The Liberty University’s Falkirk Center, the center of Trump evangelicalism, thanked Donald Trump:
Thank you Pres. Trump for your incredible work on issues of life, family, & religious liberty during your term as President of the United States. Few Presidents compare in their ability to deliver meaningful results on issues of such vital significance.https://t.co/MofUNyHycPpic.twitter.com/AQz1UeN7oP
And then the Liberty’s Falkirk Center offered a backhanded offer of prayer to Joe Biden:
Pray for President Biden and the new executive branch administration. Pray that they might be reached for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that policies that benefit the general welfare, freedom and prosperity in the United States would succeed and that any policy… (2/3)
…that would destroy the sanctity of life, marginalize the freedom of speech and religious liberty, or would dismantle the institution of marriage and family would be thwarted. We pray for blessings within the boundaries that God has set & that no evil thing would prosper. (3/3)
Joe Biden is going to spend the first 100 days of his term fighting to tear down Trump’s border wall and restrict Second Amendment rights after being sworn in protected by walls, fences, and guns.
I love America more than I love politics or any party. I pray Joe Biden will do what is right for our country. I am skeptical & I can almost guarantee he won’t. But nevertheless I sincerely hope he does what's right for this, the greatest country on earth. Pray for our leaders.
God and country. Christian nationalism at its worst:
We cannot ask God to continue to bless America if we do not continue to follow Him. I will continue to follow Him, stand for truth, and encourage my fellow Americans to do the same, recognizing the founding principles that made this country great, asking Him to bless America. 🇺🇸
Ellis retweeted the aforementioned John MacArthur tweet about the kingdom of darkness.
I don’t have time tonight to process Lance Wallnau’s latest one hour reflection about whether the prophets got it right or wrong, but it is here if you want to see it.
Christian Broadcasting Network journalist David Brody liked Biden’s speech, to a point:
A GREAT speech by President Biden! Best line: “We must end this Uncivil War.” @POTUS is absolutely right. Now he needs to prove it by leading America into lowering the temperature on BOTH sides. Words sound great but olive branch actions MUST follow. #InaugurationDay
I don’t remember Richard Land praying to support Donald Trump “when we can do without violating our consciences”:
1/2 Mr. President, we will pray for you, support you when we can do so without violating our consciences, & we are united in the rejection of violence & in our commitment to peaceful redress of grievance & nonviolent protest. America needs moral conviction in our highest office.
I hope Land is right about this. As a never-Trumper, praying for Trump was hard. It’s not going to be easy for conservative evangelicals to pray for this president.
2/2 faith and confidence that “the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it withersoever he will” (Prov. 21:1). We will also importune our Heavenly Father to bless you with safety, health, and all spiritual blessings. https://t.co/PYMjbXL89T
On his Facebook page, Jack Hibbs concludes that Biden’s decision to change the U.S. Ambassador to Israel into the “U.S. Ambassador to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza “insults the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Today was painful. To watch a nation take gigantic steps toward self destruction was overwhelming. The undoing of wonderful prolife policies (as one example) of President Trump by Biden is heartbreaking and will result in even more deaths. Then to watch some “evangelicals” and people from the “holiness movement” (not sure how much “holiness” has survived…and not sure if it is a “movement” anymore) falling all over themselves in delight, ushering in a man who is ….how do I say this respectfully? ….who is, at best, mentally challenged (I think he should be cared for medically & helped; do you REALLY believe this man can handle the world’s most difficult job??), it has been a challenging day. 74,000,000 of us love our country too much to see it end.
And here is Garlow reflecting on his court evangelicalism:
APPROXIMATELY NOON EASTERN TIME – JAN 20, 2021 – I will forever be grateful for the wonderful privilege of serving on (1) the Trump Faith Advisory Board during the 2016 election, (2) the White House Faith Leaders during much of Mr. Trump’s presidency, and (3) as a Stakeholder with Evangelicals for Trump during the 2020 election. It was one of the great honors of my life. The two pictures were sent to me on Election day, November 3, 2020, taken at the same moment – from opposite angles – by two different friends. I did not know these pictures existed until I received them two months ago.
Here is one of the aforementioned pictures of Garlow in the court:
Robert Jeffress had a word or two at Fox News:
Pastor @robertjeffress, who was with President Trump four years ago today, says on President Biden's Inauguration Day, remember these truths about God, politics and our presidents.
Ralph Reed is already spinning the pro-Trump legacy narrative:
Thank you, President Trump & his Admin:
3 SCOTUS Justices 200+ federal judges Pro-life actions U.S. embassy to Jerusalem Regulatory rollback Abraham Accords Religious freedom Major tax cut, $2K child tax credit Criminal justice reform USMC trade agreement Rebuilding military
Gary Bauer thanks Trump, says nothing about Biden:
Thank you President Trump for 4 yrs of putting America first. You fought for life, religious liberty, American families and defended our history and heroes! God Bless you and your family. #2020Election#DonaldTrump#GodBlessAmerica#KAG#USA
Tony Perkins give an unqualified call to pray for Biden:
We are praying together now for President Biden and his incoming administration at https://t.co/cslXdXufTE. Join us! We need God's protection over this nation and we need His wisdom to permeate and direct every decision our new leaders make in the days and weeks ahead. https://t.co/081e3IQXO0
Join me in praying for President @Joebiden, Vice President @KamalaHarris, their families and their entire administration. Pray for wisdom, health, protection, guidance and for God to heal our land. pic.twitter.com/Tz6kyQAcvO
Thank you Mr. President and First Lady Melania for these last four years and all that you have done for our nation. May God be with you and your family as you open a new chapter in your lives. pic.twitter.com/lmLT2GO6DK
Southern Baptist leader Richard Land once boasted that evangelicals had “unprecedented access” to the Donald Trump presidency. I hope he and the rest of the evangelicals enjoyed it.
The court evangelicals got their Supreme Court justices and some executive orders on religious liberty that will be quickly overturned by Joe Biden. They taught their followers to privilege a politics of fear over a politics of hope, a politics of power over a politics of humility, and a politics of nostalgia over a politics informed by good American history. In exchange, they will be forever connected to a president who demonized his enemies, lied incessantly, engaged in endless acts of narcissism, separated immigrant children from families, got impeached twice, enlisted foreign officials to help his re-election campaign, said there were good people on “both sides” during a white supremacy invasion of Charlottesville, refused to contribute to an orderly transition of power, incited an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, tried to end the Affordable Care Act, promoted conspiracy theories about election fraud and raised money on them, ignored racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death, alienated our global allies and made us a laughingstock in the world, benefited financially from the office of president, failed to lead the country through the worst pandemic in American history, and pardoned criminals.
Far too many evangelicals became Trump’s useful idiots.
Just for the record, my lists of court evangelicals includes: Franklin Graham, James Robison, James Dobson, Jentezen Franklin, Jack Graham, Chris Hedges, Alveda King, Paula White, Greg Laurie, John Hagee, Tony “Mulligan” Perkins, Gary Bauer, Johnnie Moore, Ralph Reed, Robert Jeffress, Jack Hibbs, Eric Metaxas, Jim Garlow, Guillermo Maldano, Tom Mullins, Alberto Delgado, David Barton (honorary “historian”), Harry Jackson (deceased), Jay Strack, Luke Barnett, Richard Land, Samuel Rodriguez, David Brody (honorary court evangelical journalist), Charlie Kirk, Lance Wallnau, Jenna Ellis, and Jerry Falwell Jr., and Mike Evans. I am sure that there are more, but these are the men and women who I have been covering for the last four years.
So let’s see how the court evangelicals are finishing-up their term:
Yesterday, You Tube removed Eric Metaxas’s interview with Mike “My Pillow Guy” Lindell. Today he reminds his audience that Kohl’s and Bed, Bath and Beyond have removed Lindell’s products from their stores. Metaxas tells his listeners not to shop at these big box stores and is outraged that these companies are “canceling” Lindell, a man who is just “trying to do what is right.”
Metaxas goes down swinging. He starts his show today by saying, “tomorrow morning people are getting prepared for the inauguration of someone that millions of Americans don’t think actually won the election.” He compares our current moment to the evils of communism in the former Soviet Union and Cuba and the horrors of the Holocaust. He suggests that Fox News is now parroting the “party line,” which he defines as both the Mitch McConnell “party line” and the Chinese communist “party line.” He implies that his beliefs about election fraud come from Independent Network Charismatic prophets such as Dutch Sheets.
Metaxas laments the fact that “old family friends” recently e-mailed him to tell him that they can no longer remain friends with him. He asks his listeners to pray for him so that God would protect him from the “wicked cancel culture” of the Democratic Party, which he compares to Hitler and the Nazis. In the process, he plugs his new memoir at least three times.
Metaxas then says that he punched a protester in Washington D.C. last summer “in self-defense.” And he claims that he was being metaphorical when he said he would fight the election results “until the last drop of blood.” From now on, Metaxas tells his audience, he “will be more careful about how he speaks” because people on the Left twist his words. Actually, Metaxas needs to be more careful about how he speaks because there are many Trump supporters who take him seriously and literally.
Tonight Metaxas is speaking at Liberty University. It is a Falkirk Center-sponsored event called Courageous Pastors. I do not see any masks in this picture:
For a little more than a year, the Falkirk Center at Liberty University, founded by the former Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr. and Trump wonder-boy Charlie Kirk, has become the center of pro-Trump evangelicalism. Apparently, they now have a magazine (booklet?) with short culture-war pieces written by Metaxas, Jenna Ellis, John MacArthur, and others Falkirk Center “fellows.” They are calling it a “journal.” In an article titled “Why I’m Proud to Keep My Business in America,” entrepreneur and Falkirk fellow Erika Frantzve writes:
God is sovereign, and even though things right now aren’t necessarily good, God will work all things together for good for “those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” As an entrepreneur, I know there is an opportunity to be found in the middle of adversity. The “Made in the USA” label is the new quality standard. It is not a compromise–it is an investment in our citizens, our freedoms, and our country’s future.
What?
And I am still trying to figure out this line from Falkirk Center fellow and Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis in a piece titled “Why is Truth?: Standing for Truth in a Relative Culture”:
Why is truth? Why does truth exist? Logically, truth is self-existent. Any other conclusion is self-defeating. If it can be said with absolute certainty that truth is relative, then such reasoning has logically defeated itself. Biblically, truth is self-existent because it is God’s nature and character.
Between November 3 and January 6 Jenna Ellis fought to disenfranchise millions of Black voters. Today she retweets Sarah Huckabee Sanders on racism:
Each of us is made in God’s image. Today we remember Martin Luther King Jr, an American hero who helped lead the fight against the evil of racism and answer God’s call to treat every person with dignity and respect. #MLKDay
Jack Hibbs is hosting Charlie Kirk at his church. Hibbs is also joining the boycott of Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Kohl’s after these big box stores dumped the My Pillow Guy.
Johnnie Moore got his embassy. I guess the court evangelicals are now one step closer to the Second Coming.
And if I am not mistaken, Moore removed the phrase “modern day Dietrich Bonheoffer” from his biography! Only regular readers of this series over the last four years will understand why I pointed this out. This blog is making an impact! 🙂
Gary “think of the children” Bauer believes the guardsmen in Washington D.C. are there to “shut down” free speech. Here is what he wrote today on Facebook:
The incursion into the Capitol Building two weeks ago was awful. It was wrong. The people responsible not only smeared all those who came to Washington to demonstrate peacefully, but they empowered the left to cast aspersions on all 75 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump and Mike Pence.But I also don’t like what I am seeing in the nation’s capital today. While every inauguration is a high security event, at least 25,000 troops have been deployed to Washington, D.C., with the explanation being the fear of violence. But what they have effectively done is to shut down free speech and the right of assembly. Washington, D.C., looks like an occupied war zone. Entire blocks of the capital have been locked down and closed off. Just two areas, limited to 100 people, have been designated as “First Amendment zones,” an Orwellian term if there ever was one.
Perkins is still talking about Russian collusion. He can’t stop fighting the culture war.
Wow! Couric complains about the garbage conservatives are being fed 24/7 on the internet that leads them to believe there was colusion in the last election. Would that be the same as the garbage Democrats were listening to from the media that led them to believe Russia colusion? https://t.co/x39eut7UA2
As the US inaugurates a new president, there are concerns that there could be violence in Washington DC & in state capitals. I encourage Christians to make tomorrow a day of prayer—for peace & calm, & praying for our new leaders President-elect @JoeBiden & VP-elect @KamalaHarris.
Donald Trump is getting out of town on Wednesday morning. The coward is escaping to Mar-a-Lago before Joe Biden is inaugurated the 46th President of the United States at noon. News outlets are reporting that Trump will drop dozens and dozens of additional pardons before he leaves.
As Trump loses power, so do the evangelicals who have supported him and made regular visits to the White House for photo-ops, prayer, and “advising.” For the last four years we have called them court evangelicals. Let’s see what some of them have been saying today, Martin Luther King Jr. Day:
Eric Metaxas has nothing to say about MLK Day, but he continues to deny that what happened at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 was an insurrection. Even after watching The New Yorker video he still believes that those involved in the riots were not Trump supporters. Metaxas is worth millions, but that does not stop him from using his platform to complain that he is losing money from the cancellation of speaking engagements. Of course there are millions of Americans out of work due to COVID-19. They are on food lines and wondering how to pay the rent.
On Friday, Mike Lindell, aka “My Pillow Guy,” visited the White House in a last ditch hope to save the 2020 presidential election. Today Metaxas had him on his show. Metaxas asks Lindell if he has evidence of election fraud. Lindell says he has legitimate evidence that China, Iraq, and Iran were involved in undermining the election. Metaxas claims that the real problem is that Americans don’t respect truth and virtue. Yes, you read that correctly–a diehard Trump supporter is complaining about America’s lack of truth and virtue. The rest of the video is Metaxas boilerplate stuff on “cultural Marxism, “cancel culture,” and “American naivety.” Lindell says that two big box stores will no longer sell his pillows. He believes that the communists are attacking our country. Metaxas agrees. Maybe his next book will be a biography of Joseph McCarthy. In the time it took me to write this post, YouTube removed the video.
Metaxas is also pushing his new memoir. Here he is on Facebook:
I am THRILLED my new memoir, titled FISH OUT OF WATER: A Search for the Meaning of Life, has been given a starred review by Booklist, who called it “A profoundly moving memoir”! UNTIL FEB. 2nd, you can get a SIGNED copy for $25. Take advantage. An unsigned copy is $32.95 at Amazon. It’s the story of my life — literally — and is by turns wistful and funny, and ALL TRUE — and would make a great gift for someone NOT on the same page as many of us here, either politically or theologically. Which is why I wrote it.
The Falkirk Center at Liberty University is appropriating Martin Luther King Jr. today:
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”https://t.co/ryDX3RdOlT
In this tweet, the Falkirk Center at Liberty University, the center of pro-Trump evangelicalism, is appropriating Martin Luther King. Jr. to talk about “character”:
Timeless truth from MLK. Your character is revealed in times of trial and tribulation.
How you handle adversity is a key definer of who you are.
Let us remember this as we face continual, increasing challenges in our nation today; a nation that has abandoned God… (1/2) pic.twitter.com/cLp7LD3HAK
Jenna Ellis, a fellow at the Falkirk Center at Liberty University, is no longer working for Trump:
As the President’s term comes to an end, so does my role with the Trump Campaign. I’m so grateful to POTUS for the opportunity to advocate for his re-election & for election integrity.
We still have a lot of work to do for conservatism over the next 2 years! #TeamTrumpForever🇺🇸
Lance Wallnau believes that people who embrace the “progressive jihad” of “race, gender, and sex” are a satanic force trying to undermine America. Too many evangelical Christians are buying into this “jihad.” As a result, Wallnau believes, they “are not showing up for the spiritual battle of their lifetime.” The reason Trump lost, Wallnau says, is because the church did not stand with him when the going got tough. Wallnau still believes that Trump has the “anointing of Cyrus upon him” and encourages his followers to join the “war” against the Democrats so that evangelicals can reclaim America in 2022. He also says that “Q” is not a real prophet. He adds that Q is “80% accurate and 20% nut zone.”
Here are some of the sixteen thousand comments on the aforementioned Wallnau Facebook video:
“It’s not over for Trump…God is doing something.”
“Please don’t call [Harris] VP…she is not.”
“Yes. President Trump is still President and yes he will have a second term another 4 years. God’s will and prophesized (sic). If you go against God that is the worse (sic) thing you can ever do. God bless America. God bless President Trump.”
“I would feel more comfortable about what you are saying if you didn’t show your book 3 or 4 times a video. I believe and trust you until you push the book.”
“I am soooo confused! I have been listening to prophets since Nov. 4 and President Trump was suppose (sic) to remain in office, serve his second term! What has happened?!!!”
“We need an earth quake here on the day Biden try (sic) to take over our country our America! AMEN
Court evangelical journalist David Brody wants to put an asterisk next to Joe Biden’s name:
The fervent anti-Trump crowd was fond of saying, #NotMyPresident . What will #MAGA say about @JoeBiden ? Should he have an asterisk next to his name? President Joe Biden* (* denotes questionable title) Will he be, “The Asterisk President?” Would that be good for the country?
Robert Jeffress preached a sermon on Sunday titled “How Should Christians Respond to President Biden.” He warned his congregation about “increasing persecution” against Christians. The Biden administration, he added, might “restrain our ability” to preach God’s word “without consequence.” Read more here. Watch the service here.
I wonder what Martin Luther King Jr. would say about Tony Perkins’s ardent defense of Donald Trump during these past four years:
“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pic.twitter.com/Wz3dbsGt3E
Here is Paula White using King to tweet about justice:
"Love is the greatest force in the universe. Its the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God." "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."-Martin Luther King Jr.#MLKDay#MLKpic.twitter.com/WrthcpopK5
Franklin Graham remembers MLK’s relationship with his father. What he doesn’t say is that many white evangelicals did not like the fact that Graham let this “liberal” preacher join him on the platform. Would Franklin Graham allow Martin Luther King Jr. to join him in one of his crusades today? I have no doubt that Franklin would answer “yes” to this question, but his answer would reveal his failure to truly understand King’s message.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led in prayer at my father @BillyGraham’s 1957 New York City Crusade in Madison Square Garden. Here’s a portion of his prayer on this #MLKDay… pic.twitter.com/bfDbwbStrh
Evangelicalism is an activist faith. Historically, evangelicals have preached a life-changing gospel. They have done amazing acts of service and justice in the world. We can’t ignore these things. Evangelicals have been a source of good.
At the same time, as Mark Noll reminded us in his 1994 book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, evangelicals are a largely anti-intellectual bunch. This anti-intellectualism results in, among other things, a shallow Christian politics that leads them into the hands of populist leaders like Donald Trump.
If you want an illustration of all this, just look at Franklin Graham’s twitter feed today:
I was at our @SamaritansPurse Emergency Field Hospital in Lancaster, CA, yesterday. Pray for our team as they hope to begin treating patients this weekend. pic.twitter.com/mw4gQAebmI
Jesus told the parable of a Samaritan who helped an injured man, treated his wounds, and took care of him—He told us to “Go and do likewise.” As final preparations take place for our @SamaritansPurse emergency field hospital in California, we would appreciate your prayers. pic.twitter.com/goUjlYJx4Z
Thank you @PaneraBread in Lancaster, CA, for providing great food for the team working hard to get our @SamaritansPurse Emergency Field Hospital ready to receive COVID-19 patients this week! pic.twitter.com/YIlMia5NrD
It was a privilege to be in Lancaster, CA, today to pray with and thank the dedicated team working there to set up a 50+ bed @SamaritansPurse emergency field hospital. pic.twitter.com/V9syuoqV1k
So far so good. A lot of good ministry and service here. This is what evangelicals do best.
And then, about thirty minutes ago, Graham drops this beauty:
Shame, shame on the ten Republicans who joined with @SpeakerPelosi & the House Democrats in impeaching President Trump yesterday. After all that he has done for our country, you would turn your back & betray him so quickly? What was done yesterday only further divides our nation.
Meanwhile, Jenna Ellis of Liberty University’s Falkirk Center is asking Wheaton College writer Ed Stetzer a question:
Which beliefs did we abandon by supporting the most pro-life, pro-religious liberty, pro-America and limited government administration in our lifetimes, @edstetzer?
Notice how Ellis defines evangelical Christianity. How could Stetzer possibly think evangelicals sold out to Trump, Ellis believes, when Trump is pro-life, loves America, and believes in limited government? Again, Ellis’s tweet speaks volumes about the current state of conservative evangelicalism. I don’t know what church Ellis attends, but there is nothing in the Bible about American liberty or American patriotism.
The days of the Trump court evangelicals are ending. Right now the big question is whether their king will make it to January 20. The House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump today. Ten members of Trump’s own party voted to impeach him, making this the most bipartisan impeachment in U.S. history. We are now waiting to see how the Senate will respond.
The court evangelicals do not usually respond to current events in real time, but there a few things to report.
The Twitter feed at the Falkirk Center at Liberty University is saying nothing about the impeachment or the insurrection. The feed is filled with tweets about free speech.
Jenna Ellis believes conservative principles are founded on God’s word. (I assume she believes “liberal” principles are not). The verses she quotes in tweet below are all about paying “evil” with “evil.” So apparently she believes that the impeachment of Donald Trump was a form of evil. Ellis wants you to think she is taking the high road here, but she is really manipulating scripture to take yet another shot at her enemies. I don’t expect to see tweets of love toward Joe Biden anytime soon.
Republicans (true conservatives) have an obligation to stay faithful to the Constitution and conservative principles, founded in the truth of God’s Word.
Christians have an obligation to be faithful to Him as He is faithful to us.
2/4 Unfortunately, there are a great number of political leaders that condoned the violence of Black Lives Matter and Antifa during the summer and early fall and only now condemn political violence when evidently done by “conservatives.”
Jim Garlow is still holding his “election integrity” prayer meetings:
https://t.co/7uKT5uNHXi – happening now. Join with thousands- praying for righteousness, holiness, Biblical justice, and truth. Join now – in progress.
Today on his Facebook page, Garlow wrote: “The House of Representatives vote. Despicable.”
Robert Jeffress is gearing-up for Sunday morning:
Join First Dallas this Sunday, January 17, in person or online at https://t.co/xvpkucVPll for my special election message, "How Should Christians Respond to President Biden?" pic.twitter.com/SC3Zvn83pF
Actually, forgiveness, redemption, and restoration begins with taking a hard look at the mistakes of the past:
Stop looking back at the mistakes of the past. God can forgive, redeem and restore when we bring our brokenness to Him. "Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence." Ephesians 3:12
.@VP Pence wrote, “The Bible says that ‘for everything there is a season…a time to heal…and a time to build up.’ That time is now. In the midst of a global pandemic, economic hardship…& the tragic events of January 6th, now is the time for us to come together…to heal.”
We all know what happened today. I wrote about it earlier tonight in a post titled: “What happened today is a fitting ending to the worst presidential administration in American history.”
The court evangelicals, a group of pro-Trump evangelicals who regularly visited the White House during the Trump presidency for the purpose of flattering him, “advising” him, and getting their picture taken, are partly responsible for today’s insurrection.
Let’s see what they are saying (and not saying) today:
Conservative anti-Trumper Rod Dreher wants court evangelical Eric Metaxas to “own” what happened today:
Hey @ericmetaxas, you own this, friend. You were the one telling all your followers that we need to be prepared to shed blood for Trump. And now look. Repent! https://t.co/EsCxm0v8is
Tonight, Metaxas joined other court evangelicals in a “prayer meeting.” According to Bob Smietana’s reporting at Religion News Service, the participants prayed for a miracle. Michelle Bachmann said that the mob who invaded the U.S. Capitol today were “paid rabble-rousers.” “Don’t think for a minute,” Bachmann said, “that these were nasty, naughty, ridiculous, hillbilly Trump people.” Metaxas then prayed: “We need to wake up to the tactics of the enemy who will do anything to win, because there are no values but power.” Bachmann and Metaxas continue to see this as a spiritual battle.
Earlier today, Metaxas tweeted: “There is no doubt the election was fraudulent. That is the same today as yesterday. There is no doubt Antifa infiltrated the protesters today and planned this. This is political theater and anyone who buys it is a sucker. Fight for justice and Pray for justice. God bless America!”
This is why people thinks Metaxas has lost his mind. He claims, with no evidence, that Antifa was behind today’s riot.
Jenna Ellis of the Liberty University Falkirk Center has decided to stake her future on Trumpism:
93-6 in the Senate to ratify the illegal certification in Arizona.
I am deeply disappointed in @Mike_Pence. The Constitution constrains, yes, and that’s why we worked hard to provide him with a constitutional option to protect election integrity.
BUT, he should not have been in that position—state leadership was cowardly first; SCOTUS was also.
The Liberty University Falkirk Center is calling for prayer. Will the Falkirk Center season of prayer be focused on repentance? After all, the Falkirk Center’s primary mission is to promote division in the country. The Falkirk Center also seem to think the Trump era has not damaged the proclamation of the gospel. Here’s the tweet:
We are calling on everyone who sees this to join us in prayer and fasting for the next 14 days. Our nation is divided more than ever before, and now more than ever, the church must step up and proclaim the gospel unashamedly and without fear. pic.twitter.com/Nz2tSBiiz0
Court evangelical journalist David Brody thinks Mike Pence got a raw deal:
Straight up: Mike Pence deserved better than how he has been treated. He has been 100% loyal to @realDonaldTrump and this is what he gets in return? Nope. Not cool. @VP#Pence
Brody is also retweeting Kayleigh McEnany on the Georgia election:
Does anyone truly believe that an anti-military, anti-police, Fidel Castro-inviting, Reverend Wright-loving Marxist embroiled in a child abuse scandal won fairly in the state of Georgia?
The other day Brody said that “journalism is dead.” And today he retweeted the president:
States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!
The violence underway at the Capitol is unacceptable & anti-American. We are a nation of law & order & we must work within our system of law. Pray for our nation, for our leaders, & our people, that we might uphold our Constitution & preserve our nation peaceably. pic.twitter.com/g0UqubSvJ8
The violent, lawless actions at the U.S. Capitol building against Congress and Capitol Police are wrong and dangerous for our republic. Lawlessness is not the way, and such actions makes it difficult for law-abiding Americans to fight the good fight. Pray for our Republic!
I always have and will denounce violence, lawlessness and anarchy in any and all forms. I have deep convictions for all people to have protection over the 1st Amendment and freedom of speech. We should be able to do this without becoming violent. I ask all to continue praying
Please pray. Millions of freedom-loving Americans feel they have been robbed. I have asked Pres. Trump to encourage everyone to take a knee and pray. I believe Trump wants what’s best, and we know God—who knows best—answers prayer. Violence is not the answer and must not be used.
I am deeply saddened by what took place in our nation’s capital today. Our country is in trouble. We need God’s healing and we need God’s help. Pray for peace and the protection of our nation. Let’s come together—on our knees.
What we are seeing in Washington now is the refutation of our American commitment, a form of unleashed anarchy which is the enemy of ordered liberty, and President Trump is responsible now for unleashing mayhem. Pray that God will rescue is from this.
I am glad that these court evangelicals condemned the violence, but there words could not ring more hollow. There is no recognition that these men and women empowered Donald Trump or encouraged their followers to vote for him. These court evangelicals spent four years praising Trump as the greatest Christian president in American history. They used their platforms and influence to support the president who triggered the insurrection in Washington D.C. today. Now they pray for peace, unity and the preservation of the American republic. But there is no moral or intellectual equivalency here. One side believes in facts, evidence, science, the rule of law, and the Constitution. The other side believes in conspiracy theories, lies, an unhinged president, and an absolute certainty in their knowledge of the will of God. These two sides cannot be reconciled. What are Franklin Graham, Metaxas, and the Falkirk Center praying for?
Only Mohler, the guy who convinced thousands and thousands of Southern Baptists that it was OK to vote for Trump in 2020, said the president is responsible for what happened today.
It would be best if these court evangelicals (and Mohler) just kept quiet. Or better yet, they could admit their complicity in the insurrection and political terrorism that occurred in Washington D.C. today and repent.
Earlier today, I wrote about some of the highlights of the last ten days. I mentioned the Nashville bombing, Trump’s handling of end of the year legislation, the president’s continued attempts at overturning the 2020 president election, and the support he is now receiving from at least twelve U.S. senators. Read that post here. It provides the necessary context for this post.
So what have the court evangelicals had to say since our last update on December 24, 2020?
The Falkirk Center at Liberty University, ground zero for evangelical conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, is getting heat from the Liberty student body. As of December 30, 400 Liberty students and recent graduates have signed a petition calling for the university to close the Falkirk Center. The petition states: “We are also concerned that the Falkirk Center has become a gateway for many wolves in sheep’s clothing–people who claim Christ’s name because it is convenient for their personal or political gain.” It specifically calls out Falkirk “fellows” Eric Metaxas, Allie Beth Stuckey, Sebastian Gorka, Jenna Ellis, Ryan Helfenbein, and co-founder Charlie Kirk.
The petition is similar to what I wrote about the Falkirk Center in a Religion News Service piece on September 9, 2020.
The Falkirk Center’s social media feeds did not address the petition. They continued to double-down on abortion, church closings due to COVID-19, and “socialism.” Perhaps this tweet was meant as a subtle response to the petition:
Christians, we must never vacate the political sphere. To do so is to abandon essential issues of significance, like those of the life of the unborn & religious liberty. If we wish to have liberty & justice for all, we must be willing to fight the political battles.@RHelfenbeinpic.twitter.com/ZgoFsmjIqo
Charlie Kirk, the founder of the Liberty University Falkirk Center, did not mention the student petition, but defended Trump’s veto of the Defense Authorization Act on the grounds that it would rename military bases named after Confederate leaders:
Any Republican who voted WITH Nancy Pelosi AGAINST Trump's veto to maintain Section 230, rename military bases, and fund more endless wars needs to be aggressively primaried in 2 years.
He is also attacking Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensberger for his refusal to “find votes” for Trump:
Imagine calling yourself a “Republican” and secretly & maliciously recording a call with the leader of your party & President of the United States THEN leaking it to The Washington Post
Georgia’s Brad Raffensburger is a total disgrace and he should immediately resign in shame
And yes, he still believes that the Democrats stole the election:
Anyone worried about the "unwise precedent" of ensuring fair elections is saying they are okay with the precedent of Democrats stealing every election from here on out.
The election was rigged and everyone who loves the Constitution knows it:
Every American who loves our Constitution is rightly upset that this election was rigged and that the Supreme Court and state legislatures refused to do anything about it.
“The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.”
All she has done is part of the sovereign will of God:
I am grateful for God’s providence and sovereignty over the past year—the opportunity to serve my President, my country, and defend the Church. It has been an immensely difficult year for the world and our nation, and I hope we step into the New Year seeking our Lord Jesus. ❤️🥂
But at least she will keep speaking truth and reminding everyone that she is trending on Twitter:
“Jenna” has been trending all day on Twitter because I took a stand for the Constitution & rule of law, & vile leftists want to keep tweeting vulgar, stupid remarks.
Another Liberty University Falkirk Center fellow, Eric Metaxas, continued to claim that “the election was stolen.” He describes the 2020 election as the equivalent of “stabbing Lady Liberty in the throat,” “murdering Uncle Sam,” and “desecrating all the young men who died for liberty over the centuries.” Metaxas believes that if Joe Biden gets inaugurated on January 20, 2021 it will be a “miracle.” Biden, Metaxas says, “was involved in one of the most wicked, treasonous acts in the history of the greatest nation in the world.” Watch here (after the five minute mark).
In other court evangelical news:
Self-proclaimed prophet Lance Wallnau is worried that Biden and Harris will “rule” America:
THIS IS IT! do this OR Biden and then Harris advisors will rule you! https://t.co/FljNmwKOBq
It is all a spiritual battle for “rulership on earth”:
Make no mistake, the kingdoms of light and darkness are contending for rulership on the earth, but when you occupy what was assigned to you, it pushes back on every devil assigned against you.
On Wallnau’s Facebook page he says that we are “in the spiritual fight of our lifetime” and we are entering a week that will “change America.” His source is Trump election fraud lawyer Sidney Powell. He believes that any member of Congress up for election in 2022 should be protesting the Electoral College results on January 6. Christians must “enlarge their presence” to make sure Trump stays in office.
Court evangelical journalist David Brody believes journalism is dead.
The liberal national media is a disgrace. They took ZERO initiative to truly investigate these claims of major election fraud. They gave it NO oxygen despite loads of voting irregularities. They should NOT be trusted. Be smart. Stay away. #2020Election#JAN6@realDonaldTrump
This next tweet may be true. But it says more about evangelicals than Trump:
Just a reminder that @realDonaldTrump is the best president evangelicals EVER had. Not even close actually. There have been so many Judeo-Christian policy victories plus @POTUS gave them access to influence policy. He treated them marvelously. Match made in Heaven.
Brody gives a signal boost to violence on January 6:
There’s quite a bit of talk about violence on January 6th. Are you showing up in DC that day? If so, what’s your plan? Protest and then what? #January6thDC#StopTheSteaI
I’m not making a threat, but rather simply saying a fact, when I say that any Republican member of the House or Senate who refuses to object to election fraud next week is basically finished as a leader in the Republican Party. Time to start packing!
The Swing States did not even come close to following the dictates of their State Legislatures. These States “election laws” were made up by local judges & politicians, not by their Legislatures, & are therefore, before even getting to irregularities & fraud, UNCONSTITUTIONAL!
Hibbs is also going on Newsmax in support of Trump. Just another court evangelical doing his part.
Jim Garlow’s prayer meetings for election integrity are continuing into the new year. Last week he was marching around the Georgia capital with a few followers, including Messianic Jews with shofars.
Garlow also engaged in a Twitter debate over who is the “adult” in the Senate:
Hawley – bold, courageous, patriotic. HE is the adult.
Robert Jeffress continued to remain quiet on election fraud. He is back to his usual talking points about the Democrat “administration of death.” There is an interesting and ironic part of this interview in which Jeffress criticizes liberal Protestants for getting too political.
Donald Trump continues to claim he won the 2020 presidential election, refuses to sign Congress’s COVID-19 relief package, and pardoned two murderers and two members of Congress who pleaded guilty to crimes. As I type Trump also pardoned Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner’s father. The latter committed a crime that Chris Christie, the prosecutor of his case, called “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” he has ever prosecuted. Meanwhile, thousands and thousands of people are dying from COVID-19, health-care workers are at the breaking point, and Americans are standing in food lines.
Just another day in Trumpland.
The number of the president’s advisers and friends is getting smaller and smaller by the day. We are now in a race to January 20, 2020 and are all hoping the lame duck president does nothing stupid. As I type, David Gergen is on CNN saying that this is the “most dangerous point of the Trump presidency.”
Meanwhile, the folks at the Liberty University Falkirk Center are still fighting for the president. They are still talking about “standing on truth.” This is getting embarrassing. What “line” are they holding? What “stand” are they taking? They support a president who pardons murderers and crooks, cannot tell the truth, vetoes aid to suffering Americans, and is trying to undermine the presidential election. Is this standing up for the Gospel? Really?
Believers, we must stand united against any movement that is antithetical to the gospel. Our mission is simple: Stand for truth. The gospel is the embodiment of truth, and we will never give up the fight in preserving it in our pulpits, our culture, & our nation.@RHelfenbeinpic.twitter.com/aKkY8S2ZPy
Humility and repentance? Seriously? Have you read your Twitter feeds lately?
As believers, we must be in a constant state of humility and repentance. We are fallen creatures. At the same time, we should be overwhelmed with thankfulness that we serve a God who forgives us when we repent. Our sins have been atoned for by the blood of Christ. pic.twitter.com/jI2HyYOgBu
Charlie Kirk is the founder of the Liberty University Falkirk Center. He is upset about the COVID-19 relief bill and wants the government to give more money to the American people. I think Kirk and the Democratic Party may have found some common ground. I am sure Nancy Pelosi would love Kirk’s help in getting more cash to ordinary Americans.
BREAKING:
President Trump just vetoed Congress’s insane spending bill
Good!
RT if not a single dime of taxpayer dollars should go overseas while millions of Americans are out of a job!
Kirk is saying nothing about Trump’s veto of the bipartisan defense bill. Trump vetoed the bill because it would provide the funds necessary to rename ten military bases currently named for Confederate leaders.
Jenna Ellis, a fellow at the Liberty University Falkirk Center, is also in favor of more government spending on the stimulus. Maybe she should be working for Pelosi instead of Trump.
Congress should reconsider the stimulus bill.
Trump is proving he’s willing to veto outrageous spending in conflict with the priorities of the American people.
Eric Metaxas is in legal trouble. But he is still pushing the election fraud narrative. He claims that there are “forces at work that are as wicked as we have ever seen” and Americans don’t truly understand “evil.” Then he compares anyone who “looks the other way” on this so-called “election fraud” to the “evil” of the Chinese communists. “If you can’t take this seriously,” Metaxas says, “I can’t take you seriously.” He says that unless Biden is stopped “we cannot move forward as a country” because God is on Trump’s side. He knows a Trump victory is “God’s will.” Watch:
Lance Wallnau also believes God is on Trump’s side:
God has a greater purpose for America and He is at work in this cosmic conflict as He overturns thrones, dominions and posers. Drop a 🙏 if you are praying with me for God to do what only He can do! pic.twitter.com/fC9lmGnFG9
Court evangelical David Brody interviews Metaxas. Metaxas thinks Trump will win because “more and more Americans” believe the election is rigged. This is interview clarifies the nature of Metaxas’s mission right now. He wants to instill enough doubt and fear in the minds and hearts of ordinary evangelicals so that they do something to stop Biden’s inauguration. What will happen when the Senate certifies the vote of the Electoral College on January 6 and when Biden is inaugurated on January 20. Does that mean he was wrong about God’s will? Will he call for an insurrection–a holy war of sorts?
Brody also interviewed Newt Gingrich. The former Speaker of the House believes the Democrats stole the election, but the legal team needs to do a better job:
Christmas is tomorrow, but David Barton is still fighting over the Thanksgiving. In this piece, he tries to argue that there are two Americas. One has its roots in Jamestown and slavery and the other has its roots in the Pilgrims and liberty. And, of course, he calls us to follow the example of the Pilgrims. (Of course he fails to note that much of the theology the Pilgrims brought to America influenced pro-slavery ideas in the 19th century). This reminds me of when Barton was on the Eric Metaxas show and said that both Jamestown and Plymouth were “Christian” colonies, but only Plymouth was “biblical.”
Former Minnesota congressperson Michelle Bachmann will lead the Pat Robertson School of Government at Regent University. She is hoping to expand the university’s “biblical worldview.” Tony Perkins is very excited about it:
Congratulation to both Regent and former Congresswoman Bachmann. Michele Bachmann Named Regent University Dean of Robertson School of Government https://t.co/QiVpq5SfKZ # via @charisma_news
Jack Hibbs supports the president’s decision to veto the stimulus package:
This is an absolute must see. Pure truth and perhaps too much reality for Democrats and Republicans who want to play politics with your life and money. https://t.co/IuIivVh9qI
The last time we saw Jim Garlow he was hosting Alt-right leader Steve Bannon on his “election integrity” prayer call. Today he is on FB pushing this conspiracy theory and telling some of his court evangelical and political friends to “get this to the right people”:
Went to vote today 12/21/2020 early voting and while standing in line; a white car parks across the street in front of Island’s Library on Whitemarsh Island, GA in front of voting entrance. The car is not in a parking space and the driver had on the emergency blinking lights. They rushed to the voting area door and went inside. I took a picture of their car when I noticed it had a Florida tag. A few minutes they returned with a green plastic container. They opened their trunk and then went to the back seat of the car and removed bags that looked like empty suitcases and put them in the trunk. One lady grabbed a small bag that had writing on it saying “Secure the Vote”. They packed the green plastic container, put it in the car and drove off. They could be legitimate but I was left wondering after I enlarged the picture of the container and it said, “Absentee ballots to be processed”. Tell me if you are suspicious?
Robert Jeffress is on Fox News giving leadership advice, praising Trump for his leadership, and attacking Biden. He calls Trump “President Trump” and he calls Biden “Joe.”
I’ve known former Speaker of the House @NewtGingrich for a number of yrs. He might be one of the smartest people in politics today. In this article he shares his perspective of where we are today politically. It’s something you might want to read… https://t.co/WBBI6JG7jU
Finally, I am struck today by how the Twitter feeds of the court evangelicals are filled with tweets about Christmas miracles interspersed, almost seamlessly, with election fraud tweets. This is sad. Because these Christian men and women are enabling the worst president of the United States. This president’s immorality and shamelessness make Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, and Richard Nixon look like saints.
The waning days of the Trump presidency are upon us. It seems like more and more of Trump’s supporters are accepting this reality, but the president has not. Over the weekend Trump met with Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon, Sidney Powell and Peter Navarro to talk about how to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Meanwhile, outgoing Attorney General William Barr said, once again, that there was no election fraud.
Russia is attacking the United States. But Trump, who rarely reads intelligence briefs, thinks it is China. Barr believes it is Russia. So does Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. So does just about every other else.
More and more people are getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Trump could take credit for this vaccine and thus end his presidency with what Mitt Romney recently described as a “victory lap.” But why would Trump do this when he can get the old gang back together (Bannon, Flynn, Giuliani) and try to overturn the 2020 presidential election?
COVID-19 is at an all-time high right now. Mike Pence got the vaccine. But Trump is retweeting anti-maskers.
The Liberty University Falkirk Center is fighting to the end. Jerry Falwell Jr. might be out at the Christian university, but his legacy at Liberty University lives on through the Twitter feeds of Charlie Kirk, Jenna Ellis, Eric Metaxas, Sebastian Gorka, and others.
Critical thinking?:
The culture today does not understand the importance of critical thinking; of asking tough questions. We merely follow the popular narrative and buckle to societal pressure. Be a critical thinker!@RHelfenbeinpic.twitter.com/TSiMjbzx4L
We don’t ask the government for permission to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Spend Christmas with your family and ignore anyone who tries to tell you to do otherwise. It’s that simple.@MattWalshBlogpic.twitter.com/XsdUqRYNlR
Earlier today, I posted about Charlie Kirk’s election fraud claims. Either Kirk knows nothing about basic civics or he is deliberately lying in order to deceive his followers.
Eric Metaxas is running a video of a Los Angeles pastor interviewing Mike “My Pillow Guy” Lindell about election fraud. Lindell is a conspiracy theorist on steroids.
And in other court evangelical news:
Lance Wallnau is also pushing the “Trump won more counties than Biden” narrative.
In this video, Wallnau worries that evangelicals are assimilating to the fake news about the Biden victory.
Richard Land is “thinking intensely”:
2/2 controversial action of Attorney General William Barr in withholding the information concerning Hunter Biden and his uncle Jim (Joe Biden’s brother), and possibly others being the subjects of a criminal probe by the FBI, the IRS and at least one U.S. attorney.
Alt-right Trump adviser Steve Bannon joined Jim Garlow’s prayer meeting for election integrity:
TODAY – SUNDAY – HEAR STEVE BANNON. The GLOBAL PRAYER CALL Updating us on this call will be STEVE BANNON. Today, Dec 20, 5pm Pacific, 6pm Mountain, 7pm Central, 8pm Eastern with 4,000 -7,000 persons as we pray for election integrity/against election fraudhttps://t.co/0dfBTreiWc
Since the 2016 election, @POTUS@realDonaldTrump has been falsely accused, maligned, and attacked. He told us his campaign was spied on. He was right. He told us there was no collusion. He was proven right. When he says this election was rigged or stolen, I tend to believe him.
Russians are hacking the U.S. government and Trump remains silent. Thousands of people died today from COVID-19 and Trump remains silent (except when he takes credit for the vaccine in a tweet about the stock market).
Meanwhile, Trump continues to raise money on his election fraud claims. Today I received e-mails urging me to “reject socialism,” enter a raffle for a signed MAGA hat, claim (with a donation) my “free Christmas gift,” order my Trump Christmas ornament, and help stop Biden from overturning Trump’s “accomplishments,”
Many of Trump’s most ardent Christian supporters–the court evangelicals–are carrying water for this lame duck president. Let’s see what they have said since our last update.
The gang at Liberty University’s Falkirk Center remain Trump’s most vocal Christian defenders.
Hundreds of thousands have died of COVID-19 and a “think tank” at a Christian college is questioning the “expertise” of scientists and doctors:
What is the price of the overconfidence of experts? What is the price of centralized planning & government overreach? What is the price of public lies & what is the price of panic? @DrJayRichards wrote a book about it and he joins us to discuss! https://t.co/XtWYgFllAX
While everyone is complaining about the “war on Christmas,” the Falkirk Center is engaged in the war on Mother’s Day and Father’s day. It almost makes one wonder if the Center owns stock in greeting card companies.
For those keeping score, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are now offensive if not including a third option (or fourth, fifth, ninth…) https://t.co/oQkkErEnOE
Pastors who follow science, public health professionals, and state governments are “submitting to power hungry tyrants.”
Many pastors have abandoned their duty as leaders during this pandemic by submitting to power hungry tyrants. Pastors, the data is in, the tyranny is showing. Now is the time to defend your church, not abandon it; open your church.#ChurchisEssential@charliekirk11pic.twitter.com/eMqt8mrdKZ
Kirk continues to undermine the democratic process with his unprovable election fraud claims:
If you believe that someone who had less than 100 people show up to his “speech” in Georgia today was able to earn 81 million votes legally & fairly, you’re not being honest with yourself.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Wallnau is not happy with Beth Moore. On Wednesday he shared this Facebook post from someone named Johnny Enlow:
Response to Beth Moore’s Tweet of Dec 13, 2020 (Twitter@BethMooreLPM)
Beth Moore, I was sent your tweet this morning and you wanted to hear from fellow leaders. Your rebuke was public so therefore this too is public. My goal is that this be an entreaty more than a counter rebuke. Now, I pray you will listen to a fellow leader. To acknowledge and recognize that God’s key governmental instrument is President Trump is not “Trumpism”. Nor is it denying Jesus any preeminent place. The reason God has Cyrus’s and Davids and Esthers and Moses’s and Pauls and Elijahs and Gideons and Joshuas etc. etc. is because He uses human instruments. If I applied your logic to your very ministry I could conclude that you are unnecessary to give a message because Jesus as King will take care of it. You seemingly have faith for Him to handle all governmental matters personally without need of an instrument but not religious or spiritual matters. I think it self-evident He would not call us the “salt” of the earth and the “light” of the world if He as King Jesus would handle everything.
What if King Jesus has Himself sanctioned and raised President Trump as His key instrument at this time? Would it not be an egregious offense before Him for a leader in the Body of Christ such as yourself to not recognize that reality because of some personal wound, grudge, blindness or preference? And worse to then encourage other leaders towards similar mutiny equivalent? What if some leaders in Moses’ day would have reached out to the people and messaged “We have no need to follow Moses! We must only follow God? God will open the Red Sea before us whether we honor or follow Moses or not”. Would that “zeal for Jesus” have been looked upon kindly by God? I think not. It would be a zeal devoid of wisdom. Apply that to every Biblical character of renown that God used as His key instrument. Israel repeatedly faced judgment for ignoring who God had sent as His key instrument. That was true all the way into the New Testament. The Pharisees could not receive Jesus Himself because of their “zeal for God”. They disrespected the instrument God sent because He was not in the package they expected- and He was actually God Himself! Would not anyone championing “God” above honoring the leader this very God had chosen– actually be in rebellion to God?
Beth, I must tell you that as much as I have respected your ministry to the Body of Christ for many years that this is where you find yourself today. You not only are in resistance to God’s instrument of choice of the hour but you are using the very platform God has given you to champion foolishness against God. While there may or may not be “Trumpism” the actual reason there is so much passion in the Body of Christ towards President Trump and what he is fighting for, is because there are millions of believers in this nation discerning God’s will and His instrument of deliverance for our nation. You have done them and the Body of Christ and the general populace itself a great disservice by calling their proper discernment into account. May you back down from your self-righteous stand and properly discern the day and the hour we are in. May the accountability you have projected onto leaders in the Body of Christ be properly felt by you, yourself, as it is serious. –Johnny Enlow
Court evangelical journalist David Brody interviewed new Christian convert and convicted felon Roger Stone:
Eric Metaxas is explaining his “controversial” comments at Saturday’s Jericho March. He tries to separate himself from Alex Jones, his anti-Catholic remarks, and his blatant plugs for the My Pillow Guy.” He also mentions Rod Dreher’s criticism of his appearance at the Jericho March. Rule of thumb: when you need a ten minute segment to clarify your statements, something might be wrong.
He also addresses those criticizing him on Twitter about his belief in election fraud. He specifically mentions Karen Swallow Prior, Kevin Mattingly, and Rod Dreher. He says that their criticism is wrong and “sloppy.” Then he tries to compare the Jericho March with the Civil Rights Movement.
Here are some of the comments on these Metaxas videos:
None of this is okay! Biden is NOT OUR PRESIDENT!!! I will NEVER ACCEPT BIDEN OR HARRIS!!!
Joe Biden and his campaign TOOK IT BY STEALING so they had to physically “show” that he was “President elect” with signs lol because they themselves know it is fraudulent! Their guilt shows EVERY SINGLE DAY!
He calls himself President Elect. He also announced publicly that he and others put together the most comprehensive voter fraud organization in the history of America. Which of these statements is true?
We need to be in a position that we are standing in Faith and we’re not giving up! Don’t let them see us sweat! God got this! This is not over!
I don’t understand why people are “moving on” from this or letting it slide. Ignoring it. Not standing up to obvious fraud. It makes my heart so sad. Justice and honesty are not being honored. And all the people who voted and put in the effort to abide by the rules have been dismissed. It’s so disrespectful of our nation and our principles. And the implication that anyone who won’t let it go is somehow wrong or imbalanced. I so appreciate your attitude towards this. And the people who are involved. Speaking the truth in love. Bless you bless you bless you.
I absolutely 100% agree with you. But Biden doesn’t have have a decent bone in his body. And doesn’t care if all of American thinks he is a lier and crook, which he most obviously is.
Don’t forget the pastors of the 1700s who were key in the founding of this nation!
Eric, this is part of persecution because we are standing up for Righteousness, Truth, Freedom, and Justice. Persecution will be heavier but remember that you are doing the right thing in the eyes of the Lord. Jesus also said, the world hated Him therefore the world will hate you so count that as a blessing (paraphrase) Matt 5:10. Just a few nights ago, I had a dream and a man in my dream spoke loudly and distinctly the word PERSECUTION. I knew God was showing me to be prepared for it. So be prepared and be blessed for standing on the side withJesus! Paul says in 2Corn 12:10, for Christ, he delights in hardships and persecution.
I am stunned people do not want to see or know the truth. We have Forensic research stating Dominion machines have a 68% error rate. Thousands of affidavits from American citizens. Video of fraud taking place. Why should we accept their fraud. NO and HELL NO!
The Electoral College has voted, but Jack Hibbs is still holding out hope:
Jim Garlow shames all evangelicals who did not vote for Trump. They are all baby-killers, socialists, freedom-haters, anti-marriage, totalitarians, and opponents of religious freedom. Here is what he wrote this week at his Facebook page:
81% of evangelicals voted for life in the womb, the sacredness of authentic marriage, for Israel, for choice-based economics/ free market, a job expanding employment which produced the greatest socioeconomic lift to minorities ever recorded …and for liberty and freedom.
But 14% of so-called “evangelicals” (which used to mean Bible believing) knowingly voted for the dismemberment of babies, the destruction of biblical marriage (yesterday I posted an article about Biden appointing a transgender to high office and it was immediately removed), socialism (which inflicts staggering human pain), economic policies which result in the poor becoming a permanent and dependent underclass, an anti Israel stance (which brings God’s judgment – Genesis 12:3), for authoritarianism and totalitarianism (think Cuomo, Newsom, Whitmar, Lightfoot, Pelosi all making rules for “the deplorables” while they violated them!) and – even though the 14% of “evangelicals” were warned that it would cost us religious freedom – tyranny for those who hold to a distinctly biblical faith. Read this article carefully. Very carefully. These are the causes which 14% of so-called “evangelicals” openly supported, and helped destroy what is left of this wounded and tattered nation. At what point, will they repent?
This has little to nothing to do with specific candidates or parties per se. It is not Republicans vs Democrats. It is not Right vs Left. At its core, it is not even Trump vs Biden. It has everything to do with right vs wrong, with good vs evil. It has to do with policies. With principles. Some biblical. Others radically anti-biblical.
Where is the shame among the 14%? Where is the repentance? Look what 14% supported. I am not angry. I am sad. I grieve for them. Read the article carefully (Leftist “evangelicals” – as if there can be such a thing! – are referred to.)
I am assuming that the so-called “14%” will not be part of this (also on his FB page):
A wild question. In the midst of our national demise, is there a chance we are on the cusp of the Third Great Awakening in America? My gut feeling – and I might be totally wrong – is that the 3rd Great Awakening just MIGHT be 1.Very different from the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings and… 2.There is a possibility – maybe – that we just MIGHT already be in it, given the massive prayer movement that is in the US – along with many other nations praying for us during this horrific time. However, we don’t yet recognize it for the revival it is, because it gets overshadowed or overridden by the political nuances since the spiritual awakening is flowing primarily out of a royally botched, fraudulent election.
In other words, prayer for “election integrity” will lead to a revival.
Robert Jeffress has been pretty quiet on the “election fraud” front. Yesterday he tweeted about Santa Claus:
“Why did the Swing States stop counting in the middle of the night?” @MariaBartiromo Because they waited to find out how many ballots they had to produce in order to steal the Rigged Election. They were so far behind that they needed time, & a fake “water main break”, to recover!
Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime. Everybody knows that dead people, below age people, illegal immigrants, fake signatures, prisoners,….
So now that the election is in the books, what are the court evangelicals saying? (Let’s also remember that some of these court evangelicals are coming off a very “big” weekend in Washington D.C.)
We begin by checking-in on the Liberty University Falkirk Center gang. They are the subject of a new Politico investigation.
Saturday afternoon’s Jericho March looked like an extension of Eric Metaxas’s radio program. He may be angling for a late-night talk show gig on Newsmax.
Yesterday he did his radio show from a hotel room in Washington D.C. because he was going to Mike Pence’s Christmas party. The Liberty University Falkirk Center fellow jokingly called the party a “super-spreader” event. Not funny.
Metaxas spent close to twenty minutes talking about his “music video and his role in the Jericho March on Saturday. We learned that the video’s lyrics were written by John Smirak, a writer at court evangelical James Robison’s blog The Stream. Metaxas described the video as both “funny” and “speaking the truth.”
Falkirk Center fellow Jenna Ellis joined her Center colleague Sebastian Gorka on his radio show. Ellis said that the Supreme Court was wrong in their 9-0 decision to throw out the Texas election fraud case. Yes, you read that correctly. Jenna Ellis told the United States Supreme Court that it does not know how to interpret the Constitution.
She also said Congress will be engaging in a “false certification” on January 6 when it meets to certify the results of yesterday’s Electoral College vote. Ellis told a group of people she describes as “Trump delegates” to storm Washington D.C. and demand that their votes be counted.
And she is “completely dedicated to God and Country”:
Thanks so much to @DavidBrodyCBN for wanting to write this and give people an *honest* insight into who I am and why I love God, my country, and the Constitution! 😊❤️🇺🇸https://t.co/mxOlzYpdPJ
Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of Liberty University’s Falkirk Center, still doesn’t believe Biden won:
I just watched Joe Biden’s “speech”
I have an incredibly hard time believing that 81 million Americans came together and voted to entrust our nation to someone who is so obviously mentally & physically unfit
Wallnau also has opinions on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Texas case. Yesterday, while wandering around Washington D.C. with his daughter, he blamed the Court’s refusal to take the case on Catholic justices. If Trump had appointed evangelical justices who were “time-tested spiritual warriors” things would have been different. I knew it would only be a matter of time before evangelicals played the anti-Catholic card on Kavanaugh, Roberts, and Barrett.
Over 250,000 people watched Wallnau’s video.
Here is Jack Hibbs yesterday on his Facebook page: “Turn off Fox News and CNN people because they’re not telling you the whole truth regarding today’s electoral college.” He then embedded this tweet from a former New York City police commissioner and convicted felon:
HISTORIC AND UNPARALLELED – PA, GA, MI, WI, AZ, NV, and NM all had GOP electors cast votes for @realDonaldTrump. That preserves @POTUS’ right to remedy fraud with his own electors.
After the Supreme Court threw out the Texas lawsuit on Friday, Allen West, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, wrote:
The Supreme Court, in tossing the Texas lawsuit that was joined by seventeen states and 106 US congressman, has decreed that a state can take unconstitutional actions and violate its own election law. Resulting in damaging effects on other states that abide by the law, while the guilty state suffers no consequences. This decision establishes a precedent that says states can violate the US constitution and not be held accountable. This decision will have far-reaching ramifications for the future of our constitutional republic. Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.”
Court evangelical Tony Perkins agreed with West’s call for a secession movement:
Agreed; perhaps it is time to political recognize the ideological divide in our nation. We could have the Constitutional States of America and the Lawless States of America where cities are burned and looted and elections are stolen. https://t.co/FHXgxLiP7c
I am praying God will expose things tonight! May your eyes be open to every deceiver sent by the enemy to destroy your life & purpose in the name of Jesus!
Franklin Graham seems resigned to a Biden victory:
People have asked if I’m disappointed about the election. When I think about my answer, I have to say that I’m grateful to God that for the last 4 yrs He gave us a president who protected our religious liberties, defended the lives of the unborn & more… https://t.co/1przPSuiQG
I would love to know what Johnny would say to Franklin today:
Did you know that my father @BillyGraham made an appearance on the @JohnnyCash show at the Grand Ole Opry & had a part in a Johnny Cash song? Take a look back in time & watch to the end as Johnny Cash asks him to come down & share more of the words of Jesus! pic.twitter.com/ASDPf4bV8p
In September 2020, I wrote a piece at Religion News Service titled, “Reforming Liberty University in the post-Falwell era should begin with the Falkirk Center.” Earlier today, I pointed out that the Falkirk Center is now leading efforts to change the results of the 2020 presidential election. Most institutions of higher learning would be embarrassed by the fact that they host a center on campus devoted to spreading false claims of voter fraud, but Liberty seems to wear it as a badge of honor. I would love to hear how the administration of the university reconciles its support of Trump conspiracy theories with its commitment to the pursuit of higher learning.
Liberty has “Blurred the line between education and politics.”
The Falkirk Center claims to be a “think tank” but it has produced no peer-reviewed academic work.
The Falkirk Center is paying Jenna Ellis and Sebastian Gorka as “fellows.”
The Falkirk Center bought $50,000 worth of Trump and GOP campaign ads on Facebook.
Some Liberty University board members want to shut down the Falkirk Center, but they are in the minority.
Karen Swallow Prior, a former Liberty English professor, believes that “The Falkirk Center…represents everything that was wrong with Liberty when Jerry [Falwell] was there…It is brazenly partisan.”
Liberty spokesperson Scott Lamb claims that Liberty University and the Falkirk Center have “received hundreds of supportive e-mails.”
A Liberty University professor, Phillip Kline, appeared on the Falkirk Center podcast and “encouraged state legislatures to ignore the vote and appoint their own electors to the Electoral College, or consider blowing of the mid-December Electoral College meeting for another date.”
As a nonprofit organization, Liberty University is “pushing the boundaries” of its status under Section 501c(3) of the federal tax code, which forbids spending money on political campaigns.
In 2018, Liberty gave $2.2. million to court evangelical Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, The Heritage Foundation, and Citizens United. These payments were approved by the seven members of Liberty’s “executive board.” The rest of the board did not know about the payments.
The Falkirk Center took center stage on the Liberty University at the same time the university started cutting programs in the liberal arts, humanities, and divinity.
And those who regularly question my decision to cover the court evangelical phenomenon seem to be taking it seriously now. Yes, even John Wilson ;-):
A friend sent me this Rod Dreher piece about the Jericho March. I wasn't keen to slog through it, but I'm glad I did. What it reported—including the role of my dear friend @ericmetaxas—was even worse than I expected. Aggh. https://t.co/GuhrF5SnUg
I’ve been writing about this for the last four years. At this point I am more interested in who was NOT at the Jericho March on Saturday:
Franklin Graham
James Robison
James Dobson
Jentezen Franklin,
Jack Graham
Paula White
Tony Perkins
Johnnie Moore
Ralph Reed
Greg Laurie
Robert Jeffress
The more traditional court evangelicals–most of whom are not connected with the Independent Network Charismatics and similar groups– seem to be focused on the Georgia Senate race and COVID restrictions. Would they like the election results to be overturned? Sure. Do they believe that there may have been election fraud? Of course they do. But they did not want to join the folks who were on the Mall on Saturday. This branch of court evangelicalism seems to only show-up when Trump is in the house or when one of his surrogates is present. They prefer power over prophecy.
And maybe some of them really believe Biden won.
We will see what happens after the Electoral College votes later today, but right now the evangelical voter fraud movement is led by Eric Metaxas (who showed his Charismatic side on Saturday), the gang at Liberty University’s Falkirk Center (Metaxas, Charlie Kirk, Jenna Ellis, Sebastian Gorka, etc.), and the My Pillow Guy.
UPDATE (December 15, 2020, 12:41am):
Some folks on Twitter were not happy with this post. Here are a few:
You might want to walk this one back. You are calling out people who have largely been in agreement with you on substance for years, but who have varying persuasive approaches. You all share similar aims and earnest desire for truth. Bad form to take cheap shots at teammates.
No @DavidAFrench@BethMooreLPM or even @roddreher didn’t experience an epiphany of the sort you describe. The first two in particular have been consistent opponents of Court EVs mendacity. It’s not news to them. Far from it, & they’ve suffered great criticism for speaking out.
These tweeters made fair points, which prompted me to explain things further. It’s never a good idea to try to “explain further” on Twitter, but I am a glutton for punishment! 🙂
Sure, David. Of course I understand this. Just read my blog. I appreciate these evangelical critics. They inspire me and give me hope about the future of evangelicalism. https://t.co/nMOng6ZC2x
My point was that all of them erupted on the same day after the Jericho March and they all seemed to be shocked by the depths these evangelicals would go in support of Trump. My blog post was meant to point this out, but it probably should have been clearer.
COVID-19 continues to rage in the United States. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to give meaning to the phrase “lame duck president.” He is concentrating on last ditch efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
On Wednesday, Trump and seventeen GOP states filed a motion to join a lawsuit brought to the Supreme Court by controversial Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The suit would invalidate 2020 election ballots in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case (a very long shot), Trump wants Ted Cruz to argue it. Cruz has apparently agreed to do it. Things have certainly changed in four years.
By the way, evangelical Nebraska GOP senator Ben Sasse thinks Paxton is looking for a pardon from Trump.
Now that the context is set, let’s see what the court evangelicals are saying:
Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church says the pandemic is “fake” and he will not take a vaccine. When asked to define a “pandemic,” Locke said “COVID is not it.”
Liberty University Falkirk Center fellows Metaxas and Charlie Kirk got together yesterday:
Metaxas says that “God acts in history” and he has acted on the side of Trump. He believes that only “mature” Christians understand this. In other words, if you are a serious (“mature”) Christian, you will know that Trump won the election. Metaxas, of course, is one of those mature Christians. He also says that since he “knows” Trump won the election it doesn’t really matter what we can prove in court. Anyone who disagrees is not only “arrogant,” but is working on behalf of evil and spitting “on the grave of George Washington.” (The “arrogance” of Metaxas’s claim to know the mind of God is astounding. He claims that God told him and some friends whom he trusts that Trump will have a second term).
Metaxas seems to believe he is Dietrich Bonhoeffer and all those who reject this conspiracy theory are the Germans who stood-by and watched Hitler rise to power. At one point, Kirk asks Metaxas what he thinks will happen with the election fraud cases currently in the courts and Metaxas says he is “too ignorant of the details to answer that question in any substantive way.” Unbelievable.
This stuff goes on for 40 minutes. At one point Metaxas says he believes that God will intervene on behalf of Trump, the criminals will go to jail, and the country will heal. Kirk, on the other hand, says he is preparing for war no matter what happens with the election results.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, Kirk suggests that recent leaks about the prosecution of Hunter Biden came from the Kamala Harris camp. Kirk never met a conspiracy theory he didn’t like–all in the name of Jesus.
Kamala Harris and her team of radicals could be behind these new leaks against Biden. They used Joe for his purpose, now they will remove him.
A woman believes that Jenna Ellis, Trump lawyer and Liberty University Falkirk Center fellow, is “sharing the word of God.” A part of me feels sorry for Ellis. She is a young lawyer with very little experience who the Trump is using because so few experienced lawyers are willing to touch these election fraud cases. Ambition is a powerful temptation.
He is the light of the world! Keep sharing the word of God too, Erika! 😊❤️ https://t.co/6q7hny9IWJ
The Falkirk Center, the new center of evangelical Trumpism in America, just celebrated its one-year anniversary by telling people concerned about COVID-19 that they are “wasting their lives in fear of death.” Wait, doesn’t Liberty University have COVID restrictions? Don’t let Liberty University control its students’ lives! 🙂
How sad to think of those who've allowed hypocritical politicians & propagandist media to scare them into submission over COVID. They've abandoned living & turned to isolation, wasting their lives in fear of death, while the politicians who use them don't heed their own warnings. pic.twitter.com/prTgcKGTJ2
Lance Wallnau says millions of Christians–a Christian populist movement–is “taking on the devil” and stopping Satan from gaining control of America. The Texas case is all part of God’s plan. God works in mysterious ways. Wallnau’s video has 277K views and 20k comments.
Journalism is dead, except at the Christian Broadcasting Network:
This just in: journalism is dead in America. @CNN#MediaBias
Court evangelical journalist David Brody’s claim about the death of journalism is rich in light of the fact that he is getting his understanding of constitutional republicanism from Lara Trump:
The speaker list for the December 12 “Jericho March” in Washington D.C. includes: Michelle Bachmann, Michael Flynn, Mike “My Pillow Guy” Lindell, Eric Metaxas, Abby Johnson, Cindy Jacobs, Fr Frank Pavone, Kelly Kullberg, and Dennis Prager.
Johnnie Moore is praying for health care workers, but he says nothing about the president who seems to be ignoring COVID-19 and his fellow evangelicals who oppose masks and social distancing. Is this what a “modern day Dietrich Bonhoeffer” would do?
You know … it seems like a really good night to pray for America’s healthcare heroes.
Will you join me?
For many months, our doctors, nurses, etc. have risked their own lives to selflessly, courageously fight this strange, new disease.
Tony Perkins is on board with this crazy Texas lawsuit. He can’t “wrap his head” around how people are ignoring all the election fraud. Perkins should take it up with state legislatures (GOP and Democratic) and the Supreme Court (with three Trump appointees). His guest, Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson, thinks that the Court will take this case. Perkins says he “trusts” Johnson’s judgement. Johnson knows this case has no chance. He is blatantly lying to Perkins. If he is not lying, he is delusional.
Actually, John Hagee, history does not repeat itself and prophecies of a Trump victory in the 2020 election will not come true:
History does, in fact, repeat itself, and prophecy does hold true.
Franklin Graham is pushing the voter fraud narrative:
It is alleged that Communist dictator Joseph Stalin made the statement, "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." Whether Stalin is the one who said this or not, the statement is true, & this is a huge issue facing our country today.
After Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned in disgrace as president of Liberty University, I wrote a piece at Religion News Service titled “Reforming Liberty University in the post-Falwell era should begin with the Falkirk Center.” Here is a taste of that piece:
But for many onlookers, the problems at Liberty run much deeper than a sex scandal. If the university is serious about cleaning up the mess, it will need to take a hard look at the approach to Christianity and public life that the university’s leadership has championed for more than four decades. With Falwell Jr. gone, Liberty does indeed have a chance to be a “better,” more “God-glorifying place,” but it will require serious reforms. The first step should be to close its culture war “think tank,” the Falkirk Center.
Founded in November 2019, the Falkirk Center is the brainchild of Jerry Falwell Jr. and pro-Donald Trump activist Charlie Kirk. (Its name is a portmanteau of the two men’s names.) The center operates with a “moral mission” to “go on the offensive in the name of Christian principles and in the name of exceptional God-given American liberties,” according to its website. Those commissioned to speak on behalf of the center — these men and women bear the title “Falkirk fellows”— are described as “bold ambassadors equipped with Biblical and Constitutional knowledge to speak truth to believers and unbelievers alike in every professional field and public forum.”
In a Jan. 20, 2020, article in the Liberty Champion, the university’s newspaper, Falkirk Center director Ryan Helfenbein told student writer Hattie Troutman that “if Liberty was to be in partnership with the center, it must be rooted in the Gospel and represent Liberty University’s missional values.” Indeed, the Falkirk Center has quickly become Liberty University’s voice in the public sphere.
If you want to understand what the Falkirk Center means by “going on the offensive” or speaking “truth” in every “public forum,” you need to look no further than Falwell’s well-documented public statements over the last four years. He has tweeted an image of a blackface coronavirus mask as part of his criticism of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. Falwell claimed that COVID-19 is the result of a secret collaboration between North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un and China for the purpose of undermining the Trump presidency.
Falwell praised Trump’s comments in defense of white supremacists during the August 2017 racial unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, and defended Trump’s boasting of sexual assault on a tape released by the entertainment show Access Hollywood. Falwell threatened a New York Times reporter in a late-night voicemail. He defended U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama after Moore was accused of molesting teenage girls.
During the Democratic National Convention, meanwhile, Kirk published tweets saying that Michelle and Barack Obama “hate America,” Bernie Sanders is a “communist,” and the Democrat Party is the party of “white liberal racists.” Two weeks ago, Kirk tweeted to his 1.8 million Twitter followers that NBA players protesting the Kenosha, Wisconsin, shooting of Jacob Blake are “morons” and the league is “a national joke and disgrace.”
Falkirk Center fellow Eric Metaxas, an author and radio host who has compared Hillary Clinton to Hitler, has suggested that those who oppose Trump are “demonic.” In 2016, Metaxas wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed claiming that if evangelicals did not vote for Trump “God will not hold us guiltless.” More recently, Metaxas said that Jesus was white, and on the final night of the Republican National Convention, in Washington, D.C., Metaxas was caught on camera throwing a punch at an anti-Trump protester.
Sebastian Gorka, a radio host and former Trump foreign policy strategist with dubious academic credentials, also serves as a Falkirk fellow. In the last few weeks, Gorka claimed that Joe Biden was senile, downplayed the threat of COVID-19 and retweeted a conservative pundit who described the victims of Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse as “scumbags.”
I also want to point you to Peter Montgomery’s piece at Right Wing Watch. Here is a taste:
Among the first-year accomplishments cited by the Falkirk Center was its day-long “faith summit” called “Get Louder,” which featured Christian Reconstructionist Gary DeMar as a speaker on a panel moderated by Metaxas.
The celebratory post, written by Liberty communications staffer Logan Smith, mentioned that “Falkirk Podcast” guests have included Trump lawyer and national punchline Giuliani and Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis, who teaches that genuine Christians must adhere to a belief in a literal six-day Creation and a universe that is thousands of years old.
It also placed the Falkirk Center firmly on the side of right-wing evangelicals who believe that conversations about social justice and racism within the church are dangerous, evil, and enemies of the Gospel. The article quotes a Liberty University parent praising Falkirk for “drawing attention to leftist thinking that is attacking the Church.”
“The Falkirk Center fills a need deeply felt during this time of increasing wokeness and social justice inside the church, calling Christians and pastors to return to the true doctrine of God’s Word,” said Grant May, one of a growing number of Falkirk Center ambassadors from across the country, according to the Liberty blog post. “The center has inspired and encouraged me during the rising fad of cultural Christianity to truly dive into the Word and remember what Christ’s commands for the Church were, not modern-day pastors’ advice on how to be culturally relevant.”
The post also celebrates that the Falkirk Center “has consistently encouraged churches and pastors to defy” pandemic “lockdown orders.”
The anniversary blog post included no mention of the Falkirk Center’s co-founder Jerry Falwell, Jr., the university’s disgraced former president. The Falkirk moniker is a fusion of Falwell’s name and that of cofounder Charlie Kirk, who heads the right-wing youth organizing project Turning Point USA, as well as a reference to the battle of Falkirk, memorialized in the movie Braveheart.
Yesterday COVID-19 cases in the United States topped the 15 million mark. One of those cases is Trump election fraud lawyer and court evangelical Jenna Ellis.
Joe Biden introduced his public health team. Donald Trump gave a COVID press conference, took credit for the COVID vaccine, and claimed victory over the virus. And then he claimed that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election.
Trump is still fighting what he believes to be election fraud. Yesterday the Supreme Court refused to hear a last-minute Pennsylvania GOP request to overturn the commonwealth’s election results. The Supreme Court rejected the request in one sentence: “The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court was denied.” There was no dissent. This means that Alito, Thomas, Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barrett all rejected the application. Just a reminder: Trump nominated Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barrett.
Today Donald Trump retweeted this:
The wheels are coming off.
Trump's inspired massive MAGA tsunami turnout forced them to cheat so big they lost their minds in a fraud frenzy.
Their Unconstitutional legal moves alone are dooming them.
Charlie is willing to go down with the ship. He is going to build the rest of his career on the foundation of Trumpism:
There is far more evidence that China influenced our elections in favor of Democrats than there ever was that Russia influenced our elections in favor of Republicans.
The Founding Fathers said that if the people got too much liberty they would cease to sacrifice for the common good of the nation and the republic would collapse.
“We are not enforcing any of that. We haven’t been and we’re not going to.” – Campbell County Sheriff Whit Clark https://t.co/65r83kS4Cq
Jim Garlow is still holding his “election integrity” prayer meetings.
Yesterday Eric Metaxas spent about 20 minutes talking about the online sale of his books. Then he moved into a segment on the upcoming Washington D.C. Jericho March on December 12. Pro-Trump evangelicals will march seven times around the U.S. Capitol Building and blow a shofar–just like the Israelites did with the city of Jericho in the Old Testament book of Joshua, chapter six. Metaxas believes that America experienced “every kind of possible fraud” in this election. He believes he is a modern-day Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He claims God will judge everyone who does not speak-up against election fraud.
Interesting tweet from Trump’s spiritual adviser:
Behavior will reveal true character.. Your actions speak louder than your words
Franklin Graham is tweeting an election fraud piece from the Alt-right Breitbart News. He believes “forces of evil” are at work:
Join me in praying that if there is fraud, it would be proven—for the good of our nation & all future elections. Forces of evil are at work, & we know how much is at stake. Pray for God’s will to be done in the outcome of this important election.
Donald Trump was in Valdosta, Georgia this weekend trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The event was a rally for Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, the GOP candidates running for Senate in Georgia, but Trump turned it into an opportunity to whine and complain about voter fraud. He repeated more false and debunked claims about how the Democrats tried to steal the election.
Meanwhile, people in the United states are dying of COVID-19. Trump appears to be ignoring the virus, although he does seem to be aware that his election fraud lawyer Rudy Giuliani has contracted it.
So what did the court evangelicals, Christian leaders who claim to be committed to truth and compassion for the suffering, have to say this weekend.
Over on Parler, the new social media outlet for conservatives, Eric Metaxas is quoting Jesus in Luke 8:17: “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.”
Prayers for Mayor @RudyGiuliani. He is a tough warrior!
The Trump Legal Team will continue our important work to fight for election integrity! We have a great team, along with able local counsel in each state. Our work won’t be affected and we press on. #CountAllLegalVotes
Future historians will try to reconcile the evangelical support of Trump’s election fraud claims with these kinds of tweets:
We do not “resign” ourselves to the will of God; but rather, recognize that the will of God is vastly superior and desirable in every particular, and therefore we should rejoice we are free from being resigned to our own will.
Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of Liberty University’s Falkirk Center, tweets with no evidence or source:
In Georgia Alone, sworn testimony alleges:
2,056 felons illegally voted 66,248 under 18 voted 2,423 weren’t registered 1,043 used a PO Box to register 10,315 died before the election 395 voted in 2 states 15,700 moved out of GA 40,279 changed county & didn’t re-register to vote
Kirk does not seem to know much about the character of the Kingdom in which Jesus serves as king. Jesus is was not a populist culture warrior. His Kingdom is not of this world and his followers do not seek worldly power.
Liberty University’s Falkirk Center promotes a speaker who connects “fear of COVID” to socialism:
The rights we take for granted in America don’t exist in communist Cuba. That inhumane ideology is infiltrating America under the cover of fear of COVID. Freedom is worth it, & it’s time we act like it. Do not comply with socialist edicts. Say NO TO SOCIALISM.@christianlasvalpic.twitter.com/A4dSMnTHlu
The Liberty University Falkirk Center is still pushing election fraud. It looks like a Liberty University law professor is involved as well:
This is Jesse Morgan, a truck driver for USPS who alleges that his trailer, loaded with hundreds of thousands of ballots, mysteriously disappeared after he dropped it off at its destination in Pennsylvania. Hear the full conversation here:https://t.co/uUrHPUA7zT@RHelfenbeinpic.twitter.com/pvRFkGTZBe
Trump-loving evangelist Lance Wallnau says there is "no dumber Christian" than one who says, "Maybe it's the Lord's will that Biden is president." Wallna's response to that is, "Maybe it's the Lord's will that Auschwitz got built, but I don't think so." pic.twitter.com/4M3XnbyPg3
If you watch this whole video, Wallnau offers his listeners “sanctified gossip” about Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue’s failure to support the president. He describes a “Christian populist movement” of 40 million voters who will lead the “backlash” against GOP governors in swing states who will not support Trump’s voter fraud claims. This video has over 200K views and 13K comments.
Demonic forces are preventing American expansion:
By now I hope you can see that this is far beyond a battle of politics. We are up against a malevolent and demonic agenda aimed to destroy the global force for kingdom expansion that is America. Let us come together to be a firewall and rally as a global movement of believers! pic.twitter.com/moqVST08SV
I love how Brody distinguishes Fox “dayside” from conspiracy theorists like Hannity, Ingraham, and Carlson who appear in the evening.
Through all of this WIDESPREAD election fraud, we’re witnessing a huge immoral, “GREAT SUPPRESSION,” by major media in America. SHAME on @nytimes@washingtonpost@CNN@MSNBC and yes, @FoxNews (dayside). Many others too! Cover these events because they are NEWS! @realDonaldTrump
Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are. Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do good. They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. Their actions are never good. They make no attempt to turn from evil. – Psalms 36:1 -4
As the battle continues regarding our Nations’s future during this attack by the wicked to overthrow and undermine our election, I am reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s challenge to the American people, when at the conclusion of our Founding Father’s Constitutional Convention, Franklin was asked by a woman waiting in the crowd outside – “What kind of government have you given us Dr. Franklin?” Franklin answered with both a challenge and a rebuke when he said “A Republic if you can keep it.”
Most people (thank the LORD not all) in the United States today are so civically ignorant of their Constitutional Rights and Biblical calling that they have no vision nor understanding of what to do with them. They are willfully blind to the truth and have resigned themselves to 15-second bites taught by the blind themselves.
“Facts are stubborn things” said John Adams but we the people have become too distracted to care. Sadly, many people in this Nation have rendered themselves unworthy of the very freedoms they enjoy in this (God-given) Republic.
Freedom, like the Gospel, must be preached and practiced, or else it will grow old a wither away like a flower. Truth is active and the pursuit of it is a vigorous ethos.
During these days, I have dedicated my morning hours to be in intercessory prayer for the Nation that God has given me. As I teach and preach that Jesus Christ could return at any moment for His church in His Blessed Hope of the Rapture (Titus 2:13) – I must occupy in this world until He comes. So then I must be busy about my Father’s business in all things.
As my Nation today is literally under attack by enemies both foreign and domestic, I am called to stand on the truth and be obedient to live it out now.
In the next several weeks your life and mine is about to be changed forever. The persecution and violence that is coming can only be met with a resolve to preserve our liberty and freedom for our children and our children’s children.
Be ready Christian to defend your faith, family, and freedom. To that end, Psalm 36:1-4 speaks to me about the horrible people who are boldly and brazenly committing acts of deception, lying, cover-ups, and fraud as they have been exposed as political jihadists.Someday our children will ask us “What kind of government have you given us” may our answer be to them;”A Republic if you can keep it.”
Robert Jeffress is still praising the Supreme Court’s religious liberty decision and Donald Trump’s appointment of Amy Coney Barrett. Jeffress seems to only understand these issues through the grid of “rights” and politics. Evangelical Christian Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, has a different opinion. Jeffress also defends Trump’s case for voter fraud
More fearmongering from Perkins. This time it’s a socialist takeover:
Right now, Georgia voters are the last line of defense between America and a radical socialist takeover. Staying home is not—and never should be—an option.#gapol#gasenhttps://t.co/d5k1mH61Qe
Pray for all of our leaders in Washington, & pray for these newly elected congressional representatives—they have a lot of hard work ahead. Let’s pray that they will have wisdom & boldness as they stand for freedom & defend against a radical agenda to dismantle our nation.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
One overlooked part of Franklin Graham’s brand of politics is how he loves merging Christian Right talking points with celebrities:
Former Super Bowl champion @BurgessOwens is a member of the Freedom Force & said, “we have a group of people who believe in our country, believe in God, family, respect for women & authority, & the other side who hates everything I just mentioned…” https://t.co/w9Zs1qbbzN
It was another crazy day in Trump land. Yesterday the news was focused on Trump’s potential pardons. There is speculation that he is preparing pardons for his children before they have been convicted of any crimes. Some say Trump may even try to pardon himself. Last night on CNN, journalist Bob Woodward told the story of Gerald Ford’s habit of carrying a portion of the text of Burdick v. United States in his wallet. Ford argued, based on this Supreme Court decision, that the acceptance of a pardon (in this case Richard Nixon) is the equivalent of a confession of guilt.
Trump’s election fraud claims reached a new level of craziness yesterday when he delivered a 45-minute video speech filled with unsubstantiated claims. Some cable networks refused to show the video because it was so full of lies. The Trump team released the video on the same day that William Barr’s Department of Justice said that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Trump will be gone on January 20, 2021, but a lot of us are wondering how much damage he will do between now and then. When Biden takes office on Inauguration Day, the court evangelical phenomenon will end. But as of today, many of Trump’s most ardent evangelical supporters are still fighting. Let’s check in:
The Falkirk Center at Liberty University remains the evangelical epicenter of election fraud conspiracy theories.
Yesterday Falkirk Center fellow Eric Metaxas talked with fellow conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza. As I wrote yesterday, Metaxas seems to think he is a modern-day William Wilberforce or Dietrich Bonhoeffer (the subject of his two most well-known biographies). The only problem with this analogy is that slavery (in the case of Wilberforce) and Nazism (in the case of Bonhoeffer) were real evils.
Religion News Service has a piece on Metaxas titled “How Eric Metaxas went from Trump despiser to true believer.” It includes quotes from Paul Glader, Phil Vischer (of Veggie Tales fame), David Dark, and David French. We learn about Metaxas’s forthcoming autobiography and his desire to host a Dick Cavett-like talk show on FOX.
Metaxas’s fellow Falkirk Center spokeperson, Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, is the subject of a pretty scathing New York Times article. Here is a taste of Jeremy Peter’s and Alan Feuer”s reporting:
But a review of her professional history, as well as interviews with more than a half-dozen lawyers who have worked with her, show that Ms. Ellis, 36, is not the seasoned constitutional law expert she plays on TV.
In many ways, that makes her ideal for the role she has now fashioned for herself: She is a star player in the president’s theater of grievance and denial whose lack of relevant experience with the legal questions at hand has had no apparent bearing on her ability to present herself as someone of great authority.
Since she graduated law school in 2011, nothing in her record in the courtroom — limited mostly to appearances in state court as a prosecutor or as counsel for clients charged with assault, prostitution, theft and domestic abuse — shows any time spent litigating election law cases.
She holds herself out as an expert on the Constitution based on her self-published book and her teaching of pre-law classes to undergraduates. She has never appeared in federal district or circuit court, where most constitutional matters are considered, according to national databases of federal cases, and does not appear to have played a major role in any cases beyond her criminal and civil work in Colorado.
Ellis responded to the article, including quotes included in the story from former “jealous” colleagues:
This is how ridiculous the fake news media is. Along with factually false statements (and cute opinions from jealous colleagues craving relevancy—sad!), @nytimes refused to print this quotation I provided to them, at their request for comment.
I wish the DOJ would prosecute people who cheated to steal an election as aggressively as they prosecuted celebrities who cheated to get their kids in college.
Another Liberty University Falkirk Center spokesperson, Sebastian Gorka, believes that Trump provided “evidence” of fraud during his video speech yesterday:
Lance Wallnau may just have more followers than all the Liberty University Falkirk Center spokespeople combined. The other day he was on a Kenneth Copeland program with a few other self-professed prophets:
Tony Perkins is praising evangelical turnout for Donald Trump. Did anyone expect anything different? Perkins is also talking to a Grove City College professor on apparent voter fraud in Pennsylvania.
Yesterday Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press that his office has “not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.” Then a DOJ spokesperson qualified Barr’s statement and Trump retweeted it:
what the Attorney General stated. The Department will continue to receive and vigorously pursue all specific and credible allegations of fraud as expeditiously as possible.” @ClareHymes22@CBSNews
The number of GOP members of congress acknowledging a Biden victory is growing. Today Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he will discuss an additional economic stimulus package with “the new administration.” Texas Senator John Cornyn said that “the verdict was rendered, and I think that’s becoming clearer by the minute.” Missouri Senator Roy Blunt does not think the election was rigged. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia have certified the election.
Jenna Ellis, a member of Trump’s legal team and a spokesperson for Liberty University’ Falkirk Center, is not only hanging on, she’s doubling down. Here are some of her recent tweets and retweets:
Between Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan hearings alone, DOZENS of witnesses have come forward testifying to their first-hand accounts of the corruption and fraud in this election.
None of these states can move forward in good faith with their false certifications.
Our Founders recognized this in the Declaration, saying that Truth is self-evident and comes from the God of the Bible. Truth is always right, non-truth is always wrong. Truth is the Person of God. 1 John 1. Always pursue Truth, and therefore pursue God.
So much to parse here. Let me suggest a few things. First, a Trump lawyer is talking about “Truth” (with a capital “T”). Second, imagine what historians will write about Donald Trump and Jenna Ellis. Third, Jenna Ellis has not read much history of late. Most of the victors were white men. Today historians are writing a lot of good history about the oppressed and marginalized–historical actors who are definitely “worthy” of such coverage despite the fact that they did not have power when they were alive. Fourth, the Declaration of Independence does not say that truth “comes from the God of the Bible.” I”ll stop there.
Ellis and Giuliani trash William Barr’s aforementioned claim, but do it “with all due respect”:
The Justice Department spent two whole years looking for evidence of Russian Collusion but they're suddenly able to conclude there was "no evidence of fraud" in less than a month? What a disgrace.
Today Kirk appeared on the radio program of Eric Metaxas, his fellow Christian conspiracy theorist, court evangelical, and Liberty University spokesperson. Metaxas says that the Democrats are “domestic enemies” and compares them to the terrorist attacks on 9-11. He also wonders why so many people are talking about coronavirus (over a quarter million dead) when they should be screaming about this election fraud case. Here is the exact quote:
Not enough people are taking this seriously. This is like 9-11, but everyone goes “well, so what.” I don’t really understand how domestic enemies taking over the greatest nation in the history of the world would not be the only news show. When I hear people talk COVID restrictions I think, “are you people out of your mind, why are you talking about that. A meteor just his Washington D.C. and you’re talking about that crap.”
Metaxas once again compares efforts at stopping supposed voter fraud to rescuing a child from a rapist. “If we don’t fight to the death” against the Democrats stealing this election, Metaxas says , “we lose our souls.”
Watch:
Earlier in the show, Metaxas goes full Alex Jones Infowars:
Lance Wallanu, known for hawking coins, is trying to sell books:
Together, we are taking ground in the battle for America, working day and night and holding nothing back. You make that possible. Thank you for standing with us.
Jack Hibbs, pastor of a Calvary Chapel congregation in California, retweeted this:
💥 Biden's Win A Statistical Impossibility
Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai presents his data at the Arizona hearing, showing the only way for Biden to have statistically caught up with President @realDonaldTrump was if Democrat votes came in at 130% for Biden and NEGATIVE 30% for Trump⁉️ pic.twitter.com/N13yFOToGC
James Robison is still pushing the election fraud narrative. Here is a taste of his recent piece at The Stream:
In light of the prosperity and benevolence of our nation, respected spokesmen have said, “Second only to the birth of Jesus Christ was the birth of America.” Nothing can actually compare to the birth of Christ, but the miraculous birth of America is undeniable. In light of our present election dilemma, if truth does not prevail, the future is dismal. It can easily prove to be the certain end of hope, peace, security, stability, and life, with all the blessings freedom makes possible. Freedom as we have known it will be tragically limited, not only here at home but around the world. This does not have to happen on our watch—it must not happen!
Prior to the 2016 election, FBI agents and others within government actually set in motion methods by which they would defeat, impeach, and do whatever was necessary to destroy Trump, if and when he won the election. It’s hard to believe that some bureaucratic agencies established to help protect freedom would become agencies of a horrific assault on freedom. The individuals and agencies committed to overthrowing the election results found whole-hearted, unwavering support by what seems like 90 percent of all national media sources. They refused to report or acknowledge many undeniably positive achievements during President Trump’s entire term. It is difficult to imagine something happening like this in America, “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
As I type, CNN is reporting that Donald Trump, despite his public pronouncements, knows he lost this election. But some of his most ardent evangelical supporters still believe the president was re-elected.
Today was a special day for the court evangelicals. Donald Trump called-in to Eric Metaxas’s radio show. Metaxas told the president that “Jesus is with us” in the fight over voter fraud and said that he would “be happy to die in this fight.” We blogged about this a few hours ago.
Metaxas is willing to die to save Donald Trump and the republic. But does anyone think Trump himself would lay down his life for the nation?
Let’s see what else is happening in court evangelical land today.
In a normal world, the young Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, a spokesperson for Liberty University’ Falkirk Center, would have ruined her career by defending Trump in these voter fraud cases. Granted, she will never be able to engage an audience larger than the one made-up of Trump’s most hard-core followers, but after this is all over there will be plenty of places for her to go, and plenty of clients for her to defend, in the pro-Trump Christian universe. She is destined to spend the rest of her career in this silo.
The certification of Arizona’s FALSE results is unethical and knowingly participating in the corruption that has disenfranchised AZ voters.
BUT, this in no way impacts the state legislature’s ability to take back the proper selection of delegates.
Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of Liberty University’s Falkirk Center, is not letting go:
The activist media has spent more time covering Joe Biden's broken foot than the credible allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election. That tells you everything you need to know about "journalism" today.
Wallnau is also calling-out GOP senators who will not challenge “fake votes”:
The SHOCKING truth is that the 70 million legal voters for Trump are discovering their RINO senators (legislators) will NOT challenge fake votes. We don’t need a “recount” of fraudulent ballots we need a forensic votes in 4 swing state cities. Period. https://t.co/UPcNNkOewB
What is happening now in this critical, perhaps final week in combat with forces of darkness seeking a hostile takeover of our nation. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona update. We’ve found the weakness- nervous Republican Legislators! And I give you the strategy.
Wallnau’s video praises Doug Mastriano. He also chides his followers for not praying hard enough and not praying for the right people (state legislators). He and Eric Metaxas are now the same person.
The Falkirk Center at Liberty University is promoting some of their favorite people:
America is governed by the consent of the people, through our Constitutional system of government. The left thinks government knows better than those they govern. They’ll rob us of our liberties & disregard our rule of law if we don’t defend the American system of government. pic.twitter.com/eOo1nS4iVg
It appears they will contest this election to the end. The Falkirk Center was not around in 2016, but if they were I am sure they would have said the exact same thing. ;-):
Joe Biden is not President-elect. This voting cycle has been one of the most chaotic in history. Not all votes have been counted, there are cases of voter fraud, & the electoral college hasn’t voted. So no, there isn’t a legitimate President-elect.@SecretWeaponUSA@RHelfenbeinpic.twitter.com/81DPLyaIy9
I think this means Ralph Reed’s Faith & Freedom Coalition believes Trump won:
We can’t lose heart on the outcome of this presidential election. We need voters of faith to turn out and vote in the GA senate run-off to help keep Christian values in the Senate. Be sure to vote January 5th!https://t.co/s7DD92t0Ar
Court evangelical journalist David Brody is still at it:
“Our analysis finds that a few key vote updates in competitive states were unusually large in size and had an unusually high Biden-to-Trump ratio. We demonstrate the results differ enough from expected results to be cause for concern.”
Biden “won” in the same way that Lance Armstrong “won.” Yes, Armstrong crossed the finish line first. But his victory was bogus because he cheated. That’s what we’re saying about Biden. He cheated—and we’re going to try and prove this in court
With the discovery of overwhelming Election fraud and the pending & forthcoming evidence of criminal activity, Pennsylvania State Officials urges the United States Congress to “Declare the selection of presidential electors in this Commonwealth to be in dispute.”
