GLENN SHAFFER

Recently, Ami and I were asked why, as pastors, were we supporting President Trump. I think that is a fair question in light of his personal life and often shocking tweets and comments.

There are specific reasons why 80% of evangelical Christians support Trump and why so many pastors are speaking up for him including Franklin Graham, James Dobson with Focus on the Family, Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, and J.D. Greear, Southern Baptist Convention. There are many influential African American church leaders speaking up for Trump such as Darrell C. Scott, co-founder of the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., senior pastor of Hope Christian Church, outside the nation’s capital. These African American pastors have been persecuted for taking a stand for Trump.

The truth is, Trump has been more pro-Christian, pro-pastor, pro-life, pro-business, and pro-family than any other president in our lifetime. He has killed more federal regulations against businesses than any President in history. Trump has directed aid to persecuted Christians through faith-based groups. Trump instructed the State Department to bypass the United Nations and use faith-based groups to help Iraqi Christians and other persecuted religious minorities.

Donald Trump was the first President to ever speak at a Pro-life rally. His speech was biblically correct and supported life at conception. His speech was as pro-life as any conservative pastor. He has taken a strong stand for life.

Trump has been the most pro-life President in our lifetime. Although we are more than one-issue voters, abortion is a significant issue for Christians. As a Church leader, I will stand before God and give an account, not for Trump’s morality, but for supporting or rejecting policies that affect innocent lives. We must stand for life and influence others to do the same. An anti-abortion stand is part of the DNA of the Trump administration.

If most people were asked on the street, “Would you support a nation or a nation’s leaders who proposed policies that have murdered 50 million people since 1973?” No one would ever say yes, yet that is what has happened through abortion and we have turned a blind eye. That is what other would-be Presidents support from the left-leaning party.

Trump has appointed 29 conservative appeals court judges in the past two years, which is more than any other President since 1891. He has appointed two constitutional justices to the supreme court in the past two years. These appointments have the potential to alter America’s course for the next 30-40 years. He has cut aid to supporting international groups that promote abortion. He has protected the rights of religious groups and individuals. He has worked to free 19 prisoners from foreign lands including most recently, Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was recently released from Turkey prison.

His speech this past Easter included a clear message of the gospel saying that we are here to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God. He continued to give a clear gospel message. Every other president mentions Easter but has failed to acknowledge Christ.

When someone in a high governmental office acknowledges Christ and God’s kingdom from their place of service it has significance for a nation. In Psalms 2, we are instructed that the nations of the world who refuse to kiss the Son will perish from the earth. God uses national leaders for His good not based on their morality but on the public policy they implement. God judges individuals for their refusal to accept Christ, but nations are judged in history for their policies that support or reject Christ.

Many church leaders have used the Biblical analogy of Cyrus of Persia, who was not a man of God, yet a God-called servant, shepherd, and anointed one, to explain the phenomenon of Trump. Cyrus was used to decree the rebuilding of God’s temple in Isa 45. Trump is being used to rebuild our country.

Trump does not represent us Christians in his speech, attitudes, or character, but God is using him to do what Christians believe needs to be done in our nation. When Trump was elected against all odds and lack of support from most Conservative leaders, it was obvious to us this was a providential act. We see dark forces opposing everything that we as Christians stand for here in our nation. President Trump is proving himself to be used by God to take a hard stand for these policies that will determine what kind of a nation in which our children and grandchildren will live.