Now What?

 To say that I was disappointed in the outcome of the most recent election would definitely be an understatement. I had feared that a Trump win would be a long shot due to Covid, the constant media scrutiny, and the awe-shuckness of Biden, but I was hoping that Trump would find a way to rally his base along with the silent Trump voters and find a way to shock the media once again. Alas, it does not look like this will be the case, even though certain votes in some states look pretty fishy and voting irregularities do seem glaring, the likelihood of anything being overturned at this point seems impossible. And for the record I am all for making sure that every legal ballot gets counted and every illegal ballot gets tossed out, as well as Trump taking his case for voter fraud all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. Look, if actual voter fraud took place, that should scare or upset everyone, regardless of party affiliation. But I have a feeling it won't upset most people, anymore than cities boarding up their windows on the eve of the election seemed to upset people. 

I'm often befuddled at the fact that our cultural commentators on the evening news can continue to fake shock and awe at the "new" levels of low they believe to be taking place in the White House, when they completely and willfully ignore the chaos happening outside their own doors and windows. The chaos they have created and exacerbated for four plus years because of their fear and whoremongering over the Trump administration. They've created a narrative of violence and unrest because of their hatred for Trump that has led to lives being lost in the streets and in ICU wards. 

Yep, I blame them for the Covid deaths as much as they desire to blame Trump for them. The news media anthropomorphized Covid into Donald Trump. What I mean by that is, they made him the embodiment of the virus so that they could blame him for all of its havoc. In doing so they further discredited themselves and their ability to be the voice of reason by inciting fear, false science, and silencing any others that may have disagreed with their narrative. Even today in Europe and on other continents, the virus continues to harm the most vulnerable, but you will not hear a word of that from the media, because it hurts their narrative of blaming everything on Trump. Besides, how was one man supposed to stop a highly contagious virus from spreading? Lockdowns? Again, Europe proved that lockdowns alone did not stop spread. Masks? Our own CDC has continued to go back and forth on their safety and the claims of protection, and here's something I've heard no one state... doesn't the promotion of masks as some sort of stop gap or protection of Covid actually encourage those with the virus to continue to go out instead of quarantining as they should? I mean, the only real way to slow the spread of Covid is to make sure that everyone who has the virus stays home! And if you know that you have been exposed to someone who has recently tested positive to the virus you should also take about 5 days off or at home to make sure that you don't come down with symptoms as well. These are the things that should be continued to be pushed, not false narratives that spread misinformation and lies. When was the last time you were reminded or heard a media source say that for those 65 and older this virus is 99.9% survivable? When was the last time you heard someone state the fact that for pediatric cases this virus is less fatal than the seasonal flu? All of these statistics can be verified by simply looking up you state's cases or the CDC's numbers... but I digress...

So now we're supposed to believe that everything is fine because Orange Man will soon be disposed from his throne and we will have our America back! But what America are we getting back? The America that we've been told over and over for the last decade or so that is an evil, vile place filled with racist and bigots of all sorts? The America that is systemically racist in all of its foundational documents and its systems? Why would anyone want that America back? 

You see the greatest problem with the narrative the media and the "Woke" left have been pushing for so long now, is that even when they are in charge what good is it? I mean, to borrow from our former Black President, if we are all in the car headed for disaster, does it really matter who's behind the wheel? This is what makes so much of what they are trying to sell to America so terrible, and in my humble opinion why they actually suffered more defeats than were granted victories in this last election. No sane person should want to live in the America. Not the America they insinuate that we live in, nor the one they would like to turn this place in to. Can you imagine what an America remade in the image of Ibram X. Kendi would like? Well... it would kind of look like America in the 50's and 60's before integration, actually. We would all be taken back to a time when people were segregated by their color, and cultures weren't allowed to mix because it would be a misappropriating of those distinctives. No intermarriage of the races, no sharing of cultures or experiences, no one being valued for their ideas or their character only for their genetic identifiers that place us in subgroups to be either praised or blamed. That America doesn't seem appealing to me, or a vast number of people, and yet if the left get their way that's exactly where we are headed. And don't think you will be able to do much about it when it does happen, because they will already made your speech a crime and social media will already have blocked your posts.  

The only way forward for a country is an embracing of the principles of Liberty and Freedom that she was found upon. Somehow someway we have to get back to this being the driving force for every citizen in this country. The toxicity of the media and the woke left, along with the toxicity of alt-right have to stop being forced into the bloodstream of our nation. The voices that advocate for these positions have to be drowned out by the voices of reason, morality, and transcendent truths. I preached a sermon from Philippians 4 earlier in the year and one particular verse and idea has stuck with me and many of our people since then...

Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things."

We Christians must STOP listening to, focusing on, or buying into anything that is fixated on lies, deception, and misinformation and that even goes for conspiracy theories and QAnon supporters! And Christians must START only speaking, believing, and valuing the GOOD, the BEAUTIFUL, and the TRUE. Christian's believe in a transcendent God that is more powerful, more wise, more excellent, and more virtuous than any government, president, movement, or method that has ever existed. We can no longer be a people tossed to and fro. We have to stay dedicated to the values taught to us in God's Word and stay committed to living them out every day even in the midst of this fallen world that hates us and everything we know to be pure. They will call us names and mock us for standing on truth. They will call our ideas evil and prefer the darkness over light, but we cannot give in. We cannot follow them into darkness. We must be the light and live as light. Just as we have much to be thankful for even in a difficult year like 2020, we have much to praise God for even when things do not turn out like we would like. This is what we as a body of believers must do now. Now is not the time to stop, to give in, or remove ourselves from the public square. NO! Now is the time that we shine truth, act nobly, love unendingly and selflessly, and fight for true justice. Count the cost, put on the armor of God, take up your cross, and go make disciples. And in all that you do fix your mind on the Good, the Beautiful, and the True.