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The WattGRAM 
A measure of Salt and Light

I'm in.

2/6/2020

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​Social graces require that there are three things never to be discussed in polite company:  Politics, religion, and money. 
 
All my life, I have never been one to discuss politics.  Mostly, I have been not been interested.  As I have gotten older, I am at least more aware and better prepared to discuss politics, if cornered.  Still, my peace-keeping personality generally shies away from bringing up subjects with political themes.
 
Until now….
 
Politics are supposed to be about ideologies; their built around how you see the world.  Isn’t everything?  I see the world through a Judeo-Christian worldview.  That means, I understand things through the way I’ve been taught to understand the Bible.  Interestingly enough, the Bible is also given to many different interpretations.  It has always amazed me that a Supreme Court that evaluates everything based on one document (The Constitution) is generally split 5-4.  Aren’t they all looking at the same document?  The Bible is like that.  Aren’t we all reading the same book?  And yet, we have hundreds of Christian denominations. 
 
So, I understand that my worldview is MY worldview and I admit that I could be wrong on certain topics.  Somebody has to be! We can’t all be right. However, we all have convictions.  These aren’t preferences.  These are my convictions.   Based on my worldview, I believe abortion is wrong.  I believe we need to stand with Israel because they are God’s chosen people.  I believe traditional marriage is between a man and a woman.  I believe in eternity and the only way to get there is through the person of Jesus Christ.  In my lifetime, these beliefs that were once mainstream have become marginalized and even now are considered dangerous.  The Bible spawns ‘hate speech’.  At this is mostly because it makes my view look different than yours.  Narrow-mindedness? Please.
 
The Democrats took the name “God” out of their party platform in 2012.  When they tried to reinstate it in 2016, it elicited boos and controversy.  Apparantly the separation of church and state, which was an integral part of the founding of our country, now has a new meaning.    They have left God out altogether.  At least, they have left the God of my Judeo-Christian worldview behind.
 
Today, the political fight is not about ideology.  It is about light versus darkness.  It’s a stark struggle between good and evil.   Donald Trump is not the enemy.  Our enemy is not flesh and blood, but the rulers, authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.   Jesus, a man who came for the good of the world, was crucified by the religious and political leaders of his day.  While Donald Trump is no Jesus, he is light to a dark world and the darkness can not abide it.  They are trying to crucify him also.
 
The reason I can no longer be silent about politics is that it’s now overtly spiritual.  Christians, or at least those who share the Judeo-Christian worldview of the traditional evangelical community can no longer be silent.  I know I won’t win friends this way.  I know I’ll lose family relationships, but to be silent while babies are being murdered for body parts when they are still in the womb is unthinkable anymore. 
 
As David Platt says in his book “Counter Culture”, every Christian can do three things:
  1. Stand
  2. Pray
  3. Vote
 
Not every Republican is good and not every Democratic is bad.  But the battle lines of spiritual warfare have been drawn between light and darkness.  I’ve waited long enough.  I’m in.
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    Jeff Smith is Director of Salt & Light Ministries and President of Jeff Smith Ministries, both based near Richmond, VA. He holds advanced degrees in Communications and Worship Arts from Regent University and Liberty University respectively. 
     
    Jeff is a featured performer and master teacher at national and international training conferences and seminars in drama, worship arts, music ministry, teacher training, children’s ministry, and creative arts. 
     
    Jeff currently resides in Richmond, VA, with his wife Debbie.  They have two sons, Benjamin, Samuel and a dynamite dog named Stryder. Benjamin is married to Alyssa They have a son named Koen.

    For a complete resume go
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  • Home
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      • Penal, Trinidad
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      • Johannesburg, South Africa
      • Jakarta, Indonesia, 2018
      • Germany-Brussels
      • Manilla, Philippines
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