What I Learned from the Great Debate
It appears that Tuesday’s night’s presidential debate was the most watched of all time with nearly 84 million people tuning in. That number is a 17% spike over the first debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in 2012.
I studied the debate prayerfully with much thought and attention. I also listened to many of the pundits who gave their opinions afterwards.
Here is what I learned from the Great Debate.
I will share these observations in “point” form like a running stream of consciousness. I’m sure you have your own, and I hope my ramblings will help you to sharpen yours to pray, to vote, and to be an influence during this perilous time in American history.
Yes, I said perilous. This is the first presidential election in Post-Christian America. Our nation has reached a tipping point where the secularism has overtaken, in many ways, the biblical worldview that characterized our first two hundred years.
This is the first election in US history where it can be argued that neither candidate shares a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or possesses a faith-oriented worldview. Both the voters of the Democrat and Republican parties rejected candidates with strong biblical faith–so we’re left with two people that are more secular than Christian.
It’s a new day. A sober day.
And a day of great opportunities for God to move in our nation.
Here’s what I learned from the Great Debate.
1. It many ways, it was a draw. Neither Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton clearly won on points. How you judged it had much to do with your preference of candidate. There were no knock-out punches.
2. Because I prefer Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton, I give him the edge. It was his first time on a solo national stage and he did well. Mrs. Clinton has been in this scenario 35 times before. She was more familiar than he was. But she didn’t take great advantage.
3. Donald Trump appeared presidential and probably helped his cause, He refrained from name-calling and childish behavior and showed a basic grasp of all the issues that were brought up.
4. Hillary Clinton demonstrated good attention to detail and ample evidence of her policy-wonk credentials. She was better on a number of specifics than Mr. Trump.
5. I give Trump an edge in speaking the language of the common person. That’s one of his strengths. He is open and honest and you can relate to him and his concerns.
6. Mrs. Clinton, on the other hand, was overly robotic and prepared. Even her mention of her 2-year old granddaughter seemed forced and pre-meditated. Everything was calculated. She came across as a slick politician. Trump expressed the normal emotions of a passionate human being.
7. Mrs. Clinton was clearly the aggressor in this debate and showed a bit of a mean-streak. She came at Trump over his taxes, business practices, and name-calling, but it seemed to emanate from cue cards and focus groups instead of deep within. Also seemed a bit whiny at times.
8. Mr. Trump acted as the counter-puncher in this debate, especially on trade (NAFTA and TPP), creating jobs, the national debt, and a few other issues. He missed some big opportunities to expose Mrs. Clinton’s corruption re: the e-mail server scandal and the Clinton Foundation (what Rush Limbaugh calls the Clinton Family Crime Foundation). He must not make that mistake in future debates.
9. Did you see that Mrs. Clinton rarely looked Donald Trump in the eyes when she was speaking to him? I’ve noticed that in many of her appearances. When she first spoke of the e-mail fiasco, her eyes were always down and never looked at the camera. Same last night. If she can’t look Trump in the face with conviction and passion, how can she stare down Vladimir Putin or other world leaders?
10. It was easy to see the difference in transparency and honesty between the two candidates. I’m sure Donald Trump has things to hide, but overall he’s quick to rebut lies and seems genuinely transparent on most things. Mrs. Clinton is the opposite. Her words are so carefully crafted that you think you’re listening to an “angel of light” who’s telling you one thing but doing another. Donald wins on honesty.
11. Trump was very good at the beginning of the debate on how to create jobs and deal with the debt. After all, he’s a businessman and understands that realm. Mrs. Clinton has lived on the public dole all her life and never created a real job. So how can she help ignite an economic renewal in this nation?
12. The two candidates are starkly different on taxes. Mrs. Clinton wants to raise most people’s taxes, though she cleverly use class warfare words to make it appear she’s against the rich. But that’s a lie. There aren’t enough rich people to fund a four trillion dollar budget. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, sees the importance of lowering taxes for most to bring back capital to the country and ignite business expansion.
13. Mrs. Clinton is a classic tax and spend liberal. She had no comeback for Trump’s rightful assertion that Barack Obama created more debt that all the previous 43 presidents combined–and that our national debt has America on the precipice of great disaster. Mrs. Clinton would blindly (in the name of false compassion) explode that debt.
14. Mrs. Clinton cleverly used the word “investments” for government taxation. She went through the normal progressive list of crony capitalism including renewable energy, infrastructure spending and climate change. These are all buzz words for “we know better than you” and it’s too bad if you lose your job (like coal miners in West Virginia).
15. Trump was smart to appeal to the African American community that has been the most decimated by Democrat policies. In the name of “caring,” the victim/welfare mentality of many cities, blue states, and the federal government has placed many blacks and Hispanics on a modern-day plantation of despair. Trumps was wise to appeal to them. (Does it make sense for any voting block in America to vote 90% for one party?)
16. Both candidates seemed competent on nuclear policy. Trump was more realistic on other nations doing their part to police themselves and not simply ride the coattails of the world’s lone super power. Neither candidate would be prone to use nukes unwisely.
17. Trump won the skirmish over the war in Iraq and the mess that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have made of the Middle East. The Democrats created ISIS by leaving Iraq prematurely without a Status of Forces agreement. It was simply poor leadership. They could never be trusted to defeat them.
18. Mrs. Clinton won the argument over Donald Trump’s taxes. He needs to release them, under audit or not, and let the chips fall. If there are some embarrassing details there, they probably pale in comparison to the pay-for-play of the Clinton Foundation. Let them stand side-by-side.
19. Mrs. Clinton looked and sounded healthy, but you never know. JFK looked good most of the time but was living on medical “cocktails” because of his Graves Disease. Mrs. Clinton should release her full medical records just as quickly as Trump does his taxes.
20. Most of the time, when Mrs. Clinton was listening to Trump speak, her face was hard, cold, or bored (see photo above). That was the thing that struck me most from a body language perspective. She is not a warm person. He, on the other hand, is very engaging and relatable to most Americans.
21. Mrs. Clinton shouldn’t have been given a higher podium. She’s 5’4″ and he’s 6’2.” That difference in stature should have been noticed. Let her make up in gravitas what she lacks in height.
22. Mrs. Clinton was condescending at various moments–especially at the end of the debate when she shrugged he shoulders in pride at a Trump response.
23. Lester Holt asked six follow-up questions of Trump and none of Clinton. The bias was obvious.
24. Trump’s smile seems genuine though he’s often sober. Clinton’s smile often looks calculated and forced.
25. Trump’s family is beautiful and accomplished. Bill Clinton is a chronic adulterer who is hard to watch.
These are my 25 observations from the Great Debate.
What are yours?
These 25 items remind me of the greatest need in America: a new found encounter with the King of kings and Lord of lords–Jesus Christ.
If you want some encouragement after watching the Great Debate, check out this magnificent list of 25 reasons that we need leaders who will lead like Jesus.
And keep your eyes on Him.
Why Free Speech Was Praised in the 60s and is Being Suppressed Today
The last couple of years I’ve done some adjunct teaching at Faith International University in Tacoma, Washington. Faith Seminary is the graduate division of the school and is the only biblically-based seminary in the state of Washington.
FIU is growing by leaps and bounds as are many other Christ-oriented schools across America. In fact, yesterday, we joined some 1000 campuses in America who have birthed prayer rooms on their campuses. Many call them “Furnaces”–where faculty and students can fire up their hearts for God.
That’s greatly needed today because many colleges and universities have been taken over by secular humanism, and not only don’t believe in prayer, but reject many aspects of truth including freedom of speech.
Say what? No free speech on campus?
Free speech was praised in the 1960s. Why not today?
It was a joy to see our faculty and staff jam into the new Prayer Room at Faith yesterday for an official dedication. Lining three upper walls of the room were colorful flags of the 40 nations from whom we have received students the past fifty years.
The US flag (to which we gladly pledge our allegiance!) sits at the center of the room, reminding us of the blessing of being Americans. The flag of South Korea is to its left, depicting our large Korean division, and to the right rests the flag of Malaysia, symbolizing a growing Chinese division (led by a Malaysian professor).
Around the perimeter of the room are seven prayer stations that staff and students will frequent this year. Each station sports two chairs, a shelf with special items and resources, and a bulletin board with photos, artwork and slogans to help guide the prayer warrior. The seven stations focus on:
- Worship and Praise – remembering who God is and worshipping Him with all our hearts.
- Praying for the World – the Great Commission, unreached peoples, and the work of missions.
- Praying for Leaders – practicing 1 Timothy 2:2 by interceding for “all who are in authority.”
- Personal Renewal – a large altar sits against one wall where students can confess their sins, meditate and reflect on their personal walk with God, as well as take communion with others.
- Praying for FIU – where we cry out for our faculty, staff, students, and future students.
- Praying for Tacoma, WA – our “Jerusalem”–mayor, city council, first responders and area churches.
- Praying for America – interceding for our nation, its leaders and our great need for revival.
Many group prayer meetings will also take place this school year in the “Furnace” where an electric piano and sound system stand ready for inspiration and use. Our goal is the eventually turn the new FIU Prayer Room into a place of 24/7 prayer for our city, nation and world.
If you’re interested in joining us at FIU, please visit our web-site here. The new Prayer Room at Faith is totally committed to freedom of speech and expression–both to God and to people.
I wish that were true for the rest of the country.
You may have recently noticed some very disturbing trends at many colleges. They include 1) cancelling Christian and/ or conservative speakers from speaking on campus, 2) Creating “safe spaces” where free speech is no longer tolerated or allowed, and 3) promoting only secular progressive causes such as global warming and racial injustice without freedom for debate.
How times have changed.
I remember the turbulent 60s and 70s when college students demanded “free speech” and public schools like UC -Berkeley and Kent State became passionate cauldrons of political expression and demonstration. Those movements championed our treasured First Amendment which guarantees the right of open discourse.
Why the squelching of free speech now?
It’s pretty simple. The goal of free speech in the 60s was to tear down America’s biblical heritage and morals and replace it with secularism. It was all about power, not liberty. Now that secular progressives are triumphant in many of the public universities in America, their goal is to hold on to that power by eliminating all competitors.
The means has changed, but not the end–a post-Christian, narcissistic America.
Heather McDonald, writing for the City Journal, describes secular university environments this way:
“The pathological narcissism of American college students has found a potentially devastating new source of power in the world of education. The truth is that American universities are among the most coddled environments ever devised by man.”
“The idea that one should attend college to be protected from ideas one might find controversial or offensive could only occur to someone who had jettisoned any hope of acquiring an education. Many commentators have been warning about a ‘higher education bubble.’ They have focused mostly on the unsustainable costs of college, but the spectacle of timid moral self-indulgence also deserves a place on the bill of indictment.”
To use Megyn Kelly’s phrase, today’s college kids have become “cupcakes” who don’t know how to compete in the real world and are not interested in the battle of ideas.
Not at Faith International University and many others. We welcome freedom of expression, academic excellence, and we center everything we do on a desire to know and glorify God.
Another biblically-based institution is also leading the way back to free speech sanity, Hear the wise words of Dr. Everett Piper, President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University:
“This past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt ‘victimized’ by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians 13. It appears that this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love. In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable.”
“I’m not making this up. Our culture has actually taught our kids to be this self-absorbed and narcissistic. Any time their feelings are hurt, they are the victims. Anyone who dares challenge them and, thus, makes them ‘feel bad’ about themselves, is a ‘hater,’ a ‘bigot,’ an ‘oppressor,’ and a ‘victimizer.’”
“I have a message for this young man and all others who care to listen. That feeling of discomfort you have after listening to a sermon is called a conscience. An altar call is supposed to make you feel bad. It is supposed to make you feel guilty. The goal of many a good sermon is to get you to confess your sins—not coddle you in your selfishness. The primary objective of the Church and the Christian faith is your confession, not your self-actualization.”
“So here’s my advice: If you want the chaplain to tell you you’re a victim rather than tell you that you need virtue, this may not be the university you’re looking for. If you want to complain about a sermon that makes you feel less than loving for not showing love, this might be the wrong place.”
“If you’re more interested in playing the ‘hater’ card than you are in confessing your own hate; if you want to arrogantly lecture, rather than humbly learn; if you don’t want to feel guilt in your soul when you are guilty of sin; if you want to be enabled rather than confronted, there are many universities across the land that will give you exactly what you want, but [ours] isn’t one of them.”
“Here we will teach you to be selfless rather than self-centered. We are more interested in you practicing personal forgiveness than political revenge. We want you to model interpersonal reconciliation rather than foment personal conflict. We believe the content of your character is more important than the color of your skin. We don’t believe that you have been victimized every time you feel guilty and we don’t issue ‘trigger warnings’ before altar calls.”
“[We] are not a ‘safe place’, but rather, a place to learn: to learn that life isn’t about you, but about others; that the bad feeling you have while listening to a sermon is called guilt; that the way to address it is to repent of everything that’s wrong with you rather than blame others for everything that’s wrong with them. This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up.”
“This is not a day care. This is a university!”
Amen.
Same for us at FIU and many other fine Christian institutions.
Come join us–and help us bring about a re-birth of liberty in our schools through the power of Jesus Christ.
The Power of Unity–for Good or for Evil
Many years ago, God convinced me about the importance of unity in the Body of Christ around the world. This came out of a time of meditation on John 17–the longest prayer of Jesus in the Bible.
From that moment, I committed myself to be a unifier of God’s Church for the sake of world evangelism.
Two recent events confirmed to me the importance of unity as a means of great blessing. But there is also a devious application as well.
Unity is powerful–both for good and for evil.
In my early years as a follower of Christ, I tended to be judgmental about various parts of the Church. I was raised in a liberal setting that had thrown out Christ and the Bible for various social causes. When I gave my life to Jesus in 1968, it was convenient to look down on the white-washed religion of my younger years.
It was also easy to dislike or suspect others in the Body of Christ that I either didn’t understand or who appeared to have more of God. For example, for a while I looked skeptically at charismatics and Pentecostals who talked about the power of the Holy Spirit. Then I had an encounter with God’s Spirit that broke a bondage in my life and leveled my pride.
Still, in my first decade of discipleship, I remember looking skeptically at Christian unity and having a jaded eye toward those whom I considered weak in their message. To my shame, I even aimed this attitude at Billy Graham–thinking that some of his messages were a bit “light” and oriented toward “cheap grace” which I questioned.
The Holy Spirit spanked me pretty good on that one, convicting me of my arrogance toward a man who’d led multitudes to Christ. When I changed my attitude, and to bring forth fruit in keeping with my repentance, God led our family to begin financially supporting the Billy Graham Association.
When you make a mistake you need to make it right.
Then came the revelations from John 17. Its central theme is the importance of God’s people enjoying a powerful and Trinity-oriented form of unity.
John 17 should really be called “The Lord’s Prayer” in the New Testament. In it you hear the heart of God’s Son cry out for unity in His followers. Here are some of the verses that spoke to me out of Jesus’ prayer:
“20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Let’s break down the central points of this powerful petition:
- Jesus prayed for all of His followers, past and present. That applies to you and I today.
- He prayed that we would have the same depth of unity that He and the Father enjoyed in Trinity love.
- Placing his “glory” in us through the Holy Spirit was key to our unity via the fruits He produces.
- He wants our unity to be complete, or some translations say, perfect. This is not a shallow level of cooperation or oneness but as deep and powerful as He shared with His Father.
- When God’s people act in loving unity, then two incredible things will happen: 1) The world will know there’s only one true Messiah (“you sent me”), and 2) The people of the world will know that they are loved (“you have loved them”).
Out of this passage I became deeply convinced that the humble, loving, heart-felt unity that God produces in believers is the key to world evangelization and combatting low self esteem. In other words, a united Church will see multitudes come to Jesus and know that they are loved.
So, I set my heart to be a true unifier of God’s people, to be very careful to not speak negatively about other parts of the Church, and do all I could do to unite it.
I really believe that the person who does the most to bring unity to the Church will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization (if Jesus’ words mean anything).
Here’s how I recently saw some glimpses of John 17.
Mongolia Gateway
I’ve been working in the nation of Mongolia for nearly twenty years helping to train and unite a first generation Church to walk in the Spirit of John 17.
I saw it on full display this July.
The Mongolian Gateway Camp brought together 320 young Mongol missionaries from all over the nation and many different churches. We didn’t care about their style, theology, or social status. Bottom line was, “Do you love Jesus and believe in the authority of God’s Word?”
The diversity of the campers evidenced this biblical truth: unity is essentials, liberty in non-essentials and love in all things.
We had a powerful week of John 17 unity:
1. World Vision provided the buses to bring the young people to the camp.
2. Cru (Campus Crusade) did most of the seminar training for the campers on how to share their faith.
3. YWAM did much of the main session teaching and financially paid for a portion of the camp.
4. The Central Asia director of Youth for Christ (a Korean who was raised in Tajikistan who now lives in Russia) was a major speaker and influence.
5. The Mongolian leader of the camp is a local church pastor and also the national director of Youth for Christ (YFC).
Do you see the power of various groups leaving their egos at the door and doing their part–in unity–to multiply the Church in Mongolia?
It was a beautiful to watch. At the current time, I’m following up on this wonderful experience by trying to help the Mongolian YFC leader purchase his first apartment in Ulaanbaatar so that his ministry can be strengthened and multiplied.
A YWAMer is raising money for YFC!
I believe the heavens rejoice over this Mongolian answer to Jesus’ prayer.
YWAM Together 2016
I just returned from a global gathering of the YWAM family in Kansas City where four thousand YWAMers from over one hundred nations came together to celebrate Jesus and lift Him up in the nations. One day we opened up the KC Municipal Auditorium to the larger Body of Christ and brought 8,000 believers together for God’s purposes.
The power of John 17 unity was seen in manifold ways at YWAM Together:
1. The International House of Prayer partnered with us by housing missionaries and opening their university campus to afternoon workshops. Mike Bickle, the founder of IHOP-KC, spoke to our gathering and committed to bring the global prayer groups fully behind global missions. This is like uniting a rifle with gun powder–for fulfilling the Great Commission.
2. Loren Cunningham shared his passion for “Ending Bible Poverty Now” by taking the next four years to give Jesus a “Christmas present” in December of 2020 by getting a portion of the Bible into the remaining 1776 languages remaining to be translated. Both the heads of the American Bible Society and the Jesus Film Project joined hearts and arms in commitment to complete this milestone. We can only do it together.
3. The week also focused on empowering people called to the seven leadership spheres of society–the domains of the family, religion (church & mission), education, celebration (arts, entertainment and sports), public communication (media), economics (including business, science and technology), and government (law). Uniting believers in all these spheres can lead to the discipling of entire nations.
Both of these events are expressions of how God is uniting His Church around the world to bring God’s will to earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
The key to the cause is biblical unity.
The devil is trying to do the same thing. In the Islamic jihadist realm, the enemy of people’s souls is trying to build a world-wide (united) Caliphate and force all people to convert to Islam. In the Western World, the the United Nations and many aspects of progressive politics desire to see a one world government that will force secular unity on the globe.
Building a form of oneness is key to their plans also. Unity can be used for both evil and good. So what are we to do?
Resist the evil forms of union and throw our hearts into answering Jesus’ prayer!
We can do it through the power of biblical unity (John 17:21-23).