If candidates believe that knee-jerk reaction to an 11-year-old recording is helping their cause with committed Christians, it does not. It shows them to be engrossed with personal pettiness that may spill this nation’s very lifeblood

What is a committed Christian to do in this election?

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There is no doubt that this minute voice from an independentChristian missionary, a woman, will encounter criticism for what follows.

Eight years ago, a phenomenal legal researcher and I did everything in our power to unveil the Obama persona as a change artist whose concept of change was to dismantle our Founders’ legacy and the American dream. The novel Gold Baron wove facts into a portentous tale that has since seen basic fulfillment as that deconstruction has come to pass. If the rest of the country hasn’t learned a lesson, I did. And it’s clear that we’ve already reached a crossroads that, should we travel the wrong path with Hillary, there will be no return. The floodwaters of political correctness that has already overwhelmed secular society will have washed out the road behind us.

So what is a committed Christian to do?

Never a real fan of Donald Trump, I am an ultra conservative, registered independent who decided to sign-up as a republican in order to vote for Ted Cruz in the primaries. As a result of those primaries and the convention, it’s been essential to come to grips with who tops the ticket. It wasn’t an easy decision, but fully understanding exactly what Hillary represents, her profiteering from state secrets and that her continuation of Obama’s destructive agenda must be immobilized, I resolved to support the republican nominee.

Revelations of Trump’s past vulgarities (which weren’t really revelatory to those who’ve watched him throughout the campaign) are giving Christians fits… but they shouldn’t.

What, you say? How can someone who calls oneself a missionary – in fact, a person who runs a Christian ministry – make such a comment? Is there no moral compass? Obviously Kristenev has lost her way.

No, after long consideration and working with so many individuals whose stories are litanies of everything done wrong before finding what, or rather Who is right, Christ’s guidance was forthcoming.

Scripture is full of individuals who lied, cheated, even murdered before God stepped in and changed their lives and their legacies. It’s clear that the Lord also used the Godless to bring about great works of benefit to His people. Any person who spends time in the Word will immediately have names pop into their head that answer these descriptions, halting the necessity to recall them here. But the rationale for dealing with the current state of the election goes further than that.

All too often, I hear judgmentalism from Christians that, frankly, undermines the core of the Faith. It negates how heart changes occur and, in some cases, recognizing someone is capable of it. For those who work with addicts, philanderers and felons whose lives have been turned around so completely by Christ, such a one-eighty (‘repentance’ for those who prefer religious terminology) is a wonder to behold. Interestingly, it isn’t understood unless it has been personally experienced, what Christ told Nicodemus is that “a man be born again.” John 3:3

What has come from some conservatives and republicans has been harsher than that from the left who have no respect for truth, faith or morality. The unforgiving judgment has excluded any thought of redemption by dredging up every ill-considered remark Donald Trump has ever made. Believe me, some of the doozies were a true struggle to surmount but I look to Christ and His example as inspiration.

Jesus was reviled for consorting with sinners – tax collectors, adulterers, prostitutes, diseased and unclean – as being beneath him and unredeemable. (Where have I heard that lately?) He knew something the religious leaders didn’t, that if He could touch their spirit with God’s love and forgiveness they could change, and many did, from Zacchaeus, a publican, to Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Luke 19:1-10

What is most troubling in the denunciation of Trump is the assumption that there has been no swerving of his spirit over the years, and perhaps the last months. Anyone who has undergone a heart change knows that the actual transformation comes over time, the ‘old man’ isn’t overcome by the ‘new creation’ overnight. Christians are all a work in progress and, as such, maybe we should recognize that ‘work’ in others.

Nowhere will I condone what has been said, some things vile and reprehensible in speaking of other candidates or individuals. But, from what has been seen, why rule out the possibility of someone beginning a transformational journey that can be encouraged? What purpose does venting disapproval serve? If down-ticket candidates believe that knee-jerk reaction to an 11-year-old recording is helping their cause with committed Christians, it does not. It shows them to be engrossed with personal pettiness that may spill this nation’s very lifeblood.

For those who expect Christ’s imminent return to exempt them from having to take a stand, be reminded that it didn’t occur to stop the genocide of the Armenians, the carnage of WWI, the Holocaust or any number of atrocities throughout millennia. God works through believers not around or in spite of them.

If Christ can sit down to dine with the greatest thief in Jericho, then it stands to reason that I can weigh the circumstances according to which presidential candidate sees America as a beacon of light or a curse on the planet. The benefit of the doubt and encouragement needs must go to the republican ticket instead of expending a vote on another judgmental independent.

Christians are not called to pride and self-righteousness, the sin of the Pharisees that brought Jerusalem to destruction in 70 AD, but to examine our own past missteps and indiscretions before condemning someone for theirs. Matthew 7:2-4

By A. Dru Kristenev 

Pro Deo et Constitutione – Libertas aut Mors

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

Joseph F Barber :

http://josephfreedomoranarchy.blogspot.com/