I wish I were wiser, but even after my last blog, I have found myself fascinated with the utterances of the crew: Lance Walnau, Dutch Sheets, Bill Johnson et al….and as mentioned previously, the institutionalist, Pat Robertson has officially dropped out of the race, but the spirits of Lance, Dutch and others haven’t seemed to waiver in the slightest, although Dutch does seem to be showing signs of fatigue.
Neither am I now particularly fixated on the elections, it being what it was and the fall out, in terms of how the church, the Charismatic prophets, the US at large and the entire geopolitical stratosphere responds is no longer my acute concern. Anyone who has followed my blogs over the last ten years will recognize that my particular interest has always been on the intersectionalities of religion and politics.
What I find interesting of late is the quintessentially Charismatic notion of the long heralded ‘third wave’, ‘latter rain outpouring’ ‘end time harvest’ concept, so oft repeated as to now be as significant a doctrinal marker in the movement as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit itself. Myself having written extensively on the subject, what interests me is the conceptualization of these central figures in the American church and how that intersects with their unrepentantly enthusiastic wholesale endorsement of the Trump era…..in fact, how much this worldview shaped and others would say enabled Trumpism….and how all this augurs for the ‘what next’.
I can leave the prophetic post mortems to people like Dr. Michael Brown much better positioned to bring a measure of balance to the extremists. But I cant help but voice at least one of my theological concerns – Every time Dutch mentions (and he does it often enough, quite unconsciously I suppose …. which is the beauty of it) that God ‘needs’ America….that’s the part which I just don’t get – Why America should consider themselves ‘necessary’ – whether to God or humanity. And they have done a good enough job of convincing themselves and for the most part the rest of us too. But how theologically, how philosophically, how historically, how logically, practically or realistically sound is that sort of thinking?
Having voiced the question, I actually have no impetus to continue to address the geo-politics just yet. I have heard Lance’s opinions …. personally unconvincing. Perhaps someone might consider themselves qualified to better translate Walnau to me, or otherwise settle the question?
YeKengalé 