Featured Who won the debate tonight?

No one believes they are voting for a pastor, but many of us reject the notion that faith is something that should be silent and ineffective.

Let me ask you this, Evan - Do you believe that we are responsible for our actions? If so, then if you believed that supporting one agenda was supporting an evil (by evil I mean an act against God), would you do it anyway? If you don't believe we are responsible for our actions, then what do you do with 1 Peter 1:14-19?

You used the verse that we in the world, not of it, to support your assertion that Christians should vote for Trump. Do you realize that it means the exact opposite? In John 17:16 Jesus prays for His disciples who are not of the world, that they may be kept from sin. Notice He did not pray that God use their sin to advance the Kingdom. He prayed that they may be kept from sin.

Those early church men and women who refused to denounce Christ and suffered the consequences in this life were not wrong for their actions (even when it cost them the lives of their families). They were not counted as murders even thought by denouncing their faith they could have saved their lives. If supporting a political candidate and his/her platform is also a denouncement of your faith, then I think that you need to be a bit more cautious in your use of Scripture to encourage others to ungodliness. I'm not saying it is wrong for you to vote for Trump. But I am saying that it is wrong for you to pretend that Christians are mandated by Scripture to cast their vote for a viable candidate instead of using their vote in faithful obedience to God.

The issue is that there are some who strongly believe that God is not powerless in the lives of Christians. It is not about voting for a pastor (or even just a man for President). It is about what platform, what causes, what things you are going to support in this life and how that support aligns up with Christ. Don't let pragmatism become your faith.

Like I said, I am planning on voting for Trump at this time. I do not see his platform as specifically anti-Christian (although others draw inferences and conclusions to the contrary). That said, you are going down a very dangerous and unbiblical path when you say that Christians should vote for Trump. You are letting your zeal get the better of you here.

 

That phrase became popular 4 years ago, when many Christians refused to vote for Romney because he was a Mormon.

Of course, I doubt anyone thinks we are actually voting for a pastor - rather it was an analogy.

These Evangelicals want the perfect candidate - well that will not happen as Jesus Christ is not running.

Thus we have to look at the platform of the candidates. And with most if not all - there is no candidate that you agree with 100% of the time.

Bottom line - we KNOW how far Hillary will take us down the road of destruction.
We also know that realistically, that either the R or the D will win. (Yes, I know that Lincoln won as a new minor party in1860 - but he was also running against 3 other candidates)

 

I agree that we need to look at the platforms (I suppose the candidates also are important, but we do not really know the people whereas we can at least know what they present as an agenda).

I'm sure there are some who will not vote for someone unless they at least pretend to be like-minded Christians. But I think that this is perhaps a minority. Looking at candidates that have run (and carried the "Evangelical vote") in the past, I am more inclined to believe that it is the platforms and agendas that are driving some Christians away from supporting the GOP. Sure, some think Trump is a nut. But some of us who think Trump nutty may actually vote for the man.

My point is not against Trump so much as it is against the comment that "Christians should vote for Trump" and the idea that a Christian has an obligation to cast a vote for one of the two top contenders in any given election. I absolutely believe that a Christian should not support the Democrat platform. But knowing how far Hillary will take us does not justify voting for Trump if the voter cannot in good conscience stand before God in supporting that platform. Pragmatics is never an excuse to sin.

 

I can appreciate that - but on the other hand some are saying that Christians should NOT vote for Trump because he is not a Christian.

 

This is what you said:

Had you said that Christians need to be involved with the world in which they find themselves, I would have agreed. We are to be "salt" and I don't see how we can be "salt" if we completely withdraw from our environment. But you associated John 17:15-19 with the statement that Christians needed to vote. Standing for something does not always mean casting your vote for something else.

I believe that there will come a time when Christians may not be able to, in good conscience, support the platform of either party. Some will say that this time is now. This is something that you have to ask yourself each time you stand behind something with your voice and your support. How you cast your vote is your responsibility and you will be held accountable for those things you support. Likewise, I am responsible for those things I support.

 

So is warmongering.

I am not saying that this defines the GOP, but to many it does. It is not fair to reduce immorality down to abortion. Sin is sin.

So long as we know we are accountable for those policies we support with our vote, then I think we are on the right track even when we disagree. Christians are called to holiness and to resist evil in their lives. We are not, however, called to stand against evil in the world except that stand be for God. We need to start being known not for those things we stand against but for Who we stand for.