Trump’s Iowa Speech: Is He a Christian, or Just Pandering?

Former President Donald Trump, speaking in Waterloo, Iowa, on Tuesday, bashed the present occupant of the White House:

[Joe Biden] completely failed to even mention the birth of Jesus Christ, which is hard to do if you’re celebrating Christmas, right?

He didn’t mention Jesus Christ. Not for three years he hasn’t mentioned [Him], and barely mentioned God.

He then reminded his audience about the war against Christians, evoking memories of the FBI memo that targeted traditional Catholics as “potential terrorists,” warning that evangelical Christians could be next:

They are going after Christians. Americans of faith are not a threat to our country. Americans of faith are the soul of our country and they have been from the beginning.

He then sketched out his plan to create a federal task force aimed at “fighting anti-Christian bias.” He promised — and this was the key phrase — “When I’m back in the White House, never again will your government be used to target Christians and other religious beliefs.”

He didn’t say “us Christians,” just “Christians,” leading some to ask: Is he just pandering to evangelicals in his audience, or is he one of them?

Fortunately that question was answered nearly 20 years ago, in the affirmative. Televangelist Paula White was pastoring her Without Walls International Church, and Donald Trump stumbled across one of her sermons online. She said:

He was watching Christian television and [after calling me on the phone] he repeated back to me, literally verbatim, three of my sermons on the value of vision, and we started talking about God and the things of God.

I’ve had the wonderful privilege of not only being a friend but being a spiritual adviser and praying over him, his family [and] his staff. It’s been amazing to just watch him walk out his faith.

When quizzed about his conversion by NBC News, White added: “I know that Donald is saved. He’s absolutely received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.”

Said James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family:

Only the Lord knows the condition of a person’s heart. I can only tell you what I’ve heard. First, Trump appears to be tender to things of the Spirit. I also hear that Paula White has known Trump for years and that she personally led him to Christ….

This man is a baby Christian who doesn’t have a clue about how believers think, talk and act.

Christian pollster George Barna reported in his book The Day Christians Changed America about when he met with 40 evangelical leaders at a private meeting with Trump in the White House:

Among those present were David Jeremiah, Jan Crouch, Paula White, Robert Jeffress, Kenneth Copeland, and black pastors Darrell Scott and Clarence McClendon.

After the substantive portion of the meeting ended, many of the pastors and others present felt led to pray for Trump; they laid hands on him and asked for God’s blessing and guidance for this man…

Somewhere along the line it seems that Trump may have discovered enough spiritual truth to embrace Jesus Christ as his savior.

Paula White led Trump’s prayer team, which met on almost a daily basis in the Oval Office. That team included James Dobson; Jerry Falwell, Jr., president of Liberty University; Richard Land, seminary president and Southern Baptist leader; Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, charismatic Texas ministers; Mark Burns, pastor of Harvest Praise and Worship Center in South Carolina; James Robison, founder of LIFE Outreach International; Ronnie Floyd, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention; Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas; and David Jeremiah, senior pastor at Shadow Mountain Community Church in California.

Michelle Bachmann, Minnesota’s first female congressman, and Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, rounded out the top of the list of Trump’s spiritual advisors.

In the past God has used gravely flawed people to accomplish His purposes, including Moses, Jacob, David, Peter, and others. Who’s to deny that He isn’t using the flawed Donald Trump in the same way?

Related articles:

Trump More Comfortable With His Faith at Prayer Breakfast

Jesus’ Name Lifted Up at Trump’s Reelection Rally; Media All But Silent

Prayers for the President Continue in Washington and the White House