{"id":69,"date":"2016-03-18T18:13:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T18:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2016\/03\/if-i-had-coffee-with-the-donald.html"},"modified":"2016-03-18T18:13:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T18:13:00","slug":"if-i-had-coffee-with-the-donald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2016\/03\/if-i-had-coffee-with-the-donald.html","title":{"rendered":"If I Had Coffee with The Donald"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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Suppose I had coffee with Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Suppose also that we got a little competitive and started a chess game as we sipped. About mid-point in the game, he had taken two of my pawns, one bishop, and one knight. I, however, had three of his pawns, a bishop, one knight, his queen, and both of his rooks. Clearly, I\u2019m ahead in the game, but I\u2019ve got a long way to go. He still has five pawns, one bishop, one knight, and a king. And while I have more pieces on the board, I\u2019m vulnerable because of the placement of those pieces. Positionally, he\u2019s gaining on me, and I\u2019m starting to sweat a little.<\/p>\n

Okay, a lot. I don\u2019t want to lose to the Donald. In fact, I\u2019m desperate to win. And so, I let my pride and nervousness get the best of me. I stand up, flip over the chess board, scatter all the pieces, and declare a victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, fellow coffee addicts! Look at me. I won! I beat Donald Trump at chess! I knew I\u2019d win. I knew it all along. I\u2019m so good at chess, Donnie never had any hope. Honestly, I had him in the first five moves. I\u2019m so great. I\u2019m awesome and he\u2019s chopped liver. I\u2019m sick of people losing to Donald, and I am going to teach him a lesson. Every time I play him, I\u2019m going to beat him. Because I\u2019m a winner. The word \u201close\u201d isn\u2019t even in my vocabulary. I don\u2019t know how to lose. I won, because winning is what I do. Win, win, win. That\u2019s what I do. I always win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pretty pathetic, huh? But from the outside looking in, it would seem that this is what Trump has done in the primaries. He has overturned the chess board and assumed, without any real proof, that he will be dubbed the winner. And the media has backed him one hundred and thirty percent. Cruz? Who\u2019s Ted Cruz? No, he doesn\u2019t get any airtime, because Donald says he\u2019s going to win, and in all \u201cfairness\u201d, Donald has more votes and what Donald stomps his feet for, goes. So let\u2019s assume it\u2019s as Donald says. Donald wins. He\u2019s our man \u2013 at least until the general election, and then we\u2019ll drop him like hot, burnt toast.<\/p>\n

Folks, Donald is almost half way<\/i> to securing 1237 delegate votes. If he does not secure all 1237 votes, he doesn\u2019t get the nomination \u2013 unless someone pulls a fast one \u2013 and they might. There\u2019s a lot of voting to be done. Cruz is behind Donald, yes. But just like our imaginary chess game, there\u2019s a lot of playing to be done before a winner is determined. Rubio is now out. Kasich is staying in for his own \u2026. perceived upcoming glory, or whatever. I fail to understand the man. Point is, a win for Cruz is still doable.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWell what can I do? I\u2019m just little ol\u2019 me and nothing I do counts anyway. Harrumph<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well the first obvious thing is to think right, and that\u2019s not thinking right. We have privileges and duties as Christian citizens of this country, and the two most obvious ones are to vote and pray.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to get into whether our votes count. There are theories behind that belief, and some of them have fairly good arguments. But the fact is, if the people don\u2019t vote, a Republican candidate doesn\u2019t get elected. And the other fact is that \u201cmy vote doesn\u2019t count\u201d is more often than not a cop out, so \u2026 I\u2019ll just ask you straight up to please not be that way.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a verse that shows the heart of how God dealt with Israel. It goes like this:<\/p>\n

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and I will heal their land.<\/i> ~2 Chronicles 7:14<\/p>\n

So we need to vote, because voting is a stewardship issue and we are to be good stewards of all that God has given us. And clearly, God has given overabundantly. Next, we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. I find it interesting that we usually pick up on the prayer part of that verse and we never talk much about humility, seeking His face, or turning from our wicked ways. This is<\/b><\/i> a call to prayer. But more than that, it\u2019s a call to repentance \u2013 a complete turnabout. A total turning away from all of our iniquities.<\/p>\n

Sounds like a boat load of work.<\/p>\n

But wouldn\u2019t a healed nation be a phenomenal reward for our labor?<\/p>\n

Even if we don\u2019t see it in our lifetime?<\/p>\n

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