The Right Track

As expected, there has been a whole lot of commentary about President Trump's inauguration speech. Pundits are weighing in on television, talk radio, and of course magazines and newspapers.

Some claim Trump's speech was a "populist" speech. Some are lamenting that it revealed far too much "nationalism" - that it was a selfish, greedy, isolationist speech. Some have noted it was a "capitalistic" speech. Other than it being greedy, selfish and isolationist, I agree with all of those assessments. One could make a case for each.

Regardless, it showed, clearly, that Donald Trump is keeping his promise to the American people. That is really what this speech reflected. He was speaking directly to Americans and letting us know he understands exactly why we elected him. He was simply reiterating what he had always said while campaigning. This was closing the deal, so to speak. He was letting us know that he heard America's voices loud and clear; and that is exactly what he will be acting on. It is what his base required of him and he is responding in accordance.

One cannot make the case it is selfish, greedy or isolationist. Please allow me to explain.

First of all Nationalism is NOT evil. It is God-given; and we should be good stewards of whatever it is that God has given us.

That God created the nations is an indisputable fact! It is a truth without question. 

The Bible tells us in Acts 17:26:  "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;"

But we have also been shown this truth throughout the history of man.

For example, the Tower of Babel, created by man and confounded by God, is explained in Genesis 11. Simply and concisely explained for this article, they were trying to build an idol to heaven. When the Lord saw this, He confounded their language, and the end result was people who could no longer communicate and thus were hindered in their endeavor.

"From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth." The end result was nations.

Secondly, God designated specific land and boundaries and gave them to Abraham, as also explained in Genesis.

Finally, another proof of God's desire for nations is His end times warning of a one world government. The nations, and specifically Israel, were created for a time clock which serves as an evangelical tool for Christians.  Boundaries were promised and set. But I am getting too far from topic now; that discussion is for another post. Suffice it to say, a one world government is not His intent. That is, until Jesus returns again. Until then, there is a need for nations.

If nations and boundaries were God's intent, why then are we so afraid of them? Why do we look at them as something evil? Why are we afraid to grow and support our own nation? Why is it suddenly evil to feel a sense of pride for one's nation? This is a relatively new phenomena. Capitalism and Nationalism - even American Exceptionalism - used to be seen as good things and something for which we were grateful.

Personally, I believe the current negativism we are seeing is because we have had an abundance of leftist teaching in our schools, media, and more recently, even our churches. Contrary to what is being taught, Nationalism should be seen as the means to being good stewards to what God has given us.

There is nothing greedy about Capitalism. It is Capitalism that grows a nation's economy. America MUST be strong in order to keep bringing aid to the world which is a primary necessity for enabling us to share the Gospel. How are we going to be able to help those in need, if we let ourselves spiral downward into citizens that can barely take care of ourselves, let alone offer gifts of benevolence to others? There is a distinct lack of understanding by many, especially in  the millennial generation, in regard to why America must remain strong and successful. If people cannot understand this, it is because they absolutely do not understand Capitalism and have been taught to believe it is something greedy and evil.

If we are strong as individuals, our nation will be strong. If we win, other nations win. That has always been the case. For the past eight years we have been blasted with the rhetoric that describes us an Imperialistic nation only out for ourselves - that we are out to control the world. America is NOT and never has been an Imperialistic nation. Under the Obama administration, this belief especially became more widespread. But what nation have we ever tried to take over or control? Dinesh D'Souza does a fantastic job of explaining this inaccurate description in his book Obama's America. America has in the past, always understood the need for strength in order to show benevolence to those around the world who have far less wealth. It is what we have always done!

Our nation was created with the Founders intentions for benevolence to come from the individual, not the government who then could attach strings to their lives and control them. They had learned their lesson from Jamestown, and had it not been for John Smith taking 2 Thessalonians 3:10 to heart and putting it into action, they would have never been successful. "If you do not work, neither shall you eat." So to say we are not Christian if we don't allow for the welfare state is simply inaccurate and extremely destructive to our system. Jimmy Carter has long been one of the chief players in promoting this false narrative.

A man who simply doesn't get it.
Or, is he more dangerously one that wants to mislead us?

Furthermore, to say we are a selfish people because we want strong borders is a farce. You cannot allow laws to be broken in the name of compassion. It breaks down all other laws and the strength of a nation to protect their own citizens, which is the first role of government. We are a nation of laws which must be respected. With the President's latest executive order regarding immigrants coming into our nation, the left has been thrown into a tizzy; all of them suddenly becoming so godly and concerned with our Christian nation not acting like one.

Finally if we are to remain strong - to be a beacon of light to the world - we must insist on peace through strength. We must have a strong military in order to accomplish the kind of strength that will deter others from trying to take advantage of us. Our military might cannot be torn down as it was under the Obama administration -  to pre WWII levels. We must grow and empower our military, not use it as a social experiment. Our homeland must, above all, be protected. That is the purpose of our government. The government's primary role is to protect the people.

The liberal left trying to make us look like we are not Christ-like is laughable when one considers they have relentlessly tried to remove God from every aspect of our lives. Schools, government, television - you name it. God is not welcomed there. This is all a false narrative, false accusations to try to lead people to another way of thinking. God did not intend nations to set themselves up as sitting ducks, in order for other nations and peoples to take advantage.

President Trump is on the right track and we need to pay attention, be alert, be on our knees and help him get there.

Deuteronomy 32:8
Psalm 74:17
Acts 17:26