THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT CANDIDATE

By Mario Murillo

Christians who are ardent supporters of Ted Cruz or Donald Trump have ended friendships with fellow believers—even lifelong friends.   The damage of lost fellowship will go on long after this election is over.  The goal of Satan is to divide and conquer (more on this in a moment).

The world will not end if Cruz becomes president.  The world will not end if Trump becomes president.  Hillary is the apocalypse.   She is the true end of all things because she promises to continue Obama’s legacy.  How insane is that?!

Consider these facts:

There is no perfect candidate.  All of them are flawed.  Both of the candidates have done—or allowed—things that are reprehensible.  There is nothing close to a Ronald Reagan in this race.

We are not electing a pastor.   There is truth in that statement.  But we are electing a president and moral conviction should matter.  On the other hand—we should remember—we can’t even find a perfect pastor!

I get it!  We need as godly a president as possible…but we also need a leader.   If we get an ideologue—who can debate Christianity and conservatism—but who is powerless to make changes… what is the point?  On the other hand, if we get a celebrity—who can make deals—but has a broken moral compass…how does that help?  It’s a big fat mess…but there is hope.

I have two mighty, wise and famous Christian friends.  One can convince you that your only choice is Cruz and make it seem that you have committed the unpardonable sin by uttering the word “Trump.”

The other spiritual legend can show you how it is the prophetic destiny of America to have Trump as president.   I do not agree with either of them.   I believe that we can work with either one if we pray and obey.

Not only this, but the enemy wants you to be so angry about who gets the Republican nomination that you will sit out the general election.

Glenn Beck hates Trump so much that he has vowed to vote for Hillary if Trump is the nominee.  That is wacko!   Rush Limbaugh agrees that is wacko: “I’m not voting for Hillary.  If Trump’s the nominee I’m voting for him.  I’m gonna vote for anybody but Hillary Clinton.  I’m not voting for her no matter what.  Daffy Duck could be our nominee.  He gets my vote.  I am not voting for Hillary or Bernie or Biden or whoever ends up being the nominee, pure and simple.  The Democrat Party is the most destructive force; the American left the most destructive force in this country today.”

 

The idea of running a third party candidate is also loony and will guarantee a Clinton victory.

Ted and Donald carry baggage that is disconcerting to me…but when you consider whom they are replacing—the worst leader we have ever known—you can see how Cruz or Trump is a massive improvement.    Not only this, but If you combed our entire galaxy it would be nigh unto impossible to find a more incompetent or despicable leader than Barack.  Yet, somehow, the Democrats have managed to do just that in Hillary.

By all means debate your cause.  Defend your candidate.  Vote with both heart and brain!  Let’s just dial down the vitriol, the anger, and self-righteous vindictive rhetoric.  We have a flawed election, two flawed candidates heading into a flawed election.  It is what it is, and we must be wise.  It doesn’t help when believers say, “you are not a Christian if you vote for Trump.”  And no believer should be saying “you are an idiot to vote for Cruz.”  No friendship should end over Trump or Cruz.

Whoever is nominated will need to be rehabilitated and transformed into a viable opponent to Hillary Clinton.  Prayer, unity and bringing righteous pressure to bear on that nominee will be our best course of action.  And yet I show you a more excellent way…

The answer to America will not come out of the White House but out of God’s house.  It is Lucifer’s intention to divide and conquer.  Satan understands that revival is the only thing that will stop him.  He has created the perfect storm to get us at each other’s throat instead of his throat.

His goal is to get us to make the same mistake the disciples made with Jesus.  They tried to make Jesus a temporal king and establish a theocracy…looking to a politician to save us.   Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.”   Those who would attempt to create a theocratic state are misguided and anti-Bible.

America’s hope lies in an outpouring of the Holy Spirit where the preaching is confirmed with signs and wonders.   We need widespread conviction—people openly sobbing over their sin and violently turning to Christ.

We need what the forest fire fighters call Area Ignition: when separate forest fires burn toward each other and finally form a regional wall of fire where the air gets so hot it ignites flames.  We need a reformation led not by supermen but supernatural men and women!

Robert Jeffress Rebukes Glenn Beck for Criticism of Southern Evangelicals

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Robert Jeffress, pastor of the 12,000 member First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, is rebuking talk radio host Glenn Beck for his recent criticism of evangelical Christians who live in the South and are not supporting Ted Cruz’s Campaign to secure the Republican Presidential nomination.

by MICHAEL PATRICK LEAHY  23 Mar 2016

“All throughout the South the Evangelicals are not listening to their God,” Beck said at a rally in Utah on Monday.

“Beck’s wacko comment speaks for itself,” Jeffress tells Breitbart News.

“However, by using the phrase ‘their God’ to refer to the God we evangelical Christians worship, Beck is finally admitting that the true God of the Bible is different than the god of the Book of Mormon. I congratulate Beck for his honesty in differentiating between the two,” Jeffress adds.

“However, I am somewhat puzzled that Beck claims to know how the God Christians worship would vote in the Republican primaries.”

Jeffress has introduced GOP frontrunner Donald Trump at many events, though as a pastor he is not officially endorsing any candidate.

Beck, a Mormon, has endorsed Cruz and has spoken on his behalf at numerous rallies around the country.

One prominent academic who specializes in American religion takes exception to Beck’s comments as well.

“Assuming that Mr. Beck is referring to evangelicals who vote for Trump, I would make a distinction that Beck does not: The Bible certainly offers principles on how to think about government and politics. The Bible does not, however, tell us which individual candidates to vote for,” Dr. Thomas S. Kidd, Distinguished Professor of History and Associate Director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, tells Breitbart News.

“If other Christians don’t vote for our preferred candidate, we should not say that they are not listening to God. None of us has special access to God’s opinions about candidates,” Kidd says.

“There are many reasons why devout Christians should hesitate to vote for Donald Trump, but God has not revealed Ted Cruz as the divinely anointed alternative, either,” Kidd concludes.

A number of evangelical Christians who live in the South are also critical of Beck’s fusion of theology and politics.

“Say what you want, but as a Southern Christian, I’m pretty sure my God doesn’t like politicians behaving like diamond pinky ring wearing TV preachers telling lies and trying to guilt people into donating their dollars to false causes,” Stephani Scruggs, a resident of Pensacola, Florida, posted on her Facebook page Tuesday. Scruggs says she is the former national co-chairman of the Glenn Beck inspired 9-12 Project

Criticisms of Beck’s attack on evangelical Christians who live in the South and are not supporting Cruz were echoed by several participants in the February 25 Breitbart focus groups conducted of evangelical Christians in Tennessee who said they intended to vote in the March 1 GOP Presidential primary in the Volunteer State.

“It has been very disconcerting to see Beck traveling with Cruz,” Elizabeth, who voted for Cruz in the Tennessee primary and participated in one of the February 25 focus groups, tells Breitbart News.

“I have had a nagging concern about Cruz’s integrity. His association with Beck confirms this,” she says.

“Beck is not reticent about pushing his Mormon faith, which from an evangelical perspective is heretical. Apparently Cruz has no discomfort being called the fulfillment of a false prophecy,” she adds.

“The fact that evangelicals have not fully embraced Cruz but Mormons have is troubling to someone who voted for Cruz but now questions the decision,” Elizabeth concludes.

“I am disgusted by Beck’s comments and he should be ashamed for casting stones,” Jim, a Trump supporter and small business owner who participated in the focus groups, tells Breitbart News.

“Are we counting sins? Let’s see: Cruz has lied on multiple occasions, smeared Trump horribly, wasn’t tithing while making over $250,000,” he adds.

“I tuned Glenn Beck out a long time ago,” Martha, a Trump alternate delegate and focus group participant, tells Breitbart News. (Note: Two other participants in the focus groups ran as Cruz delegates in Tennessee.)

“I think he has issues and is in no position to determine who is or is not listening to anything or anyone, including God,” she adds.

“His hysterics do nothing but turn me off, whether it’s this or anything else,” she says of Beck.

“I think he has done some good exposing some of those leftist relationships that he has exposed. But, once he starts on opinion, he always seems totally off the wall to me. Have thought this a long time,” Martha concludes.

“I was offended by Glenn Beck’s comments, as I was by Romney’s speech several weeks ago. ‘My God’ doesn’t tell me how to vote,” Aime Molina, another focus group participant, tells Breitbart News.

“I believe God expects me to be involved in the political process for the good of His people and the advancement of His Kingdom,” Molina continues.

“I believe I am called to vote according to the morals and teachings of Jesus. I believe we should vote for the candidate who will enforce the expectations of personal accountability for one’s life and actions, and the protection of our Country and its citizens,” she continues.

“I don’t believe that God endorses a specific candidate, and Beck’s comments seem judgmental and manipulative to me. I am not anti-Trump; he is my second choice, but for the record I voted for Ted Cruz. And I’m still offended by Glenn Beck,” Molina adds.

The February 25 Breitbart focus groups of evangelical Christians in Tennessee confirmed the polling research of the Barna Group, the leading pollster of evangelical Christians,which found that committed evangelicals are more supportive of Cruz and cultural evangelicals are more supportive of Trump.