Читать книгу God’s Man in the White House - James A Beverley - Страница 8

Foreword by Larry Willard

You did not have to be a prophet to predict that Donald Trump would contend for distinction as the most controversial president to hold that office in American history. From the day he emerged out of one of the most combative nominations in Republican history, and then one of the most contentious elections in American history, Donald Trump has polarized US politics like no one before him. Yet, alongside these realities, one of the most interesting side facts is that he has overwhelmingly been embraced by a significant part of the Evangelical community throughout the USA.

Trump’s many prevalent and visible traits are not the usual qualities that attract Christians, especially Evangelicals, to a leader. He is somewhat an enigma, with endless adversaries always ready to broadcast and highlight his unchristian side as a brash self-promoter, a verbal brawler, a casino owner, a womanizer, and worldly focused. Yet, these are paradoxically offset by the fact that he is privately highly disciplined, sober, often generous, a clever businessman, a devoted father, and the most pro-life president ever, who, since his election, has surrounded himself with a bounty of men and women of Christian faith and has made the defense and even promotion of religion, religious issues, and traditional values a hallmark and key component of his image and presidency.

This book does not try to itemize, legitimize, analyze, litigate, or defend the many issues or contentious opinions that exist around Trump; rather, we present documentation that, even before his nomination win, a number of prophets predicted he would not just become president of the USA in 2016—uprooting corruption in American politics—but also reverse the lengthy deterioration of traditional US values.

I am aware that many publishers are averse to presenting the prophetic material referenced in these pages, mostly because of the fear that such material can be a death kiss to the credibility of a publisher. Professor Beverley and I both realize that our intentions and integrity might be questioned by publicizing the prophecies to the public or even by simply doing a book about Donald Trump. However, as you will notice, we present the prophecies without much commentary. We are leaving it up to the readers to make their own judgments about Trump, Republicans, Democrats, the USA, and the accuracy or importance of prophecy to the saga of Donald Trump.

Our interest in the topic of Donald Trump in modern Christian prophecy arises from two factors. First, for Professor Beverley, as he notes in his introduction, his investigation of Trump prophecies arises out of four decades of study of charismatic and Pentecostal prophecy. He has lectured on prophecy-related topics all over the world, including a presentation on the Trump aspect at an international conference in Taiwan in 2018. He has also written frequently on modern Christian prophecy, including his book Holy Laughter & The Toronto Blessing (Zondervan, 1995). So, there is an academic angle to this current book.

There is a second and very personally compelling reason—my own interest in the Trump presidency and prophesies concerning his work in the White House, related to my own unusual experience. It was a personal encounter and is one of only two or three such incidents that I have ever experienced. The incident converted my view about Trump as it relates to his selection or at least favor by God for the job as president at this moment in history.

Before I had heard there were people of various prophetic camps making predictions about Trump’s political future and identity, one evening I was sitting and thinking about how far Trump had gone in the candidacy selection of the Republican Party, with such fervent opposition from so many segments of the established party faithful and his use of such unconventional approaches. I wondered if it was good for him to win the top job. I didn’t doubt his skills and acumen in business and communication, as no one becomes a billionaire without a lot of shrewdness, discipline, and savvy. I also reminded myself that he was not running for the head of a religious denomination, so maybe being a Christian was not the most important quality to meet the need for a leader of America at this time.

Then, quite suddenly, I felt compelled to look up Isaiah 45. I ignored the impulse at first, thinking it was odd and untimely, and I could not remember the topic of the chapter, so why should I look at it? But the sense that I needed to look at that chapter finally apprehended me, and I pulled out my Bible, and I looked it up. My eyes fell on the words in verse 4: “I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me.” This is a reference to Cyrus, the king of Persia, who was chosen by God to help the Jewish people. I read the whole chapter, and the words struck me and, point after point, seemed to say, “This is why Trump will be selected.” Most striking to me were these verses:

“I will go before you

and level the exalted places,

I will break in pieces the doors of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron,

I will give you the treasures of darkness

and the hoards in secret places.” (45:2–3)

I wondered if all the Trump-talk about “draining the swamp” had somehow subconsciously impacted my bias and I was merely reading into these verses that Trump would be used to level the exalted ones in Washington, as a kind of Cyrus type.

Since that experience, I have followed the Trump saga closely and, like others, have been amazed at what Trump has endured. If you consider the host of opposition, as fierce and overwhelming as it has been, you might wonder what Trump is made of. The arrows came from traditional and untraditional opponents, both expected and unexpected, from anticipated opposition groups like the liberal Democratic party, the liberal establishment in government, and the liberal part of the media.

But then it grew to new unexpected opposition, including elite members of his own Republican party and elite leaders within the CIA, FBI, and DOJ. The Democratic House even took the extraordinary step of putting forward articles of impeachment against the president.

If Mr. Trump survives and endures all of this and wins another election, as some of these prophesies declare, then we might suspect we have been in the presence of real prophets.

“Only God” could do what is prophesied for Donald Trump this year and in the next term. Only God can take a Cyrus and use him to fulfill the ultimate divine will and plan.

It will not be long before we find out if the prophets are right about Trump in the looming November election. Of course, if Trump loses, that will have to count as evidence that there is something wrong in modern Christian prophecy.

As Professor Beverley notes, the prophetic element should not be the deciding factor in judgment and analysis of President Trump. First, Christian prophets can be seriously wrong, as in predictions that Romney would win in 2012. Second, the prophets sometimes disagree with each other, though on Trump there is virtual unity and commendation. Third, the more important factors for judging the president involve issues of moral character, political acumen, financial health, and social betterment. Nevertheless, the prophetic element is a significant aspect, and we trust that this vast collection is a useful resource.

We have done our part by assembling the major prophecies about Trump in the context of ongoing social and political storms and have saved our readers dozens of hours of searching through the hundreds of prophetic writings that are available. Readers will notice that we have included entries from diverse perspectives (and inclusion of any entry does not necessarily mean endorsement). To avoid endless repetition, we have not put “alleged” when referencing a prophet or prophecy.

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Larry N. Willard, MDiv, is founder and publisher for Castle Quay Books Canada. He has held several major senior management positions with top 100 corporations and served for 9 years in various VP roles for Tyndale University in Toronto. Castle Quay Books titles have been nominated for over 70 publishing awards by various groups and have won 29 of those nominations.