Latest / Worldview Matters With David Fiorazo / Claude Stauffer: Why Would God Raise Up A President Like Trump?
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to World View Matters, discussing controversial issues, discerning current events,
- 0:10defending biblical Christianity.
- 0:13No topic, off limits.
- 0:16And now, here's your host, David Fierazzo.
- 0:19Hey friends, welcome to the podcast, thanks for sharing, of course, and for your prayers.
- 0:25Just a simple question today, we'll investigate, we'll evaluate, we'll analyze.
- 0:30Why would God raise up a man like Donald Trump for such a time as this, in a place like
- 0:37America, at this time in our history?
- 0:41And why, what does it mean to make America great?
- 0:44Is that just economically strong?
- 0:47No, what about the church, hello, that's where, that's our context, the biblical worldview.
- 0:53What would really make America great?
- 0:55Well, we've got one of my brothers from the East Coast to talk about that today, Pastor
- 1:00Claude Stoffer, Calvary Chapel of Hope, and his website is Shepard of Hope.org, and there
- 1:07it is.
- 1:08And man, he writes some great articles, he's got some great books, a lot of information
- 1:13you can get on his website, Claude, good to see you brother, thanks for your time again
- 1:16today.
- 1:17Good to be here, David.
- 1:18It's really always a pleasure to be here.
- 1:21Always, and always goes by too fast, so let's just dive right into this.
- 1:24First of all, you've got, we hopefully we're going to get to another article called Why
- 1:28Would God?
- 1:30And you talk about just his sovereignty, his ways are above our ways, his thoughts are
- 1:34above our thoughts, what happened with President Trump and the election outcome.
- 1:39I think most of us were a little surprised, it was the, almost like, I guess you could
- 1:45call it landslide, some people are.
- 1:48So your thoughts on that and God's sovereignty before we dive into the article, I wanted to
- 1:52touch on today called your greatest patriotic duty, making America truly great, and you're
- 2:00going to share with us what truly great means.
- 2:02So you're, you're overall take on really the election and when, kind of like where
- 2:07we're at is the nation and the church right now.
- 2:10Well, I think the only, the only trepidation, the only, you know, a question in the election,
- 2:20for me personally, I didn't, if my concern was that there would be cheating, I really
- 2:27really like cheating and a lot of shenanigans that went on in the 2020 election.
- 2:35And so the only question was whether or not the Republican Party and conservatives had
- 2:40learned their lesson in 2020 and whether or not they would offset that in 2024.
- 2:47I, I think that it's pretty clear in the country, if you just look at the, the gatherings,
- 2:52now Kamala Harris, you know, she was busing in people to her, to her rallies, whereas
- 3:00President Trump, I mean, I know we had one here at Madison Square Garden.
- 3:06We also had one at the National Coliseum on Long Island and I mean, people were, it was,
- 3:13it was just swamped with people.
- 3:15And to me, that was a tremendous sign that there's something happening in our nation.
- 3:22And I personally, I'm hoping and praying and I know many Christians are that it goes
- 3:26beyond mere politics, judging by the initial appointments of President Trump.
- 3:33It seems to be that this time he's much more, he's a much wiser president than he was
- 3:39the first, his first term, his first term.
- 3:42And I think, I don't even know if he expected to win.
- 3:45And I think he listened to too many people who were establishment oriented.
- 3:50I think we've got to get away from the establishment politicians who are just, you know, it's,
- 3:56they're not going to, they're only going to, they're not going to do things that we want
- 3:59as Christians and as conservatives, you know, to get, they get our nation back in a
- 4:06more righteous path.
- 4:08Yeah, I agree and I'm thankful for where we're at.
- 4:12But yeah, the church has to really get engaged now because we kind of, in a way,
- 4:16we have to look at it as this just bought us a little more time and religious
- 4:20freedom has been taken for granted for too long.
- 4:22Claude Romans 10.
- 4:23One is in your article here, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer for Israel, prayer
- 4:31to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
- 4:35But isn't that same prayer for us for our own nation and churches that have people either
- 4:42professing or claiming to be Christian, but really don't have a biblical worldview?
- 4:46Really, you might not even call them converted born again.
- 4:49Isn't that our prayer that people in America?
- 4:52And of course, the non-believers that have never heard the gospel that they may be saved.
- 4:57We have, we have some time right now and you ask the question and then I'll let you take
- 5:02off here, Claude, could God be using a political movement to usher in a more eternally significant
- 5:11revival?
- 5:12Go ahead, brother.
- 5:14Well, you know, when I was writing that article and praying about it and I'm just, you
- 5:19know, processing things and, you know, I'm happy to be at my church studying through
- 5:24the book of Romans and so recently I've studied through Romans 9, we're in Romans 9, 10,
- 5:2911 right now.
- 5:30It's interesting.
- 5:31The first day chapters of Romans really give us the doctrinal treatise of the gospel,
- 5:36gives us the details of the gospel.
- 5:38And in the early church when the gospel was received, it was initially another sect of
- 5:44Judaism before it could be called really the church.
- 5:48And so many people in the church were thinking and Paul was anticipating their queries that,
- 5:54okay, what happens to Israel now?
- 5:56I thought that God's covenant with Israel was everlasting, but many of the Jews have rejected
- 6:04Jesus as Messiah.
- 6:05What's going to happen with them?
- 6:07And so in chapter 9, 10 and 11, Paul addresses the issue of Israel and that's relevant
- 6:12for us in terms of a nation, right?
- 6:16Absolutely.
- 6:17Paul refers and he starts off chapter 9 saying, you know, he would give his own salvation
- 6:21for his countrymen, right, his countrymen, Israel, right?
- 6:25So 9, 10 and 11 speak of Israel as a nation and God's election of them to be a kingdom
- 6:33of priests, you know, to be mediators between God and humanity and to shine his light.
- 6:40That's what they're calling was.
- 6:42And so in chapter 10, you know, you see Paul's heartfelt desire for the salvation, not
- 6:52just of the nation of Israel, but of Jews, the citizens of Israel.
- 6:57And in the same way, the principle there, we as Americans, I believe, yes, it's fantastic
- 7:05that we gathered many Christians, went to the polls, voted for President Trump, voted
- 7:13for the conservative, Republican, more constitutional views in President Trump and rejected the
- 7:25other really, really despicable and depraved attitudes and mission of the alternative left.
- 7:35Yes.
- 7:36So, but, but that's, that's wonderful that we had a successful election.
- 7:42But I think that when we look at scripture, there's something that transcends that and
- 7:47that really politics is only a facilitator.
- 7:51It's only an instrument.
- 7:53It's only a segue for us to do our greatest patriotic duty, which is to follow in the steps
- 7:59of the Apostle Paul, who had a burden for the salvation of his fellow compatriots of Israel,
- 8:07his brothers in a national brother, brotherhood and sisterhood.
- 8:12And that's where that's where I'm really coming from, you know, okay, Christian, now we've
- 8:16got a little bit of a reprieve from the Lord, the Lord's answered our prayers.
- 8:19I think one of the greatest things that we saw in this recent election is that you had
- 8:25so many Christians praying.
- 8:27I mean, people were really underneath praying.
- 8:29You could, you could see it and that, you know, what the Lord answered our prayers.
- 8:33And that's, that to me is a tremendous sign that and hope that we have that God is giving
- 8:41us more time.
- 8:42And it really, you know, it's great, the appointments that President Trump has put in place
- 8:48already.
- 8:49Yeah.
- 8:50It's great.
- 8:51We know that we now have in our government reclaiming, hopefully we can reclaim and get
- 8:55us to a momentum going in the right direction.
- 8:58But truly true change and lasting change and eternally worthwhile change is not going
- 9:05to occur until people respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- 9:10And that's the bottom line.
- 9:11Well, let's talk about how believers can be using this time, no matter where you were
- 9:17before the election or where you were at.
- 9:20We've got to wake up.
- 9:21We've got to heed this wake up call and look at it.
- 9:24We're not on a cruise ship.
- 9:25We're on a battleship.
- 9:26We've got spiritual warfare is a very real thing.
- 9:29Claude, let's consider our calling and purpose as you write about our priorities as Christians,
- 9:36as we do have a great opportunity from the Lord.
- 9:40And one of the things you talk about in the article is to love our neighbors.
- 9:44What does that look like?
- 9:46That you say, nowhere does Scripture tell us to live isolated lives.
- 9:52Isolation leads to desolation.
- 9:54So help us make a distinction between our involvement, salt, light, in culture, politically
- 10:02our involvement and then not loving the world.
- 10:06Help us make that distinction.
- 10:07Well, you can't love your neighbor in isolation.
- 10:11You can't.
- 10:12You can't do it.
- 10:13If you can be like an Amish group and you can love each other like that.
- 10:18But what about the lost and you know, Jesus said to be salt and to be light, salt is
- 10:25a preservative.
- 10:26It's a purifier.
- 10:28It's a flavor enhancer.
- 10:30If ever there was a nation and a culture that needed to be purified with the, you know,
- 10:37that needed to be the flavor need to be tasteless flavor need to be bettered and preserved.
- 10:48Our nation is in great need of salt and light.
- 10:51And the only way that that can happen is by Christians being involved.
- 10:55I think that the idea that Christians should isolate themselves, you know, shut, draw
- 11:03the, draw the blinds down on your windows, lock the doors, batten down the hatches, get
- 11:08great till it's over is totally unscriptural.
- 11:13It's totally unbiblical, un-Christian.
- 11:17The whole purpose, just think about Jesus himself left his throne to come down into this
- 11:24world to incarnate, to walk to the minister here to people, right?
- 11:30For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whosoever would
- 11:35believe on him would not perish, could have everlasting life.
- 11:38And then the Apostle John says, we're to walk as Jesus walked, right?
- 11:45We're to follow in his steps according to Peter, right?
- 11:49And the Apostle Paul said that God's predetermined plan for all Christians is to be conformed
- 11:55to the likeness of Jesus.
- 11:57So this is the apostolic calling that's on our life.
- 12:00This is what the Bible teaches.
- 12:03And the election was just one opportunity to do that.
- 12:07Now we have to keep doing it.
- 12:09And, you know, in our political discussions, you know, they give themselves to truth and
- 12:17applying truth.
- 12:20And you know, Jesus in his high priestly prayer in John 17, his prayer was that the father
- 12:25would sanctify them in truth, sanctify as follows true to be sanctified is to be set apart
- 12:32for God's purposes, right?
- 12:34And then he said, many added to that and he said, your word is truth.
- 12:39You know, there are many people that have given in or been gooped by the deceptive idea
- 12:46of the separation of church and state.
- 12:49That's not something found in the Constitution.
- 12:52That came from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson that actually, in effect, was written
- 12:59with the purpose of protecting the church from the state, not the other way around.
- 13:05That's right.
- 13:06And I think that there's no place we go in society where we should not be sharing the word
- 13:11of God, where we shouldn't be sharing the gospel.
- 13:14I mean, everywhere school board meetings, politicians, you know, just politics.
- 13:22Everywhere we go, workplace, we should be loved the word, you know, influencing culture
- 13:28for righteousness.
- 13:29Our friend Pastor Paul Blair says, what part of your life is Jesus not Lord over, you know?
- 13:35Yeah.
- 13:36I mean, he's Lord over all.
- 13:37He's the Lord of all.
- 13:38I want to go back before we take our break real quick, John 17, 15, you quote that very
- 13:45interesting that Jesus says, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world,
- 13:51that you should keep them from the evil one.
- 13:54And thanks for putting up that article, guys, your greatest patriotic duty, making America
- 13:59truly great and to make it truly great is to have any eternal impact to be chosen,
- 14:05to bear fruit that will last eternal fruit, salvation, souls, we've got to be about souls.
- 14:11So Jesus, even, you know, was praying to the father, keep them from the evil one.
- 14:16He didn't say, keep them from other people, he said, no, keep them, protect them from
- 14:22the devil.
- 14:23Speak to that for a moment, Charles, in light of the context of being involved in whether
- 14:28it culture, politics, just out there as Christians being influential.
- 14:33But one of the greatest heart aches of people that are, you know, really following hard
- 14:40after the Lord is that the state of our nation, but what makes it such a heartache is that,
- 14:49I mean, there are supposedly at least at least 100 million Christians in our nation of
- 14:58which, as it's estimated, between 30 and 40 million don't vote aren't involved in anything.
- 15:06And, you know, that, it just think if another 30 or 40 million Christians were voting for
- 15:12righteousness, right, sometimes the better of two evils, but righteousness nonetheless,
- 15:21think of how our nation, how different our nation would look, therefore because, because
- 15:25they haven't, because of these isolationists, really, they are culpable, right, for the
- 15:34state of our nation, right?
- 15:36It says in James to him who knows to do good and doesn't do it, to him, that's sin, right?
- 15:42So, I mean, sometimes people, why, why, why don't they get involved?
- 15:45It's too, it makes them feel too uncomfortable, they're, you know, they, they, maybe they,
- 15:51they're weak in their faith and they, or they, or they have some skewered view of, you
- 15:56know, or being involved with earthly things, you know, they think that, you know, John statement
- 16:01about not loving the world or the things of the world, the lust of the eyes, you know,
- 16:06these types of things, but, but that, that is, Jesus, the power of the gospel and the
- 16:11Holy Spirit within us is powerful enough to where the real power is seen is that we can
- 16:16be in the midst of the world, but not like the world.
- 16:20Amen.
- 16:21That's what light is.
- 16:22We're in darkness, but we dispel the darkness with his light.
- 16:26You know, if you're hiding in a lit room, what good is that?
- 16:31I mean, it's, it's worthless, really.
- 16:33Well, I know you're exaggerating when you say we're closing the blinds, we're bolting
- 16:38up the doors and we're staying at home, but the point is you are not Christian.
- 16:43If you are a Christian influencing your neighbors or your culture for righteousness, you
- 16:47are not doing what God has called you to do.
- 16:50If you're sitting at home and not getting involved and not trying to protect at least
- 16:53your children in the most vulnerable among us by voting, we've got a lot more coming
- 16:57up with Claude Stoffer, the website shepherdofhope.org, right back on World View Matters.
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- 17:48We have so much more to get to but we're running out of time so I want to jump to something
- 17:56that I think is important that you pointed out in your article, the gospel of Jesus Christ
- 18:00changes people's lives and then you say it can change communists, socialists, rebels.
- 18:07Let's just stop right there.
- 18:09Let's understand that who we perceive to be the enemy might not be the actual enemy.
- 18:15Our struggle is not against flesh and blood.
- 18:18Now we are not to align with them because they are rebelling against our God and the truth.
- 18:25But they can be saved.
- 18:27That's what we forget when we're having these conversations, we're talking, communicating
- 18:32with a human soul, another person who might not have the same worldview, but they still
- 18:38need to hear the truth and hopefully receive the gospel.
- 18:41Your thoughts on that before we move on, Claude?
- 18:44Well, you know, Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.
- 18:48And then he went even beyond that and he said for us to love our enemies.
- 18:52So even if you see socialists, communists, leftists, you know, these even Satanists, you
- 19:00know, whoever it is, these are, if you see them as our enemies, we're still to love
- 19:07them.
- 19:08And now the greatest way to love someone is to share the gospel with them.
- 19:13It's not to win them over to get them to turn from being a Democrat to Republican or
- 19:19even a leftist to a rightist or a liberal to a conservative.
- 19:24It's those things will all fall into place.
- 19:27The greatest way to love someone is to share the gospel with them is to make assurance.
- 19:32What good is it if a Democrat turns to Republican, but when they die, they don't know Jesus
- 19:37as their savior and they spend eternity in the lake of fire.
- 19:41I mean, you know, so, so really as a Christian, you know, our worldview, your program is
- 19:47worldview matters and worldview really does matter.
- 19:50Our worldview is an eternal one, you know, and Ecclesiastes Solomon was constantly referring
- 19:57about things under the sun.
- 19:59There are many things under the sun and an imaginary horizontal plane, right?
- 20:04There are many things.
- 20:06But the only way that those things become worth worth worth something and valuable is to
- 20:12see them from an eternal perspective and how they could be used to work eternal works.
- 20:19So before we run out of time, I just want to jump to the end of this article and maybe
- 20:23we will get to part of your article called Why would God in President Trump's acceptance
- 20:31speech?
- 20:32One of the things he said was many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason.
- 20:39And that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.
- 20:46And now we are going to fulfill that mission.
- 20:49And quote, so you say, let's hope America has made great again.
- 20:53But let's hope and pray that greatness includes more heartfelt worship from hearts that have
- 20:59been turned to God and Pastor Claude, you are right on brother.
- 21:06Big amen.
- 21:07Go ahead and expound on that because that's got to be our focus.
- 21:09Well, the day after the election, my daughter-in-law sent me a video clip of a gathering at Mar-a-Lago
- 21:17right after President Trump's acceptance speech.
- 21:21And in that meeting, it was a short minute, minute and a half clip, people had spontaneously
- 21:27broken out in worship singing the great hymn, how great though art.
- 21:31And I have to be honest with you, bro, you know, I'm not really someone who cries or weeps
- 21:38or, you know, becomes a, you know, when I saw that, I just got an instant lump in my throat.
- 21:46I almost couldn't control my emotion because that was just such an incredible move of the
- 21:54spirit.
- 21:56And that is what our nation needs to get back to, spontaneous worship of the Lord, you
- 22:04know?
- 22:05And so, I mean, that's, if we only make advances politically, then we fall in far short
- 22:13of our mission, at least as a Christian.
- 22:17It's wonderful to put all these things in place, to pass righteous legislation, to get
- 22:24the right people in the right positions, and stem the tide of leftism and liberalism
- 22:30and communism and socialism, all those isms, that's great.
- 22:34But there has to be something of greater substance.
- 22:38We have to stop being tenuous and timid about sharing our faith, about sharing the truth
- 22:47that's in God's word.
- 22:48The church is the pillar and ground of truth.
- 22:52Jesus came in John 1837 when Jesus came and when he was being interrogated by Pilate,
- 22:58he, when Pilate asked him, are you a king?
- 23:01Jesus said, you say rightly, I'm a king.
- 23:03And then he said his mission, his mission was to bear witness to the truth, right?
- 23:08And so, if we're going to follow in his steps and the walk as Jesus did and be conformed
- 23:13to Jesus' likeness, then we too have to be, you know, purveyors of truth, right?
- 23:20We have to be ambassadors, right?
- 23:23As though the Lord is begging people to be reconciled to God.
- 23:28I think that that's what I was intending to communicate in the articles, in both those
- 23:37articles.
- 23:38That's what the Lord put on my heart and Christians, we need to wake up.
- 23:42We just need to step out and faith and not, not hesitate.
- 23:45We've been too, too long we've allowed ourselves to be pigeonholed and isolated and cornered.
- 23:52We need to get out in the world, in the community at our work, at schools, at school board meetings
- 23:57and all of these things, all of these things and at baseball games, I mean, just everywhere
- 24:04we go, you know, we need to be his ambassadors.
- 24:08Yeah, well, we are, I mean, we should be, we do represent the King of Kings and it is
- 24:14a very real position that we have.
- 24:17We are citizens of heaven, but we have a citizenship here.
- 24:19Didn't Paul say, I appeal to Caesar so that he can continue to share the gospel and speak
- 24:25the truth.
- 24:26He stood for his rights, very briefly, Claude, just give us a little summation of your
- 24:31article, why would God and what was put on your heart there to just ask those questions,
- 24:37why would God do what he's been doing for such a time as this?
- 24:41Well, the article begins by saying, you know, why would God blow a bullet and ears breath
- 24:47from a candidate's head only to allow him to be defeated in an election, right?
- 24:52And would God do that?
- 24:54And obviously in hindsight, we know that he wouldn't do that and that should have told
- 24:58us right there that God had a purpose.
- 25:01God has heard our prayers.
- 25:02You know, let me, let me, let's ask all of us, ask ourselves the question, do we really
- 25:08believe that God is, you know, listens to our prayers that he can actually answer and
- 25:16intervene?
- 25:18Why were we so surprised when the election turned out the way it did?
- 25:23I mean, especially when we have this incredible sign, I mean, do you realize how incredible
- 25:28and how miraculous it was that president, that president Trump's life was spared?
- 25:34Yes.
- 25:35I mean, that was really an incredible development and that was really a prophetic sign to us.
- 25:41And that happens in society sometimes.
- 25:44We just need to recognize it, step out in faith and take the ball and run with it, you
- 25:49know?
- 25:50Yeah.
- 25:51And you asked that question throughout.
- 25:52It's a great article, friends.
- 25:53I would God in 1776 raise up a nation of 2.5 million people from 13 colonies to resist
- 26:01the tyranny of an empire of 8 million.
- 26:05And it goes on raising up, you know, 55, 75 delegates of the US, the United States of America
- 26:13to prayerfully create a federal republic under God composed of executive legislative and
- 26:20judicial branches.
- 26:21It's a great article.
- 26:22There's so much more in there, but we need to answer that question now.
- 26:24Why would God?
- 26:25We don't have all the answers, but we've learned a lot and here we are and we see he's given
- 26:32us a little bit time, maybe to get government not straightened out, but at least we can
- 26:37reverse some trends.
- 26:39But the church, we've got to focus on the church and the gospel and I'll give you one more
- 26:42minute to just share whatever's on your heart to wrap things up.
- 26:46Yes, we have to focus on the church and the gospel and government and education and
- 26:52every place.
- 26:53We need students, Christian students in secular universities to stand up for Jesus.
- 27:01Like we saw in some of the recent Christian movies, we need to stand up and be a voice
- 27:08for the Lord in every facet of society.
- 27:11We need to do that in our families, right?
- 27:13Thanks.
- 27:14What's the great question?
- 27:16Don't talk about politics or religion, right?
- 27:21But I got a sneaking suspicion that this Thanksgiving, there's going to be a lot of discussion
- 27:27and it's going to provide great opportunity to us to infiltrate this world and influence
- 27:36it to the glory of God.
- 27:38Amen.
- 27:39Let's start writing our families.
- 27:40Thanks, giving's coming up.
- 27:41Great point, Claude.
- 27:42Let's be the bigger person if the argument gets political and to whatever, don't be the
- 27:48one that gets sucked into the heated battle.
- 27:51Let's just remember the gospel and let's get their souls saved.
- 27:55Calvary, chapel of hope, Pastor Claude will do this again, Lord willing.
- 27:59Thanks for your time.
- 28:01God bless your friends and as always, keep speaking the truth about things that matter.