Stay Out of Politics!!!

Ever since I can remember, I have heard that no one should be involved in politics—especially Christians. I have heard it from well-meaning pastors that I have loved and respected over the years, proclaim this from pulpits—

perhaps not realizing that of all they preached that service, this one statement would be etched in the minds of their listeners for years to come. No scriptural principle or message outline will ever resurface, but the fact that the preacher said we are not to be involved in the political process—that will forever be mentioned at Sunday dinners across that land! And I will go a step farther, Satan has used this mishap of a principle to his advantage and to our Nation’s demise.

Just where this thought originated is puzzling to me, as the Bible is filled with examples of individuals that God used in the role of government. Samuel comes to mind. He was used to fulfill both political and priestly duties for Israel, but he ushers in Israel's monarchy mainly as a prophet—one who pronounces God's words and decisions.

Then, there is David. He was a strong but unassuming shepherd boy who was God’s choice to replace Saul as King of Israel. He was humble, yet confident in His God—always ready to dismiss opinions of others. As a youth, he portrayed great strength in the God of Israel. Further, he displayed humility when he refused the opportunity to use the king’s armor. When the shepherd finally became king, his foremost desire was to be obedient to God. I’m reminded that when David seemed to have embarrassed his wife because of his dancing as he marched into Jerusalem, he rebuked her saying he was completely fine with embarrassing himself…if it pleased God.

I also think of Joseph and how God orchestrated all the misgivings of his life to bring him to power in Egypt. Being one of the twelve sons of Jacob, it was because of his relationship with God that he was able to interpret Pharoah’s dreams and literally save Egypt from famine. Rewarding him, Pharaoh named him second in command of Egypt—which prospered during the drought under his leadership.

Additionally, Daniel must be included when we consider leaders of national and political significance. Though he was actually a prisoner of war, being taken from Jerusalem to Babylon, he would become the favored adviser of King Nebuchadnezzar. It was his faithfulness to God that would elevate him to an influential position in the kingdom. Even when the Persians overran Babylon, Daniel continued in his faithfulness to God; thus, he prospered under their rule.

We could literally go through the Scriptures and point out that the people of God have not only been involved in the political process of the nations, but that God raises up these people to lead. There is an old adage that I have used from time to time in speaking, “You can’t be so heavenly minded, that you are no ‘earthly’ good”—that very well could be flipped to say that someone is not of much heavenly value when they are consumed with the material things of earth.

The people I have met that believe we should never be involved in the political direction of the Nation or State, seem to wrongly believe that a believer most pleases God when they attend church services every time the doors are unlocked, and keeps their nose clean at home—by that I mean “not making much noise,” or “not living in open sin.” While confessing our sins to God daily and living uprightly is exactly what our Lord desires of His people, when exactly are we supposed to be salt and light to the world around us? Is not this a command from our Lord?

Let’s assume that your church meets three times weekly—twice on Sunday, and Wednesday evening for Bible study. Whether we like it or not, each of us live 165 additional hours a week IN THE WORLD. While the church-house should never be forsaken, being salt and light in this world SHOULD NEVER BE AVOIDED—rather it should be PRACTICED! For so long we have lived under the stigma that God doesn’t want us to be “involved” in this world. He only wants us to build churches, Christian schools, and build budgets. As a pastor, I can testify that church work permeates our home life—our lives revolve around church activities. However, the average person is not in local church ministry around the clock—they are in the secular world making a living for their families. To tell them not to live out their faith in the workplace would be totally against the teachings of the Word, yet many good men over the years have instilled into a generation that they should not live out their faith in the public square! As a result, we are now governed by a godless realm that tease and test God daily, as if they are challenging Him to a dual! They vehemently crucify the commandments of God on a daily basis—never considering or caring about consequences of any nature.

The pitiful statement, “Christians should never be involved in politics,” has cost us greatly as a Nation, as well as the Church. Only eternity could reveal how many babies we could have saved from the murderous knife of an abortionist, or how many minds of our young people have been contaminated to the point of no return—causing them to forever reject Christ ’s gospel, thus, damning their souls to hell, just so we can gloat to everyone that we served the Lord and stayed out of the political arena.

Can we say we have really “served the Lord in this matter?”

I am not a fan of anyone who will take the easy road of “not getting involved.” Our national sin is abortion where as of this writing, some 64 million babies have been murdered for the sake of convenience—the shirking of responsibility. Sexual intercourse creates new life. If a person isn’t married and ready to have children, then they need to learn self-control—stop murdering children because they are exercising their own lust and the next day they look at this step as a medical procedure to remove “a tumor” as it were! No! That child is a baby, a human being, that was created by two people that allowed their sexual lusts to do their thinking for them. Let’s call it what it is—it’s murder. It’s sin, and it is our national blight—proponents of abortion have simply used it as a “get out of jail free” card, to shirk the responsibility of their actions. The political system has only enabled this, many politicians taking their stand for the issue to gain votes at the ballot box to remain in power—specifically in liberal areas. I cannot help but think that if believers had been salt and light to this Country as we were commanded in the Word of God, this number could have been less—perhaps this number could have been zero!

Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

Salt is not antiseptic, but aseptic. It doesn’t cure corruption; at best it only prevents the spread of it. Had we been salt in this Nation in a stronger sense, perhaps we could have changed the result. At once, you may shout to me, “But we had Billy Graham in the past and he was doing crusades all over this Nation and the world! He was getting people saved all over!” Billy Graham was doing what God called him to do, but were you?

Only heaven can reveal the true impact that Graham made on our world, but the impact that was equally needed was believers following the scriptural mandate of being salt—preventing corruption. Yes, it was wonderful seeing the hundreds of people coming down the aisles to be saved at his meetings, BUT if we think this is what was going to keep America a nation that honored Christ, obviously we were wrong. Dead wrong. Evangelism was only part of it—this is a mandate from our Savior that we have viewed given primarily to the corporate body of the Church, not necessarily to the individual believer. Our erroneous behavior has more than caught up with us. The mandate for each individual believer is to live our lives for Christ, honoring Him in every decision we make, and doing it all for His glory! In doing so, we become that proverbial salt to society, that prevents corrupt manners and motives. This is what our Lord desired for us to do, not just every four years at the ballot box, but EVERY DAY! Salt prevents corruption—we must be that preventative agent in a godless world.

Then, there is light. The role of light is quite different from that of salt, which prevents corruption. Light dispels darkness, it vanishes! It may well be too late in this Country to be salt, as we are well aware of the corruption in our Land as a result of our sins, but it is not too late to be Light. Light doesn’t discriminate, it shines everywhere. Our light must shine so the darkness flees everywhere—in our churches, our communities, and our Country! We should have our high-beams on every day!

Matthew 5:14-15 says, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.”

Darkness and light cannot co-exist. If you do not believe that statement, simply go in your home tonight and flip the light switch off. You will quickly get my point…your room will be filled with darkness. Flip it back on, the darkness flees—no matter how many times your perform that experiment, the result will always be the same. Which invites the conclusion that light causes darkness to flee; this is exactly what our Lord was speaking about when He continued “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven,”—light dispels darkness and I might add, that by contrast it is the light’s job to invade darkness! There is no other purpose for light—it was created by God to invade the darkness with such force that darkness immediately vacates the premises.

Now if we “stay out of politics,” how can we be what God wants us to be in this ministry of SALT and LIGHT? I would argue it is impossible. Each day that is given to us by God, we influence people around us. Do we influence them for God’s glory? Do we influence them at all? Do they look at us? Does our Christ-saturated life cause them to speak differently and perhaps act more wholesome? Do they know that if they come to you with an off-color or vulgar joke, you will not find this funny in the least? If this is you, you are exercising your ministry of being salt and light to your neighbors. Being a follower of Jesus Christ, they should know how you view things in the world. Should they only know that you attend church, which has little to no effect on them? The crux of the matter…how deep your relationship is with Jesus Christ determines how bright your light shines. This is what our Lord said to do.

So, how does Christ fit into your way of life? How does He fit into your narrative? The question for us should not be, “Should Christians be involved in politics,” rather it should be “How does Christ fit into your politics?”

Recently, more pastors have risen up and announced that they intend to seek public office. While many have garnered much support, some people are reluctant to consider a pastor due to their higher calling. The calling of God to preach the Gospel is irrevocable, yet it isn’t always exclusive. For a number of years I was bi-vocational in ministry as was the apostle, Paul—yet even then, there were “full-time” pastors that saw me as unsuccessful and not on the same level as they were—sad, but this is true. They saw me as not “fully committed, I was obviously not “walking by faith,” and some thought because I did not have a large enough ministry to support our family, I must lack the educational training, or perhaps I wasn't even called by God at all! However, scripture plainly teaches that all the apostles and every leader in the early church were bi-vocational—they had other means of supporting themselves and their families. The Lord did not have an issue with this, as He is the One that provided their work.

What’s the difference in running for office, exercising your influence for Christ in a public setting, and working this as a “second job?” Just what is the difference?

Sure, anyone can come up with an argument! No doubt, this kind of “second job” could become the “tail that wags the dog” so-to-speak. Thus it could very well take away from the ministry, doing it harm.

However, that could be said of any type of work the minister had also given commitment.

Now, please understand that my intention is not to incite an argument or “stir the pot”—my purpose is to provoke thought as to why some see it out of character for a believer to stand for Christ and His principles in the public square. Are their reasons based on biblical convictions?

Or, is it preference—based on fear of what people will think, attacks on their character, integrity, and Christian faith that comes when a believer draws that line in the sand for Jesus Christ? If I am being forthwith in the matter, it primarily appears that no one wants to get out of their comfort zone. This is most regrettable. Paul told the Romans “be not conformed to this world…” Some may seek to use this to stay out of decision-making roles that are political in nature—but this verse is not teaching that all.

The word “conformed” means “to be pressed into a mold by force.” Paul is very strongly saying “do not be pressed into the mold of the world…” The implication is clear. The apostle is teaching us to resist being pressed into a mold of the world’s making.

We do not seek to make our government a theocracy as the Left claims, we seek to stop in its tracks, the tyrannical rule that threatens our Land, our children, and their future. We will not be pressed into a mold for their use and abuse. We will stand. We will not back down. We will fight for the unborn, the children, and the elderly. We will stand.

Resist. Swim upstream. Go against the flow. Stand—like a rock undaunted.

Stand for truth----with all your might.

Will it be popular? No.

Will it be uncomfortable? Probably.

Will you receive criticism? You bet!

Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely.

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS...

Recently, the Moore County Board of Education (North Carolina) voted in favor of keeping a book named “George” on the shelf in the libraries of their public schools. The book has created quite the stir, but unfortunately not enough for the Board to be persuaded.

We are seeing this all over the country—school boards making decisions unilaterally, with little to no parent involvement. In some cases, the voice of parents is being ignored and even stifled by their elected officials. A growing sense of resentment is causing a deep divide between school officials and parents—and the officials (most of them elected by the public) do not seem to be interested in what their constituents believe, leaving the parents alienated, having no voice at all.

There has been a hidden agenda moving slowly among our public school system for some time, moving ever so subtle. While it was no secret that the public system and it’s mainline officials wanted nothing to do with God or what they view as “religionists,” the more subtle agenda started to pick up more speed and momentum when President Trump was elected. It was as if he was not supposed to be elected and because he was, someone or a collaborative group made the decision to push the pedal to the metal concerning indoctrination under the guise of teaching acceptance, free thought, and “exposing our children to all the different ideas that are out there.”

Get this. While we have students in North Carolina that cannot spell, write in cursive, read cursive, do basic math, and form a complete sentence—school boards across this country are making decisions to offer our children exposure to “different ideas” such as transferring to another gender. While our boards of education should be focused on teaching students mathematics, basic reading skills, basic writing, critical writing, persuasive writing, and the list can continue—they want to make books available that hinder growth, and development of the character that we need as a Nation. The students in Japan are learning calculus in the fifth grade and here we want to make sure we plant a delusional thought in their minds like “you may be something other than what your mom and dad say you are…” What does that produce?

Ukraine’s army is fighting for their country and participating in military training when they aren’t defending their cities—yet according to the latest findings from FoxNews, certain branches of our military are receiving training on how to properly use pronouns, so no one is offended. Yes sir, that will help win a war! What a fix we are in and it's self-induced.

Today’s boards of education have completely lost their purpose in the instruction of students. The Left would say that our students need to be exposed to and taught self-expression without any moral boundary, thus the input of parents is unnecessary and actually a threat to this form of indoctrination, rather than education. You see, I contend that children do no need to be exposed to the fallacies of self-expression and the delusional thinking that one can change their gender—rather, children MUST be exposed to truth. Yes, TRUTH.

Who decided it was ok that we should accept someone’s delusion as fact? As a society we used to medicate and help people with delusional thoughts—not we elevate them to a standard to follow. Who decided that was ok? When did we decide that it was acceptable to honor someone who mentally thinks they are something other than what they were created as?

Why are we even having to discuss a book that grooms a child to become transgender in the United States of America? Why are we having to fight a battle with boards of education that this book is not wholesome, does not contribute to the welfare of a child, and only brings more questions that are left to the person engaging in this thought process, to define as they see fit? Why?!?!

The author of the book “George” and even our school officials would have you believe that there are children as young as four and five years old that question their gender and feel inadequate in their body because of it. As a father of four children, I can tell you this is completely false. If my child has a question, I answer with the TRUTH. It's as simple as that. As a pastor who has been in ministry nearly thirty years and have had multiple children’s ministries, I can say that I have never had a child come to me about gender questions. I can verify that I have never had a parent come to me and say, “Pastor, how do I talk to my child about how she really feels like a boy?” Do you know why? The answer is clear…a child’s mind is like a sponge and it will soak every amount of knowledge it can. With that being said, someone has to plant a thought, a question in the mind of that child, “I know you go to the bathroom this way, but if you think you should have been a boy, it’s ok, you can be what you want to be.” The child begins to question, and someone has to feed this line of questioning…someone who has made a conscious decision to abate truth. Someone who has decided, “I’m going to expose this child to ‘other views.’” My point is that children are not born regretting their biological makings—they are taught to question it. The same thing happened in the Garden of Eden, when Satan appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent. The very first thing he did (and is still doing) was to get Eve to doubt God—“Ye shall not surely die” God is withholding something from you. He’s not being honest with you, He is leading you wrong. So the Left did not concur up this first, it was Satan, and he is to blame for this mess as well. Yet, when an adult makes a decision to not instruct a child TRUTH, then it is completely a lie—and to lie to a child and misrepresent the truth, is abusing the time spent with that child. In effect, in what it will create in the mind of that child, it’s nothing less than mentally abusing a child. The author of this book, “George” recently gave an interview to a local newspaper in Moore County, and stated, “No, you don't get to decide what your children read”—I beg to differ! It is more than my decision, it is my parental duty! I have said much in recent days regarding this book and several more; this does not add to or provide a wholesome education of a child. It should have the same label that is affixed to medications, poison, and cleaning supplies: KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. Incidentally, a concerned parent read the interview and tried to post a comment on the newspaper’s website. In the comments section, they simply quoted a portion of the book, “George,” the website would not allow it to be posted because it was considered profanity and contained unsuitable material.

Oh, sadly, there isn’t a law against it, poisoning the minds of children with literature that is considered garbage—yet. But there should be a law on the books that says, if you fail to instruct children the TRUTH, you lose your privilege of teaching that child. That would be in a perfect world, and that we do not have. There will be many who will write me and say, “public schools have gone to hell, Christian education should be promoted, homeschool should be promoted!” To that I would say, “I believe in Christian education, and I believe in homeschool—my children are homeschooled. That is and should be a viable option for your children, but it is simply not an option for ALL children.” So stop. Let’s not go there. We are talking about all the children that are in the public school system—that Jesus said that we should have been salt and light to in the darkness of the classroom. They have in many ways been abandoned by church ministries. I speak this to our shame.

So, where does this leave us now? Well, we aren’t without work to do and we aren’t without weapons to use in this battle.

First and foremost, believers need spiritual renewal toward God. This only comes through prayer, in which the Holy Spirit will reveal sin that must be confessed and repentance taken place. This should be the focus of the church—not just prayer corporately for revival, but praying individually for it in your own heart. All the great revivals in history started small with a group of people—not vice-versa. It only takes one match to start a forest fire.

Secondly, God’s people must determine to stop the status quo and obey God in being salt and light in this world. We must exercise the kindness of Christ, but recognize when we must be abrasive for what is right according to the Word of God.

Finally, we must place a “cease and desist” notice on the door of this idea that loving your country isn’t what a believer should be entangled with. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being patriotic and loving this Country—it is right! Men and women have died on battlefields all over the world fighting for our freedoms, I will not let their fight, dedication, and for many, the ultimate sacrifice be in vain.

I will rise and stand. I will always stand for the flag of the United States. I will always stand on the Word of God, and I will always stand for the welfare of precious children! While darkness has seemed to plagued this world, the Light of our testimony, fortitude, Christ-like life, and obeying the precepts of the Word of God—should be our guide until God calls us home, or I have to pay the ultimate sacrifice—for freedom. We are here, for such a time as this. Stand.

2021 Ministry Update

In the midst of a chaotic world, God is a faithful friend, and a sovereign Lord.

February 2021

Dear Friends,

January 2020, we embarked on a walk of faith that was not intended, but the Lord designed it to broaden our ministry. To say that we were walking by faith, would be an understatement—but to convey all that God did for us during this time, would truly blow your mind!

We had youth rallies, prophecy conferences, and evangelistic meetings scheduled throughout the year. I really felt that the Lord was laying the groundwork for me to go into a Bible conference and evangelism ministry. In addition, we were called by the pulpit committee of Asbury Baptist Church in Seagrove, NC. They were in search of a pastor and needed someone for the interim work to provide stability while they sought the Lord’s will for their next pastor. This would work out fine, as we would fill the pulpit there and still fulfill the meetings scheduled on the calendar.

Then, COVID-19 hit our world! The calendar was immediately stripped of its dates due to pastors exercising caution for their people. The Lord immediately led us to take all the services of Asbury Baptist Church online at our website, www.gospeldynamite.org. In addition, we began the radio ministry, Gospel Dynamite on WYTR 88.1FM, a local station. It was at this time we also began our podcast ministry, an extension of our radio ministry and expositional teaching of the Scripture. In short, our goal was to make “lemonade out of the lemons” we’d been dealt! This is a brief history of where we have been.

Many of you have given to this ministry over the past year, and for that we say, “thank you!” As contributors to this work, you are entitled to share in the blessing of knowing where we are currently.When we stop to think of all the Lord has done over the past year we are simply amazed. Because you have given to this ministry, we bring this update to you.

Radio Ministry. The radio ministry is currently on one station, WYTR 88.1FM in Bennett, each Sunday at 8AM. It has a potential listenership of well over 300,000 people, on the radio dial alone. In addition, they stream over their downloadable app, and their website. We have ample feedback from listeners that this

is a blessing to them, and they are growing from the expositional Bible teaching.

Podcast Ministry. While it has always been a ministry goal to have a radio ministry, the podcast ministry was born out of necessity during COVID-19, to broaden our ministry. It has grown more than we could ever have imagined. At the time of this writing, the podcast messages have been downloaded in 21 foreign countries, with 77% of our listeners from the continental US.

These countries include: Germany, Indonesia, Poland, Israel, Australia, India, Japan, Canada, Philippines, New Zealand, Norway, Mexico, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, France, Croatia, Sweden, Singapore, and Thailand.

These messages are first played on the radio ministry, and then released for our podcast audience on all major podcast platforms. It can easily be accessed by typing in, Gospel Dynamite with Allen Mashburn on any internet search engine.

Website Ministry. Our website serves as the hub of our audio and video messages. Currently, we have over fifty video messages, originally recorded for our people at Asbury. (The videos are also being used by a church in Pennsylvania as home & Sunday School study, for which we thank the Lord for!) In addition, all our messages can be accessed here, and we have guest writers that lend their talents to our blog page.

Preaching Ministry. The Lord has been gracious to us. On December 13, Asbury Baptist Church extended the call to us to be their pastor, of which we accepted. The folks are some of the most genuine people I’ve met in ministry, for that I am thankful. The deacons and myself feel that the Lord paired us together (since March 2020), and we are seeking the Lord for His blessings on this work as we serve, preferably, until He comes!

According to my records, I’ve had the honor of preaching 243 messages during 2020 (this requires a lot of study). We certainly don’t say that to boast, except in the Lord. This year, as tumultuous as it seems to be, is full of opportunity to serve the Lord; already this week having preached six times.

My purpose is to say, “thank you” for your prayers, letters and calls of encouragement, and giving toward our ministry. I’m convinced that God will add blessings to your account for giving toward this work of grace. For all you and the Lord has done, to God be the Glory!

Melissa joins me in sending our love, and heartfelt gratitude for your giving to the Lord! We pray that this year will be one of blessing for you and your family.

With our warmest regards,

J. Allen Mashburn