Why (For Now) I Choose Trump
I am aware of the “convictional” divide between Christians
who choose Donald Trump over Cruz and those who choose Cruz over Donald Trump. For now, I am one of those who choose Donald Trump,
and I feel it necessary to become a little vulnerable about my personal history
in an attempt to explain why I DO NOT TRUST CRUZ.
For the longest time I have not trusted Cruz, but could not
put my finger on why I felt that way … that was until I saw the latest ads Cruz
put out attacking Trump. If you have
seen the ads airing in Iowa, you know what I mean. Cruz takes sound bites (out of context) in
order to deceive people about what Trump is really all about. Contrariwise, Trump has never, to this point,
lied or deceived anyone about any other candidate. He may say things that people don’t like, but
he has not lie or deceived people. In
fact, Donald Trump has led the agenda of the political race while, early on,
taking heat for doing so. But … Donald
Trump did not back down or apologize … in fact … he stuck to his guns, and now,
everyone is agreeing with practically everything Donald Trump espoused was
important to this country to focus upon.
I’ll keep this as short as possible; however, I believe it is
vital to why people like me DO NOT TRUST CRUZ.
I have worked for men like Cruz and Trump in my personal history. Let me begin with men like Donald Trump:
I will not discuss the place nor name of this particular
individual … but the principle of the relationship is what I want to
reveal. This man claimed to be a
Christian, although I don’t believe he was based upon the dirty jokes he told, and
the profane words that came out of his mouth … but … I would still trust my
family to this man to this day because of how I saw him treat his employees …
and … specifically me. I NEVER saw him
be dishonest with how he dealt with another individual. On one occasion I was seriously injured on
the job. I had used all my vacation time
already, but the recovery was to be about two weeks. When I returned to work I discovered two
extra weeks in my pay stub. I went to
him and reminded him that I had already used my time, and he told me that he
docked himself pay to help me out because I was a good worker, and he knew we
needed the income. He was also the type
of leader that would leave his desk and come out to help us accomplish our
tasks when the day was at its busiest. On
one occasion I had left that job to Pastor a small church, and upon resigning that church because
the people said, “We know what you are doing is right, but we don’t want to do
it, so why do you want to stay,” he took me back at a 3 dollar per hour
raise.
This man reminds me of Donald Trump. Trump says he is saved, although I don’t
believe it by some of the things he says and does (although I could be wrong) …
but … for now … I trust him based on knowing people LIKE him in my past.
Now let’s talk about Ted Cruz. I have known men like Ted Cruz in my life as
well. Men who cloak themselves in religious garb, men who are respected by
their peers, and men who will stab you in the head like you are a zombie. Why do I say this? I say this because I have worked with men like
Ted Cruz in churches. Again, I will not
divulge names, or places, but I believe it is important for you to know WHY I
don’t trust Ted Cruz or men like him.
At one church I worked for the pastor asked me to do two
things (in close proximity to each other) that were, in my opinion
unethical. On one occasion he had his
secretary walk into the room where I was teaching a Bible class and asked me if
I would accompany her to the Pastors office.
When I got outside of the classroom I asked her what this was all about,
and she proceeded to inform me that there was a couple waiting in the Pastors
office that he was supposed to marry but forgot about. She said the Pastor called her and told her
to tell me that I was to marry them at that moment. Of course, I said I could not do that. The marriage vows and getting married are
important to do that flippantly. Even today I
will not marry someone unless they both agree to go through Discipleship
together so they can know WHY they are getting married. When the Pastor found out I said I could not
do this he was livid at me, but he knew what he asked me to do was unethical …
so he couldn’t do anything about it.
The next occasion occurred a few months later. The basketball team was playing in the game
before the State Tournament was to begin.
You’ve got to understand … success in basketball was huge to this
man. During the game (a meaningless game
with a non conference opponent) before the State Tournament was to begin, one
of their star players was ejected from the game, and due to conference policy
(which was loosely enforced due to a slack conference leadership), was to miss
the next game. The next game was against
a team that had beaten them earlier. The
Pastor and one of his assistants approached me and told me not to report the
ejection to the conference because the game in which it occurred was a
meaningless game. I said that I could
not do that, and they continued to try to justify and put pressure upon me as
to why it was unnecessary to report the infraction. I reported the ejection, and I knew my days
were numbered and that I could not stay if I wanted to enjoy my involvement in
ministry. This spiritual leader is
respected by his peers to this day; however, based upon the ads recently put
out by Ted Cruz, Cruz reminds me of this man who is respected by his peers but
will stab you in the back without blinking to fast forward his agenda, all the time keeping his cozy relationships
in tact while others deal with the consequences of “his” actions.
On another occasion at a different place I was going to “plant”
a church, but God moved, with the help of several leading pastors in that State
Association, to direct me in a different direction. The Pastors met with me and directed me to a
dying church with 20 members that was on a property worth 5 million dollars (we
didn’t know that at the time, but the church went out of business and it sold
for 5 million dollars). They (the dying
church) voted me in 100%, and I believed because these men were leaders in the Association
that everything was square. I went to
the President of the Association (just to be on the up and up) and explained to
him that several Pastors had directed me away from my original plan to “plant”
a church (it all happened very quickly) because there was a small church (that
could seat 600) that would fold if it didn’t have proper leadership. I was asking him if his/The Associations would
still support us for one year due to this incredible opportunity. He said the Association was going to help me “plant”
a church, but that “they” (what he really meant was he) were not going to help
me revive a church because he had never seen that happen before. At the time, for this to work, I really
needed the help I was promised to get things going because of certain
situations. When he said no I was devastated.
I reminded him of a church “plant” that he had spawned 5
years earlier where this other pastor (and this pastor did, and is doing a
fantastic job as of this day) had been given over 50 people from another church
in order to begin a church “plant.” I
said that the only difference is that we have an existing building that is paid
off (how much better can you ask for it to happen), and 20 people that voted me
in at 100% to help revitalize that church.
I asked if this could be presented to the Association and he said, “No. I’ve made my decision.”
At this point I called another pastor that I trusted and
asked him what I should do. I explained what
the leader of the Association had said about not continuing to support me if I
stayed at that church. I had already
been voted in 100%, but this pastor strongly advised me to go back to the
church and say that we would have another vote, and if they wanted me to stay
that I would have the power of leading pastors behind me. Well, according to their constitution we had
to announce the vote one service ahead of time.
I announced this on Sunday Evening for the vote to be on Wednesday. During this 3 day span the former pastor had
decided he didn’t want to retire and began calling all his members and lying
about what I was going to do to their church (remember … I had only preached 1
time at this church and had said nothing about what my plans may or may not be). He had been on the phone so much that he had practically
lost his voice (he was the founder of this church so, right or wrong, people
were influenced by him). He kept calling
me and asking if I was still going to have the vote (because according to their
constitution the pastor could not be voted out unless he wanted to leave …
there was no “vote of confidence” in their constitution), because no matter what
I could be the pastor if I wanted to stay.
But I was a young man and didn’t have experience with this political
stuff. If it were to happen today my
actions would be entirely different. But
I was young and naive. I stood up that
Wednesday, said what I was going to say, and we had the vote. The pastor had gotten to enough people to win
the vote by one vote. Nobody raised their
hands quickly for a no vote; even his wife raised her hand very slowly and
looked at me with a sympathetic expression on her face. So … I walked out the door never to
return. The sad thing is it could have
been very different had this certain spiritual leader saw the potential in me
and in what I wanted to accomplish in that area.
Being a young man and not experienced with the politics of
religion, I didn’t know what to do. So I began to process of planting a church
and following the leadership of God until this very day. I know God knows all things and he has
directed our paths in spite of what people have done to us, but I often ask
myself how things could have been different had this spiritual leader acted
upon the potential of this situation.
That church today is gone, and an opportunity to influence an incredibly
fast growing and influential area was lost.
I will stop there. But
Cruz reminds me of men like I have described who will distort the truth and
attack people in order to accomplish their agenda. And if you, in good conscience stand up
against them, you are attacked for doing so.
This is WHY I CANNOT STAND WITH CRUZ. I know and have known men like him
and I DON’T TRUST HIM/THEM.
If Trump proves that he cannot be trusted then I will have to
consider who I would vote for, but I WILL NOT VOTE FOR A MAN LIKE CRUZ because I
have known and been affected by men like him in my life. And I know many men who feel the same as I do
… hopefully I have adequately expressed their heart as well.
Live OUT LOUD!
Mark Harrell – President and Founder of www.rufitministries.weebly.com
