The “Pastors for Trump” in the ReAwaken America Tour rallied in LasVegas, NV [a few weeks ago]to respond to the indictment and the mugshot of Donald Trump in Atlanta, GA. The speakers at the rally included Michael Flynn ( former National Security Advisor), Roger Stone (one-time adviser to Donald Trump), Julie Green (self-proclaimed prophet), Lara Trump ( wife of Eric Trump), and Rev. John Bennett (Assemblies of God), who called the “[91] charges against Trump proof that Satan was using the ‘deep state’ to attack God’s chosen leader.” [ Brian Kaylor, https://publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/an-indicted-faith?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2FAn%2520Indicted%2520Faith&utm_medium=reader2]
The insistent protest that Donald Trump is a representative of God has begun to take on apocalyptic dimensions. It elevates the Presidential campaign to the anointing a messiah to lead America. The participation of church leaders in “Pastors for Trump” has interpreted the legal indictments of the former President as an insult to God and to loyal Christian nationalists.
This ReAwaken America Tour has claimed to know the will of God and made Donald Trump into a messiah just as Jesus warned us in his forecast of the times of persecution. I am not one to proclaim we are living in those times, but if we wanted evidence of it, we need only look at the language of prophets and pastors associating with Christ in the “ReAwaken America” Tour.
Below I juxtapose the warnings of Jesus’ warnings in the Gospel of Mark with some of the statements of speakers at the rally “Pastors for Trump.”
And if anyone says to you at that time, “Look, here is the messiah!” or “Look, there he is!”–do not believe it. [Mark 13:21]
Julie Green, prophet: “One of the things that the Lord kept bringing up to me is: you need to pray for my son. You need to pray for Trump.”
False messiahs and false prophets will appear [Mark 13:22]
Lara Trump, wife of Eric: “We know the one in charge up above. And I can tell you he has his hand on Donald Trump, that no weapon formed against him shall prosper, that yea though he walk through the shadow of death he will fear no evil, because God is with him and God is part of this race . . . It is good vs, evil and the good shall win”
Lara Trump: “That mugshot is the most famous mugshot in the history of the world.”
and produce signs and omens, [Mark 13:22]
Donald Trump (January 23, 2016):I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters
to lead astray, if possible, the elect. [ Mark 13:22]
Rv John Bennett: “The ungodly are attacking President Trump for trying to protect us. They’re attacking our freedom.”
But be alert; I have already told you everything. [Mark 13:23.]
“To see just how disingenuous MAGA leaders really are in their abuse of faith, look no further than ‘Pastors for Trump,’ A typical prayer call from this ‘ReAwaken America’ spinoff features only a couple of minutes of actual prayer, with more pro-Trump politicians speaking than actual pastors –the exact opposite you would expect from an authentically faithful event,” Rev. Nathan Empsall, an Episcopal priest who leads the advocacy group “Faithful America”[ Reported by Brian Kaylor, “Public Witness”].
I am probably guilty of the same apocalyptic language as the MAGA followers who spiritualize the career of the former President. The spiritual invocations of “ReAwaken America,” a campaign led by convicted perjurer and Trump-pardoned Michael Flynn, has begun to haunt me. Flynn has gathered followers among Christians, who have portrayed Trump as “messiah,” without using that exact word. The spiritual language of this rally raises my anxiety, as I remember Jesus’ words, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
Donald Trump, himself, has seldom spiritualized his identity, since he would rather see himself as a secular hero, but he welcomes Christians who want to elevate him to messiah status. So he is carried on a wave of the “Re-Awakening.”
What confounds me is the fervor of Christians as the indictments roll in, as the threatening mugshot is publicized, as the former President threatens the legitimacy of a democracy to which all citizens owe their allegiance. It feels like a terrible nightmare, featuring the power of a prophesied false messiah.
It makes me hope for a Awakening of sober Christians, who see that Donald Trump is a threat to the truth, the stability, the better angels of America.
Who are the really woke Christians in the ReAwakening of America?