As always, let me remind you that if my message doesn’t call your name, you should not listen. This is not about my credibility; it’s about the divine message that moves in the hearts of men. If your heart does not affirm my message, then I’m just making noise.
In my drive to make an honest report of what my heart tells me, I’m compelled to deal with something that has been popping up in the news lately: allegations that the vote fraud in some states is a well established legal fact. I’m not ignoring this stuff. However, some would probably wonder how this affects my self-imposed silence in what was once a prophetic ministry.
Keep in mind what I contend are my underlying philosophical assumptions. I judge myself by the same standards I promote for everything else. It’s not a question of exact quotes in writing; referring to what I actually wrote is not the issue. The issue is what I was trying to get across at the time: I believed in my heart that Trump was going to win in the legal challenges to the vote count. That conviction still stands, despite what we see in the real world up to now. It’s a disconcerting mismatch.
Nor is this a question of liking Trump; I do not. I wasn’t disappointed that Trump was pushed out of the Oval Office, despite liking his successor even less. I was disappointed that my convictions didn’t seem to bear out in reality. I still believe that he was appointed as God’s scourge, and I still believe he failed that mission. However, whether Trump obeyed his commission is one thing, and whether he wins in the courts is another. So if this background noise of ongoing legal challenges gets anywhere in the long run, would that change my decisions? Would this somehow vindicate my words?
Of course it would change things — some things. It won’t change my underlying sense of divine calling, since my apparent failure did not affect it, either. It will change what I consider to be the open doors through which I can pass in that calling. I would mean my prophetic gift is not so questionable. The biblical standard remains the same; I still have a heavy burden in claiming to represent God’s moral character and reputation.
The old blog is going to disappear regardless. That’s a matter of WordPress reneging on their promises. More importantly, it’s a much bigger issue of censorship via a hundred different ways. Redesigning the software to fight people whose brains work as mine does, to interfere with the writing and publication process, is still censorship in effect. Whatever else happens, I’ve lost that audience. It’s time to move on.
But there are plenty of other virtual mission fields ready for the harvest. I’m already exploring them.
Take a moment to go back to that question linked above. What would it take to vindicate my convictions? I’m no legalist, but I did say then that it would be the law courts, and my convictions still stand on that. Unless there’s a judge somewhere that’s going to do the right thing, then I’m still having to deal with a sense of conviction that doesn’t match the real world. Some of that is altogether natural; we should always feel strongly led against a fallen world. What most people call “reality” is just a huge lie. Still, whether I can communicate the gospel is affected by the outcome. I can’t ask people to follow me as shepherd if I can’t discern the difference between what God likes and what God actually intends to do.
I don’t think any of my readers doubt that God hates Biden and everyone behind him. But that’s a separate issue from whether God will use him in the short term. It’s the question of how God intends to portray His biases. If I claim to commune with Him, you shouldn’t listen to me if I can’t accurately portray what He’s actually doing. If things in the courts somehow turn around and start favoring Trump, then it’s just a matter of drama and delay, and that’s always in God’s hands. If not a single judge favors Trump’s claims, which is the crux of what I proclaimed, then I can’t lead. It has nothing to do with Trump actually returning to the White House.
That’s where it stands, folks. In the meantime, I can’t shut up about my faith. Did you think this was an issue of self-doubt? I still have all the confidence in the world about the underlying assumptions, if not my own words. I’m going to share one way or another. It won’t be on WordPress, so I’ve been looking at other ways to make noise.
Side note: This blog depends in part on the old blog. When I close my WordPess.com account (likely first of August), this one stops being nearly as useful. I lose the subscription and notification functions. I won’t be able to comment on other WordPress blogs that require an account. It’s likely this blog will become silent. My online fellowship will become centered on the forum, and I’ll do my blogging there.
I’m still planning to see in the long run a fellowship in meat-space grow up around my faith. My confidence in God’s Word is going to draw others; it never fails. It may take a while yet, but it will not fail. That’s my faith. But there remains a fellowship of faith already online. How can I make the most of the virtual tools to do with that fellowship all the things fellowship is supposed to do? That’s what I’m working on.
Working with a couple of other folks, I’m trying to find a way to fire up a diaspora* server that we get to control. We can then become part of a very large global online audience, yet protect our data, and avoid censorship. For now, I’m asking an old friend who happens to lease a server in a very good place that can offer excellent service — highly reliable with a very fast network connection. Diaspora’s social network is somewhat like Facebook, but with none of the hassles. There are other social networks, but this one gives us the greatest control over our participation.
It would be an excellent way to serve a virtual fellowship, and it opens doors to communications within a meat-space congregation, as well. It will probably cost a bit of money; we’ll see what my friend feels he needs to make it work. He’s always served generously for what little I paid him in the past. Meanwhile, I wanted to answer the questions some of you alluded to in recent weeks.
Here’s the bottom line: All it takes is one judge in a court of law to side with Trump and his supporters. The published vote tallies will have to overturned in at least one jurisdiction. That will vindicate my prophetic declaration. I don’t care if it changes the political situation at all. It was never about that. Indeed, I suspect it will do nothing more than increase the tension and conflict with the current government remaining in office. I think it is likely to be a major element in the collapse of the federal government system somewhere down the road. It will certainly fire up some of Trump’s supporters, renewing their will to activism.
