”

Really? She actually believes that many people have “rightly . . . made a decision that they do not believe in abortion?”

Then why is she promising to reinstate Roe v. Wade if elected? In her words, she 

“will proudly sign back into law the protections of Roe v. Wade, which basically just says, it’s the person’s decision, not the government’s decision. That, in essence, is what’s behind my position.”

Doesn’t this sound reasonable? Abortion is one of the most personal decisions anyone can make, and so, if anything is “not the government’s decision,” it is this. 

What Harris failed completely to address is why “many” people “rightly” oppose abortion, namely, because abortion takes the life of another human being. Could anything be more basic than that?

That’s why we have laws against murder and laws against rape and laws against kidnapping. 

All of them are transgressions against another person.

That’s also why, more specifically, we have laws against infanticide, even if the baby is intolerable, even if the child has a congenital disease, even if the mother is simply incapable of caring for the little one.

Whatever the case might be, the one thing she (or the father) is not allowed to do is terminate the life of the baby. Obviously. To do so would be to commit murder.

Had Harris simply said, “We don’t believe the fetus has full personhood, and so the government has no right to impose its will on the mother,” that would have been consistent but immoral. 

But what she said was this (and I paraphrase): “Yes, many people rightly oppose abortion” – by which, she obviously meant, in their minds, they have good reason to oppose it – “and I’m not trying to change your viewpoint. That’s why we need Roe reinstated. To take this out of the government’s hands and put it in the hands of the mother.”

What she missed, quite incredibly, is that the whole reason we want to put this in the government’s hands is because we believe that abortion commits violence against a preborn child.

To paraphrase again (but with a change of subjects), “Yes, there are many who rightly oppose slavery. That’s why we need to get the ban on slavery reversed, so you can make your choices and others can make theirs.” 

This is as nonsensical as her statement on abortion.

Slavery should be prohibited by law because it is a moral evil and abortion should be prohibited by law because it is a moral evil.

In my new book Hearts of Compassion, Backbones of Steel: How to Discuss Controversial Topics with Love and Kindness, I do my best to present compelling arguments for the cultural positions I oppose, seeking to help us respond with more heartfelt, compelling answers.

In the chapter on abortion, I present some agonizing, hypothetical cases, including this: “Consider the story of a twelve-year-old girl whom we’ll call Angela. She was abducted and raped by a sexual predator who had just been released from jail. Who can imagine her trauma? Who can imagine how this horrific event will impact the rest of her life? And how will it affect her whole family? But this is only the beginning. To add shock to shock, Angela finds out she is pregnant even though she is not even a teenager. How can this be? As for the sexual predator, he raped two more girls before he was caught and will spend the rest of his life in prison. 

“The only positive thing is that Angela can get an abortion and put an end to the nightmare, without any of her friends and schoolmates knowing what happened to her. At least the horror can be hidden. At least her shame won’t be broadcast throughout her school and her neighborhood. At least she won’t have to put her young body through the trauma of nine months of pregnancy. At least she won’t have to worry about giving birth to a child whose father was a serial rapist and child abuser. Abortion is obviously the compassionate choice.”

We could say in response, “But cases like this, as unspeakably tragic and evil as this is, are the rarest of rare, with abortions performed because of rape or incest making up one percent of all abortions. What about the other 99 percent?”

That may be true, but it avoids the question at hand: how can anyone outside of this girl and her family make a decision about her life?

In response, I share stories of women who were raped and aborted their babies, only to learn that the abortion didn’t heal the pain. And I tell the stories of some of the finest people on our planet, people who have an incredible amount of good but were conceived in rape.

I can’t do justice to these responses in full here, but they all go back to that same fundamental point: abortion snuffs out a real, human life, a life with unknown potential, however tiny and still-developing it may be.

And that is what Vice President Harris fails to acknowledge in the least. It is a massive moral blind spot.

Samaritan’s Purse and the Real Gospel in Action

Jesus deeply cares about these people, many of whom live in isolated, rural areas and are virtually unknown to the rest of society, living and dying in obscurity. May the Lord be gracious to devastated individuals, families, and communities, and may He bring lasting good out of this tragic storm.

Samaritan’s Purse and the Real Gospel in Action | Article | The Line of Fire

To the shock of the state of North Carolina, where my wife Nancy and I have lived since 2003, Hurricane Helene wreaked massive devastation, taking at least 118 lives with at least 92 still missing. 

No one saw this coming, and it has brought unimaginable suffering to whole communities living in the mountains of our state, where horrific, unprecedented flooding wiped out little towns and destroyed countless homes, businesses, and roads.

To this moment, many residents remain without power, and it is almost impossible to access some of the hardest hit areas.

Nancy and our younger daughter Megan, who lives nearby, connected with a local ministry and spent three days cleaning up and bringing supplies, trying to make the tiniest dent in a rebuilding process that will take many years. 

The suffering is so great and the losses so staggering that it’s hard to conceive it all without being there – and I have not been there myself. 

The videos and stories alone are heartbreaking.

Both Nancy and Megan made subsequent trips to help out, but Nancy was able to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse, the Christian aid foundation founded by Rev. Franklin Graham. (They actually have so many volunteers coming from around the country that you have to find dates where they have openings.)

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Nancy volunteered to work with the Red Cross in bringing aid to the devastated victims there, but she was stunned by the lack of organization and the chaotic way things were done, as well as the available funds not getting to the people who needed them most. (Perhaps her time with them was not representative, or if it was, perhaps they have improved since then.)

This time, with Samaritan’s Purse, her experience was the exact opposite.

Here’s what Nancy posted on Facebook this past Saturday (be sure to click on the link to see all the pictures!): 

“Started working yesterday (Fri 11th) with Samaritans Purse in Spruce Pine NC. What an amazing organization! So completely God centered and wonderfully organized. They pray with all the homeowners as well as give out bibles in addition to working extremely hard all day long in the muck and the mire. And these are not just perfunctory prayers. These are deeply expressed and heartfelt….. many times with tears. We even had a little worship service at the various sites. This is a completely Christ centered organization and if you want to donate or volunteer somewhere, this is the place where your money and your body will be put to work big time!

“Sewer system has been completely compromised where we are here in Burnsville NC (staying at a church), and some areas are completely decimated. Thankful that Samaritan’s Purse has an array of well maintained toilet and shower trucks! 

“Today (Sat 12th) we were in Green Mountain NC and many of the roads are completely washed out with no way to get to the people. Their homes have been flooded, and now that the water has receded, the mold and stench has taken over. They have no electricity and it was 36° this morning.

“Some very dangerous driving around here…..driving over, under, and around power lines and that with half of the road washed away and crumbling underneath. We worked on two houses with the lower levels completely flooded with tons of mud and the properties loaded with debris. One was the house of a 90 year old man (CC was what he was called). He had to bring his wife to a local nursing home because he didn’t want her to stay in the house. He had to carry her out of the house by himself in order to get her to safety. He was sharp as a tack and so sweet and overwhelmed with thankfulness. When he saw the group of us there and the work that had been done, he said it was the happiest day of his life….and that his hope had been renewed. CC was given a special Samaritans Purse Bible (only published for disaster victims) which was signed by all of us who worked on his house. Several of those in his area were killed including a husband and wife. The husband’s body was found 35 miles down river in Tennessee. They are still looking for his wife. Their 8 year old survived.

“There is so much need here and it is such a privilege to serve God in this way.” (See here for her second update.)

Nancy and I have been married for 48 years, and she is quite a perfectionist with very high standards. She is extremely slow to hand out praise, and it is exceedingly rare for her to speak about another organization in such glowing terms, which she repeated to me privately in greater detail. She would be thrilled to see more contributions come their way.

This is what the gospel looks like in action, with every single volunteer she spoke with being a professing Christian.

May the Lord be gracious to these devastated individuals, families, and communities, and may He bring lasting good out of this tragic storm.

Jesus deeply cares about these people, many of whom live in isolated, rural areas and are virtually unknown to the rest of society, living and dying in obscurity. Those on the ground, like Nancy and Megan and all the other volunteers, provided an up close and in person encounter with His love.

To say it again, this is what the gospel looks like in action, and Samaritan’s Purse is helping to lead the way.

God Forbid that Christian Conservatives Call for Political Violence

According to those who believe that the last election was stolen, Trump really won, but the scales were fraudulently tipped, and Biden was handed the presidency. But herein lies the problem. The reason the elections were even close was because tens of million Christian conservatives CHOSE NOT to vote! It’s that simple...

God Forbid that Christian Conservatives Call for Political Violence | Articles | The Line of Fire

In his well-known book A Christian Manifesto, published in 1981, the great Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer raised the question of when it was right for Christians to take up arms against the government. 

In his view, Christians should work within the system through legal and political means. If that failed, civil disobedience could be called for. Only then, as a last resort in extreme circumstances with a tyrannical government, he believed forceful resistance could potentially be justified.

When the book was written, the question of armed rebellion may have seemed more abstract. 

But it was certainly not an abstract question in American history. After all, our nation was born out of political violence against British rule with the slogan, “Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.” 

Is it possible that, once again, we are approaching the time when Christians need to take up arms against the government? 

“But how you can be so dogmatic?” you ask. “After all, we have reason to believe that the last election was stolen. And we are concerned that it could happen again.”

For argument’s sake, let’s say those concerns are valid... 

Did Jesus Give Christian Leaders the Right to Use Coarse Political Rhetoric?

As Christian leaders, we can call out evil in no uncertain terms and we can bring words of reproof to politicians and judges and people in authority when they do wrong. But let us not resort to name-calling and coarse rhetoric. It may get the crowds going and may make us feel good, but it is fleshly, unproductive, and contrary to the Spirit . . .

Did Jesus Give Christian Leaders the Right to Use Coarse Political Rhetoric?  | Articles | The Line of Fire

A seasoned ministry colleague wrote to me last week asking for assistance. “I need some help with exegesis of Luke 13:31-32,” he said. 

“I spoke at a conference last week with many pastors who used that passage where Jesus calls Herod a fox as their rationale for using coarse language about Harris/Walz and the other political side. I was quite disturbed by the name calling and mocking from the pulpit, and I reproved them all when it was my turn to speak.”

“I was shocked that the pastors used that passage to justify their mocking and name calling from the pulpit, citing Jesus as our example. Do you, as a Messianic Jew, have any insight into the historical/contextual usage of ‘fox’ in 33 AD? I need to be able to answer pastor’s defense of their name calling using that passage.”

He then sent me an excellent response compiled by our mutual friend and colleague, Dr. Joseph Mattera. 

“The term ‘fox’ here carries connotations of craftiness, cunning, and deceit, but also weakness and insignificance compared to a lion or other more powerful animals. In ancient Jewish culture, calling someone a fox could imply that they are untrustworthy, deceptive, and sly, but it was not necessarily the most severe insult. It might also suggest that Herod, despite his political power, is insignificant in God's larger plan.

Jesus does not use the term in a gratuitously insulting or hateful manner but as a descriptive judgment of Herod's character and actions. Herod is portrayed as someone trying to be cunning and obstructive, yet ultimately powerless to stop God's will. 

Jesus speaks confidently of continuing His work of healing and casting out demons, emphasizing His obedience to the divine timeline (‘today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course’). His response to Herod’s threat is one of sovereign authority and calm determination, not personal animosity or unnecessary name-calling.”

“Notice-Jesus doesn't use vulgarity or aim to shame Herod publicly. His response remains focused on fulfilling His mission, not attacking Herod's personal dignity.

His words are measured, reflecting confidence in God's purposes rather than descending into personal attacks.”

“In 1 Peter 2:17 Peter instructs Christians to ‘honor everyone’ and ‘honor the emperor,’ even though the emperor in his time was hostile to Christians.

In Titus 3:1-2, Paul encourages believers to ‘be subject to rulers and authorities,’ and to ‘speak evil of no one,’ underscoring a posture of humility and peace.”

“In summary, in Luke 13:31-32, Jesus calls Herod a ‘fox,’ but His intent is not to indulge in demeaning or hateful rhetoric. Rather, it reflects Herod's political behavior in opposition to God’s plan, expressed with a calm, authoritative stance. Christians should take this as a model for measured speech, not license for name-calling. Jesus’ ultimate focus is always on fulfilling God’s mission, and He consistently teaches His followers to love, respect, and honor others, including political leaders—even when those leaders oppose God's purposes. Therefore, using this passage to justify name-calling towards leaders misinterprets the intent and spirit of Jesus' words.”

I added some further confirming data, making the following points.

1) We are not Jesus! He would likely speak Matt 7:1-5 to us the moment we opened our mouths. (In that passage, Jesus tells us that before we judge others, we need to judge ourselves.)

2) Joe [Mattera] is entirely right in quoting the verses from 1 Peter and Titus. The Word clearly tells us how to speak about leaders, and claiming that Jesus used coarse or even vulgar language when speaking about Herod is just an excuse for our own carnality. 

3) The most authoritative NT lexicons explain the word fox in Luke 13:32 to mean “a crafty person” or “a sly, crafty person”; at the worst, Jewish background could suggest “an insignificant, lowly human being, while a big, important individual is compared with the lion” but even here, the meaning of “shrewd, crafty” is more likely. 

4) According to some of the top commentaries on Luke, “‘Fox’ is best taken as an image of craftiness or slyness” (John Nolland). According to I. Howard Marshall, the ideas of both cunning and insignificant are present. Darrell Bock explained, “By calling Herod a fox Jesus may be saying either how clever Herod is, as in the English idiom, or how destructive he is, more consonant with ancient expression (Neh 4:3; Lam 5:17–18; Ezek 13:4 . . . ). Contextually an allusion to destructiveness is slightly more likely.” 

A. T. Robertson (Word Pictures) noted, “This epithet for the cunning and cowardice of Herod shows clearly that Jesus understood the real attitude and character of the man who had put John the Baptist to death and evidently wanted to get Jesus into his power in spite of his superstitious fears that he might be John the Baptist redivivus. The message of Jesus means that he is independent of the plots and schemes of both Herod and the Pharisees.”

Craig Keener wrote in his New Testament Bible Background Commentary, 

“Calling someone a ‘fox’ in antiquity would not necessarily imply that the person is sly; instead, it could portray the person as worthless, slanderous, treacherous or (often) cunning in an unprincipled manner. Thus Jesus here does not offer Herod a backhanded compliment (cf. Ezek 13:4). Perhaps more to the point, foxes also would prey on hens (v. 34) when they got the chance.”

So, without question, the word “fox” was not some vulgar or coarse word, be it in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. This is just another popular myth concocted to give cover to our own carnality. (I heard someone in the mid-1980s claim Jesus was calling Herod gay when He referred to him as a fox. That is utterly bogus as well.)

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God Forbid that Christian Conservatives Call for Political Violence

Did Jesus Give Christian Leaders the Right to Use Coarse Political Rhetoric?

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