Trump, Finger Pointing, and the Kingdom 

On Saturday, July 13^th, a man tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump. Thankfully, he survived. Sadly, one man did not, and two others are in critical condition. The shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by return fire from United States Secret Service.  

Fingers are already pointing in every direction imaginable and some that are unimaginable. As I write this Sunday morning, I am sure by midweek, when this publishes, many more elaborate theories and accusations will surface.  

I write this to brothers and sisters in Christ, those of you who have surrendered your lives to Jesus, been born again by the Holy Spirit, and seek to live as sons and daughters of our Father.  

The issue in our country is not left or right. It is not the media. It is not the sycophants who slovenly leach on to their heroes. It is not video games, Hollywood, or rap music.  

The issue is the world, what the Apostle Paul calls the “domain of darkness” (Colossians 1:14).  

Biblically, the world is the domain of those who have yet given their lives to Jesus. The world can be summed up in one word – chaos. People in the world are subject to the self-serving lusts of sin. In sin, Cain rose up and killed his brother Abel, because of jealousy. That was one generation removed from Adam and Eve. Six generations later a man named Lamech killed another man and actually bragged about it!   

Biblically, we believe, at least we are supposed to believe, that the world is ruled by Satan himself. Three times Jesus calls him, “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11). Look at the severity of the Apostle John’s words in 1 John 5:19, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”  

The world is supposed to be chaotic and violent. We should not be surprised by, or emotionally stirred up by, any degree of government conspiracies. We should not be surprised by shootings, corporate thievery, or racial hostility.  

Jesus was crucified by an unjust government collaboration between two entities that did not like each other, Jews and Romans.  

Why can we be so easily caught up in the chaos and conspiracies of the world?  

Can we not easily see from Jesus and His disciples that no geo-political government was ever planned to be the hope of the world? The solution to the world’s plight is not the world’s government, in any form! 

The solution to the problem is the Kingdom of God. Jesus, and the advancing of our Father’s Kingdom, stand opposed to the world. Our calling is first to live in the abundance of Jesus – to receive and enjoy the love and faithfulness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And then we are called to offer hope to the world through the preaching and sharing of the Gospel!  

If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus and are not engaged in making disciples then I urge you to shut up about your worldly complaints and conspiracies! You are guilty of contributing to the chaos of the very world Jesus opposes.  

If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus understand that man’s greatest need is to be loved, to discover that someone in this world cares about them, to have their hearts and minds opened to the Creator of the Universe.  

In 2010, when I was considering my future after being let go from the church I was pastoring, I had the vision of reaching the city of Houston. God our Father corrected me through the Holy Spirit saying, “I do not want the city, I want the people of the city.” It was a good correction. What is Houston? Depending on where you draw the lines, Houston is 7 million individual people who need to be saved, healed, restored, loved, trained, and sent on mission. Individual people that need to be rescued from the “domain of darkness, and transferred…to the Kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).  

I am sad that our country has deteriorated this badly. I am sad that a man tried to assassinate Donald Trump. I am sad that other people had to die and are currently in critical condition. I am sad for all the finger pointing.  

Mostly, I am sad that so many followers of Jesus are caught up in the chaos of the world and are far afield from the life and mission graciously gifted to us. Life in the overflow is not of this world or for this world. Life in the overflow is opposed to the world. And life in the overflow is the only hope we have to offer.