“Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17 NKJV)

MY CHALLENGE

Upon getting my link to the video of President Trump giving glory in public to Jesus, a church leader advised me to examine the fruit of Trump’s words, attitudes, values and actions for, like many, he struggles to see the values of Jesus or a heart for His Kingdom in what he’s seen over the years. Accepting this challenge, I revisited 12 years of writing and being kept well-informed by weekly reports from the White House. So I’m posting this short series as an answer to the pastor’s objection.

SUMMARY of PREVIOUS

This summary includes items from Part 3 plus two items on Trump’s Scottish heritage from my asking in 2016 Is Donald Trump God’s Man For This Time?

• Days before Trump’s Inauguration BBC Songs of Praise from The Hebrides looked at his maternal ancestry on the Isle of Lewis [Tongs of Praise… (sic), The Scottish Sun 11.1 2017]
• Trump is honoured, supported and prayed for by black churches, one bishop of which attended his Inauguration. (Reuters stopped filming one occasion!)
• Prayer played a major role in his Inauguration, which featured more religious leaders than any other inauguration in history.
• Independent editor based in the White House reported, “I rejoice at the change because it has been very tough being in the White House press corps the last eight years…Fortunately, Trump, Pence…and the nominees are very pro-Christian, pro-Evangelical and pro-Israel. This is truly a new day for believers in Yeshua.”
• Furthermore, “not since Reagan’s presidency have all Christians been so welcome in every area of the White House as they are under Trump & VP. Pence.”
• October 2017, World Tribune published Desperate prayers by Trump’s great aunts in ‘sanctuary’ cottage said to spark Hebrides Revival in Scotland. It closes: ‘Online post in the 2017 National Day of Prayer asked: “Coincidence or Holy Ghost? Not only did the revival reach the sisters’ Island in Scotland but the Hebrides Revival became known around the world. Little did they know that their nephew would one day become the President of the United States of America.”.’
• As a child confirmed in a Presbyterian church and his parents “taught me the importance of faith and prayer from a young age”  Married to Bible-believing Melania, Trump regards himself as a non-denominational Christian.
• In 2019 he hosted a meeting at the UN on protecting religious freedom around the world and reminded world leaders that our rights do not come from government but from God, and explicitly called upon nations to end religious persecution.
• Referring to “God” eight times he’s first president to address ‘March For Life’ (2020)
• “For me it is worthy of note that I’ve never seen a president who loved prayer as much as Donald Trump — and that includes from those I voted for and those I didn’t” (Revd Bill Johnson).

FAITH APPLIED TO POLITICS

Having checked and learned that Donald Trump is a practising Christian we need to examine his heart for re-establishing Kingdom principles in America. Wayne Grudem, Professor of Theology and Bible Studies at Phoenix seminary, Arizona, has published List of 30 Good Things President Trump Has Done For America and we’ll find 7 relate to God’s Kingdom (please refer to and consider linked document’s full details):

‘1. Judges: Trump has appointed two Supreme Court justices, 53 federal appellate judges,⁴ and 146 District Court judges ⁵ (as well as two judges for the Court of International Trade⁶) who have been confirmed by the Senate so far. In addition, 64 more have been appointed and are awaiting Senate confirmation.⁷ All of them are committed to interpreting the Constitution and laws according to the original meaning of the words, rather than according to what a modern liberal judge thinks the law should have said….

‘4. Protecting unborn babies: Numerous executive orders have increasingly restricted government funding for abortions (such as the reinstatement of the Mexico City policy).¹⁵ On February 22, 2019, the Trump administration announced that it would not allow organizations that provide referrals for abortions to receive federal family-planning money, which implies a cut in funding for Planned Parenthood (the nation’s largest abortion provider) unless they perform abortions in a separate facility and not refer patients to it.¹⁶ ….

‘6. Standing with Israel: Reversing President Obama’s repeated marginalization and shunning of Israel, President Trump has reaffirmed our commitment to support and defend Israel. He decisively moved the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.²⁰ He recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel.²¹ He has welcomed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House several times and has repeatedly reaffirmed our support for Israel. I recently read in the Jerusalem Post a statement that Israel has never had a better friend in the White House than Donald Trump.²²

‘7. Negotiating a historic agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates: On August 13, 2020, President Trump announced that Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had come to a historic agreement to establish full diplomatic relations between the two countries,²³ including the establishment of permanent embassies and the beginning of direct airline flights between the two countries. This is important because Dubai, the largest city in the UAE, is the leading financial center in the Middle East and plays a leading role in world air travel and tourism. The agreement will “strengthen regional checks on Iranian power.”²⁴ It also has the potential to set a pattern for future agreements establishing peaceful relations between Israel and other Arab countries in the Middle East.²⁵

‘10. Religious freedom and freedom of conscience: President Trump’s administration has repeatedly and continually worked to defend religious freedom, and his Justice Department has defended religious freedom in numerous court cases, such as supporting the case of Colorado cake designer Jack Phillips at the Supreme Court (Phillips faced massive fines for politely declining to design a cake celebrating a same-sex wedding), ²⁸ and the right of faith-based organizations not to be forced to provide access to abortifacients through their health care plans, overturning the Obamacare HHS regulation that had forced them to do so.²⁹

‘19. Protecting boys’ and girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams: On February 22, 2017, President Trump directed the Department of Education to revoke the Obama-administration’s guidance letter that had directed schools to allow children who claim to be “transgender” to use the bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers of their choice, and to join sports teams of their choice, even when their choices differed from their biological sex.

‘In a related decision President Trump issued an executive order banning transgender persons from entering our military forces, which would have allowed biological males free access to women’s bathrooms, locker rooms and showers, and similarly allowed biological females to enter men’s facilities. Present Trump’s order was upheld by the Supreme Court which lifted the block on the order by a 5-4 vote. While litigation will continue, the order stands for now. ⁴⁸

‘30. Welcoming evangelical Christians into positions of influence: This may not be important to others, but, speaking as an evangelical Christian, I see it as a positive factor that, rather than marginalizing evangelical Christians (as was the practice of the Obama administration), President Trump has appointed a remarkably large number of evangelicals to high government offices…he has frequently welcomed evangelical pastors and other leaders to the White House, for public and private conversations…’

Wayne then writes,

‘The context: refusing to waiver in the face of the most biased reporting in American history: These 30 good actions have all been accomplished in spite of a remarkably hostile national media…. In addition, he has done all this while enduring 3 ½ years of “resistance” by a massive special counsel investigation (that came to nothing), impeachment by the House (that came to nothing), and numerous nationwide injunctions against his executive orders issued by individual US District Court judges. In this context, Trump’s resolute pursuit of the policies on which he campaigned seems to me to be commendable.’

The Professor briefly considers Biblical principles of rulership…and then asks:

‘So here is a question for my fellow Christians: If you believe (as I do) that God is sovereign over the affairs of nations, do you think that Donald Trump’s presidency has been an evidence of divine blessing or divine judgment? I admit perceiving divine purposes in human events is a task that cannot be proved with certainty one way or another but, when I look over this list of 30 actions, it appears to me to be far more characteristic of divine blessing than of divine judgment. If others disagree, I respect your right to have a different opinion, but that is my view.’

CONCLUSION

After examining a small sample of facts about President Trump’s faith and political work, as recounted in this series, I conclude that – contrary to an English pastor’s opinion – he really does put the highest value on the person of Jesus Christ and, as President, works to further God’s Kingdom.

Also, that public declaration giving glory to Jesus was not just for political show but an honest, personal statement acknowledging the truth of His Supremacy.

Therefore, if the people of the United States of America’s voting confirms his presidency then it will become a blessing and a global light in this world of increasing darkness.

Looking beyond the election at what’s being schemed behind the scenes, you may wish to read Only Donald Trump can save us from the ‘Great Reset’ (James Delingpole)?

READ ALL THIS SERIES’ PARTS:

1. 2008-2017 – Challenge and comparison
2. 2017-2020 – Dismantling Obama’s legacy
3. President Trump’s Personal Faith
4. President Trump’s Faith in Action.
5. President Trump’s Worship & Belief
6. Truth Social, and Bible Prophecy?

PS: 20th Anniversary of 9/11 –  Pres. Trump Shares 21 Days National Prayer Call