Cruz, Rubio, Trump, and the Moment of Truth
Now is the moment: Do these candidates actually care about doing what's best for the country, or do they only care about themselves running the country?
If Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio care about what's best for the United States of America, Marco Rubio should suspend his campaign this week, and Ted Cruz should extend to him a hand of fellowship. We would then have a Cruz/Rubio ticket 8 months before the election, plenty of time to go after Donald Trump and win the republican nomination for President.
To make the ticket even stronger, Cruz should also extend invitations to Dr. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, and Mike Huckabee, and offer them cabinet positions (the obvious one for Carson would be Surgeon General). You would have a ticket with a plan for this country already in place before taking office. The people would witness a real sense of leadership.
It would also unify the GOP in a way it has not been unified in years. Right now it is massively fragmented. The biggest perpetrator is Trump. He's not solely at fault, but he's a major reason for the division. A person who is as into himself as Donald Trump is into Donald Trump cannot unify. He will only divide. He is dividing now. He will divide in office. He will divide this country. (Yes, it can get worse than it is.)
Trump has no loyalty to anyone, even his own constituents. Oh yes, Trump fans, he will throw you under his Trump bus and already has. He insults you constantly, but you think it's funny. When he says something like, "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any votes," he thinks very little of you.
The ironic thing about that comment was that it came seconds after he said his voters were so smart and loyal. That's how his con-game works: he butters you up into buying his shtick. Listen to me: Do you really think it's "smart" to support a candidate who thinks that he could murder someone in broad daylight, even if it was a hypothetical, and not be held accountable for that? The mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:45).
Donald Trump is a con-man. He's a Casino mogul, a foul-mouthed strip-club owner (that's not a metaphor -- he owns strip-clubs) who's on his third marriage and has boasted openly about his sexual conquests. He has been on the Howard Stern Show dozens of times as the billionaire and the shock-jock talked about who Donald Trump has had in his bed, and which women he'd like to get in his bed.
And don't say, "Yeah, but those were interviews back in the 90s!" First of all, they weren't. The Howard Stern tapes include interviews as recently as 2014 when Stern and Trump judged the bodies of celebrity women, listing body parts and gauging quality like they were walking through a meat-market. And secondly, it wouldn't matter if they were from the 80s or 70s. Donald Trump is not repentant about anything.
At the Family Leadership Summit last July, Trump was asked if he has ever asked forgiveness for his sins. "I am not sure I have," Trump said. "I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I think if I do something wrong, I think I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture." Jimmy Fallon asked Trump if he had ever been sorry for anything. Trump said he would be sorry if he could ever be shown he was wrong about something first.
This is godless talk. The apostle John said, "If we claim we have not sinned, we make [God] out to be a liar, and his word is not in us" (1 John 1:10). This isn't even the usual cliche of, "Hey, everybody sins, so we're all the same, right?" This is a man claiming that he has no reason to ask God forgiveness for anything.
It makes me think of the story of Ahaz, king of Judah, in Isaiah 7. Ahaz was being pursued by two kings from the north. God spoke to him and said, "Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." Now what would you ask for? Anything you want, from the deepest depths to the highest heights!
Do you know what Ahaz asked for? Nothing.
"I will not ask," Ahaz said. "I will not put the Lord to the test."
Isaiah replied, "It is not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?" Ahaz thought so highly of himself that he didn't want God's help. Such arrogance. God was offering him anything he wanted, but Ahaz basically said, "Nah."
Surely you know what happened: all of Judah and Israel were conquered by their enemies and they ceased to be a nation. It was a dark, horrible period for Israel, all because of godless kings who didn't want to bring God into the picture.
Friends, Donald Trump is not a Christian. As I said in a sermon on September 13 of last year, I believe he's popular among "evangelicals" because he reflects the attitude of many Americans. He says the Bible is his favorite book but can't quote any of it. He says he goes to church on Christmas and Easter and always when there's a major occasion. Many professing Christians are going about their faith exactly the way Donald Trump says he does it.
Understand also that Trump is not pro-life. Don't listen to his claims; look at his record. This is a man who has given millions to liberal-democrat, abortion-loving campaigns and candidates for years, including the Clintons (and remember, he's not sorry for any of that). Now suddenly he can just say he's pro-life, and you believe him? His present rhetoric doesn't even sound pro-life. He said he would nominate his sister to the Supreme Court, Maryanne Trump Barry, who, as a judge, has upheld the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion. Trump doesn't care about our children.
There's not much difference between Trump, Hillary Clinton, or Bernie Sanders. All three of them are liberals who promise things they neither can nor intend to deliver (A 2,000 mile-long wall between the U.S. and Mexico that Mexico is going to pay for? Really?). All three are pro-abortion. All three are for socialized health-care. Both Trump and Bernie Sanders's economic plans are travesties that would raise taxes tremendously on the poor and working-class.
We should expect Clinton and Sanders to be liberal. They're democrats. Of course they're going to say things like Planned Parenthood should get more funding and their practices expanded to kill even more babies. What we should not expect is that kind of talk from the "conservative" candidate who calls himself a Christian (Trump says Planned Parenthood does good work and uses the same rhetoric to defend PP that the democrats use).
A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for adultery, porn, misogyny, divorce, fatherlessness, abortion, bankruptcy, gambling, racism, bullying, arrogance, obscenity, and overall godlessness. As a president, you can also throw in higher taxes, a tanking economy, liberal policies, partisanship (really it would just be a my-way-or-the-highway course of action), and severed relations with foreign governments.
He does not care about you. His only loyalty is to himself. He has said from the very first debate that if he did not win, he would run as an independent. He has no desire to unify. Only to exalt himself.
Donald Trump is presently the most popular individual GOP candidate. But he would not beat Hillary in November, or the combo of Cruz and Rubio right now. Both Cruz and Rubio must show they, unlike Trump, are selfless by putting aside their differences and personal ambitions. Rubio should suspend his campaign, and Cruz should bring him aboard. Men, show us how much you actually care about the American people.
I think it was completely fair to see how Super Tuesday would turn out before any candidate suspended their campaign. I've disagreed with those who have said Carson and Kasich were holding the GOP hostage and needed to pull out. I think Carson did it right. Dr. Carson, thank you for a clean campaign.
But now is the moment. I have not put myself behind a candidate yet, but I would vote for a Cruz/Rubio ticket. (Doctrinal and even some political differences aside,) I believe they are God-fearing, principled leaders who would be a fine fit for this nation's highest office.
Still, this needs to be said: Neither Cruz nor Rubio will save this country (nor will Trump, Hillary, or Sanders for those who think of them as some kind of savior). Only Jesus Christ saves souls. You must turn from your sins and follow Jesus. No matter who's president, we must continue to preach that message with boldness.
Also, this needs to be said: No candidate will send this country to hell either. It is God who will destroy a nation that burns with sexual immorality, promotes unnatural relationships, and continues to spill the innocent blood of countless babies every day the way we do through abortion. It is a judgment we deserve unless we repent.
The real Moment of Truth is found in the King of kings and Lord and lords, our Savior Jesus Christ. He is still on the throne. Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Now is the time to repent of your sins and follow Jesus. To Him be all the glory and the honor, now and forever. Amen!
If Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio care about what's best for the United States of America, Marco Rubio should suspend his campaign this week, and Ted Cruz should extend to him a hand of fellowship. We would then have a Cruz/Rubio ticket 8 months before the election, plenty of time to go after Donald Trump and win the republican nomination for President.
To make the ticket even stronger, Cruz should also extend invitations to Dr. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, and Mike Huckabee, and offer them cabinet positions (the obvious one for Carson would be Surgeon General). You would have a ticket with a plan for this country already in place before taking office. The people would witness a real sense of leadership.
It would also unify the GOP in a way it has not been unified in years. Right now it is massively fragmented. The biggest perpetrator is Trump. He's not solely at fault, but he's a major reason for the division. A person who is as into himself as Donald Trump is into Donald Trump cannot unify. He will only divide. He is dividing now. He will divide in office. He will divide this country. (Yes, it can get worse than it is.)
Trump has no loyalty to anyone, even his own constituents. Oh yes, Trump fans, he will throw you under his Trump bus and already has. He insults you constantly, but you think it's funny. When he says something like, "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any votes," he thinks very little of you.
The ironic thing about that comment was that it came seconds after he said his voters were so smart and loyal. That's how his con-game works: he butters you up into buying his shtick. Listen to me: Do you really think it's "smart" to support a candidate who thinks that he could murder someone in broad daylight, even if it was a hypothetical, and not be held accountable for that? The mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:45).
Donald Trump is a con-man. He's a Casino mogul, a foul-mouthed strip-club owner (that's not a metaphor -- he owns strip-clubs) who's on his third marriage and has boasted openly about his sexual conquests. He has been on the Howard Stern Show dozens of times as the billionaire and the shock-jock talked about who Donald Trump has had in his bed, and which women he'd like to get in his bed.
And don't say, "Yeah, but those were interviews back in the 90s!" First of all, they weren't. The Howard Stern tapes include interviews as recently as 2014 when Stern and Trump judged the bodies of celebrity women, listing body parts and gauging quality like they were walking through a meat-market. And secondly, it wouldn't matter if they were from the 80s or 70s. Donald Trump is not repentant about anything.
At the Family Leadership Summit last July, Trump was asked if he has ever asked forgiveness for his sins. "I am not sure I have," Trump said. "I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I think if I do something wrong, I think I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture." Jimmy Fallon asked Trump if he had ever been sorry for anything. Trump said he would be sorry if he could ever be shown he was wrong about something first.
This is godless talk. The apostle John said, "If we claim we have not sinned, we make [God] out to be a liar, and his word is not in us" (1 John 1:10). This isn't even the usual cliche of, "Hey, everybody sins, so we're all the same, right?" This is a man claiming that he has no reason to ask God forgiveness for anything.
It makes me think of the story of Ahaz, king of Judah, in Isaiah 7. Ahaz was being pursued by two kings from the north. God spoke to him and said, "Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." Now what would you ask for? Anything you want, from the deepest depths to the highest heights!
Do you know what Ahaz asked for? Nothing.
"I will not ask," Ahaz said. "I will not put the Lord to the test."
Isaiah replied, "It is not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?" Ahaz thought so highly of himself that he didn't want God's help. Such arrogance. God was offering him anything he wanted, but Ahaz basically said, "Nah."
Surely you know what happened: all of Judah and Israel were conquered by their enemies and they ceased to be a nation. It was a dark, horrible period for Israel, all because of godless kings who didn't want to bring God into the picture.
Friends, Donald Trump is not a Christian. As I said in a sermon on September 13 of last year, I believe he's popular among "evangelicals" because he reflects the attitude of many Americans. He says the Bible is his favorite book but can't quote any of it. He says he goes to church on Christmas and Easter and always when there's a major occasion. Many professing Christians are going about their faith exactly the way Donald Trump says he does it.
Understand also that Trump is not pro-life. Don't listen to his claims; look at his record. This is a man who has given millions to liberal-democrat, abortion-loving campaigns and candidates for years, including the Clintons (and remember, he's not sorry for any of that). Now suddenly he can just say he's pro-life, and you believe him? His present rhetoric doesn't even sound pro-life. He said he would nominate his sister to the Supreme Court, Maryanne Trump Barry, who, as a judge, has upheld the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion. Trump doesn't care about our children.
There's not much difference between Trump, Hillary Clinton, or Bernie Sanders. All three of them are liberals who promise things they neither can nor intend to deliver (A 2,000 mile-long wall between the U.S. and Mexico that Mexico is going to pay for? Really?). All three are pro-abortion. All three are for socialized health-care. Both Trump and Bernie Sanders's economic plans are travesties that would raise taxes tremendously on the poor and working-class.
We should expect Clinton and Sanders to be liberal. They're democrats. Of course they're going to say things like Planned Parenthood should get more funding and their practices expanded to kill even more babies. What we should not expect is that kind of talk from the "conservative" candidate who calls himself a Christian (Trump says Planned Parenthood does good work and uses the same rhetoric to defend PP that the democrats use).
A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for adultery, porn, misogyny, divorce, fatherlessness, abortion, bankruptcy, gambling, racism, bullying, arrogance, obscenity, and overall godlessness. As a president, you can also throw in higher taxes, a tanking economy, liberal policies, partisanship (really it would just be a my-way-or-the-highway course of action), and severed relations with foreign governments.
He does not care about you. His only loyalty is to himself. He has said from the very first debate that if he did not win, he would run as an independent. He has no desire to unify. Only to exalt himself.
Donald Trump is presently the most popular individual GOP candidate. But he would not beat Hillary in November, or the combo of Cruz and Rubio right now. Both Cruz and Rubio must show they, unlike Trump, are selfless by putting aside their differences and personal ambitions. Rubio should suspend his campaign, and Cruz should bring him aboard. Men, show us how much you actually care about the American people.
I think it was completely fair to see how Super Tuesday would turn out before any candidate suspended their campaign. I've disagreed with those who have said Carson and Kasich were holding the GOP hostage and needed to pull out. I think Carson did it right. Dr. Carson, thank you for a clean campaign.
But now is the moment. I have not put myself behind a candidate yet, but I would vote for a Cruz/Rubio ticket. (Doctrinal and even some political differences aside,) I believe they are God-fearing, principled leaders who would be a fine fit for this nation's highest office.
Still, this needs to be said: Neither Cruz nor Rubio will save this country (nor will Trump, Hillary, or Sanders for those who think of them as some kind of savior). Only Jesus Christ saves souls. You must turn from your sins and follow Jesus. No matter who's president, we must continue to preach that message with boldness.
Also, this needs to be said: No candidate will send this country to hell either. It is God who will destroy a nation that burns with sexual immorality, promotes unnatural relationships, and continues to spill the innocent blood of countless babies every day the way we do through abortion. It is a judgment we deserve unless we repent.
The real Moment of Truth is found in the King of kings and Lord and lords, our Savior Jesus Christ. He is still on the throne. Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Now is the time to repent of your sins and follow Jesus. To Him be all the glory and the honor, now and forever. Amen!
