Donald Trump revealed some issues that demand discussion.

President Trump. I never thought I’d ever hear myself saying those words. President Hillary. I’m thrilled that I’ll never have to say those words.

There is a spirit of euphoria spreading through much of the church thanks to the overwhelming and unprecedented election results. As many of you know, I was one who wasn’t sold on the idea of a Donald Trump presidency, but as it stands now, we must all honor him as the soon to be inaugurated President of our nation. Many are saying he was God’s choice. I don’t know that any of us can know that for certain, but what we do know is that God has established him, just as he does with all leaders, be they good or evil.

That being said, we must contend for God’s purposes as Donald leads us from one national experience into another. We have to pray that his steps are ordered and refuse to complain no matter how vexing his leadership may be.

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14:1-4 (ESV)

We do not want to go back to Egypt. And, no, at this point, we absolutely do not want a new leader.

No more cries, no more tears, no more grumbling.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. Romans 13:1-2 (ESV)

Donald Trump is our authority and he has been instituted, established, by God. Resisting and complaining can only result in judgment. It’s time to serve, honor, love and contend for revival in America, and we must do so with Donald Trump at the helm of our nation’s government.

And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— the men who brought up a bad report of the land—died by plague before the LORD. Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive. Numbers 14:36-38 (ESV)

Joshua and Caleb determined they could advance under the leadership of Moses into very threatening territory. The others? They grumbled and died on the wrong side of promise. This same scenario is before us today. How will we respond? We need people who will spy out the land, who will view into our prosperous future with Donald Trump in leadership, and bring back a good, confident report. We need pioneers, apostles, warriors who will advance in the face of any enemy, without excuse, without fear.

Now, before you accuse me of equating Donald Trump to Moses, please bear with me. We all know that Donald has some serious personal issues that must be dealt with, but we must also serve him in intercession and by refusing to speak evil of him. We must be his advocates.

That’s my clear message of how we must respond to Donald Trump’s Presidency. Now, at this point I must switch gears. Having an appropriate attitude towards Donald Trump is but the beginning. There are some very real issues to be discussed. There is an issue with the church that must be addressed.

You see, Moses and Joshua were not only focused on taking new territory. They also called for the consecration of the people. Success depended not only on the leader and on the support of the people but also the consecration and continual refining of the people. This is where we must now focus. Attention now shifts from Donald Trump to you and me—the church of America. Repentance and consecration must come. Our tomorrow depends on it.

Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” Joshua 3:5 (ESV)

TROUBLING ISSUES THE CHURCH MUST DEAL WITH AFTER THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP

The reason I was disturbed with the wholesale support of Donald Trump by many Spirit-filled Christians was not because I didn’t believe God could eventually move through his Presidency. The trouble in my spirit, which is still there today, has to do with violations by the church that put our nation at risk regardless of who the President is. In fact, Donald Trump could have a Damascus Road encounter and become a revivalist in the White House overnight, but that wouldn’t resolve the national issues that have been created by American Christians this election season. The enemy is not those who didn’t support Donald Trump. The enemy is a segment of the American church that dipped into corruption in its efforts to elect the President of their choice.

SHRUGGING OFF IMMORALITY

I wish it was possible for me to express to you my thoughts and emotions every time I witnessed Christians shrugging off immoral behavior by Donald Trump. While I didn’t engage with as many Hillary Clinton supporters, the same confusion would have resulted had I heard people defend her indefensible immorality.

The immediate, almost scripted and prepared statement I heard time and again from legitimate, God-loving, Spirit-driven Christians was, “That was in the past,” or “It was only locker room talk,” or other similar verbal and written shrugs of the shoulders. Others often argued that nobody is perfect and therefore we couldn’t hold them to any standards whatsoever. I was stunned!

Further, it was determined that anybody who didn’t sin greater than King David was approved for leadership. This extreme biblical illiteracy is shocking. When a corrupt, indecent politician writes some psalms revealing the cry of their heart for intimacy with God, I’ll listen to you.

Many were defending Donald Trump by reminding us that he’s a baby Christian and that he needs time to grow. The problem? Nobody actually knows if he’s truly converted or not. At the time of the election, the fruit hadn’t started to show. My argument is not that Donald is not saved. It’s that we don’t know if he will or will not continue in the extreme immoral behavior that he has exhibited his whole life. It’s an immature, desperate person who will ignore warning signs in the hope that all is well. We simply cannot minimize immoral behavior. I don’t believe politicians must be Christians, but I do believe they must adhere to a moral code.

Remember, I’m not talking about our new President now. I’m talking about the failures of the church to support righteousness.

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29:2 (NKJV)

I was legitimately concerned that we were risking four years of national groaning by closing our eyes to indiscretions. But, cries for righteousness in our leadership fell on many deaf ears. That is an indictment on the church, not on Donald Trump.

For the life of me I couldn’t find many who would honestly acknowledge how serious the violations and accusations of racism, hatred, sexual indiscretion and other behaviors were. I’ll admit, it was strange. The reaction felt like a well rehearsed political script. The church’s extreme support of a man has, in my opinion, resulted in opening the door to conditional morality and an increase in sexual deviance in our nation. I’m not saying we can’t fight against that tide, but it’s a situation we should not have initiated. If those who supported Donald Trump would have at least admitted the controversy exists, and that they are grieved about his demeanor and behavior, whether its past or present, righteousness could have prevailed.

In 1988 I was at the epicenter of a global, spiritual moral crisis in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was near the front of the auditorium at Family Worship Center as I, along with countless news reporters and thousands of other people, watched Jimmy Swaggart famously repent for his sexual sin. The world lost trust in Christianity, and especially in popular evangelists and ministers, that day. The moral code was violated and it should not have been shrugged off. It was devastating.

Years later I had the privilege of leading regional prayer meetings with Ted Haggard in Colorado Springs. Ted also preached in my church twice and, like Jimmy Swaggart, I experienced his tangible, powerful anointing. Like Jimmy, Ted was a true general in the faith. I also felt the impact of failure when Ted gave in to sexual sin. Again, people were shocked, in tears and grieved. They had a right to be.

I also had the opportunity to meet personally with Todd Bentley in Lakeland, Florida during the outpouring. I experienced the power of God on his life too. Then, his failure became known and it rocked many. The outpouring was suddenly over as people lost trust in Todd.

Years and decades later there are many Christians who refuse to support these men of God or even watch them on television. Many of these same Christians were lining up to vote for a man who probably violated the moral code exponentially more than Jimmy, Ted and Todd combined.

Please remember, I’m not talking about whether Donald is forgiven or not. I’m not pointing my finger at him. This segment of the article is aimed at the church.

I’m calling out a permissive, passive church that was so afraid of one leader in Hillary Clinton that they were willing to sell their birthright for another.

No, Donald Trump isn’t a pastor or a spiritual leader. I’ve heard that excuse too. It seemed that people were looking for any loophole to excuse immorality. The argument has resulted in a new standard: give us what we want and we will overlook crimes, lies, sexual deviancy, hatred and anything else necessary.

I’ve asked the question more than once, “What must a candidate do in terms of morality that would make him or her impossible to vote for?” Believe it or not, I never received an answer! What if both candidates in the next election are pro-abortion, but one would limit it to the first trimester while the other supports partial-birth termination? Would situational ethics give us license to vote for a pro-abortion candidate if they were the lesser of the two evils? Truthfully, I believe many Christians would actually cast a vote for a murderer—the lesser of two murderers.

This is what happens when biblical truth and core values are placed on a sliding scale. Those values have been constantly moving in this election and we must repent and react to the new immorality that was introduced as nothing more than locker room talk this year.

PROPHETIC ASSAULTS

Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. Proverbs 21:4 (ESV)

Pride and arrogance reared their ugly heads during the election season, and much of it in the name of prophecy. “God said to vote for Donald Trump so I’ll assault you until you see it my way.”

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers… James 4:11 (ESV)

I value prophecy highly. I teach on it and one of my signature teachings is on living a prophetic life. We need more prophecy, more people activated in the prophetic, not less. I also value many of today’s prophetic leaders who live in the prayer closet and do their best to communicate the heart of God.

That being said, I’m almost embarrassed to call myself a prophetic Believer today. The rate at which mature Christians are dismissing biblical truth in favor of the apparent word of God of the hour is appalling. We must have a reformation in the prophetic culture of the church if we hope to give true leadership in the trying days to come. The Bible must return to center stage. Logos must be given priority over Rhema. It must again become the plumb line.

I’ll tell you this. The Bible demands that we love one another, but I experienced such nasty behavior from mature Believers just because their candidate was opposed. Shaming, accusations, arrogance and a ridiculous presumption that they were hearing God perfectly, and others were missing God completely filled social media. Friends were lost. Pride drove many of those who were supposedly promoting God’s prophetic word about Donald Trump.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 (ESV)

We must honor those who didn’t hear God the way we did. We must also promote the Scriptures ahead of prophetic revelation, and value people who are doing their best to rightly divide the Word.

During this election season it was non-negotiable that I give my energy to hearing God through the Word, which also resulted in supporting Rhema revelation. What I mean by that is I believe it’s important, actually critical, that we start with the Bible when making key decisions and then allow the prophetic to bring clarity and to highlight specifics. Instead, many, many people that I talked to were relying solely on dreams, the revelation of other prophetic people, inner senses and other insight instead of hearing what the Word says about the matter. Biblical truth was regularly discounted by many or ignored at any point their prophetic revelation was threatened.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34 (ESV)

This verse was commonly ignored almost every time I shared it. Ears were shut and eyes were closed out of fear that something in the Word would create a conflict in their support of their favorite candidate. My passion is to see righteousness reign in the church even if that means a less desirable leader is in office. Time and again the response I heard was simply that “God said Donald Trump is his man. He’s a Cyrus. God will deal with his heart later.” I’m trusting that God will do that too. But, again, I’m not dealing with Donald in this portion of the article. I’m talking about the many Christian’s exuberance in dismissing clear, biblical truth in favor of pipe dreams in the name of prophecy.

Please understand, I’m not saying that God can’t use Donald as a Cyrus. He absolutely can. Those prophecies may prove to be true. What I am saying is that we were too quick to ignore the Bible in favor of prophecy.

Prophecy is conditional. We see in part. The Bible is unconditional. We absolutely must move in great humility, admitting that we may not be hearing clearly and ensuring we remain teachable and flexible, ready to admit we were wrong at any time.

In a recent Charisma Magazine article I expressed the need for a pastor as President now more than ever. I wrote that when many were using yet another excuse for immorality by saying that we weren’t electing a pastor. Many Christians were laughing at that idea, declaring that we are electing a secular business man, a leader, and not someone who has righteousness as a mandate. Again, I was grieved. Apparently the prophecies trumped (yeah, a pun) the biblical call for righteousness.

Stands for holiness and calls for righteousness actually resulted in attack after attack by Christians who were guarding their prophetic revelation. Prophetic assaults were constant. I’ve heard from many who can attest to this fact.

Add to the unloving, prophetic assaults the increasingly bizarre “prophecies” that people are putting God’s name on, not only in the election but in the Charismatic experience in general, and you have a very strange, contentious situation indeed. Too many in the prophetic community are reaching for little more than coincidences and slapping God’s name on them. This is truly quite dangerous. It’s taking God’s name in vain.

I’d encourage you to read my article titled: Stop the Madness! A Prophetic Reformation is Needed. We must simply put an end to the strange prophecy that isn’t from God, but from the soul. The witchcraft that’s behind that is stronger than we may understand.

PUTTING TOO MUCH TRUST IN MAN

I value leadership and I acknowledge that we want the right leaders in position, whether they are pastors, bosses or politicians.

What we experienced in this election season, however, is trust in man going way too far.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. Psalm 118:8-9 (ESV)

As I write this, protests and riots are taking place all over America simply because Donald Trump was elected. People were crying, angry, fearful and vengeful after he was voted in. Others were euphoric, rejoicing and overly celebratory. Both sides are putting way too much trust in a mere human being.

When those who lost are attacking and hateful toward those who won, that is evidence that God does not have the supreme place in their lives. The same is true on the other side. Too much relief, happiness and an elevated sense of victory can be evidence that they are putting too much trust in a human being. I’ve seen this result in a nose up attitude that creates division. Pride and arrogance seem to be leading the way for many.

Further, I’m still disturbed at those who were so angry and abrasive toward people who decided they couldn’t support either candidate.

I’m hoping Americans will truly respect the freedom to vote next election by honoring those who search their hearts, pray and decide to vote third party. There has been so much ungodly shaming, attacks and disrespect this election season toward those who exercised their right to vote for whoever they felt God instructed them to. That couldn't be more un-American or un-Christian.

My wife posted this on Facebook:

I certainly agree that we must be obedient to the Lord when deciding for whom to vote, which is the reason I felt I couldn't vote for Trump. I have been called selfish, proud, rebellious. I've been told I don't care about my country, that I can't hear God simply because I felt I needed to stand for righteousness in this matter according to the Word. My liberal friends have treated me better than some of my evangelical friends and that is truly sad. I voted, but not for Trump, Hillary, Johnson or Stein. I shouldn't have gotten flack from Christians for trying to vote as the Bible would prompt me.

I understand why some felt they had no choice (but to vote for Trump). Many times, I almost decided to vote for Trump for the reasons (many have) stated, but in the end it just didn't feel right to me. I was told I was sinning for following my conscious. How did that even make sense?

God fearing Christians were actually more afraid of Hillary being in office. The judgments and criticism was at historic levels, and towards true Christians who were doing all they could to vote according to biblical values.

IT’S TIME FOR REPENTANCE

This election brought out the worst in the church. Is it possible the prophetic revelation that Donald is a Cyrus, that he was God’s choice, is true? It absolutely is possible. However, this message isn’t focusing on that. I’m bringing attention the the ugliness that the church exhibited for all the world to see. From immature prophetic people assaulting anyone who departs from their point of view to minimizing immorality to nearly idolizing a human leader, the church should be licking it wounds. It definitely should be repenting.

We must have a prophetic reformation. We need a movement of holiness. We have to trust God like never before.

With that in mind, let’s join together to display the love of Jesus, pray for God’s established leader of America and contend for reformation in a spirit of repentance.

Our nation’s future depends on it.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (ESV)