Posted on 02/22/2016 10:22:59 AM PST by Aquamarine
America Under A Strong Delusion
I had originally intended to write a series of posts explaining why Republican voters should select Ted Cruz in the upcoming primaries and reject Donald Trump. My working title for the series was going to be "Why We Must Choose Cruz and Dump Trump." However, after a conversation with my wife the other evening, I have decided not to write the series primarily for the reason that ist has finally occurred to me that America's mmreal problem is not a lack of information. Thus, such a series of articles would largely be a waste of time. Recently, I have reluctantly come to the realization that Americans, with very few exceptions, are really not interested in facts or logic. We are living among a generation where facts no longer seem to matter.
The truth of the matter is that America is finally under the judgment of God. Our nation has been given over to what it wants. America is under a deluding influence. Such a deleterious condition cannot be remedied with better and more aggressive public policy arguments. The Scripture teaches that people can go so far in their sin that God finally removes His hand of restraint upon them and finally gives them over to what they want to do. This is the very thing that happened to Pharaoh in the Old Testament. After hardening his own heart several times against God (Exod. 7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7), God finally hardened Pharaoh's heart and gave Pharaoh over to what he wanted to do (Exod. 4:21; 9:12). This removal of divine restraint as a sign of judgment upon a culture is also the key theme of Romans 1:18:32. In this troubling section of the Bible, after people no longer see fit to retain the knowledge of God (Rom. 1:18-23), God is said to repeatedly give them over (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28) to the sins that they are so eager to commit. The prophet Jeremiah anticipated that same type of turning over by God in his own day when he recorded the following chilling words from the Lord, "As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you" (Jer. 7:16). We see the same type of judgment predicted for the end times as people will be given over to a spirit of delusion that will cause them to embrace the antichrist. Second Thessalonians 2:11-12 says, "For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness."
Why do I believe that America is now at this delicate tipping point? Largely, it is because of the meteoric rise of a person like Donald Trump in American politics. The man is a moral and verbal sewer. He has no political resume. Rather, his campaign has been buoyed by empty promises devoid of any real substance or meaningful content. He merely repeats mantras that the voters want to hear similar to the types of statements that Barack Obama gave us back in 2008. You know the rhetoric: "I'm going to build a wall around America and make Mexico pay for it." "We are going to make this country great again." "Believe me, Americans are going to win again." "We are actually going to win so many times we are going to get tired of winning." "Trust me, it is going to be great." This type of rhetoric seems more akin to that of a used car salesman rather than that of a serious presidential contender. These sentiments are nothing more than empty slogans since they never reveal exactly how Trump plans to accomplish these great exploits. These are the sorts of trite statements that third world dictators endlessly propagate upon their beleaguered people. In fact, according to Imelda Marcos, the public expression "we are going to make this nation great again" is the very slogan that Ferdinand Marcos articulated just prior to coming to power in the 1950s in the Philippines and prior to Marcos' imposition of martial law.
1 The fact that all the evidence indicates that Truump throughout the course of his entire life really never believed all of the conservative positions that he now supposedly holds 2 is really of no consequence to people. When anybody dares to shed light on Trump's longtime liberal worldview by pointing out that "the king is naked," they are simply shouted down as a "liar" or victimized by various other ad hominem attacks. Such was the sum and substance of last Saturday's Republican Primary debate in South Carolina. The masses really are not interested in information related to Trump's liberal worldview since they have already made a decision to blindly follow Trump on the basis that he tells them what they want to hear. In fact, the bigger a fool Trump makes of himself on the national stage, the larger his poll numbers seem to climb. This, in and of itself, is perhaps the greatest evidence of the deluding influence that is now descending upon America. Ask yourself a simple question. How is it possible for Trump to repeat the Michael Moore and Code Pink left wing lunacy that former President George Bush intentionally misled the American people about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in a recent Republican primary debate and in a conservative state like South Carolina, and have his poll numbers rise and not fall as a result? Such public folly would have been sufficient to derail any Presidential aspirations in prior generations. The only explanation is that the voters are no longer being driven by their mental and rational faculties. Rather, they are being primarily fueled by irrational emotion due to a deluding influence.
I realize that a recent poll showed Cruz leading his primary challengers nationally.3 However, this poll is an aberration with the majority of them showing Trump clobbering his opponents in upcoming primaries.4 What Republican primary voters are apparently on the precipice of doing, if the present poll numbers are an accurate indication, is to reject a Senator Ted Cruz Presidential nomination in exchange for that of a show man and a game show host. Think about how monumental this is. Ted Cruz is an articulate conservative who has a track record of opposing progressivism not only within the Democratic Party but also in his own Republican party. Cruz has had a stellar legal career successfully arguing numerous cases favoring conservatism before the United States Supreme Court. Even the ultra-liberal Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz reluctantly conceded that Ted Cruz was one of the most brilliant law students ever under his tutelage.5 Cruz is also a man not only of deep Christian conviction but also, as demonstrated by his actions, someone who is committed to the principles of limited government set forth by America's founders. There is nobody as qualified to replace potentially four Supreme Court vacancies that the next President will likely have the opportunity to fill, than Ted Cruz. Yet, this kind of man with this kind of record is no longer attractive to the majority of Americans voters. They would much rather embrace the progenitor of a reality TV show. What further evidence do we need to confidently say that America is now under a deluding influence given by God himself as a judgment upon this nation?
Further evidence of God withdrawing his hand from America might also be found in the recent deaths of former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Theologian Dr. Charles Ryrie. Both of these men were similar in their ambition to honor authorial intent. They were both giants and sources of great spiritual light in their respective fields. What Scalia was to the field of Constitutional interpretation, Ryrie was to the field of biblical theology. Yet, within the span of a few days, as both men passed, these lights to the culture were removed by the hand of God. In fact, it very well may be that God has raised up Ted Cruz only for the single purpose of being rejected by voters in order to demonstrate once and for all that Americans are under a spiritual delusion. Like the Ninevites of old, the current generation of Americans apparently are no longer capable of discerning their right hand from their left (Jonah 4:11). Of course, in my heart of hearts, I want to be wrong about all of this. I want to believe that there is still hope for this once great nation. I want to once again trust the good sense of the American electorate. However, as explained above, I have my doubts. If Trump overwhelmingly wins the Republican primaries in South Carolina on Saturday and then on Super Tuesday on March 1st, then these unfortunate suspicions will be confirmed.
The delusion is simply this: The Republican party is a party of conservative values.
I'm getting more than a little tired of weak minded little men calling Donald Trump names and asserting their own moral superiority. The author is so full of himself that what he has to say is not worthy of consideration.
Scripture “quotin” makes you uneasy, does it? Atheist or Jew?
it used to be that only men who owned property could vote.
we had a pretty damned good government in those days.
coincidence???
This article is about politics, politics and religion are intertwined.
You don’t want to actually tell who this guy is, do you? I already know and you don’t want it advertised.
This guy is right! The U.S. population is too stupid and too much down the drain and to far gone that even God can’t help her! Can’t wait to read his next article of what country he chose to patriate to after he leaves this sewer called the U.S.? sarc~
So yeah, it's kinda important.
I think he is right. We have lost our protection. We were the new Israel.
TDS Diagnosis
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression <—— YOU ARE HERE
Acceptance
Andy Woods, Th.M., J.D., Ph.D.
Andy became a Christian at the age of 16. He graduated with High Honors earning two Baccalaureate Degrees in Business Administration and Political Science (University of Redlands, CA.), and obtained a Juris Doctorate (Whittier Law School, CA), practiced law, taught Business and Law and related courses (Citrus Community College, CA) and served as Interim Pastor of Rivera First Baptist Church in Pico Rivera, CA (1996-1998).
In 1998, he began taking courses at Chafer and Talbot Theological Seminaries. He earned a Master of Theology degree, with High Honors (2002), and a Doctor of Philosophy in Bible Exposition (2009) at Dallas Theological Seminary. In 2005 and 2009, he received the Donald K. Campbell Award for Excellence in Bible Exposition, at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Andy is the senior pastor of Sugar Land Bible Church and a full professor at the College of Biblical Studies in Houston and teaches Bible and theology. In addition, Andy has contributed to many theological journals and Christian books and has spoken on a variety of topics at Christian conferences.
Amen I have been thinking this for a while now
Just sickening. Ugh!
“The blog pimping by the day shift Cruz campaign is in full swing.”
And all it consists of is:
You are stupid.
Trump really hasn’t won anything.
and...
God hates you.
Why the insult? You should prove how the author is wrong not attack me for posting it.
I am so sick and tired of existing politicians saying one thing and then doing another that I am swearing off voting for another politician this time around. I don't care if Trump is not as conservative as Cruz or Reagan. I do care that he isn't a politician and likes to go in swinging and take names later. He exudes success and being a winner. I want that kind of guy to lead America again. Being rough around the edges doesn't bother me at all. Because that is the real world, not the scripted world of the establishment politicians.
So, yeah, I may not know all the details of what Trump has said or done in the past. I don't really care. But what I do know is that he sounds and looks like a real winner and leader that we need now in DC. Enough of the same-old, same-old. I want to try something (and someone) new this time around.
One side has taken a look at all the facts, weighted them, looked at the contemporary setting, evaluated what is needed, realized the qualifications of the candidates, and as made a decision.
The other side which is very unhappy, is still stuck looking at just part of the facts, and coming to mostly the wrong conclusions.
America hasn’t somehow transformed by settling on this person. American transformed to the point we needed him.
Some folks have the donkey behind the cart. And I’m not going to vote for him.
Go Trump.
KNOCK IT OFF!
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