There are so many thoughts swirling around that I want to say, but as a Pastor responsible to my flock and answering to Almighty God, I must say that on this election eve, our Father is grieved over the state of His bride in America. He has given us a “no win situation”, no Godly choices as individual candidates or political parties.
Many will not like reading this. That does not matter. I may lose “followers” or “church members” over it. That does not matter. Family and friends may approach me differently from now on or even disown me. That does not matter. I would not enjoy any of those things and do not WANT for such things to occur, but the will of my Father and His Son my King Jesus is all that matters to me.
As of this moment in history, the stark yet crystal clear warning of the Lord Jesus Christ is: “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees (conservatives/republicans), Sadducees (liberals/democrats), AND of Herod (Trump). I fully concur with the recent article by Pastor John Piper (https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/policies-persons-and-paths-to-ruin) and his Godly stand, “…have you shown your people that the greatest issue is exalting Christ with or without America? Have you shown them that the people who do the most good for the greatest number for the longest time (including America!) are people who have the aroma of another world with another King?…I will not develop some calculus to determine which path of destruction I will support. That is not my duty. My calling is to lead people to see Jesus Christ, trust his forgiveness for sins, treasure him above everything in this world, live in a way that shows his all-satisfying value, and help them make it to heaven with love and holiness. That calling is contradicted by supporting either pathway to cultural corruption and eternal ruin.”
As a student of history myself, I also think it will be worth your while right now to consider the words of Russian dissident (and actual chess genius) Garry Kasparov. His article of this past weekend cuts to the core of the burgeoning autocrat Trump: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/31/opinions/trump-after-the-election-prepare-for-unimaginable-kasparov/index.html
If he declares victory on election night, regardless of the uncounted ballots, what then? What if he calls the entire election a fraud, a hoax, and demands that the counting stop? Or if armed Trump supporters heed his call to intimidate voters at the polls? What if he takes to Twitter with “LIBERATE AMERICA!” and his MAGA zealots respond?
You could make a very long list of things pundits insisted autocrats would never do that they eventually did. I made such a list myself, about Vladimir Putin. In my 2015 book, “Winter Is Coming,” I called it the “Putin would never” list. It included things like taking over private media companies, arresting Russia’s richest man for dabbling in politics and invading Georgia and Ukraine.
Trump no doubt believes that he has more to lose by leaving office than by fighting — lawlessly or not — to stay. The oligarchs and thugs he so admires surely agree. They won’t easily let go of such a lucrative investment — one of their own kind in the Oval Office.
Putin and Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, to name two, have surely reaped many benefits from Trump, beyond political ones. It will take years to untangle the web of his financial dealings and how the treasure and might of the United States was exploited to serve the President’s personal interests and those of his cronies.
Let’s say Trump stays in office, either by a shocking electoral upset or by his hand-picked Supreme Court justices doing what he chose them to do. Rolling your eyes again? Do you really think Trump cares about limiting abortion rights or Constitutional originalism or anything else he cannot fit into his pockets? Or that Mitch McConnell and the GOP rushed Amy Barrett’s appointment for any reason other than having her seated before the election? She and Brett Kavanaugh were political appointments to achieve political ends, which is always how autocrats view the judiciary.
The President’s suddenly not so stupefying behavior around Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi and even India’s Modi pales in comparison to the elephant in the room, Turkey’s Erdogan. Though the association is thrown around ad nauseum, Erdogan actually IS HITLER. And Trump LOVES HIM. Calls him a “great leader” and “good friend” and lies about the Kurds just to make his friend happy. One of the first scandals with Trump if you recall was General Michael Flynn (he of QAnon hero worship now). Flynn was only outed because he was a TURKISH AGENT WORKING FOR ERDOGAN. The American public never knew that or has long forgotten but God has not and neither have I. And…sigh…this I’m sure will need to be said yet again… NO I’M NOT VOTING FOR BIDEN EITHER NOR AM I ADVOCATING ANYONE ELSE DOES. I’m saying there are far more important things at play tonight. I urge you to seek His Face alone and away from distraction, He is calling out those who are loyal to Jesus and ONLY to Jesus.
Americans have long had a myopic self-obsession even when it comes to us Christians. You can’t even find many who know the truth: that on one hand we are NOT a “new Israel” with our kings “anointed by God” and on the other are NOT Mystery Babylon with the Antichrist at the helm. Nevertheless, God is deeply grieved over the state of His bride tonight. The window is about closed, and only a very small remnant will understand…
Stand firm to the end, and Maranatha
Christopher Mantei
PS See you at Endtime.Church each Monday night, on the Endtime Church App all day every day and at Wings of the Eagle as events warrant.