Eric Trump, Lance Wallnau- Judging Churches according to their political aspirations

 

Eric Metaxas, on New Apostolic Reformation leader, Lance Wallnau’s recent video states “Trump is a new man, he’s a new man, he knows that he’s at war with satanic enemies in the deep state[1] …  “they are the enemies of America they are enemies of we the people.”-- "The message is we’re going to go scourged earth on the deep state.”

Speaking of the future after Trump has finished his first two-years, Wallnau asks, “what can we do to unify before the midterms the next time? The suggestion, referring to a hoped for web site asks, “What if we had people rate the pastor?”

Metaxas excitedly tells him there already is such a web site MYCHURCH FINDER.ORG where churches and pastors are rated. There are three grades of churches explained on this web site. A: “Biblically Sound, Culturally Aware & A Non-Socialistic Legislatively Active Church.”

B: “Biblically Sound AND either Culturally Aware (with a Biblical Worldview) OR A Non-Socialistic Legislatively Active Church, but not both.”

And,

C: “Biblically Sound Church.”

There is also the letters WNR for churches that do not supposedly possess any of those characteristics.

 The description of a Biblically sound church carries all the points most orthodox churches would own including the Nicene Creed and The Apostles Creed. (Well of course the Baptist and the Pentecostals while agreeing with those creeds in their theology do not generally accept the use of creeds.) That would be simply C, according to their rating.

 Going much farther A would include both Culturally awareness described this way:

“ A Biblically based church that is culturally aware with a Biblical Worldview will, in addition to the above, be committed to countering the culture with God’s objective moral truths, teaching regularly on other religions, the Biblical view of Family, Sexuality & Marriage. It will be Pro-life and encourage the congregation to stand boldly for righteousness in the face of the current cultural decay. It will advocate for Biblical values in the arts, entertainment and the marketplace. It will teach Apologetics and a defense of the faith and why Christianity is true vs other religions. It will teach the evils of Marxism, Liberation Theology, Critical Race Theory, DEI, Wokeism, One World Government and any new depravity and corruption that the world will attempt.”

Most orthodox churches would agree with most of the above except the gospel of God’s redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ would be the priority and core message rather than teaching about, “the evils of Marxism, Liberation Theology, Critical Race Theory, DEI, Wokeism, One World Government and any new depravity and corruption ...” Plus, an orthodox church would emphasis the Beatitudes and other biblical principles such as caring for strangers, feeding the hungry, forgiving enemies.

The third part of the description of an A church is called “legislatively active but non-socialistic.” The explanation of that is:

The church will, “be involved with educating the church and be involved with all legislative matters concerning Morality, Family, Sexuality, Marriage, Life, the freedom to evangelize and the protection of Life, Liberty and Property. It will recognize that the Church is the conscience of the government and take that calling seriously. It will understand the legislative responsibilities given to the Church in Exodus 18 and teach God’s plan for government. It will fight for moral justice, not “social justice.” It will understand that the government’s role is to protect Unalienable Rights and not to manage the economy or provide charity or free goods and services to citizens. This is because the latter takes by force the fruits of labor from one person and gives it to another, it forcibly violates the Unalienable Right of an individual to do as he wills with the fruits of his own labor. See kansasvideo.j3ip.com for a full explanation of rights vs goods. And just as important, this kind of church will encourage its congregation to run for office and vote and be involved in campaigns.”

The above “legislatively active but non-socialistic” description is political and consists of points that believers can agree or disagree on. It is the involvement in legislature and political campaigns by the Church that is the problem. We can disagree over federal charity but we shouldn’t disagree with the importance of separation of Church and State—too many have lost their freedom when there was no separation. Many of the first peoples to come to America came because there was no separation of Church and state and they had lost their religious freedom.

I want to return to Metaxas and Wallnau, their very comments, here and in other videos reveal their unkindness and hurt both to faithful followers of Jesus and to the whole Church. In their political ambitions they have lost the biblical distinctiveness that is to mold our love for brothers and sisters and our care for a broken world that needs God’s healing. In this particular video they are speaking about the new Bonhoeffer movie and a review of it in Christianity Today entitled, ‘Bonhoeffer’ Bears Little Resemblance to Reality. Unhappy with the review they insist that Christianity Today is dead. They see others who don’t embrace their political views as satanic.

God has called the Church to preach the good news of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. God always places His Church under the cross not under the banner of any nation.

 

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[1] Eric Metaxas on Bonhoeffer, Political Courage, and Faith in Film

The New Border Czar Connected to a Racist Group

 

I have updated with some extra material.

I don’t usually write political posts, at least not intentionally, but as David French states two important acts in times like this is to care for the vulnerable and speak the truth. Two days ago I posted a small piece on caring for immigrants. In that posting I linked to an earlier post I wrote in 2016, The Federation of American Immigration Reform: abortion & population control merges with anti-immigration. In my posting I linked to an article written by the hate-watch group the Southern Poverty Law Center about the Federation of American Immigration Reform (Fair). I pointed out that immigration group began as an anti-population, pro-abortion and pro-eugenics group. It was racist at its core. It still is.

Here are some quotes from a SPLC paper on the racist’s statements and actions of FAIR’s past founder, John Tanton, and present president Dan Stein:

“Do we leave it to individuals to decide that they are the intelligent ones who should have more kids? And more troublesome, what about the less intelligent, who logically should have less? Who is going to break the bad news [to less intelligent individuals], and how will it be implemented?” – John Tanton, letter to eugenicist Robert K. Graham (now deceased), Sept. 18, 1996

“I’ve come to the point of view that for European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.” – John Tanton, letter to eugenicist and ecology professor Garrett Hardin (now deceased), Dec. 10, 1993”

“I blame ninety-eight percent of responsibility for this country’s immigration crisis on Ted Kennedy and his political allies, who decided some time back in 1958, earlier perhaps, that immigration was a great way to retaliate against Anglo-Saxon dominance and hubris, and the immigration laws from the 1920s were just this symbol of that, and it’s a form of revengism, or revenge, that these forces continue to push the immigration policy that they know full well are [sic] creating chaos and will continue to create chaos down the line.” – FAIR President Dan Stein”

Today I read the whole article about FAIR written by the SPCL. I may have read it all before but I don’t remember. Toward the end of SPLC’s article they write about some of the people who were connected to FAIR and were then in the 2016 Trump administration. A man, Tom Homan, who was the 2016 head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is now in Trump’s new 2025 administration as the border czar. His connection to FAIR was as a senior fellow in their legal department.

MNS news recently reported that in 2917 he angered immigrant advocates by "by putting together his ICE office with top appointments for operatives from groups like CIS and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

Also The Hill reporting on the actions of Homan wrote of two different appointees from both FAIR and one of their sister organizations, CIS. Author Rafeal Bernal writes:

"Jon Feere, formerly a legal policy analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), has been hired as a special adviser to Thomas D. Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to CNN.

And the former executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Julie Kirchner, was hired as an adviser to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) acting Commissioner Kevin McAleenan."

Homan is still a member of FAIR through his official position, as Senior Fellow, in IRIL the legal division of FAIR, 

The problem with too many of these new candidates for various positions in the coming administration is their connection to racist groups. Tied to this is their own racists actions because of those connections. Their viewpoint is not layered with any kind of mercy, thoughtfulness, generosity or as Karen Swallow Prior would say imagination. How do you tend to the needy, even the illegal needy. They are not all the same, they are not all equally guilty. Some are children, some are frightened like children.

Hide the Outcasts; Do Not Betray the Fugitive: Immigrants Today

Then like fleeing birds or scattered nestlings the daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon. Give us advise, make a decision; cast your shadow like night at high noon; hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive. Let the outcasts of Moab stay with you; be a hiding place to them from the destroyer. (Isaiah 16:2-4) 

Moab, like many nations at the time, was under siege by Assyria. There is a promise to the daughters of Moab, those fleeing, that they could come under the protection of Zion and that with reference to the house or (tent) of king David. Isaiah says of this place of safety: 

A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, and a judge sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; moreover, he will seek justice and be prompt in righteousness. (5) 

Moab, as the prophet explains, does not choose that protection because of their pride. And although the scripture does not say so one could hope that at least a few of the daughters found refuge in Judah, as one of their ancestors, Ruth, did. Ruth was a Moabitess, of the nation whose people God had forbidden to be a part of Jewish worship. And yet she is an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ. The refugees of Moab were a people that God longed to shelter. 

 The Lord still longs to shelter refugees. His tent “home” is the tent of the son of David, Jesus is the only and final Son of David. And we, the adopted sons and daughters of Christ are enclosed in that tent. We should be the sheltering people embracing the refugees. 

 The problems connected to refugees in the United States are of course complex. There are parents who are illegal yet have children who are not. It has been suggested that rather than splitting the families up they all be sent back to their former country. (Where their children will often be in danger.) There are illegal Venezuelans who are not allowed back in their country. There are people like the legal Haitians of Springfield, Illinois, falsely accused of stealing and eating pets, who have been threatened with deportation. There are Latino churches with many closely connected to refugees. There are Catholic and other religious groups being maligned because of their care for both legal and illegal refugees. 

 One of the groups concerned with both illegal and legal immigrants, The Federation For American Immigration Reform (FAIR), I wrote about in December of 2016, “The Federation of American Immigration: abortion & population control merges with anti-immigration.” They have some connections with the past Trump presidency and the newly appointed officials for the coming Trump presidency. The important information about this for Christians is that the organization is not just anti-immigration, but was also began by a man who had ties to Planned Parenthood and was also an anti-population advocate. Also FAIR is a racist group. 

So the complications are deep and connected to extreme moral questions. Some who call themselves Christians insist they are an army sent by enemies to destroy our nation. Some false prophets see them as those who would destroy Christianity. Yet, the daughters and sons of many nations are standing at the gulfs, pastures and gates of our land, yes, some may be criminals, some bringing drugs, but many, most, are seeking to be hidden by our shadow, not betrayed, not be destroyed by the destroyers. They are fleeing from a cross that should not be theirs to bear, but it may be ours; we who hold tightly to the cross of Jesus Christ.

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