From the State of the Union speech to Donald Trump’s impeachment acquittal to the National Prayer Breakfast, last week seemed like one breaking news story after another. It almost seems like the Democratic Party is imploding. But if we only look at the Republican versus Democrat debate, we will completely miss the spiritual warfare going on right now.
My friend, cultural commentator and author Larry Tomczak, agrees with me. I had the privilege of interviewing him recently on my podcast, and he shared that these extreme difficulties are actually creative divine opportunities for Christians.
The one thing believers must remember in these tumultuous times is that weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning, just as Psalm 30:5 says.
“We’ve gone through a lot of challenges and difficulties [as a nation] these decades, especially since the 1960s,” Tomczak says. “… We looked out and saw the statistics and the economy and the celebration of homosexual marriage and abortion. It was discouraging at times, but somehow, there’s been a turnaround. Even our president, with his flaws and checkered past, he came out of nowhere.”
Tomczak says that, just like the sons of Issachar, we need to discern our times and understand Trump’s role in God’s plan for our nation. Just as Mike Bickle said recently, millions were praying for God to raise someone up who would reverse the unbiblical trends in our nations—we just weren’t expecting it to be Trump!
Not even I recognized what God was doing with Trump at first. I was originally supporting Ted Cruz for president. But when it came down to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I saw that Trump would stand for Christian values in a way no Democratic president would.
And I’m happy to say that the results of Trump’s presidency have been astonishing. Despite what the Democrats say, the truth is that the economy is booming, unemployment is down, we’re rebuilding our military and we’re taking a firmer stand for religious freedom. Trump pointed these things out during his State of the Union address. I watched his entire speech and found him extremely presidential.
Yet the Democrats found a way to be upset with Trump’s speech. Nancy Pelosi even ripped up the speech right after Trump finished. Tomczak believes the American people are seeing this immature behavior and are beginning to become disgusted with it. I can’t say I disagree!
“People are starting to get more upbeat—they’re getting awakened,” he says. “They’re saying, ‘I’m starting to look at what’s going on, and I’m realizing I don’t identify with this party and what they stand for.'”
At the same time, though, Democrats and the liberal left are working very hard to promote their agenda, especially in the media. It’s so important that Christians remember that our battle isn’t against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (see Eph. 6:13).
“People need to realize this is warfare,” Tomczak says. “We’re called to, No. 1, do what 1 Timothy 2 says—pray for those in authority. We need to pray that we will be discerning and not be fooled. Yesterday, I picked up a [Rolling Stone] magazine and just kind of flipped through it, and they had a big spread with Mayor Pete [Buttigieg]. Mayor Pete was on The View this week, and he’s endorsing [abortion], saying it’s OK to do an abortion on demand to birth—infanticide. It’s OK to let a child die. And you think, What?“
Tomczak is right—we can’t afford to be deceived by empty words in our day and age. Candidates like Buttigieg may present a progressive and compassionate persona, but Marxism and socialism will still hurt our nation. We have to recognize the truth underneath the facade.
I hope you will take 20 minutes and listen to my full interview with Tomczak. He has great insight into what’s going on in our culture as we approach the 2020 election. And if you like what he has to say, be sure to share it on your social media!
Stephen Strang