It's Time to Put Feet to our Prayers
I’m at a loss for the “right” words.
We, all of us, have just added yet another life altering moment that begins with the question, “Where were you when . . . . ?”
- Where were you when JFK was shot?
- Where were you when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon?
- Where were you when the Challenger blew up on takeoff and the Discovery disintegrated over Texas?
- Where were you when the planes hit the towers, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania field?
- Where were you when a 20 year-old would-be-assassin nearly murdered Donald Trump?
This type of moment has happened in my lifetime at least 8 times. By “this type,” obviously I’m referring to assassinations and assassination attempts on America’s political and culture-war leaders.
- Assassinated - President John F. Kennedy – November 22, 1963, age 46
- Assassinated - Malcolm X – February 21, 1965, age 39
- Assassinated - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – April 4, 1968, age 39
- Assassinated - Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy – June 6, 1968, age 42
- Nearly Assassinated twice! - President Gerald R. Ford – September 5 and September 22, 1975, age 62
- Nearly Assassinated - President Ronald Reagan – March 30, 1981, age 70
- Nearly Assassinated - Former President Donald J. Trump, July 13, 2024, age 78
Over the next several days, weeks, and months, this most recent occurrence, the attempted assassination of Former President Donald J. Trump, will be the major topic on most every news network around the world. It will likely be the ongoing drumbeat of the Republican National Convention. It will likely be the hot button topic during the remainder of the 2024 Presidential campaign.
I’m guessing we will be overwhelmed with reliving the sounds of a would-be-assassin’s bullet piercing the air, the picture of President Trump reaching up to touch his ear and immediately hitting the deck to get out of harm’s way while the Secret Service jumped to protect him as they unflinchingly laid their bodies over his, raising their hands to cover his head and making themselves the sacrificial targets.
And then, upon arising on that platform, the likely iconic history-making picture of Trump with an adrenaline rush of defiance, pumping his arm while declaring, “Fight. Fight. Fight.”
As we watched, stunned at the events unfolding before us, and as we continued to hear gunshots, little did we know that one of those gunshots took out the would-be-assassin. Little did we know of the three spectators who got hit, one mortally wounded as he used his body as a shield in order to protect his wife and daughters.
As of this writing, there is so much we don’t know.
We don’t know why the Secret Service did not have the rooftops covered. We don’t know why there appears to be a ladder leaning on the side of the building leading to the roof. We don’t know why it appears they had the shooter in their sites but did nothing until he apparently got off multiple shots, killing one and wounding three others, two critically.
We don’t know why the main target of the attempt was the one least injured. We don’t know why a 20 year-old with no criminal background had to be taken out because he attempted to murder Donald J. Trump.
I repeat, there is so much we don’t know.
I am not going to try to explain things with biblical platitudes or deep theological perspectives about the end times. I am going to ask you to do the following:
1. Pray. Thank God for His protection over President Trump and feel no guilt or shame for asking Him why in protecting Trump He didn’t also protect the others who were shot. In my mind’s eye I’m trying to imagine telling the wife and daughters who lost their husband and father how thankful I am that Donald Trump survived his “ear piercing”. Even though I am extremely thankful, I can’t imagine telling them that.
So, as you pray for the Trump family, remember to pray also for the family of the slain former fire chief for Buffalo Township, PA, Corey Comperatore, as well as the other victims of the shootings and their families.
2.
Pray ... Pray for America. It’s sometimes hard to remember we’re on the winning side in the midst of tragedy and loss. It sometimes doesn’t
feel like we’re on the winning side. And by winning and losing, I’m not referring to Democrats vs. Republicans and vice versa. I’m referring to the spiritual battles being waged in the physical. Good versus evil. Right versus wrong. God versus satan.
America is at a crossroads.
The fight is real.
As things are being shaken out, as more evil is being exposed, as undoubtedly more violence is in our near-term future, we must press into God more than ever. We
must hear from the Lord and remain Holy
Spirit-led.
3.
Put feet to our prayers. I know I’m basically preaching to the choir. You are the people who are engaged in this war. You are the action takers, not the thumb suckers. We need to up our game in persuading others to join us and take action.
I know it’s mid-summer in Minnesota, but now is the time to start planting seeds and inviting more people from your spheres of influence to their local Community Action Team. We need more who will get educated and engage. We need more people registered to vote. We need more people to show up and vote. We need more people to become election judges and poll observers.
We need people who aren’t involved to get involved.
Invite them ... Encourage them ... Challenge them.
We must overwhelm the opposition at the polls in this upcoming election.
With all of the information being texted to me as I’ve spent hours writing this little piece, I really don’t know how to wrap it up. So, I’m simply going to say I’m wrapping this up . . . for now.
Stay tuned for more.
God bless us! God bless America!
